Traditional Learning Theory Research Articles

The next big idea?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review David Shaffer's book How Computer Games Help Children Learn.Design/methodology/approachThis article discusses Shaffer's work and compares this with the ideas of other authors.FindingsThe use of games and simulations in education is increasing, becoming more sophisticated and undergoing serious study in The Academy. The number of articles is increasing and there is increasing pressure to establish credibility through publishing both in academic journals and books.Originality/valueThe new medium of digital learning basically relies on traditional theories of learning. Sometimes a book tells more about an area by its presence rather than by what it provides to advance thinking. As with on‐line learning, Shaffer's book shows that the path to change starts with mapping bricks into clicks and, as such, offers little to challenge the growing commercial arena of serious games being developed, almost as an aside.

Can design principles of traditional learning theories be fulfilled by computer-based training systems in medicine: The example of CAMPUS

Purpose Computer-based training (CBT) systems offer the potential to efficiently support modern teaching and learning. However, it is still unknown if a similar efficient learning experience built on sound learning theories and corresponding design principles can be created in the complex health care environment. The purpose of this paper is to analyse to what extent learning theories and corresponding design principles are relevant and can successfully be applied in computer-based training in medicine. Methods We use the case-based CBT system CAMPUS as an example for a CBT system currently used to enhance the medical teaching and learning experience. We apply two well-accepted learning theories (Bloom's taxonomy and practice fields) and related design principles to determine to what extent they are relevant and fulfilled in the context of CAMPUS. Results We demonstrate that in principle these learning theories and design principles can be implemented using computer-based training. However, not all design principles can be fulfilled by the system alone; rather the integration of the system into adequate – traditional or virtual – teaching and learning environments is essential. Conclusions Traditional learning theories and design principles are a valuable means in designing adequate CBT systems in medicine. They can be successfully implemented in CBT systems for medical education if the system itself is adequately integrated into teaching and learning environments.

Win–stay, lose–shift in language learning from peers

Traditional language learning theory explores an idealized interaction between a teacher and a learner. The teacher provides sentences from a language, while the learner has to infer the underlying grammar. Here, we study a new approach by considering a population of individuals that learn from each other. There is no designated teacher. We are inspired by the observation that children grow up to speak the language of their peers, not of their parents. Our goal is to characterize learning strategies that generate "linguistic coherence," which means that most individuals use the same language. We model the resulting learning dynamics as a random walk of a population on a graph. Each vertex represents a candidate language. We find that a simple strategy using a certain aspiration level with the principle of win-stay, lose-shift does extremely well: stay with your current language, if at least three others use that language; otherwise, shift to an adjacent language on the graph. This strategy guarantees linguistic coherence on all nearly regular graphs, in the relevant limit where the number of candidate languages is much greater than the population size. Moreover, for many graphs, it is sufficient to have an aspiration level demanding only two other individuals to use the same language.

Crucial Factors Affecting Cooperative Multirobot Learning

Abstract Cooperative decentralized multirobot learning refers to the use of multiple learning entities to learn optimal solutions for an overall multirobot system. We demonstrate that traditional single-robot learning theory can be successfully used with multirobot systems, but only under certain conditions. The success and the effectiveness of single-robot learning algorithms in multirobot systems aze potentially affected by various factors that we classify into two groups: the nature of the robots and the nature of the learning. Incorrect set-up of these factors may lead to undesirable results. In this paper, we systematically test the effect of varying five common factors (model of the value function, rewazd scope, delay of global information, diversity of robots’ capabilities, and number of robots) in decentralized multirobot learning experiments, fast in simulation and then on real robots. The results show that three of these factors (model of the value function, reward scope, and delay of global inf...

Towards a contemporary and comprehensive theory of learning

The modern concept of competence comprises not only relevant knowledge and skills, but also a range of personal qualities and the ability to perform adequately and flexibly in well-known and unknown situations. To be up-to-date, the concept of learning must be understood in the same broad sense, and therefore traditional learning theories must be revised. The theory presented is based on two fundamental assumptions. Firstly, that all learning includes two essentially different types of process, namely an external interaction process between the learner and his or her social, cultural and material environment, and an internal psychological process of acquisition and elaboration in which new impulses are connected with the results of prior learning. Secondly, that all learning includes three dimensions, namely, the cognitive dimension of knowledge and skills, the emotional dimension of feelings and motivation, and the social dimension of communication and co-operation—all of which are embedded in a societally situated context. In addition, the approach specifies four levels of learning and deals with what happens when intended learning does not occur. Inside this framework existing learning theories deal with different aspects. Thus the new theory has been constructed as a sort of umbrella, offering an overview and a structure of the landscape of learning which can be applied in both analysing and planning learning processes, both inside and outside of the educational system. The development of the theory is described in detail in my book, The Three Dimensions of Learning, which has been a bestseller in the Scandinavian countries since 1999, and which has now been published in English (Illeris 2002).

