Describes an inexpensive program using invertebrates as subjects in conditioning demonstrations and experiments. Provides a bibliography of reviews about invertebrate learning in addition to information on obtaining required apparatus and invertebrates.

Argues that first language acquisition is essentially based on a process very similar to classical conditioning. (TO)

The premise of equipotentiality, which has been widely adhered to among learning theorists, states that the laws of learning should not vary with the use of particular stimuli, responses, or reinforcements. Investigates this premise. (Editor/RK)

A detailed description of a layered network model is provided, with computer simulations of key associative learning phenomena and predictions generated from the model. The model is compared to more conventional theories of learning to learn and configural learning. (SLD)

In a recently developed in vitro analog of appetitive classical conditioning of feeding in "Aplysia," the unconditioned stimulus (US) was electrical stimulation of the esophageal nerve (En). This nerve is rich in dopamine (DA)-containing processes, which suggests that DA mediates reinforcement during appetitive conditioning. To test this…

We recently reported that fear extinction, a form of inhibitory learning, is selectively blocked by systemic administration of L-type voltage-gated calcium channel (LVGCC) antagonists, including nifedipine, in mice. We here replicate this finding and examine three reduced contingency effects after vehicle or nifedipine (40 mg/kg) administration.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not certain attitudes can be modified through laboratory procedures using positively evaluated words within a classical conditioning paradigm. It was hypothesized that evaluations of Vietnamese and Negroes would become more favorable after pictures of each were paired with the presentation of…

This study compared children's dependence on situational cues by a model to their reliance on the general affective valence of the model, in order to assess the role of each in determining vicarious changes in preference. Subjects were forty 4-year-olds attending a day care center. Among five toys used in pilot testing, a box of clothespins was…

Concerns the effects of instructions on classical conditioning of the GSR (galvanic skin response). It demonstrates that verbal conditioning of the GSR can be obtained using an innocuous unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Discusses implications for theories of human classical conditioning. (Editor/RK)

Classical conditioning procedures were used to change the attitudes and choice of social behavior of elementary and secondary students associated with drinking, smoking, and the use of drugs. The experimental group expressed more negative attitudes toward smoking and drinking and chose the use of drugs less frequently. (Author/BW)

Students participated in dyadic disclosure exercises over a five-week period. Results indicated members of high functional similarity dyads evidenced greater attraction to one another than did members of low functional similarity dyads. "Friendship" pairs of male undergraduates displayed greater functional similarity than did…

This study evaluated eye-blink conditioning in 11 persons with autism (ages 11 to 22). Compared to matched controls, persons with autism learned the task faster but performed short-latency, high-amplitude conditioned responses. Results suggest this population has the ability to rapidly associate paired stimuli but may have impairments in…

Recent theories of depression that have attracted enthusiasm are those of Lewinsohn and Seligman. Lewinsohn's theory emphasizes the importance of deficits in social skill leading to reduced reinforcement, while Seligman's emphasizes the evolution of the depressive's belief that his responding and reinforcement are independent. The present study…