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Luc OT, Kangas BD. Validation of a touchscreen probabilistic reward task for mice: A reverse-translated assay with cross-species continuity. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024; 24:281-288. [PMID: 37770642 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01128-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
Abstract
The Probabilistic Reward Task (PRT) is a laboratory-based technique used to objectively quantify responsivity to reward. The PRT was initially designed to identify reinforcement learning deficits in clinical populations and subsequently was reverse-translated for use in preclinical studies with rats and monkeys. In this task, subjects make visual discriminations and asymmetric probabilistic contingencies are arranged such that correct responses to one stimulus (rich) are reinforced more often than correct responses to the other (lean). Numerous studies have demonstrated that healthy subjects reliably develop a response bias toward the richly rewarded stimulus, whereas humans with anhedonia and laboratory animals with a history of chronic stress exhibit a blunted response bias. This is important because anhedonia, the loss of responsivity to previously rewarding stimuli, is a behavioral phenotype that is a cardinal feature of multiple neuropsychiatric conditions and is without approved pharmacotherapeutic options. To aid in addressing this critical treatment gap, this report describes validation of the first PRT designed for mice, which are a commonly utilized species in preclinical research toward neuropsychiatric medications development. Results reveal orderly psychophysical functions in response to asymmetric probabilistic contingencies in mice, with signal detection outcomes comparable to previous PRT findings in humans, rats, and monkeys. Taken together, such robust cross-species continuity in task performance confirms that the mouse is well-positioned to serve in bidirectional research efforts between human and animal laboratories. These efforts may accelerate the development of treatment options for anhedonia in the different neuropsychiatric conditions in which it is prominent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oanh T Luc
- Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Brian D Kangas
- Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA.
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2
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Hisey EE, Fritsch EL, Newman EL, Ressler KJ, Kangas BD, Carlezon WA. Early life stress in male mice blunts responsiveness in a translationally-relevant reward task. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:1752-1759. [PMID: 37258714 PMCID: PMC10579416 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01610-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Early-life stress (ELS) leaves signatures upon the brain that persist throughout the lifespan and increase the risk of psychiatric illnesses including mood and anxiety disorders. In humans, myriad forms of ELS-including childhood abuse, bullying, poverty, and trauma-are increasingly prevalent. Understanding the signs of ELS, including those associated with psychiatric illness, will enable improved treatment and prevention. Here, we developed a novel procedure to model human ELS in mice and identify translationally-relevant biomarkers of mood and anxiety disorders. We exposed male mice (C57BL/6 J) to an early-life (juvenile) chronic social defeat stress (jCSDS) and examined social interaction and responsivity to reward during adulthood. As expected, jCSDS-exposed mice showed a socially avoidant phenotype in open-field social interaction tests. However, sucrose preference tests failed to demonstrate ELS-induced reductions in choice for the sweetened solution, suggesting no effect on reward function. To explore whether other tasks might be more sensitive to changes in motivation, we tested the mice in the Probabilistic Reward Task (PRT), a procedure often used in humans to study reward learning deficits associated with depressive illness. In a touchscreen PRT variant that was reverse-translated to maximize alignment with the version used in human subjects, mice exposed to jCSDS displayed significant reductions in the tendency to develop response biases for the more richly-rewarded stimulus, a hallmark sign of anhedonia when observed in humans. Our findings suggest that translationally-relevant procedures that utilize the same endpoints across species may enable the development of improved model systems that more accurately predict outcomes in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin E Hisey
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA.
