Cross-stimulus transfer of timing in pigeons

Pigeons were trained in a delayed matching task in which the samples were short (2 sec) and long (10 sec) presentations of either a houselight or a keylight. Transfer trials involved short and long presentations of the nontrained signal as the sample. In the intermittent transfer test, infrequent transfer trials were intermixed with more frequent training trials; in the sustained transfer test, all trials were transfer trials. The intermittent test revealed only weak transfer. The sustained test revealed transfer in Session 1 only in birds that had received pairings of the transfer signal and food prior to testing. However, regardless of whether the transfer signal had been previously paired with food, birds exposed to consistent contingencies between duration and choice across training and testing learned the transfer task more rapidly than did birds exposed to inconsistent contingencies. It was concluded that some training in which the transfer signal serves as the sample is required before the durations of a transfer signal are related to the rules associating duration and responding     

Proactive effects in pigeons’ timing behavior: Implications for an internal-clock model

We have found proactive effects in pigeons’ timing behavior, a finding inconsistent with internal-clock models of timing that assume a resetable working-memory component. Six pigeons were trained to discriminate between 2- and 10-sec illuminations of a white light; choice of a red pecking key was correct and rewarded after presentation of the short stimulus whereas choice of a green key was correct and rewarded after presentation of the long stimulus. During training sessions, there were 60 trials separated by a 20-sec intertriai interval; short and long light occurred in a randomized order and correct choices were reinforced with 5-sec access to grain on a partial (75%) schedule. During test sessions, there were 120 trials separated by a 2-sec intertrial inter val. Light presentations occurred in a fixed order throughout these sessions: 2, 6, 10, 10, 6, 2 2, 6, 10 sec, and so forth. Choice of either red or green after 6 sec was not reinforced. However, red continued to be correct after 2 sec and green continued to be correct after 10 sec. Of central interest was how the subjects classified 6 sec of light in ascending (2, 6, 10) and descending (10. 6, 2) sequences of durations: Subjects chose the short alternative on 42% of the 6-sec trials in ascending series but only 29% in descending series, a result most plausibly interpreted as show ing that duration information from a preceding trial affects duration classifications on the cur rent trial. Such proactive effects should not occur according to working-memory models that as sume that stored information is cleared at the end of a trial.     

Stimulus intensity affects pigeons’ timing behavior: Implications for an internal clock model

Five pigeons were trained to discriminate between 2- and 10-sec illuminations of a white light; choice of a red pecking key was correct and rewarded after presentation of the short stimulus, whereas choice of a green key was correct and rewarded after presentation of the long stimulus. On half the trials, the light was bright; on the others, it was dim. Durations of 4, 6, and 8 sec of both dim and bright light were also presented; choices on these trials were not rewarded. The probability of the pigeons’ choosing the short alternative decreased in a graded manner as duration of both bright and dim light increased from 2, to 4, to 6, to 8, and to 10 sec. However, the pigeons were more likely to choose the short alternative with longer durations of the dim light than the bright light, a result that implies that the perceived duration of a dim light was shorter than that of a bright light of equal length. One interpretation of this effect is that stimulus intensity affects the rate of the pacemaker in an internal clock mechanism subserving timing of event duration.     

The effects of rate and amount of reinforcement on the speed of the pacemaker in pigeons’ timing behavior

The peak-time procedure was used with pigeons to explore assumptions of two models of time perception: scalar expectancy theory (SET) and behavioral theory of timing (BeT). Conditions 1A and 1B varied fixed-interval duration to change rate of reinforcement. Condition 2 varied hopper duration in order to manipulate arousal level. Condition 3 held constant the interval to be timed (fixed-interval duration) but varied rate of reinforcement by interspersing trials in which only the chamber light came on for a duration equal to the fixed interval. Results from Conditions 1A, 1B, and 3 show that the speed of the pacemaker (1/τ) was directly proportional to the rate of reinforcement, thus supporting BeT. Manipulations of the hopper duration had no effect on the timing process.     