Stimulus representation in SOP: I. Theoretical rationalization and some implications.

THE SOP MODEL [INFORMATION PROCESSING IN ANIMALS: Memory Mechanisms, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1981, p. 5] is described in terms of its assumed stimulus representation, network characteristics, and rules for learning and performance. It is shown how several Pavlovian conditioning phenomena can be accounted on the basis of the model's presumed stimulus representation. Challenges to the SOP model prompted the adoption of a componential stimulus representation in: AESOP [Contemporary Learning Theories: Pavlovian Conditioning and the Status of Traditional Learning Theory, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1989, p. 149], this was a dual representation of the unconditioned stimulus (US), and C-SOP [Contemporary Learning: Theory and Application, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 2001, p. 23], this was a multi-component representation of the conditioned stimulus (CS). The assumption of a componential CS representation, where large numbers of elements can be separately learned about, necessitated a modification of the learning rule. The modified, "constrained" rule was found useful to explain timing characteristics of Pavlovian conditioned responses, as well as data offered by Rescorla [J. Exp. Psychol. Anim. Behav. Process. 26 (2000) 428; Q. J. Exp. Psychol. 54B (2001) 53; J. Exp. Psychol. Anim. Behav. Process. 28 (2002) 163] showing that stimuli trained in compound do not share the same quantitative fate.

Applying Adult Learning Theory to the Online Classroom

This study measured adult learners' satisfaction with the new online Master's Degree in Library and Information Science program at the University of Pittsburgh. Student feedback gathered through focus groups is categorized into five themes: (a) general program issues, (b) course issues, (c) communication/interaction issues, (d) on‐campus orientation issues, and (e) technology issues. The feedback is analyzed based on adult learning theory, and ten recommendations for future course development are suggested. Traditional adult learning theory offers valuable guidelines for online course development and teaching. However, interaction, a major theme in the focus groups, is not addressed in traditional adult learning theory.