| | - Emma L Fritsch
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Emily L Newman
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Kerry J Ressler
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Brian D Kangas
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - William A Carlezon
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
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3
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Waite MR, Kodak TM. Owner-implemented paired-stimulus food preference assessments for companion dogs. J Exp Anal Behav 2023; 120:62-77. [PMID: 37414742 DOI: 10.1002/jeab.846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral interventions for animals typically require the inclusion of programmed reinforcers. Although pet owners and human caregivers can often identify items that the animal will consume, preference assessments can more accurately determine relative preference rankings between various stimuli, which is important given that higher preferred items tend to function as more effective reinforcers than lower preferred items. Preference assessments have been developed to identify rankings for a variety of stimuli across species, including the domesticated dog (Canis lupus familiaris). However, previous preference assessments for dogs were developed for laboratory use and could be challenging for dog owners to perform alone. The purpose of this study was to modify existing dog preference assessment methods to produce a valid and feasible preference assessment for dog owners. Results suggest that the preference assessment identified preference rankings for individual dogs. Owners were able to implement the protocol with high integrity and found the protocol acceptable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mindy R Waite
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2441 E. Hartford Ave. Milwaukee, WI, 53211, United States of America
- Department of Life Sciences, Animal Behavior program, Carroll University, 130 W. College Ave. Waukesha, WI, 53186, USA
| | - Tiffany M Kodak
- Behavior Analysis program, Marquette University, 525 N. 6th St. Milwaukee, WI, 53203, USA
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4
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Iturra-Mena AM, Kangas BD, Luc OT, Potter D, Pizzagalli DA. Electrophysiological signatures of reward learning in the rodent touchscreen-based Probabilistic Reward Task. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:700-709. [PMID: 36646816 PMCID: PMC9938210 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01532-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2022] [Revised: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/31/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Blunted reward learning and reward-related activation within the corticostriatal-midbrain circuitry have been implicated in the pathophysiology of anhedonia and depression. Unfortunately, the search for more efficacious interventions for anhedonic behaviors has been hampered by the use of vastly different preclinical and clinical assays. In a first step in addressing this gap, in the current study, we used event-related potentials and spectral analyses in conjunction with a touchscreen version of the rodent Probabilistic Reward Task (PRT) to identify the electrophysiological signatures of reward learning in rats. We trained 11 rats (5 females and 6 males) on the rodent touchscreen-based PRT and subsequently implanted them with deep electrodes in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) for local field potentials recordings during the PRT. Behaviorally, the expected responsivity-to-reward profile was observed. At the electrophysiological level, we identified a negative amplitude deflection 250-500 ms after feedback in the ACC and NAc electrodes, as well as power increase in feedback-locked delta (1-5 Hz) and alpha/beta (9-17 Hz) bands in both electrodes for rewarded trials. Using a reverse-translational approach, we identified electrophysiological signatures of reward learning in rats similar to those described in humans. These findings and approaches might provide a useful translational platform to efficiently evaluate novel therapeutics targeting anhedonia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann M Iturra-Mena
- Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA
- Data Science Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Brian D Kangas
- Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - Oanh T Luc
- Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
| | - David Potter
- Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA
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Brown A, Cariveau T, Ellington P, Platt DF. Overselectivity during reading-related tasks for children at risk for reading failure. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2022.101849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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6
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Kodak T, Bergmann S, Cordeiro MC, Bamond M, Isenhower RW, Fiske KE. Replication of a skills assessment for auditory-visual conditional discrimination training. J Appl Behav Anal 2022; 55:622-638. [PMID: 35192203 DOI: 10.1002/jaba.909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Auditory-visual conditional discrimination training (e.g., receptive identification training, listener responses; AVCD) is ubiquitous in early intervention and special education programs. Nevertheless, some learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) do not appear to benefit from this training despite use of empirically validated treatments. To prevent exposure to extended training that does not lead to learning, a skills assessment that measures skills related to AVCD training will be useful for educators and practitioners. The current study replicated the skills assessment developed and evaluated by Kodak et al. (2015) with 8 participants with ASD who received behavior analytic intervention that included at least 1 goal related to AVCD training. Two of the 8 participants mastered all skills included in the assessment except scanning. In addition, 5 participants' responding failed to reach mastery during subsequent exposure to AVCD training, which further demonstrated the predictive utility of the skills assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Meredith Bamond
- Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutgers University
| | | | - Kate E Fiske
- Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutgers University
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Kangas BD, Short AK, Luc OT, Stern HS, Baram TZ, Pizzagalli DA. A cross-species assay demonstrates that reward responsiveness is enduringly impacted by adverse, unpredictable early-life experiences. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:767-775. [PMID: 34921225 PMCID: PMC8682039 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01250-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Revised: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to early-life adversity (ELA) is associated with several neuropsychiatric conditions, including major depressive disorder, yet causality is difficult to establish in humans. Recent work in rodents has implicated impaired reward circuit signaling in anhedonic-like behavior after ELA exposure. Anhedonia, the lack of reactivity to previously rewarding stimuli, is a transdiagnostic construct common to mental illnesses associated with ELA. Here, we employed an assay of reward responsiveness validated across species, the Probabilistic Reward Task (PRT). In the PRT, healthy participants reliably develop a response bias toward the more richly rewarded stimulus, whereas participants with anhedonia exhibit a blunted response bias that correlates with current and future anhedonia. In a well-established model of ELA that generates a stressful, chaotic, and unpredictable early-life environment, ELA led to blunted response biases in the PRT in two separate cohorts, recapitulating findings in humans with anhedonia. The same ELA rats had blunted sucrose preference, further supporting their anhedonic-like phenotypes. Probing the aspects of ELA that might provoke these deficits, we quantified the unpredictability of dam/pup interactions using entropy measures and found that the unpredictability of maternal care was significantly higher in the ELA groups in which PRT and sucrose preference reward deficits were present later in life. Taken together, these data position the PRT, established in clinical patient populations, as a potent instrument to assess the impact of ELA on the reward circuit across species. These findings also implicate the unpredictability of maternal signals during early life as an important driver of reward sensitivity deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian D Kangas
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Behavioral Biology Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Annabel K Short
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Oanh T Luc
- Behavioral Biology Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Hal S Stern
- Department of Statistics, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Tallie Z Baram
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Diego A Pizzagalli
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Center for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA.
