5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) is often used in studies of adult neurogenesis and olfactory learning, but it can also have toxic effects on highly proliferative tissue. We found that pairing Kool-Aid flavors with acute systemic injections of BrdU induced strong conditioned flavor aversions. Intermittent injections during Kool-Aid-glucose…

Sign- and goal-tracking are differentially associated with drug abuse-related behavior. Recently, it has been hypothesized that sign- and goal-tracking behavior are mediated by different neurobehavioral valuation systems, including differential incentive salience attribution. Herein, we used different conditioned stimuli to preferentially elicit…

In addition to its established function in the regulation of circadian rhythms, the "Drosophila" gene "period" ("per") also plays an important role in processing long-term memory (LTM). Here, we used courtship conditioning as a learning paradigm and revealed that (1) overexpression and knocking down of "per" in subsets of brain neurons enhance and…

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to changes in the evaluation of a conditioned stimulus (CS) due to its repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus (US). One of the most debated topics in EC research is whether or not EC is dependent on contingency awareness. In this study, we go beyond this debate by examining whether contingency awareness…

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is the valence change of a (typically neutral) stimulus (CS) that is due to the previous pairing with another (typically valent) stimulus (US). It has been repeatedly shown that EC effects are stronger or existent only if participants know which US was paired with which CS. Knowledge of the CS-US pairings is usually…

Here, we examine effects of the steroid hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-E), on associative olfactory learning in the honeybee, "Apis mellifera." 20-E impaired the bees' ability to associate odors with punishment during aversive conditioning, but did not interfere with their ability to associate odors with a food reward (appetitive…

The present two studies investigated whether semantic as well as evaluative stimulus aspects can be conditioned to neutral stimuli. In Study 1, pictures of large and small objects were paired with neutral stimuli (conditioned stimuli (CSs)). The subsequently assessed size and likeability ratings indicated that valence as well as size was…

In this experiment using the conditioned head-turn procedure, 18-month-old French-learning toddlers were trained to respond to either a target noun ("la balle"/"the ball") or a target verb ("je mange"/"I ea"t). They were then tested on target word recognition in two syntactic contexts: the target word was…

Stimuli that precede aversive events are typically less preferred than stimuli that precede nonaversive events. It has recently been demonstrated that stimuli that "follow" less preferred events may become favored more than stimuli that follow more preferred events. This phenomenon has been investigated under a variety of names, most commonly,…

Context specificity of rats' conditioned taste aversion as a function of context experience was assessed in two experiments. Rats received a single pairing between a flavor X and a LiCl injection in a distinctive context (context A) being subsequently tested either in the same context or in a different but equally familiar context (context B).…

Some individuals with intellectual disabilities do not respond to praise as a reinforcer, which may limit their ability to learn. We evaluated 2 procedures (stimulus pairing and response-stimulus pairing), both of which involved pairing previously neutral praise statements with preferred edible items, to determine their usefulness in establishing…

Four articles examining methodological applications of exposure therapy and its limited dissemination were briefly reviewed. Methodological articles included those by Abramowitz et al., Gryczkowski et al., and Weiner and McKay, which addressed couple treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), modification of evidence-based anxiety…

Naming refers to the incidental acquisition of word-object relations as listener and speaker without explicit reinforcement. To investigate possible sources of reinforcement for naming, we examined the effects of a procedure for conditioning reinforcement for observing responses on the emergence of naming in children who previously lacked it. The…

Background: This study investigated the relative ease of learning across four tasks suggested by an adaptation of Thomas's hierarchy of learning in children with Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorders and mental age-matched controls. Methods: Learning trials were carried out to investigate observational learning, instrumental learning, reversal…

Functional analyses (FA) have proven useful for identifying contingencies that influence problem behavior. Research has shown that some problem behavior may only occur in specific contexts or be influenced by multiple or idiosyncratic variables. When these contexts or sources of influence are not assessed in an FA, further assessment may be…