SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Choice Behavior”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources

PubMed1992

Assessing choice making among children with multiple disabilities.

Some learners with multiple disabilities display idiosyncratic gestures that are interpreted as a means of making choices. In the present study, we assessed the validity of idiosyncratic choice-making behaviors of 3 children with multiple disabilities. Opportunities for each child to choose between food and drink were provided under two conditions. In one condition, the children were given the food or drink item corresponding to their prior choice. In the other condition, the teacher delivered the item opposite to that chosen. It was reasoned that valid choice-making behaviors would be reflected in a greater tendency to accept the chosen item and refuse the unchosen item. Direct observations revealed all children consistently indicated choices during both conditions. Choices of both the food and drink items were made by all 3 children. A reversal design demonstrated that acts of refusal were more frequent when choices were followed by delivery of the item opposite to that chosen. Similar assessment procedures may be effective in determining the function of idiosyncratic gestures exhibited by persons with multiple disabilities. For children lacking such skills, intervention to teach valid choice-making behaviors may be needed to complement assessment procedures.

Child↗

PubMed1979

Sex of client as a factor in preference for an approach to counseling.

In a reversed order, 90 Ss, from a general psychology course, in two groups of equal size, viewed two audiovisual tapes of a simulated first counseling session. The same counselor, same client, and same presenting concern of a vocational-educational nature were portrayed as representative of a client-centered and a behavioral approach to counseling. The Ss were asked to identify which film they preferred and why. A chi square analysis showed no difference between males and females. However, there was a statistically significant preference for the behavioral approach by both males and females. The major factor in the preference appeared to be the "structure" of the behavioral approach.

Behavior Therapy↗

PubMed1979

Attraction to therapy and therapist credibility as a function of therapy orientation.

Exposed male and female Ss (N = 96) to psychoanalytic, behavioral, client-centered, or gestalt therapy, in the form of a brief written description and a 5-minute videotaped simulation. Attraction to therapy and various dimensions of therapist credibility were measured. The psychoanalytic presentation generated the greatest attraction and the greatest perceived total credibility. The gestalt presentation was next highest on these variables, followed by the behavioral and client-centered presentation. No significant effects for sex of S or sex by therapy approach interaction were reported. Explanations for and implications of these findings are discussed.

Attitude↗

PubMed1986

Examination of the unintentional effect of stimulus medium and context on preference for psychotherapy.

Past research that has examined preferences for different psychotherapy orientations has yielded inconsistent results. This study investigated whether the discrepant results are artifacts of the methods chosen. Stimulus context (therapy session vs. therapy description) and stimulus medium (audiovisual vs. written) were investigated in comparing preferences for the behavioral and person-centered orientations. Over 300 undergraduates rated their preference for both psychotherapy orientations on a 4-item questionnaire. The behavioral orientation received a significantly higher preference score when both orientations were presented audiovisually as a therapy session. Conversely, the person-centered orientation received a higher preference score when both orientations were presented as a written description. Given the current methodology, rated preference for type of therapy may be determined more by how specifically the therapies are presented than by the actual saliency that a particular orientation holds for an individual.

Adult↗

PubMed1977

Multivariate analysis of the septal syndrome.

Since recent reviews of the behavioural effects of septal lesions agree that more than one explanatory concept is required, a multivariate analysis of the septal syndrome has been made. A total of 127 rats have been tested 73 with septal lesions and 54 controls. The rats were tested in a standard test battery consisting of a residential maze, spontaneous alternation, spatial learning, approach/avoidance conflict and one-way active avoidance. Factor analyses reveal a complex change in the factor structure after septal lesions. None of the previous explanations of septal functions receives unequivocal support. The findings do not exclude the possibility that septal lesions interfere with a few general behaviour mechanisms or perhaps only one. However, if so, this factor does not explain as much of the variance as expected. Situational or test-dependent factors play a greater role in the variance. This is interpreted as an indication of insufficiency in the theoretical structure, or in conventional test designs.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Effects of preweaning exposure to novel maternal odors on maternal responsiveness and selectivity in adulthood.

