Vicarious reinforcement and imitative learning.

The present experiment was designed to study the influence of response-consequences to the model on the imitative learning of aggression. Nursery school children were assigned randomly to 1 of the following groups: aggressive model-rewarded; aggressive model-punished; a control group shown highly expressive but nonaggressive models; and a 2nd control group which had no exposure to models. The children were then tested for the incidence of postexposure imitative and nonimitative aggressive responses. Children who witnessed the aggressive model rewarded showed more imitative aggression and preferred to emulate the successful aggressor than children in the aggressive model-punished group who both failed to reproduce his behavior and rejected him as a model for emulation. Control over aggression was vicariously transmitted to boys by the administration of aversive stimuli to the model, and to girls by the presentation of incompatible prosocial examples of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vicarious trial and error and related behavior.

Empirical material relating to "vicarious trial-and-error" (VTE) is summarized and evaluated critically in terms of criteria for VTE, of antecedents to and response correlates of VTE, and of VTE and learning efficiency. It is proposed that the criterion for scoring VTE behavior should be the AB unit [S's "… looking at or facing one side or card and then turning toward and looking at (or facing) the other side or card before making a choice… "]. Doubts are raised concerning the Muenzinger and Tolman VTE and learning efficiency hypothesis and an alternative explanation is advanced, "… based on an analysis of the role of position preferences supplemented by principles of conflict… ." 63 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The performance of psychopathic individuals under conditions of positive and negative partial reinforcement.

Previous theorizing had distinguished a group of primary psychopaths (PP) from neurotic psychopaths (NP) on the basis of weakness of conscience and disregard for social law (PP) vs. a strong conscience with need to get caught and be punished (NP). The present study is an attempt to distinguish NPs from PPs with regard to their ability to profit from experience (in this instance to profit from differential reinforcement schedules in a learning situation). NPs were seen to be not too different from a control group of normals. However, PPs manifested rigidity of thinking under certain conditions of reinforcement (reward vs. punishment, immediate vs. delayed), and their performance deteriorated the greater the time between stimulus and response. The study, moreover, pointed up the lack of homogeneity in groups grossly defined as "psychopath." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4JJ53P. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal conditioning: The effect of partial reinforcement upon the recall of early memories.

Using a 4:1 fixed ratio reinforcement ("good") scheduling of family memories vs. continuous reinforcement scheduding and a control group (no reinforcement), partial reinforcement training yielded a higher level of operant responding during extinction than did the continuously reinforced group (p     

Partial reinforcement: A selective review of the literature since 1950.

Available studies concerned with the effects of partial reinforcement on extinction have so far failed to uncover parametric laws. Though the studies cited include a large number of variables only a few investigators have been concerned with how one variable relates to another along the entire range of both variables. The foregoing research strategy is necessary in order to be able to describe the desired parametric laws. 109 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on the use of the terms conditioning and reinforcement.

The "… term conditioning was originally used… to denote the behavioral fact that a stimulus inadequate for some response could become adequate by virtue of being combined one or more times with a stimulus adequate for the response… . The situation at present is as follows. Conditioning is being used as an all-covering account of both Pavlovian and Skinnerian learning which by all tokens are quite distinct—and even divergent—from each other methodologically, operationally, behaviorally, and functionally. And reinforcement, in its turn, wields four different meanings." The author claims that "… not only is such a mixing of terms in itself unjustified but in twenty years has hardly caught on beyond the reign of its immediate proponents." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rote learning in schizophrenic and normal subjects under positive and negative reinforcement conditions.

The defects on rote learning performance of adding positive or negative verbal reinforcers to the information provided by presentation of the correct response was studied in normals and in remitted and nonremitted schizophrenics. On a verbal discrimination task, the reinforcers facilitated the performance of all groups (p     

Response rate and sensitivity to the molar feedback function relating response and reinforcement rate on VI+ schedules of reinforcement.

