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PubMed1989

Learning arm kinematics and dynamics.

In this review I have discussed how the form of representation used in internal models of the motor apparatus affects how and what a system can learn. Tabular models and structured models have benefits and drawbacks. Structured models incorporate knowledge of the structure of the controlled motor apparatus. If that knowledge is correct, or close to the actual system structure, the structured models will support global generalization and rapid, efficient learning. Tabular models can play an important role in learning to control systems when either the system structure is not known or only known approximately. Tabular models are general and flexible. Techniques for combining these different representations to attain the benefits of both are currently under investigation. In the control of multijoint systems such as the human arm, internal models of the motor apparatus are necessary to interpret performance errors. In the study of movements restricted to one joint, the problem of interpreting performance errors is greatly simplified and often overlooked, as performance errors can usually be related to command corrections by a single gain. When multijoint movements of the same motor systems are examined, however, the complex nature of the control and coordination problems faced by the nervous system become evident, as well as the sophistication of the brain's solutions to these problems. Recent progress in the understanding of adaptive control of eye movements provides a good example of this (Berthoz & Melvill-Jones 1985). Experimental studies of the psychophysics of motor learning can play an important role in bridging the gap between computational theories of how abstract motor systems might learn and physiological exploration of how actual nervous systems implement learning. Quantitative analyses of the patterns of motor learning of biological systems may help distinguish alternative hypotheses about the representations used for motor control and learning. What a system can and cannot learn, the amount of generalization, and the rate of learning give clues as to the underlying performance architecture. It is also important to know the actual performance level of the motor system (Loeb 1983). Different proposed control strategies will be able to attain different performance levels, and the use of simplifying control strategies may be evident in the control and learning performance of motor systems.

Arm↗
PubMed2000

Modifications of reward expectation-related neuronal activity during learning in primate orbitofrontal cortex.

This study investigated how neuronal activity in orbitofrontal cortex related to the expectation of reward changed while monkeys repeatedly learned to associate new instruction pictures with known behavioral reactions and reinforcers. In a delayed go-nogo task with several trial types, an initial picture instructed the animal to execute or withhold a reaching movement and to expect a liquid reward or a conditioned auditory reinforcer. When novel instruction pictures were presented, animals learned according to a trial-and-error strategy. After experience with a large number of novel pictures, learning occurred in a few trials, and correct performance usually exceeded 70% in the first 60-90 trials. About 150 task-related neurons in orbitofrontal cortex were studied in both familiar and learning conditions and showed two major forms of changes during learning. Quantitative changes of responses to the initial instruction were seen as appearance of new responses, increase of existing responses, or decrease or complete disappearance of responses. The changes usually outlasted initial learning trials and persisted during subsequent consolidation. They often modified the trial selectivities of activations. Increases might reflect the increased attention during learning and induce neuronal changes underlying the behavioral adaptations. Decreases might be related to the unreliable reward-predicting value of frequently changing learning instructions. The second form of changes reflected the adaptation of reward expectations during learning. In initial learning trials, animals reacted as if they expected liquid reward in every trial type, although only two of the three trial types were rewarded with liquid. In close correspondence, neuronal activations related to the expectation of reward occurred initially in every trial type. The behavioral indices for reward expectation and their neuronal correlates adapted in parallel during the course of learning and became restricted to rewarded trials. In conclusion, these data support the notion that neurons in orbitofrontal cortex code reward information in a flexible and adaptive manner during behavioral changes after novel stimuli.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

Perceptual learning retunes the perceptual template in foveal orientation identification.

