Algorithmic shaping and misbehavior in the acquisition of token deposit by rats

In two experiments, rats were trained to deposit ball bearings down a hole in the floor, using an algorithmic version of shaping. The experimenter coded responses expected to be precursors of the target response, ball bearing deposit; a computer program reinforced these responses, or not, according to an algorithm that mimicked the processes thought to occur in conventional shaping. In the first experiment, 8 of 10 rats were successfully shaped; in the second, 5 of 5 were successfully shaped, and the median number of sessions required was the same as for a control group trained using conventional shaping. In both experiments, “misbehavior,” that is, excessive handling and chewing of the ball bearings, was observed, and when the algorithmic shaping procedure was used, misbehavior could be shown to occur in spite of reduced reinforcement for the responses involved.     

Behavioral economics of concurrent ethanol-sucrose and sucrose reinforcement in the rat: effects of altering variable-ratio requirements.

These experiments examined the own-price and cross-price elasticities of a drug (ethanol mixed with 10% sucrose) and a nondrug (10% sucrose) reinforcer. Rats were presented with ethanol-sucrose and sucrose, both available on concurrent independent variable-ratio (VR) 8 schedules of reinforcement. In Experiment 1, the variable ratio for the ethanol mix was systematically raised to 10, 12, 14, 16, 20, and 30, while the variable ratio for sucrose remained at 8. Five of the 6 rats increased ethanol-reinforced responding at some of the increments and defended baseline levels of ethanol intake. However, the rats eventually ceased ethanol-reinforced responding at the highest variable ratios. Sucrose-reinforced responding was not systematically affected by the changes in variable ratio for ethanol mix. In Experiment 2, the variable ratio for sucrose was systematically increased while the ethanol-sucrose response requirement remained constant. The rats decreased sucrose-reinforced responding and increased ethanol-sucrose-reinforced responding, resulting in a two- to 10-fold increase in ethanol intake. Experiment 3 examined the substitutability of qualitatively identical reinforcers: 10% sucrose versus 10% sucrose. Increases in variable-ratio requirements at the preferred lever resulted in a switch in lever preference. Experiment 4 examined whether 10% ethanol mix substituted for 5% ethanol mix, with increasing variable-ratio requirements of the 5% ethanol. All rats eventually responded predominantly for the 10% ethanol mix, but total amount of ethanol consumed per session did not systematically change. In Experiment 5, the variable-ratio requirements for both ethanol and sucrose were simultaneously raised to VR 120; 7 of 8 rats increased ethanol-reinforced responding while decreasing sucrose-reinforced responding. These data suggest that, within this ethanol-induction procedure and within certain parameters, demand for ethanol-sucrose was relatively inelastic, and sucrose consumption was independent of ethanol-sucrose consumption. Demand for sucrose, on the other hand, was relatively elastic, and ethanol-sucrose readily substituted for it. The results are discussed in terms of applying a behavioral economic approach to relationships between drug and nondrug reinforcers.     

Woman and the gift of reason

An incidental extension of the central domain of argumentation theory with non-classical ways of constructing arguments seems to automatically raise a question that is otherwise rarely posed, namely whether or not it is useful to consider the sex of the arguer. This question is usually posed with regard to argumentation by women in particular. Do women rely more, or differently than men do on non-canonical modes of reasoning stemming from the realm of the emotional, physical and intuitive, instead of the logical? One may simply refer this question to folk-linguistics. One may also take the question seriously, given the findings on women's linguistic behaviour, and for various other reasons that will be explained below.Section 1 sums up the most frequently quoted differences in language use between women and men. This is followed by a non-exhaustive, interdisciplinary review of studies on male/female differences in verbal and written argumentation.Section 2 discusses the role of language and texts in generating and maintaining ideas on gender. These gender messages not only influence the actual argumentation behaviour of women and men, but also the way such behaviour is valued.Section 3 subsequently shows that our ideas on rationality are gendered, and therefore also our ideas on the proper central domain of argumentation theory.Section 4 briefly reflects on why this kind of wrong question about the reasoning of women should sometimes be addressed seriously anyway.     

恐惧发生与预防的实验研究：──Ⅱ、强噪音下不同处理背景动物身心变化的观察分析

采用生理心理学的实验方法．对强噪音下四组不同处理背景大鼠的旷场反应、援食、饮水、排泄和尿生物化学等方面进行比较。结果发现：①Ⅰ组（强刺激组）的各类指标均发生情绪性（恐惧）改变。与２组（预防训练Ⅰ组）、３组（预防训练Ⅱ组）、４组（控制组）以及自身基线（ＭＡＯ）比较差异显著;②适应性训练有助于防止大鼠恐惧发生及上述各类指标发生异常．③由于训练的方法不同,预防的效果也不同。３组与４组比较无显著差异,２组与４组比较某些指标有显著差异。④１组和２组部分大鼠出现皮肤、消化道病变。     

