TheP system: A scheme for organizing Pavlovian procedures

The present paper introduces theP system as a scheme for organizing Pavlovian procedures in an orderly and comprehensive manner. The system is defined by three temporal variables and three restrictions on their possible values. It can be used to define all standard temporal variables—namely, stimulus duration, interstimulus interval, trace interval, and intertrial interval—as well as variables C and T of scalar expectancy theory. The system also permits the definition of new independent variables through combinations of the basic temporal parameters. We exemplify this possibility by defining two ratios of temporal intervals. These ratios lead to a space where traditional Pavlovian arrangements (viz., simultaneous, forward-trace, forward-delay, backward) become points on a continuum, and optimal conditions across different experimental preparations become equivalent. Finally, the system can be used to define contingency variables such asp(US/CS),p(US/～CS), and the phi coefficient (φ). In this manner, an organization of different kinds of Pavlovian procedures is achieved on the basis of a single parametric scheme. Such an organization facilitates establishing procedural and theoretical relationships between temporal and contingency variables. The paper concludes with a discussion of certain limitations of the system and other related issues     

Behavior analysis and revaluation

Revaluation refers to phenomena in which the strength of an operant is altered by reinforcer-related manipulations that take place outside the conditioning situation in which the operant was selected. As an example, if lever pressing is acquired using food as a reinforcer and food is later paired with an aversive stimulus, the frequency of lever pressing decreases when subsequently tested. Associationist psychology infers from such findings that conditioning produces a response-outcome (i.e., reinforcer) association and that the operant decreased in strength because pairing the reinforcer with the aversive stimulus changed the value of the outcome. Here, we present an approach to the interpretation of these and related findings that employs neural network simulations grounded in the experimental analysis of behavior and neuroscience. In so doing, we address some general issues regarding the relations among behavior analysis, neuroscience, and associationism.     

Reconsolidation of declarative memory in humans

The reconsolidation hypothesis states that a consolidated memory could again become unstable and susceptible to facilitation or impairment for a discrete period of time after a reminder presentation. The phenomenon has been demonstrated in very diverse species and types of memory, including the human procedural memory of a motor skill task but not the human declarative one. Here we provide evidence for both consolidation and reconsolidation in a paired-associate learning (i.e., learning an association between a cue syllable and the respective response syllable). Subjects were given two training sessions with a 24-h interval on distinct verbal material, and afterward, they received at testing two successive retrievals corresponding to the first and second learning, respectively. Two main results are noted. First, the first acquired memory was impaired when a reminder was presented 5 min before the second training (reconsolidation), and also when the second training was given 5 min instead of 24 h after the first one (consolidation). Second, the first retrieval proved to influence negatively on the later one (the retrieval-induced forgetting [RIF] effect), and we used the absence of this RIF effect as a very indicator of the target memory impairment. We consider the demonstration of reconsolidation in human declarative memory as backing the universality of this phenomenon and having potential clinical relevance. On the other hand, we discuss the possibility of using the human declarative memory as a model to address several key topics of the reconsolidation hypothesis.     

Autoshaping and automaintenance: a neural-network approach

This article presents an interpretation of autoshaping, and positive and negative automaintenance, based on a neural-network model. The model makes no distinction between operant and respondent learning mechanisms, and takes into account knowledge of hippocampal and dopaminergic systems. Four simulations were run, each one using an A-B-A design and four instances of feedfoward architectures. In A, networks received a positive contingency between inputs that simulated a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an input that simulated an unconditioned stimulus (US). Responding was simulated as an output activation that was neither elicited by nor required for the US. B was an omission-training procedure. Response directedness was defined as sensory feedback from responding, simulated as a dependence of other inputs on responding. In Simulation 1, the phenomena were simulated with a fully connected architecture and maximally intense response feedback. The other simulations used a partially connected architecture without competition between CS and response feedback. In Simulation 2, a maximally intense feedback resulted in substantial autoshaping and automaintenance. In Simulation 3, eliminating response feedback interfered substantially with autoshaping and automaintenance. In Simulation 4, intermediate autoshaping and automaintenance resulted from an intermediate response feedback. Implications for the operant-respondent distinction and the behavior-neuroscience relation are discussed.     

Speaking of One’s Life: What Can We Learn from Transcultural Studies?

The work by Demuth et al. (Integrative Psychological and Bahavioral Science 45:1–20, 2011) is very important in the scenario of transcultural research, as it goes beyond the specific contexts of India and Germany. They successfully explored the dialogic relation between remembered autobiography, the self and the culture from a trans-generational development perspective, managing to identify common and unique processes of each culture. I, however, using a dynamical systems approach, present a supplementary way to the one chosen in the study, with the goal of analyzing how these new perspectives might contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon. The dynamical systems is a perspective sensitive to non-linearity of phenomena and interested in understanding how processes emerge, as it may be useful to analyze the family as a dynamical system under constant interaction with other systems, which makes the emergence of the self, possible. Besides, it would enable the identification of trajectories that individuals build over time, the moments of change and variability, as well as identifying different types of patterns in the process of construction of the self.     

Processes of early drug involvement in three inner‐city neighborhood settings

The present paper explores the drug use of a sample of inner‐city junior high school youths by examining a hypothesized, interactive relationship between the perceived toughness/drug use in their neighborhood and the youths’ demographic, neighborhood orientation/involvement, and drug use context factors in regard to their drug involvement. In support of our hypothesis, discriminant analysis indicated that different processes were reflected in the correlates of the youths’ involvement with drugs in the three settings. Implications of these findings for drug abuse treatment and prevention strategies are discussed.     

Timing without a timer.

Inferred-process theories propose various internal timing mechanisms to provide discriminative stimuli for temporal control of behavior. Biobehaviorally informed computer simulations indicate that timing may emerge from the action of reinforcement on neural circuits without the need to postulate timers of any sort.     

Relationship between physical prowess and cognitive function

There is some evidence about the low relationship between physical prowess and cognitive function (Posthuma, Mulder, Boomsma & de Geus, 2002). The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between cognitive variables (spatial ability, reasoning, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and reasoning and verbal comprehension) and physical prowess in sport performance (agility circuit, coordination circuit, horizontal jump, swimming and sprint racing). Two studies were performance. In the first one we applied a battery of standardized cognitive tests and a battery of physical grading tests to 400 subjects. When we applied factor analysis to the physical prowess and the cognitive variables, we found one general factor in cognitive variables and one general factor in physical prowess. We found a low relationship between both factors (.21). In the second study we compare the cognitive abilities in elite and amateur sport people. Results show that elite gymnastics people present higher cognitive abilities than amateur sportspeople. It should be relevant in order to clarify the total set of variables involved in sport performance.     

The effect of culture and self‐construals on predispositions toward verbal communication

This study tested the effects of culture and self‐construals (i.e., independence and interdependence) on predispositions toward verbal communication. For the purpose of this study, we focused on two main areas of verbal communication predispositions: (a) communication apprehension and (b) argumentativeness. In our path model, we expected that culture‐level individualism increases one's construal of self as independent, which, in turn, leads to a higher degree of argumentativeness and a lower level of communication apprehension. We also expected that culture‐level individualism decreases one's construal of self as interdependent, which, in turn, leads to a lower degree of argumentativeness and a higher level of communication apprehension. Data to test the model were drawn from undergraduates (N=539) studying in Korea, Hawaii, and mainland U.S. The data were partially consistent with the theoretical predictions made. The implications of the results for theory and practice are discussed.