What is learned during perceptual learning? We address this question by analyzing how perceptual inefficiencies improve over the course of perceptual learning (Dosher & Lu, 1998). Systematic measurements of human performance as a function of both the amount of external noise added to the signal stimulus and the length of training received by the observers enable us to track changes of the characteristics of the perceptual system (e.g., internal noise[s] and efficiency of the perceptual template) as perceptual learning progresses, and, therefore, identifies the mechanism(s) underlying the observed performance improvements. Two different observer models, the linear amplifier model (LAM) and the perceptual template model (PTM), however, have led to two very different theories of learning mechanisms. Here we demonstrate the failure of an LAM-based prediction - that the magnitude of learning-induced threshold reduction in high external noise must be less or equal to that in low external noise. In Experiment 1, perceptual learning of Gabor orientation identification in fovea showed substantial performance improvements only in high external noise but not in zero or low noise. The LAM-based model was "forced" to account for the data with a combination of improved calculation efficiency and (paradoxical) compensatory increases of the equivalent internal noise. Based on the PTM framework, we conclude that perceptual learning in this task involved learning how to better exclude external noise, reflecting retuning of the perceptual template. The data provide the first empirical demonstration of an isolable mechanism of perceptual learning. This learning completely transferred to a different visual scale in a second experiment.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Separating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities in girls: a familial risk analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Familial risk analysis was used to clarify the relationship in girls between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities in either mathematics or reading. METHOD: The authors assessed the presence of ADHD and learning disabilities in 679 first-degree relatives of three groups of index children: girls with ADHD and a comorbid learning disability, girls with ADHD but no learning disabilities, and a comparison group of girls without ADHD. RESULTS: The risk for ADHD was similarly higher in families of ADHD probands with and without learning disabilities; both groups had significantly higher rates of ADHD than did families of the comparison girls. In contrast, only among relatives of ADHD probands with a learning disability was there a higher risk for learning disabilities. A strong (although statistically nonsignificant) difference emerged that suggested at least some degree of cosegregation of ADHD and learning disabilities in family members. There was no evidence of nonrandom mating between spouses with ADHD and learning disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: These results extend previously reported findings regarding the relationship of ADHD and learning disabilities to female subjects and raise the possibility that, in girls, the relationship between ADHD and learning disabilities is due to shared familial risk factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Trends in undergraduate medical education: clinical clerkship learning objectives.

OBJECTIVE: To assist and inform the process of revising learning objectives for the psychiatry clerkship, a comprehensive review of the current state of learning objectives endorsed by national specialty organizations for core clinical clerkships was undertaken. METHODS: National specialty organizations that have developed and endorsed clerkship learning objectives were identified and learning objectives and support materials were reviewed. RESULTS: All core clinical clerkships have learning objectives developed and endorsed by national specialty organizations. The format for organizing these learning objectives varies widely among specialties from lists of topics of interest to exhaustive curriculum resource guides. Most specialty clerkship learning objectives have undergone extensive revision since 2000 or are currently in the revision process. Comparisons and trends in specialty clerkship learning objectives and curriculum resources are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Revision of psychiatry clerkship learning objectives will benefit from adoption of features utilized by other specialties, including: prioritizing objectives; emphasizing contextual learning and skills mastery; linking learning objectives to support resources such as clinical cases, recommendations for instructional methodology, assessment strategies, and performance expectations; and shifting the focus of undergraduate psychiatry education beyond the clerkship to the entire four-year curriculum.

Clinical Clerkship↗
PubMed1993

Social skills in the context of learning disability definitions: a reply to Gresham and Elliott and directions for the future.

In this article we review the evidence on the status of a social skills deficit as a learning disability (LD) by examining social skills deficits in the context of learning disability definitions. For the most part, social skills deficits fall within the terms that are specified in the definitions; that is, when there is evidence of neurological involvement, social skills deficit as a learning disability is consistent with the focus on listening and speaking that is characteristic of most definitions of learning disabilities. We also conclude that the absence of limiting conditions in extant definitions of learning disabilities makes it difficult to exclude any particular skill or type of knowledge from falling within the bounds of the definitions. Furthermore, we argue that the critical issue centers on the reformulation of the definition of learning disabilities. We suggest two directions in future work: First, the term "learning disability" should be limited to intentional learning contexts. Acceptance of this limitation would clarify at least some of the confusion regarding the domain of learning disabilities. Second, learning disability definitions should become more responsive to recent research on the nature of learning.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Intraindividual differences in motivation and cognition in students with and without learning disabilities.

The present study examines several cognitive and motivational variables that distinguish children with learning disabilities (n = 19) from children without learning disabilities (n = 20). The total sample included 30 males and 9 females and was composed of white, fifth-grade students from a middle-class community in the Midwest. Results showed that although the students with learning disabilities displayed lower levels of metacognitive knowledge and reading comprehension, they did not differ from the students without learning disabilities on self-efficacy, intrinsic orientation, or anxiety. In addition, they did not show any signs of learned helplessness, although they did tend to attribute success and failure to external causes more often than the students without learning disabilities. Using a cluster analysis that grouped individuals, we found that differences in the motivational and cognitive variables cut across a priori categories of children with and without learning disabilities. Three clusters were formed: one with high comprehension, motivation, and metacognition (mostly children without learning disabilities); one with low levels of comprehension and metacognition but high intrinsic motivation (all children with learning disabilities); and one with low intrinsic motivation but average comprehension, metacognition, and attributional style (approximately equal numbers of children with and without learning disabilities). Implications for diagnosis and intervention for students with learning disabilities are discussed.

Anxiety↗
PubMed2001

[Possible mechanisms in latent learning formation investigated by using mutant mice].