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8
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Kohut SJ, Cao L, Mintzopolous D, Jiang S, Nikas SP, Makriyannis A, Zou CS, Jensen JE, Frederick BB, Bergman J, Kangas BD. Effects of cannabinoid exposure on short-term memory and medial orbitofrontal cortex function and chemistry in adolescent female rhesus macaques. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:998351. [PMID: 36248648 PMCID: PMC9561444 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.998351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim There is increasing concern that cannabinoid exposure during adolescence may disturb brain maturation and produce long-term cognitive deficits. However, studies in human subjects have provided limited evidence for such causality. The present study utilized behavioral and neuroimaging endpoints in female non-human primates to examine the effects of acute and chronic exposure during adolescence to the cannabinoid receptor full agonist, AM2389, on cognitive processing and brain function and chemistry. Materials and methods Adolescent female rhesus macaques were trained on a titrating-delay matching-to-sample (TDMTS) touchscreen task that assays working memory. TDMTS performance was assessed before and during chronic exposure to AM2389, following antagonist (rimonabant) administration, and after discontinuation of the chronic regimen. Resting-state fMRI connectivity and magnetic resonance spectroscopy data were acquired prior to drug treatment, during chronic exposure, and following its discontinuation. Voxels were placed in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), a region involved in memory processing that undergoes maturation during adolescence. Results TDMTS performance was dose-dependently disrupted by acute AM2389; however, chronic treatment resulted in tolerance to these effects. TDMTS performance also was disrupted by discontinuation of the chronic regimen but surprisingly, not by rimonabant administration during chronic AM2389 treatment. mOFC N-acetylaspartate/creatine ratio decreased after acute and chronic administration but returned to baseline values following discontinuation of chronic treatment. Finally, intra-network functional connectivity (mOFC) increased during the chronic regimen and returned to baseline values following its discontinuation. Conclusion Neural effects of a cannabinergic drug may persist during chronic exposure, notwithstanding the development of tolerance to behavioral effects. However, such effects dissipate upon discontinuation, reflecting the restorative capacity of affected brain processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J. Kohut
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
- Behavioral Biology Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Stephen J. Kohut,
| | - Lei Cao
- Behavioral Biology Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - Dionyssios Mintzopolous
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - Shan Jiang
- Center for Drug Discovery, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Spyros P. Nikas
- Center for Drug Discovery, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Chun S. Zou
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - J. Eric Jensen
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - Blaise B. Frederick
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- McLean Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - Jack Bergman
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Behavioral Biology Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - Brian D. Kangas
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Behavioral Biology Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States
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Kangas BD, Iturra-Mena AM, Robble MA, Luc OT, Potter D, Nickels S, Bergman J, Carlezon WA, Pizzagalli DA. Concurrent electrophysiological recording and cognitive testing in a rodent touchscreen environment. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11665. [PMID: 34083596 PMCID: PMC8175731 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91091-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Challenges in therapeutics development for neuropsychiatric disorders can be attributed, in part, to a paucity of translational models capable of capturing relevant phenotypes across clinical populations and laboratory animals. Touch-sensitive procedures are increasingly used to develop innovative animal models that better align with testing conditions used in human participants. In addition, advances in electrophysiological techniques have identified neurophysiological signatures associated with characteristics of neuropsychiatric illness. The present studies integrated these methodologies by developing a rat flanker task with electrophysiological recordings based on reverse-translated protocols used in human electroencephalogram (EEG) studies of cognitive control. Various touchscreen-based stimuli were evaluated for their ability to efficiently gain stimulus control and advance to flanker test sessions. Optimized stimuli were then examined for their elicitation of prototypical visual evoked potentials (VEPs) across local field potential (LFP) wires and EEG skull screws. Of the stimuli evaluated, purple and green photographic stimuli were associated with efficient training and expected flanker interference effects. Orderly stimulus-locked outcomes were also observed in VEPs across LFP and EEG recordings. These studies along with others verify the feasibility of concurrent electrophysiological recordings and rodent touchscreen-based cognitive testing and encourage future use of this integrated approach in therapeutics development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian D. Kangas
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | - Ann M. Iturra-Mena
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | - Mykel A. Robble
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | - Oanh T. Luc
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | - David Potter
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | - Stefanie Nickels
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | - Jack Bergman
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | - William A. Carlezon
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
| | - Diego A. Pizzagalli
- grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 USA
