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PubMed1982

Hippocampal resections impair associative learning and recognition memory in the monkey.

Damage to the hippocampus has been implicated in the permanent loss of memory in patients with medial temporal lobe resections. In two previous studies, it was established that bilateral ablations of the hippocampus in the monkey impaired performance on an associative learning task and on an object discrimination retention task. The two objectives of the present study were to assess the long term effects of hippocampal resections in the monkey and to extend the analysis of the effects of these resections to recognition memory. Therefore, the performance of monkeys with either hippocampal ablations or fornix transections, sustained 5 years earlier, was compared (1) on a concurrent discrimination task--a previously unencountered associative learning task--and (2) on a nonmatching-to-sample recognition task with either delays interposed between the presentation of the sample object and the recognition trial or with lists of either 1-, 3-, 5-, or 10-object samples. Significant impairment on both tasks was found after hippocampal, but not after fornix, damage. Though monkeys in the hippocampal group were impaired on both delays and lists, the impairment was more severe on the lists, with abnormal sensitivity to pro- and retroactive interference as a possible source of difficulty. Thus, in parallel with clinical findings, ablations of the hippocampus in the nonhuman primate produce an enduring disruption of memory.

Animals↗

PubMed1975

Ego strength and confidence thresholds in two methods of paired-associate learning.

Two experiments contrasted the effects of high and low wgo strength (as measured by Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionaire) on confidence thresholds (FG scores) under the anticipation and recall methods. High ego strength resulted in larger FG scores under the anticipation method- weakly so in Experiment I but significantly so in Experiment II, where subjects were selected from greater extremes of ego strength. This inferiority extended to trails to criterion and a measure of the associative-learning stage as well. Tasks for extending the generality of the obtained relationship of ego strength and confidence thresholds in paired-associate learning are suggested.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

The internet as a research tool in the study of associative learning: an example from overshadowing.

The present study aimed to replicate an associative learning effect, overshadowing, both in the traditional laboratory conditions and over the internet. The experimental task required participants to predict an outcome based on the presence of several cues. When a cue that was always trained together with a second cue was presented on isolation at test, the expectancy of the outcome was impaired, which revealed overshadowing. This experimental task was performed by undergraduate students (N=106) in the laboratory and by a different set of anonymous participants over the internet (N=91). Similar levels of overshadowing were obtained in both locations. These similarities show that web-delivered experiments can be used as a complement of traditional experiments.

Association Learning↗

PubMed2003

fMRI BOLD response to increasing task difficulty during successful paired associates learning.

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess cortical activations associated with increasing task difficulty (TD) in a visuospatial paired associates learning task. Encoding and retrieval were examined when 100% successful retrieval of three, four, or six object-location pairs had been attained (thus ensuring that performance was matched across subjects). As memory load increased, in general, the number of attempts taken to achieve 100% successful retrieval increased, while the number of trials correctly completed on the first attempt decreased. By modelling parametric variations in working memory load with BOLD signal changes we were able to identify brain regions displaying linear and nonlinear responses to increasing load. During encoding, load-independent activations were found in occipitoparietal cortices (excluding the precuneus for which linear load dependency was demonstrated), anterior cingulate, and cerebellum, while linear load-dependent activations in these same regions were found during retrieval. Nonlinear load-dependent responses, as identified by categorical contrasts between levels of load, were found in the right DLPFC and left inferior frontal gyrus. The cortical response to increasing cognitive demands or TD appears to involve the same, rather than an additional, network of brain regions "working harder."

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Formal Requirements of Markov State Models for Paired Associate Learning.

Discrete state learning models that make Markov assumptions are a powerful tool for the analysis and optimization of performance in paired associate tasks. We seek here to derive bounds on the complexity needed by such models in order to account for the critical effects of lag and retention intervals on paired associate learning. More specifically, after establishing that two different Markov chains are needed (one for describing the effects of trials where a paired associate is presented and one for describing the effects of trials where the paired associate is not presented), we determine the minimum number of states required in a Markov model with two chains. It is shown formally that, under certain psychologically plausible assumptions, more than three states are required. A model with two chains and four states is presented and it is shown empirically that it can account for the lag and retention effects in paired associate learning. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1982

Correlated receptor and motorneuron changes during retention of associative learning of Hermissenda crassicornis.

