Motivational control after extended instrumental training

Hungry rats were trained to press a lever for food pellets prior to an assessment of the effect of a shift in their motivational state on instrumental performance in extinction. The first study replicated the finding that a reduction in the level of food deprivation has no detectable effect on extinction performance unless the animals receive prior experience with the food pellets in the nondeprived state (Balleine, 1992; Balleine & Dickinson, 1994). When tested in the nondeprived state, only animals that were reexposed to the food pellets in this state between training and testing showed a reduction in the level of pressing during the extinction test relative to animals tested in the deprived state. The magnitude of this reexposure effect depended, however, on the amount of instrumental training. Following more extended instrumental training, extinction performance was unaffected by reexposure to the food pellets in the nondeprived state whether or not the animals were food deprived at the time of testing. A second study demonstrated that the resistance to the reexposure treatment engendered by overtraining was due to the animals’ increased experience of the food pellets in the deprived state during training rather than to the more extensive exposure to the instrumental contingency. In contrast to the results of the first two experiments, however, a reliable reexposure effect was detected after overtraining in a final study, in which the animals were given greater reexposure to the food pellets in the nondeprived state.     

Reinforcement contexts effects on fixed-interval responding

Three rats responding on fixed-interval schedules received either 1 or 4 pellets at the end of 2-min intervals. Five experimental conditions manipulated the relative probabilities of these two reinforcers. Response rates following the 1-pellet reinforcer were always higher than the rates following the 4-pellet reinforcer. The rates after the 1-pellet reinforcer were also highest in those experimental conditions where it was delivered with low probability. Contrast effects were observed when two sequential fixed intervals differed in reinforcer magnitudes. It was concluded that the context of reinforcement as well as the specific reinforcer magnitude affects responding under fixed-interval schedules.     

Effects of intratrial stimulus change on fixed-interval performance: The roles of clock and memory processes

In two experiments, pigeons were exposed to differentially cued training trials of fixed interval (FI) 30 and 60 sec. In addition, shift trials were presented in which the cue associated with one FI value was presented for a prearranged duration at trial onset, followed by offset of that cue and presentation of the other cue. Response-contingent reinforcement was scheduled during the second cue. During the first shift phase, the FI 30-sec cue was shifted to the FI 60-sec cue; in a second phase, the order of the cue shift was reversed. Inferences about accumulator and memory functions of the internal clock were based upon behavior during both training trials and shift trials. At the end of both shift phases, test-trial FI functions generally superimposed in a manner consistent with accumulator reset on cue shift. Individual differences in clustering of functions were accommodated by variation in reference-memory storage across subjects. This interpretation was tested in Experiment 2 by constraining reference-memory storage on shift trials. These conditions yielded a decrease in between-subject variability and provided data consistent with accumulator reset and control by a single reference-memory value on shift trials.     

Signaled reinforcement effects on fixed-interval performance of the rat

In three experiments using fixed-interval schedules with a 500-msec delay of reinforcement, rats receiving a localized light signal during the delay leverpressed more slowly than rats trained without the signal. In Experiment 1 these groups showed no differences in temporal patterning of responding, but in the remaining two experiments the signaled rats showed better patterning than the unsignaled rats. In Experiments 2 and 3 rats receiving a diffuse tone signal during the delay instead of a light pressed more rather than less rapidly than the unsignaled group. Their patterning was better than that of the unsignaled rats in one of these experiments. Several explanations for both the attenuation and enhancing effects of signaling reward are discussed.     

The role of response-reinforcer associations increases throughout extended instrumental training

Two experiments examined the effects of extended training on the development of response-reinforcer associations. Rats were trained by using various food reinforcers to make multiple instrumental responses. Subsequently, those reinforcers were devalued by being paired with a toxin. The presence of response-reinforcer associations was inferred from the decrease in the likelihood of a response following devaluation of its reinforcer. Such response-reinforcer associations are known to contribute to performance after moderate amounts of training. These experiments addressed the question of whether the contribution of those associations remains constant, increases, or decreases with more extended training. Experiment 1 found that even after a response had been extensively trained with one reinforcer, the substitution of a new reinforcer produced new associations between the response and that new reinforcer. After extended training, a response continued to acquire new associations with a reinforcer, as indexed by the impact of a devaluation procedure. Experiment 2 directly compared the contribution of reinforcers used extensively and moderately with the same response. It found that devaluation of the extensively used reinforcer more effectively reduced performance of the response, suggesting that the associations formed with additional training contribute to performance of the response. These experiments indicate that the contribution of response-reinforcer associations does not decrease but, instead, continues to grow throughout the course of extended instrumental training.     

