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Results for “Conditioning, Operant”

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PubMed1987

The operant conditioning of response variability: Free-operant versus discrete-response procedures.

The operant conditioning of response variability under free-operant and discrete-response procedures was investigated. Two pigeons received food only if their pattern of four pecks on two response keys differed from the patterns emitted on the two immediately preceding trials. Under the free-operant procedure, the keys remained illuminated and operative throughout each trial. There was little variability in the response patterns that resulted, and the pigeons received fewer than one third of the available reinforcers. Under the discrete-response procedure, a brief timeout period followed each response. Variability increased under this procedure, and the pigeons obtained three fourths of the available reinforcers. Previous successes and failures to produce response variability may have been due to the use or failure to use, respectively, a discrete-response procedure. Respondent effects inherent in the free-operant procedure may encourage the development of response stereotypy and, in turn, prevent the development of response variability.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1985

Controlling pain reports through operant conditioning: a laboratory demonstration.

Operant conditioning of pain reports was studied in two laboratory experiments. In the first one 5 subjects were given the same pain stimulus on 15 trials and their recorded pain ratings gave no systemic trends across subjects. 8 other subjects received the same pain tests but on some of the trials increases or decreases in pain ratings were verbally reinforced while the noxious stimulus was held constant across trials. Clear and significant differences between reinforced increases and decreases in pain reports were observed. In Exp. 2, 5 subjects were given neutral feedback and systematically decreasing levels of noxious stimulation, resulting in a good correlation between pain ratings and stimulation level. 5 subjects were provided reinforcement for increasing pain reports while the pain stimulus was systematically reduced. Increases in pain reports were observed simultaneously with large decreases in the level of the noxious stimulus. Results of these experiments support the operant conception of pain.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Changes in the activity of a CpG neuron after the reinforcement of an operantly conditioned behavior in Lymnaea.

We have previously shown that the aerial respiratory behavior of the mollusk Lymnaea stagnalis can be operantly conditioned, and the central pattern generating (CPG) neurons underlying this behavior have been identified. As neural correlates of operant conditioning remain poorly defined in both vertebrates and invertebrates, we have used the Lymnaea respiratory CPG to investigate neuronal changes associated with the change in behavior after conditioning. After operant conditioning of the intact animals, semi-intact preparations were dissected, so that changes in the respiratory behavior (pneumostome openings) and underlying activity of the identified CPG neuron, right pedal dorsal 1 (RPeD1), could be monitored simultaneously. RPeD1 was studied because it initiates the rhythmic activity of the CPG and receives chemo-sensory input from the pneumostome area. Pneumostome openings and RPeD1 activity were monitored both before and after a reinforcing training stimulus applied to the open pneumostome of operantly conditioned and yoked control preparations. After presentation of the reinforcing stimulus, there was a significant reduction in both breathing behavior and RPeD1 activity in operant preparations but not in yoked and naïve controls. Furthermore these changes were only significant in the subgroup of operantly conditioned animals described as good learners and not in poor learners. These data strongly suggest that changes in RPeD1 activity may underlie the behavioral changes associated with the reinforcement of operant conditioning of the respiratory behavior.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Operant conditioning of H-reflex in spinal cord-injured rats.

Operant conditioning of the spinal stretch reflex or its electrical analog, the H-reflex, is a new model for exploring the mechanisms of supraspinal control over spinal cord function. Both rats and primates can gradually increase (HRup conditioning mode) or decrease (HRdown conditioning mode) soleus H-reflex magnitude when exposed to an operant conditioning task. This study used H-reflex operant conditioning to assess and modify spinal cord function after injury. Soleus H-reflexes were elicited and recorded with chronically implanted electrodes from rats that had been subjected to calibrated contusion injuries to the spinal cord at T8. From 18 to 140 days after injury, background EMG, M response amplitude, and initial H-reflex amplitude were not significantly different from those of normal rats. HRdown conditioning was successful in some, but not all, spinal cord-injured rats. The H-reflex decrease achieved by conditioning was inversely correlated with the severity of the injury as assessed histologically or by time to return of bladder function. It was not correlated with the length of time between injury and the beginning of conditioning. The results confirm the importance of descending control from supraspinal structures in mediating operantly conditioned change in H-reflex amplitude. In conjunction with recent human studies, they suggest that H-reflex conditioning could provide a sensitive new means for assessing spinal cord function after injury, and might also provide a method for initiating and guiding functional rehabilitation.

