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Results for “GENERALIZATION LEARNING”

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At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Extinction revisited: similarities between extinction and reductions in US intensity in classical conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response.

The mechanisms of extinction were examined by reducing the intensity of the unconditioned stimulus (US) after acquisition training to determine whether such reductions lie on a continuum with CS-alone extinction. The experiments revealed that reductions in US intensity yielded extinction-like effects. Specifically, there were proportional reductions in the daily mean level of responding across sessions. There were also persistent within-session declines and between-session increases of responding analogous to spontaneous recovery. Surprisingly, even when US intensity was held constant, within-session declines and between-session increases were apparent. The results are discussed with respect to possible contributions from unlearning, new learning, generalization decrement, and nonassociative loss, especially CS-specific attentional changes and CR-specific reactive inhibition.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Learning opportunities through camping for mental health nursing.

1. To equip nurses with the skills necessary for working with disturbed people, nurse educators need to be mindful of not watering down the essential skills necessary for nurses to deal with difficult behaviour in all branches of nursing. 2. These components of a mental health clinical experience should equip the graduate to deal with the pressures of dealing with disturbed people in any environment, as the skills learned generalize to any branch of nursing. 3. Universities can combine with traditional hospital services and community mental health services to provide services to clients with mental illness. An additional benefit is in providing students with an intensive clinical learning experience that reinforces the theory taught in the classroom.

Camping↗

PubMed1990

Problem drinking as a form of learned behaviour: a final rejoinder to Gorman and Edwards.

This article continues, and hopefully concludes, a dispute in this journal over the value of the learning paradigm of problem drinking, as outlined by Heather & Robertson. It is first reasserted that the idea that the problem drinking paradigm is nothing more than a bid by psychologists to take over the alcohol studies field is neither a useful nor serious proposition. Secondly, it is denied that our claim is that psychology has already succeeded in substituting a new paradigm for an old one, but conceded that the term 'general theory' may be more appropriate in some ways than 'paradigm'. Thirdly, the criticism that the general learning theory is as tautologous as the disease theory it aspires to replace is again rejected. Finally, the merits of a general theory of problem drinking, as opposed to a diversity of explanatory models, are expounded.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1997

Parental influence on children's socialization to gender roles.

In a society rife with gender stereotypes and biases, children regularly learn to adopt gender roles which are not always fair to both sexes. As children move through childhood and into adolescence, they are exposed to many factors which influence their attitudes and behaviors regarding gender roles. These attitudes and behaviors are generally learned first in the home and are then reinforced by the child's peers, school experience, and television viewing. However, the strongest influence on gender role development seems to occur within the family setting, with parents passing on, both overtly and covertly, their own beliefs about gender. This overview of the impact of parental influence on gender role development leads to the suggestion that an androgynous gender role orientation may be more beneficial to children than strict adherence to traditional gender roles.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Discriminated escape learning and response to electric shock after 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigro-neostriatal dopaminergic projection.

In an earlier report it was observed that bilateral stereotaxic injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the zone compacta of the substantia nigra deficits in the acquisition of a conditioned avoidance response [8], The present experiments were designed to determine if either a generalized learning impairment or a decreased sensitivity to foot shock might be the basis for the avoidance deficit. It was found that rats subjected to bilateral 6-OHDA lesions of the substantia nigra learned a light discrimination shock escape habit in as few trials as unoperated controls. This observation indicates that the integrity of the dopaminergic nigro-neostriatal system is not essential for the formation of learned associations between sensory cues and motor responses. In a second experiment it was observed that neither the shock-induced flinch nor the jump threshold was elevated after nigral lesions, suggesting that these lesions do not decrease the aversive motivational properties of foot shock. In view of these findings, the nature of the avoidance deficit produced by substantia nigra lesions is discussed with reference to the possibility that they selectively block the initiation of voluntary motor responses. According to this hypothesis, the failure of these lesions to disrupt escape responding may be due to the fact that the unconditioned stimulus generates reflexive motor responses (flinch, jump, etc.) which are sufficient to begin the motor sequences that cannot be initiated voluntarily in response to the conditioned stimulus.

Animals↗

PubMed1977

Assessing and training teachers in the generalized use of behavior modification with autistic children.

