-
Behavioural Brain Research Jan 2020Dopamine replacement medication has positive effects on existing motor skills for people with Parkinson disease (PD), but may have detrimental effects on the learning of... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
Dopamine replacement medication has positive effects on existing motor skills for people with Parkinson disease (PD), but may have detrimental effects on the learning of motor skills necessary for effective rehabilitation according to the dopamine overdose hypothesis.
OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to determine whether dopamine replacement medication (i.e. levodopa) affects: learning of a novel upper extremity task, decrements in skill following withdrawal of practice, the rate of learning, and the transfer of movement skill to untrained upper extremity tasks compared to training "off" medication, in people with PD.
METHODS
Participants with mild-moderate PD (Hoehn and Yahr stage 2) were randomized to train "on" (n = 12) or "off" (n = 11) levodopa medication. Participants practiced 10 blocks of five trials of a functional motor task with their non-dominant upper extremity over three consecutive days (acquisition period), followed by a single block of five trials two and nine days later. Participants were also assessed "on" levodopa with two transfer tasks (the nine-hole peg test and a functional dexterity task) prior to any practice and nine days after the end of the acquisition period.
RESULTS
Participants who practiced "on" levodopa medication learned the upper extremity task to a greater extent that those who practiced "off" medication, as determined by retained performance two days after practice. Skill decrement and skill transfer were not significantly different between groups. Rate of learning was unable to be modelled in this sample.
CONCLUSIONS
Levodopa medication improved the learning of an upper extremity task in people with mild-moderate PD.
Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Dopamine Agents; Female; Humans; Levodopa; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Skills; Neurological Rehabilitation; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Parkinson Disease; Practice, Psychological; Severity of Illness Index; Transfer, Psychology; Upper Extremity
PubMed: 31526767
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112213 -
Journal of Experimental Psychology.... Jan 2010Numerous learning studies have shown that if the period of time devoted to studying information (e.g., casa-house) includes at least 1 test (casa-?), performance on a...
Numerous learning studies have shown that if the period of time devoted to studying information (e.g., casa-house) includes at least 1 test (casa-?), performance on a final test is improved-a finding known as the testing effect. In most of these studies, however, the final test is identical to the initial test. If the final test requires a novel demonstration of learning (i.e., transfer), prior studies suggest that a greater degree of transfer reduces the size of the testing effect. The authors tested this conjecture. In 2 experiments, 4th- or 5th-grade students learned to assign regions or cities to map locations and returned 1 day later for 2 kinds of final tests. One final test required exactly the same task seen during the learning session, and the other final test consisted of novel, more challenging questions. In both experiments, testing effects were found for both kinds of final tests, and the testing effect was no smaller, and actually slightly larger, for the final test requiring transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Child; Discrimination Learning; Female; Humans; Learning; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photic Stimulation; Reaction Time; Space Perception; Transfer, Psychology
PubMed: 20053059
DOI: 10.1037/a0017678 -
Neuropsychology, Development, and... Jul 2011Recent research has demonstrated benefits for older adults from training attentional control using a variable priority strategy, but the construct validity of the...
Recent research has demonstrated benefits for older adults from training attentional control using a variable priority strategy, but the construct validity of the training task and the degree to which benefits of training transfer to other contexts are unclear. The goal of this study was to characterize baseline performance on the training task in a sample of 105 healthy older adults and to test for transfer of training in a subset (n = 21). Training gains after 5 days and extent of transfer was compared to another subset (n = 20) that served as a control group. Baseline performance on the training task was characterized by a two-factor model of working memory and processing speed. Processing speed correlated with the training task. Training gains in speed and accuracy were reliable and robust (ps <.001, η(2) = .57 to .90). Transfer to an analogous task was observed (ps <.05, η(2) = .10 to .17). The beneficial effect of training did not translate to improved performance on related measures of processing speed. This study highlights the robust effect of training and transfer to a similar context using a variable priority training task. Although processing speed is an important aspect of the training task, training benefit is either related to an untested aspect of the training task or transfer of training is limited to the training context.
Topics: Aged; Attention; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Geriatric Assessment; Humans; Inhibition, Psychological; Male; Memory, Short-Term; Mental Processes; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychomotor Performance; Reproducibility of Results; Statistics as Topic; Teaching; Transfer, Psychology
PubMed: 21728889
DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2011.568046 -
Memory & Cognition Apr 2018Previous studies examining effects of working memory (WM) updating training revealed mixed results. One factor that might modulate training gains, and possibly also...
Previous studies examining effects of working memory (WM) updating training revealed mixed results. One factor that might modulate training gains, and possibly also transfer of those gains to non-trained cognitive tasks, is achievement motivation. In the present Studies 1 and 2, students with either a high (HAM) or low (LAM) achievement motivation completed a 14-day visuospatial WM updating training program. In Study 2, the students also performed a set of tasks measuring other executive functions and fluid intelligence prior to and after training. In both studies, the HAM students displayed a larger training gain than the LAM students. Study 2 revealed that after training, both groups showed better performance on the near-transfer but not far-transfer tasks. Importantly, the differential training gain was not associated with better post-training performance for the HAM compared to the LAM students on any of the transfer tasks. These results are taken to support a modulatory role of achievement motivation on WM training benefits, but not on transfer of those benefits to other tasks. Possible reasons for the general improvement on the near-transfer tasks and the absence of a modulatory role of achievement motivation on transfer-task performance are discussed.