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10
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Wooldridge LM, Bergman J, Pizzagalli DA, Kangas BD. Translational Assessments of Reward Responsiveness in the Marmoset. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2020; 24:409-418. [PMID: 33280005 PMCID: PMC8130205 DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyaa090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Anhedonia, the loss of pleasure in previously rewarding activities, is a prominent feature of major depressive disorder and often resistant to first-line antidepressant treatment. A paucity of translatable cross-species tasks to assess subdomains of anhedonia, including reward learning, presents a major obstacle to the development of effective therapeutics. One assay of reward learning characterized by orderly behavioral and pharmacological findings in both humans and rats is the probabilistic reward task. In this computerized task, subjects make discriminations across numerous trials in which correct responses to one alternative are rewarded more often (rich) than correct responses to the other (lean). Healthy control subjects reliably develop a response bias to the rich alternative. However, participants with major depressive disorder as well as rats exposed to chronic stress typically exhibit a blunted response bias. METHODS The present studies validated a touchscreen-based probabilistic reward task for the marmoset, a small nonhuman primate with considerable translational value. First, probabilistic reinforcement contingencies were parametrically examined. Next, the effects of ketamine (1.0-10.0 mg/kg), a US Food and Drug Administration-approved rapid-acting antidepressant, and phencyclidine (0.01-0.1 mg/kg), a pharmacologically similar N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist with no known antidepressant efficacy, were evaluated. RESULTS Increases in the asymmetry of rich:lean probabilistic contingencies produced orderly increases in response bias. Consistent with their respective clinical profiles, ketamine but not phencyclidine produced dose-related increases in response bias at doses that did not reduce task discriminability. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, these findings confirm task and pharmacological sensitivity in the marmoset, which may be useful in developing medications to counter anhedonia across neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jack Bergman
- McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA,Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Diego A Pizzagalli
- McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA,Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Brian D Kangas
- McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA,Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA,Correspondence: Brian D. Kangas, PhD, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 ()
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11
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Song CJ, Vladescu JC, Reeve KF, Miguel CF, Breeman SL. The influence of correlations between noncritical features and reinforcement on stimulus generalization. J Appl Behav Anal 2020; 54:346-366. [PMID: 32893351 DOI: 10.1002/jaba.760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
One strategy to program for generalization is to vary noncritical features in teaching exemplars, thereby avoiding noncritical features from being highly correlated with reinforcement and thus gaining faulty stimulus control. In the current translational evaluation, 2 groups of adults of typical development were taught to respond to arbitrary stimuli with experimenter-defined critical and noncritical features in a matching-to-sample task. The teaching arrangement used for 1 group programmed for low correlation between noncritical features and reinforcement; the teaching arrangement used for the other group programmed for high correlation between noncritical features and reinforcement. Participants in the former group displayed (a) faster acquisition of matching, (b) less variability in correct responding, and (c) a decreased likelihood of faulty stimulus control developing during training. The results contribute towards advancing the study of stimulus control and developing an explicit technology of generalization to better serve consumers of the application of our science.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Kenneth F Reeve
- Department of Applied Behavior Analysis, Caldwell University
| | - Caio F Miguel
- Department of Psychology, California State University, Sacramento
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12
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Kangas BD, Wooldridge LM, Luc OT, Bergman J, Pizzagalli DA. Empirical validation of a touchscreen probabilistic reward task in rats. Transl Psychiatry 2020; 10:285. [PMID: 32792526 PMCID: PMC7426406 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-00969-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Anhedonia, the loss of pleasure from previously rewarding activities, is implicated in several neuropsychiatric conditions, including major depressive disorder (MDD). In order to accelerate drug development for mood disorders, quantitative approaches are needed to objectively measure responsiveness to reward as a means to identify deficits. One such approach, the probabilistic reward task (PRT), uses visual discrimination methodology to quantify reward learning. In this computerized task, humans make visual discriminations, and probabilistic contingencies are arranged such that correct responses to one alternative are rewarded more often (rich) than correct responses to the other (lean). Healthy participants consistently develop a response bias in favor of the rich alternative. However, participants with MDD typically exhibit lower response biases, and this blunting correlates with current and future anhedonia. The present studies validated a touchscreen-based PRT in rodents with formal and functional similarity to the human task. First, rats were trained to discriminate between two lines that differed in length. Next, parametric manipulations of probabilistic contingencies, line-length stimuli, and drug treatment (amphetamine, 0.32-3.2 mg/kg; scopolamine, 0.1-1.0 mg/kg; oxycodone, 0.1-1.0 mg/kg) on response bias were evaluated. Results demonstrated orderly shifts in bias and discriminability that varied as a function of, respectively, the asymmetry of rich/lean probabilities and disparity in line lengths. Drugs that enhance reward responsiveness (amphetamine and scopolamine, but not oxycodone) increased bias, verifying pharmacological task sensitivity. Finally, performance outcomes under optimized conditions were replicated in female rats. Collectively, the touchscreen-based rodent PRT appears to have high preclinical value as a quantitative assay of reward learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian D. Kangas