Innovation in Europe: A Tale of Networks, Knowledge and Trade in Five Cities

This paper identifies four groups of theory that seek to explain the relationships between innovation and space. These are traditional agglomeration theory, networking, learning and new competitiveness theory. Evidence on the last three, most recent theories is sought by analysing the results of comparable surveys of innovative firms in Amsterdam, London, Milan, Paris and Stuttgart. The empirical results show that differences occur in the external relationships between firms and the global economy with respect to specific innovation projects. Broadly speaking the main differences identified show that in regional cities such as Stuttgart and Milan innovative activities are more linked to their regional and national economies than they are in the international world cities such as Paris and London. This suggests that attempts to generalize the network paradigm on industrial production are premature at least as far as innovation is concerned. Conversely, the data demonstrate the significance of trading systems between firms both in terms of knowledge acquisition and the supply of inputs to, and demands for, innovation. Many of these are located internationally. International innovation trading systems are therefore shown to be key features of the geography of innovation. Cet article identifie quatre groupes de théories qui cherchent à expliquer le rapport entre l'innovation et l'espace: à savoir, la théorie d'agglomération classique, la constitution de réseaux, l'apprentissage, et la nouvelle théorie de compétitivité. A partir d'une analyse des résultats provenant des enquêtes comparables auprès des entreprises innovatrices situées à Amsterdam, à Londres, à Milan, à Paris et à Stuttgart, on cherche des preuves en ce qui concerne les trois dernières théories, qui sont les plus récentes. Les résultats empiriques laissent voir qu'il existe des différences dans les rapports externes entre des entreprises et l'économie mondiale quant à certains projets à caractère innovateur. En règle générale, les principales différences identifiées démontrent que dans les grandes villes d'importance régionale, voire Stuttgart et Milan, les projets à caractère innovateur s'avèrent plus liés aux économies régionale et nationale que ne le sont les grandes villes d'importance internationale, voire Paris et Londres. Cela laisse supposer que les tentatives de généraliser le paradigme des réseaux à propos de la production industrielle sont prématurées, du moins pour ce qui est de l'innovation. Par contre, les données démontrent l'importance des systèmes d'échanges interentreprises, à la fois en termes de l'acquisition de connaissances, l'offre de facteurs nécessaires à l'innovation et la demande d'innovation, disponibles en large partie sur le plan international. Il s'ave ¤ re alors que les syste ¤ mes d'e´changes relatifs a ¤ l'innovation internationale sont des e´le´ments cle´s de la ge´ographie de l'innovation. Dieser Aufsatz stellt vier Theoriekreise heraus, die Beziehungen zwischen Innovation und Raum zu erklären suchen: die traditionelle Agglomerationstheorie, Rechnerverbund, Lernen und die neue Theorie der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit. Beweise der drei letzteren, erst kürzlich aufgestellten Theorien werden mittels Analyse der Ergebnisse vergleichbarer Untersuchungen innovativer Firmen in Amsterdam, London, Mailand, Paris und Stuttgart aufgestellt. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen, daß im Hinblick auf spezifische Innovationsprojekte Unterschiede in den Außenbeziehungen zwischen Firmen und der globalen Wirtschaft auftreten. Allgemein gesehen, zeigen die Hauptunterschiede, die als solche erkannt werden, daß in regionalen Hauptstädten wie Stuttgart und Mailand innovative Tätigkeit enger mit der Regional- und Landeswirtschaft verknüpft ist als in internationalen Weltstädten wie Paris und London. Dies legt nahe, daß Versuche, das Musterbeispiel des Rechnerverbunds für Industrieproduktion zu verallgemeinern, verfrüht sind, zumindest insoweit als sie Innovation betreffen. Umgekehrt zeigen die Daten die Signifikanz der Handelssysteme zwischen Firmen auf, und zwar sowohl in Bezug auf ihre Aneignung von Kenntnissen als auch hinsichtlich des Angebots von Aufwand für und der Nachfrage nach Innovation. Viele davon haben internationale Standorte. Internationale, Innovationshandel betreibende Systeme erweisen sich deshalb als die Hauptzu¨ge der Innovationsgeographie.

Learning Interdisciplinarity: Sociocultural Perspectives on Academic Work

How do college and university faculty create interdisciplinary spaces in colleges and universities? A literal translation of this question suggests a focus on the development and maintenance of interdisciplinary degree programs or research centers. This interpretation is consistent with a tradition of research on faculty that focuses on structural conditions that foster productivity. A less literal translation considers the more intangible aspects of faculty work and of interdisciplinarity. Institutional structures and policies may provide incentives and opportunities for research and teaching, but interdisciplinarity requires a prior step: in order to take advantage of policies or programs that encourage interdisciplinarity, college and university faculty must undertake the learning that will allow them to pursue interdisciplinary research or teaching. Another interpretation of the concept of space, then, focuses attention on the imaginative work of interdisciplinarity, and one logical conclusion is to study both the material circumstances of faculty life and the cognitive work of interdisciplinary research and teaching. The danger in this conceptualization is the potential for repetition of the mind-body duality that is common in Western thought. If we frame learning (what happens 'in the head') as separate from lived experience (the physical locations and conditions in which it occurs), an individualistic and dualistic orientation results. We tend to study contexts and persons in contexts separately, often extracting the individual from his or her context in order to get a better look at the phenomenon of cognition. Many traditional psychological theories of learning and studies based on these theories manifest this assumption about the separate spheres of thinking and being. In contrast, sociological and anthropological theories focus intently on contexts and cultures: they are more apt to assume that analytic strategies should begin with an account of social phenomena and then, on the basis of these, develop analyses of individual mental functioning (see Kirshner & Whitson, 1997; Wertsch, 1998; for an extended discussion of these points). Today, theorists from various fields have begun to think about how to repair the mind-body duality, to argue that learning cannot be separated from the contexts in which it occurs, and to reconceptualize cognition and learning as activities that occur through social interaction. Using these theories as analytic lenses for studying faculty work, I examine how some faculty create spaces in which to pursue interdisciplinary thinking, research, and teaching. Since the first definitions were advanced in the 1930s, interdisciplinarity has been defined in numerous ways, and there is little consensus on its exact meaning. The definition that guided this work was developed by the Center for Educational Research and Innovation. This definition specifies a range of potential interdisciplinary interactions and thus can accommodate different, and even competing, types of interdisciplinarity: Interdisciplinary--An adjective describing the interaction among two or more different disciplines. This interaction may range from simple communication of ideas to the mutual integration of organising concepts, methodology, procedures, epistemology, terminology, data, and organisation of research and education in a fairly large field. An interdisciplinary group consists of persons trained in different fields of knowledge (disciplines) with different concepts, methods, and data and terms organised into a common effort on a common problem with continuous intercommunication among the participants from the different disciplines. (OECD, 1972, pp. 25-26) The definition clearly assumes a disciplinary basis for interdisciplinarity, but it does not exclude postmodem interdisciplinarity in which the disciplines are not central to modes of inquiry. …

