The inheritance of maze learning ability in rats.

Heron, W. T.

doi:10.1037/h0063630

Cited by 60 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The maze bright and dull strains, termed S 1 and S 3 , have been maintained since then by random breeding and are still available today. A very similar selection study was conducted by Heron (1935) using an automatic Minnesota 12-unit maze, and very similar results were obtained. Whereas the parent population averaged about 85 errors on trials 3 through 17, by F 16 there was almost no overlap, the mean errors being 46.9 for the brights and 116.0 for the dulls (Heron, 1941).…”

supporting

confidence: 64%

“…Variable results obtained with shock motivation. Heron's (1935) rats were selected on a maze task very similar to Tryon's. When Heron and Skinner (1940) extinguished bar-pressing for food reward, they found that more rapid extinction for the maze dull strain could be attributed to its lower rate of pressing at the onset of extinction; they suggested that the brights were more hungry.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic experiments with animal learning: A critical review

Wahłsten

1972

Behavioral Biology

138

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Abstract:The basic patterns of inheritance of learning ability in animals have been delineated. Summaries of strain differences in learning rate, responses to selective breeding for learning, heritabilities of learning phenotypes, and heterosis and overdominance are presented. In addition, the patterns of inheritance are shown to vary with the early environment.The causes of genetic differences have received much attention, but much of the research is inconclusive. Both general learning ability and task-specific abilities are important, but their relative importance is not known for most learning tasks. Strain differences have been found to vary widely in response to variations in stimulus parameters, motivational levels, temporal spacing of trials, and pharmacological manipulations. However, in only a few cases have strain differences in learning actually been shown to be attributable to differences in sensory capacities, motivation, memory or activity levels. The physiological bases for differences are totally unknown. The pathways of gene action on learning also await discovery.Although some researchers have claimed to study the adaptive value of learning, their exclusive utilization of laboratory populations precludes meaningful interpretation of their results.Several methodological shortcomings of various experiments are considered, and important areas for future research are suggested. Article:Learning is a phenotype which has engaged the interests of numerous researchers seeking genetic bases for behavioral differences. In fact, much of the earliest research identifiable as behavior genetics dealt with some aspect of learning in animals (Bagg, 1916;Yerkes, 1916;Tolman, 1924). Ensuing experimentation was performed primarily by psychologists using genetically ill-defined populations. The rather recent appearance of standardized inbred mouse strains with widespread availability has led to renewed interest in the genetic analysis of learning, as well as other phenotypes. Several sophisticated quantitative genetic tools are now readily available for the study of learning. Examples of the application to learning research of selective breeding, the classical cross, the diallel cross, sib analysis, parent-offspring regression, and single-gene analysis have appeared recently.A central motive for compiling the present review is the author's opinion that the increase in genetic sophistication has not been paralleled by a similar growth in the sophistication of measures of learning. In many studies it appears that learning was selected as a phenotype of convenience and general interest.Similarly, the questions about learning investigated have tended to be simplistic and of little interest to those concerned with the nature of the learning process itself. Many recent studies have raised issues that were presented in the earliest research and therefore have contributed little to progress in the area. This is an unfortunate situation in view of the potential power of genetic techniques to answer important questions abou...

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supporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic experiments with animal learning: A critical review

Wahłsten

1972

Behavioral Biology

138

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“…Iconoclast or not, soon after he took a position at the University of Minnesota (1936Minnesota ( -1945, he began collaborating with Heron, his more established colleague, who also had an interest in animal behavior (e.g., Heron, 1922Heron, , 1935. Although the impetus for their collaboration was more Heron's than Skinner's, as an untenured instructor, Skinner may have wanted to establish a research program quickly, as well as be collegial.…”

Section: A Natural History Of Skinner's Coauthoring Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A quantitative analysis and natural history of B. F. Skinner’s coauthoring practices

2011

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This paper describes and analyzes B. F. Skinner's coauthoring practices. After identifying his 35 coauthored publications and 27 coauthors, we analyze his coauthored works by their form (e.g., journal articles) and kind (e.g., empirical); identify the journals in which he published and their type (e.g., data-type); describe his overall and local rates of publishing with his coauthors (e.g., noting breaks in the latter); and compare his coauthoring practices with his single-authoring practices (e.g., form, kind, journal type) and with those in the scientometric literature (e.g., majority of coauthored publications are empirical). We address these findings in the context of describing the natural history of Skinner's coauthoring practices. Finally, we describe some limitations in our methods and offer suggestions for future research.

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“…In light of this research and the misconception that Skinner was a radical environmentalist (e.g., de Waal, 2001, p. 57;Pinker, 2002, p. 20;contra. Morris, Lazo, & Smith, 2004), Heron's (1935) research on selective breeding is, ironically, now cited as having been "holding a place for behavioral genetics during the period of an ascendant environmentalism in psychology" (McClearn & Foch, 1988, p. 686).…”

Section: Inheritancementioning

confidence: 99%

B. F. Skinner’s contributions to applied behavior analysis

2005

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Our paper reviews and analyzes B. F. Skinner's contributions to applied behavior analysis in order to assess his role as the field's originator and founder. We found, first, that his contributions fall into five categorizes: the style and content of his science, his interpretations of typical and atypical human behavior, the implications he drew from his science for application, his descriptions of possible applications, and his own applications to nonhuman and human behavior. Second, we found that he explicitly or implicitly addressed all seven dimensions of applied behavior analysis. These contributions and the dimensions notwithstanding, he neither incorporated the field's scientific (e.g., analytic) and social dimensions (e.g., applied) into any program of published research such that he was its originator, nor did he systematically integrate, advance, and promote the dimensions so to have been its founder. As the founder of behavior analysis, however, he was the father of applied behavior analysis.

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The inheritance of maze learning ability in rats.

Cited by 60 publications

References 2 publications

Genetic experiments with animal learning: A critical review

Genetic experiments with animal learning: A critical review

A quantitative analysis and natural history of B. F. Skinner’s coauthoring practices

B. F. Skinner’s contributions to applied behavior analysis

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