1. Responses to light of an identified motorneuron (LP1) were recorded simultaneously with those of an identified Hermissenda photoreceptor (the lateral Type B) following three days of training with paired light and rotation. 2. These responses were significantly different when compared to responses of cells from animals trained with unpaired stimuli and from naive animals. 3. The differences of the LP1 responses can be explained as a consequence of the photoreceptor response changes. 4. The same training with paired stimuli has been shown to produce behavioural changes which satisfy criteria for vertebrate associative learning. 5. The observed neural correlates are consistent with previous findings which indicate that membrane changes within the Type B cell bodies play a causal role in associative learning of the nudibranch mollusc, Hermissenda crassicornis.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

Deficits in non-spatial conditional associative learning after periarcuate lesions in the monkey.

Monkeys with lesions of the periarcuate region of the frontal cortex were severely impaired in learning a nonspatial conditional associative task. In this task, either one of two non-spatial responses (open the lit or the unlit box) was correct if emitted in the presence of the appropriate stimulus. In contrast, the periarcuate monkeys were able to learn, at a normal rate, the control tasks in which only one of the two responses was correct (e.g., go to the lit box), the animal's task being to emit this response when the cue to do so was given. These findings support the hypothesis that the periarcuate cortex is critically involved in conditional associative learning.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Associative learning in a network model of Hermissenda crassicornis. I. Theory.

A time-varying Resistance-Capacitance (RC) circuit computer model was constructed based on known membrane and synaptic properties of the visual-vestibular network of the marine snail Hermissenda crassicornis. Specific biophysical properties and synaptic connections of identified neurons are represented as lumped parameters (circuit elements) in the model; in the computer simulation, differential equations are approximated by difference equations. The model's output, membrane potential, an indirect measure of firing frequency, closely parallels the behavioral and electrophysiologic outputs of Hermissenda in response to the same input stimuli presented during and after associative learning. The parallelism of the computer modeled and the biologic outputs suggests that the model captures the features necessary and sufficient for associative learning.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Conditional associative learning in drug-free schizophrenic patients.

The performance on spatial and nonspatial associative learning tasks was tested in a sample of male drug-free DSM III-diagnosed schizophrenic patients and in a closely matched normal control group. Schizophrenics showed a worse performance on both versions of the task, but especially on the nonspatial one. A significant correlation was observed between some indices of the nonspatial task and the scores on two subscales (affective flattening and anhedonia) of the scale for the assessment of negative symptoms by Andreasen. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of a dysfunction of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia and with the postulated linkage between such dysfunction and negative schizophrenic symptomatology.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Are students' beliefs about knowledge and learning associated with their reported use of learning strategies?

BACKGROUND: Although considerable research has examined beliefs and learning outcomes (e.g. Schommer, 1990, 1993a, 1993b; Schommer & Dunnell, 1997), little has looked at the relationship between beliefs and the actual learning process. AIMS: This research examines the relationship between beliefs about learning and knowledge, and reports of learning strategy-use relevant for successful text comprehension. SAMPLE: Participants were 81 Norwegian university students who had studied from 1 to 4 years in a range of disciplines. METHOD: Students' beliefs about knowledge and learning were measured with the Schommer Epistemological Questionnaire (SEQ; Schommer, 1998b). Learning strategies particularly useful for text-based learning were measured with the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ; Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991). A correlational analysis between measures and full regression analyses of how beliefs influence strategy selection were performed. RESULTS: Beliefs about how thoroughly knowledge is integrated in networks (simple) and how fixed the ability to learn is from birth (fixed) contributed significantly to reported strategy use: Simple to rehearsal and organizational strategies, fixed to elaboration and critical thinking strategies, and a combination of simple and fixed to strategies relevant to the thoughtful monitoring of learning tasks. Beliefs about how certain knowledge is (certain) and how quickly learning can be expected to occur (quick) were not found to contribute to reported learning- strategy use in any significant way. CONCLUSION: Some, but not all, beliefs about knowledge and learning offer insight into students' reported use of learning strategies relevant for reading course literature.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

The supposed effect of interactive imagery in paired associate learning.