Reversal from blocking in humans as a result of posttraining extinction of the blocking stimulus

In a blocking procedure, conditioned stimulus (CS) A is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (US) in Phase 1, and a compound of CSs A and X is then paired with the US in Phase 2. The usual result of such a treatment is that X elicits less conditioned responding than if the A-US pairings of Phase 1 had not occurred. Obtaining blocking with human participants has proven difficult, especially if a behavioral task is used or if the control group experiences reinforcement of a CS different from the blocking CS in Phase 1. In the present series, in which human participants and a behavioral measure of learning were used, we provide evidence of blocking, using the above described control condition. Most important, we demonstrate that extinction of the blocking CS (A) following blocking treatment reverses the blocking deficit (i.e., increases responding to X). These results are at odds with traditional associative theories of learning, but they support current associative theories that predict that posttraining manipulations of the competing stimulus can result in a reversal of stimulus competition phenomena.

Technology-Enhanced Language Learning: Construction of Knowledge and Template-Based Learning in the Foreign Language Classroom

When discussing the current state of the art with regard to the use of new technologies in the foreign language classroom, two issues tend to come up again and again. On the one hand, it cannot be denied that even today, in the so-called post-communicative era, the effects of traditional instructivist theories of language learning with their transmission-based modes of learning are still somewhat dominant, in particular at the grassroots level. This is all the more surprising, as a discussion of constructivism as an appropriate platform for new approaches to language learning and acquisition seems to have dominated the debate at least on a theoretical level in recent years. On the other hand, it is becoming more and more apparent that the available offline and online software tools offer exciting opportunities for the language classroom that cannot be adequately attended to without calling the paradigm of instruction into question. This paper is an attempt to contribute to the ongoing debate on this crucial issue by offering some key principles that move the discussion further in the direction of constructivist learning theories. A few of the theoretical issues discussed in Germany in the context of CALL and TELL are presented. New information and communication technologies will be touched upon, but the main focus will be an assessment of constructivism as the appropriate paradigm for language learning in the new millennium. In addition, the paper considers using Papert's term constructionism as a basis for putting theory into practice and in order to keep separate the theoretical platform of such an approach and its practical implementation in the knowledge society. On a methodological level, construction of knowledge and information processing are regarded as key activities in language learning. In conclusion, template-based learning is discussed as a possible metaphor for the design of technology-enhanced learning materials for the next millennium aimed at providing learners with constructionist learning scenarios.

Operant conditioning of rat H-reflex affects motoneuron axonal conduction velocity.

This study assessed the effects of operant conditioning of the H-reflex on motoneuron axonal conduction velocity in the rat. After measurement of the control H-reflex size, rats were either exposed for at least 40 days to the HRup or HRdown conditioning mode, in which reward occurred only if the soleus H-reflex was greater than (HRup mode) or less than (HRdown mode) a criterion or continued under the control condition (HRcon mode) in which the H-reflex was simply measured. We then measured axonal conduction velocity of triceps surae motor units of HRup, HRdown, and HRcon rats by stimulating the axon in the ventral root and recording from the tibial nerve. Conduction velocity was 8% less in successful HRdown rats than in HRcon rats (P=0.02). Conduction velocity in HRup rats and unsuccessful HRdown rats was not significantly different from that in HRcon rats. Since recording bypassed the intra-spinal portion of the motoneuron, the change was clearly in the axon. This decrease was similar to the 6% decrease previously found in successful HRdown monkeys. Unsuccessful HRdown rats and monkeys did not show this decrease. This result suggests that the mechanism of HRdown conditioning is similar in rats and monkeys and provides further support for the hypothesis that HRdown conditioning decreases motoneuron excitability by producing a positive shift in firing threshold. While traditional theories of learning emphasize synaptic plasticity, neuronal plasticity may also contribute to operantly conditioned behavioral changes.

