Not bird-brained: Chickens use prior experience to solve novel timing problems.

Despite differences between bird and human brain anatomy, birds have recently demonstrated capacities thought to be uniquely human, including planning and problem-solving. Many avian demonstrations of 'complex' behaviors rely on species-specific behavior (e.g.

Are Mindfulness and Mind-Wandering Opposite Constructs? It Depends on How Mindfulness is Conceptualised.

This study investigated if trait mindfulness and its components, mindful attention, acceptance, and non-judging correlate negatively with self-reported and indirect markers of mind-wandering. The 552 participants of the study completed an anonymous online questionnaire consisting of trait mindfulness and mind-wandering scales. They also completed the computer-based Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), an objective measure of mind-wandering.

A Systematic Review of Emergent Learning Outcomes Produced by Foreign language Tact Training.

Unlabelled: This systematic review evaluated the effects of foreign tact training on emergent learning outcomes in ten published studies. We also conducted a meta-analysis of aggregate data from seven studies comparing outcomes of foreign tact training with other verbal operant procedures. The preliminary findings indicated foreign tact training produced criterion-level responses in 84 of 106 (79.

Use of a habituation-dishabituation test to determine canine olfactory sensitivity.

The habituation-dishabituation (H-D) paradigm is an established measure of sensory perception in animals. However, it has rarely been applied to canine olfaction. It proposes that animals will lose interest in, or habituate to, a stimulus after successive exposures but will regain interest in, or dishabituate to, a novel stimulus if they can perceive it.

Assessing the performance of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) on the Mechner counting procedure.

This study assessed brushtail possums' performance on the Mechner counting procedure. Six brushtail possums were required to produce different Fixed-Ratio (FR) response targets by lever pressing. Their responses provided access to food reinforcement delivered either upon completing the target FR response requirement on a single lever or, in different conditions, on completing the target FR before producing an additional response on a second lever.

The role of Weber's law in human time perception.

Weber's law predicts that stimulus sensitivity will increase proportionally with increases in stimulus intensity. Does this hold for the stimulus of time - specifically, duration in the milliseconds to seconds range? There is conflicting evidence on the relationship between temporal sensitivity and duration. Weber's law predicts a linear relationship between sensitivity and duration on interval timing tasks, while two alternative models predict a reverse J-shaped and a U-shaped relationship.

Biosecurity Dogs Detect Live Insects after Training with Odor-Proxy Training Aids: Scent Extract and Dead Specimens.

Detector dogs could be trained to find invasive insect pests at borders before they establish in new areas. However, without access to the live insects themselves, odor training aids are needed to condition dogs to their scent. This proof-of-concept study assessed 2 potential training aids for insect detection: a scent extract and dead specimens of the target species.

Weber's Law and the Scalar Property of Timing: A Test of Canine Timing.

Domestic dogs completed a temporal bisection procedure that required a response to one lever following a light stimulus of short duration and to another lever following a light stimulus of a longer duration. The short and long durations across the four conditions were (0.5-2.

Olfactory Generalization in Detector Dogs.

Generalizing to target odor variations while retaining specificity against non-targets is crucial to the success of detector dogs under working conditions. As such, the importance of generalization should be considered in the formulation of effective training strategies. Research investigating olfactory generalization from pure singular compounds to more complex odor mixtures helps to elucidate animals' olfactory generalization tendencies and inform ways to alter the generalization gradient by broadening or narrowing the range of stimuli to which dogs will respond.

Reinforcer quality matters: A test of the Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement with domestic hens (Gallus gallus domesticus).

This study evaluated the ability of Killeen's (1994) Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement to account for the effects of changes in reinforcer quality on hens' rates of responding on fixed-ratio schedules. Hens were trained to peck a key on a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement and then experienced an ascending series of ratio values in two separate conditions. In different conditions, the food reinforcer was either wheat or puffed wheat.

Beyond inference by eye: Statistical and graphing practices in JEAB, 1992-2017.

Debates about the utility of p values and correct ways to analyze data have inspired new guidelines on statistical inference by the American Psychological Association (APA) and changes in the way results are reported in other scientific journals, but their impact on the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) has not previously been evaluated. A content analysis of empirical articles published in JEAB between 1992 and 2017 investigated whether statistical and graphing practices changed during that time period. The likelihood that a JEAB article reported a null hypothesis significance test, included a confidence interval, or depicted at least one figure with error bars has increased over time.

