Within-signal learning in autoshaping

Four experiments explored the formation of associations among elements of a compound visual CS in an autoshaping preparation using pigeon subjects. Experiment 1 found evidence for such associations when the compound was presented without food reinforcement. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that compounds embedded in procedures that produce blocking and conditioned inhibition also developed associations among their elements. Experiment 4 found, using a conditional discrimination procedure, that such within-signal associations were weakened, but not eliminated, by the presentation of food reinforcement at the end of the compound. These results suggest a pervasive role for within-signal associations across a variety of conditioning procedures that have been given central roles in current theories of conditioning.     

The role of within-compound associations in learning about absent cues

When two cues are reinforced together (in compound), most associative models assume that animals learn an associative network that includes direct cue–outcome associations and a within-compound association. All models of associative learning subscribe to the importance of cue–outcome associations, but most models assume that within-compound associations are irrelevant to each cue’s subsequent behavioral control. In the present article, we present an extension of Van Hamme and Wasserman’s (Learning and Motivation 25:127–151, 1994) model of retrospective revaluation based on learning about absent cues that are retrieved through within-compound associations. The model was compared with a model lacking retrieval through within-compound associations. Simulations showed that within-compound associations are necessary for the model to explain higher-order retrospective revaluation and the observed greater retrospective revaluation after partial reinforcement than after continuous reinforcement alone. These simulations suggest that the associability of an absent stimulus is determined by the extent to which the stimulus is activated through the within-compound association.     

Effect of signaling extra unconditioned stimuli on autoshaping

Acquisition to a target conditioned stimulus (CS) is prevented when extra, unsignaled unconditioned stimuli (USs) are presented with sufficient frequency to remove contingency between target CS and US. Acquisition occurs, however, when the extra USs are signaled by another CS. According to the Rescorla-Wagner theory, signaling reduces contextual conditioning, which otherwise prevents acquisition. Results of Experiment 1 led to the rejection of a rival explanation derived from scalar expectancy theory by showing that acquisition does not occur when only half of the extra USs are signaled. The results of Experiment 2 were, however, contrary to the Rescorla-Wagner theory because they showed equivalent acquisition when the stimulus used to signal the extra USs was also present concurrently with the target CS. Signaling may exert its effect by converting the intertriai interval to CS?.     

Revisiting the role of within-compound associations in cue-interaction phenomena

Although it is thought that within-compound associations are necessary for the occurrence of both backward blocking and unovershadowing, it is not known whether this variable plays a similar role in mediating the two phenomena. Similarly, the roles of within-compound associations in forward blocking and in reduced overshadowing have not been tested independently. The present experiments evaluated how the strength of within-compound associations affects backward blocking, unovershadowing, forward blocking, and reduced overshadowing. Using an allergy task, the strength of within-compound associations was varied by taking advantage of the participants’ prior knowledge of common and uncommon food pairings. Backward blocking and unovershadowing effects were present only when highly memorable compound cues were used. Moreover, the magnitudes of both retrospective revaluation effects were affected by the strength of within-compound associations. Forward blocking and reduced overshadowing effects were independent of within-compound associations. These results have important theoretical implications for causal learning research.     

Using XML to separate content from the presentation software in elearning applications

TechTrends - This paper has shown how XML (extensible Markup Language) can be used to mark up content. Since XML documents, with meaningful tags, can be interpreted easily by humans as well as...     

Using XML to separate content from the presentation software in elearning applications

Summary This paper has shown how XML (extensible Markup Language) can be used to mark up content. Since XML documents, with meaningful tags, can be interpreted easily by humans as well as computers, they are ideal for the interchange of information. Because XML tags can be defined by an individual or organization, XML documents have proven useful in a variety of areas including chemistry, mathematics, music, literature, graphics, eCommerce and educational technology. This paper demonstrated a simple example of how XML could be used for developing eLearning applications where the content and presentation software can be separated from one another. This separation facilitates the maintenance, reuse and repurposing of both the content and the presentation software     