- grid.240206.20000 0000 8795 072XMcLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA ,grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | | | - Oanh T. Luc
- grid.240206.20000 0000 8795 072XMcLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA
| | - Jack Bergman
- grid.240206.20000 0000 8795 072XMcLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA ,grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Diego A. Pizzagalli
- grid.240206.20000 0000 8795 072XMcLean Hospital, Belmont, MA USA ,grid.38142.3c000000041936754XHarvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
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13
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Quantifying errors of bias and discriminability in conditional-discrimination performance in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2020.101659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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14
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Brayner de Freitas Gueiros C, Debert P. Reading comprehension with the Go/No-Go procedure with compound stimuli. J Appl Behav Anal 2020; 53:2215-2232. [PMID: 32677045 DOI: 10.1002/jaba.744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Revised: 05/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The present study investigated whether the Go/No-Go procedure with compound stimuli produces emergent relations among dictated words (A), pictures (B), and printed words (C) and the emergence of textual behavior (CD) using a multiple probe design across word sets. Three preschool children were exposed to 4 phases: (1) pretests for BC, CB, and CD relations, (2) pretraining with known stimuli, (3) AB and AC training, and (4) posttests for BC, CB, and CD relations. During AB and AC training, responses to A1B1, A2B2, A1C1, and A2C2 compound stimuli, but not to A1B2, A2B1, A1C2, and A2C1, were reinforced. The results showed that all participants met the learning criterion and demonstrated emergence of BC and CB relations (i.e., relations between pictures and printed words), and CD relations (i.e., textual behavior) after training. These results suggest that the Go/No-Go procedure with compound stimuli is an effective alternative for establishing reading comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Paula Debert
- Universidade de São Paulo and Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia sobre Comportamento, Cognição e Ensino, Brazil
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15
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Fisher WW, Retzlaff BJ, Akers JS, DeSouza AA, Kaminski AJ, Machado MA. Establishing initial auditory-visual conditional discriminations and emergence of initial tacts in young children with autism spectrum disorder. J Appl Behav Anal 2019; 52:1089-1106. [PMID: 31168841 PMCID: PMC6852289 DOI: 10.1002/jaba.586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display impaired listener skills, and few studies have evaluated procedures for establishing initial auditory-visual conditional discrimination skills. We developed and evaluated a treatment package for training initial auditory-visual conditional discriminations based on the extant research on training such discriminations in children with ASD with at least some preexisting skills in this area. The treatment package included (a) conditional-only training, (b) prompting the participant to echo the sample stimulus as a differential observing response, (c) prompting correct selection responses using an identity-match prompt, (d) using progressively delayed prompts, and (e) repeating trials until the participant emitted an independent correct response. Results indicated all participants mastered all listener targets, and the two participants for whom we tested the emergence of corresponding tacts showed mastery of most tacts without direct training. We discuss these results relative to prior research on listener skills and tacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wayne W. Fisher
- University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe‐Meyer Institute
| | | | | | | | - Ami J. Kaminski
- University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe‐Meyer Institute
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16
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The Effects of Standard and Enhanced Data Sheets and Brief Video Training on Implementation of Conditional Discrimination Training. Behav Anal Pract 2019; 13:53-62. [PMID: 32231967 DOI: 10.1007/s40617-019-00338-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Grow and LeBlanc (2013) described practice recommendations for conducting conditional discrimination training with children with autism. One recommendation involved using a specially designed datasheet to provide the preset target stimulus for each trial along with counterbalancing the location of stimuli if a three-item array of comparison stimuli. This study evaluated whether the recommended data sheet would lead to higher procedural integrity of counterbalancing trials compared to a standard data sheet (i.e., targets and arrays are not pre-set). Forty behavior therapists from two provider agencies participated. Participants were randomly assigned to either the standard data sheet condition or the enhanced data sheet condition. Participants watched a short video on Grow and LeBlanc's practice recommendations for a matching task and an orientation to the datasheet for the assigned condition, and then implemented the matching task with a confederate serving in the role of the child with autism. The enhanced data sheet resulted in higher accuracy of implementation on counterbalancing than the standard data sheet, with the largest difference for rotation of the target stimulus across trials and for counterbalancing the placement of the correct comparison stimulus in the array.
