SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Informal learning”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

PubMed2000

The effects of predator learning, forgetting, and recognition errors on the evolution of warning coloration.

This paper demonstrates that the specifics of predator avoidance learning, information loss, and recognition errors may heavily influence the evolution of aposematism. I establish a mathematical model of the change in frequency over time of bright individuals of a distasteful prey species. Warning color spreads through green beard selection as reformulated by Guilford (1990); bright colored forms gain an advantage due to their phenotypic resemblance to other bright forms, which have been sampled by the predator. I use a general classical conditioning model to examine gradual predator learning and forgetting, and then consider the extreme of one-trial learning and no forgetting over time that may occur with very toxic prey. The advantage of conspicuous coloration under these latter conditions depends upon its role in lowering a constant probability of the prey being misidentified and thus mistakenly attacked by a predator, a rarely emphasized factor in the evolution of warning coloration. This constant probability of mistaken attacks can also be interpreted as a constant probability that forgetting has occurred (forgetting does not increase with time) or a periodic decision by the predator to resample avoided prey. I show that when predators learn and forget gradually, as under the general classical conditioning model, it is very difficult for aposematic coloration to become established unless bright individuals cross an often high threshold frequency through chance factors. In contrast, the conditions expected with highly toxic prey promote the evolution of warning coloration more easily, by means from the fixation of very bright mutations to the fixation of successive mutations each of which causes a small increase in a prey's conspicuousness. The results therefore predict that aposematic coloration may have evolved in a different manner in different predator and prey systems. They also suggest that it may be extremely difficult for warning coloration to evolve in more mildly toxic or distasteful prey outside of a mimicry system.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Internal medicine residents' perceptions of cross-cultural training. Barriers, needs, and educational recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Physicians increasingly face the challenge of managing clinical encounters with patients from a range of cultural backgrounds. Despite widespread interest in cross-cultural care, little is known about resident physicians' perceptions of what will best enable them to provide quality care to diverse patient populations. OBJECTIVES: To assess medicine residents' (1) perceptions of cross-cultural care, (2) barriers to care, and (3) training experiences and recommendations. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Qualitative individual interviews were conducted with 26 third-year medicine residents at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (response rate=87%). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. RESULTS: Despite significant interest in cross-cultural care, almost all of the residents reported very little training during residency. Most had gained cross-cultural skills through informal learning. A few were skeptical about formal training, and some expressed concern that it is impossible to understand every culture. Challenges to the delivery of cross-cultural care included managing patients with limited English proficiency, who involve family in critical decision making, and who have beliefs about disease that vary from the biomedical model. Residents cited many implications to these barriers, ranging from negatively impacting the patient-physician relationship to compromised care. Training recommendations included making changes to the educational climate and informal and formal training mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS: If cross-cultural education is to be successful, it must take into account residents' perspectives and be focused on overcoming residents' cited barriers. It is important to convey that cross-cultural education is a set of skills that can be taught and applied, in a time-efficient manner, rather than requiring an insurmountable knowledge base.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1986

Memory and metamemory: a study of the feeling-of-knowing phenomenon in amnesic patients.

Accuracy of the feeling of knowing was tested in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome, patients prescribed electroconvulsive therapy, four other cases of amnesia, and control subjects. In Experiment 1, we tested feeling-of-knowing accuracy for the answers to general information questions that could not be recalled. Subjects were asked to rank nonrecalled questions in terms of how likely they thought they would be able to recognize the answers and were then given a recognition test for these items. Only patients with Korsakoff's syndrome were impaired in making feeling-of-knowing predictions. The other amnesic patients were as accurate as control subjects in their feeling-of-knowing predictions. In Experiment 2, we replicated these findings in a sentence memory paradigm that tested newly learned information. The results showed that impaired metamemory is not an obligatory feature of amnesia, because amnesia can occur without detectable metamemory deficits. The impaired metamemory exhibited by patients with Korsakoff's syndrome reflects a cognitive impairment that is not typically observed in other forms of amnesia.

