When discrete localizable stimuli are used during appetitive Pavlovian conditioning, "sign-tracking" and "goal-tracking" responses emerge. Sign-tracking is observed when conditioned responding is directed toward the CS, whereas goal-tracking manifests as responding directed to the site of expected reward delivery. These…

In everyday life, one can link anticipated specific cues (e.g. visiting a restaurant) with desired actions (e.g., ordering a healthy meal). Alternatively, intentions such as "I intend to eat more healthily" present the option to act when one encounters the same cue. In the first case, a specific cue triggers a specific action; in the second, one…

Combined activation of dopamine D1- and NMDA-glutamate receptors in the nucleus accumbens has been strongly implicated in instrumental learning, the process in which an individual learns that a specific action has a wanted outcome. To assess dopaminergic activity, we presented rats with two sessions (30 trials each) of a one-lever appetitive…

This study was designed to examine the effects of two factors on the delay behavior of six year old children, a large percentage of whom had not yet attained temporal operations. The subjects consisted of 60 black, first grade children from a lower class urban neighborhood school. The experimental design was a 2x3 factorial with the first factor…

This study focused on the processes occurring during the waiting period in delay of gratification situations. Sixty-four middle class preschool children chose between waiting for a preferred item and receiving a less desired item immediately. The items were of different classes, i. e., one food and one toy, and subjects waited with one, both, or…

The 21 summaries of research programs, funded by the United States Army Research Institute (ARI) for the Behavioral and Social Sciences which are presented are grouped in five broad topic areas: computer-based systems; information processing; learning, memory and transfer; human relations; and related issues and trends. Papers presented include:…