Dissociation of the blocking of conditioned eyeblink and conditioned fear following a shift in US locus

Two experiments with rabbits investigated the concordance of two measures of conditioning, eyeblink and potentiated startle, during a blocking sequence with paraorbital shock reinforcement. In both, a shift in the locus of shock from one eye to the other between the conditioning of an element and a compound of that element and a new cue had differential effects on the two measures of conditioning to the new cue. When the shock was unchanged, diminished conditioning in relation to controls (i.e., blocking) was observed on both measures. When the shock was changed, little conditioning was observed in startle, but control-equivalent amounts were observed in eyeblink (i.e., blocking occurred on the former but not the latter). The results are interpreted as showing a dissociation of the associative learning involving the emotive features of Pavlovian reinforcers and that involving the remaining sensory-perceptual features, and more compatible with a diminished US-processing, than with a CSprocessing, view of blocking.     

New Zealand management students’ perceptions of communication technologies in correspondence education

Nearly 1,000 management students enrolled in New Zealand's Technical Correspondence Institute during 1980‐1982 were mailed a questionnaire and followup letters from March ‐‐ July, 1983. Response rate was 76.9% (N=724). Did dropouts (3.43%) differ from persisters in their preferences for supplementary or alternative educational technologies? Dropouts were more receptive to telephone and audio taped communications and seminars. Audio tape and seminar variables were among surviving predictors of dropout after extensive multiple linear regression analyses. Distance education institutions should consider using multiple communication channels in order to cater to diverse student learning styles.