Adult↗

PubMed1983

Reward learning in normal and mutant Drosophila.

Hungry fruit flies can be trained by exposing them to two chemical odorants, one paired with the opportunity to feed on 1 M sucrose. On later testing, when given a choice between odorants the flies migrate specifically toward the sucrose-paired odor. This appetitively reinforced learning by the flies is similar in strength and character to previously demonstrated negatively reinforced learning, but it differs in several properties. Both memory consolidation and memory decay proceed relatively slowly after training with sucrose reward. Consolidation of learned information into anesthesia-resistant long-term memory requires about 100 min after training with sucrose compared to about 30 min after training with electric shock. Memory in wild-type flies persists for 24 hr after training with sucrose compared to 4-6 hr after training with electric shock. Memory in amnesiac mutants appears to be similarly lengthened, from 1 hr to 6 hr, by substituting sucrose reward for shock punishment. Two other mutants, dunce and rutabaga, which were isolated because they failed to learn the shock-avoidance task, learn normally in response to sucrose reward but forget rapidly afterward. One mutant, turnip, does not learn in either paradigm. Reward and punishment can be combined in olfactory discrimination training by pairing one odor to sucrose and the other to electric shock. In this situation, the expression of learning is approximately the sum of that obtained by using either reinforcement alone. After such training, memory decays at two distinct rates, each characteristic of one type of reinforcement.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Effects of vasopressin on human memory functions.

Arginine vasopressin and a number of its synthetic analogs augment memory functions in experimental animals. One of these analogs, 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP), influences human learning and memory. Cognitively unimpaired, as well as cognitively impaired adults, treated with DDAVP for a period of several days, learn information more effectively, as measured by the completeness, organization, and consistency (reliability) of recall. DDAVP also appears to reverse partially the retrograde amnesia that follows electroconvulsive treatment.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Interviewing guidelines for the clinical evaluation of adolescent substance abuse.

Pediatricians can learn to assess adolescent patients' use of drugs and alcohol. Their most important task is to determine whether use of chemicals is causing behavioral impairment. A general psychosocial assessment of an adolescent's functioning is the most important component of an evaluation for substance abuse. It provides the foundation for determining whether behavioral dysfunction exists. The pediatrician should address several topical areas: family relationships, school performance and attendance, peer relationships, legal difficulties, leisure activities and employment, and self-perception. The chemical use history helps the pediatrician in two ways. In general, it helps to provide focus to the pediatrician's educational counseling about the risks of chemical use. It also helps the pediatrician to determine whether substance abuse is the cause of any behavioral dysfunction that the pediatrician may have discovered during the general psychosocial assessment. Strategies to enhance more accurate disclosure of substance use by adolescents include postponing this section of the interview until rapport has been developed with the teenager, ordering questions so that illicit substances are addressed later, exploring peer involvement with chemicals as an antecedent to discussing the adolescent's personal use, and using an historical perspective, so that the teenager is asked to describe his or her initial experience with each substance class prior to addressing current use patterns. Dysfunctional consequences of chemical use may present an opportunity for adolescents and their families to accept intervention. If the pediatrician believes that an adolescent patient would benefit from a formal treatment program, the following steps help to ensure successful completion of the referral. The pediatrician should first summarize information learned during the evaluation that is relevant to the problem behaviors. Try to outline the dysfunctional behavior in the context of chemical use. Communicate concern for the teenager's well-being. Provide information without moralizing or lecturing. Clarify your role as pediatrician. Try to personalize the referral process to prevent feelings of rejection by the adolescent and family. If necessary, provide concrete assistance to the family to facilitate the referral process.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Introduction: categorization, cleverness and consciousness.