Analysis of autoshaping in goldfish

Stimulus-reinforcer and response-reinforcer control of target-striking in goldfish were studied in a series of discrete-trials experiments. Evidence of control by adventitious response-reinforcer contiguity was provided by the first experiment, which showed less response in animals given omission training than in yoked animals with the same stimulus-reinforcer experience. In the next three experiments, evidence of control by stimulus-reinforcer contiguity apart from response-reinforcer contiguity was sought in within-subjects comparisons of omission and extinction. Only the last of these experiments, in which the CS duration was short and the ITI long, showed greater response in omission. A subsidiary finding is that autoshaped goldfish respond very little, either to the CS target or to the feeder, when target and feeder are spatially discontiguous.     

The source of keypecking in autoshaping

Pigeons were trained to step on a treadle to operate a grain hopper, under the control of an auditory stimulus. Subsequently, autoshaping consisted of pairing illumination of a response key with some of the subsequent tone presentations, reinforcement occurring only after a treadle response. One control group did not have a treadle or a treadle-response requirement. A second control group received random presentations of an illuminated key. Neither paired nor random key presentations had any effect on treadlepressing. However, the paired key groups showed acquisition of pecking to the key, while the random group did not. The data suggest that pecking in the autoshaping procedure is not profitably analyzed as part of an operant sequence and it indicates that autoshaping involves a structuring of response repertoires that may well be independent of the effects of contingent reinforcement and shaping. Autoshaping seems to be governed by empirical temporal laws akin to those of classical conditioning.

     

The differential impact of observational learning and practice-based learning on the development of oral presentation skills in higher education

The present study focuses on the design and evaluation of an innovative instructional approach to developing oral presentation skills. The intervention builds on the observational learning theoretical perspective. This perspective is contrasted with the traditional training and practice approach. Two sequencing approaches – learners starting with observational learning versus learners starting with practice opportunities only – were compared. It was hypothesised that learners starting with observational learning would outperform learners in the practice only condition. The results suggest a significant differential impact on development of oral presentation skills. This impact of the observational learning training approach is only found in a limited number of evaluation criteria. Results additionally suggest that students are highly motivated to learn this type of skill. Interaction effects between student characteristics and instructional interventions were not significant.     

敏捷学习视角的学习型检察院建设要素体系探究

在国内外各种学术基础上,敏捷学习思想体系已经遍及各个先进机构及多数的发达国家,通过对敏捷学习理论的系统分析,对于敏捷学习这一思想已经成为当下的学习型检察院所必不可缺的。敏捷学习理论具体指出了一些要素体系,以下本文从敏锐的学习视角出发,来探索学习型检察院所存在的建设问题,希望可为相关人士提供参考。     

Extensive training,partial reinforcement,and temporal gaps do not affect S-S learning in second-order autoshaping

A second-order autoshaping procedure was used to examine the effects of three variables on the amount of information that could be learned about the stimulus properties of a reinforcer. All three experiments paired several keylight S2s with different keylight S1s and then carried out discriminative autoshaping with those S1s. Learning about the stimulus properties of S1 was inferred from changes in the response to its paired S2 when that S1 was changed in value. The sensitivity of S2 to changes in S1 was investigated as a function of number of S2-S1 pairings (Experiment 1), partial reinforcement (Experiment 2), and temporal distance between S2 and S1 (Experiment 3). Each experiment found evidence of a selective change in responding to an S2 as a function of the treatment of its S1. However, the amount of that change was not affected by any of the three variables studied. Those results imply that, within the ranges used here, none of these variables changes the degree of learning about the stimulus properties of a reinforcer.     

Pictorial presentation and review strategies in science learning

To test the effects of pictorial presentation and a pictorial review task on science learning, all-verbal or verbal-pictorial presentation conditions were followed by either pictorial practice or a control task. The 96 undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions presented on a computer-assisted instruction terminal. The groups differed significantly on a pictorial recognition test but not on a verbal posttest. The results favored the pictorial presentation with review condition. Experiment Two tested the effectiveness of the pictorial review task compared to a read-twice control. The same all-verbal presentation condition was given to 50 undergraduates who were then randomly assigned to the pictorial review task or to the re-read condition. The pictorial review condition facilitated performance on the pictorial posttest relative to the re-read condition and produced more favorable attitudes as well.     

