Effects of response restriction during exposure to inescapable shock upon subsequent one-way and shuttle-avoidance performance in rats.

Investigated the effects of signaled inescapable shock on subsequent avoidance performance in 3 experiments with male Holtzman rats (N = 188). Exp I indicated that prior shock exposure (PSE) facilitated 1-way and shuttle avoidance. When Ss were preshocked in a harness so that free mobility was not possible, the facilitative effects of PSE on shuttle, but not 1-way avoidance performance, were largely reduced. Exp II indicated that activity during CS periods following PSE was greater among unrestrained than restrained Ss. Exp III showed that immobilization via injection of succinylcholine chloride did not affect the facilitative effects of PSE relative to that of Ss preshocked in a harness. Results are interpreted in terms of response repertoire changes produced by PSE in conjunction with the response requirement of the avoidance task. (French summary) (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of one-way and shuttle-avoidance performance of gerbils and rats.

Compared the avoidance probability of 10 male and 10 female Long-Evans rats and an equal number of gerbils in a l-way and in a shuttle task. Rats in the shuttle task, especially males, had lower avoidance probabilities than gerbils possibly reflecting a species difference in the response hierarchy in the shuttle task. It is suggested that the lower avoidance probabilities of rats may be attributable to the displacement of the flight response by other species-specific defense reactions (SSDRs) induced by the impossibility in the shuttle task of physically escaping the site of noxious stimulation. The uniformity of gerbil avoidance probability across sex and task suggests that the impossibility of fleeing the location of noxious stimuli does not alter the hierarchy of SSDRs in the gerbil. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of subsequent performance on evaluations of previous performance.

Tested the hypothesis that subsequent performance levels would bias the recall and evaluations of a ratee's previous level of performance with 183 undergraduates, who rated 3 videotaped lectures in either immediate or delayed rating conditions. The 1st videotape depicted an average level of performance and was followed by either 2 good lectures or 2 poor lectures. A significant performance level?×?time of rating interaction was found, in which memory-based ratings were biased in the direction of subsequent performance (i.e., when there was a delay between observation and rating, Ss who had seen an average lecture followed by good lectures rated that average lecture more favorably than did Ss who had seen that same lecture followed by poor lectures). It is suggested that raters are biased in favor of recalling behaviors that are consistent with their general impression of a ratee and that subsequent performance may systematically alter the rater's recall of the ratee's previous behavior. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of hippocampal granule-cell agenesis on acquisition of escape from fear and one-way active-avoidance responses.

Irradiated the head region of the hippocampus with low-level X ray in infant rats. This reduced the total number of hippocampal granule-cells by an average of 84%. 4 experiments were then conducted to extend the behavioral similarities previously noted between such hippocampal granule-cell agenesis and conventional hippocampal lesions. Irradiated Ss (n = 38) and nonirradiated controls (n = 74) were alike in the acquisition of a 1-way avoidance response, although there was a trend of greater resistance to extinction in the irradiated group. The irradiated group displayed facilitated acquisition of an escape-from-fear response. When 1-way avoidance was preceded by inescapable shock, the irradiated group was superior, suggesting that granule-cell loss, like hippocampal ablation, disrupts a tendency to remain immobile in the presence of stimuli related to inescapable punishment. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of differential pretraining on learning-set formation in rhesus monkeys.

Compared the rate of learning-set formation by 4 rhesus monkeys that had previously been pretrained on the win-stay component of the learning-set strategy (Group WS) to the rate evidenced by 4 others that had pretraining on the lose-shift component (Group LS). Differences between groups were small, and asymptotic levels were below those previously obtained by monkeys without pretraining. The negative transfer resulted from generalized tendencies to perseverate or shift (Groups WS and LS, respectively), regardless of response outcome. The former tendency dissipated relatively rapidly, while the latter persisted very markedly throughout the 400-problem learning-set series. It is noted that learning-set formation requires a balance between the win-stay and lose-shift components; however, the optimal ratio is unknown. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of anticipatory alerting signals and a compatible secondary task on vigilance performance.

This visual vigilance study simulated an industrial inspection task in which Ss were alerted to possible targets by a semiautomatic detection device. 1 experimental group was forewarned of possible targets by a buzzer with 1-sec foreperiod and rested between alerting signals. A 2nd experimental group worked on a problem-solving secondary task instead of resting between buzzes. A control group observed the display continuously. Other variables of interest were sex of O, target type, and size of display window. It was found that: (1) performance by alerted groups was far superior to that of controls and continued to improve throughout the task, (2) a vigilance decrement was not in evidence in any condition, (3) the problem-solving task did not interfere with detection performance, (4) male and female Ss performed equally well, and (5) Ss engaged in the problem-solving task greatly underestimated the duration of the detection task and reported it "interesting" while the other groups estimated duration accurately and indicated boredom. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of variations in stimulus similarity and response requirement during pre-shock upon subsequent one-way active avoidance learning.