Various recurring themes in the history of the subject are reviewed. In the context of adaptation to a complex environment, one precondition for survival must be a capacity for object identity, which may be the most basic form of categorization. Evidence will be presented that suggests that the capacity is not learned. In considering learned associations among categorized items, a distinction is made between reflexive and reflective processes: that is between those associations in which a cue or signal provides an unambiguous route to the response, no matter how complex that route may be, in contrast to those in which learned information must be ordered and reordered 'in thought'. An example of one experimental approach to the latter is provided. Finally, the problem of conscious awareness is considered in terms of stored categorical knowledge and associations, on the one hand, and a system that monitors them, on the other. Neurological evidence of disconnections between these different levels is reviewed.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Assessing informatics students' satisfaction with a web-based courseware system.

This study assessed health informatics student satisfaction with two subsequent versions of Prometheus, a web-based courseware system. Prometheus versions 4 and 5 were assessed to gauge the effect of modifications to improve the usability of the system. The Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction (QUIS, version 7.0) was administered at the end of fall semester 2001 (in which Prometheus version 4 was used) and again at the end of Spring 2002 (in which Prometheus version 5 was used). QUIS contains measures of user satisfaction of the overall system and 11 specific dimensions, including screen, terminology and system information, learning, system capabilities, manuals and online help, multimedia, and teleconferencing. In general, students had favorable judgments of Prometheus, and their satisfaction level remained relatively stable across the two versions. However, usability enhancements incorporated into version 5 produced no significant differences in student satisfaction ratings. The results of this study provide a benchmark for comparing the relative usability of alternative courseware systems and demonstrate the utility of user satisfaction surveys for assessing and improving courseware systems. With increases in the need for compliance education and the education of clinicians with 'just in time knowledge', courseware systems will become an integral part of the clinical information systems, increasing the importance of usability studies such as this one.

Adult↗

PubMed2026

EPIC: Event Prototyping via Information Constrained graph learning for personalized cancer driver gene prediction.

MOTIVATION: Precision oncology relies on accurately distinguishing patient-specific driver mutations from the vast background of passenger alterations. While graph-based computational methods have emerged as powerful tools for this task, they often struggle to preserve the distinct genomic context of individual mutations within complex biological networks. Consequently, subtle patient-specific driver signals are frequently obscured by dominant topological patterns, critically impeding the identification of individualized oncogenic events essential for personalized cancer therapy. RESULTS: To address this, we propose EPIC, a novel framework for Event Prototyping via Information Constrained Graph Learning. Unlike traditional node-centric approaches, EPIC redefines driver prediction as a metric learning task in an event embedding space. We introduce an information-constrained learning strategy that imposes explicit geometric constraints on feature variance, effectively preventing feature collapse and ensuring that low-frequency driver signals are distinctively preserved. Experiments on large-scale cancer cohorts demonstrate that EPIC significantly outperforms established baselines. Notably, the model prioritizes low-frequency driver variants typically overlooked by population-based methods, mapping them to critical oncogenic mechanisms associated with drug resistance and metastasis. Furthermore, clinical actionability analysis confirms that EPIC substantially expands the patient population eligible for targeted therapies. EPIC provides a robust and context-aware solution for personalized cancer driver discovery, bridging the gap between genomic data and actionable therapeutic insights. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The source code and datasets are available at https://github.com/spcho-dev/EPIC.

Humans↗

PubMed1979

The effects and interactions of scopolamine, physostigmine and methamphetamine on human memory.

Seventy college age subjects learned and recalled a series of word lists prior to being injected with methamphetamine (0.2 mg/kg or 0.3 mg/kg), scopolamine (8 microgram/kg), or a placebo. Following the injection subjects were tested for their free recall and recognition of the words and they completed a short-term digit recall task. Subjects who had previously received scopolamine were next injected with either methamphetamine (0.2 mg/kg or 0.3 mg/kg), physostigmine (32 microgram/kg), or placebo, while other subjects received a placebo injection. The above memory procedure was then repeated with a second series of word lists. In addition, subjective feelings were measured with a questionnaire. Scopolamine and methamphetamine did not affect recall of information learned prior to injection. Scopolamine did, however, impair performance in both the digit recall task and in the second series of memory tests. Physostigmine and methamphetamine alleviated most of the memory deficits and sedation produced by scopolamine. Methamphetamine alone produced subjective arousal and a small improvement in recall of words learned after injection and a large increase in incorrect responding.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Assisting medical students to conduct empathic conversations with patients from a sexual medicine clinic.

