The purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether repeated cocaine exposure differentially affects sucrose-reinforced operant responding in rats raised in an enriched condition (EC) or an isolated condition (IC). Specifically, the performance of EC and IC rats pressing a lever for sucrose under a high fixed-ratio schedule (FR 30)…

This literature review examines the present level of evidence in support of communication-based treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders. Reviews to date have reported on research published through 2002. The current article included 36 studies published between 2002 and 2007. Best available evidence is presented for seven treatment…

A STUDY OF TOTAL ENERGY (CENTRAL HEATING, COOLING, LIGHTING, AND POWER SYSTEMS) WAS MADE BY AN INDEPENDENT AGENCY IN ORDER TO OBJECTIVELY DETERMINE THE IMPLICATIONS AND ADVISABILITY FOR USE IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. THE RESULTING REPORT INCLUDES CASE STUDIES, FEASIBILITY GUIDELINES, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT DESIGN GUIDELINES, AND A DISCUSSION…

To vicariously condition either fear or a positive emotional response, films in which a 5-year-old male model manifested one or the other response were shown to nursery school children. The measure of vicarious conditioning was the children's rate of response to the conditioned stimulus and a controlled stimulus in several operant situations after…

The first of these two articles presents the methods, results, and discussions of six experiments which employed an avoidance of time-out from positive reinforcement schedule with human subjects to investigate: (1) whether time-outs may be considered aversive events; and (2) if so, whether the aversiveness was sufficient to produce aggressive…

A study of total energy (central heating, cooling, lighting, and power systems) was made by an independent agency in order to objectively determine the implications and advisability for use in American schools and colleges. The resulting report includes case studies, feasability guidelines, plant and equipment design guidelines, and a discussion…

A study was conducted to demonstrate that originality can be facilitated in elementary school children. Research has shown that a training procedure designed to elicit uncommon responses will facilitate original responses on subsequent tasks. Ss were 96 fifth- and sixth-graders. Half were randomly assigned to a group given originality training…

Primarily a feasibility study, the research reported is based on Eysenck's hypothesis that conditionability is a unitary factor related to introversion-extroversion and attention span. Thirty infants, representing a random sampling of race, sex, and socioeconomic background, were tested on three consecutive days at ages 3 months, 5 months, 9…

Assesses a self-reward contracting procedure intended to facilitate completion of self-administered desensitization. Self-referred snake phobics received either (a) self-administered desensitization; (b) self-administered desensitization with self-reward contracting; or (c) a self-administered placebo with self-reward contracting. Results show the…

Three experiments carried out second-order Pavlovian conditioning using either similar or dissimilar first-and second-order stimuli. All three experiments were designed to identify the effects of similarity upon conditioning as distinct from its effects upon sensitization or stimulus generalization. (Editor/RK)

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)

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…

Feeding behavior of Aplysia provides an excellent model system for analyzing and comparing mechanisms underlying appetitive classical conditioning and reward operant conditioning. Behavioral protocols have been developed for both forms of associative learning, both of which increase the occurrence of biting following training. Because the neural…

Paradoxically, fear conditioning (odor-0.5 mA shock) yields a learned odor preference in the neonate, presumably due to a unique learning and memory circuit that does not include apparent amygdala participation. Post-training opioid antagonism with naltrexone (NTX) blocks consolidation of this odor preference and instead yields memory of a learned…