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PubMedDate not supplied

Age-related changes in associative learning: studies in rabbits and rats.

Two experimental models for studying age-related changes in associative learning are described. One involves classical (Pavlovian) conditioning of eyeblink and heart rate in the rabbit. The second involves Pavlovian leg flexion and heart rate conditioning in the rat. Advantages and disadvantages of each model are discussed. Results with both models suggest differential effects of aging on acquisition of autonomic and somatomotor responses, thus underlining the utility of assessing multiple response systems to adequately characterize age-related changes in learning and memory.

Aging↗
PubMed1986

Presentation rate effects on paired associate learning by attention deficit disordered children.

2 methods of varying presentation rate during paired associate learning were contrasted in attention deficit disordered (ADD) children. Previous studies have varied presentation rate across different (fixed rate) lists, and they have demonstrated that ADD children perform poorly at slower rates. In the present study, this method of presentation was contrasted with one in which half the items within a single list were presented at a fast rate and half at a slow rate. The debilitating effect of the slow rate was obtained in ADD children (but not in normal controls) only with the fixed list method. This finding suggests that the rate effects occur in ADD children because they are vulnerable to the experimental context created when items are presented at a slow rate over an extended time period.

Attention↗
PubMed1989

Structure from stereo by associative learning of the constraints.

A computational model of structure from stereo that develops smoothness constraints naturally by associative learning of a large number of example mappings from disparity data to surface depth data is proposed. Banks of disparity-selective graded response units at all spatial locations in the visual field were the input data. These cells responded to matches of luminance change at convergent, divergent, or zero offsets in the left and right 'retina' samples. Surfaces were created by means of a pseudo-Markov process. From these surfaces, shaded marked and ummarked surfaces were created, along with random-dot versions of the same surfaces. Learning of these example shaded and shaded marked surfaces allowed the system to solve stereo mappings both for the surfaces it had learned and for surfaces it had not learned but which had been created by the same pseudo-Markov process. Further, the model was able to solve some random-dot versions of the surfaces when the surfaces had been learned as shaded marked surfaces.

Association Learning↗
PubMed1973

Application of Bower's one-element model to paired-associate learning by pigeons.

Bower's (1961) all-or-none model of human paired-associate learning was applied to individual data supplied by three pigeons. When the center one of three keys was illuminated with red light or with three white dots in a vertical array on a black ground, pecking on the left key was reinforced. When the center key was lighted green or with a horizontal array of three white dots on a black ground, pecking on the right key was reinforced. The left and right keys were illuminated with white light. The task was considered to be analogous to learning a paired-associate list of four pairs involving four stimulus items and two response items. The model was evaluated by comparing the following model predictions with values obtained from each animal: trials-to-criterion, standard deviation of trials-to-criterion, standard deviation of errors-to-criterion, mean error runs, mean error runs of lengths one to four, and autocorrelations of errors of lags one to three. Most of the predictions based upon the model were in close agreement with the obtained data.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Associative learning in acutely ill and recovered schizophrenic patients.

Eight acutely ill deluded schizophrenic patients were compared with eight matched recovered patients on an associative learning task. Ten word pair associations were presented over five trials. Subsequently the subjects were presented with ten novel pairings over three trials, one word from the first pair associated with a new partner. Recovered patients performed better than acutely ill patients on both stages of the task. This result does not support the neuropsychological model of Gray et al. (1991) which predicts that acute schizophrenia is characterised by a weakening of the effect of previous experience on new learning.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1979

Verbal vs. nonverbal and complex vs. simple responses in the paired-associate learning of poor readers.

The relative ability of 38 fourth-grade boys, good and poor readers, to learn paired-associate lists requiring either verbal or nonverbal responses was assessed with four different tasks. Two of the tasks required either simple or complex verbal responses, while the other two involved learning simple and complex oral, nonverbal responses. The stimuli for all tasks were letter-like visual figures drawn on cards. The good readers learned more efficiently overall, but the major differences between reading groups occurred on the tasks requiring verbal responses.

Child↗
PubMed1985

A test of the differences between anticipation and study-test methods of paired-associate learning.

The identity model proposes that anticipation and study-test methods of paired-associate learning differ little in basic acquisition, retrieval, and storage processes per event: study, test, and intervening study and test events of other items plus the intercycle interval. The major difference between the two methods boils down to differential short-term loss over the differential retention interval. When the study-test interval is equated, the identity model predicts no difference between the methods. However, the feedback model predicts superiority for the anticipation method, and the differential acquisition, context effect, or task alternation models predict superiority for the study-test method. An experimental test utilized (nearly) identical study-test intervals, various materials, and both massed and spaced practice. In 15 out of 16 comparisons, there was no difference between the methods, providing support for the identity model. Within limits, the greater the study-test interval differentials, the greater the advantage for the method with the shorter study-test intervals. Quantitative analyses support the identity model.

Feedback↗
PubMed1985

Selective impairment of paired associate learning after administration of a centrally-acting adrenergic agonist (clonidine).

Eight normal volunteers had IV infusions of 200 micrograms clonidine (a centrally-acting adrenergic agonist which reduces noradrenaline release), and saline in a "double-blind" cross-over design. Clonidine reduced subjective estimates of arousal but did not affect performance on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Clonidine impaired paired-associate learning, but it did not affect performance on a number of measures of short and long term memory. The findings suggest either 1) that there is a specific (adrenergic) mechanism involved in the acquisition of novel associations, but not in other types of learning, or 2) that paired associate learning is more vulnerable than other learning tasks to disruption of adrenergic transmission.