We examined possible mechanisms in the development of latent learning by methods of behavioral pharmacology and confirmed them by using mutant mice. Mice that received dopamine agonists, a noradrenergic neurotoxin or a traumatic brain injury showed impairment of latent learning. This impairment was suggested to be mediated by imbalance of dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems since the impairment was attenuated by a noradrenaline uptake inhibitor or a dopamine-D2 antagonist. The heterozygous mice for the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene and for the cyclic AMP (cAMP) response element binding protein (CREB) binding protein (CBP) gene showed impairment of latent learning in the water finding task. The spatial learning and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) were normal in both the mutants. TH heterozygous mice showed a reduction of high K(+)-evoked noradrenaline release in the frontal cortex by the microdialysis technique and a reduction of cAMP of the brain cAMP content. The central noradrenergic systems and/or cAMP signal pathways play an important role in latent learning, but not spatial memory. In contrast with TH and CBP mutant mice, nociceptin-knockout mice showed an enhanced retention of latent learning in the water finding task, greater learning ability in the water maze task and larger LTP than wild-type mice. Such mice showed hyperfunction of dopaminergic systems in the cortex. Nociceptin itself induced latent learning impairment in wild-type mice. These results suggest that the nociceptin system seems to play negative roles in learning and memory. In conclusion, the results of mutant mice further supported our previous results of behavioral pharmacology and suggest that the alternation of catecholamine biosynthesis and cAMP signal pathways may play a key role in development of latent learning. They further suggest that the expression of genes mediated by phosphorylated CREB may be involved in the development of latent learning.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed2002

Assessing orientations to learning to teach.

BACKGROUND: An important purpose of teacher education is that student teachers develop and change their existing knowledge on learning and teaching. Research on how student teachers variously engage in this process is scarce. In a previous study of 30 student teachers, we identified five different orientations to learning to teach. AIMS: Our aim was to extend the results of the previous study by developing an instrument to assess orientations to learning to teach at a larger scale. The development and psychometric properties of the instrument are discussed. The results with respect to how student teachers learn are compared to the results of the qualitative study. SAMPLE: Participants in this study were 169 secondary student teachers from three institutes which had all adopted an initial in-service model of learning to teach. METHODS: On the basis of extensive qualitative study, a questionnaire was developed to assess individual differences in learning to teach. Factor-, reliability-, and nonparametric scalability analyses were performed to identify reliable scales. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of students with similar orientations to learning to teach. RESULTS: Eight scales covering cognitive, regulative and affective aspects of student teachers' learning were identified. Cluster analysis indicates that the instrument discriminates well between student teachers. Four of the five previously found patterns were found again. CONCLUSIONS: The four orientations found in relatively uniform learning environments indicate that student teachers need differential support in their learning. Although the instrument measures individual differences in a reliable way, it is somewhat one-sided in the sense that items representing constructive ways of learning dominate. New items forming a broader range of scales should be created.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

[Utilization, needs, and related factors for e-learning and its application to education and training in occupational safety and health among enterprises in Japan].

In order to know utilization, needs, and related factors for e-learning and its application to education and training in occupational safety and health (OSH) among enterprises in Japan, a questionnaire survey was conducted of enterprises randomly selected from those with 1,000 or more employees and those with 999 or less (500 for each). Data from 134 (56 and 78, respectively) enterprises were analyzed (response rate, 13%). Among total enterprises, 19% had introduced and 16% planned to introduce e-learning. However, only 7% of larger enterprises and less than 3% of smaller enterprises used e-learning for education and training in OSH. On the other hand, 80-90% of enterprises responded positively to considering the use of e-learning for education and training on various OSH topics for various users. Highly rated merits of e-learning were "can use whenever", "can use anywhere"; and its highly rated obstacles were "cost", "individual PC not available", "insufficient information on efficacy". However, the merit "can monitor training" was significantly associated with the use/plan of e-learning. "Good contents not available" was more frequent among enterprises which used/planned e-learning. The study indicated a greater need for e-learning based OSH education and training, despite a currently low rate of its use. Improvement of e-learning platforms and contents, reduction of cost, and improvement of e-learning infrastructure at work may be needed to facilitate the use of e-learning in OSH.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed2003

Life-span learning: a developmental perspective.