Animal Cognition: The Bridge Between Animal Learning and Human Cognition

Carefully controlled research with animals has demonstrated cognitive capacities for which traditional theories of associative learning cannot account. One example is the symbolic representation of stimuli. If two arbitrary stimuli are associated with a third event, an emergent relation can be shown to develop. A second example is the ability of animals to plan ahead, and to choose whether to plan ahead or not. Although animals have often been used to model drug effects in humans, these models have rarely been used to examine the effects of drugs on cognitive functioning. Furthermore, examination of the effects of drugs on the cognitive behavior of animals may help to identify the nature of the representations underlying the cognition.

Classical Conditioning Using Vestibular Reflexes

Adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is one of the principal models for studying motor learning in the mammalian CNS. However, there has been no previous comprehensive attempt to understand the behavioral characteristics of VOR adaptation in terms of traditional psychological learning theory. To accomplish this objective, the effectiveness of vestibular-evoked responses in serving as the conditioned or unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning paradigms is first reviewed. Then, the various procedures for eliciting VOR adaptation are reviewed from the perspective of their similarity to standard classical conditioning protocols. A systematic analysis of Western and Russian literature yielded a relatively small number of studies that explicitly used vestibular reflexes in classical conditioning paradigms, and they report a wide range in success. Potential explanations for these diverse findings are discussed. A comprehensive categorization of the behavioral parallels between VOR adaptation and classical conditioning is then presented. Viewing VOR adaptation as a form of classical conditioning is a useful heuristic device and leads directly to the description of further behavioral experiments that could throw additional light on general mechanisms for inducing neural plasticity. Such an exercise is of benefit in order to further understand the common framework which might exist between VOR adaptation and other models of motor learning (for example, rabbit eye blink conditioning).

Situated learning theory versus traditional cognitive learning theory: Why management education should not ignore management learning

This paper describes the differences between situated learning theory (SLT) and traditional cognitive theory (TCT). SLT is distinctive because it perceives learning to be a socially relational rather than a mentalist process. SLT places research attention upon knowledge productionin situ and in the course of work practices rather than upon learning transmission in the classroom. This paper argues that SLT's emphasis on the social context of learning is problematic and ambiguous. SLT sees context as pregiven, which is consistent with modernist thought, but also sees it as emergent, which is more consistent with postmodern thought. The implications of this are discussed and the SLT-TCT debate is used to shed light on management education from the perspective of management learning.

Has the Wheel Turned Full Circle? Fifty Years of Learning Theory, 1946–1996

Fifty years ago, learning theory, whose principles were derived from experiments on conditioning in animals, was a central focus of much of experimental psychology. But the cognitive revolution that swept through human experimental psychology in the 1960s, especially when it was taken up by many animal psychologists themselves, seemed to consign traditional learning theory to the scrap heap. Liberation from the shackles of old-fashioned behaviourism, however, should not be bought at the price of dismissing associative learning theory. Suitably modified and extended, associative theory is capable of explaining much of the behavior of animals and of pointing precisely to the ways in which that behaviour is complex. And under some circumstances, at least, the behaviour of people mirrors that of other animals and is equally amenable to an associative analysis.

Cognitive Flexibility in Medicine: An Application to the Recognition and Understanding of Hypertension.

