Contingency Learning Research Articles

Psychophysiological characteristics of memory retrieval during word recognition

The Rescorla-Wagner theory, which Lachnit and Kimmel's transswitching evidence has apparently contradicted, is fundamentally cognitive, inasmuch as it views Pavlovian conditioning as “the learning of relations among events”. Kimmel and Lachnit's criticism that Lovibond's theory-saving defence “does little more than immunize a theory against problematic empirical findings” is analogous to the charge of circularity in explanation that cognitive, Tolmanian researchers used to bring against their S-R, Hullian opponents. A way out of the circle in human autonomie transswitching is to measure the cognitive process of relational conditional stimulus-unconditional stimulus contingency learning throughout the experiment, as has been done in simple Pavlovian human autonomic conditioning, although it may also be desirable to check whether such continuous measurement changes the basic transswitching phenomenon itself. The other issue briefly commented on is the relation between animal and human experiments and theoretical formulations, where the more basic distinction may be not between animals and humans, but between conditional stimulus-instrumental response and conditional stimulus-conditional response preparations. The latter preparations (of which human electrodermal transswitching is an instance) appear to be sensitive to S-R as well as (cognitive) S-S factors.

Learning and emotional responsivity in cocaine-exposed infants.

This study examined both instrumental responses and facial expressions during learning and extinction in a group of cocaine-exposed infants ages 4 to 8 months. Of the 72 infants studied, half were exposed to cocaine in utero and halfserved as matched controls. The groups were matched on maternal demographic characteristics and maternal use of other substances. Findings indicated that (a) infants exposed to cocaine had a significant decrease in mean birth weight and birth length; (b) cocaine-exposed infants showed less overall arousal throughout the procedure; (c) cocaine-exposed infants expressed less interest and joy during learning and less anger and sadness during extinction; and (d) when control over the learning contingency was reinstated, cocaine-exposed infants did not show the expected increase in instrumental responding

Individual differences in anger and sad expressions during extinction: antecedents and consequences

This experiment examined individual differences in 2-to 8-month-olds' emotional expression during a contingency learning task consisting of three phases: learning, extinction, and relearning. Infants who had learned to pull to activate an audiovisual display showed anger and/or sadness during extinction. This differential negative reaction had different consequences for infants' subsequent emotional expression during relearning. Anger during extinction led to maintained or renewed interest, whereas sadness led to decreased enjoyment. These different patterns suggest individual differences in affective processing which may be precursors to later dimensions of personality.

The Influence of Perinatal Risk Status on Contingency Learning in Six‐to Thirteen‐Month‐Old Infants

Learning of a manipulative response was examined in 6-13-month-old well babies and in risk infants who, in the perinatal period, had experienced a range of respiratory interventions (low- and high-risk). 2 contingency conditions (contingent and yoked) were crossed with 2 locations of feedback (local and remote). Both well-baby and low-risk groups reliably discriminated between contingent and noncontingent feedback when it was presented locally, whereas high-risk babies failed to make this distinction in the conditioning phase. Risk status reliably predicted the learning performance. No response acquisition was obtained in the remote feedback condition. In extinction, the well-baby and low-risk groups decreased their responding, but the high-risk group showed an initial response burst. The findings are discussed in the context of risk-related differences in contingency awareness and frustrative nonreward. Overall, the results confirm that the effects of perinatal compromise involving respiratory complications influence infants' processing of contingency information during the first year of life.

The Influence of Perinatal Risk Status on Contingency Learning in Six- to Thirteen-Month-Old Infants

The Influence of Perinatal Risk Status on Contingency Learning in Six- to Thirteen-Month-Old Infants

Components of Visual Orienting in Early Infancy: Contingency Learning, Anticipatory Looking, and Disengaging

Three aspects of the development of visual orienting in infants of 2, 3, and 4 months of age are examined in this paper. These are the age of onset and sequence of development of (1) the ability to readily disengage gaze from a stimulus, (2) the ability to consistently show "anticipatory" eye movements, and (3) the ability to use a central cue to predict the spatial location of a target. Results indicated that only the 4--month-old group was easily able to disengage from an attractive central stimulus to orient toward a simultaneously presented target. The 4--month-old group also showed more than double the percentage of "anticipatory" looks than did the other age groups. Finally, only the 4--month-old group showed significant evidence of being able to acquire the contingent relationship between a central cue and the spatial location (to the right or to the left) of a target. Measures of anticipatory looking and contingency learning were not correlated. These findings are, in general terms, consistent with the predictions of matura-tional accounts of the development of visual orienting.

Cooperative learning and group contingencies

This paper discusses the similarities and differences between cooperative learning and group contingencies. Cooperative learning refers to any methods in which students work together to help one another learn, while group contingencies refer to rewarding students based on the performance of a group. Research on the achievement effects of cooperative learning finds that these methods are effective primarily when they incorporate group contingencies, when groups are rewarded based on the average of their members' individual learning performances. The use of group contingencies within cooperative learning is hypothesized to motivate students to do a good job of explaining concepts and skills to their groupmates, and elaborated explanation is the principal behavior found to account for achievement gains in cooperative learning.

BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS AND UNSAFE DRIVING: WARNING—LEARNING TRAP AHEAD!

The author discusses the differences between consequence, contingency, and conditioning traps. He argues that drivers do not just have accidents, they learn to have them. Features of this type of learning include the effects of rewards on unsafe driving, the difficulty of learning contingencies in the road and traffic environment, and the failure of discriminative stimuli to bring safe driver behavior under the driver's control.

Running-wheel avoidance learning in mice (Mus musculus): Evidence of contingency learning and differences among inbred strains.

Running-wheel avoidance learning in mice (Mus musculus): Evidence of contingency learning and differences among inbred strains.

Running-wheel avoidance learning in mice (Mus musculus): Evidence of contingency learning and differences among inbred strains.

In experiment 1, male ICR mice learned active- and passive-avoidance responses in the running wheel situation with active- and passive-avoidance contingencies and were compared with yoked and nonshocked control animals (ns per group=7). Avoidance performance of the experimental mice differed from that of the control mice, which shows that the experimental mice learned the two types of avoidance responses. In Experiment 2, male ICR mice (n=6) learned a multiple active-passive (MAP) avoidance behavior. In experiment 3, the MAP procedure was used to assess the differences among 4 inbred strains of male mice (DBA/2J, BALB/cBy, C3H/HeJ, and C57BL/6J ; ns per strain=8)

Span of Integration for Delayed‐Reward Contingency Learning in 6‐ to 8‐Month‐Old Infants

Span of Integration for Delayed‐Reward Contingency Learning in 6‐ to 8‐Month‐Old Infants

Cue interaction in human contingency judgment

Most studies of human contingency judgment have been based on the assumption that frequency information about one predictor is assessed in isolation of information about other predictors. Recent evidence, however, suggests that the judged predictive strength of one cue is influenced by the predictive strengths of other copresent cues. Two experiments demonstrate that stimuli with the same outcome contingencies may nonetheless have different predictive strengths as the result of cue interaction. The first experiment, in which a within-subject design was used, provides a demonstration of blocking. A stimulus presented in compound with a strong predictor was rated as less predictive than another stimulus that was presented in compound with a nonpredictive cue. In the second experiment, cue interactions in conditioned inhibition were examined. A stimulus gained negative predictive strength as the result of compound presentations with a positive predictor when the outcome was not presented. This negative predictor was compared with an otherwise analogous stimulus that was not presented in compound with a positive predictor. These results support the use of animal-conditioning models as accounts of human contingency learning.

Learning and memory is reflected in the responses of reinforcement- related neurons in the primate basal forebrain

Certain basal forebrain neurons encode the learned reinforcement value of objects: they respond differentially to visual stimuli that signal availability of fruit juice (positively reinforcing) or saline (negatively reinforcing) obtained by lick responses in visual discrimination tasks. In this report we describe the rapid, learning-related changes in the responses of these neurons during the acquisition and reversal of the reinforcement contingency of a visual discrimination reversal task. The same neurons also responded differentially to novel and familiar stimuli in 2 recognition memory tasks, in which monkeys applied the learned rule that lick responses to novel stimuli elicited saline and responses to familiar stimuli elicited juice. These differential responses to novel and familiar stimuli thus reflected the reinforcement value of the stimuli. A single presentation of a novel or a familiar stimulus was sufficient to elicit a differential response which was maintained even when the stimulus had not been seen recently. The maintenance of the differential response indicates that these neurons are influenced by a durable memory for the stimuli, estimated to be 30 trials on average. These differential neurons were recorded in the substantia innominata, the diagonal band of Broca, and a periventricular region of the basal forebrain. The responses of the reinforcement-related neurons in these 3 regions were similar in most respects. These results support the conclusion that basal forebrain neurons respond to sensory stimuli that, through learning of different contingencies, signal the availability of reinforcement. We suggest that the properties of learning and memory reflected in these neuronal responses are due to afferent pathways from ventromedial regions of the prefrontal and temporal cortices and the amygdala, and that the responses of these neurons provide an enabling mechanism that facilitates the operation of diverse cortical regions in which specific sensory, motor, or mnemonic functions take place.

Verbal classical conditioning of evaluative responses

Verbal classical conditioning research is reviewed as it has developed since the original experiments by Staats and Staats (1957). The present contribution is offered in view of the recent discussion on the significance of evaluative response acquisition as compared to contingency learning in Pavlovian conditioning of human subjects. A brief review of the state of the art is followed by a critical discussion of the role of conditioning and cognitive, especially verbal, processes in this research area. It is concluded that acquisition of evaluative responses may occur in verbal classical conditioning, albeit perhaps under certain conditions. However, cognitive verbal learning, notably the learning of propositions, seems to influence evaluative meaning change.