Animals↗

PubMed1967

Operant conditioning and some aspects of the psychotherapeutic process.

Operant conditioning studies demonstrate that an experimenter can alter the content of verbal communication and other forms of behaviour by the use of minimal cues. Most important is that this can take place without the conscious awareness on the part of the subject. Parallels between studies of operant conditioning and of psychotherapy suggest that operant conditioning may be one of the mechanisms mediating change during psychotherapy without either therapist or patient knowing that this is so. Application of this postulate to the psychotherapeutic process integrates some clinical and experimental findings and should prove a useful addition to the psychotherapist's understanding of factors operative in the psychotherapeutic process.

Conditioning, Operant↗

PubMed2006

Operant conditioning of reciprocal inhibition in rat soleus muscle.

Operant conditioning of the H-reflex, the electrical analog of the spinal stretch reflex (SSR), induces activity-dependent plasticity in the spinal cord and might be used to improve locomotion after spinal cord injury. To further assess the potential clinical significance of spinal reflex conditioning, this study asks whether another well-defined spinal reflex pathway, the disynaptic pathway underlying reciprocal inhibition (RI), can also be operantly conditioned. Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with electromyographic (EMG) electrodes in right soleus (SOL) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles and a stimulating cuff on the common peroneal (CP) nerve. When background EMG in both muscles remained in defined ranges, CP stimulation elicited the TA H-reflex and SOL RI. After collection of control data for 20 days, each rat was exposed for 50 days to up-conditioning (RIup mode) or down-conditioning (RIdown mode) in which food reward occurred if SOL RI evoked by CP stimulation was more (RIup mode) or less (RIdown mode) than a criterion. TA and SOL background EMG and TA M response remained stable. In every rat, RI conditioning was successful (i.e., change > or =20% in the correct direction). In the RIup rats, final SOL RI averaged 171+/- 28% (mean +/- SE) of control, and final TA H-reflex averaged 114 +/- 14%. In the RIdown rats, final SOL RI averaged 37 +/- 13% of control, and final TA H-reflex averaged 60 +/- 18%. Final SOL RI and TA H-reflex sizes were significantly correlated. Thus like the SSR and the H-reflex, RI can be operantly conditioned; and conditioning one reflex can affect another reflex as well.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Operant conditioning of head-waving in Aplysia. I. Identified muscles involved in the operant response.

A basic goal in the neurosciences is to understand the cellular mechanisms underlying associative learning. The 2 major forms of associative learning are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. In recent years considerable progress has been made towards a cellular analysis of classical conditioning in a number of different preparations. In contrast, the cellular mechanisms underlying operant conditioning are poorly understood. Since the marine mollusc Aplysia has proved to be a powerful preparation for studying cellular and molecular mechanisms of a variety of forms of learning, including classical conditioning, we asked whether Aplysia might also be capable of exhibiting operant conditioning. In previous experiments we found that a naturally occurring behavior, the head-waving response of Aplysia, could be operantly conditioned (Cook and Carew, 1986). In the present paper we have carried out a quantitative analysis of the horizontal and vertical components of the head-waving response at the level of individual muscle groups. We have identified a discrete, bilateral band of neck muscles, the lateral columellar muscles (LCMs), whose electromyographic (EMG) activity is significantly correlated with the horizontal component of head-waving, the component modified by operant conditioning. Since head-waving is a complex behavioral response involving a variety of different muscle groups, using a restricted system such as the LCMs as an analog of the head-waving response will greatly facilitate a cellular analysis of operant conditioning in Aplysia.

Animals↗

PubMed1966