Effects of audiovisual stimuli on learning through microcomputer-based class presentation

This study examined the differential effects of color, animation and nonverbal sounds incorporated into microcomputer software, on the learning of geometric concepts. The experimental software provided teachers with a detailed lesson outline to be used with one large-screen monitor for whole-class instruction. The stimulus version of the software used all three audiovisual factors as one cueing factor. The no-stimulus version presented the same screen display except in monochrome, with no animations or sound. Ninety-two ninth-grade students, randomly assigned to two treatment groups, answered two aptitude tests, two geometric pre-tests, two geometric immediate post-tests and two one-month delayed post-tests. Two 40-minute computer-guided lessons were delivered by the same teacher using the same software varying only the stimulus treatment. Results revealed significantly better immediate and delayed learning of the stimulus group over the other group. Beneficial effects of the stimulus treatment showed to be inconsistent across post-tests for the learning of either low- or high-aptitude students.     

谈学习风格构成的心理要素

学习风格是学习持续一贯的带有个性特征的学习方式，是学习策略和学习倾向的总和。构成学习风格的要素很多，其心理要素主要有认识风格、成就动机、学习归因、焦虑水平和学习坚持性。在它们的交互影响下，不同学生拥有不同的学习风格。     

Blocking of first- and second-order autoshaping in pigeons

In Experiment 1, the development of autoshaped pecking to a keylight signaling food was blocked if the keylight was presented only in conjunction with another stimulus already established as a signal for food, even though the blocking stimulus (either an overhead light or a train of clicks) never elicited pecking itself. In Experiment 2, pigeons came to peck a white keylight which signaled the presentation of a red keylight which had earlier been established as a first-order signal for food, but this second-order autoshaping was blocked if the white keylight was presented only in conjunction with the houselight or clicker which had previously signaled the presentation of the first-order stimulus. Second-order autoshaping was thus blocked in the same way as was first-order autoshaping.     

Effects of animation's speed of presentation on perceptual processing and learning

Animations presented at different speed are assumed to differentially interact with learners’ perception and cognition due to the constraints imposed by learners’ limited sensitivity to incoming dynamic information. To investigate the effects of high and low presentation speed of animation, two studies were conducted. In Study 1, participants were 55 students who learned about the functioning of a four-stroke engine from an animation with user-controlled presentation speed. In Study 2, eye movements of 19 students were analysed for different system-controlled presentation speeds of animation. Results indicated that high presentation speeds accentuated global events (i.e., macro-events), whereas low speeds accentuated local events (i.e., micro-events). However, eye movements were primarily affected by the content rather than the presentation speed of animation.     

Consummatory response latency and the stimulus-reinforcer relation in autoshaping

Autoshaping procedures with pigeons were used to assess the susceptibility of unconditioned response (UR) activity to Pavlovian relations between stimulus and reinforcer events. Foodpeck latency (a measure of UR activity) was investigated as a function of the interval between stimulus (keylight) and reinforcer (grain) presentations, and of the stimulus-reinforcer contingency, that is, the conditional probabilities of reinforcer delivery in the presence and absence of the stimulus. Four experiments indicated that food-peck latency was sensitive to both manipulations. Generally, conditions that led to higher keypeck rates were associated with shorter latencies. Thus, UR potentiation was demonstrated. However, when the bird’s location prior to grain delivery was fixed by imposing a keypeck-reinforcer contingency, UR potentiation vanished; it then reappeared when the location constraint was removed. Visual observations supported the conclusion that food-peck latency effects were mediated by approach/withdrawal tendencies generated by the stimulus-reinforcer relation. Implications of these results for expectancy theory are discussed.     

在远程教学中运用关键教学设计元素

远程教育专业人士需要担任多重角色,其中之一是教学设计者,为了成功担任这一角色,需要理解并且运用一些重要的教学设计元素。