The Psychological Record

Effects of Conspecific and Predator Odors on Defensive Behavior, Analgesia, and Spatial Working Memory

Jon L. Williams — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:31 PDT

Before launching into a review article on the research that my students and I have done in my laboratory on the behavioral and physiological effects of exposing rats to various types of stress-producing odors, I think that it is worth mentioning how it was that I first found odor emissions to be an important topic for further scientific investigation. Some time ago, I was doing research in my lab on the phenomenon of "learned helplessness." This research usually involved using the traditional triadic experimental design in which separate groups of rats initially received one of three conditions in a wheel-turn box: escapable shock, yoked-inescapable shock, or no shock. On the next day, these groups were tested in another room to determine how well they could learn an escape response from shock in a shuttlebox that required 5 trials of single crossing followed by 25 trials of two crossings. In some of these studies, but certainly not in all of them, I found the "learned helplessness effect" (LHE) in which the previously yoked group of rats did not learn to escape in the shuttlebox in contrast to good escape learning shown by the escape and the no-shock groups. The question that concerned me, as well as others, was why were the results from such studies so equivocal in terms of demonstrating the LHE? Upon further investigation, I consistently noted that when the odors of previously tested rats were present (often inadvertently) in the shuttlebox, there was a greater chance of demonstrating the LHE. From these exploratory studies, I hypothesized that the odors emitted from previously shocked rats (i.e., con specifics) probably played a significant role in determining the magnitude to which the LHE might be found. Much of the research that I will be describing in this article is derived from the notion that specific odors emitted by various animals, often in combination with the subject's previous experimental history, have a major impact on behaviors that reflect changes in motivational, sensory, and cognitive systems.

References for Section 1

Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:27 PDT

Discussion of Section 1

H. Wayne Ludvigson — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:25 PDT

Olfactory Transmission of Aversive Information in Rats

W. Robert Batsell Jr. et al. — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:23 PDT

Motivationally Specific Episodic Odors in Relation to Preexperimental Bias, Reward Traces, and Urine

H. Wayne Ludvigson et al. — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:21 PDT

Perceptual and Physical Properties of Reward and Nonreward Odors

Ronald D. Taylor — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:18 PDT

Endogenous Odor Control of Animal Runway Performance: Generality, Questions, and Utility

Stephen F. Davis et al. — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:16 PDT

The present paper provides a selective overview of observations and questions stemming from the work introduced above in the Section Introduction by Ludvigson. In addition, it explores certain theoretical issues and documents some uses to which odor-based responding has been put as an assay for drug effects, highlighting new data on aspartame. Some of the questions raised are discussed in more detail in other papers in this issue.

Introduction to Section 1: Initial Studies on Episodic Odors From Reward and Nonreward, and The Question of Data "Contamination"

H. Wayne Ludvigson — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:14 PDT

Over thirty years have passed since psychologists became seriously interested in the proposition that laboratory rats might emit distinctive odors upon experiencing the particular goal events of food reward and nonreward, treatments ubiquitously employed in behavioral experiments. The articles in Section 1 below draw heavily on findings, inferences, techniques, and research designs developed early in this period. Therefore, those matters are discussed here, in some detail, as a general introduction to much of what follows. The dependent variable of interest was patterning in speed of response in a runway to reward and nonreward, and the critical independent variables involved trial sequences among subjects.

General Introduction to The Special Issue: Odorous Episodes and Episodic Odors

H. Wayne Ludvigson — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:09:11 PDT

There are more odors in heaven and earth, Horatio, than you can find listed in any standard work on the subject or in all the advertising and catalogues of the perfumery trade. The woods are full of odors, especially in dewy mornings of spring and in the moist twilight after sundown. The woods are also full of wild creatures with noses automatically tuned to catch odor meanings and ready to flee, or chase, or mate, or fight to the death as one or another may appraise the significance for him of the communication. The great major themes of life and death and love burden the airborne odor molecules, crisscrossing and tangling with one another as well as with many minor themes all in apparent anarchy until each sender's plea, or threat, or pleasant welcome finds an appropriate receptor, when order is restored, much as the confused babble of a telephone exchange becomes rational as calls are properly plugged in. (Bedichek, 1960, pp. 131-132)

Effect of Illumination Condition on Risk Assessment Behaviors of Mice

Ernest D. Kemble et al. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:33 PST

Levels of risk assessment evoked by either a synthetic predator odor or noncontact exposure to live rats were examined under white or red light conditions. Defensive responses to the predator odor were infrequent in white light and showed a modest, but reliable, increase under red light. Noncontact exposure to rats, in contrast, produced considerably higher levels of risk assessment than did odors in white light, and these levels were nearly doubled under red light. Judicious selection of eliciting and background stimuli may provide considerable control over the intensity of risk assessment. Such procedures may prove useful for the study of anxiety-like states.