The article discusses learning as embedded processes of development and aging, and as social activity over the life course. The concept of life-span learning is proposed and outlined to discuss these processes as aspects of and propositions in life-span development and aging theory. Life-span learning processes arise and continuously develop in a dynamically complex body, brain, and the mind they support as essential features of development and aging over the life course. Life-span learning processes are established by evolutionary adaptive mechanisms, enriched by challenging environments, and continuously developed in supportive social structures. These ideas are derived from evolutionary biology and psychology, the cognitive sciences, life-span development and aging research, and adult development and learning studies. It is argued that life-span learning activities that challenge the body-mind-brain nexus are indispensable to optimize individual development and aging. Three global interventions and their strategies are discussed that enhance life-span learning: Learning to Learn, Learning for Growth, and Learning for Well-being.

Aging↗
PubMed2002

Can goats learn about foods through conditioned food aversions and preferences when multiple food options are simultaneously available?

The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which herbivores are able to use conditioned food aversions and preferences to learn about the nutritional and toxic properties of food plants, when food options are simultaneously available. Conditioned food aversions and preferences have been invoked as important mechanisms by which free-ranging herbivores optimize food selection by learning about the negative and positive consequences of consuming particular plant species through a series of encounters. In most previous tests of this hypothesis, access to individual test foods has been separated in time, giving animals the opportunity to associate particular foods with particular post-ingestive effects. We presented animals with a more complex scenario by offering test feeds simultaneously during the learning phase. Such a test is an important step in assessing the importance of conditioned food responses as mechanisms by which herbivores learn to select an optimal diet. We first assessed the ability of goats to learn about test foods and their post-ingestive effects, when different conifer species were offered on separate days during the learning phase and animals were dosed with compounds eliciting positive, negative, or neutral post-ingestive effects. We then investigated the ability of animals to learn to make appropriate choices when all potential test foods were simultaneously available during the learning phase. The results confirmed that goats can learn to associate particular foods with particular post-ingestive effects and adjust their diet selection accordingly. The success with which animals made such associations was greatly reduced when they were presented with test foods simultaneously during the learning phase. When test foods were simultaneously available, animals tended to select a mixed diet, thereby reducing their opportunity to learn about the post-ingestive effects of particular foods. The results suggest that caution is required in extrapolating results of artificial conditioning experiments to free-ranging herbivores. The results also suggest that reducing the risk of toxicity through selection of mixed diets is an important component of a successful foraging strategy.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2006

Deep dissection: motivating students beyond rote learning in veterinary anatomy.

The profusion of descriptive, factual information in veterinary anatomy inevitably creates pressure on students to employ surface learning approaches and "rote learning." This phenomenon may contribute to negative perceptions of the relevance of anatomy as a discipline. Thus, encouraging deep learning outcomes will not only lead to greater satisfaction for both instructors and learners but may have the added effect of raising the profile of and respect for the discipline. Consideration of the literature reveals the broad scope of interventions required to motivate students to go beyond rote learning. While many of these are common to all disciplines (e.g., promoting active learning, making higher-order goals explicit, reducing content in favor of concepts, aligning assessment with outcomes), other factors are peculiar to anatomy, such as the benefits of incorporating clinical tidbits, "living anatomy," the anatomy museum, and dissection classes into a "learning context" that fosters deep approaches. Surprisingly, the 10 interventions discussed focus more on factors contributing to student perceptions of the course than on drastic changes to the anatomy course itself. This is because many traditional anatomy practices, such as dissection and museum-based classes, are eminently compatible with active, student-centered learning strategies and the adoption of deep learning approaches by veterinary students. Thus the key to encouraging, for example, dissection for deep learning ("deep dissection") lies more in student motivation, personal engagement, curriculum structure, and "learning context" than in the nature of the learning activity itself.

Anatomy↗
PubMed2004

Socially biased learning in monkeys.

We review socially biased learning about food and problem solving in monkeys, relying especially on studies with tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and callitrichid monkeys. Capuchin monkeys most effectively learn to solve a new problem when they can act jointly with an experienced partner in a socially tolerant setting and when the problem can be solved by direct action on an object or substrate, but they do not learn by imitation. Capuchin monkeys are motivated to eat foods, whether familiar or novel, when they are with others that are eating, regardless of what the others are eating. Thus, social bias in learning about foods is indirect and mediated by facilitation of feeding. In most respects, social biases in learning are similar in capuchins and callitrichids, except that callitrichids provide more specific behavioral cues to others about the availability and palatability of foods. Callitrichids generally are more tolerant toward group members and coordinate their activity in space and time more closely than capuchins do. These characteristics support stronger social biases in learning in callitrichids than in capuchins in some situations. On the other hand, callitrichids' more limited range of manipulative behaviors, greater neophobia, and greater sensitivity to the risk of predation restricts what these monkeys learn in comparison with capuchins. We suggest that socially biased learning is always the collective outcome of interacting physical, social, and individual factors, and that differences across populations and species in social bias in learning reflect variations in all these dimensions. Progress in understanding socially biased learning in nonhuman species will be aided by the development of appropriately detailed models of the richly interconnected processes affecting learning.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

Comparing supervised and unsupervised category learning.