In 5 experiments, the author examined rats' sensitivity to the molar feedback function relating response rate to reinforcement rate on schedules of reinforcement. These studies demonstrated that, at lower rates of responding, rats' performance on variable ratio (VR), variable interval (VI), and variable interval with linear feedback loop (VI+) schedules was determined largely by reinforcement of interresponse times; response rates were faster on VR than on both VI and VI+ schedules. In contrast, when procedures were adopted to maintain high rates of response, rats showed sensitivity to the molar characteristics of the schedules; they responded as fast on a VI+ schedule as on a VR schedule and faster on both of these schedules than on a yoked VI schedule. When the variance of response rate was manipulated, this factor was noted as an important element in determining sensitivity to the molar characteristics of the schedule. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How independent are parallel memory systems? A theoretical comment on Gibson and Shettleworth (2005).

Using only behavioral manipulations, B. M. Gibson and S. J. Shettleworth (2005) (see record 2005-03585-021) have shown that rats can simultaneously acquire both place and response information. Experiments in which these 2 kinds of information are presented sequentially (response followed by place), provide some evidence for blocking of place learning, suggesting an influence of information acquired by a response-learning system on the subsequent acquisition of information by a place-learning system. A detailed examination of the results in the context of information about the kinds of learning that take place on a maze suggests that the memory processes underlying the rats' behavior in this experiment were considerably more complex than is acknowledged by Gibson and Shettleworth. The discussion illustrates the importance of considering both behavioral and physiological information for understanding how learning and memory functions are organized in the brain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive reinforcement by light: Comments on Lockard's article.

Lockard's (1963) review of studies exploring the conditions controlling light-onset and light-offset reinforcement and theories of light-reinforced bar pressing is discussed. The evidence is reexamined in terms of temporal and response variables and it is shown, contrary to Lockard's conclusions, that the data can then be seen as relatively systematic. Lockard's discussion of theories is criticized on the grounds that in the case of the facilitation hypothesis, the stimulus-change hypothesis, and the discrepancy hypothesis, the position discussed is much more powerful than Lockard suggests. Evidence contrary to Lockard's "preference theory" is cited in the course of the discussion. (43 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of verbal reinforcement on the recall of early memories.

"Thirty-four college students were asked to recall events from their early childhood… . 16… were reinforced by E saying "uh-huh" for memories concerned with members of the S's family. Eighteen… were similarly reinforced for memories not concerned with the family. In both groups the reinforcing stimulus served to increase the proportion of memories in the reinforced category… . The results, indicating that personally relevant and emotionally charged materials are subject to manipulation by the use of a minimal reinforcement verbalization, were related to the testing of causal and dynamic hypotheses about personality within the psychotherapeutic interview." 15 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive and negative reinforcement with short- and long-term hospitalized schizophrenics in a probability learning situation.

Groups of 40 long-term (LT) and 40 short-term (ST) schizophrenics were randomly assigned to positive (PR) and negative (NR) extrinsic reinforcement conditions during a probability learning task. Prior to experimental conditions, paper-and-pencil test measures of neuroticism, extroversion, paranoia, and process-reactive were administered. The results supported the major hypotheses that (a) ST schizophrenics are more responsive to PR than NR, (b) LT schizophrenics are more responsive to NR than PR, and (c) ST schizophrenics are more responsive to both PR and NR than LT schizophrenics. None of the correlations between personality variables and responsiveness to PR or NR were significant. The significant interaction between length of hospitalization and type of reinforcement was interpreted as reflecting schizophrenics' adjustment to the hospital environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social encounters and their effect on subsequent reinforcement.

This experiment demonstrates that a variety of social encounters can affect the reinforcement value of a subsequent social reward, and therefore subsequent learning, when praise is used as the reinforcer for a correct response. By manipulating the social experience preceding the learning task, social isolation, negative or positive social encounters are shown to differentially influence S's behavior. Anxiety is postulated as the cause for the increase in the reinforcement value of the praise and for the subsequent superior performance of the social-isolation and negative-encounter groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal reinforcement and interviewer bias.