Adrenergic Fibers↗
PubMed2006

Conditional associative learning of spatial and object information in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The present study assessed frontostriatal mediated memory functions in children with ADHD (N=12) and healthy control participants (N=12) using two tests of conditional associative learning (i.e., object and spatial) that shared similar stimulus-response association structures but that differed in terms of the demands placed upon strategic processes. Children with ADHD displayed normal performance on the object learning task but were impaired on the spatial learning task that placed greater demands on internally derived strategic processes. Secondary analyses further indicated that this strategic processing impairment cannot be attributed specifically to perseverative or working memory errors but rather appears to be related to a more general inability to maintain a high degree of consistency in responding across trials. Although the results of this study must be interpreted in light of the small sample sizes, they suggest that ADHD does not produce a basic deficit in acquiring stimulus-response associations previously shown to be associated with basal ganglia dysfunction. Rather, these findings suggest that the impaired conditional associative learning performance of children with ADHD is attributable to deficits in strategic processes previously been found to be dependent upon the integrity of the prefrontal cortex.

Association Learning↗
PubMed2001

Fetal and infantile alcohol-mediated associative learning in the rat.

BACKGROUND: Infant rats express conditioned responses to an odor experienced prenatally as a chemosensory cue associated with moderate alcohol intoxication. This study examined postnatal intake of a chemosensory cue (cineole) that had been paired with alcohol's unconditioned effects. It also tested the interaction between prenatal association and postnatal conditioning with cineole and alcohol. METHODS: Pregnant female rats intubated with cineole were given ethanol (EtOH).25 or 4.0 hr later. Other groups received only water or water paired with ethanol. During postnatal day 15 (PD15), infant consumption of cineole solution was assessed. After the cineole drinking test, pups were intubated with EtOH or water to assess infant conditioning. On PD16, all pups were tested for mouthing to milk alone or to a milk-cineole solution. RESULTS: Statistical analysis confirmed fetal associative conditioning attributable to the unconditioned effects of prenatal alcohol. Fetuses given explicit pairings of cineole and alcohol ingested less cineole on PD15 than control fetuses given a 4-hr interval between cineole and alcohol. On PD16, consumption of cineole was significantly increased by prenatal exposure to cineole. Teratogenic effects of this dose of prenatal alcohol did not affect postnatal associative or nonassociative behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal associative learning can be established through temporal contiguity between fetal chemosensory stimulation and alcohol's unconditioned properties. This associative memory survives to infancy and modulates intake patterns and behavioral reactivity to substances that were prenatally paired with alcohol intoxication.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1998

Methylphenidate's effects on paired-associate learning and event-related potentials of young adults.

The effects of methylphenidate (0.3 mg/kg) on young adults paired-associate learning (PAL) of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pairs and concomitant event-related potentials were assessed. The stimulant elevated mood and heart rate but did not affect PAL performance. For the first CVC, there were amplitude increases with learning for P3b at Pz, P2 at midline sites, and for a negative slow wave at Cz. For the second CVC, P3b and positive slow wave amplitude declined with learning. Increases in P3b amplitude to the first CVC were attributed to increments in stimulus meaningfulness. Decreases in P3b amplitude to the second CVC were interpreted as resulting from fewer disconfirmed expectations of feedback. The negative slow wave following the first CVC was viewed as a contingent negative variation. Methylphenidate increased parietal P3b amplitude for CVC 2, averaged over learning phases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Inferotemporal-frontal Disconnection: The Uncinate Fascicle and Visual Associative Learning in Monkeys.

We report a series of six experiments in which we examined the behavioural effects of disconnecting the inferior temporal cortex from the prefrontal cortex in cynomolgus monkeys by sectioning the direct cortico-cortical pathway between them, the uncinate fascicle. In experiment 1, monkeys with bilateral section of the uncinate fascicle showed a marked deficit in learning visuomotor conditional problems. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that this deficit was not the result of a mild motor impairment, nor of a visual discrimination impairment. However, experiment 4 showed that the impairment extended to visual - visual conditional learning. In contrast, following bilateral section of the uncinate fascicle monkeys were unimpaired at two other tasks of visual associative learning: a reward - visual associative task (experiment 5), in which the presence or absence of a food reward served as a cue to the correct choice between two visual stimuli, and a time - visual associative task (experiment 6), in which the cue to the correct choice was the length of the intertrial interval. Thus, animals with uncinate fascicle section showed no impairment in learning to choose between visual stimuli based on their differential association with food reward or other non-visual cues, but were unable to learn to choose between visual stimuli based on their differential association with another visual stimulus. They were equally unable to choose between two motor responses on the basis of the visual cue.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1994

Reduced hippocampal long-term potentiation and context-specific deficit in associative learning in mGluR1 mutant mice.

We generated a novel strain of mutant mouse with a deletion in the gene encoding metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1). Gross anatomy of the hippocampus, excitatory synaptic transmission, long-term depression, and short-term potentiation in the hippocampal CA1 region are all apparently normal in the mutant mice. In contrast, long-term potentiation (LTP) is substantially reduced, and a moderate level of impairment is observed in context-specific associative learning. We propose that mGluR1 is not "in line" in LTP production, but rather modulates the plasticity process, and hence affects context-specific associative learning.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

The use of conditioned defensive burying to test the effects of pimozide on associative learning.

Rats shocked by a wire-wrapped prod mounted on the wall of the experimental chamber buried the prod with available bedding material when they were tested 24 hr later. Injection of the neuroleptic, pimozide (1.0 mg/kg) before conditioning and again before testing disrupted this conditioned defensive burying; however, a concomitant reduction in general activity suggested that this deficit in conditioned burying may have reflected a general motor impairment instead of a learning deficit. The observation that rats conditioned under the influence of pimozide but tested 24 hr later while undrugged did not display deficits in conditioned burying confirmed this view. Thus, neuroleptics appear to disrupt learned behavior by interfering with the performance of conditioned responses rather than by disrupting associative learning per se.

Animals↗