Biological constraints on instrumental and classical conditioning: Retrospect and prospect

The adequacy of traditional approaches to the study of animal learning to account fully for learning phenomena has been seriously questioned during the past decade. Critics of traditional analyses advocated a biological orientation to the interpretation of associative processes and introduced a variety of concepts intended to provide a new framework for the study of animal learning. This promise of a reorientation of the field has not been realized. The concepts of biological constraints, adaptive specializations, and situation specificity of learning have had a less profound influence on the general process approach to instrumental and classical conditioning than anticipated. The present paper makes explicit the conceptual bases of the original biological approaches to learning, identifies reasons why they failed to change fundamentally the study of instrumental and classical conditioning, and proposes an alternative approach to the use of ecological and evolutionary principles in studies of conditioning. We suggest a renewed comparative approach to the study of learning phenomena that avoids many of the difficulties inherent in earlier formulations by providing (1) a strategy for the discovery of adaptive specializations in learning, (2) an ecological framework for the discussion of these adaptive specializations, and (3) a renewed emphasis on the study of species differences in learning.     

‘I have a love–hate relationship with ATLAS.ti’™: integrating qualitative data analysis software into a graduate research methods course

While research on teaching qualitative methods in education has increased, few studies explore teaching qualitative data analysis software within graduate-level methods courses. During 2013, we required students in several such courses to use ATLAS.ti? as a project management tool for their assignments. By supporting students’ early experiences with ATLAS.ti?, we anticipated that they might continue using the tool in their future research work. Using a case study and reflective practice approach, we reviewed course materials, including student and instructor reflections, to understand what happened when data analysis software was integrated into an advanced methods course. We identified five major themes: (1) a needed push out of their comfort zones; (2) various forms of support working together; (3) keys to motivation; (4) a new generation educating the current one and (5) use of the software beyond coursework. Implications for practice include ensuring adequate access and support for learning the software, balancing methodological and technical instruction, and creating meaningful student assignments and feedback opportunities.     

Toxicosis-based aversions to visual cues in rats: A test of the Testa and Ternes hypothesis

Testa and Ternes have proposed that the degree of spatial contiguity between a cue and a food object is an important determinant of the associability of that cue with toxicosis. We found, in accord with the Testa and Ternes hypothesis, that rats showed more profound illness-based aversions to the visual properties of food objects than to the visual properties of food bins or feeding chambers. This result has implications for the design of experiments undertaken to determine the relative associability of cues in different sensory modalities with toxicosis.     

The basis of feeling-of-knowing judgments in patients with schizophrenia

We examined the basis of feeling-of-knowing judgments (FOK) in patients with schizophrenia. Such patients typically have impaired memory and awareness, but not metamemory-accuracy deficits. The magnitude of FOKs are lower for patients with schizophrenia than for healthy participants, but judgments equally predict memory performance. In healthy participants, FOK is based on accessible information, including retrieval of partial-target (e.g., retrieving the first letter) and contextual information (e.g., related facts). In Experiment 1, we examined if accessible information predicts FOKs for episodic memory in patients with schizophrenia. Patients and healthy controls learned names paired with drawings of imaginary animals. The results showed that patients’ FOK increased with the retrieval of partial-target and contextual information. In Experiment 2, using semantic-memory general-information questions, accessible partial-target information predicted FOKs in patients with schizophrenia. The accessibility model of FOK applies to patients with schizophrenia, and it is important to determine what occurs in other memory-impaired populations.     

Homeschool background,time use and academic performance at a private religious college

We study the effects of homeschool background and time use on academic performance among students at Patrick Henry College, a private religious institution with a 63-credit core classical liberal arts curriculum. Using ordinary least squares regression analysis, we examine four research questions: (1) Does time use influence academic performance? (2) Do homeschooled students perform differently than traditionally schooled students? (3) Does parental education moderate the impact of homeschooling on academic performance? (4) Does homeschooling moderate the impact of ACT scores on academic performance?     

An Australian study of possible selves perceived by undergraduate engineering students

In this study, we worked with second-year engineering students at an Australian university to examine previously identified threshold concepts within the theoretical framework of Possible Selves. Using workshops as the context for intensive work with students, students were encouraged to consider their future lives and work, including their engineering fears, expectations, and aspirations. The findings revealed many students to have a poor understanding of the realities of engineering work. Moreover, perceived gaps between self-efficacy and the requirements of engineering work appeared to be motivating if students deemed it possible to reduce the gap, but demotivating if they identified a characteristic over which there was perceived to be no control. The study suggests that these engineering students needed more opportunities to explore both the roles of engineers and their own possible selves. Overall, the findings indicate that higher education students may need encouragement and support to explore potential future roles, and they strengthen calls for further research in this area.     

The role of inhibitory associations in perceptual learning

Preexposure to two compound flavors (AX and BX) typically enhances their discriminability: An aversion conditioned to AX will generalize less to BX, especially if the preexposure regime has involved alternated presentations of AX and BX rather than presenting all AX trials before BX trials (or vice versa). One possible explanation of this finding is that alternating preexposure establishes inhibitory associations between the two unique features A and B, thus counteracting the generalization produced by excitatory associations between X and A and between X and B, which might result in either the retrieval of B on a conditioning trial to AX, or the retrieval of A on a test trial to BX. Three experiments on flavor aversion conditioning in rats tested these predictions. Experiment 1 suggested that the more important of these excitatory associations was that which allowed X to retrieve A on the test trial to BX. Experiment 2 suggested that the more important inhibitory association was that which allowed B to inhibit the representation of A on this test trial. Experiment 3 provided direct evidence of the role of this inhibitory B⊣A association.     

Effect of verbal instructions and image size on visual search strategies in basketball free throw shooting

We assessed the effects on basketball free throw performance of two types of verbal directions with an external attentional focus. Novices (n = 16) were pre-tested on free throw performance and assigned to two groups of similar ability (n = 8 in each). Both groups received verbal instructions with an external focus on either movement dynamics (movement form) or movement effects (e.g. ball trajectory relative to basket). The participants also observed a skilled model performing the task on either a small or large screen monitor, to ascertain the effects of visual presentation mode on task performance. After observation of six videotaped trials, all participants were given a post-test. Visual search patterns were monitored during observation and cross-referenced with performance on the pre- and post-test. Group effects were noted for verbal instructions and image size on visual search strategies and free throw performance. The 'movement effects' group saw a significant improvement in outcome scores between the pre-test and post-test. These results supported evidence that this group spent more viewing time on information outside the body than the 'movement dynamics' group. Image size affected both groups equally with more fixations of shorter duration when viewing the small screen. The results support the benefits of instructions when observing a model with an external focus on movement effects, not dynamics.