Describes 2 experiments with 48 adult male Holtzman albino rats, which examine further the stimulus and response conditions under which prior fear conditioning facilitates 1-way active avoidance acquisition. Fear in both experiments was established during passive avoidance training by administering a single 2-sec shock following a cross-through response from a white to a black compartment. Subsequent active avoidance acquisition was facilitated in Exp. I even though the response requirements of the 2 tasks were incompatible. In Exp. II reversed stimulus-shock arrangements existed in the 2 learning tasks. Facilitation of avoidance acquisition as a function of the prior task was again obtained. (French summary) (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of performance on leadership, cohesiveness, influence, satisfaction, and subsequent performance.

200 management students role played the "Change of Work Procedure" case. Through changes in the foreman's roles, groups were assigned to a high performance, low performance, or control condition. High past performance increased leader supportiveness, interaction facilitation, goal emphasis, and work facilitation behaviors, as well as member influence, group cohesiveness, and satisfaction. Thus, theories of leadership should consider performance as a cause as well as an effect of leader behavior. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of leader warmth and directiveness on subordinate performance on a subsequent task.

56 college students took the role of a subordinate and interacted with a leader as they completed a task. The leader was either directive or nondirective and nonverbally either conveyed warmth or coldness toward the S. Ss with the warm/directive leader were most motivated to complete a subsequent task, and Ss with the warm/nondirective leader were the least productive. Ss within the warm condition found the leader helpful, were willing to work again and to meet the leader socially, and were satisfied with their relationship with the leader compared to those with a cold leader. Results support the general finding that high-structure, high-consideration leaders facilitate productivity and satisfaction and suggest how leaders might be both oriented toward production and toward people. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduction of ontogenetic retention decrements in rats by pretraining stressful experiences.

Five experiments with 130 Holtzman rats demonstrated that pretraining stressful experiences, either similar to or qualitatively different from the conditioning UCS, reduced ontogenetic retention decrements without directly influencing response acquisition. Ss that received pretreatment with footshock, hypothermia, or restraint on Days 16, 17, and 18 of age showed substantially improved long-term retention of conditioned fear learned at 20 days of age. It was also found that preshock enhanced retention of both an appetitive approach response and punishment of the approach response. These experiments involving extinction and undertraining manipulations indicate that the facilitation of retention was not directly attributable to acquisition strength. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of consistency of reward during runway training on subsequent discrimination performance in rats.

Describes 2 experiments with male albino Holtzman rats (N = 64). In Exp. I, Ss were trained under partial (PR) or continuous (CR) reward in a gray or striped runway and were then trained on a simultaneous stripe-orientation discrimination. PR caused a decrement in discrimination performance after training in the striped runway but had no effect after training in the gray runway. In Exp. II, Ss received PR, CR, or no training in a runway with stripe cues on the floor of the runway varying randomly in orientation. All Ss were then trained on a simultaneous compound-cues discrimination with orientation and width of stripes relevant. After reaching criterion each S was given single-dimension tests on each dimension. PR Ss performed worse on orientation tests but not on width tests. Results are interpreted as supporting stimulus-analyzer theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Previous experience affects subsequent anxiety-like responses in rats bred for novelty seeking.

Novelty-seeking behavior in rats is deemed to model sensation seeking in humans, a personality trait related to some psychiatric conditions, including substance abuse. Animals characterized based on their locomotor response to novelty, namely high and low responders (HRs and LRs, respectively), show differences in anxiety and drug-taking behaviors. This study evaluates the effect of anxiety-provoking situations on subsequent behaviors in these endophenotypes. Selectively bred HR and LR rats were submitted to blocks of tests consisting of two-trial light- dark (LD) and two-trial elevated plus maze (EPM) tests arranged in counterbalanced, alternating order. No differences in anxiety-like behaviors were found in HR-bred and LR-bred rats in either LD trial, regardless of the test order. Repeated exposure to the EPM test, however, resulted in enhanced behavioral response under different test orders as a function of endophenotype. Compared with HR-bred animals, LR-bred animals exhibited increased anxiety on reexposure to EPM but only if both trials were preceded by an LD test session. The emotional responses in HR-bred and LR-bred rats reported here may reflect different degrees of adaptive processing regulated by both genetic and environmental factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of gastric loads and food deprivation on subsequent food intake in suckling rats.

In 4 experiments, a total of 478 suckling Charles River rats were subjected to deprivation periods of 6-8 hrs. Intake following deprivation was greater in deprived than in nondeprived Ss but did not increase with increasing deprivation. Gastric loads of NaCl solutions depressed subsequent intake; 3% NaCl was more effective than .9% NaCl. Other gastric loads of varying osmotic and caloric values also depressed subsequent intake. In order of increasing effectiveness in depressing intake, the gastric loads were protein hydrolystate, heavy cream, water, milk, lactose, glucose, and corn oil. Effectiveness was unrelated to osmotic or caloric value of the load. Gastric fill and, possibly, some property of carbohydrate appeared to be important determinants of satiety in the S. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of failure on subsequent performance: The importance of self-defining goals.