We examined the effects of odor exposure in the nest on the offspring's subsequent adult responsivity to pups scented with the same odor or a different odor. It was hypothesized that animals receiving exposure to the odor in the nest would be more maternally responsive to pups scented with the (same) exposed odor than to unscented (water-scented) pups. In the first part of the study (Part A), Sprague-Dawley female rat pups (days 1-18 of age) either received exposure to an artificial lemon odor or to the natural (water) odor in the nest. In the second part of the study (Part B), rat pups were exposed daily to lemon or neutral odorants in an incubator at a distance from the mother and the nest. On day 21, animals received odor preference tests for lemon versus neutral pine bedding. On day 60, animals were mated and their pups were removed at 15-min intervals at the time of parturition. Animals were then tested for maternal behavior to foster pups on day 1 or 7 after parturition. Foster pups were scented either with the lemon odor or with water (unscented). Early exposure to lemon in the nest context enhanced animals' attraction to the lemon odor in juvenile tests. In adult maternal tests, exposure to odor on the mother and in the nest had two effects. It increased the latency for animals to express maternal behavior; however, once mothers expressed maternal behavior, they spent more time licking and crouching over pups scented with the same odorant to which they had been exposed earlier on their own mothers. Simple exposure to the lemon odorant out of context of the nest had no effect on adult maternal latencies or behavior.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

The effect of early specific feeding on food conditioning in cats.

Four cats were fed with beef only (beef cats) and 4 cats were fed with tuna only (tuna cats) during the first 6 months of their lives. Thus, they were deprived of a variety of food tastes. The cats then were trained in instrumental conditioning. After criterion performance was achieved, they were retrained with alternated food: In the beef cats, tuna was used, and in tuna cats, beef was used. There were six stages with alternated food. The beef cats acquired a pushing response markedly slower than the tuna cats because they often refused to eat the beef reward. Moreover, both the beef and the tuna cats preferred tuna in stages with alternated food. In contrast, there was no difference in attractiveness between beef or tuna in another 4 cats nondeprived of a variety of food tastes. Hence, early deprivation of a variety of food tastes may reveal an inborn food preference.

Aging↗

PubMed2005

Ontogeny of urine preference and its relationship to NH4Cl preference and sodium hunger in suckling rat pups.

We chart the postnatal ontogeny of urine preference in the suckling rat. Twelve-day-old sucklings, when offered urine, NH4Cl, or NaCl, ingest more urine and NH4Cl than NaCl. When rendered sodium hungry by ivc renin or by sodium depletion, these sucklings prefer urine and NH4Cl to NaCl, dilute urine, or an NaCl and KCl mineral mix equimolar to urine; however, by 18 days of age, urine and NH4Cl are no longer preferred to NaCl. Hence, urine preference in the suckling may be specific and preparatory for the variety of purposes urine preference serves in the adult rat, and it might guide the pup to urinary sodium in the nest. Since preference for urine and NH4Cl covary during postnatal development, the high preference for NH4Cl in midterm sucklings might be because its ammonium flavor is similar to urine.

Ammonium Chloride↗

PubMed2006

Effects of novelty on behavior in the adolescent and adult rat.

Adolescence is a time of high-risk behavior and increased exploration. This developmental period is marked by a greater probability of initiating drug use and is associated with an increased risk to develop addiction and dependency in adulthood. Human adolescents are predisposed towards an increased likelihood of risk taking behaviors (Zuckerman, 1986), including drug use or initiation. The purpose of the study was to examine differences in developmental risk taking behaviors. Adolescent and adult animals were exposed to a novel stimulus in a familiar environment to assess impulsive behaviors, novelty preference, and exploratory behaviors. Adolescent animals had greater novelty-induced locomotor activity, greater novelty preference, and showed higher approach and exploratory behaviors compared to adult animals. These data support the notion that adolescents may be predisposed toward sensation seeking and consequently, are more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors, such as drug use initiation.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2006

