Basic processes in the development of stimulus classes and emergent behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：将物理上不同的刺激（例如物体、单词、声音和其他感官事件）分类到同一类对于意义、理解以及认知发展和功能的其他方面至关重要。该应用程序研究刺激类别形成的基础学习过程以及由此产生的新行为，这是正常人类发展的一个特征，但在有发育障碍的个体中通常是有缺陷的并且需要行为补救。广泛的目标是证明，即使在没有语言的情况下，通过强化与非强化在特定刺激对之间建立特定的条件关系会产生一组可互换的刺激（即刺激类别），这一点可以通过随后对这些刺激的新颖的、未经训练的组合做出适当反应的能力来证明。该项目的目的是展示这种学习如何产生在非人类动物中很少（如果有的话）出现的明确定义的突发行为实例，严格测试模型的预测，该模型假设序数位置被编码为刺激功能特征的一部分，并测试通常不强化某些刺激组合而强化其他组合会产生包含后者元素的刺激类别的假设。在所有拟议的研究中，拥有其他已建立的分类能力的非语言动物（鸽子）将同时接受进行/不进行匹配任务的训练，其中某些样本序列和比较刺激以强化结束，而其他序列则不然。随后，将通过呈现相同刺激的新颖序列来测试刺激类别的形成。除了揭示突发效应外，这些测试还将同时评估假设的功能刺激的序数特定属性以及在整个训练过程中持续暴露于非强化（以及强化）的重要性。总之，预期的研究结果将证明基本的、一般的学习过程——特别是用于建立条件刺激关系的强化偶发事件——即使在没有语言及其神经结构和路径的情况下也可以产生刺激类别。 公共卫生相关性：理解物体、图片、书面和口头文字等不同事物之间的关联性对于意义、分类、语言理解以及正常发展和功能的其他特征至关重要。该应用程序检查了基本的强化和刺激控制过程，为这种理解和产生新颖的生成行为奠定了基础。该项目强调了刺激的一个未被识别或容易被忽视的特征（它们的时间或顺序属性）可能涉及，这可能有助于解释在正常和智力障碍人群中观察到的等价训练结果的变化。澄清这些过程的性质和影响是为智力障碍患者开发全面的诊断测试和有效的治疗干预措施的第一步。此外，该项目中使用的歧视范式比发育障碍领域更常用的行为程序具有一些独特的优势，从而在其他方法失败时为建立刺激类别提供了一种有前途的替代方案。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Categorizing physically dissimilar stimuli such as objects, words, sounds, and other sensory events into the same class is fundamental to meaning, comprehension, and other aspects of cognitive development and functioning. This application studies fundamental learning processes that underlie stimulus-class formation and the resultant emergence of novel behavior, a characteristic of normal human development that is often deficient and in need of behavioral remediation in individuals with developmental disabilities. The broad objective is to demonstrate that even in the absence of language, establishing particular conditional relations between specific pairs of stimuli via reinforcement versus non-reinforcement yields sets of interchangeable stimuli (viz., stimulus classes) as evidenced by the subsequent ability to respond appropriately to novel, untrained combinations of those stimuli. The project aims are to show how such learning yields well-defined instances of emergent behavior rarely (if ever) seen in non-human animals, rigorously test the predictions of a model which assumes that ordinal position is coded as part of a stimulus' functional characteristics, and test the hypothesis that routinely non-reinforcing certain stimulus combinations while reinforcing other combinations generates stimulus classes containing the elements of the latter. In all of the proposed research, non-verbal animals possessing other, established categorization abilities (pigeons) will be concurrently trained on go/no-go matching tasks in which certain sequences of sample and comparison stimuli end in reinforcement whereas others do not. Later, stimulus-class formation will be tested by presenting novel sequences of those same stimuli. Besides revealing emergent effects, these tests will simultaneously evaluate the ordinal-specific properties of the hypothesized functional stimuli and the importance of continual exposure to non-reinforcement (as well as reinforcement) throughout training. Together, the expected pattern of findings will demonstrate that basic, general learning processes - in particular, the reinforcement contingencies used to establish conditional stimulus relations - can generate stimulus classes even in the absence of language and its neural structures and pathways. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Understanding that disparate things like objects, pictures, and written and spoken words can be related is fundamental to meaning, categorization, language comprehension and other characteristics of normal development and functioning. This application examines basic reinforcement and stimulus control processes that provide a foundation for such understanding and for yielding novel, generative behavior. The project underscores the possible involvement of an unrecognized or easily overlooked feature of stimuli - their temporal or ordinal properties - that may help to explain variation in equivalence training outcomes observed with normal and intellectually disabled populations. Clarifying the nature and influence of these processes is the first step toward the development of comprehensive diagnostic tests and effective treatment interventions for individuals with intellectual impairments. In addition, the discrimination paradigm used in the project has some distinctive advantages over more commonly used behavioral procedures in the developmental disabilities field, thus providing a promising alternative for establishing stimulus classes when other approaches fail.