THE “WHERE IS IT?” REFLEX: AUTOSHAPING THE ORIENTING RESPONSE

The goal of this review is to compare two divergent lines of research on signal-centered behavior: the orienting reflex (OR) and autoshaping. A review of conditioning experiments in animals and humans suggests that the novelty hypothesis of the OR is no longer tenable. Only stimuli that represent biological “relevance” elicit ORs. A stimulus may be relevant a priori (i.e., unconditioned) or as a result of conditioning. Exposure to a conditioned stimulus (CS) that predicts a positive reinforcer causes the animal to orient to it throughout conditioning. Within the CS-US interval, the initial CS-directed orienting response is followed by US-directed tendencies. Experimental evidence is shown that the development and maintenance of the conditioned OR occur in a similar fashion both in response-independent (classical) and response-dependent (instrumental) paradigms. It is proposed that the conditioned OR and the signal-directed autoshaped response are identical. Signals predicting aversive events repel the subject from the source of the CS. It is suggested that the function of the CS is not only to signal the probability of US occurrence, but also to serve as a spatial cue to guide the animal in the environment.     

The second offspring of General Process Learning Theory: Overt behavior as the ambassador of the mind

Wasserman suggested in a recent book review that the study of intervening cognitive processes represents a current focus of interest in animal learning and that this has led to a revitalization of comparative psychology. An examination of the volume reviewed suggests that he may have overstated the case. Most of the authors to whom he refers expressed dissatisfaction with traditional stimulus-response associationism but few argued for the extreme (information processing) sort of cognitive approach described by Wasserman.     

Stimulus discriminability in free-operant and discrete-trial detection procedures.

Six pigeons were trained to discriminate different light intensities in four experimental procedures. Experiment 1 compared stimulus discriminability in a yes-no signal-detection task with discriminability measures obtained from two free-operant procedures. Discriminability estimates were significantly lower in the detection procedure. Experiment 2 showed this lowered discriminability to be a function of the delay between stimulus presentation and the availability of the choice-response keys in the standard detection task. In addition, reinforcement sensitivity was lowest when correct choice responses were intermittently, rather than continuously, reinforced.     

Methodological and theoretical issues in neuropsychological assessment

While there are philosophical and theoretical differences between neuropsychologists and behavior therapists, it is suggested that a significant reconciliation can be achieved in regard to assessment and treatment of the brain-damaged patient. While brain damage is often viewed as an irreversible disorder, there is evidence that substantial recovery of function can occur, particularly when adequate retraining is provided. There are practical and empirical considerations that suggest that neuropsychological tests are currently the best tools available for behavioral assessment of brain-damaged patients. However, the results of these tests can be used not only diagnostically but also to identify target behavioral deficits that may be rehabilitated through systematic retraining efforts. Such rehabilitation efforts can be optimally planned, implemented, and evaluated through an alliance between the neuropsychologist, who identifies the ability and deficit pattern, and the behavior therapist, who devises and evaluates the retraining program. It is possible that the successes of behavior therapy in numerous clinical and educational applications can be repeated in the cases of brain-damaged patients. However, such success would appear to be contingent on appreciation of the high degree of specificity often seen in neurological deficit patterns and the great complexities involved in the relationships between brain function and behavior.     

Considerations in the choice of interobserver reliability estimates

Two types of interobserver reliability values may be needed in treatment studies in which observers constitute the primary data-acquisition system: trial reliability and the reliability of the composite unit or score which is subsequently analyzed, e.g., daily or weekly session totals. Two approaches to determining interobserver reliability are described: percentage agreement and "correlational" measures of reliability. The interpretation of these estimates, factors affecting their magnitude, and the advantages and limitations of each approach are presented.     

Two simple classes of mastery scores based on the beta-binomial model

Two simple classes of mastery scores which are suitable for hand calculations are presented for beta-binomial test score distributions combined with linear and cubic referral success. The models provide a simple way to explore the consequences of selecting an arbitrary mastery score. Such assessment would be useful whenever the test user is not willing to posta priori a loss ratio, but wishes to look at the various consequences before aiming at a particular score.     

Fitting and testing carroll's weighted unfolding model for preferences

A quadratic programming algorithm is presented for fitting Carroll's weighted unfolding model for preferences to known multidimensional scale values. The algorithm can be applied directly to pairwise preferences; it permits nonnegativity constraints on subject weights; and it provides a means of testing various preference model hypotheses. While basically metric, it can be combined with Kruskal's monotone regression to fit ordinal data. Monte Carlo results show that (a) adequacy of true preference recovery depends on the number of data points and the amount of error, and (b) the proportion of data variance accounted for by the model sometimes only approximately reflects true recovery.This study is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The author wishes to thank the members of his dissertation committee—Lawrence E. Jones, Chairman, Charles Lewis, Stephen Golding, Ledyard Tucker, and Nancy Wiggins—for their helpful comments.     

影响大学生参与网上招聘意向的因素模型

该研究基于“计划行为理论”探索了影响大学生参与网上招聘意向的因素模型。研究结果证实了创建的模型对大学生参与网上招聘意向的预测和解释效力:(1)态度、针对网上招聘的特殊互联网自我效能感以及知觉到的对行为实施与否的控制力对大学生参与网上招聘的意向有显著的直接正向影响;(2)人际规范和知觉到的有用性对态度有显著的正向影响,知觉到的危险性对态度有显著的负向影响;(3)一般互联网自我效能感(ISE)对针对网上招聘的特殊ISE有显著的正向影响,对大学生参与网上招聘意向并没有直接的影响,而是通过针对网上招聘的特殊ISE这一中介变量产生间接影响。     

发展性阅读障碍视听时间整合缺陷可能的机制：视听时间再校准能力受损

发展性阅读障碍的本质一直是研究者争论的焦点。大量研究发现,阅读障碍者具有视听时间整合缺陷。然而,这些研究仅考察了阅读障碍者视听时间整合加工的整体表现,也就是平均水平的表现,却对整合加工的变化过程缺乏探讨。视听时间再校准反映了视听时间整合的动态加工过程,对内部时间表征与感觉输入之间差异的再校准困难则会导致多感觉整合受损,而阅读障碍者的再校准相关能力存在缺陷。因此,视听时间再校准能力受损可能是发展性阅读障碍视听时间整合缺陷的根本原因。未来的研究需要进一步考察发展性阅读障碍者视听时间再校准能力的具体表现,以及这些表现背后的认知神经机制。     

价值计算决定何时与如何努力

优化努力的分配,最小化努力成本和最大化收益是各个领域的关键问题。本文梳理了基于努力的决策(effort-based decision-making)的理论与实证研究,讨论了努力的两面性：固有成本和潜在价值。通过拓展控制期望价值理论(Expected Value of Control, EVC),本研究探讨了影响努力的非社会与社会因素。探索人们何时以及如何付出努力的计算神经机制,有利于理解与促进社会互动中的努力行为,以及为干预精神疾病中动机缺失症状提供参考。