The relative effectiveness of the responses "Good" and "Mmhmm" as a reinforcer was ascertained by an experiment taking the form of an attitude survey conducted by telephone. The interviewer asked questions concerning the Harvard philosophy of General Education, revealing a bias for or against the philosophy by his reactions to the answers of the interviewees. 10 Ss were assigned at random to each of 4 experimental groups. For 2 groups the reinforcement was "Mmhmm," pronounced after pro General Education answers for one group, and after anti answers for the other. For the remaining 2 groups, the reinforcement was "Good." "Good" proved to bias the results obtained while "Mm-hmm" did not. Replication produced similar results, which were compared with those obtained by other experiments, and the implications for the clinical and opinion interview were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need for achievement and schedules of variable reinforcement.

In a simple stimulus discrimination experiment Ss were selected on the basis of their achievement need (n Ach) and assigned to 1 of 3 reinforcement conditions. Later 14 of the persons who had operated under a 5:1 schedule of reinforcement were paired on the basis of n Ach scores. The new persons were told it was a new type intelligence test and urged to do their best. Results indicated that the schedule of reinforced responses made for persons emitting more reinforced responses while n Ach was associated with a higher ratio of S responses over total response. The arousal made a difference in the ratio and seemingly had most effect on the low n Ach persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schedules of reinforcement as determinants of human causality judgments and response rates.

Experiments examined the effect of relationships between a response and an outcome on human judgments of causal effectiveness. In Experiment 1, the time between outcomes obtained on a variable ratio (VR) schedule became the intervals for a yoked variable interval (VI) schedule. Response rates were higher on the VR than on the VI schedule. In Experiment 2, the number of responses required per outcome on a VR schedule were matched to that on a master VI 20-s schedule. Both ratings of causal effectiveness and response rates were higher in the VR schedule. In Experiment 3, tandem VI fixed-ratio (FR) schedules produced higher rates and judgments than equivalent conjunctive VI FR schedule. In Experiment 4, a VI schedule with a reinforcement requirement for a short interresponse time (IRT) produced higher rates and judgments than a simple VI schedule. These results corroborate the view that schedules are a determinant of both response rates and causal judgments. Few current theories of causal judgment predict this pattern of results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Place Versus Response Learning Revisited: Tests of Blocking on the Radial Maze.

Neurobiological and behavioral research indicates that place learning and response learning occur simultaneously, in parallel. Such findings seem to conflict with theories of associative learning in which different cues compete for learning. The authors conducted place + response training on a radial maze and then tested place learning and response learning separately by reconfiguring the maze in various ways. Consistent with the effects of manipulating place and response systems in the brain (M. G. Packard & J. L. McGaugh, 1996), well-trained rats showed strong place learning and strong response learning. Three experiments using associative blocking paradigms indicated that prior response learning interferes with place learning. Blocking and related tests can be used to better understand how memory systems interact during learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between heavy drinking, gender, and substance-free reinforcement.

Behavioral economic theory and laboratory research have suggested that substance abuse may be associated with diminished engagement in enjoyable substance-free activities (substance-free reinforcement). However, college students, in particular men, have reported numerous social benefits from drinking that might mitigate the expected inverse relation between drinking and substance-free reinforcement. In this study, we examined the relations between college student heavy drinking, gender, and several categories of substance-free reinforcement (peer, dating, sexual, school, and family activities). Participants were 246 undergraduate students who were classified as a function of their reported frequency of heavy drinking during a typical week in the past month (120 heavy drinkers, 126 light drinkers). Heavy drinking was associated with significantly higher substance-free peer and sexual reinforcement. This association was gender invariant and remained significant in multiple regression models that controlled for gender, ethnicity, and fraternity or sorority membership. Substance-free reinforcement did not predict frequency of heavy drinking in models that included levels of substance-related reinforcement. The results indicate that college student heavy drinking is not associated with global deficits in substance-free reinforcement and is instead associated with increased peer and sexual activity that occurs outside the context of drinking or drug use. Prevention programs should help students to compensate for the potential loss of social reinforcement associated with reductions in drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)