中国市民社会的早期形态及历史局限

中国市民社会的早期形态表现在社会调适功能的退化;经济结构中出现新的因素;对自我主体的张扬与肯定以及各种文人团体、商人集团的产生.后期封建社会商业经济的滞缓给早期市民社会形态的形成带来很大的局限,中国传统儒家思想的影响又使中国早期市民社会形态具有自身独特的特点.     

The nature of discrimination learning in pigeons

The results from five experiments are considered in relation to two of Spence's (1937, 1938) proposals concerning discrimination learning. In Experiments 1 and 2, we investigated whether his ideas about the interaction between excitatory and inhibitory generalization gradients can be used to understand how animals solve a complex patterning discrimination. The results supported a development of his proposals as put forward by Pearce (1994), provided a modification was made to Pearce's rulefor determining the shape ofthe generalization gradient. In Experiments 3, 4, and 5, we examined whether animals would pay more attention to stimuli that are relevant, rather than irrelevant, to the solution of a discrimination. The results supported this proposal for stimuli comprising visual patterns, but not for those comprising plain colors. The results also indicated that change of attention was a consequence of preliminary receptor-exposure acts, as envisaged by Spence, and not of more central changes in attention.     

Looking for inhibition of return in pigeons

We conducted four experiments in order to investigate whether pigeons' responses to a recently attended (i.e., recently pecked) location are inhibited. In Experiments 1 and 2, stimulus displays were similar to those used in studies of inhibition of return (IOR) with humans; responses to cued targets tended to be facilitated rather than inhibited. In Experiments 3 and 4, birds were presented with stimulus displays that mimicked clusters of small grains and were relatively localized, which should have been more appropriate for detecting IOR in pigeons. The results from these experiments again provided evidence for facilitation of responding to cued targets, rather than for IOR.     

轻中型颅脑损伤早期使用甘露醇的探讨(附105例报告)

目的 :探讨轻中型颅脑损伤早期使用甘露醇对外伤性迟发性颅内血肿的影响 .方法 :回顾 10 5例轻、中型颅脑损伤无外伤性迟发性颅内血肿的病人 ,分为伤后 2 4小时内使用和不使用甘露醇两组 ,对两组病例前后的CT扫描结果进行比较 .结果 :伤后 2 4小时内使用甘露醇的病人中 ,有 19 6 %的病人出现外伤性迟发性颅内血肿 ,而未使用甘露醇的病人中 ,出现外伤性迟发性颅内血肿的比率仅占 6 1% (P <0 0 5 ) .结论 :伤后 2 4小时内使用甘露醇可能更易导致外伤性迟发性颅内血肿发生 .因此我们建议轻中型颅脑损伤患者受伤早期如无明显颅内压增高症状 ,应避免使用甘露醇 ,减少外伤性迟发性颅内血肿的发生 .     

能力本位视角下的高职考试形式探究

高等职业教育的突出特点是强调对学生动手能力与职业素养的培养,但是目前高职考试并不能体现出高职的特点。在能力本位视角下审视高职英语考试现状,就会发现很多问题,要优化高职英语考试就要从明确能力本位的考试目的、考试内容要突出对学生职业能力的考察等几方面入手。本文以东莞职业技术学院学生为例进行探索分析。     

Memory for empty time intervals in pigeons

Pigeons were trained to discriminate short (2 sec) and long (8 sec) empty intervals that began each trial. In group consistent, onset of an empty interval was marked by a brief presentation of red keylight, and termination of the interval was marked by a brief presentation of green keylight. In group inconsistent, red and green served equally often as the first and second markers across trials. Testing revealed that, in group consistent, (1) birds were sensitive to the relation between marker color and marker type and (2) presentation of the second marker did not initiate timing a new interval. Testing also revealed a robust choose-long effect at delays longer than the training delay and indifference between the comparisons on no-sample trials. Both of the latter findings differ from those typically obtained when filled intervals are employed. It was concluded that pigeons process filled and empty intervals differently.     

