Covariation of alternative measures of responding in rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) eyeblink conditioning during acquisition training and tone generalization.

The likelihood, size, and speed of eyelid movements are thought to covary during the acquisition and expression of conditioning in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and are generally accepted as interchangeable measures of the associative strength activated by the conditioned stimulus (CS). To test this assumption, the authors examined the patterns of covariation in these eyelid movement measures in acquisition and stimulus generalization in the upper eyelid and nictitating membrane. Rather than the expected covariation among these measures, eyelid movement magnitudes during the CS were distributed in approximately a bimodal manner. That is, eyelid activity consisted largely of a mixture of very small (< 0.125 mm) baseline measurements and larger (> 1 mm) movements. The results are discussed with respect to their implications for real-time models of eyelid conditioning.

[1]  J. S. Brown,et al.  Conditioned fear as revealed by magnitude of startle response to an auditory stimulus. , 1951, Journal of experimental psychology.

[2]  J. W. Moore,et al.  Intertrial stimuli and generalization of the conditioned eyelid response. , 1966, Journal of experimental psychology.

[3]  J. B. Sidowski,et al.  Experimental methods and instrumentation in psychology , 1966 .

[4]  Generalization gradients obtained from individual subjects following classical conditioning. , 1968, Journal of experimental psychology.

[5]  M. C. Smith,et al.  CS-US interval and US intensity in classical conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response. , 1968, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[6]  Joseph B. Sidowski,et al.  Behavior research methods and instrumentation , 1968 .

[7]  S. R. Coleman,et al.  Classical conditioning of the rabbit's (Oryctolagus cuniculus) nictitating membrane response under symmetrical CS-US interval shifts. , 1971, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[8]  R. Woodworth,et al.  Woodworth & Schlosberg's Experimental psychology , 1972 .

[9]  R. Rescorla,et al.  A theory of Pavlovian conditioning : Variations in the effectiveness of reinforcement and nonreinforcement , 1972 .

[10]  W. F. Prokasy,et al.  Classical conditioning II: Current research and theory. , 1972 .

[11]  D. W. Leonard.  Partial reinforcement effects in classical aversive conditioning in rabbits and human beings. , 1975, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[12]  P. Solomon,et al.  Latent inhibition and stimulus generalization of the classically conditioned nictitating membrane response in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) following dorsal hippocampal ablation. , 1975, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[13]  J. R. Millenson,et al.  Classical conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response under fixed and mixed CS-US intervals , 1977 .

[14]  P. W. Frey,et al.  Model of conditioning incorporating the Rescorla-Wagner associative axiom, a dynamic attention process, and a catastrophe rule. , 1978 .

[15]  P. W. Frey,et al.  The eye blink as a time-locked response: implications for serial and second-order conditioning. , 1979, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[16]  J. S. Baker,et al.  A cusp catastrophe: Hysteresis, bimodality, and inaccessibility in rabbit eyelid conditioning , 1979 .

[17]  J. Kimm,et al.  A rabbit preparation for neuro-behavioral auditory research , 1980, Hearing Research.

[18]  J. Pearce,et al.  A model for Pavlovian learning: Variations in the effectiveness of conditioned but not of unconditioned stimuli. , 1980 .

[19]  Isidore Gormezano,et al.  Microprocessor control and A/D data acquisition in classical conditioning , 1980 .

[20]  D. Norman.  Learning and Memory , 1982 .

[21]  Bernard G. Schreurs,et al.  Ruler vs. the Apple II/FIRST system analysis of analog signals in classical conditioning , 1982 .

[22]  M K Kaiser,et al.  MANOVA method for analyzing repeated measures designs: an extensive primer. , 1985, Psychological bulletin.

[23]  Richard F. Thompson,et al.  Classical conditioning, 3rd ed. , 1987 .

[24]  I. Gormezano,et al.  Differential conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response to serial compound stimuli. , 1987, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[25]  C. M. Gibbs,et al.  Transduction of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response , 1988 .

[26]  Stephen Grossberg,et al.  Neural dynamics of adaptive timing and temporal discrimination during associative learning , 1989, Neural Networks.

[27]  Richard S. Sutton,et al.  Time-Derivative Models of Pavlovian Reinforcement , 1990 .

[28]  M. Mauk,et al.  Cerebellar cortex lesions disrupt learning-dependent timing of conditioned eyelid responses , 1993, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[29]  R. Clark,et al.  Reversible lesions of the red nucleus during acquisition and retention of a classically conditioned behavior in rabbits. , 1993, Behavioral neuroscience.

[30]  R. F. Thompson,et al.  Mammalian brain substrates of aversive classical conditioning. , 1993, Annual review of psychology.

[31]  R. Clark,et al.  Transfer of learning but not memory after unilateral cerebellar lesion in rabbits. , 1994, Behavioral neuroscience.

[32]  E. Kehoe,et al.  Summation and configuration between and within sensory modalities in classical conditioning of the rabbit , 1994 .

[33]  Dean V. Buonomano,et al.  Neural Network Model of the Cerebellum: Temporal Discrimination and the Timing of Motor Responses , 1999, Neural Computation.

[34]  E. James Kehoe,et al.  Learning to Learn: Real-Time Features and a Connectionist Model , 1995, Adapt. Behav..

[35]  J. W. Moore,et al.  Connections to cerebellar cortex (Larsell's HVI) in the rabbit: a WGA-HRP study with implications for classical eyeblink conditioning. , 1995, Behavioral neuroscience.

[36]  E. Kehoe,et al.  Acquisition of a conditioned reflex in New Zealand White rabbits from three sources , 1995, Laboratory animals.

[37]  J. W. Moore,et al.  Conditioned response timing and integration in the cerebellum. , 1997, Learning & memory.

[38]  N. Donegan,et al.  A model of Pavlovian eyelid conditioning based on the synaptic organization of the cerebellum. , 1997, Learning & memory.

[39]  G. Hesslow,et al.  Effect of varying the intensity and train frequency of forelimb and cerebellar mossy fiber conditioned stimuli on the latency of conditioned eye-blink responses in decerebrate ferrets. , 1997, Learning & memory.

[40]  M. Mauk,et al.  Pharmacological analysis of cerebellar contributions to the timing and expression of conditioned eyelid responses , 1998, Neuropharmacology.

[41]  G. Hesslow,et al.  Learned Movements Elicited by Direct Stimulation of Cerebellar Mossy Fiber Afferents , 1999, Neuron.

[42]  C. Buhusi,et al.  Timing in simple conditioning and occasion setting: a neural network approach , 1999, Behavioural Processes.

[43]  M. Mauk,et al.  A Mechanism for Savings in the Cerebellum , 2001, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[44]  JOHN W. Moore.  A Neuroscientist's Guide to Classical Conditioning , 2002 .

[45]  N. Schneiderman,et al.  Functional Utility and Neurobiology of Conditioned Autonomic Responses , 2002 .

[46]  E. Kehoe,et al.  Fundamental Behavioral Methods and Findings in Classical Conditioning , 2002 .

[47]  C. Yeo,et al.  Cerebellar cortex and eyeblink conditioning: bilateral regulation of conditioned responses , 1995, Experimental Brain Research.