Effect of extended training on generalization of latent inhibition: an instance of perceptual learning

Four experiments examined generalization of latent inhibition (LI) as a function of the length of preexposure in a conditioned taste aversion procedure with rats. Experiment 1 showed that one or four nonreinforced presentations of a flavor compound (BX) retarded subsequent conditioning to another compound (AX). However, after eight presentations of BX, conditioning to AX occurred at the same rate as with no preexposure. These results indicate that generalization of LI decreased as the length of preexposure to BX increased. Experiment 2 replicated this effect of reducing generalization, as well as demonstrating that LI actually increased as the length of preexposure to AX increased. Experiment 3 extended the generality of the effect to a procedure in which both BX and AX were preexposed. Experiment 4 demonstrated a similar reducing-generalization effect when generalization of LI from BX to X was assessed. All of these data are consistent with the notion that prolonged preexposure to BX enhances its discriminability. Different learning mechanisms that might be responsible for this perceptual learning effect are discussed.     

Effects of self-evaluation training on narrative writing

Despite the burgeoning use of alternate assessment, few studies have examined effects on students. In this study, 148 students in 15 grade 4–6 classrooms were taught over an 8-week period how to evaluate their work (control N = 148). Treatment group students became more accurate in their self-evaluations than controls. Contrary to the beliefs of many students, parents and teachers, students' propensity to inflate grades decreased when teachers shared assessment responsibility. Treatment students also outperformed controls on narrative writing, but the overall effect was small (ES = 0.18). Weaker writers also improved their writing much more if they were in the treatment than the control group (ES = 0.58). Improvements consisted of increasing integration of story elements around a central theme and the adoption of a narrative voice. In contrast conventions of language were relatively unchanged. The results of the treatment were attributed to the focusing effect of joint criteria development and use, and the heightened meaningfulness of self-evaluation over other assessment data.     

Generalization of fixed-interval response patterning in pigeons

Three pigeons were trained on a multiple schedule in which keypecking was reinforced on a fixed-interval (FI) schedule in the presence of a vertical line and on a variable-interval (VI) schedule in the presence of a horizontal line. Response rates in the former component were positively accelerated (the “FI scallop”), whereas response rates in the second component were relatively constant. In a subsequent generalization test on the line-tilt continuum, the index of curvature decreased systematically as the line was rotated from vertical to horizontal in 30-deg steps. Frequency distributions of indices of curvature suggested that intermediate average index values for intermediate generalization test stimuli were mainly the result of intermediate response patterns in the individual test stimulus presentation, rather than the averaging of VI-like patterns during some stimulus presentations with FI-like patterns during other stimulus presentations.     

Effects of auditory perception training on reading achievement

This study investigated the effect of an auditory training programme with backward readers who were also deficient in one or more auditory perceptual subskills. Thirty subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The experimental group received a nine hour taped programme devised by the experimenter and designed to teach the skills of auditory discrimination, memory, analysis and synthesis and auditory-visual integration. The comparison group listened to stories on tape for the same duration as the experimental group, while the third group served as a control merely being tested at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. It was found that although the training programme significantly improved the performance of the experimental group over the other two groups on a total auditory perceptual test, there was no corresponding improvement in reading, on word recognition or comprehension tests. The particular auditory subskills which appeared amenable to training were auditory discrimination (rhyme) and auditory synthesis (blending and closure).     

Effects of response-independent stimuli on fixed-interval and fixed-ratio performance of rats: a model for stressful disruption of cyclical eating patterns

Binge eating is often associated with stress-induced disruption of typical eating patterns. Three experiments were performed with the aim of developing a potential model for this effect by investigating the effect of presenting response-independent stimuli on rats’ lever-pressing for food reinforcement during both fixed-interval (FI) and fixed-ratio (FR) schedules of reinforcement. In Experiment 1, a response-independent brief tone (500-ms, 105-dB, broadband, noisy signal, ranging up to 16 kHz, with spectral peaks at 3 and 500 Hz) disrupted the performance on an FI 60-s schedule. Responding with the response-independent tone was more vigorous than in the absence of the tone. This effect was replicated in Experiment 2 using a within-subject design, but no such effect was noted when a light was employed as a disrupter. In Experiment 3, a 500-ms tone, but not a light, had a similar effect on rats' performance on FR schedules. This tone-induced effect may represent a release from response-inhibition produced by an aversive event. The implications of these results for modeling binge eating are discussed.     

Effects of strategy training on Progressive Matrices performance

Two qualitatively different information-processing algorithms for solution of Raven's Progressive Matrices items have been identified. Whereas the Gestalt algorithm involves spatial operations upon the test stimuli, the Analytic algorithm employs logical operations upon features abstracted from the displays. In this study, training groups were established varying both in the Strength (Weak or Strong) and Type (Gestalt or Analytic) of training at three grade levels. Two sets of post-test measures were given. Ambiguous items were constructed such that more than one correct answer was possible, some being the result of the Gestalt algorithm and others of the Analytic algorithm. Subjects' performances on the Ambiguous items indicated that strong Analytic training had been particularly effective and was specific to Analytic answer options. The second post-test measure was Set I of the Advanced Progressive Matrices. Performance on these Test items indicated that the effects of strategy training had been maintained, and were due to the facilitation of Analytic item performance by Analytic training. The effects of Strength and Type of training were consistent across Grades. These results support Hunt's analysis of Raven's Progressive Matrices items, and demonstrate that strategy training based upon a precise information processing task analysis can be effective in improving Progressive Matrices performance. The implications of these results for intellectual assessment are discussed.     