The timing of middle-childhood peer rejection and friendship: linking early behavior to early-adolescent adjustment

This study used a sample of 551 children surveyed yearly from ages 6 to 13 to examine the longitudinal associations among early behavior, middle-childhood peer rejection and friendedness, and early-adolescent depressive symptoms, loneliness, and delinquency. The study tested a sequential mediation hypothesis in which (a) behavior problems in the early school years are associated with middle-childhood peer rejection and (b) rejection, in turn, leads to lower friendedness and subsequently higher adolescent internalizing--but not externalizing--problems. Results supported this sequential mediation model for internalizing outcomes and revealed an additional path from early disruptiveness to loneliness via peer rejection alone. No evidence of sequential mediation was observed for delinquency.     

The recency effect in pigeons’ long-term memory

Four experiments are reported in which pigeons first learned one wavelength discrimination (green S+, yellow S?) and then the reversal; finally, after various delays, they were tested for wavelength generalization in extinction. In Experiment 1, the two problems were learned in different contexts; testing in Context 1 produced maximal responding to green in only half of the subjects, even when testing was delayed 30 days. In Experiment 2, testing of the subjects repeatedly in both contexts showed good control by each context after a 30-day delay. In Experiment 3, both problems were learned in the same context, and all gradients showed recency, peaking at yellow, even after 30 days. In Experiment 4, the subjects learned a series of reversals in the same context, terminating in yellow, S+, green, S?, and their gradients peaked at yellow, even after a 30-day delay. In Experiments 3 and 4, the gradients became flatter with increasing delays, and they were flatter in Experiment 4 (after three reversals) than in Experiment 3 (after one reversal). The location of the peak was not affected by delay, but only by testing in a context that had been uniquely associated with Problem 1 (Experiments 1 and 2). It is proposed that the location of gradient peaks indicates what is being remembered, whereas the slope of the obtained gradients indicates how well the target memory has been retrieved.     

The acquisition of trace supraordinate stimulus control in pigeons

Match-to-sample and oddity-from-sample problems with four colors were acquired by two pigeons under the supraordinate control of a line tilt superimposed on samples, Since the supraordinate stimulus terminated before the comparison stimuli were presented, accurate matching and oddity performance indicated trace stimulus control as well, The temporal extent of trace control was assessed in one subject by presenting probes—trials without a line tilt on the sample—in which the basis of correct responding was the supraordinate stimulus presented on the previous trial, Trace supraordinate control did not extend between trials, Subsequently, the delay between the termination of the supraordinate stimulus and the presentation of the comparison stimuli was gradually increased within a trial, Both subjects were able to perform matching and oddity over longer delays, and eventually on probe trials, although accuracy decreased, Results were discussed in terms of instructional stimulus control and memory.     

Habituation may contribute to within-session decreases in responding under high-rate schedules of reinforcement

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that habituation contributes to within-session decreases in responding. In Experiment 1, rats’ leverpressing was reinforced under a fixed ratio (FR) 4 schedule throughout the baseline sessions. During the dishabituation sessions, the first 21 min and the last 21 min were FR 4; dishabituating events occurred during the middle 3 min. The dishabituating events altered the manner of reinforcer delivery in four different ways. Response rates increased after all dishabituating events. In Experiment 2, rats responded on several FR and variable ratio (VR) schedules. The ratio requirement varied from 3 to 15. Within-session decreases in responding were steeper during FR schedules than during VR schedules. In addition, response rates were well described as linear functions of cumulative number of food pellets eaten within sessions. These results support the habituation hypothesis but do not rule out the possibility that other satiety variables might contribute simultaneously.     