Two unsupervised learning modes (incidental and intentional unsupervised learning) and their relation to supervised classification learning are examined. The approach allows for direct comparisons of unsupervised learning data with the Shepard, Hovland, and Jenkins (1961) seminal studies in supervised classification learning. Unlike supervised classification learning, unsupervised learning (especially under incidental conditions) favors linear category structures over compact nonlinear category structures. Unsupervised learning is shown to be multifaceted in that performance varies with task conditions. In comparison with incidental unsupervised learning, intentional unsupervised learning is more rule like, but is no more accurate. The acquisition and application of knowledge is also more laborious under intentional unsupervised learning.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Kolb's Learning Style Inventory: a review of its applications in nursing research.

This article reviews the application of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) in the examination of learning styles among nursing students, as reported in the current literature. In general, a lack of significant relationships between learning style and other variables was revealed in the research on nursing students. In addition, studies undertaken specifically to investigate the measurement properties of the LSI reported major criticisms which seem to have been ignored. In spite of numerous charges of serious instrument weakness, the Kolb LSI has become the most frequently used method of measuring learning styles among nursing students. Continued use of the Kolb LSI in nursing research or as an experiential technique is not recommended. There has been a veritable deluge of research on learning styles among health professionals in recent years. Upon examination of the learning style literature, one finds a sometimes puzzling array of research. Not only are the terms "learning styles" and "cognitive styles" used almost indiscriminately, but also the sheer numbers of instruments used to measure these constructs are baffling. Nursing students are among the most frequently studied groups of health professionals with regard to the learning style construct. Unfortunately, the innumerable instruments used to measure this construct are strikingly dissimilar. Not only are the instruments' designs grossly disparate, but the theoretical constructs upon which they are based contain tenuous connections to one another (Ferrell, 1983; Partridge, 1983). Each instrument yields a predominant learning style or several strong modes of learning, but the categories for the most part are not similar. The Kolb's LSI was the instrument used most frequently for measuring the learning styles of nursing students.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Humans↗
PubMed1988

The relationship between visual-perceptual motor abilities and clumsiness in children with and without learning disabilities.

One visual-perceptual test, four visual-motor tests, and a test of motor impairment were administered to 22 children with learning disabilities and 22 children without learning disabilities, aged 5 to 8 years. The children with learning disabilities were divided into two groups--"clumsy" and "nonclumsy"--based on their scores on the motor impairment test. It was hypothesized that the clumsy children with learning disabilities would score significantly lower on visual-perceptual and visual-motor tests than the nonclumsy children with learning disabilities who, in turn, would score significantly lower than the children without learning disabilities. It was further hypothesized that there would be a significant correlation between the degree of clumsiness and the degree of visual-perceptual and visual-motor deficit. Analysis of the data indicated that, as expected, the clumsy children with learning disabilities scored significantly lower than the children without learning disabilities (the control group). There was no significant difference between the clumsy and nonclumsy children with learning disabilities or between the nonclumsy children with learning disabilities and the control group. Degree of clumsiness significantly correlated with scores on four of five tests. Results are discussed in terms of subtypes of learning disabilities and sample size.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1976

Effect of imidazole, papaverine and histamine on learning and memory in albino rats.

In experiments for learning of albino rats in a maze and testing of the memory 24 hours and 30 days after learning, it was established that: Imidazole introduced i.p. in doses of 10, 30 and 60 mg/kg had no effect on learning, though it improved the memory both after administration 1 to 15 min before learning and when injected immediately after learning. Papaverine in doses of 2, 0.5 and 0.1 mg/rat and histamine in doses of 0.1, 0.01 and 0.001 mg/rat, introduced ventricularly before learning, make learning impossible (the large doses), deteriorate it (the medium doses), or have no effect on it (the small doses). Memory also deteriorates, with the exception of the smallest histamine dose. Introduced immediately after learning, the large dose of papaverine deteriorates memory, while the small dose results in a tendency to improve the memory indices upon testing 24 hours after the administration. The large dose of histamine administered after learning has no effect, the small dose results in a certain tendency to improve memory when tests are made 30 days after learning. The results obtained and their comparison with the results of previous works of ours involving other drugs with a known effect on the system of the cyclic adenosinemonophosphate (cAMP), e.g. haloperidol, lithium, caffeine and theophylline (in the doses tested), do not suggest any essential role of the effect of these drugs on the cAMP system in the mechanism of their effects on learning and memory.

Animals↗