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17
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Abstract
There is a growing need for new translational animal models designed to capture complex behavioral phenotypes implicated in addiction and other neuropsychiatric conditions. For example, a complete understanding of the effects of commonly abused drugs, as well as candidate medications, requires assessments of their effects on learning, memory, attention, and other cognition-related behavior. Modern touch-sensitive technology provides an extremely flexible means to expose an experimental subject to a variety of complex behavioral tasks designed to assay dimensions of cognitive function before, during, and after drug administration. In addition to tailored variants of gold-standard cognitive assessments, touchscreen chambers offer the ability to develop novel tasks based upon the researcher's needs. This methods perspective presents (i) a brief review of previous touchscreen-based animal studies, (ii) a primer on the construction of a touch-sensitive experimental chamber, and (iii) data from a proof-of-concept study examining cross-species continuity in performance across a diverse assortment of animal subjects (rats, marmosets, squirrel monkeys, and rhesus macaques) using the repeated acquisition task - a modern variant of a traditional animal model of learning. Taken together, the procedures and data discussed in this review illustrate the point that contemporary touchscreen methodology can be tailored to desired experimental goals and adapted to provide formal similarity in cognition-related tasks across experimental species. Moreover, touchscreen methodology allows for the development of new translational models that emerge through laboratory and clinical discovery to capture important dimensions of complex behavior and cognitive function.
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18
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Silva RA, Debert P. Go/no-go procedure with compound stimuli with children with autism. J Appl Behav Anal 2017; 50:750-755. [DOI: 10.1002/jaba.421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2015] [Accepted: 02/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Augusto Silva
- Universidade de São Paulo Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia sobre Comportamento, Cognição e Ensino (INCT-ECCE)
| | - Paula Debert
- Universidade de São Paulo Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia sobre Comportamento, Cognição e Ensino (INCT-ECCE)
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19
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The Integration of Speaker and Listener Responses: A Theory of Verbal Development. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/bf03395674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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20
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Toussaint KA, Scheithauer MC, Tiger JH, Saunders KJ. Teaching identity matching of braille characters to beginning braille readers. J Appl Behav Anal 2017; 50:278-289. [DOI: 10.1002/jaba.382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2014] [Accepted: 01/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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21
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Kodak T, Clements A, Paden AR, LeBlanc B, Mintz J, Toussaint KA. Examination of the relation between an assessment of skills and performance on auditory-visual conditional discriminations for children with autism spectrum disorder. J Appl Behav Anal 2014; 48:52-70. [DOI: 10.1002/jaba.160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2012] [Accepted: 05/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrea Clements
- University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute
| | - Amber R. Paden
- University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute
| | | | - Joslyn Mintz
- University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute
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22
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Renda CR, Stein JS, Madden GJ. Impulsive choice predicts poor working memory in male rats. PLoS One 2014; 9:e93263. [PMID: 24732895 PMCID: PMC3986066 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2013] [Accepted: 03/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A number of maladaptive behaviors and poor health outcomes (e.g., substance abuse, obesity) correlate with impulsive choice, which describes the tendency to prefer smaller, immediate rewards in lieu of larger, delayed rewards. Working memory deficits are often reported in those diagnosed with the same maladaptive behaviors. Human studies suggest that impulsive choice is associated with working memory ability but, to date, only one study has explored the association between working memory and impulsive choice in rats and no relation was reported. The current study reevaluated the association between working memory and impulsive choice in 19 male Long-Evans rats. Psychophysical adjusting procedures were used to quantify working memory (titrating-delay match-to-position procedure) and impulsive choice (adjusting delay procedure). Rats were partitioned into low- and high-impulsive groups based on performance in the impulsive choice task. Low-impulsive rats performed significantly better in the working memory assessment. Across all rats, impulsive choice was negatively correlated with working memory performance. These findings support the hypothesis that prefrontal cortex function, specifically, working memory, is related to impulsive choice. Future research might profitably examine the experimental variables designed to influence working memory to evaluate the effects of these variables on impulsive choice and maladaptive behaviors with which it is correlated.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. Renee Renda
- Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Jeffrey S. Stein
- Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, United States of America
| | - Gregory J. Madden
- Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, United States of America
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23
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Jones BM, Elliffe DM. Matching-to-sample performance is better analyzed in terms of a four-term contingency than in terms of a three-term contingency. J Exp Anal Behav 2013; 100:5-26. [PMID: 23728927 DOI: 10.1002/jeab.32] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2013] [Accepted: 04/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Four pigeons performed a simultaneous matching-to-sample (MTS) task involving two samples and two comparisons that differed in their pixel density and luminance. After a long history of reinforcers for correct responses after both samples, 15 conditions arranged either continuous reinforcement of correct responses after Sample 1 and extinction for all responses after Sample 2, or vice versa. The sample after which correct responses were reinforced alternated across successive conditions. The disparity between the samples and the disparity between the comparisons were varied independently across conditions in a quasifactorial design. Contrary to predictions of extant quantitative models, which assume that MTS tasks involve two 3-term contingencies of reinforcement, matching accuracies were not at chance levels in these conditions, comparison-selection ratios differed after the two samples, and effects on matching accuracies of both sample disparity and comparison disparity were observed. These results were, however, consistent with ordinal and sometimes quantitative predictions of Jones' (2003) theory of stimulus and reinforcement effects in MTS tasks. This theory asserts that MTS tasks involve four-term contingencies of reinforcement and that any tendency to select one comparison more often than the other over a set of trials reflects meaningful differences between comparison-discrimination accuracies after the two samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brent M Jones
- School of Psychology & Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Australia.
