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PubMed1991

Learning the structure of event sequences.

How is complex sequential material acquired, processed, and represented when there is no intention to learn? Two experiments exploring a choice reaction time task are reported. Unknown to Ss, successive stimuli followed a sequence derived from a "noisy" finite-state grammar. After considerable practice (60,000 exposures) with Experiment 1, Ss acquired a complex body of procedural knowledge about the sequential structure of the material. Experiment 2 was an attempt to identify limits on Ss ability to encode the temporal context by using more distant contingencies that spanned irrelevant material. Taken together, the results indicate that Ss become increasingly sensitive to the temporal context set by previous elements of the sequence, up to 3 elements. Responses are also affected by priming effects from recent trials. A connectionist model that incorporates sensitivity to the sequential structure and to priming effects is shown to capture key aspects of both acquisition and processing and to account for the interaction between attention and sequence structure reported by Cohen, Ivry, and Keele (1990).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Effects of alcohol and white noise on recall of relevant and irrelevant task components.

This study examined the effects of arousal, induced by alcohol and white noise, on the free recall of intentionally learned words and incidentally learned word-locations, in the presence or absence of word-order cues. The Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List, a self-report measure of arousal showed that noise affected the tension dimension of arousal, whereas the moderate alcohol dose primarily affected the energy dimension of arousal. That the low dose exerted an arousing effect was evidenced by an increase in tension but only when combined with noise. When word-order was randomized over trials, noise improved word-recall and counteracted the deleterious effect of the moderate alcohol dose. When order remained fixed, however, the moderate dose impaired recall, and at that dose recall was worse under noise. Location-recall was impaired by the moderate dose, and it was superior when word-order remained fixed. It was concluded that recall was influenced by arousal mechanisms and that perceived task demand and consequent effort were possible factors contributing to the obtained effects.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1995

Effects of angle of model-demonstration on learning of motor skill.

The purpose was to examine the effects of three different demonstrations by a model on acquisition and retention of a sequential gross movement task. The second purpose was to examine the relationship between reversal processing of visual information about skills and coding of skill information. Thirty undergraduates (15 men and 15 women) were assigned into one of three conditions, Objective condition which demonstrated the task with the model facing the subject. Looking-glass condition in which the skill was demonstrated with the model facing the subject who viewed the performance opposite the right and left directions in executing the task, and the Subjective condition in which the subject observed the model from the rear. Number of immediate recall tests required to accomplish the sequential movements completely and the sum of the performance points for reproduced movements at each delayed recall test (1 day, 7 days, and 5 mo. after the immediate recall test) were employed. Analysis indicated the Subjective condition produced a significantly greater modeling effect in immediate recall of the movements than the Looking-glass condition. Retention of the acquired skills was almost equal under the three conditions.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The effects of lesions of the habenula nucleus on lever press behaviour during a tandem operant schedule with contrasting response requirements.

The effect of bilateral lesions of the habenula nuclei in male Lister hooded rats was assessed in performance of a well learned complex tandem operant reinforcement schedule. The schedule requirement involved two successive and contrasting components in which 15 operant lever press responses followed by inhibition of the same response for a period of 15 s provided liquid-food reinforcement. Initially little disruption of performance was seen when each component of the schedule was differentially signalled with an external cue. However, relative to controls, lesioned animals showed an increasing disruption of performance when such cues were omitted. The deficit in performance of lesioned animals was not a simple failure to inhibit responding that could be predicted from an altered input from septal areas. It is suggested that these behavioural data are consistent with the anatomical evidence for the habenula as a functional relay for the integration of information from limbic structures and the striatum and that lesions of the habenula affect the ability of animals to maintain effective response strategies, particularly when these are under intrinsic control.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Patterns of verbal learning and memory in traumatic brain injury.

CVLT and WMS-R Digit Span variables were used to calculate indexes of seven specific short- and long-term memory processes: working memory span and central executive functions, and long-term memory encoding, consolidation, retention, retrieval, control abilities. Scores on these indexes were then cluster-analyzed to determine whether subtypes of memory performance exist that correspond to deficits in these theoretical memory constructs. Parallel analyses were conducted with two large samples (N = 150 and N = 151) of individuals who had sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Findings showed that TBI results in subgroups of memory disorders with specific deficits in consolidation, retention, and retrieval processes. Control problems (keeping track of list versus non-list items) only appeared in conjunction with retrieval deficits. Working memory span and central executive functioning (i.e., the ability to manipulate information in working memory) do not appear to be deficits characteristic of TBI as no such clusters emerged in the analyses. By using specific indexes of memory processes, and in contrast to previous studies, patterns of memory dysfunction were found that correspond to deficits in theoretically meaningful memory constructs.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Effects of oral and intramuscular carbaryl administrations on repeated chain acquisition in monkeys.

