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Results for “Choice Behavior”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Mutual inhibition among neural command systems as a possible mechanism for behavioral choice in crayfish.

Mutual inhibition among behavioral command systems frequently has been suggested as a possible mechanism for switching between incompatible behaviors. Several neural circuits in crayfish that mediate incompatible behaviors have been found to interact through inhibition; this accounts for increased stimulus threshold of one behavior (e.g., escape tailflip) during performance of others (eating, walking, defense). To determine whether mutual inhibition between command systems can provide a mechanism that produces adaptive behavior, I developed a model crayfish that uses this mechanism to govern its behavioral choices in a simulated world that contains a predator, a shelter, and a food source. The crayfish uses energy that must be replaced by eating while it avoids capture by the predator. The crayfish has seven command systems (FORAGE, EAT, DEFENSE, RETREAT, ESCAPE, SWIM, HIDE) that compete through mutual inhibition for control of its behavior. The model crayfish was found to respond to changing situations by making adaptive behavioral choices at appropriate times. Choice depends on internal and external stimuli, and on recent history, which determines the pattern of those stimuli. The model's responses are unpredictable: small changes in the initial conditions can produce unexpected patterns of behavior that are appropriate alternate responses to the stimulus conditions. Despite this sensitivity, the model is robust; it functions adaptively over a large range of internal and external parameter values.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Psychosexual and cultural determinants of fertility choice behavior.

Although traditional societies in Oceania direct their fertility choice behavior (if any) toward spirits rather than sexual intercourse, closer observation shows that these fertility choice behaviors, while groping and magical, sometimes have empirical value. The author notes that the alternative to effective fertility control in these societies has sometimes been population regulation of the Malthusian variety (e.g., murder and starvation). Efforts aimed at spacing the family in a less savage and more effective manner deserve encouragement, the author believes.

Australia↗
PubMed1976

The influence of moral reasoning on behavioral choices.

This study examined the ways in which exposure to moral reasoning statements affected the subsequent behavioral choices of 144 seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade boys at different stages of moral judgment. The subjects were divided among 4 experimental conditions, each of which attempted to isolate and relate behavioral choice and reasoning in specific ways. The presentation of reasoning had different effects on the behavioral choices of subjects at 2 different stages. The findings were considered in terms of their implications for developmental change as well as for a developmental analysis of the relationship between moral reasoning and moral behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Effects of reinforcement schedules on rats' choice behavior in extinction.

The effects of reinforcement schedules on rats' choice behavior in extinction were studied. In a free-operant chamber equipped with two retractable bars, the experimental animals were trained to press the bars separately for a food reward. One bar delivered the reward on a continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule, and the other delivered the reward on a partial reinforcement (PRF) schedule. Control animals earned the reward from both bars with the same reinforcement schedule, either a CRF or a PRF. When both bars were simultaneously available during extinction, the experimental animals responded more frequently to the CRF than to the PRF alternative, demonstrating a reversed within-subjects partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE). A conventional between-subjects PREE was replicated in the control subjects. The results of this study were inconsistent with both Amsel's (1962, 1967) frustration hypothesis and Capaldi's (1966, 1967) sequential hypotheses.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Choice behavior of fornix-damaged rats in radial maze error-free situations and subsequent learning.

Fornix-damaged, sham-operated, and control rats were placed in a radial eight-arm maze for fixed series of runs with either a 0% or a 100% reinforcement schedule in order to study their choice behavior independently from any learning problem. Subsequently, the ability to learn the radial maze task was examined as a function of the exploratory patterns developed in each error-free situation. The results showed that the continuous absence or presence of food in the radial maze induced two distinct models of exploration in sham-operated and control rats: choice alternation in the absence of food and perseveration in the presence of food. Conversely, this dichotomy did not occur in fornix-damaged rats that run approximately the same number of paths in both error-free situations, but made fewer different path choices in the 0% reinforcement condition and more different path choices in the 100% reinforcement condition than controls. When submitted to the radial maze task, a positive transfer was observed in all groups from the error-free situation in which the rats run more different paths: from the 0% reinforcement situation for controls and from the 100% reinforcement situation for the lesioned rats. These data indicate that damaging the septo-hippocampal pathway modifies spontaneous choice behavior through a different response to specific reinforcement programs but does not prevent the memorization and the transfer of information from error-free to learning situations.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Subliminal stimulation, choice behavior and some personality correlates of subliminal sensitivity.