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24
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Bourret JC, Iwata BA, Harper JM, North ST. Elimination of position-biased responding in individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities. J Appl Behav Anal 2013; 45:241-50. [PMID: 22844134 DOI: 10.1901/jaba.2012.45-241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2010] [Accepted: 12/20/2011] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Five individuals with autism or other developmental disabilities participated in paired-stimulus preference assessments during repeated baseline probes. All subjects initially showed a pronounced bias by typically selecting the stimulus placed in either the left or right position. Biased responding for 3 subjects was eliminated when training trials were conducted in which a stimulus of known lesser quality was presented as one of the choices. Reinforcer-quality training was unsuccessful for 2 subjects, as was a condition in which reinforcer magnitude was modified to favor unbiased responding. These subjects' biased responding was eliminated only when a correction procedure (repetition of error trials) was implemented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason C Bourret
- New England Center for Children, Southborough, Massachusetts 01772, USA.
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25
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Kangas BD, Branch MN. Relations among acute and chronic nicotine administration, short-term memory, and tactics of data analysis. J Exp Anal Behav 2012; 98:155-67. [PMID: 23008520 DOI: 10.1901/jeab.2012.98-155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2012] [Accepted: 06/28/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Emerging evidence suggests that nicotine may enhance short-term memory. Some of this evidence comes from nonhuman primate research using a procedure called delayed matching-to-sample, wherein the monkey is trained to select a comparison stimulus that matches some physical property of a previously presented sample stimulus. Delays between sample stimulus offset and comparison stimuli onset are manipulated and accuracy is measured. The present research attempted to systematically replicate these enhancement effects with pigeons. In addition, the effects of nicotine were assessed under another, more dynamic, memory task called titrating-delay matching-to-sample. In this procedure, the delay between sample offset and comparison onset adjusts as a function of the subject's performance. Correct matches increase the delay, mismatches decrease the delay, and titrated delay values serve as the primary dependent measure. Both studies examined nicotine's effects under acute and chronic administration. Neither provided clear or compelling evidence of memory enhancement following nicotine administration despite reliable and systematic dose-related changes in response latency measures. A modest dose-related effect on accuracy was found, but the magnitude of the effect appears to be directly related to tactics of data analysis involving best-dose analyses of a very circumscribed subset of trial types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian D Kangas
- McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA.
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26
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Kangas BD, Bergman J. A novel touch-sensitive apparatus for behavioral studies in unrestrained squirrel monkeys. J Neurosci Methods 2012; 209:331-6. [PMID: 22790109 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2012.06.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2012] [Revised: 06/14/2012] [Accepted: 06/25/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Despite the increasing sophistication and affordability of touch-sensitive technology, its use in the behavioral sciences has been limited. The present paper describes the design and empirical validation of a novel touch-sensitive operant conditioning chamber for use with unrestrained squirrel monkeys. In addition, results from a variant of a commonly employed animal model of learning, the repeated acquisition task, demonstrate the effectiveness of this chamber in programming an assay of complex behavior. Finally, results from a study with Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, show that its effects in this novel touchscreen chamber were consistent with its dose-related effects on learning using more conventional approaches. Overall, these studies indicate the touchscreen apparatus provides effective means for programming complex behavioral tasks to assess the effects of pharmacological agents on cognitive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian D Kangas
- Preclinical Pharmacology Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA.
