In studies of function transformation, participants initially are taught to match stimuli in the presence of a contextual cue, X; the stimuli to be matched bear some formal relation to each other, for example, a relation of opposition or difference. In a second phase, the participants are taught to match arbitrary stimuli (say, A and B) in the…

A common cellular alteration, reduced post-burst afterhyperpolarization (AHP) in CA1 neurons, is associated with acquisition of the hippocampus-dependent tasks trace eyeblink conditioning and the Morris water maze. As a similar increase in excitability is correlated with these two learning paradigms, we sought to determine the interactive…

Psychostimulant exposure has been shown to cause molecular and cellular changes in prefrontal cortex. It has been hypothesized that these drug-induced changes might affect the operation of prefrontal-limbic circuits, disrupting their normal role in controlling behavior and thereby leading to compulsive drug-seeking. To test this hypothesis, we…

Fetal and infant rats can learn to avoid odors paired with illness before development of brain areas supporting this learning in adults, suggesting an alternate learning circuit. Here we begin to document the transition from the infant to adult neural circuit underlying odor-malaise avoidance learning using LiCl (0.3 M; 1% of body weight, ip) and…

This study examined the effects of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT) as a reinforcer for verbal operant production in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Three children who attended a dolphin therapy program participated in this single subject research study. Baseline data was collected for each child via a video tape provided by parents and…

General strain theory (GST) was tested as an explanation of violent and status offense delinquency of South Korean girls and boys. One research objective was to determine whether Korean girls and boys differed in their experience of each type of strain and in the levels of conditioning effects that might moderate the connections of strain to…

Operant conditioning techniques were used to modify verbal behavior in 18 institutionalized, trainable mentally handicapped mongoloids with chronological ages from 4-6 to 7-10 and mental ages from 2.0 to 2.10. Two instruments were constructed to evaluate language: a language test and a speech rating scale. Project leaders had no prior knowledge of…

Two similarly large buildings and air conditioning systems are comparatively analyzed as to energy consumption, costs, and inefficiency during certain measured periods of time. Building design and velocity systems are compared to heating, cooling, lighting and distribution capabilities. Energy requirements for pumps, fans and lighting are found to…

Based on the assumption that inferential statistics can make the operant conditioner more sensitive to possible significant relationships, regressions models were developed to test the statistical significance between slopes and Y intercepts of the experimental and control group subjects. These results were then compared to the traditional operant…

This book published in 1986 introduces students to psychology and its related subject areas. Students learn that psychology has matured through the centuries from its taboo beginnings in supernatural beliefs and magic to its current status as a scientific discipline. Sections of the book include: (1) "What is Psychology?"; (2) "Human Development";…

This article examines the idea that social norms are not permanently incorporated into a person's personality. The author presents the argument that in a group situation subjects are conditioned toward similarity while afterward, the individual's behavior gradually returns to an "operant level". Tests show this argument to be essentially true.…

The functional spaces of this school are organized to require two instead of three roof-top air-conditioning penthouses. (Available from 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, $15.00 annually.) (Author/MLF)

An experimental psychology course which analyzes the broad probability of operant conditioning is described. (DE)