Previous experiments designed to investigate the effects of interactive imagery in paired associate learning have included the confounded variable of intralist similarity: Images of objects interacting have corresponded to pairs with different connectives, and images of independent objects have corresponded to pairs with the same connective (the conjunction "and"). For the "different" group of our first experiment, the members of the different pairs were linked by different connectives, most of which denoted an action. For the "same" group, the members were linked by the same connective, usually one denoting an action. For the "and" group, the members were linked by the connective "and". Cued recall by the "different" group was superior to that of the other two groups. Recall by the "same" and "and" groups did not differ. Within the "different" group, recall of "and" pairs did not differ from the recall of "action" pairs with which they had been mixed. In a second experiment, subjects were required to match the members of a pair. Analogous results were obtained. Overall, the findings imply that recall effects that have previously been interpreted as being a result of interactive imagery may be the result merely of variations in intralist similarity.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Child-directed speech produced by mothers with symptoms of depression fails to promote associative learning in 4-month-old infants.

Child-directed (CD) speech segments produced by 20 mothers who varied in self-reported symptoms of depression, recorded during a structured play interaction with their 2- to 6-month-old infants, were used as conditioned stimuli with face reinforcers in a conditioned attention paradigm. After pairings of speech segments and faces, speech segments were assessed for their ability to increase time spent looking at a novel checker-board pattern (summation test) using 225 4-month-old infants of nondepressed mothers. Significant positive summation, an index of associative learning, was obtained in groups of infants tested with speech produced by mothers with comparatively fewer self-reported symptoms of depression (Beck Depression Inventory or BDI < or = 15). However, significant positive summation was not achieved using speech samples produced by mothers with comparatively more symptoms of depression (BDI > 15). These results indicate that the CD speech produced by mothers with symptoms of depression does not promote associative learning in infants.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Associative learning in humans--conditioning of sensory-evoked brain activity.

A classical conditioning paradigm was employed in two experiments performed on 35 human volunteers. In nine subjects, the presentation of Landolt rings (conditioned stimuli, CS + ) was paired with an electric stimulus (unconditioned stimuli, UCS) applied to the left median nerve. Neutral visual control stimuli were full circles (CS -) that were not paired with the UCS. The skin conductance response (SCR) was determined in a time interval of 5 s after onset of the visual stimuli, and it was measured in the acquisition and test phase. Associative learning was reflected by a SCR occurring selectively with CS +. The same experiment was repeated with another group of 26 adults while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from 30 electrodes. For each subject, mean evoked potentials were computed. In 13 of the subjects, a conditioning paradigm was followed while the other subjects served as the control group (non-contingent stimulation). There were somatosensory and visual brain activity evoked by the stimuli. Conditioned components were identified by computing cross-correlation between evoked somatosensory components and the averaged EEG. In the visual evoked brain activity, three components with mean latencies of 105.4, 183.2, and 360.3 ms were analyzed. Somatosensory stimuli were followed by major components that occurred at mean latencies of 48.8, 132.5, 219.7, 294.8, and 374.2 ms latency after the shock. All components were analyzed in terms of latency, field strength, and topographic characteristics, and were compared between groups and experimental conditions. Both visual and somatosensory brain activity was significantly affected by classical conditioning. Our data illustrate how associative learning affects the topography of brain electrical activity elicited by presentation of conditioned visual stimuli.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Nicotinic modulation in an animal model of a form of associative learning impaired in Alzheimer's disease.

Eyeblink classical conditioning is a widely used associative learning paradigm that has striking behavioral and neurobiological parallels between humans and other mammals. Eyeblink conditioning is impaired in older organisms, and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are impaired beyond the normal aging deficit. The cholinergic system is of demonstrated involvement in eyeblink conditioning. Blockade of nicotinic cholinergic receptors with mecamylamine prolonged acquisition of conditioned responses (CRs) in young adult rabbits, and the nicotinic agonist, GTS-21 ameliorated conditioning deficits in older rabbits. Galantamine induces allosteric modulation of nicotinic cholinergic receptors to increase acetylcholine release as well as acting as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Galantamine doses of 0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mg/kg were tested in ten daily sessions in 40 retired breeder rabbits (mean age = 29 months) in the 750 ms delay conditioning paradigm. A dose of 3 mg/kg galantamine was effective in improving conditioning in older rabbits, enabling them to achieve learning criterion rapidly and to produce a very high percentage of CRs. Control tests of rabbits in explicitly unpaired conditions demonstrated that non-associative factors could not account for the results. The efficacy of galantamine in a learning paradigm that shows severe impairment in AD indicates that the drug may be effective as a cognition-enhancer in AD.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2003

Time-dependent neural activations related to recognition of people's names in emotional and neutral face-name associative learning: an fMRI study.