Left versus right nipple preference in free-ranging infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

The examination of nonhuman primate (NHP) lateralized behaviors may provide insight into the evolution of hemispheric specialization. This study examined nipple preference in 64 infant macaques in order to consider the ontogeny of lateralized behavior. We used a focal animal sampling method to record nipple contact during 15, 30-min observation sessions collected across each infant's first year of life. Using a lateralized behavior index (LBI) we calculated individual and population preferences (LBI=(R-L)/(R+L); "R"=mean right nipple contact, "L"=mean left nipple contact). Strength of preference was calculated as the absolute value of this score. Infants exhibited no population preference for a particular nipple, but showed a significant strength of preference that developed after 48 hr. Interestingly, successive siblings preferred the nipple not used by the previous infant. These findings suggest that nipple preference is guided by external stimuli, and that nipple preference during infancy may not be a behavioral representation of hemispheric specialization.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2007

Influence of the mother in the development of flavored-food preference in lambs.

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of the mother in the development of flavored-food preference in lambs. First, we demonstrated that lambs that ate flavored food in the presence of their mothers before weaning ate more of this food 1 month after weaning than lambs that ate flavored food with other ewes or lambs exposed to nonflavored food with their mothers. Second, lambs that could only see their mothers eating the flavored food and had access to the food's olfactory cues before weaning, showed similar preference for flavored food 1 month after weaning to lambs that ate the flavored food with their mothers. However, lambs that were separated from their mothers while their mothers consumed flavored food did not reveal a preference for it. Overall these results suggest that development of food preference in lambs depends mainly on observation of the mother, provided there is also access to olfactory cues characterizing the food.

Animal Feed↗

PubMed1976

Duration of early visual experience and visual cliff behavior of chicks.

Visual cliff behavior was studied in 120 chicks as a function of 22, 46, 70, 94, or 118 hr of rearing in a deep or shallow environment. Preference for the deep side of the visual cliff increased directly with duration of depth-rearing but was uninfluenced at any duration of shallow-rearing. Although qualitative differences existed in the behaviors of those shallow- and deep-reared chicks which crossed the cliff, the loss of depth avoidance by the latter group appeared to be specific to the rearing and testing apparatus.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Rational addiction to alcohol: panel data analysis of liquor consumption.

Utilizing a panel data set of 42 states over the period 1959-1994, this paper estimates a rational addiction model for liquor consumption for the US. The empirical evidence is consistent with the rational addiction hypothesis proposed by Becker and Murphy. However, the results are sensitive to the assumption of homogeneity across states or over time.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The mGluR5 antagonist MPEP reduces the conditioned rewarding effects of cocaine but not other drugs of abuse.

We examined the ability of 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)-pyridine (MPEP), a selective antagonist of the type 5 metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR5), to reduce the rewarding effects of various drugs of abuse in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. Mice were treated with MPEP (1, 5, and 20 mg/kg i.p.) 10 min prior to cocaine (15 mg/kg i.p.), D-amphetamine (2 mg/kg i.p.), nicotine (0.5 mg/kg i.p.), morphine (5 mg/kg i.p.), or ethanol (2 g/kg i.p.) on 3 successive days of CPP conditioning trials. MPEP pretreatment dose-dependently reduced the development of CPP for cocaine only. When tested alone at the doses effective in reducing CPP, MPEP produced neither a place preference nor aversion. These data provide further support for a role of the mGluR5 receptor in the rewarding effects of cocaine.

Amphetamine↗

PubMed1999

Time-course analysis and comparison of acute and chronic intrastriatal quinolinic acid administration on forelimb reaching deficits in the rat.

