Resistance to Extinction and Psychopathology, With New Evidence of Howa CS Can Act Like a US in The Sexual conditioning of Male Japanese Quail (Coturnix Coturnix Japonica)

This paper is organized in three sections. In the first section, we discuss the relevance of comparative psychology to clinical issues by relating resistance to extinction to psychological disorders involving anxiety, addiction, and fetishism. In the second section, we review areas of comparative psychology that deal in one way or another with the general problem of treating an insignificant event as it were significant. We describe research on supernormal stimuli, evaluative conditioning, acquired drives, incentive sensitization, and consummatory response theory. In the third section of the paper, we present new research on second-order sexual conditioning of male Japanese quail related to the consummatory response theory. First-order conditioning was conducted by pairing the presentation of a terrycloth object (CS1 or conditioned stimulus 1) with copulation with a female (the US or unconditioned stimulus). The male quail came to approach the terrycloth object during the first-order conditioning phase. In addition, about half of the quail also showed conditioned consummatory responses directed towards the terrycloth object. During the second-order conditioning phase, the terrycloth object was used to condition responding to a light (CS2) in the absence of further exposures to the unconditioned stimulus. Birds that showed conditioned consummatory behavior towards CS1 persisted in this behavior during the second-order phase and showed successful second-order conditioning of the light. In contrast, birds that failed to develop conditioned consummatory responses to CS1 showed rapid extinction and minimal second-order conditioning. The implications of these finding for learning theory and for psychopathology are discussed.

Feeding Stimulants Activate an Identified Dopaminergic Interneuron That Induces the Feeding Motor Program in Helisoma

Quinlan, E. M., B. C. Arnett, and A. D. Murphy. Feeding stimulants activate an identified dopaminergic interneuron that induces the feeding motor program in Helisoma. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 812–824, 1997. The neurotransmitter dopamine is shown to play a fundamental role in the generation of the feeding motor pattern and resultant feeding behavior in Helisoma. Application of exogenous dopamine triggered the fictive feeding motor pattern in the isolated CNS and triggered feeding movements in semi-intact preparations. Application of feeding stimulants to the oral cavity excited the putatively dopaminergic buccal interneuron N1a, and depolarization of interneuron N1a triggered the production of the fictive feeding motor pattern. The ability of dopamine superfusion and of interneuron N1a stimulation to activate the fictive feeding motor pattern was blocked by the dopamine antagonist sulpiride. The phase of the fictive feeding motor pattern was reset by brief hyperpolarization of interneuron N1a, demonstrating that interneuron N1a is an integral component of the buccal central pattern generator (CPG). During spontaneous fictive feeding patterns, prolonged hyperpolarizations of interneuron N1a inhibited the production of patterned activity. Exogenous dopamine maintained the fictive feeding motor pattern in the absence of interneuron N1a activity. Interneuron N1a was labeled by the formaldehyde-glutaraldehyde histochemical technique, which is indicative of the presence of dopamine in mollusks. These data suggest that interneuron N1a is an endogenous source of the neuromodulator dopamine, intrinsic to the buccal CPG, and that interneuron N1a has a prominent role in the sensory-motor integration triggering the consummatory response.

Acquisition of Secondary Reinforcers by Children

In one partially reinforced and one continuously reinforced group, children made no response during training. One partially reinforced group picked up and ate candy which was presented contiguously with a light. One partially and one continuously reinforced group picked up the candy but did not eat it. One control group received no candy during training trials, and a second control group received no training. Extinction tests with the light contingent upon lever excursion indicated that a response during acquisition was not necessary to condition a secondary reinforcer, but strong effects were obtained by including a consummatory response. Stronger effects were obtained with a partial schedule and either no response or a consummatory response during acquisition trials.