Learning and Reproductive Behavior

该项目涉及学习的最基本和最基本的形式之一，巴甫洛夫条件反射。这种类型的学习涉及在早期信号或条件刺激（CS）的基础上预测生物学上重要的事件或无条件刺激（US）。先前的研究采用了与美国没有内在关系的任意条件刺激，并且工作集中在如何通过这种条件刺激引起新的反应。提出的研究是出于一个新的功能的巴甫洛夫条件反射的角度。功能性的考虑表明，巴甫洛夫学习在自然环境中涉及条件刺激，有一些预先存在的关系，以美国，和学习的重要后果是不是CS引起的行为，但增加的有效性，在生物体如何响应非条件刺激。拟议的研究将在性行为系统中的巴甫洛夫条件反射研究中考察这一新的视角，使用非人类动物受试者：一组实验将考察条件刺激的学习，这些条件刺激不是任意的，而是包括有限的物种典型线索。另一组实验将研究巴甫洛夫条件反射如何改变无条件的性行为，并产生生殖成功的变化。这项研究将进一步加深我们对巴甫洛夫学习的理解，并将把行为学家的功能方法与传统的联想学习研究中的学习机制相结合。

The proposed project is concerned with one of the most basic and fundamental forms of learning, Pavlovian conditioning. This type of learning involves coming to anticipate a biologically significant event or unconditioned stimulus (US) on the basis of an earlier signal or conditioned stimulus (CS). Prior research has employed arbitrary conditioned stimuli that have no inherent relation to the US, and the work has focused on how new responses come to be elicited by such conditioned stimuli. The proposed research is motivated by a new functional perspective on Pavlovian conditioning. Functional considerations suggest that Pavlovian learning in natural environments involves conditioned stimuli that have some pre-existing relation to the US, and the important consequence of the learning is not CS-elicited behavior but increased effectiveness in how the organism responds to the unconditioned stimulus. The proposed studies will examine this new perspective in studies of Pavlovian conditioning in the sexual behavior system, using nonhuman animal subjects: One set of experiments will examine learning with conditioned stimuli that are not arbitrary but include limited species typical cues. Another set of experiments will examine how Pavlovian conditioning alters unconditioned sexual behavior and produces changes in reproductive success. The research will further our understanding of Pavlovian learning and will integrate the functional approach of ethologists with the emphasis on learning mechanisms in traditional studies of associative learning.