Action-outcome contingencies can be learnt either by active trial-and-error, or vicariously, by observing the outcomes of actions performed by others. The extant literature is ambiguous as to which of these modes of learning is more effective, as controlled comparisons of operant and observational learning are rare. Here, we contrasted human operant and observational value learning, assessing i...

OBJECTIVE To review empirical studies of psychological interventions for nonadherence to medical regimens for three chronic illnesses: asthma, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), and type 1 diabetes. METHODS The Chambless criteria for "promising," "probably efficacious," or "well-established" were applied to 8 intervention studies on asthma, 4 on JRA, and 11 on type 1 diabetes. RESULTS For...

The activity of individual accumbens neurons in rats was recorded in relation to intravenous cocaine infusions that were either response (i.e., lever press) contingent or response non-contingent. Neural firing was additionally recorded in relation to non-reinforced lever presses. Comparisons of firing under the three conditions showed that operant behavior was necessary and sufficient for prein...

Many studies have examined how humans and other animals reestablish a sense of direction following disorientation in enclosed environments. Results showing that geometric shape of an enclosure is typically encoded, sometimes to the exclusion of featural cues, have led to suggestions that geometry might be encoded in a dedicated geometric module. Recently, Miller and Shettleworth (2007) proposed...

The value-added benefits of young children’s response-contingent learning were examined in a study of three children (2 females, 1 male) with multiple disabilities and profound developmental delays. Contingency learning games were used to increase child operant responding, and both the children’s and their teachers’ concomitant social–emotional behavior associated with operant responding were m...

An outline is given of the use of operant conditioning techniques in the study of the behavior of farm animals. Using operant methods, pigs and sheep placed in cold environments have been trained to perform simple responses in order to obtain radiant heat. Factors which influence this behavior such as level of nutri t ion, ambient temperature and the intensity of the radiant heat have been exam...

This study demonstrates how learning approaches (classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and cognitive learning) can be incorporated in the design of advergames to influence the attitudes, recall of brand, recall of product information, and purchase intention. The results show that cognitive learning results in the best recall of brand name and product information, followed by classical a...

The facial expressions and body postures of dogs can give helpful information about their moods and emotional states. People can more effectively obedience train their dogs if we can identify the mannerisms associated with learning in dogs. The aim of this study was to clarify the dog's body language during operant conditioning to predict achievement in the test that followed by measuring the d...