OBJECTIVE: To describe an exercise, the structure and content of which assists medical students to conduct potentially embarrassing conversations concerning sexual health which require expression of empathy, to integrate previous learning, to identify their further learning needs, and to develop and test strategies to meet these needs. METHOD: Students' role play, sequentially, speakers (patients) and listeners (clinical students) in a "carousel," in which all students are engaged at all times in a sequence of pairings which change at rapid intervals. Half way through the exercise, students reflect on the experience, identify difficulties and successes, and develop and share strategies for experimental use in the second half of the exercise. RESULTS: Qualitative comments from the written student evaluations are reported. CONCLUSIONS: The exercise provides a formative student centred approach to the integration and further development of previously learnt knowledge and skills of value for promoting sexual health education. It is useful for educators interested in promoting more open and informed learning about sexual health.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed1995

Menstrual phase-independent retrieval deficit in women with PMS.

Memory and attention were evaluated in 19 women with prospectively documented premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and 17 women without PMS. Testing occurred during the late luteal and follicular phases of the menstrual cycle. Estrogen, progesterone, and FSH levels were obtained on testing days for 23 of the women, while mood measures were obtained for all of the women. Repeated measures analysis of variance yielded significant group differences on recall measures, with no differences noted on recognition indices. No significant session or interaction effects were observed. This pattern of results suggests impaired retrieval of learned information coincident with intact encoding. No significant effects were noted for any of the nonverbal memory, attention, or other neurocognitive variables. The obtained data support previous findings of a mild, phase-independent memory impairment in women with PMS and also contribute to a better understanding of the component memory processes involved.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

CBP histone acetyltransferase activity is a critical component of memory consolidation.

The stabilization of learned information into long-term memories requires new gene expression. CREB binding protein (CBP) is a coactivator of transcription that can be independently regulated in neurons. CBP functions both as a platform for recruiting other required components of the transcriptional machinery and as a histone acetyltransferase (HAT) that alters chromatin structure. To dissect the chromatin remodeling versus platform function of CBP or the developmental versus adult role of this gene, we generated transgenic mice that express CBP in which HAT activity is eliminated. Acquisition of new information and short-term memory is spared in these mice, while the stabilization of short-term memory into long-term memory is impaired. The behavioral phenotype is due to an acute requirement for CBP HAT activity in the adult as it is rescued by both suppression of transgene expression or by administration of the histone deacetylase inhibitor Trichostatin A (TSA) in adult animals.

Acetyltransferases↗

PubMed2003

Context change as the mechanism of reinstatement in causal learning.

Four experiments were conducted to explore the mechanism of reinstatement in human causal learning. After a retroactive interference treatment in which a stimulus was first followed by an outcome (A+) and then followed by a different outcome (A*), simple exposure to the original outcome (+) in the interference-test context produced partial reinstatement of the first-learned information (A+). When exposure to the outcome took place in a context different from the interference-test context, reinstatement was not observed (Experiment 1). Equivalent results appeared when the outcome presented during reinstatement was different from the one originally related to the stimulus affected by interference, independent of whether the interfering outcome (Experiments 2, 3, and 4) or a new outcome (Experiments 3 and 4) was presented before the test. These results suggest an interpretation of reinstatement in terms of a context change between interference and testing.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Strategies for advancing evidence-based practice in clinical settings.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a problem-solving approach that incorporates the best available scientific evidence, clinicians' expertise, and patients' preferences and values. Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt have developed the ARCC (Advancing Research and Clinical practice through close Collaboration) model for the purpose of implementing EBP. A pilot study was conducted to test the ARCC model at two acute-care sites. This article shares information learned from the pilot study about what is necessary for successful implementation of EBP in the acute-care setting. These essentials include identifying EBP champions, redefining nurses' roles to include EBP activities, allocating time and money to the EBP process, and creating an organizational culture that fosters EBP. In addition, practical strategies for implementing EBP are presented to encourage implementation of EBP.