This study investigated the feasibility of developing reliable, valid criteria for measuring and training the skills necessary to teach autistic children. The behaviors of 11 teachers and 12 autistic children were recorded in a series of different teaching situation. Teacher-training was initiated at different times for different teachers. The results showed: (1) it was possible to asses empirically whether a teacher was correctly using defined behavior-modification techniques; (2) generally, for any given session, systematic improvement in the child's behavior did not occur unless the teacher working in that session had been trained to use the techniques to a hight criterion; (3) all 11 teachers were rapidly trained to use these techniques; and (4) the teachers learned generalized skills effective with a variety of children and target behaviors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Learning to see biological motion: brain activity parallels behavior.

Individuals improve with practice on a variety of perceptual tasks, presumably reflecting plasticity in underlying neural mechanisms. We trained observers to discriminate biological motion from scrambled (nonbiological) motion and examined whether the resulting improvement in perceptual performance was accompanied by changes in activation within the posterior superior temporal sulcus and the fusiform ''face area,'' brain areas involved in perception of biological events. With daily practice, initially naive observers became more proficient at discriminating biological from scrambled animations embedded in an array of dynamic ''noise'' dots, with the extent of improvement varying among observers. Learning generalized to animations never seen before, indicating that observers had not simply memorized specific exemplars. In the same observers, neural activity prior to and following training was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Neural activity within the posterior superior temporal sulcus and the fusiform ''face area'' reflected the participants' learning: BOLD signals were significantly larger after training in response both to animations experienced during training and to novel animations. The degree of learning was positively correlated with the amplitude changes in BOLD signals.

Discrimination Learning↗

PubMed1994

Behavioral and biochemical effects of an ICV injection of streptozotocin in old Lewis rats.

Intracerebroventricularly (ICV) injected streptozotocin (STREP) decreases central glucose metabolism and energy metabolism, which has also been observed in patients with dementia. In the present study we examined the behavioral (open-field behavior and two-way active avoidance learning) and biochemical (hippocampal ChAT activity) effects of STREP treatment in old Lewis rats. The results suggest that hippocampal function was affected by STREP. STREP-treated rats acquired the two-way active avoidance task faster than the control rats, which indicates that STREP treatment does not lead to a general learning deficit. Hippocampal ChAT activity was decreased in STREP-treated rats. The present results suggest also that susceptibility to STREP may not be related to age in Lewis rats.

Aging↗

PubMed2005

Later life learning experience among Chinese elderly in Hong Kong.

In a world with increasing numbers of older adults and a world wide emphasis placed on lifelong learning, it is crucial to examine and formulate appropriate policy for learning in later life (LLL). Hong Kong has a rapidly aging population, which is projected to double within the next 25 years. However, lifelong learning for the elderly has yet to be fully developed. This article reports the findings of 2 surveys: one on the LLL experience among 190 Chinese elderly in Hong Kong and another on the experiences of 9 center directors in running courses for the elderly. We found that Chinese older persons generally learn for expressive motivation rather than instrumental motivation, although those with higher educational attainment take LLL for both instrumental and expressive motivation. This finding is consistent with those obtained with American populations. Practical courses such as languages and health-related topics were found to be the most popular; and Nearly a quarter (27%) of the respondents (in particular those who are well educated) expressed interest in peer teaching. The findings are important to understand LLL in the Chinese population and assist in the formulation of an appropriate LLL policy in Hong Kong. These findings also serve as a comparison for other countries trying to provide continuing education opportunities for its older citizens.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB): a factor analytic study of a large sample of normal elderly volunteers.

The CANTAB battery was administered to a large group (n = 787) of elderly volunteers in the age range from 55 to 80 years. This battery, which is based on tests used to identify the neural substrates of learning and memory in non-human primates, has now been extensively used in the assessment of various forms of dementia and also validated on patients with neurosurgical lesions of the frontal and temporal lobes. The tests employed were pattern and spatial recognition, simultaneous and delayed matching to sample, learning of visuospatial paired associates, a matching to sample, reaction time task and a test of spatial working memory. The sample was banded into different IQ bands based on performance on 5 standard tests of intelligence. The MMSE was also administered to exclude cases of possible dementia (n = 16) in the normal sample. In general, performance declined with age and IQ, but these factors did not interact. A factor analysis (with varimax rotation) identified 4 factors with eigenvalues greater than 1, which accounted for over 60% of the variance. Factor 1 was equated with general learning and memory ability and loaded significantly with the Intelligence scores; factor 2 was related to speed of responding and loaded most heavily with Age. Comparisons were also made of performance on CANTAB of those subjects with dementing scores on the MMSE and the lowest 5th percentile of the population sample. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of the CANTAB battery for the assessment of dementia and of the implications for theories of changes in cognitive function during normal aging.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

Nicotine enhances the learning and memory of aged rats.