Extending R. A. Wicklund and P. M. Gollwitzer's (1982) self-completion theory, 2 experiments examined the role of self-defining goals in predicting performance effects of failure among students committed to professional goals such as becoming a physician (Experiment 1) or a computer scientist (Experiment 2). Results of Experiment 1 revealed that failure on a task characterized as being relevant to students' professional self-definition led to (a) enhanced performance on a subsequent task relevant to the same self-definition and (b) impaired performance on a subsequent task unrelated to the self-definition challenged through prior of failure. Experiment 2 replicated these findings. In addition, performance effects due to self-definitional failure were annulled when participants experienced intermittent social recognition for the aspired-to self-definition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of partially and continuously reinforced pretraining on choice and latency measures in the rat.

Gave 116 male Long-Evans rats, in 2 experiments, either continuously reinforced or partially reinforced pretraining prior to discrimination training. Pretraining was given to both stimuli to be discriminated, to one of the stimuli, to different stimuli, or to no stimuli and was compared to a control condition with no pretraining. There was little effect of pretraining on choice measures of learning and varied effects on latency measures. Latencies were most affected by partially reinforced pretraining. Although the choice data supported N. S. Sutherland and N. J. MacKintosh's 1971 attentional theory and the latency data offered partial support for A. Amsel and J. S. Ward's (see record 2011-19151-001) frustration theory, it is noted that neither theory could handle the data that the other relies upon. Discrepancies found between choice and latency measures suggest that they measure 2 different processes in discrimination learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Element pretraining influences the content of appetitive serial compound conditioning in rats.

Examined the effects of prior pairings of conditioned stimulus/stimuli (CS)2 with the unconditioned stimulus/stimuli (UCS) on the nature of the associations formed in CS1?→?CS2?→?UCS serial compound conditioning, in 4 experiments with 72 male and 32 female albino rats. In Exps I and II, prior training of CS2 prevented the acquisition of stimulus–stimulus (S–S) associations between CS1 and stimulus features of CS2 but enhanced the acquisition of stimulus–response (S–R) associations between CS1 and the emotional conditioned response (CR) evoked by CS2. In Exps III and IV, the effects of CS2 pretraining were not due to CS2 training itself, but rather to its endowing CS2 with the ability to evoked a strong CR during the early stages of serial compound conditioning. In Exp III, suppression of the CR to a pretrained CS2 during serial compound conditioning permitted the establishment of S–S associations. In Exp IV, the induction of a CR in the presence of an untrained CS2 during serial compound conditioning prevented the acquisition of S–S associations. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of steady-state versus stochastic exercise on subsequent cycling performance

Mutations in the type VII collagen gene (COL7A1) have been shown to underlie dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). The dominantly inherited forms of DEB have been divided into two clinical subcategories, the Pasini (DDEB-P) and the Cockayne-Touraine (DDEB-CT) variants, on the basis of the presence or absence of albopapuloid lesions. In this study, we have examined the molecular basis of DDEB in two Japanese families, one with DDEB-P and the other with DDEB-CT. Mutation detection strategy consisted of polymerase chain reaction amplification of COL7A1 from genomic DNA, followed by heteroduplex analysis and direct nucleotide sequencing. The results revealed heterozygous glycine substitution mutations, G2076D and G2034R, in these families, respectively. Thus, these two variants of DDEB are allelic, and subtle differences in the clinical presentation may reflect the precise position of the mutation along the type VII collagen molecule. Alternatively, the nature of the substituting amino acid (D versus R) may influence the clinical phenotype. This is the first demonstration of a COL7A1 mutation in DDEB-P, and brings the total number of dominant DEB variants with underlying glycine substitutions in COL7A1 to five, including the pretibial and localized variants as well as the Bart's syndrome, in addition to DDEB-P and DDEB-CT.     

Effects of activity and immobility conditioning upon subsequent heart-rate conditioning in curarized rats.

Assigned 40 female Long-Evans hooded rats to experimental or yoked-control groups receiving activity conditioning in a running wheel or immobility conditioning in a small open field. Following 10 days under these procedures, all Ss were curarized and punished either for the emission of high or low heart rates. The pretraining procedures contributed significantly more to the heart-rate changes observed under curare than did the reinforcement contingencies imposed under this latter condition. Implications are discussed with respect to the specificity of operant cardiovascular conditioning and the general issue of somatocardiovascular relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of vicarious therapy pretraining and alternate sessions on outcome in group psychotherapy with outpatients.

Investigated the effects of therapist-absent alternate sessions, a vicarious therapy pretraining experience, and self-exploration on group psychotherapy outcome with outpatients (N = 80). The alternate sessions regimen and high levels of self-exploration both led to slightly better outcome. Vicarious therapy pretraining was found to be highly facilitative, having its greatest effect on neurotic symptomatology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)