新课程改革背景下教师培训范式的转换

课程改革是教育改革的核心内容,教育目标、教育价值主要通过课程来体现和实施。课程改革的成败,取决于教育观念、教学方式、教师专业技能、课程设置等诸多因素,最为关键的是教师素质的提高。因此,师范院校应审时度势,因势利导,积极推进基础教育课程改革,加快教师专业发展。而着眼点在于教师培训范式的转换。     

The nature of the response in simon discriminations by pigeons

Spence (1952) postulated that under some conditions, responding in simple discriminations is controlled by compounds or patterns consisting of the nominal discriminative cue, plus its spatial position. Stimulus control by such compounds was said to develop when no single cue or element was systematically reinforced more than any other. This analysis has been applied to good effect in understanding some peculiar accuracy results obtained from pigeons performing Simon discrimination tasks. This article describes how Spence's cue-position analysis provides a better account of pigeons' performance in this task than do nominal cue-only and configurational views of the functional discriminative stimuli. Adding a value transfer assumption improves the ability of the cue-position hypothesis to account for the accuracy data.     

The pattern of responding after extensive extinction

Extensive extinction greatly reduces response rate and increases the relative frequency of short interresponse times, but does not affect temporal learning or operant response rate. In each of two experiments, 24 rats were trained in a multiple cued interval procedure with three stimuli (noise, light, and clicker) at three intervals (30, 60, and 120 sec). In Experiment 1, after 50 sessions of extinction, response rate decreased from about 25 to 0.5 responses/min, but temporal discriminations were maintained and the initial response gradients in reacquisition had a pattern that corresponded with the original (rather than current) training conditions. In Experiment 2, these results were replicated and extended by examination of the effect of stimulus duration on response patterns during extinction, but its lack of effect on reacquisition. The similarity of the initial performance in reacquisition to the asymptotic performance in acquisition was presumably due to the similarity of context. The individual subject data may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive.     

Short-term memory for visual and auditory stimuli in pigeons

Separate groups of pigeons were trained to perform symbolic delayed matching to sample with auditory and visual sample stimuli. For animals in the auditory group, ambient tones that varied in frequency served as sample stimuli; for animals in the visual group, ambient red and green lights served as sample stimuli. In both cases, the sample stimuli were mapped onto the yellow and blue comparison stimuli presented on left and right pecking keys. In Experiments 1 and 2, it was found that visual and auditory delayed matching were affected in the same ways by several temporal variables: delay, length of exposure to the sample stimulus, and intertrial interval. In Experiments 3, 4A, and 4B, a houselight presented during the delay interval strongly interfered with retention in both visual and auditory groups, but white noise presented during the delay had little effect in either group. These results seem to be more in line with a prospective memory model, in which visual and auditory sample stimuli are coded into the same instructional memories, than with a model based on concepts of retrospective memory and modality specificity.     

浅议健美操教学中的最佳配乐时机

从运动生理学的角度分析了音乐在健美操教学练习当中进入的时序。准确配乐,能激发学生练习的兴趣,更好地掌握动作,同时还能起到美育的效果。     

The neuroscience of perceptual categorization in pigeons: A mechanistic hypothesis

We are surrounded by an endless variation of objects. The ability to categorize these objects represents a core cognitive competence of humans and possibly all vertebrates. Research on category learning in nonhuman animals started with the seminal studies of Richard Herrnstein on the category “human” in pigeons. Since then, we have learned that pigeons are able to categorize a large number of stimulus sets, ranging from Cubist paintings to English orthography. Strangely, this prolific field has largely neglected to also study the avian neurobiology of categorization. Here, we present a hypothesis that combines experimental results and theories from categorization research in pigeons with neurobiological insights on visual processing and dopamine-mediated learning in primates. We conclude that in both fields, similar conclusions on the mechanisms of perceptual categorization have been drawn, despite very little cross-reference or communication between these two areas to date. We hypothesize that perceptual categorization is a two-component process in which stimulus features are first rapidly extracted in a feed-forward process, thereby enabling a fast subdivision along multiple category borders. In primates this seems to happen in the inferotemporal cortex, while pigeons may primarily use a cluster of associative visual forebrain areas. The second process rests on dopaminergic error-prediction learning that enables prefrontal areas to connect top down the relevant visual category dimension to the appropriate action dimension.