The cognitive performance of young adult (2-3-month-old) and aged (22-24 month-old) rats was characterized in one of three different behavioral tasks, and the ability of daily nicotine treatment to alleviate age-related learning and memory deficits was evaluated. Aged rats received an IP injection of either nicotine (0.2 mg/kg) or saline vehicle 15 min prior to daily testing; young control rats received saline vehicle injections. Compared to young controls, aged control rats were severely impaired in the acquisition of one-way active avoidance pole jumping over 12 days of testing. Nicotine pretreatment of similar aged rats markedly improved overall learning and the rate of learning compared to aged controls. In Lashley III maze performance, aged control rats made substantially more alternation errors than young controls; however, aged rats pretreated with nicotine made significantly fewer errors over the entire 20-day test period compared to aged controls. During 30 days of 17-arm radial maze testing, aged control animals were severely impaired in general learning and reference (long-term) memory, but only mildly impaired in working (short-term) memory. Nicotine pretreatment of similar aged rats induced a substantial enhancement in overall learning and reference memory, but did not affect working memory. These results indicate that chronic nicotine administration can improve the impaired learning/memory abilities of aged rats in several tasks, and suggest that stimulation of central nicotinic receptors may be of considerable therapeutic value to treat age-related memory impairment.

Aging↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A prospective study and review of pre-morbid characteristics in children with traumatic brain injury.

The pre-morbid characteristics of 32 children requiring inpatient rehabilitation following moderate or severe head injuries were studied prospectively. Teachers completed Rutter and modified Conners questionnaires on the pre-head injury behavioural characteristics of each child and also rated the pre-morbid learning ability of the children on a four-point scale. The children's socioeconomic status was determined using their postcode at the time of the injury. Behavioural questionnaires were returned for 25 of the 32 children. Five of the 25 children obtained total behaviour problem scores on the Rutter teacher scales indicative of pre-morbid psychopathology. The general learning ability of five children was rated as being far below average. The children had a higher mean socioeconomic deprivation score than for the geographic area in which the rehabilitation unit is sited. The incidence of pre-morbid behaviour problems in the study population with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury may be somewhat higher than in the local population, but this did not appear to be a major risk factor in sustaining a head injury. However, adverse environmental conditions, linked to socioeconomic deprivation, did appear to be important risk factors that contributed to a pedestrian road traffic accident.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1997

Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/ and /l/: IV. Some effects of perceptual learning on speech production.

This study investigated the effects of training in/r/-/l/ perceptual identification on /r/-/l/ production by adult Japanese speakers. Subjects were recorded producing English words that contrast /r/ and /l/ before and after participating in an extended period of /r/-/l/ identification training using a high-variability presentation format. All subjects showed significant perceptual learning as a result of the training program, and this perceptual learning generalized to novel items spoken by new talkers. Improvement in the Japanese trainees' /r/-/l/ spoken utterances as a consequence of perceptual training was evaluated using two separate tests with native English listeners. First, a direct comparison of the pretest and post-test tokens showed significant improvement in the perceived rating of /r/ and /l/ productions as a consequence of perceptual learning. Second, the post-test productions were more accurately identified by English listeners than the pretest productions in a two-alternative minimal-pair identification procedure. These results indicate that the knowledge gained during perceptual learning of /r/ and /l/ transferred to the production domain, and thus provides novel information regarding the relationship between speech perception and production.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Limits of locomotor ability in subjects with a spinal cord injury.

STUDY DESIGN: Case-control study with pair-wise matching. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the level of locomotor performance in spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects. SETTING: Spinal Cord Injury Center of Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. METHODS: Seven well-recovered SCI subjects and controls performed three tests: (1) 6-Min Walk Test (6MWT), (2) treadmill walking with full and restricted vision and (3) repetitive stepping over an obstacle. In the latter task, the subjects had to step over an obstacle as low as possible, without touching it. The subjects performed three blocks of 50 trials each. They received acoustic signals that indicated obstacle approach and foot clearance. During the third block, vision was restricted. The main outcome measures were: (1) distance walked, (2) leg muscle activity, joint kinematics and double-support duration, (3) foot clearance, number of obstacle hits, leg muscle activity, joint kinematics and swing phase duration. RESULTS: (1) No difference in the 6MWT between the groups. (2) Independent from vision, the double-support duration was increased in SCI subjects. (3) SCI subjects learned generally at a slower rate. They touched the obstacle more frequently when vision became restricted. Furthermore, we observed differences between the groups in rectus femoris and tibialis anterior EMG activity and swing phase duration. CONCLUSION: It appears that even in well-recovered SCI subjects, small deficiencies in functional gait can be determined, which remain undetected by clinical walking tests. In addition, SCI subjects learned a locomotor task at a slower rate. This indicates that rehabilitation programs should train (adaptive) locomotion in different (sensory) environments.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2005

Effects of category diversity on learning, memory, and generalization.