A type of learning task was utilized to determine the effective dose of carbaryl on Macaca fascicularis for both oral and in routes of administration. Monkeys were required to press four buttons in a set order; the order was changed daily. A baseline reversal design was utilized to test all animals several times at each concentration. The im carbaryl injections resulted in consistent, statistically reliable decrements in total session time and increases in errors at 5 and 10 mg/kg for the 4 animals in this section of the experiment, but produced no change in performance at 1 mg/kg. Errors increased in 3 of 4 monkeys after 3 mg/kg injections. Oral doses as high as 50 mg/kg were not consistently effective in changing performance on the task in any of 5 animals included in this section of the experiment. Some support was given to the suggestion that monkeys are more tolerant of carbaryl than are rats. These are the first reported effects (other than the LD50) of carbaryl in monkeys.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1993

The use of a game to promote arm reach in persons with traumatic brain injury.

This study tested a principle of occupational therapy and motor learning theory in the context of neurodevelopmental treatment techniques. Ten trials of occupationally embedded intervention (playing Simon, a computer-controlled game) were compared with 10 trials of rote arm-reach exercise. A counterbalanced design was structured so that each subject experienced each condition one week apart. Subjects were 17 men and 3 women with traumatic brain injury who exhibited mild to moderate spasticity in the upper extremity. Maximum distance from hip to wrist during active reach of the affected extremity was measured by digitization of videotape with the Motion Analysis EV-3D system. Results indicated that the use of the game elicited significantly more range of motion than the rote exercise (t (19) = 5.77, p < .001). These results support the use of an occupationally embedded intervention for persons with traumatic brain injury and add to the theoretical base of occupational therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Sequence learning in individuals with behavioural limitations.

The production of sequences by two mentally retarded adults and a normally capable preschooler was assessed after each was trained to touch five physically dissimilar and nonrepresentative forms in an experimenter-specified order (denoted A1-->A2-->A3-->A4-->A5). Performance on the 10 constituent two-term sequences was examined (e.g. A-->A2, A2-->A3, A1-->A3 and A2-->A4). The probe data were largely consistent with the five-term sequence performance trained explicitly and suggest the formation of stimulus relations based on relative position rather than a rote stimulus-response chain. The procedures and results were replicated with a second five-term sequence (B1-->B2-->B3-->B4-->B5). The subjects' performances were also assessed on trials in which mixtures of the two sets of stimuli were presented as either two-term probes (e.g. A2-->B4 and B2-->A4; with all three subjects) or five-term probes (e.g. A1-->B2-->A3-->B4-->A5; with the two adult subjects). Again, the subjects' performances were consistent with their baseline training. The mixed-probe data extend prior research on sequence production and suggest the formation of classes of mutually substitutable sequence stimuli. The overall findings highlight the importance of experiential variables in the formation of ordinal relations in developmentally limited individuals.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2005

Sequential memory: a putative neural and synaptic dynamical mechanism.

A key issue in the neurophysiology of cognition is the problem of sequential learning. Sequential learning refers to the ability to encode and represent the temporal order of discrete elements occurring in a sequence. We show that the short-term memory for a sequence of items can be implemented in an autoassociation neural network. Each item is one of the attractor states of the network. The autoassociation network is implemented at the level of integrate-and-fire neurons so that the contributions of different biophysical mechanisms to sequence learning can be investigated. It is shown that if it is a property of the synapses or neurons that support each attractor state that they adapt, then every time the network is made quiescent (e.g., by inhibition), then the attractor state that emerges next is the next item in the sequence. We show with numerical simulations implementations of the mechanisms using (1) a sodium inactivation-based spike-frequency-adaptation mechanism, (2) a Ca(2+)-activated K+ current, and (3) short-term synaptic depression, with sequences of up to three items. The network does not need repeated training on a particular sequence and will repeat the items in the order that they were last presented. The time between the items in a sequence is not fixed, allowing the items to be read out as required over a period of up to many seconds. The network thus uses adaptation rather than associative synaptic modification to recall the order of the items in a recently presented sequence.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed2005

The list strength effect: a contextual competition account.

Research on the list strength effect (LSE) has shown that learning some words on a list more strongly than others impairs memory for the weakly learned words when tested with a recall task. Norman (2002) demonstrated that the LSE also occurs within the recollection process of a recognition test. In this study, a mechanistic dual-process account of the LSE was tested that simultaneously makes predictions concerning additional sources of context in interference effects. In two experiments, we attempted to replicate Norman's (2002) findings and provide the basis for our modeling efforts. We found evidence for a recollection LSE in raw measures of responding, with memory performance also benefiting from reinstatement of perceptual characteristics at test. However, large differences in the hits between the lists were accompanied by small differences in false alarms, such that when d' is calculated, differences between the lists are not significant. We propose an account of the LSE whereby the actual effect of competition between items on the list is small, although present, and difficult to distinguish from large effects of bias due to the strength manipulations. We argue that our findings provide support for a mechanistic explanation of LSE that is based on competition of source activation and changes in the thresholds for responses.