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27
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Kangas BD, Branch MN. Effects of acute and chronic cocaine administration on titrating-delay matching-to-sample performance. J Exp Anal Behav 2012; 97:151-61. [PMID: 22389523 DOI: 10.1901/jeab.2012.97-151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2011] [Accepted: 11/23/2011] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The effects of cocaine were examined under a titrating-delay matching-to-sample procedure. In this procedure, the delay between sample stimulus offset and comparison stimuli onset adjusts as a function of the subject's performance. Specifically, matches increase the delay and mismatches decrease the delay. Titrated delay values served as the primary dependent measure. After establishing stable performance in pigeons, several behaviorally-effective doses of cocaine were administered acutely. Dose-related within-session decreases in titrated delay values were observed. Following acute determinations, the dose of cocaine that produced the most rapid decline without eliminating performance was administered prior to each daily session. Chronic administration resulted in performance trending toward control levels. A redetermination of the dose-response function following chronic exposure revealed reduced potency (i.e., tolerance) under cocaine on titrated delay matching-to-sample performance. Supplemental analyses suggest that cocaine may serve as a disruptor of the stimulus conditions in which the performance was established.
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28
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Grow LL, Carr JE, Kodak TM, Jostad CM, Kisamore AN. A comparison of methods for teaching receptive labeling to children with autism spectrum disorders. J Appl Behav Anal 2012; 44:475-98. [PMID: 21941380 DOI: 10.1901/jaba.2011.44-475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2010] [Accepted: 09/08/2010] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Many early intervention curricular manuals recommend teaching auditory-visual conditional discriminations (i.e., receptive labeling) using the simple-conditional method in which component simple discriminations are taught in isolation and in the presence of a distracter stimulus before the learner is required to respond conditionally. Some have argued that this procedure might be susceptible to faulty stimulus control such as stimulus overselectivity (Green, 2001). Consequently, there has been a call for the use of alternative teaching procedures such as the conditional-only method, which involves conditional discrimination training from the onset of intervention. The purpose of the present study was to compare the simple-conditional and conditional-only methods for teaching receptive labeling to 3 young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. The data indicated that the conditional-only method was a more reliable and efficient teaching procedure. In addition, several error patterns emerged during training using the simple-conditional method. The implications of the results with respect to current teaching practices in early intervention programs are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura L Grow
- Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, USA
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29
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Kangas BD, Berry MS, Branch MN. On the development and mechanics of delayed matching-to-sample performance. J Exp Anal Behav 2011; 95:221-36. [PMID: 21541127 DOI: 10.1901/jeab.2011.95-221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2010] [Accepted: 11/24/2010] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Despite its frequent use to assess effects of environmental and pharmacological variables on short-term memory, little is known about the development of delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) performance. This study was designed to examine the dimensions and dynamics of DMTS performance development over a long period of exposure to provide a more secure foundation for assessing stability in future research. Six pigeons were exposed to a DMTS task with variable delays for 300 sessions (i.e., 18,000 total trials; 3,600 trials per retention interval). Percent-correct and log-d measures used to quantify the development of conditional stimulus control under the procedure generally and at each of five retention intervals (0, 2, 4, 8 and 16-s) individually revealed that high levels of accuracy developed relatively quickly under the shorter retention intervals, but increases in accuracy under the longer retention intervals sometimes were not observed until 100-150 sessions had passed, with some still increasing at Session 300. Analyses of errors suggested that retention intervals induced biases by shifting control from the sample stimulus to control by position, something that was predicted by observed response biases during initial training. These results suggest that although it may require a great deal of exposure to DMTS prior to obtaining asymptotic steady state, quantification of model parameters may help predict trends when extended exposure is not feasible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian D Kangas
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 112250, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
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30
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Kangas BD, Vaidya M, Branch MN. Titrating-delay matching-to-sample in the pigeon. J Exp Anal Behav 2011; 94:69-81. [PMID: 21279163 DOI: 10.1901/jeab.2010.94-69] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2010] [Accepted: 03/24/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The titrating-delay matching-to-sample (TDMTS) procedure offers researchers an additional behavioral task thought to capture some important features of remembering. In this procedure, the delay between sample offset and comparison onset adjusts as a function of the subject's performance. Specifically, correct matches increase the delay and incorrect matches decrease the delay, and steady-state titrated delays serve as the primary dependent measure. The present series of experiments investigated the effects of several procedural variables on performance in TDMTS procedures in an effort to elucidate better its features to allow for more precision in future use. Experiment 1 reports results from a parametric analysis of fixed-ratio response requirements on the sample key that indicated improved remembering in the form of higher daily titrated delay values as the requirement was increased. Experiment 2 investigated the extent to which the initial delay value in each session affected session-wide delay values. Results indicated that regardless of value of the initial delay, the subjects' performances adjusted the delay values in the direction of the known baseline delay-value levels. Experiment 3 manipulated the step size by which delay values were adjusted and the results indicated that larger step sizes increased both session-to-session variability and within-session range of titrated delay values, although the average values remained approximately the same. These results suggest that the TDMTS task serves as a promising procedure to study what many refer to as memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian D Kangas
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 112250, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
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