Role of the striatal cholinergic system in the regulation of learned manipulation in rats

The experiments were performed on adult Wistar male rats trained to push with the forepaw on a fixed piston inside a narrow tube. It was found that after localized intracerebral injection of a cholinergic antagonist into the dorso-lateral (but not medial) neostriatum (i.e., the caudato-putamen) the behavioral performance requiring brief innate movements remained unchanged, but the performance requiring a prolonged pushing movement (> 50 msec) became disrupted. Microinjection of carbacholine (0.03-3 μ g/1 μ1) did not affect the performance of the acquired movements, whereas scopolamine (3 μ g/1 μ1) led to the significant decrease in pushing time. We conclude that changes in the state of the dorso-lateral neostriatal cholinergic system result only in disturbances of the sensory-controlled component of a complex instrumental movement. The 1994 Pavlovian Society Young Investigator Awardee was Nadezda Dubrovskaya, first author of this paper, which was presented at the annual meeting of the Pavlovian Society, July 3, 1994, in Prague, Czech Republic.     

Female Offenders Under Community Supervision: A Phenomenological Analysis

In this phenomenological study, we examined the lived experiences of 10 female offenders under community supervision. Findings include five essential themes. We propose clinical implications and actionable service recommendations for clinical mental health counselors working with this population.     

Intrafemale agonistic interactions in the domestic rabbit (oryctolagus cuniculus L.)

Agonistic interactions between adult domestic rabbit females were observed. Females were housed in groups of four in outdoor enclosures measuring 4 × 4 m. Agonistic patterns included aggression (AG), flight (FL), and submission (SB). Observations focused on 1) initial interactions between unfamiliar females, concomitant with the formation and establishment of a social structure (Phase 1); and 2) interactions between familiar females organized in a stable social structure (Phase 2). AG was frequent between unfamiliar females and appeared related to the acquisition of social dominance. When social organization was settled, there was a dramatic reduction in the number and frequency of aggressive behaviors. Similarly, FL was more frequent when females were unfamiliar, but it did not appear to be merely a response to AG. The decreased frequency of both AG and FL in Phase 2 was paralleled by an increased frequency of SB with respect to FL. Under stable social conditions, subordinate females frequently signalled submission to dominant counterparts. In contrast, the latter did not signal their social status with any consistent behavioral pattern. It follows that SB was not necessarily induced as the appropriate response to aggression given by dominant females. Thus, SB appeared relevant in social communication especially in structured groups, where it conveyed information on the actor's subordination and possibly inhibited the receiver's aggression. A further possibility is that it has an autonomous rather than secondary role in the maintenance of stable dominance/subordination relationships.     

Sex differences in behavioral consequences of defeat in the rat are not organized by testosterone during early development

Male and female rats react differently to losing an aggressive encounter, the presence of testosterone (at the time of confrontation) being a critical factor in the manifestation of this sex difference. Female rats were androgenized by 250 μg testosterone propionate sc on days 1 and 5 after birth. When adult they received a sc testosterone proprionate (TP) implant and were subjected to repeated defeats by being placed in the cage of an aggressive resident female. In contrast to males, which freeze and become permanently submissive, androgenized females showed no freezing or other signs of submission. The sex difference in response to defeat is therefore not dependent on the presence of testosterone during the period of post-natal sexual differentiation.     

Anger and aggression in women: Influence of sports choice and testosterone administration

We report on two studies of anger and aggression in women. One study concerns an experimental study of anger induction in aggressive and non-aggressive sportswomen. It was found that sports choice in itself, contrary to expectation, does not predict anger arousal and aggressive behavior in the laboratory. However, at an individual level the anger proneness of the subject, as measured by a questionnaire we developed, was related to the intensity of aggressive behavior and subjectively reported anger. The second study concerns the activating effects of androgens on aggression and anger proneness. In a group of 22 female-to-male transsexuals, a battery of anger proneness and aggression questionnaires was administered twice: shortly before and 3 months after the start of androgen treatment. Administration of androgens was clearly associated with an increaese in anger proneness, although there were no changes in several aspects of overt aggressive behavior. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Opposite strain-dependent differences for intermale aggressive behavior elicited by individual housing and housing with a female in the mouse

Male mice of the C57BL/6 strain show a significant increase in aggression toward a nonaggressive male conspecific following 72 hr of individual housing. However, this increase was no longer evident following 2 weeks of individual housing. When housed with a female, C57BL/6 mice show significantly more aggression than singly housed mice of the same strain after 72 hr as well as 2, 4, 8 weeks of differential housing. Male C57BL/6 mice housed with a female also show significantly higher levels of aggression than DBA/2 mice living in the same housing condition after 4 or 8 weeks of differential housing. Finally, male DBA/2 mice individually housed for 8 weeks are significantly more aggressive than mice of the same strain housed with a female for the same time. These results indicate that the increase in aggressive behavior observed following isolation and cohabitation with a female in the mouse is not the same phenomenon. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.