Bilateral transfer of the conditioned knee-jerk.

Abstract

At the first sitting, after the subject had been seated in the chair, he was given the grip-key and allowed practise with both hands individually in clenching it. The

The measurement of transfer of training.

“…Scores expressed as amount of learning. Studies of transfer which have expressed a raw score representing number of correct responses are to be found in references 8, 36, 41, 44, 52, 61, 73, and 76. In experiments on the transfer of conditioned responses (48,50,70,71,125,126), the score reported represents the number of occasions on which the transferred conditioned response is exhibited. The raw scores attained on tests (112) usually indicate the number of correct responses, although in some instances the scoring formula may involve the subtraction of a weighted error score.…”

The relationship between the conditioned response and conventional learning experiments.

“…In all of these experiments a response to a conditioned stimulus was obtained from a bodily member which had never yielded an unconditioned response in the presence of the conditioned stimulus. When the stimulating devices for the unconditioned response were moved to the other hand (54) or to the other leg (53,140), this hand or leg responded to the conditioned stimulus before the unconditioned stimulus was applied. Bekhterev's dog lifted the other foot when the one which usually responded was tied down.…”

Controlling the temporal structure of limb movements

“…Furthermore, the knee-jerk reflex can be conditioned to a stimulus that is itself a movement (e.g., a hand squeeze), apparently confirming the idea of a reflex chain or circle for conditioned responses (i.e., where the kinesthetic result of one movement is the conditioned stimulus for a second). However, this conditioning will also transfer to the nonconditioned side of the body, and the chain can also be reversed, so that a pure reflex knee jerk will lead to a hand squeeze (Gibson & Hudson 1935).…”