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relations between specific personality variables and the effect of subliminal stimulation on choice behavior. It was hypothesized that subjects with low anxiety, less neuroticism, and external locus of control and the trait of extraversion would be more susceptible to subliminal stimulation. 38 undergraduate students were exposed to subliminal messages urging them to choose symbols instead of numbers or letters. Analysis showed that subliminal stimulation did not generate a preference for symbols over numbers or letters. No support was observed for the hypothesis of an association between susceptibility and personality variables. These results may be explained in terms of symbol choice being a neutral message that did not relate to the subjects' needs and motivation.

Arousal↗
PubMed1977

Behavioral choice: neural mechanisms in Pleurobranchaea.

In the marine mollusk Pleurobranchaea, it is known that feeding occurs and withdrawal from tactile stimuli is suppressed when the sensory stimuli for feeding and withdrawal are presented simultaneously. This "dominance" of feeding behavior over withdrawal behavior occurs because the central nervous network controlling feeding inhibits the central nervous network controlling withdrawal. The inhibition is mediated by a bilaterally symmetrical pair of reidentifiable feeding neurons that are members of the "corollary discharge" population in the buccal ganglion. This study supports the hypothesis that inhibitory interactions between competing motor systems are responsible for the "singleness of action" that characterizes animal behavior.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of ethanol self-administration on choice behavior: money vs. socializing.

Volunteer chronic alcoholic subjects were exposed to a discrete-trail choice procedure within a residential research setting. Twelve daily trials occurred at 20 min intervals. In each trial a subject chose between 2 mutually exclusive options involving either receipt of money or the opportunity for socializing. The effect of ethanol self-administration was evaluated by requiring randomly over days that a subject consume either 8 drinks of orange juice or 8 drinks of ethanol (89.12 g ethanol total). For all 4 subjects, the mean rate of choosing socialization over money was significantly greater on sessions involving ethanol self-administration than on sessions involving orange juice self-administration.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Choice behavior in transition: development of preference with ratio and interval schedules.

In Experiment 1, the choice responses of 8 pigeons were observed during 50 periods of transition. Each condition began with equal probabilities of reinforcement on 2 response keys and switched to unequal probabilities. With the ratio of the 2 probabilities held constant, preference for the higher probability developed more rapidly when the 2 probabilities were high than when they were low. In Experiment 2, each condition began with 2 equal variable-interval schedules, but later 1 key delivered 60%, 75%, or 90% of the reinforcers. The rate of approach to asymptotic performance was roughly the same with all 3 reinforcement percentages. These and previous results pose difficulties for some well-known models of acquisition, but the results are well described by a simple model that states that the strength of each response is independently increased by reinforcement and decreased by nonreinforcement.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Animal choice behavior and the evolution of cognitive architecture.

Animals process sensory information according to specific computational rules and, subsequently, form representations of their environments that form the basis for decisions and choices. The specific computational rules used by organisms will often be evolutionarily adaptive by generating higher probabilities of survival, reproduction, and resource acquisition. Experiments with enclosed colonies of bumblebees constrained to foraging on artificial flowers suggest that the bumblebee's cognitive architecture is designed to efficiently exploit floral resources from spatially structured environments given limits on memory and the neuronal processing of information. A non-linear relationship between the biomechanics of nectar extraction and rates of net energetic gain by individual bees may account for sensitivities to both the arithmetic mean and variance in reward distributions in flowers. Heuristic rules that lead to efficient resource exploitation may also lead to subjective misperception of likelihoods. Subjective probability formation may then be viewed as a problem in pattern recognition subject to specific sampling schemes and memory constraints.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Choice behavior in rhesus monkeys: cocaine versus food.

Rhesus monkeys were allowed to choose between intravenous injections of cocaine and food reinforcement for lever pressing. A choice trial was available every 15 minutes continuously for 8 days. The animals chose cocaine almost exclusively, which resulted in high cocaine intake, decreased food intake, weight loss, and marked behavioral toxicity. The study provides evidence of the reinforcing efficacy of cocaine.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Radial maze type as a determinant of the choice behavior of rats.

