The general goal of this project is to understand how time influences Pavlovian learning, the fundamental learning process in which humans and animals learn to associate signals with biologically significant events. The study of conditioning is important in part because it is deeply involved in the development (and treatment) of many mental health problems, including (but not limited to) drug dependence and anxiety disorders. Many of the proposed experiments, which will be conducted with laboratory rats, will distinguish between two different ideas about how Pavlovian learning works: A view that emphasizes the importance of learning """"""""trials"""""""" (occasions on which the signal occurs either with or without the significant event) and another view that ignores trials and emphasizes the organism's perception of time between presentations of the significant event. These ideas and others will be contrasted in number of experiments. Many experiments will investigate the effects of trial spacing in acquisition, whereas others will investigate the effects of trial spacing during learning treatments (extinction and counter conditioning) designed to replace old learning with new learning. All will uncover conditions that """"""""optimize"""""""" learning by making it strong and durable. Other experiments will compare the effects of the passage of time and contextual change, and others will investigate the psychological processes involved in discriminating different temporal intervals. The results will increase our understanding of the influence of time and memory on conditioning, and will help reveal the interrelationships between timing and associative learning. Many of the results will also increase our understanding of the causes of relapse after therapy and suggest ways to help prevent or minimize that relapse.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01MH064847-01
Application #
6422804
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BBBP-1 (01))
Program Officer
Kurtzman, Howard S
Project Start
2001-12-01
Project End
2006-11-30
Budget Start
2001-12-01
Budget End
2002-11-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$250,045
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Vermont & St Agric College
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
066811191
City
Burlington
State
VT
Country
United States
Zip Code
05405
Bouton, Mark E; Woods, Amanda M; Todd, Travis P (2014) Separation of time-based and trial-based accounts of the partial reinforcement extinction effect. Behav Processes 101:23-31
Bouton, Mark E; Todd, Travis P; León, Samuel P (2014) Contextual control of discriminated operant behavior. J Exp Psychol Anim Learn Cogn 40:92-105
Bouton, Mark E; Todd, Travis P; Miles, Olivia W et al. (2013) Within- and between-session variety effects in a food-seeking habituation paradigm. Appetite 66:10-9
Todd, Travis P (2013) Mechanisms of renewal after the extinction of instrumental behavior. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process 39:193-207
Winterbauer, Neil E; Lucke, Sara; Bouton, Mark E (2013) Some Factors Modulating the Strength of Resurgence After Extinction of an Instrumental Behavior. Learn Motiv 44:60-71
Todd, Travis P; Winterbauer, Neil E; Bouton, Mark E (2012) Contextual control of appetite. Renewal of inhibited food-seeking behavior in sated rats after extinction. Appetite 58:484-9
Winterbauer, Neil E; Bouton, Mark E (2012) Effects of thinning the rate at which the alternative behavior is reinforced on resurgence of an extinguished instrumental response. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process 38:279-91
Todd, Travis P; Winterbauer, Neil E; Bouton, Mark E (2012) Effects of the amount of acquisition and contextual generalization on the renewal of instrumental behavior after extinction. Learn Behav 40:145-57
Bouton, Mark E; Doyle-Burr, Caleb; Vurbic, Drina (2012) Asymmetrical generalization of conditioning and extinction from compound to element and element to compound. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process 38:381-93
Bouton, Mark E; Winterbauer, Neil E; Todd, Travis P (2012) Relapse processes after the extinction of instrumental learning: renewal, resurgence, and reacquisition. Behav Processes 90:130-41

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