Psychology Of Learning

Unpredictability and context conditioning: Does the nature of the US matter?

by Ann Meulders

Meulders, A., Boddez, Y., Vansteenwegen, D., & Baeyens, F. (2012). The Spanish Journal of Psychology, in press.

To inhale or not to inhale: Conditioned avoidance in breathing behavior in an odor - 20% CO2 paradigm.

by Ann Meulders

Fannes, S., Van Diest, I., Meulders, A., De Peuter, S., Vansteenwegen, D., Van den Bergh, O. (2008). Biological Psychology, 78 (1), 87-92.

Response to “Multiple chemical sensitivity is a response to chemicals acting as toxicants via excessive NMDA activity”.

by Ann Meulders

Van den Bergh, O., Meulders, A., De Peuter, S., Vansteenwegen, D., Van Diest, I. (2010). Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 69 (3), 328-330.

Resistance to extinction in an odor–20% CO2 inhalation paradigm: Further evidence for a symptom learning account of multiple chemical sensitivity.

by Ann Meulders

Meulders, A., Fannes, S., Van Diest, I., De Peuter, S., Vansteenwegen, D., Van den Bergh, O. (2010). Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 68 (1), 47-56.

A new tool for assessing context conditioning induced by US-unpredictability in humans: The Martians task restyled

by Ann Meulders

Meulders, A., Vervliet, B., Vansteenwegen, D., Hermans, D., Baeyens, F. (2011). Learning and Motivation, 42 (1), 1-12.

The acquisition of fear of movement-related pain and associative learning: A novel pain-relevant human fear conditioning paradigm

by Ann Meulders

Meulders, A., Vansteenwegen, D., Vlaeyen, J. (2011). Pain, 152 (11), 2460-2469.

Preexposure to (un)predictable shock modulates discriminative fear learning between cue and context: An investigation of the interaction between fear and anxiety

by Ann Meulders

Meulders, A., Vervliet, B., Fonteyne, R., Baeyens, F., Hermans, D., Vansteenwegen, D. (2012). International Journal of Psychophysiology, in press.

Women, but not men report increasingly more pain than men during repeated (un)predictable painful electrocutaneous stimulation: Evidence for mediation by fear of pain

by Ann Meulders

Meulders, A., Vansteenwegen, D., Vlaeyen, J. (2012). Pain, in press.

Preventing Recovery From Extinction and Relapse: A Product of Current Retrieval Cues and Memory Strengths

by Mario A. Laborda

Miller, R. R., & Laborda, M. A. (2011). Preventing recovery from extinction and relapse: A product of current retrieval cues and memory strengths. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 325–329.

When a cue (X) and an outcome are paired, X comes to elicit responding similar to that elicited by the outcome. This... more When a cue (X) and an outcome are paired, X comes to elicit responding similar to that elicited by the outcome. This potential
is lessened if X is later presented by itself (i.e., experimental extinction). Extinction is interesting both for theoretical reasons
and because it is a model for exposure therapy, which is used to treat numerous psychological disorders. Conventionally,
extinction has been viewed as an isolated phenomenon unrelated to other response-attenuating treatments, whereas it is
actually but one of several instances of associative interference that reduce conditioned responding. Although much has been
learned about extinction from direct study, the larger associative-interference literature provides additional insight. Here we view extinction as new learning that is inconsistent with previously acquired knowledge (i.e., retroactive outcome interference). We provide an account of whether the acquisition or extinction memory will be expressed depending on the relative strengths of these two memories and the relative efficacies of their respective retrieval cues.

The teaching of learning and conditioning in Colombia.

by German Gutierrez

Gutiérrez, G., Casas, P. P. & Niño, N. (2000).International Journal of Psychology, 35, 267.

Psicología del Aprendizaje: Investigación Básica Publicada en Revistas Iberoamericanas Indexadas

by German Gutierrez

Ardila, R., Pérez-Acosta, A. M. & Gutiérrez, G. (2005). Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 37, 595-615.

Differences In the Sexual Conditioned Behavior of Male and Female Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica).

by German Gutierrez

Gutiérrez, G., & Domjan, M. (1997). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 111, 135-142.

Emotional Effects of Extinction on Sexual Instrumental Behavior in Birds.

by German Gutierrez

Gutiérrez, G., Baquero, A. & Montoya, B. (2008).  International Journal of Psychology, 43, 543.

Magnitude Effects of Sexual Reinforcement in Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica).

by German Gutierrez

Baquero, A., Puerta, A. & Gutiérrez, G. (2009).  International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 22, 110-123.

Gestalterapia: ensaio de superação ética de sua violenta condição de psicoterapia do Eu

by Herlon Bezerra

BEZERRA, Herlon A. Gestalt Terapia: ensaio de superação ética de sua violenta condição de psicoterapia do Eu. Universidade Federal do Ceará. Departamento de Psicologia. Fortaleza: 2002. (Monografia de Conclusão de Curso).

As transformações culturais contemporâneas vêm promovendo movimentos discursivos cujo significado final parece ser o... more As transformações culturais contemporâneas vêm promovendo movimentos discursivos cujo significado final parece ser o de uma verdadeira reviravolta cultural pós-metafísica. Em tal condição cultural residem, parece certo, questionamentos críticos fundamentais quanto aos tradicionais modelos éticos prescritivos, fundados na estabelecida metafísica ocidental grega. Esse o sentido, por exemplo, de propostas como a da ética da alteridade radical, do filósofo judeu e franco-lituano, Emmanuel Lévinas. Partindo da potente radicalidade crítica levinasiana, Freire (2002) empreendeu um desafiante diálogo com as psicologias do contexto da modernidade tardia. O presente exercício encontra-se inspirado nesse trabalho e ensaia, a partir de uma desleitura inventiva da Gestalterapia, introduzir um parâmetro de leitura no qual possa dar-se a promoção de uma superação ética de leituras nas quais essa abordagem é significada como psicoterapia do Eu, de pretensões ortopédicas e, assim, manifestamente violenta. Este é, pois, um discurso esperançoso, que pretende apontar para as possibilidades contemporâneas de uma psicoterapia ética.