Previous data have indicated that the left anterior temporal lobe contributes to the retrieval of familiar people's names, and that the extended network including the bilateral anterior temporal lobe plays an important role in the retrieval of newly learned people's names. However, there has been no direct evidence for time-dependent change in brain activation in face-name associations. In addition, previous studies have demonstrated that emotional information such as emotional faces may contribute to the organization of long-lasting episodic memory. In the present study, we investigated the activations related to the recognition of people's names in the context of emotional and neutral face-name associative learning. Before fMRI scanning, subjects learned face-name associations that included emotionally positive and neutral facial expressions. In immediate (5 min later) and delayed (2 weeks later) recognition with fMRI scanning, subjects were presented with studied faces with two names, and were asked to choose the correct associative name learned previously. Recognition-related activations were identified in the anterior part of bilateral temporal lobe for immediate recognition and only in the left temporal lobe for delayed recognition. Further analysis confirmed the time-dependent change in activation of the right anterior temporal lobe. Activation related to the processing of faces with positive expressions were observed in the left periamygdaloid area and temporal pole, although emotional information did not have an influence on task performance in this study. These findings suggest that the neural network involving the bilateral temporal lobe contributes to the retrieval of newly learned people's names, and that the left temporal lobe has a crucial and stable role in retrieval of people's names from faces, whereas the role of the right temporal lobe in retrieval of people's names may decrease with the time course.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Enhanced visuomotor associative learning following stimulation of alpha 2A-adrenoceptors in the ventral prefrontal cortex in monkeys.

The present study investigated the effect of locally infused guanfacine, an alpha2A-adrenergic agonist, into the ventral prefrontal cortex (PFv) on visuomotor associative learning. Two monkeys were well trained on a two-problem visuomotor associative task: the monkeys performed movement A if presented with a circle pattern, or movement B if presented with a triangle pattern. For learning of new visuomotor associations, the monkeys were presented with a new set of four patterns in each and every daily session, two of which instructed movement A and the other two movement B. Bilaterally infused guanfacine (2.5 microg/microl; 3 microl on each side) improved the monkeys' ability to learn new visuomotor associations: trials and errors to learning criterion of 90% correct decreased significantly. The monkeys showed an enhanced capability to use win-stay/lose-shift strategy on 'repeat trials' and change-stay/change-shift strategy on 'change trials.' The present results indicate that alpha2A-adrenoceptor in the PFv is involved in regulating visuomotor associative learning.

Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists↗

PubMed2003

Word, nonword, and visual paired associate learning in Dutch dyslexic children.

Verbal and non-verbal learning were investigated in 21 8-11-year-old dyslexic children and chronological-age controls, and in 21 7-9-year-old reading-age controls. Tasks involved the paired associate learning of words, nonwords, or symbols with pictures. Both learning and retention of associations were examined. Results indicated that dyslexic children had difficulty with verbal learning of both words and nonwords. In addition, analysis of the errors made during nonword learning showed that both phonological errors and general learning errors were distributed similarly for the reading groups. This suggests that nonword learning in dyslexics is slower, but not qualitatively different from normal readers. Furthermore, no differences were found between the dyslexics and age-matched normal readers on non-verbal learning. Long-term retention of the learned visual-verbal associations (both words and nonwords) was not impaired in dyslexic children as compared to normal readers. Finally, phonological awareness ability was assessed. Dyslexics performed worse than age-matched normal readers, but similar to reading-age controls.

Awareness↗

PubMed2006

Paired-associate learning, phoneme awareness, and learning to read.

We report two studies examining the relations among three paired-associate learning (PAL) tasks (visual-visual, verbal-verbal, and visual-verbal), phoneme deletion, and single-word and nonword reading ability. Correlations between the PAL tasks and reading were strongest for the visual-verbal task. Path analyses showed that both phoneme deletion and visual-verbal PAL were unique predictors of a composite measure of single-word reading and of irregular word reading. However, for nonword reading, phoneme deletion was the only unique predictor (and visual-verbal PAL was not a significant predictor). These results are consistent with the view that learning visual (orthography) to phonological mappings is an important skill for developing word recognition skills in reading and that individual differences in this ability can be tapped experimentally by a PAL task.

Awareness↗