Rats were trained to use a single forelimb for a food pellet retrieval task. During baseline testing all rats exhibited > 90% use of a preferred limb for the task. Following baseline, rats were subjected to chronic administration (18 day) or acute injection of quinolinic acid (QUIN) or vehicle to the striatum contralateral to the preferred limb. Rats were tested 48 h after insertion of chronic delivery probes or after acute injection and retested every 48 h over an 18-day period. Compared to vehicle, rats receiving chronic QUIN (7.6 nmol/h) exhibited an increase in the number of reach attempts required to meet task criteria. Chronic QUIN did not produce a significant change in latency to initiate the task or an increase in latency to complete the task. No rats exposed to chronic QUIN exhibited a switch in limb preference for the task. Unlike animals exposed to chronic QUIN, a significant number of animals receiving acute QUIN injections switched to exclusive use of the ipsilateral (nonpreferred) limb for the task. Quantitative histological analysis revealed no significant difference in lesion volume between acute and chronic lesion animals. These findings suggest that behavioral manifestations of histopathologically similar lesions may be vastly different depending on the methods used to produce these lesions. More specifically, the acute injection model resulted primarily in forelimb disuse, whereas the chronic model resulted in continued abnormal use of the affected limb. Understanding adaptive strategies used in these models may be particularly important when testing newly developed transgenic models of neurodegenerative diseases and the therapeutic potential of newly developed neuroprotectants.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Bidirectional modulation of scopolamine-induced working memory impairments by muscarinic activation of the medial septal area.

The hypotheses that the medial septal area (MSA) is critical for working memory and that MSA neural activity is positively regulated by cholinergic inputs leads to two testable predictions: (1) working memory can be bidirectionally modulated by muscarinic manipulations of the MSA and (2) muscarinic activation of the MSA can enhance memory under conditions of mnemonic impairment. Memory was assessed by T-maze spatial alternation following intraseptal infusion of muscarinic drugs in rats pretreated with intraperitoneal (IP-) injections of scopolamine. Scopolamine dose-dependently impaired working memory and shifted the hippocampal theta activity to a higher peak frequency. Intraseptal scopolamine mimicked the behavioral effects of IP-scopolamine, and intraseptal carbachol appeared to reverse both the behavioral and physiological effects of IP-scopolamine. The results indicate that the amnestic effect of antimuscarinic drugs may be due to an interaction in the MSA and that conditions of memory impairment may be alleviated by selective muscarinic activation of the MSA.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

A mechanistic model for partial preferences.

Classic prey optimal foraging model assumes that individual predators are globally omniscient; that is, they have exact knowledge of prey population densities in the environment. This study examines a spatially explicit individual-based model of a one-predator two-prey system where individual predators are assumed to be omniscient only locally, i.e., to know prey population densities only in the range of their perception. Due to local variations in prey numbers, the probability of acceptance of less profitable prey shifts from the zero-one rule to a gradually decreasing function, for which an explicit formula is derived, giving way to partial preferences. A corresponding predator functional response to more profitable prey is shown to have a sigmoid-like form.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Adolescent alcohol drinking and its long-range consequences. Studies with animal models.

This chapter reviews findings, mainly obtained from the selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) line of rats, on (a) the development of alcohol drinking during the peri-adolescent period, (b) neurobiological factors that may contribute to adolescent drinking, (c) interventions to prevent alcohol drinking during adolescence, and (d) some long-lasting consequences of adolescent alcohol drinking. The findings indicate that P rats readily initiate alcohol drinking during the early post-weaning, adolescent and peri-adolescent periods of development. The early age-of-onset of alcohol drinking in the P compared to the NP line is associated with (a) higher densities of serotonin-1A (5-HT1A) receptors in cerebral cortical and hippocampal regions; (b) lower densities of dopamine (DA) D2 receptors in the ventral tegmental area (VTA); (c) higher functional activity in several limbic, cortical and hippocampal regions; and (d) sensitivity to the low-dose stimulating effect of ethanol. Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) training during adolescence produces long-term effects on preventing high alcohol drinking behavior of P rats. Alcohol drinking during peri-adolescence by P rats produces long-lasting effects that increase the acquisition of ethanol self-administration in adulthood, and, in addition, increase craving-like behavior and the potential for alcohol relapse. With suitable animal models, a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying adolescent alcohol drinking and its long-range consequences can be attained.

Adolescent↗