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Effects of Training Different Levels of Operant Variability in Rats. Behav Processes 2022; 201:104730. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2022] [Revised: 07/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Gulinello M, Mitchell HA, Chang Q, Timothy O'Brien W, Zhou Z, Abel T, Wang L, Corbin JG, Veeraragavan S, Samaco RC, Andrews NA, Fagiolini M, Cole TB, Burbacher TM, Crawley JN. Rigor and reproducibility in rodent behavioral research. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2019; 165:106780. [PMID: 29307548 PMCID: PMC6034984 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2018.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2017] [Revised: 12/22/2017] [Accepted: 01/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral neuroscience research incorporates the identical high level of meticulous methodologies and exacting attention to detail as all other scientific disciplines. To achieve maximal rigor and reproducibility of findings, well-trained investigators employ a variety of established best practices. Here we explicate some of the requirements for rigorous experimental design and accurate data analysis in conducting mouse and rat behavioral tests. Novel object recognition is used as an example of a cognitive assay which has been conducted successfully with a range of methods, all based on common principles of appropriate procedures, controls, and statistics. Directors of Rodent Core facilities within Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers contribute key aspects of their own novel object recognition protocols, offering insights into essential similarities and less-critical differences. Literature cited in this review article will lead the interested reader to source papers that provide step-by-step protocols which illustrate optimized methods for many standard rodent behavioral assays. Adhering to best practices in behavioral neuroscience will enhance the value of animal models for the multiple goals of understanding biological mechanisms, evaluating consequences of genetic mutations, and discovering efficacious therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gulinello
- IDDRC Behavioral Core Facility, Neuroscience Department, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Heather A Mitchell
- IDD Models Core, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Qiang Chang
- IDD Models Core, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - W Timothy O'Brien
- IDDRC Preclinical Models Core, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Zhaolan Zhou
- IDDRC Preclinical Models Core, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Ted Abel
- IDDRC Preclinical Models Core, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Current affiliation: Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
| | - Li Wang
- IDDRC Neurobehavioral Core, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC 20010, USA
| | - Joshua G Corbin
- IDDRC Neurobehavioral Core, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC 20010, USA
| | - Surabi Veeraragavan
- IDDRC Neurobehavioral Core, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Rodney C Samaco
- IDDRC Neurobehavioral Core, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Nick A Andrews
- IDDRC Neurodevelopmental Behavior Core, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Michela Fagiolini
- IDDRC Neurodevelopmental Behavior Core, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Toby B Cole
- IDDRC Rodent Behavior Laboratory, Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Thomas M Burbacher
- IDDRC Rodent Behavior Laboratory, Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Jacqueline N Crawley
- IDDRC Rodent Behavior Core, MIND Institute, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
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Matzel LD, Bendrath S, Herzfeld M, Crawford DW, Sauce B. Mouse twins separated when young: A history of exploration doubles the heritability of boldness and differentially affects the heritability of measures of learning. INTELLIGENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2019.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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Kong X, McEwan JS, Bizo LA, Foster MT. Generalization of learned variability across multiple dimensions in humans. Behav Processes 2018; 158:32-40. [PMID: 30391657 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2018] [Revised: 10/18/2018] [Accepted: 10/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
This study examined whether trained variability would generalize across dimensions of the target response. Two experiments used a computerized rectangle drawing task that required participants to click and drag a mouse cursor to create rectangles on a computer screen. In Experiment 1, one group received points when successive rectangles varied in their size, shape and location (VAR), another group were yoked to the VAR group and received points that were allocated to them using a yoking procedure (YOKE), regardless of the variability in the size, shape or location of the rectangle drawn. Variability was higher for a dimension when variability on that dimension was directly reinforced. In Experiment 2, three groups of participants received points when rectangles varied on two dimensions; each group differed in the two dimensions that required variation. Variability was again higher for the reinforced dimensions for two of the three groups. Comparison with the YOKE group showed that the variability on those dimensions where variability was not directly reinforced was affected by reinforcement for variability on the other dimensions. Specifically, the variability in Shape and Location was significantly higher when these two dimensions occurred with other dimensions where variability was reinforced (as in Experiment 2) compared to when they were not required to vary (as in the YOKE group). This suggests that, for these two groups, the reinforced variability on the other two dimensions generalized to the third dimension. Implications of this finding to our understanding of factors that promote behavioral variability are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuyan Kong
- School of Psychology, University of Waikato, New Zealand.
| | - James S McEwan
- School of Psychology, University of Waikato, New Zealand.
| | - Lewis A Bizo
- School of Psychology, University of Waikato, New Zealand; School of Psychology and Behavioural Science, University of New England, Australia.
| | - Mary T Foster
- School of Psychology, University of Waikato, New Zealand; School of Psychology and Behavioural Science, University of New England, Australia.
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Galizio A, Frye CCJ, Haynes JM, Friedel JE, Smith BM, Odum AL. Persistence and relapse of reinforced behavioral variability. J Exp Anal Behav 2018; 109:210-237. [DOI: 10.1002/jeab.309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Abstract
Behaving predictably can be advantageous in some situations, but unpredictability can also be advantageous in some competitive situations like sports, games, and war. Can, however, unpredictable behavior be conditioned? If a contingency of reinforcement based upon the predictability of behavior generates unpredictable responding, is it possible to conclude that predictability is itself a reinforceable dimension of behavior? In this paper, I address these questions by examining the concept and measures of predictability and the procedures generally used to increase unpredictable responding. I discuss the hypothesis that contingencies based on response frequency shape the generalized operant "to vary" and an alternative hypothesis that such contingencies generate unpredictable responding by balancing the strength of each alternative response over time. I discuss the findings that support the balance hypothesis as well as its limitations. I conclude that the two alternative hypotheses may be complementary in explaining unpredictable responding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lourenço de Souza Barba
- />Centro Universitário Padre Anchieta, Jundiaí, Brazil
- />R Braseliza Alves de Carvalho, 522, São Paulo, Brazil 02510-030
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