Effects of skill training on working memory capacity

In this study we examined the effects of skill training, in particular mental abacus and music training, on working memory. Two groups of participants—children who had received mental abacus training and their controls—participated in Experiment 1. All participants performed the following span tasks: forward digit span, backward digit span, non-word span, operation span, simple spatial span, and complex spatial span tasks. Children (mean age: 12 years) who had received training exhibited greater simple spatial spans, but not other spans. In Experiment 2, the same span tests were given to groups of children (mean age: 12 years) and adults (mean age: 22 years) who had received music training and to their controls. For adults, the experimental group performed better than the control group with respect to both the digit span and non-word span tests. For children, the experimental group performed better than did the control group in all of the span tests. We discuss our results in terms of the domain-specific effects of skill training on working memory.     

Effects of teacher training on children's analogical reasoning performance

Two studies were conducted to assess the effects of teacher training in analogical reasoning on students' performance of analogy tasks. Study One focused on elementary school teachers and students, while Study Two involved early childhood teachers. In Study One, 25 fourth-grade teachers were assigned either to Control, or to Level I or Level II treatment conditions. The Level I condition involved the receipt of detailed analogy lessons. The Level II condition encompassed both the receipt of instructional materials and explicit training for teachers in their underlying theory and use. Further, 19 of the 25 treatment and control teachers were observed during the course of the study to determine the influence of observation of teachers on students' analogical reasoning. Students' performance of an analogy task was compared prior to and following teacher-delivered instruction by means of an analysis of covariance procedure. Results indicated that students in Level II classrooms significantly outperformed Level I students, who significantly outperformed students in Control classrooms. Teacher observation was found to be a significant factor in the performance of Level I, but not Level II or Control, students. In Study Two, teachers participating in two summer programs for gifted preschoolers were taught how to deliver instruction in analogical reasoning to young children, ages three to six. Results demonstrated that children receiving explicit instruction in analogical reasoning scored significantly better on an analogy task than the children assigned to control. No effect for age, race, gender, or Socioeconomic studies were found. Implications of the results of these two studies for educational practice are discussed.     

The dual role of the context in postpeak performance decrements resulting from extended training

The context??s role in Pavlovian conditioning depends on the trial spacing during training, with massed trials revealing a function akin to that of discrete stimuli, and spaced trials revealing a modulatory function (Urcelay & Miller, Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes, 36, 268?C280, 2010). Here we examined the contextual determinants of a common but largely ignored effect: attenuated conditioned responding with extended reinforced training (i.e., a postpeak performance deficit [PPD]). Contextual sources of PPDs were investigated in four fear-conditioning experiments with rats. In Experiment 1, as the number of reinforced trials increased, conditioned responding decreased, even when testing occurred outside the training context. Experiment 2 revealed opposing influences of context on the PPD based on trial spacing, which interacted with whether testing occurred in the training context. This finding reconciles Experiment 1??s results with previous data (Bouton, Frohardt, Sunsay, Waddell, & Morris, Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes, 34, 223?C236, 2008). Experiment 3 suggested that extended training with these parameters did not lead to habituation to conditioned or unconditioned stimuli. In Experiment 4, few or many massed training trials were followed orthogonally by context extinction or no context extinction. After many pairings, context extinction reduced the PPD (i.e., enhanced responding), suggesting a competitive role of the context. These results, together with prior data suggesting that context modulates expressions of the PPD, are consistent with the view that contexts can play two distinctly different roles.     

Effects of self-questioning training on college students' comprehension of lectures

Previous research has shown that self-questioning is an effective strategy for improving reading comprehension. The present study extended this line of research by investigating the use of self-questioning strategies with orally presented material. The study examined the relative effectiveness of four learning strategies on college students' comprehension of lectures and on their feelings of control over their success in learning. The four strategy conditions were self-and peer-questioning in small cooperative groups, independent self-questioning, review in small cooperative groups, and independent review. Students in the self-questioning conditions were trained to use a self-questioning procedure to process information presented in lecture. Results indicated that both of the self-questioning strategies significantly improved lecture comprehension over time. Significant differences were also found among the strategies with the self/peer questioners as well as the self-questioners showing post-treatment comprehension superior to that of participants using either of the review strategies. No significant change was found for students' feelings of control. These results suggest that practice in this self-questioning information-processing procedure can effectively improve college students' comprehension of lectures.     

Effects of academic training on metatextual knowledge and hypertext navigation

We investigated the effects of college training on students’ metatextual knowledge, hypertext navigation strategies and their acquisition of problem-relevant information. Ten psychology undergraduates and nine clinical psychology post-graduate students were asked to study a 3,400-word, 14-section hypertext with the purpose of drafting a short essay on a specific, complex issue in the area of teenage psychopathology. The specialists outperformed the novices on a metatextual knowledge test. They spent more time visiting relevant sections of the hypertext, and wrote essays containing more critical information. They also displayed a better incidental memory for the hypertext structure. We discuss the data in terms of the late acquisition of metatextual knowledge and study strategies.