The Effects of Terminal-Link Stimulus Arrangements on Preference in Concurrent Chains

Laurel Colton et al. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:31 PST

Pigeons served as subjects in two concurrent-chains experiments in which responding on one or the other of two side keys occasionally produced either a short- (FI 10-s) or a long- (FI 20-s) duration terminal-link schedule of food reinforcement according to equal variable-interval 30-s initial-link schedules. In Experiment 1, the terminal link was in effect randomly on either key, or always on the opposite key, in relation to the initial link from which it was entered. In addition, terminal-link stimuli were differential keylights, nondifferential keylights, or differential houselights. Preference tended toward indifference with a random location of a terminal link and nondifferential keylights. However, the birds preferred the shorter terminal link when the terminal link was always in effect on the same key, or always on the opposite key, with either differential or nondifferential keylights. The birds also preferred the shorter terminal link with a random location, nondifferential keylights, and differential houselights. In Experiment 2, the terminal link was always in effect on the center key. As before, terminal-link stimuli were differential keylights, nondifferential keylights, or differential houselights. Preference tended toward indifference with nondifferential keylights. However, the birds preferred the shorter terminal link with either differential keylights or differential houselights. Taken together, the data indicate that terminal-link stimuli in concurrent chains function as conditioned reinforcers, rather than simple discriminative stimuli, although other features of the terminal links such as stimulus location act in concert with the visual stimuli to influence preference.

Pigeons Extract Redundant, Multiple Features and Attend to Multiple Contours When Recognizing Line Drawings

Mark D. Warner et al. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:29 PST

In a go/no-go procedure, pigeons were trained to discriminate a square line figure (S+) from a circle (S-). Generalization decrements to altered versions of S+ were analyzed to determine which features the pigeons attended to. In Experiment 1, the square was broken at midsegments or vertices and expanded by varying amounts in order to determine which of these potential visual features pigeons weight more heavily. Greater generalization decrements to midsegment deleted probes than to vertex deleted probes provided evidence that pigeons weight midsegments more heavily than vertices. By deleting single vertices or midsegments, selected so as to include all contour elements, Experiments 2 and 3 provided evidence that, rather than attending to one or a few areas of contour, most pigeons tend to allocate attention over most or all contour elements. In addition, random deletions produced greater generalization decrements than deletions of line segments. The results suggest that, for simple line drawings, pigeons attend to multiple contours at different locations and may integrate these contours into a representation of an object.

Can Undergraduate Students Determine Whether Text Has Been Plagiarized

Miguel Roig — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:26 PST

In two studies undergraduate students were given an original paragraph and several rewritten versions of the paragraph, some of which were plagiarized (e.g., without a citation, superficially modified from the original) and some correctly paraphrased. Students were asked to determine whether each rewritten version had been plagiarized or correctly paraphrased. Approximately 74% of the students in both studies correctly identified the paraphrased versions. However, some of the plagiarized versions were misidentified as having been correctly paraphrased by as many as 40% to 50% of the students. Results suggest that students are often unclear as to what constitutes plagiarism and correct forms of paraphrasing.

Causal Constructs and Conceptual Confusions

Linda J. Hayes et al. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:24 PST

Behavior analysts take the position that prediction and control constitute the goals of science. This assumption has resulted in descriptive operations being overlooked and misunderstood. Among the most serious of these misunderstandings is the confusion of events with descriptive constructions. Confusion is likely when the events described present problems of observation, when they appear to resemble our descriptions of them, and when they are taken to be synonymous with our reactions to them. Examples of confusing events with their descriptions are examined in the context of the radical behavioral interpretation of causality, along with their implications for a scientific understanding. An alternative interpretation of causal knowledge is suggested.

