Browsing by Subject "Conditioned response"
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Item Differential reinforcement of discrete trial inhibitory behavior in hippocampectomized rats(Texas Tech University, 1969-08) Posey, Thomas BlakeNot availableItem Extended primary and higher order conditioning of earthworms(Texas Tech University, 1970-08) Fields, Thomas AlvinNot availableItem External Inhibition and Disinhibition in Fixed Interval Instrumental Conditioning(Texas Tech University, 1971-12) Stucka, Norene WillersNot Available.Item Instrumental conditioning of the galvanic skin response(Texas Tech University, 1966-08) Higgins, James LNot availableItem Naive rat performance affected by intra-peritoneal injections of RNA extracted from the brains of operant conditioned rats(Texas Tech University, 1968-08) Schiflett, Samuel G.Not availableItem The role of species typical cues in sexual conditioning : analysis of potential adaptive specializations in learning(2001-08) Cusato, Brian Michael, 1968-; Domjan, Michael, 1947-The Pavlovian conditioning of sexual behavior involves the association of a conditioned stimulus (CS) with a live female (the unconditioned stimulus or US). Studies using male domesticated quail have shown that adding taxidermic female head and neck cues to a CS results in facilitated conditioned sexual responding (the facilitation effect). Eight experiments examined the special efficacy of female cues in sexual conditioning and the mechanisms responsible for the facilitation effect. The findings indicate that similarity between the CS and the US is important in determining the amount of conditioned responding that develops. Color (Experiments 1 & 2) more than shape or symmetry (Experiments 3 & 4) may be the most salient feature of the female head cues. Female cues may facilitate conditioned sexual responding because adding them to the CS makes the CS more closely resemble the color of the US female. Response levels also were compared when CSs with and without female cues were used in conditioning with a sexual US and a food US (Experiment 5). The female cues facilitated male conditioned responding whenever the measured response was appropriate to the US that was used. This suggests that the special efficacy of female cues does not reflect an adaptive specialization unique to sexual behavior. Other experiments showed that tactile contact with the CS during conditioning was not necessary for the female cues to facilitate conditioned responding (Experiments 6), and CS objects with female cues acquired more reinforcing properties than CS objects without female cues (Experiments 7). The results provide insights into the mechanisms underlying the facilitated responding elicited by female cues and help distinguish between general-process and adaptive specialization accounts of the facilitation effect. The methodology used represents an ecological approach to learning investigations by employing species typical cues, and extends Pavlovian phenomenon to complex social interactions. The findings illustrate the benefits of integrating ethology and animal learning. The behavior systems approach to the study of animal learning is offered as a promising theoretical framework for this integration.Item Role of the nucleus basalis in conditioned responses of cortical neurons in the rat(Texas Tech University, 1985-12) Rigdon, Greg CNeurons in the rat frontal cortex demonstrate altered firing rates in response to conditioned stimuli. Experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that the basal forebrain cholinergic systera is involved in the generation of conditioned neuronal responses in the rat frontal cortex. Most of the cholinergic innervation to the frontal cortex is supplied by projections frora the nucleus basalis raagnocellularis (nBM), A two-second tone cue imraediately followed by rewarding medial forebrain bundle stimulation was used to elicit the conditioned neuronal responses in the following experiraents. Experiment One was performed to determine the effects of inhibiting the firing of neurons in the nBM region on the conditioned responses. This was presuraably accomplished by microinjecting procaine, a local anesthetic, or GABA, an inhibitory neurotransraitter, into the nBM region. Procaine antagonized the conditioned responses of 86% of the cortical single units tested and GABA antagonized the responses of 81% of the units. Experiment Two was designed to investigate the effects of blocking cholinergic receptors on the conditioned responses of frontal cortex neurons. Microinjection of atropine, a cholinergic antagonist, into the frontal cortex suppressed the conditioned responses of 21 of 24 cortical single units. The nBM region was lesioned with kainic acid, a neurotoxin, in Experiment Three. The lesion resulted in a significant decrease in choline acetyltransferase activity in the frontal cortex ipsilateral to the nBM lesion. Only 25% of the neurons recorded in the frontal cortex on the side of the nBM lesion exhibited conditioned responses. This was significantly lower than the percentage of neurons that exhibited conditioned responses (70%) in the cortex of untreated animals. The firing rates of units in the nBM region were monitored during the cue-event paradigm in Experiment Four. Of the 38 unit recordings from the nBM region, 28 (74%) exhibited conditioned responses. The results from the four experiments together provide strong evidence for a role of the basal forebrain cholinergic system in the generation of conditioned single unit responses in the frontal cortex.Item Testing the validity of a non-associative theory of Pavlovian learning, Rate Estimation Theory (RET)(2006) Gean, Emily Grace; Domjan, Michael, 1947-Item The contribution of stimulus aftereffects and memories to resistance to extinction in the rat.(Texas Tech University, 1975-08) Nicholls, Richard JamesNot availableItem The interaction of stimulus compounds in extinction(Texas Tech University, 1977-12) Duch, VictorNOT AVAILABLE