Attention↗
PubMed2000

Neurocognitive functioning in recently abstinent, cocaine-abusing schizophrenic patients.

PURPOSE: This report examined a broad range of cognitive functioning in a group of recently abstinent, cocaine-abusing schizophrenic patients (CA + SZ). METHODS: Measures of selective and sustained attention, learning and memory, and executive functioning were administered to CA + SZ patients within 72 h of last cocaine use. A comparison group of non-substance-abusing schizophrenic patients (SZ) presenting for inpatient psychiatric treatment were also examined in an identical time frame. We hypothesized that the neurobiological impact of cocaine abuse and acute abstinence would cause CA + SZ to manifest deficits in all domains of cognitive functioning relative to non-abusing SZ patients. RESULTS: Results revealed that CA + SZ displayed significant memory impairment relative to their non-abuser SZ counterparts. No group differences, however, were detected on any other neurocognitive measure. CA + SZ were able to selectively process digit strings during the presence and absence of distracting stimuli, sustain attention, and perform executive functions at performance levels equal to their non-abuser SZ counterparts. IMPLICATIONS: These results are consistent with many past studies that have found CA + SZ patients to manifest memory impairment but have relatively well preserved functioning in other cognitive domains. The results are discussed in terms of the biological concomitants of cocaine abuse and acute abstinence in schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Abstract-concept learning and list-memory processing by capuchin and rhesus monkeys.

Three capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) touched the lower of 2 pictures (same) or a white rectangle (different), increased same/different abstract-concept learning (52% to 87%) with set-size increases (8 to 128 pictures), and were better than 3 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Three other rhesus that touched the top picture before choices learned similar to capuchins but were better at list-memory learning. Both species' serial position functions were similar in shape and changes with retention delays. Other species showed qualitatively similar shape changes but quantitatively different time-course changes. In abstract-concept learning, qualitative similarity was shown by complete concept learning, whereas a quantitative difference would have been a set-size slope difference. Qualitative similarity is discussed in relation to general-process versus modular cognitive accounts.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Allothetic orientation and sequential ordering of places is impaired in early stages of Alzheimer's disease: corresponding results in real space tests and computer tests.

Spatial disorientation and learning problems belong to the integral symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A circular arena for human subjects (2.9 m diameter, 3 m high) was equipped with a computerized tracking system, similar to that used in animals. We studied navigation in 11 subjects diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), 27 subjects with subjective problems with memory or concentration, and 10 controls. The task was to locate one or several unmarked goals using the arena geometry, starting position and/or cues on the arena wall. Navigation in a real version and a computer map view version of the tests yielded similar results. The AD group was severely impaired relative to controls in navigation to one hidden goal in eight rotated positions. The impairment was largest when only the cues on the wall could be used for orientation. Also, the AD group recalled worse than controls the order of six sequentially presented locations, though they recalled similarly to controls the positions of the locations. The group with subjective problems was not impaired in any of the tests. Our results document the spatial navigation and non-verbal episodic memory impairment in the AD. Similar results in real and map view computer tests support the use of computer tests in diagnosis of cognitive disturbances.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Identification and remediation of reading difficulties based on successive processing deficits and delay in general reading.

Widespread learning problems among South African children are associated with the apartheid era and show a need for effective reading programs. In selecting these programs, it is useful to differentiate between children with dyslexia and children whose reading is poor because teaching was inadequate. In this study, the Woodcock Tests of Reading Mastery-Revised and tests modelled on the Cognitive Assessment System were used to define a group of children with deficits in successive processing associated with dyslexia and a group of children with general reading delay. There were two girls and five boys in each group. For the children with successive processing deficit, the mean age was 9 yr., 8 mo. For the other group, mean age was 9 yr., 3 mo. Control groups were matched for age and sex and kind of reading difficulty. The first group received Das's PASS Reading Enhancement Program, and the second participated in a remedial program based on Whole Language principles. The treatment groups received 24 1-hr. long sessions. Gains in successive processing were shown for the first group, as measured by the tests modelled on Cognitive Assessment System subtests but not for the second group. Both groups showed gains in phonics and word identification, relative to their respective control groups, suggesting the respective intervention program was effective for each group.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2006

Proportional and nonproportional transfer of movement sequences.

