The performance of developing zebrafish in both classical and operant conditioning assays was tested with a particular focus on the emergence of these learning behaviors during development. Strategically positioned visual cues paired with electroshocks were used in two fully automated assays to investigate both learning paradigms. These allow the…

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…

This study asked whether the concurrent reinforcement of behavioral variability facilitates learning to emit a difficult target response. Sixty students repeatedly pressed sequences of keys, with an originally infrequently occurring target sequence consistently being followed by positive feedback. Three conditions differed in the feedback given to…

Relationship between maternal ratings of temperament and operant learning was examined in 18 2- to 3-month-old infants. Subjects participated in a conjugate reinforcement experiment; mothers of subjects completed the Carey and McDevitt Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire 2 to 3 days before the learning study. Two temperament dimensions,…

A program for modifying classroom behavior of emotionally disturbed and other children (in grades 3 through 7) based on modeling is described, and specific behaviors and evaluation items for the program are provided along with their rationale. Research is reviewed in Part I and topics are covered, such as: the three effects of modeling…

Five experiments were conducted to determine whether properties inherent in some training procedures may subtly influence the adaptability of skilled performance of complex tasks. The first two experiments assessed the insensitivity of low-rate performances. Examined in the third experiment was the issue of whether instructions that focus…