Spatial memory of rats was examined in two types of radial mazes in which animals had to obtain food from 6-, 8-, or 12-different arms without repeating choices. In Maze 1 with tubular channels closed at the far end rats returned to the central platform by backing out from the just visited alley. In Maze 2 the tubular channels were equipped with one-way doors at both ends and the central platform was raised 5 cm above the floor. Rats leaving the far end of the alley returned to the central platform through a circular hole in its center. Performance was almost perfect in both apparatuses, but rats preferred to enter adjacent alleys in Maze 1 and widely separated alleys in Maze 2. These behaviors were significantly different from computer-simulated random choice from the set of correct solutions of the task. It is concluded that Maze 2 is better suited for repeated experiments with the same animal because the obligatory return to the center of the platform precludes the simplification of the task by response chaining.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

A lipid-sensitive food choice behavior influences aging outcomes from a longevity-promoting diet.

Organisms utilize sophisticated neurocircuitry to select optimal food sources. Methylobacterium is a lifespan-promoting diet for C. elegans that drives faster development and longevity; however, after ingestion, C. elegans consistently choose any other food option available. A screen for genetic regulators of this avoidance behavior toward Methylobacterium identified the AWB/AWC sensory neurons and the odr-1 guanylate cyclase expressed in those four ciliated neurons as mediators of the aversive response. Metabolic profiling of the Methylobacterium diet reveals enrichment for saturated fats, and here, we show that C. elegans sense and integrate signals related to these ingested lipids that subsequently cue food-related behaviors. Moreover, disruption of endogenous lipid metabolism modifies the intensity of the avoidance from Methylobacterium, suggesting the current state of lipid homeostasis influences food preference. Taken together, our work reveals that C. elegans modify food choice contemporaneously based in part on the chemosensory capacity to detect and utilize dietary lipids, which has longevity-promoting consequences.

AWB↗
PubMed1977

Behavior therapy: a promising drug abuse treatment and research approach of choice.

Behavior therapy appears a promising drug abuse treatment and research approach of choice, reporting effective pilot studies utilizing such techniques as token economy, aversive conditioning, relaxation training, contract writing, covert conditioning, and combinative approaches. Behavior therapy appears to merit considerable investment of funds, time, and facilities to design and to execute carefully controlled research studies with systematic follow-up. Behavioral research and treatment is also consistent with presently available diagnostic techniques--the highly structured interview and the Synanon Game--and seems eminently applicable in specific work sites, to problems of staff selection and training, and to patient screening problems.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1977

Binomial assessment of behavioral-phenotypic variations: constancy of choices, trial effects, and social interaction effects in mass-screened color preferences of quail chicks (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Individual variations in repeated approach choices between colors by quail chicks were efficiently and reliably identified by methods of binary mass screening and binomial assessment. Choices between a pair of identical white stimuli showed only random variations, which indicated that position habit, systematic alternation, and extraneous stimulus factors did not influence performances. Choices between blue and red colors showed significant individual variations, which were free of influences from changes in the probabilities of choices on repeated trials, interdependence between trials, and interdependence between individual performances of mass-screened subjects. Genetic determination of individual variations were shown by strong responses to bidirectional genetic selection of choices between blue and red, which also introduced small social interaction effects in mass-screened performances. Results are discussed in relation to the use of binomial distribution for identifying phenotypic units and variations in choice behaviors.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Does a cognitive map guide choices in the radial-arm maze?

Fifteen rats performed in a standard radial-arm maze task (Experiment 1) and in a modified task with a set of forced choices and a 15-min retention interval prior to completion of the maze (Experiment 2). In addition to the standard measure of choice in the radial-arm maze, orientation toward arms was measured and considered to constitute go-no-go "microchoice" decisions. Rats investigated but rejected many arms. A model of choice was developed in which it was assumed that choice decisions about arms were made independently and that microchoices were not selectively guided toward baited arms. The model performed nearly as well as the rats. These results place important limitations on the theory that choice behavior in the radial-arm maze is guided by a cognitive map.

Animals↗