John Gibbon

Bio: John Gibbon is an academic researcher from Columbia University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Scalar expectancy & Offspring. The author has an hindex of 24, co-authored 33 publications receiving 9238 citations. Previous affiliations of John Gibbon include University of York.

Scalar timing in memory.

Abstract: A recent report of ours’ proposed an information-processing account of temporal generalization. The account posited a clock process, which was the basic time measurement device, and working and reference memory for storing the output of the clock either temporarily or relatively permanently. Records of time intervals in working and reference memory were then compared using a binary decision process, which dictated responding or not responding. The analysis concentrated on a relativistic Weber’s law property of the data from temporal generalization, and the constraints this property imposed on sources of variance in the information-processing stages. Our purpose here is to summarize that work and generalize the model in two ways: First we consider several sources of variance operating simultaneously. The original analysis demonstrated that if only one source of variance is present, it must be a scalar source, that is, it must result in a variable memory for which variance increases with the square of the mean.’ In the generalized account proposed here, we will develop the conclusion that scalar sources dominate in some time ranges, while other sources may dominate in others. These ideas are then applied to two additional timing tasks with different characteristics.

Time, rate, and conditioning.

Abstract: The authors draw together and develop previous timing models for a broad range of conditioning phenomena to reveal their common conceptual foundations: First, conditioning depends on the learning of the temporal intervals between events and the reciprocals of these intervals, the rates of event occurrence. Second, remembered intervals and rates translate into observed behavior through decision processes whose structure is adapted to noise in the decision variables. The noise and the uncertainties consequent on it have both subjective and objective origins. A third feature of these models is their timescale invariance, which the authors argue is a very important property evident in the available experimental data. This conceptual framework is similar to the psychophysical conceptual framework in which contemporary models of sensory processing are rooted. The authors contrast it with the associative conceptual framework.

Timing and time perception

Abstract: Let's read! We will often find out this sentence everywhere. When still being a kid, mom used to order us to always read, so did the teacher. Some books are fully read in a week and we need the obligation to support reading. What about now? Do you still love reading? Is reading only for you who have obligation? Absolutely not! We here offer you a new book enPDFd timing and time perception to read.

Is the P300 component a manifestation of context updating

Abstract: To understand the endogenous components of the event-related brain potential (ERP), we must use data about the components' antecedent conditions to form hypotheses about the information-processing function of the underlying brain activity These hypotheses, in turn, generate testable predictions about the consequences of the component We review the application of this approach to the analysis of the P300 component The amplitude of the P300 is controlled multiplicatively by the subjective probability and the task relevance of the eliciting events, whereas its latency depends on the duration of stimulus evaluation These and other factors suggest that the P300 is a manifestation of activity occurring whenever one's model of the environment must be revised Tests of three predictions based on this “context updating” model are reviewed Verleger's critique is based on a misconstrual of the model as well as a partial and misleading reading of the relevant literature

Delay of gratification in children

Abstract: To function effectively, individuals must voluntarily postpone immediate gratification and persist in goal-directed behavior for the sake of later outcomes. The present research program analyzed the nature of this type of future-oriented self-control and the psychological processes that underlie it. Enduring individual differences in self-control were found as early as the preschool years. Those 4-year-old children who delayed gratification longer in certain laboratory situations developed into more cognitively and socially competent adolescents, achieving higher scholastic performance and coping better with frustration and stress. Experiments in the same research program also identified specific cognitive and attentional processes that allow effective self-regulation early in the course of development. The experimental results, in turn, specified the particular types of preschool delay situations diagnostic for predicting aspects of cognitive and social competence later in life.

Citation classic - optimal foraging - a selective review of theory and tests

Abstract: Beginning with Emlen (1966) and MacArthur and Pianka (1966) and extending through the last ten years, several authors have sought to predict the foraging behavior of animals by means of mathematical models. These models are very similar,in that they all assume that the fitness of a foraging animal is a function of the efficiency of foraging measured in terms of some "currency" (Schoener, 1971) -usually energy- and that natural selection has resulted in animals that forage so as to maximize this fitness. As a result of these similarities, the models have become known as "optimal foraging models"; and the theory that embodies them, "optimal foraging theory." The situations to which optimal foraging theory has been applied, with the exception of a few recent studies, can be divided into the following four categories: (1) choice by an animal of which food types to eat (i.e., optimal diet); (2) choice of which patch type to feed in (i.e., optimal patch choice); (3) optimal allocation of time to different patches; and (4) optimal patterns and speed of movements. In this review we discuss each of these categories separately, dealing with both the theoretical developments and the data that permit tests of the predictions. The review is selective in the sense that we emphasize studies that either develop testable predictions or that attempt to test predictions in a precise quantitative manner. We also discuss what we see to be some of the future developments in the area of optimal foraging theory and how this theory can be related to other areas of biology. Our general conclusion is that the simple models so far formulated are supported are supported reasonably well by available data and that we are optimistic about the value both now and in the future of optimal foraging theory. We argue, however, that these simple models will requre much modification, espicially to deal with situations that either cannot easily be put into one or another of the above four categories or entail currencies more complicated that just energy.

Discrete coding of reward probability and uncertainty by dopamine neurons.

Abstract: Uncertainty is critical in the measure of information and in assessing the accuracy of predictions. It is determined by probability P, being maximal at P = 0.5 and decreasing at higher and lower probabilities. Using distinct stimuli to indicate the probability of reward, we found that the phasic activation of dopamine neurons varied monotonically across the full range of probabilities, supporting past claims that this response codes the discrepancy between predicted and actual reward. In contrast, a previously unobserved response covaried with uncertainty and consisted of a gradual increase in activity until the potential time of reward. The coding of uncertainty suggests a possible role for dopamine signals in attention-based learning and risk-taking behavior.