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（如物体、词语、声音和其他感官事件）归类为同一类是意义、理解和认知发展和功能的其他方面的基础。该应用程序研究了刺激类形成的基础学习过程以及由此产生的新行为的出现，这是正常人类发育的一个特征，通常是缺乏的，需要在发育障碍的个体中进行行为补救。广义的目标是证明，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，也会产生可互换的刺激集（即，刺激类），如通过随后对那些刺激的新颖的、未经训练的组合作出适当反应的能力所证明的。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）看到的明确定义的紧急行为实例，严格测试假设顺序位置被编码为刺激功能特征的一部分的模型的预测，并测试假设，常规非-加强某些刺激组合同时加强其它组合产生包含后者的元素的刺激类。在所有拟议的研究中，拥有其他既定分类能力的非语言动物（鸽子）将同时接受go/no-go匹配任务的训练，其中某些序列的样本和比较刺激以强化结束，而其他则没有。稍后，刺激类的形成将通过呈现这些相同刺激的新序列来测试。除了揭示突发效应外，这些测试还将同时评估假设的功能性刺激的顺序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，预期的模式的研究结果将表明，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应急-可以产生刺激类，即使在没有语言及其神经结构和途径。 公共卫生相关性：理解不同的事物，如物体，图片，书面和口头文字可以联系起来，这是意义，分类，语言理解和正常发展和功能的其他特征的基础。这个应用程序检查基本的强化和刺激控制过程，为这种理解和产生新的，生成的行为提供了基础。该项目强调了一个未被识别或容易被忽视的刺激特征-它们的时间或顺序属性-可能有助于解释正常和智力残疾人群中观察到的等效训练结果的变化。澄清这些过程的性质和影响是为智力障碍患者制定全面诊断测试和有效治疗干预措施的第一步。此外，在该项目中使用的歧视范式有一些显着的优势，更常用的行为程序在发育障碍领域，从而提供了一个有前途的替代建立刺激类时，其他方法失败。

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.