Academic Medical Centers↗

PubMed1991

Teaching problem handling in general practice: a computer assisted learning software package for medical students.

A computer assisted learning software package for medical students, EnMesh, designed to increase understanding of the problem-handling skills needed in general practice has been developed at the University of Liverpool. Users access the system anonymously and respond in sequence to problems in the form of clinical vignettes. Responses to each problem, in the form of up to six two-line text statements, are generated by the user with a simple word processing facility. Users compare their responses with those of established general practitioners, searching for similar or matching ideas. After completing not less than four problems users are provided with feedback on their performance in relation to the physical, psychological and social dimensions of the problems. The frequency with which the system is being used and the results of self scoring are monitored by a parallel teacher programme. The programmes are designed to run on a wide range of microcomputers. EnMesh was designed to provide an informal learning resource within an established clinical course. The challenge of valid problems, the option to respond anonymously, self scoring and feedback on performance are features designed to attract student participation in computer assisted learning. Although in EnMesh the expert data is categorized in three dimensions, in designing such software the number of categories is limited solely by the range of responses which feedback is required to reflect.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗

PubMed2004

Parallel processing across neural systems: implications for a multiple memory system hypothesis.

A common conceptualization of the organization of memory systems in brain is that different types of memory are mediated by distinct neural systems. Strong support for this view comes from studies that show double (or triple) dissociations between spatial, response, and emotional memories following selective lesions of hippocampus, striatum, and the amygdala. Here, we examine the extent to which hippocampal and striatal neural activity patterns support the multiple memory systems view. A comparison is made between hippocampal and striatal neural correlates with behavior during asymptotic performance of spatial and response maze tasks. Location- (or place), movement, and reward-specific firing patterns were found in both structures regardless of the task demands. Many, but not all, place fields of hippocampal and striatal neurons were similarly affected by changes in the visual and reward context regardless of the cognitive demands. Also, many, but not all, hippocampal and striatal movement-sensitive neurons showed significant changes in their behavioral correlates after a change in visual context, irrespective of cognitive strategy. Similar partial reorganization was observed following manipulations of the reward condition for cells recorded from both structures, again regardless of task. Assuming that representations that persist across context changes reflect learned information, we make the following conclusions. First, the consistent pattern of partial reorganization supports a view that the analysis of spatial, response, and reinforcement information is accomplished via an error-driven, or match-mismatch, algorithm across neural systems. Second, task-relevant processing occurs continuously within hippocampus and striatum regardless of the cognitive demands of the task. Third, given the high degree of parallel processing across allegedly different memory systems, we propose that different neural systems may effectively compete for control of a behavioral expression system. The strength of the influence of any one neural system on behavioral output is likely modulated by factors such as motivation, experience, or hormone status.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Amygdala-hippocampus dynamic interaction in relation to memory.

Typically the term "memory" refers to the ability to consciously remember past experiences or previously learned information. This kind of memory is considered to be dependent upon the hippocampal system. However, our emotional state seems to considerably affect the way in which we retain information and the accuracy with which the retention occurs. The amygdala is the most notably involved brain structure in emotional responses and the formation of emotional memories. In this review we describe a system, composed of the amygdala and the hippocampus, that acts synergistically to form long-term memories of significantly emotional events. These brain structures are activated following an emotional event and cross-talk with each other in the process of consolidation. This dual activation of the amygdala and the hippocampus and the dynamics between them may be what gives emotionally based memories their uniqueness.

Amphetamines↗