Bayesian Estimation of Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation with Follow-up

by Jorge E. Araña

Araña, J.E. and León, C.J. (2005)  in Scarpa, R. y Alberini, A. (eds.) Application of Simulation Methods in Environmental and Resource Economics, Kluwer Academic Publishing.

Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by a subsequent... more Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by a subsequent question in order to obtain more information from the respondent, and leading to more efficient welfare estimates. Estimation methods for these data have mainly focused on classical maximum likelihood. In this paper we study possible improvements utilising a Bayesian MCMC approach to model this type of data. The classical and Bayesian approaches are compared with a Monte Carlo simulation experiment. The results show that the Bayesian approach improves the performance of the model, particularly with relatively small samples

Word list recall in youngsters and older adults

by Parvaneh Khosravizadeh

Word List Recall in Youngesters and Older Adults, Khosravizadeh, Parvaneh & Sogol Gerami, BRAIN; Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, Vol2, No.1, 2011

A word-list recall is an experiment examines the effect of age on the change in memory. The ability to understand or... more A word-list recall is an experiment examines the effect of age on the change in memory. The ability to understand or use language is more or less dependent on the memory capacity. Any person may know what s/he wants to say but may not be able to say it if the memory does not help. We use some form of memory in all aspects of language processing. Whatever we have in our mind is stored whether for seconds, hours, or years. By short-term memory, a person can remember different things for a period of seconds or minutes only. By rehearsal, the duration and the quantity of storage will increase. Therefore, rehearsal transforms the short-term memory into the long-term memory. This experiment, which examines the number of words recalled by different age groups after presenting a word list, reveals that the younger a person the more are the words he or she recalls. The experiment also reveals that semantically related words have greater chance to be remembered when they are compared with unrelated words.

Learning Capability: The Effect of Existing Knowledge on Learning

by Viktor Dörfler

Viktor Dörfler
Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 8(4): 369-379
2010 December

It has been observed that different people learn the same things in different ways – increasing their knowledge of the... more It has been observed that different people learn the same things in different ways – increasing their knowledge of the subject/domain uniquely. One plausible reason for this disparity in learning is the difference in the existing personal knowledge held in the particular area in which the knowledge increase happens. To understand this further, in this paper knowledge is modelled as a ‘system of cognitive schemata’, and knowledge increase as a process in this system; the effect of existing personal knowledge on knowledge increase is ‘the Learning Capability’. Learning Capability is obtained in form of a function; although it is merely a representation making use of mathematical symbolism, not a calculable entity. The examination of the function tells us about the nature of learning capability. However, existing knowledge is only one factor affecting knowledge increase and thus one component of a more general model, which might additionally include talent, learning willingness, and attention.

Model of Learning Ability

by Viktor Dörfler

Viktor Dörfler
PhD dissertation
2005 December

The problem domain of the investigation presented in this dissertation is knowledge increase. In particular the... more The problem domain of the investigation presented in this dissertation is knowledge increase. In particular the research is concerned with the process of knowledge increase. The research problem formulated is formulated a posteriori: “Which factors determine the increase of personal knowledge that occurs by absorbing a particular new knowledge of an individual, who is a member of an organization, and how these factors work?”

To explore and shed light on this problem a number of disciplinary boundaries were engaged and some models, tools, descriptions, etc. were borrowed from a number of related disciplines. These areas are briefly presented in the dissertation, restricting presentation to the relevant issues.

There are three models developed for this thesis and they are subsequently integrated into a fourth model. First the ‘Model of Learning Willingness’ (MLW) is developed to consider personal and organizational value systems. For this model, new concepts have been created, to indicate the position of new knowledge in both personal and organizational value systems. Stable and the unstable states of the model are identified as well as how it is possible to pass from one state to another as result of an interaction between the two value systems by means of influencing each other.

Applying a ‘systems theory approach’ on the cognitive psychology conception of knowledge, the impact of the characteristics of existing knowledge on the absorption of new knowledge is described. The developed model is called the ‘Model of Learning Capability’ (MLC). – This is the second model.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the ability to acquire new knowledge; this is described by the ‘Model of Attention’ (MA) – the third model. This model is based on two main factors, namely cognitive and social conditions.

These three models are thus integrated into fourth one, which is called the ‘Model of Learning Ability’ (MLA). For exploration/validation the model is wwwed with the Doctus Knowledge-Based Expert System, which was also the means of comparing the evolved hypotheses with the input from reality, namely observations and thought experiments.

The first insight from the model is a better understanding of the process of ‘knowledge increase’. The model can also be used to support choosing the right person to learn a particular piece of new knowledge, to identify the reason for someone not performing well with regards to learning and/or identifying a possible way of improving the process. Using the logic of the model experts can also be evaluated in the process of knowledge acquisition when building an expert system.

Considering the achieved results some new problems emerge: It is not known what motivates the personal value system during the knowledge absorption; it is not known if the model can be extended to other forms of knowledge increase besides learning; it is not known how the social factors apart from love (i.e. power and money) affect the attention. Some new research ideas also evolved from this investigation, e.g. an attempt to model the knowledge using dimensions of understanding.

Topography of sexually conditioned behavior in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the CS-US interval.

by German Gutierrez

Akins, C. K., Domjan, M., & Gutiérrez, G.  (1994).  Journal of Experimental Psychology:  Animal Behavior Processes, 20, 199-209.