Generalization of learned variability across multiple dimensions in humans.

This study examined whether trained variability would generalize across dimensions of the target response. Two experiments used a computerized rectangle drawing task that required participants to click and drag a mouse cursor to create rectangles on a computer screen. In Experiment 1, one group received points when successive rectangles varied in their size, shape and location (VAR), another group were yoked to the VAR group and received points that were allocated to them using a yoking procedure (YOKE), regardless of the variability in the size, shape or location of the rectangle drawn.

The effects of reinforcer magnitude in the preceding and upcoming ratios on between-ratio pausing in multiple, mixed, and single fixed-ratio schedules.

Hens responded under multiple fixed-ratio schedules with equal response requirements and either a 1-s or a 6-s reinforcer. Upcoming reinforcer size was indicated by key color. Components were presented in a quasirandom series so that all four component transitions occurred.

Concurrent progressive-ratio and fixed-ratio schedule performance under geometric and arithmetic progressions by brushtail possums.

The aim of this study was to compare the demand for food under concurrent progressive- and fixed-ratio schedules. Twelve brushtail possums participated in 16 conditions where schedule, progression and food type were varied. An incrementing schedule increased the fixed-ratio requirement within and across sessions and was arranged as either a geometric sequence (base 2), or an arithmetic sequence (step 5).

Demonstration of the scalar property of timing with possums (Trichosurus vulpecula).

Many diverse species have demonstrated interval timing, the ability to respond appropriately to time in the range of seconds to minutes, suggesting that an ability to time is adaptive. The peak procedure is a common method of studying interval time perception. In the peak procedure, animals experience a mix of fixed-interval (FI) and extinction (EXT) trials.

Assessing stability of body weight in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).

When conducting controlled laboratory studies with non-traditional laboratory animals it is important that methods for determining body weight stability are reliable. This helps ensure the health and welfare of animals when they are maintained during periods of free feeding or food restriction. This study compared different methods for determining body weight stability in six common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) maintained on a free-feeding diet under laboratory conditions.

Domestic hen chicks' conditioned place preferences for sound.

Food and sounds (white noise, a food call and the sound of other chicks) were used in an attempt to establish conditioned place preferences with domestic hen chicks. Thirty-two chicks were randomly allocated to one of the 4 groups, and exposed to a 3-compartment apparatus to establish a baseline of their movements across 4 15-min sessions. They were then confined to one compartment and provided with free access to food or exposed to one sound for 15 min and then they were confined to the alternate compartment with no food or sound for 15 min.

Understanding adherence to physiotherapy: findings from an experimental simulation and an observational clinical study.

This article reports two studies assessing the influence of self-efficacy, outcome expectancies and aversive feedback on different aspects of adherence. Study 1 employed a computer simulation of physiotherapy to test experimentally the effects of aversive feedback (i.e.

Modeling the effects of fluoxetine on food-reinforced behavior.

We propose a novel method to dissociate incentive motivation from memory and motor processes in instrumental performance. Components of a multiple fixed-ratio schedule of food reinforcement were adjusted to envelop the range of response requirements that maintained lever pressing by rats. We sought to manipulate motivation for food rewards with acute administrations of various doses (0-10 mg/kg) of fluoxetine, a 5-HT reuptake inhibitor that reduces food intake.

Temporal generalization and peak shift in humans.

Three experiments investigated temporal generalization in humans. In Experiment 1, a peak shift effect was produced when participants were given intradimensional discrimination training. In Experiment 2, after training with a standard S+ and generalization testing with an asymmetrical series of durations, generalization gradients moved toward the prevailing adaptation level.

DTkid: interactive simulation software for training tutors of children with autism.

Discrete-trial training (DTT) relies critically on implementation by trained tutors. We report three experiments carried out in the development of "DTkid"--interactive computer simulation software that presents "SIMon", a realistic virtual child with whom novice tutors can learn and practise DTT techniques. Experiments 1 and 2 exposed groups of participants either to DTkid training or to a control task.