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Journal ArticleDOI

Learning of Visceral and Glandular Responses

31 Jan 1969-Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science)-Vol. 163, Iss: 3866, pp 434-445
About: This article is published in Science.The article was published on 1969-01-31. It has received 708 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Autonomic nervous system.
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Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: A review of the empirical results and theoretical underpinnings of studies of fear arousing communications can be found in this paper, where the authors present an overview of the key components of fear communication experiments and introduce two major theoretical paradigms that can be used to interpret the findings.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the empirical results and theoretical underpinnings of studies of fear arousing communications. It focuses on the interrelationship of emotional and instrumental behavior. The chapter presents an overview of the key components of fear communication experiments and introduces the two major theoretical paradigms that can be used to interpret the findings. The first and historically most important of the paradigms is the fear drive model, a variant of the classic drive reduction model used in many animal learning studies. It assumes that the emotional response of fear functions as a drive that mediates belief change and behavior change. The second paradigm was suggested by the experimental data. This model assumes that the communication produces both persuasion and fear; fear does not cause persuasion. The chapter reviews the evidence regarding interactions between the level of fear elicited by the communication and other factors such as personality variables and recommendation effectiveness. It reveals that the outcomes are often influenced by complex contingencies. But despite the complexity, serious effort has been made to identify empirical regularities and presents a theoretical model to provide conceptual integration.

1,305 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The proposed theoretical scheme represents a shift away from hypothetical "laws of learning" toward an interpretation of behavioral change in terms of interaction and competition among tendencies to action according to principles evolved in phylogeny.
Abstract: Replication and extension of Skinner's "superstition" experiment showed the development of two kinds of behavior at asymptote: interim activities (related to adjunctive behavior) occurred just after food delivery; the terminal response (a discriminated operant) occurred toward the end of the interval and continued until food delivery. These data suggest a view of operant conditioning (the terminal response) in terms of two sets of principles: principles of behavioral variation that describe the origins of behavior "appropriate" to a situation, in advance of reinforcement; and principles of reinforcement that describe the selective elimination of behavior so produced. This approach was supported by (a) an account of the parallels between the Law of Effect and evolution by means of natural selection, (fc) its ability to shed light on persistent problems in learning (e.g., continuity vs. noncontinuity, variability associated with extinction, the relationship between classical and instrumental conditioning, the controversy between behaviorist and cognitive approaches to learning), and (c) its ability to deal with a number of recent anomalies in the learning literature ("instinctive drift," auto-shaping, and auto-maintenance). The interim activities were interpreted in terms of interactions among motivational systems, and this view was supported by a review of the literature on adjunctive behavior and by comparison with similar phenomena in ethology (displacement, redirection, and "vacuum" activities). The proposed theoretical scheme represents a shift away from hypothetical "laws of learning" toward an interpretation of behavioral change in terms of interaction and competition among tendencies to action according to principles evolved in phylogeny.

1,063 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Non‐invasive brain–computer interfaces and their clinical utility for direct brain communication in paralysis and motor restoration in stroke are focused on, and operant conditioning and voluntary control of autonomic physiological functions turned out to be impossible in this preparation.
Abstract: The review describes the status of brain–computer or brain–machine interface research. We focus on non-invasive brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) and their clinical utility for direct brain communication in paralysis and motor restoration in stroke. A large gap between the promises of invasive animal and human BCI preparations and the clinical reality characterizes the literature: while intact monkeys learn to execute more or less complex upper limb movements with spike patterns from motor brain regions alone without concomitant peripheral motor activity usually after extensive training, clinical applications in human diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and paralysis from stroke or spinal cord lesions show only limited success, with the exception of verbal communication in paralysed and locked-in patients. BCIs based on electroencephalographic potentials or oscillations are ready to undergo large clinical studies and commercial production as an adjunct or a major assisted communication device for paralysed and locked-in patients. However, attempts to train completely locked-in patients with BCI communication after entering the complete locked-in state with no remaining eye movement failed. We propose that a lack of contingencies between goal directed thoughts and intentions may be at the heart of this problem. Experiments with chronically curarized rats support our hypothesis; operant conditioning and voluntary control of autonomic physiological functions turned out to be impossible in this preparation. In addition to assisted communication, BCIs consisting of operant learning of EEG slow cortical potentials and sensorimotor rhythm were demonstrated to be successful in drug resistant focal epilepsy and attention deficit disorder. First studies of non-invasive BCIs using sensorimotor rhythm of the EEG and MEG in restoration of paralysed hand movements in chronic stroke and single cases of high spinal cord lesions show some promise, but need extensive evaluation in well-controlled experiments. Invasive BMIs based on neuronal spike patterns, local field potentials or electrocorticogram may constitute the strategy of choice in severe cases of stroke and spinal cord paralysis. Future directions of BCI research should include the regulation of brain metabolism and blood flow and electrical and magnetic stimulation of the human brain (invasive and non-invasive). A series of studies using BOLD response regulation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and near infrared spectroscopy demonstrated a tight correlation between voluntary changes in brain metabolism and behaviour.