Enhancing Equivalence Class Formation by Pretraining of Other Equivalence Classes

Dawn M. Buffington et al. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:22 PST

This study investigated how the learning of one set of equivalence classes enhances the learning of new equivalence classes. Fifty-two undergraduate students were divided into four groups. Subjects in Group 1 received no pretraining. Using the simple-to-complex procedure followed by incremental expansion of class size, subjects in Groups 2, 3, and 4 learned 3-, 4-, and 5-member equivalence classes, respectively. After pretraining, two new 3-member equivalence classes were established by the concurrent training of all baseline relations and the concurrent presentation of all emergent relations probes to assess class formation (the simultaneous protocol). With no pretraining, 58% of subjects formed the new classes under the simultaneous protocol. After pretraining of the 3-, 4-, and 5-member classes, the new classes were formed by 62, 85, and 100% of the subjects, respectively. Pretraining of 4- and 5-member classes produced a small increment in the percentage of subjects who showed the immediate emergence of the new classes. Pretraining of the 5-member classes produced a large increment in percentage of subjects who formed classes with repeated testing. Thus, pretraining influenced immediate and delayed emergence of equivalence classes.

With no pretraining, during the tests used to assess the formation of the new classes, 12% of subjects showed disruption of baseline performances, relational responding produced by symmetry probes was lower than that produced by baseline relations, and very low levels of relational responding were evoked by 1-node probes. These data demonstrated the effects of nodal distance. Pretraining did not ameliorate the disruption of baseline performances. Pretraining of 4- and 5-member classes produced moderate increments in the relational responding evoked by symmetry probes. Pretraining of 5-member classes produced large increments in the relational responding evoked by 1-node probes.

Using Revealed Operants to Study the Structure and Properties of Human Operant Behavior

Francis Mechner et al. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:18 PST

The "revealed operant" is described as a practical research tool. It differs from traditional types of operants that are recorded as single instantaneous events, in that some of the revealed operant's sub-operants can be recorded conveniently, and that the first and last of these are made on separate manipulanda. A revealed operant can be studied by examining multiple measures relating to the internal structure of individual occurrences of the operant, including incomplete occurrences. A practical method for implementing revealed operants for human subjects, using only a personal computer and keyboard, is used in pilot studies of (a) resurgence after extinction and after an abrupt increase in the revealed operant's work requirement, (b) variability changes during and after extinction, (c) effects of fixed ratio size and of the revealed operant's work requirement, (d) sensitivity of different components as a function of their distance from the end of the revealed operant, and (e) changes in the revealed operant's internal patterns as a function of long-term repetition.

Experimental Analysis of Childhood Psychopathology: A Laboratory Matching Analysis of the Behavior of Children Diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Scott H. Kollins et al. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:16 PST

The behavior of children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been hypothesized to involve differential sensitivity to parameters of reward and punishment. However, support for these theories has been limited because, in part, of the methods used to investigate them. The current study examined the behavior of six ADHD children and six comparison children on a computer task designed to present different parameters of reinforcement by using concurrent reinforcement schedules. A quantitative analysis of the sensitivity to changing contingencies of reinforcement was conducted by examining the performance of the children across five experimental conditions. Results suggest that although there may have been several mediating variables, children diagnosed with ADHD may show less sensitivity to changing parameters of reinforcement rate as measured by response ratios and time allocation to two concurrently available alternatives. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of the utility of such experimental methods in the study of childhood behavior disorders.

The Psychological Record: Rebirth in 1956

Neil R. Bartlett — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:13 PST

The Psychological Record was revived forty years ago by Paul Swartz, still in his twenties and an assistant professor in a small liberal arts college. This article describes the setting in which it occurred and some of the story of his undertaking.

Another New Journal? The Psychological Record: Volumes I-V; 1937-1945

Paul T. Mountjoy et al. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:05:12 PST

At the time of its inception every scientific journal is a new journal, and its future course is in doubt. Does it have a functional niche in the scientific community, and will it survive? Later, when the new journal is taken for granted by the younger generation of scientists, the question of what conditions led to the establishment and maintenance of the publication arise. This historical review addresses these issues for the first five volumes of The Psychological Record. The Record was founded to decrease publication lag at a time when American psychology was expanding rapidly just before the onset of World War II. Although the Record was immediately successful, the wartime diversion of psychological energies to war-connected activities greatly diminished the submission of manuscripts, and concomitant wartime paper rationing led to suspension of publication with Volume V. The careers of those persons who participated as editors for the first five volumes are evaluated, and it is concluded that they were of extremely high quality. Indeed, many became exceptionally well known both within and outside of the field of psychology. The contents of those volumes are evaluated in a summary fashion. Certain of the papers are seminal in specific psychological traditions, and the authors of these must be regarded as significant representatives of scientific developments within psychology. After World War II ended, a new, younger, generation of psychologists resumed publication of The Psychological Record, and it has become a prominent feature of scientific American psychology in the second half of the twentieth century.

"Fundamentals of Behavior Analytic Research" by Poling, A., Methot, Laura L., & Lesage, M. G.

Marshall lev Dermer — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:30:50 PST