Two experiments were designed to determine participants' ability to transfer a learned movement sequence to new spatial locations. A 16-element dynamic arm movement sequence was used in both experiments. The task required participants to move a horizontal lever to sequentially projected targets. Experiment 1 included 2 groups. One group practised a pattern in which targets were located at 20, 40, 60, and 80 degrees from the start position (long sequence). The other group practised a pattern with targets at 20, 26.67, 60, and 80 degrees (mixed sequence). Both groups were tested 24 hours later on the long, mixed, and short sequence. The short sequence was considered a proportional transfer for the long acquisition group because all the amplitudes between targets were reduced by the same proportion. Nonproportional transfer occurred when the amplitudes between targets did not have the same proportions as those for their practice sequence (e.g., long sequence to mixed sequence or vice versa). The results indicated that participants could effectively transfer to new target configurations regardless of whether the transfer required proportional or nonproportional spatial changes to the movement pattern. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of extended practice on proportional and nonproportional spatial transfer. The data indicated that while participants can effectively transfer to both proportional and nonproportional spatial transfer conditions after 1 day of practice, they are only effective at transferring to proportional transfer conditions after 4 days of practice. The results are discussed in terms of the mechanism by which response sequences become increasingly specific over extended practice in an attempt to optimize movement production.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1997

Role of the striatum, cerebellum, and frontal lobes in the learning of a visuomotor sequence.

This study was designed to examine the role of the striatum, cerebellum, and frontal lobes in the implicit learning of a visuomotor sequence. The performance of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), with damage to the cerebellum, or with a circumscribed lesion to the frontal lobes was thus compared to that of separate groups of matched normal control subjects on an adapted version of the Repeated Sequence Test. This paradigm consists of a visual reaction-time task with a fixed embedded sequence of finger movements to be performed based on presentation of visual stimuli. Subjects received four blocks of trials (i.e., 40 presentations of a 10-item sequence) per day over 6 training days. Following the last experimental session, subjects were also given two tests measuring their declarative knowledge of the sequence. Only PD patients with a bilateral striatal-dysfunction or patients with lesions to the cerebellum failed to improve their performance in the last three training sessions, hence suggesting an impairment late in the acquisition process. Further analyses revealed that such impairment was mainly implicit in nature, and that it could not be ascribed to a general decline in cognitive functioning, to mood disturbances, or to the severity of the motor symptoms. By contrast, the level of declarative knowledge of the sequence did not differ between the three clinical groups and their respective groups of normal subjects. These findings suggest that, unlike declarative memory, the incremental acquisition of a new visuomotor skill depends upon the integrity of both the striatum and the cerebellum, but not of the frontal lobes.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Counting on working memory in arithmetic problem solving.

Mental calculation is an important everyday skill involving access to well-learned procedures, problem solving, and working memory. Although there is an active literature on acquiring concepts and procedures for mental arithmetic, relatively little is known about the role of working memory in this task. This paper reports two experiments in which dual-task methodology is used to study the role of components of working memory in mental addition. In Experiment 1, mental addition of auditorily presented two-digit numbers was significantly disrupted by concurrent random letter generation and, to a lesser extent, by concurrent articulatory suppression, but was unimpaired by concurrent hand movement or by presentation of irrelevant pictures. Although the number of errors increased with two of the dual tasks, the incorrect responses tended to be quite close to the correct answer. In Experiment 2, the numbers for addition were presented visually. Here again, random generation produced the largest disruption of mental arithmetic performance, while a smaller amount of disruption was observed for articulatory suppression, hand movement, and unattended auditorily presented two-digit numbers. The overall levels of performance were better and the absolute size of the disruptive effects shown with visual presentation was very small compared with those found for auditory presentation. This pattern of results is consistent with a role for a central executive component of working memory in performing the calculations required for mental addition and in producing approximately correct answers. Visuospatial resources in working memory may also be involved in approximations. The data support the view that the subvocal rehearsal component of working memory provides a means of maintaining accuracy in mental arithmetic, and this matches a similar conclusion derived from previous work on counting. The general implications for the role of working memory in arithmetic problem solving will be discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Botulism and memory.

Although botulinum toxin is thought not to affect the human CNS, previous studies have not examined those behaviors, such as memory, that have been shown to be dependent on central acetylcholine transmission. In eight patients with type A botulism, subjective analysis, bedside memory testing, and formal memory testing with Hebb's verbal sequencing test, Corsi's nonverbal sequencing test, and Buschke's verbal serial list learning test failed to demonstrate impairment in immediate and recent memory. Botulism severe enough to block peripheral nicotinic and muscarinic cholinergic transmission does not block those central cholinergic synapses involved in memory.

Acetylcholine↗