In this study, we examined the effect of within-category diversity on people's ability to learn perceptual categories, their inclination to generalize categories to novel items, and their ability to distinguish new items from old. After learning to distinguish a control category from an experimental category that was either clustered or diverse, participants performed a test of category generalization or old-new recognition. Diversity made learning more difficult, increased generalization to novel items outside the range of training items, and made it difficult to distinguish such novel items from familiar ones. Regression analyses using the generalized context model suggested that the results could be explained in terms of similarities between old and new items combined with a rescaling of the similarity space that varied according to the diversity of the training items. Participants who learned the diverse category were less sensitive to psychological distance than were the participants who learned a more clustered category.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Specific reading disability (dyslexia): what have we learned in the past four decades?

We summarize some of the most important findings from research evaluating the hypothesized causes of specific reading disability ('dyslexia') over the past four decades. After outlining components of reading ability, we discuss manifest causes of reading difficulties, in terms of deficiencies in component reading skills that might lead to such difficulties. The evidence suggests that inadequate facility in word identification due, in most cases, to more basic deficits in alphabetic coding is the basic cause of difficulties in learning to read. We next discuss hypothesized deficiencies in reading-related cognitive abilities as underlying causes of deficiencies in component reading skills. The evidence in these areas suggests that, in most cases, phonological skills deficiencies associated with phonological coding deficits are the probable causes of the disorder rather than visual, semantic, or syntactic deficits, although reading difficulties in some children may be associated with general language deficits. Hypothesized deficits in general learning abilities (e.g., attention, association learning, cross-modal transfer etc.) and low-level sensory deficits have weak validity as causal factors in specific reading disability. These inferences are, by and large, supported by research evaluating the biological foundations of dyslexia. Finally, evidence is presented in support of the idea that many poor readers are impaired because of inadequate instruction or other experiential factors. This does not mean that biological factors are not relevant, because the brain and environment interact to produce the neural networks that support reading acquisition. We conclude with a discussion of the clinical implications of the research findings, focusing on the need for enhanced instruction.

Brain↗

PubMed2004

Strategy execution in cognitive skill learning: an item-level test of candidate models.

This article investigates the transition to memory-based performance that commonly occurs with practice on tasks that initially require use of a multistep algorithm. In an alphabet arithmetic task, item response times exhibited pronounced step-function decreases after moderate practice that were uniquely predicted by T. C. Rickard's (1997) component power laws model. The results challenge parallel strategy execution models as developed to date and they demonstrate that the shift to retrieval is an item-specific, as opposed to task-general, learning phenomenon. The results also call into question the entire class of smooth speed-up functions as global empirical learning laws. It is shown that overlaying of averaged item fits on averaged data can provide a sensitive test for model sufficiency. Strategy probes agreed with strategy inferences that were based on step-function speed-up patterns, supporting the validity of the probing technique.

Cognition↗

PubMed1992

Complementary roles of the orbital prefrontal cortex and the perirhinal-entorhinal cortices in an odor-guided delayed-nonmatching-to-sample task.

Continuing efforts toward designing odor-guided tasks for rats that are similar in memory demands to tasks used typically with primates have resulted in the development of a continuous delayed-nonmatching-to-sample (cDNM) task that is guided by olfactory stimuli. The results indicate that normal subjects acquire the cDNM task rapidly and that subsequent performance deteriorates with increases in memory delay or interitem interference. Moreover, different aspects of cDNM performance were shown to be differentially sensitive to selective lesions of the orbitofrontal and parahippocampal areas. Orbitofrontal cortex lesions disproportionately impaired cDNM acquisition; delay performance was impaired only under conditions of elevated levels of interitem interference. Combined perirhinal and entorhinal cortical lesions had no effect on cDNM acquisition but impaired cDNM performance at longer delays across all levels of interference. Fornix lesions did not impair either acquisition of cDNM or subsequent performance across long delays and increased interference. This pattern of impaired and spared capacities is similar to that observed in monkeys after lesions of analogous areas and is consistent with the notion that the prefrontal cortical system contributes preferentially to learning general task "rules" such as the nonmatching rule that is inherent in cDNM, whereas the perirhinal and entorhinal cortical areas are involved in the intermediate-term maintenance of memories for specific information.

Animals↗