I) Autoshaping/ sign trackingA) Pigeons in a box will peck at a light which comes on to indicate the presence of foodB) Pavlovian contingency between presentation of a CS and delivery of an appetitive US may lead to development of conditioned response (CR) directed at the CS1) The CS is a sign that the US is about to occur, occurs only with CSs that are localized in space (spot of light for the pigeon)C) Examples1) Light key CS  food US:: peck key light CS2) Insert lever CS  food US:: lick/bite/chew lever3) Ball bearing CS  food US:: pick up and mouth ball bearinga) Ball bearing would roll through the cage which would be followed by the presence of foodD) The form of the CR in sign tracking1) When the US is water, pigeons peck with a closed beak2) Alternately, when the US is food, pigeons peck with an open beakE) Long-box sign tracking in appetitive conditioning1) The pigeon will walk away from the food tray to peck the light even if pecking the light doesn’t influence the presence of fooda) Also works with access to female pigeons2) Indicates how automated the behavior becomes3) Conditioning is thought to be imposed on the feeding behavioral systema) The stimulus influences the nature of the responses that become conditionedF) Sign tracking and drug addiction1) There is variation in species between sign-trackers and goal trackers2) Some individuals of a species are always sign trackers/goal trackers/ or a mixa) Those who are sign trackers are more likely to become addicted to drugsb) Has to do with the dopamine system in the individual brainII) Taste-aversionA) Give a rat a food that it likes (particularly a novel flavor)  induce sickness or nausea  the rat will associate the food with the sickness and will avoid the food in the future1) Rats will make this association even if sickness is induced 6 or so hours latera) Less effect (but still present) at 12 hoursb) No impact at 24 hoursB) Traits1) Can withstand much longer CS/US intervals and still induce learning2) Possible with just one trialC) Human examples1) Eat a few cheeseburgers  drink too much tequila  nausea around midnight  even the smell of McDonald’s brings nauseaD) Use in control of predators which attack our livestockIII) Supernormal Stimuli: foodsA) Develop when flavors are repeatedly paired with calories1) Increases body weight set-pointa) Or push it up against the ceiling2) Set-point determines appetitea) If your set point is rising, so does your appetite3) Ditto foods (highly palatable, strong flavors, calorie dense)B) Breaking these associations reduces your set point = reduces your diet1) Consume bland foods2) Consume flavorless calories in the absence of tastes and smellsa) If flavor is the CS and calories are the US, un-pair those twob) In the absence of all flavor (hours away from any food or smells) consume a small amount of extra-light olive oil or something which contains flavorless calories= decreased appetiteIV) Common classical conditioning proceduresA) Short-delayed conditioning: the onset of the US is delayed until shortly after the onset of the CS1) The US can start during the CS or exactly at the end, either counts2) Creates very fast conditioning, reliableB) Long delayed conditioning: the onset of the US is delayed until a relatively long time after the onset of the CS (but the CS is present for that entire time)C) Trace conditioning: there is a gap between the termination of the CS and the onset of the USD) Simultaneous conditioning: CS and US are presented together1) Actually doesn’t develop very good conditioningE) Backward conditioning: US first, then CS1) Also doesn’t produce very good conditioningF) Explicitly un-paired: CS and US are presented so far apart in time as to not create any association*For every CS/US pair there’s an optimal CS/US interval which rests on a inverted U-shaped curveV) Why does the CS elicit the CR?A) Pavlovian conditioning: learning CS- US associationB) CS sensitization effect: increase in responsiveness due to repeated exposure to the CSC) Pseudo-conditioning (US sensitization effect): increase in responsiveness due to repeated exposure to the US1) With rats: tone presented with a shock may not have been necessary. Perhaps the shock alone has sensitized the rat and it would have displayed the fear reaction to the tone even if the two have never been paired, any novel stimulus would induce a fear response in a sensitized ratVI) Pavlovian control conditionsA) Accuisition group1) Get the CS US treatment2) Tested on the CR3) To demonstrate associative learningB) CS only1) Get only the CS2) Tested on the CR3) Used to rule out CS sensitizationC) US only1) Get US only2) Tested on CR3) Used to rule out pseudoconditioningD) Unpaired group1) Get CS/US in an unpaired fashion2) Tested on the CR3) Used to rule out pseudoconditioning as well as CS sensitizationa) Best for use as a control groupE) Backward group1) Get US then CS2) Tested on the CR3) Used to rule out pseudoconditioning as well as CS sensitizationa) Not often used because in rare cases, backward conditioning can create associationVII) Safety signalsA) People with anxiety disorders sometimes experience panic attacks, therapy may include providing the patient with a safety signal or cue1) This signal indicated to the subject that he/she will be safe for a period of time (i.e. blanket for a kid)B) Conditioned inhibition1) Discovered by Pavlov2) A conditioned inhibitor is a stimulus that acquires the ability to inhibit the conditioned response3) A vs. AX examplea) Vending machine (A) = excitatory stimulusb) Vending machine w/ an “Out of Order” sign (AX) = inhibitory stimulus4) Summation testa) Is the inhibitory stimulus (X) generalizable to a different excitatory stimulus?i) Example: restroom with an “Out of Order” sign on itii) In this example, yes5) Retardation test6) Bi-directional response04/19/2012I) Autoshaping/ sign trackingA) Pigeons in a box will peck at a light which comes on to indicate the presence of foodB) Pavlovian contingency between presentation of a CS and delivery of anappetitive US may lead to development of conditioned response (CR) directed at the CS1) The CS is a sign that the US is about to occur, occurs only with CSs that are localized in space (spot of light for the pigeon)C) Examples1) Light key CS  food US:: peck key light CS2) Insert lever CS  food US:: lick/bite/chew lever3) Ball bearing CS  food US:: pick up and mouth ball bearinga)