741 citations


Cites background from "Learning of Visceral and Glandular ..."

  • ...Miller (1969), in a landmark paper in Science, challenged the view that voluntary control is acquired through operant (instrumental) conditioning while modification of involuntary ANS functions is learned through classical (Pavlovian) conditioning, a distinction first emphasized by Skinner…...

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is essential to reintegrate “scientific” and “social” concepts of disease and illness as a basis for a functional system of medical research and care.
Abstract: The dysfunctional consequences of the Cartesian dichotomy have been enhanced by the power of biomedical technology. Technical virtuosity reifies the mechanical model and widens the gap between what patients seek and doctors provide. Patients suffer "illnesses"; doctors diagnose and treat "diseases". Illnesses are experiences of discontinuities in states of being and perceived role performances. Diseases, in the scientific paradigm of modern medicine, are abnormalities in the function and/or structure of body organs and systems. Traditional healers also redefine illness as disease: because they share symbols and metaphors consonant with lay beliefs, their healing rituals are more responsive to the psychosocial context of illness. Psychiatric disorders offer an illuminating perspective on the basic medical dilemma. The paradigms for psychiatric practice include multiple and ostensibly contradictory models: organic, psychodynamic, behavioural and social. This melange of concepts stems from the fact that the fundamental manifestations of psychosis are disordered behaviours. The psychotic patient remains a person; his self-concept and relationships with others are central to the therapeutic encounter, whatever pharmacological adjuncts are employed. The same truths hold for all patients. The social matrix determines when and how the patient seeks what kind of help, his "compliance" with the recommended regimen and, to a significant extent, the functional outcome. When physicians dismiss illness because ascertainable "disease" is absent, they fail to meet their socially assigned responsibility. It is essential to reintegrate "scientific" and "social" concepts of disease and illness as a basis for a functional system of medical research and care.

703 citations


Cites methods from "Learning of Visceral and Glandular ..."

  • ...The recent extension of the behavioural model to biofeedback methods ( Miller 1969 ) provides a powerful technology with which physiological as well as behavioural functions can be modified....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was demonstrated that noninvasive EEG-based BCIs allow brain-derived communication in paralyzed and locked- in patients but not in completely locked-in patients, and the newly developed fMRI-BCI and NIRS-BCIs offer promise for the learned regulation of emotional disorders and also disorders of young children.
Abstract: Brain–computer interfaces (BCI) allow control of computers or external devices with regulation of brain activity alone. Invasive BCIs, almost exclusively investigated in animal models using implanted electrodes in brain tissue, and noninvasive BCIs using electrophysiological recordings in humans are described. Clinical applications were reserved with few exceptions for the noninvasive approach: communication with the completely paralyzed and locked-in syndrome with slow cortical potentials, sensorimotor rhythm and P300, and restoration of movement and cortical reorganization in high spinal cord lesions and chronic stroke. It was demonstrated that noninvasive EEG-based BCIs allow brain-derived communication in paralyzed and locked-in patients but not in completely locked-in patients. At present no firm conclusion about the clinical utility of BCI for the control of voluntary movement can be made. Invasive multielectrode BCIs in otherwise healthy animals allowed execution of reaching, grasping, and force variations based on spike patterns and extracellular field potentials. The newly developed fMRI-BCIs and NIRS-BCIs, like EEG BCIs, offer promise for the learned regulation of emotional disorders and also disorders of young children.

683 citations


Cites background from "Learning of Visceral and Glandular ..."

  • ...Miller (1969), in a landmark paper in Science, challenged that view that voluntary control is acquired through operant (instrumental) conditioning whereas modification of involuntary ANS functions is learned through classical (Pavlovian) conditioning, a distinction first emphasized by Skinner…...

    [...]