Overtraining, transfer to proprioceptive control and position reversal

If rats are overtrained on a visual discrimination they generally learn the reversal of the discrimination faster than non-overtrained rats. In position discriminations, however, this effect does not generally hold—indeed several investigators have found overtraining to retard position reversal. One of the important differences between the two types of problem seems to be the presence of irrelevant cues in visual discriminations, and their absence in position discriminations. It is suggested that a second important feature of position discriminations is that overtraining usually causes control of the maze running habit to be transferred from external to proprioceptive stimuli, and that successful reversal cannot normally occur until external control is re-established. In two experiments a study by Krechevsky and Honzik (1932) is repeated with certain modifications, with results that support this hypothesis; and a third experiment provides direct evidence of transfer to proprioceptive control in a T-maze. It is shown that this analysis will explain the apparently conflicting results of all recent position reversal experiments.     

Tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment: explication and age-related analysis of assimilative and accommodative strategies of coping

Crises and critical life transitions activate 2 distinct but complementary modes of coping, (a) transforming developmental circumstances in accordance with personal preferences (assimilative tendency) and (b) adjusting personal preferences to situational constraints (accommodative tendency). Assimilative and accommodative tendencies were measured by a questionnaire comprising 2 independent scales (Tenacious Goal Pursuit and Flexible Goal Adjustment). Both scales predict high life satisfaction and low depression and are positively related to generalized internal control beliefs. The scales evinced an opposite relation to age: Cross-sectional analyses on a sample of 890 Ss in the age range from 34 to 63 years revealed a gradual shift from an assimilative to an accommodative mode of coping. Implications for theories of depression and successful aging are discussed.