Various forms of conceptual complexity and case-to-case irregularity in ill-structured knowledge domains (such as medicine, biology, and history) pose serious problems for traditional theories of learning and instruction (Spiro, Feltovich, Jacobson and Coulson, 1991a). Cognitive and instructional neglect of problems related to content complexity and irregularity in patterns of knowledge use leads to leaming failures that take common predictable forms (Spiro, Feltovich, Jacobson and Coulson, 1991b). These forms are characterized by conceptual oversimplifi-cation (Coulson, Feltovich and Spiro, 1989) and the failure of transfer of existing knowledge to new cases of knowledge application (Feltovich, Coulson, Spiro and Dawson-Saunders, 1992). Examples of topics that appear to be particularly mis-understood by professionals in medicine (Coulson et al., 1989; Dawson-Saunders et al., 1990) are those that include non-linear relationships such as between: (1) central venous filling pressure and cardiac output; and, (2) vascular compliance and total vascular impedance. Also, continuous processes are frequently misrepre-sented by practitioners as static and discrete, for example, as is often done in the (mis)understanding of the cross-bridge cycle of muscle contraction. Cognitive Flexibility Theory (Spiro, Feltovich, Jacobson and Coulson, 1991b; Spiro et al., 1988) inculcates learning processes that remedy learning deficiencies related to domain complexity (Feltovich, Spiro and Coulson, 1993). According to Cognitive Flexibility Theory, knowledge understanding and application require a constructivist approach (Spiro, Feltovich, Jacobson and Coulson, 1991b): this includes the ability to represent knowledge from different conceptual and case perspectives, and then when knowledge must later be used, the ability to construct from those multiple representations a knowledge ensemble tailored to the needs

A Tentative Classification of “Neuroses” Based on Behavioristic Consideration of the Pathogenetic Mechanisms

Pathogenetic mechanisms of "neuroses" were reconsidered based on a behavioristic framework which includes not only the traditional stimulus-response learning theory but also the concept of conflict proposed by Lewin. Most of the subtypes of "neuroses"--with the exception of panic disorder--were divided into two categories: conditioned fear-related disorders and conflict-related disorders. Phobias have been suggested to be caused by an escape or avoidance behavior motivated by an unconditioned or conditioned fear and obsessive compulsive disorder by an avoidance behavior motivated by a conditioned fear, while such disorders as posttraumatic disorder or hypochondriasis (nosophobia) were considered to be direct manifestations of conditioned fear. Generalized anxiety and depersonalization disorders were suggested to be caused by conflicts, but these conflicts seemed to persist even after the appearance of the symptoms. In contrast, appearances of conversion, somatization, somatoform pain, psychogenic fugue, or psychogenic amnesia were suggested to result in a temporary attenuation of the causative conflicts.

Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide.

Preface. The Authors. PART ONE: ADULT LEARNING IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY. 1 The Social Context of Adult Learning. 2 Learning Environments and Learning Concepts. 3 Adult Learners: Who Participates and Why. PART TWO: ADULT LEARNING THEORY AND MODELS. 4 Knowles's Andragogy, and Models of Adult Learning by McClusky, Illeris, and Jarvis. 5 Self-Directed Learning. 6 Transformational Learning. 7 Experience and Learning. PART THREE: NEWER APPROACHES TO ADULT LEARNING. 8 Embodied, Spiritual, and Narrative Learning. 9 Learning and Knowing: Non-Western Perspectives. 10 Critical Theory, Postmodern, and Feminist Perspectives. PART FOUR: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT. 11 Traditional Learning Theories. 12 Adult Development. 13 Cognitive Development in Adulthood. 14 Intelligence and Aging. 15 Memory, Cognition, and the Brain. 16 Reflections on Learning in Adulthood. References. Name Index. Subject Index.

Gender differences in sexual jealousy: Adaptionist or social learning explanation?

It has often been speculated, and some evidence suggests, that men and women differ in the elicitation of jealousy: Men appear to be more likely than women to become upset over threats to sexual exclusivity; whereas women are more likely than men to react negatively to potential loss of partner time and attention. Both adaptionist and traditional social learning theories have been used to explain these apparent gender differences. In the present article we outline both explanations and review the relevant psychological literature on gender differences in the elicitation of jealousy. We propose that the difference in men's and women's psychological mechanisms for elicitation of jealousy is best characterized (at least in this culture) as a greater sensitivity among men to cues indicative of possible sexual infidelity rather than greater emotional upset in response to the occurence of extradyadic sex on the part of one's mate. We also provide data testing a traditional social learning explanation for the elicitation of jealousy. Results of a survey administered to college students ( N = 223) demonstrate the subtle nature of gender differences in the elicitation of jealousy within this culture. Men and women were most likely to differ (in the hypothesized directions) when items pertained to concern over a partner's potential extradyadic sex rather than to reactions to sexual infidelity that is suspected to have already occurred. Although men reported placing more value on sexual activity within dating relationships and women reported placing more value on emotional intimacy, these ratings of relationship rewards did not explain the gender differences in reported jealousy. Results failed to support a traditional social learning explanation of jealousy and are discussed with regard to evolutionary theory and directions for future research.