Emotion and Cognition in Infancy: Facial Expressions during Contingency Learning

Facial expressions of 4and 6-month-old infants were coded at several points during contingency learning and contrasted with those of control subjects. Many different emotional expressions were observed and distinctive patterns of expression characterised contingent but not control subjects. Results indicated that emotion and contingency learning are closely linked in young infants and support a model of emotion and cognition as interdependent processes. Facial behaviours during learning may be valuable in conceptualising the relationship between emotional and cognitive processes in infancy.

Assessing the Role of Contingency Awareness in Attitudinal Conditioning with Implications for Advertising Research

The authors investigate a basic mechanism for shaping attitudes that has largely been ignored by empirical researchers in the marketing discipline. Two experiments are reported in which traditional Pavlovian procedures are merged with a view of conditioning that encourages theorizing about attendant cognitive processes. The data indicate that contingency learning or awareness may be a requirement for successful attitudinal conditioning. Contingency awareness entails conscious recognition of the relational pattern between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli used in a conditioning procedure. In experiment 1, the conditioning procedure affected the evaluative judgments of subjects who were classified ( post hoc) as contingency aware. In experiment 2, instructions that promoted contingency learning as part of the procedure again influenced participants’ attitude judgments. Implications are offered for theory development and for constructing advertisements to foster attitudinal conditioning. Specific suggestions for further research on how one might structure television commercials to foster contingency learning also are presented.

Teaching expressive language to a non- speaking child with Down's Syndrome: classroom applications

In an earlier paper, we presented a case study of a child with some developed language. The present paper describes similar work with an initially non-speaking child. After four terms in the programme, he too made distinct progress, moving from a baseline of no speech to the acquisition of some expressive language. This included the production of elicited utterances of up to seven words in length, and the spon taneous use of one- and two-word combinations in a range of non- training settings. Although the success of the programme depended largely on the systematic implementation of a highly structured prog ramme, major breakthroughs in fact resulted from opportunistic man ipulations of learning and reinforcement contingencies.

Effects of deliberative and implemental mind-sets on illusion of control.

Subjects completed a contingency learning task that involved estimating the degree of personal control exerted over target light onset. In Experiment 1, subjects worked on two identical apparatuses in an attempt to turn on the target light by pressing or not pressing a button. Both apparatuses produced noncontingent onsets of the target light either frequently or infrequently. Half of the subjects were told to alternate working on the two apparatuses before deciding on which apparatus they would be more successful in achieving target light onset. The other half were asked to first decide on a particular sequence of alternation between the two apparatuses and then try to achieve as many target light onsets as possible. The former showed rather accurate control judgments for both frequent and infrequent light onset conditions, whereas the latter subjects showed accurate control judgments in the infrequent light onset condition but inaccurate illusionary judgments in the frequent light onset condition. In Experiment 2, the first experimental group was asked to complete a mental exercise that requested the deliberation of an unresolved personal problem, whereas a second experimental group was requested to plan the implementation of a personal goal. Subjects in both groups were then asked to find out how to turn on the target light on an apparatus that produced frequent noncontingent outcomes. A control group worked on this contingency task without any pretreatment. The control judgments of the first experimental group were much more accurate than those of the second experimental group or the control group. Overall findings suggest that people who are trying to make decisions develop a deliberative mind-set that allows for a realistic view of action-outcome expectancies, whereas people who try to act on a decision develop an implemental mind-set that promotes illusionary optimism.

Operant response requirements affect touching of visual reinforcement by infants

Studies of instrumental learning in infants have been concerned with negative transfer between noncontingent and contingent learning experiences, sparking debate about the value of responsive environments and calling for measures beyond operant performance to shed light on the underlying perception of contingency. The present studies focused on contingent versus non-contingent stimulation and their effect on attention and consummatory responses as unlearned features of the infant’s interaction with stimuli. In each experiment the dependent variable was tactile behavior directed toward pictures, and the independent variable was the type of contingency controlling the pictures. In Experiment 1, 12- to 18- month-old infants were tested in the laboratory using a modified discrete-trial operant procedure in which a touch-sensitive video screen served as both a projection surface and a touch-recording device. Infants touched contingent slides significantly more often than noncontingent slides. Experiment 2 extended this effect to fixed-ratio 1 (FR-1) versus fixed-ratio 2 (FR-2) schedules of reinforcement. A second group of 12- to 18-month-old infants showed a similar pattern; they touched the FR-2 slides significantly more often than the FR-1 slides. These findings indicate that factors other than operant behavior vary as a function of the degree of contingency in an instrumental situation, and hint at possible cognitive processes that compare contingency “rules” governing the responsiveness of a changing environment.

Contingency learning and causal detection in Hermissenda: II. Cellular mechanisms.

Contingency learning and causal detection in Hermissenda: II. Cellular mechanisms.