[An apparatus for programming a conditioned reflex experiment].

Two methods are presented for the data analysis of signals derived by subtracting conditioned from control reflex data in full-wave rectified and averaged electromyographic (EMG) signals. The first method uses the ratios of the mean amplitudes and standard errors of the mean (S.E.M.s) (i.e. Student's t values) of a series of data points in such a difference signal, and deals with the detection of latencies of reflex components which are susceptible to a conditioning stimulus or experimental situation. The second method applies a modified cumulative sum (CUSUM) technique to full-wave rectified difference signals. This modified CUSUM technique determines the magnitude of the effects of the conditioning situation above that expected due to chance fluctuations, taking into account the effect of reflex modulations on such chance fluctuations in a post-stimulus period. The modified CUSUM technique proved particularly useful when various subtle but consistent, opposing changes occurred sequentially in the conditioned series thus yielding a complicated pattern of effects in a difference signal, with a low signal-to-noise ratio.

Conditioning, Classical↗

PubMed1994

Jerzy Konorski (1903-1973) on the 20th anniversary of his death.

This article describes the pioneer research of Jerzy Konorski on voluntary motor conditioned reflexes type II (CRIIs or instrumental CRs). Some of his publications on topics such as four varieties of CRIIs, switching, and ability of transformation (plasticity) of CRIIs are briefly summarized. Konorski's theoretical views including criticism of some of Pavlov's interpretations are also presented. A few events connected to Konorski's scientific activities are mentioned.

Conditioning, Classical↗

PubMed1994

The secret of successful defense.

The demise of stimulus-response behaviorism has brought radical changes in the way psychologists conceptualize classical Pavlovian conditioning, as described by Rescorla (1988). The new emphasis on learned expectations sheds light on Freud's 1926 theory of intrapsychic conflict which explains neurotic anxiety by the same principles that account for realistic anxiety. Learned expectations also figure prominently in the recent writings of a number of psychoanalytic theorists. This paper uses these principles to explain "successful defense," which is customarily defined as the activation of defense in the absence of conscious anxiety. These same principles elucidate an important difference between the therapeutic mechanisms of supportive versus expressive psychotherapy. This distinction parallels the difference between conditioned inhibition versus extinction in Pavlovian conditioning.

Conditioning, Classical↗