Topics: Achievement; Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Memory, Short-Term; Motivation; Psychomotor Performance; Transfer, Psychology; Young Adult
PubMed: 29185201
DOI: 10.3758/s13421-017-0773-5 -
Addiction Biology Mar 2015Chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) alters neural functions and behaviors mediated by the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) and prefrontal cortex. Here, we examined the effects...
Chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) alters neural functions and behaviors mediated by the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) and prefrontal cortex. Here, we examined the effects of prolonged (16-bout) CIE on DLS plasticity and DLS-mediated behaviors. Ex vivo electrophysiological recordings revealed loss in efficacy of DLS synaptically induced activation and absent long-term depression after CIE. CIE increased two-bottle choice drinking and impaired Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer but not discriminated approach. These data suggest prolonged CIE impaired DLS plasticity, to produce associated changes in drinking and cue-controlled reward-seeking. Given recent evidence that less-prolonged CIE can promote certain dorsal striatal-mediated behaviors, CIE may drive chronicity-dependent adaptations in corticostriatal systems regulating behavior.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Central Nervous System Depressants; Conditioning, Classical; Ethanol; Long-Term Synaptic Depression; Mice; Neostriatum; Neuronal Plasticity; Reward; Transfer, Psychology
PubMed: 24666522
DOI: 10.1111/adb.12131 -
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 2005Mand functions for two stimuli (A1 and A2) were trained for 3 children with autism and were then incorporated into two related conditional discriminations (A1-B1/A2 -B2...
Mand functions for two stimuli (A1 and A2) were trained for 3 children with autism and were then incorporated into two related conditional discriminations (A1-B1/A2 -B2 and B1-C1/B2-C2). Tests were conducted to probe for a derived transfer of mand response functions from A1 and A2 to C1 and C2, respectively. When 1 participant failed to demonstrate derived transfer of mand response functions, transfer training using exemplars was conducted. When participants had demonstrated derived transfer of mand functions, the X1 and X2 tokens that were employed as reinforcers for mand responses were incorporated into two conditional discriminations (X1-Y1/X2-Y2 and Y1-Z1/Y2-Z2). Tests were conducted for derived transfer of reinforcing functions. Finally, tests were conducted to determine if the participants would demonstrate derived manding for the derived reinforcers (present C1 and C2 to mand for Z1 and Z2, respectively). Derived transfer of functions was observed when the sequence of training and testing was reversed (i.e., training and testing reinforcing functions before mand response functions) and when only minimal instructions were provided.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Autistic Disorder; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Language Disorders; Male; Psychological Theory; Reinforcement, Psychology; Transfer, Psychology; Verbal Behavior
PubMed: 16463526
DOI: 10.1901/jaba.2005.97-04 -
Experimental Brain Research Jun 2007Here we report a study of joint-action coordination in transferring objects. Fourteen dyads were asked to repeatedly reposition a cylinder in a shared workspace without...
Here we report a study of joint-action coordination in transferring objects. Fourteen dyads were asked to repeatedly reposition a cylinder in a shared workspace without using dialogue. Variations in task constraints concerned the size of the two target regions in which the cylinder had to be (re)positioned and the size and weight of the transferred cylinder. Movements of the wrist, index finger and thumb of both actors were recorded by means of a 3D motion-tracking system. Data analyses focused on the interpersonal transfer of lifting-height and movement-speed variations. Whereas the analyses of variance did not reveal any interpersonal transfer effects targeted data comparisons demonstrated that the actor who fetched the cylinder from where the other actor had put it was systematically less surprised by cylinder-weight changes than the actor who was first confronted with such changes. In addition, a moderate, accuracy-constraint independent adaptation to each other's movement speed was found. The current findings suggest that motor resonance plays only a moderate role in collaborative motor control and confirm the independency between sensorimotor and cognitive processing of action-related information.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Biomechanical Phenomena; Female; Hand Strength; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Joints; Male; Movement; Musculoskeletal System; Psychomotor Performance; Range of Motion, Articular; Reaction Time; Transfer, Psychology
PubMed: 17256158
DOI: 10.1007/s00221-007-0861-z -
Cognition Oct 2015Analogical problem solving requires using a known solution from one problem to apply to a related problem. Sleep is known to have profound effects on memory and... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Analogical problem solving requires using a known solution from one problem to apply to a related problem. Sleep is known to have profound effects on memory and information restructuring, and so we tested whether sleep promoted such analogical transfer, determining whether improvement was due to subjective memory for problems, subjective recognition of similarity across related problems, or by abstract generalisation of structure. In Experiment 1, participants were exposed to a set of source problems. Then, after a 12-h period involving sleep or wake, they attempted target problems structurally related to the source problems but with different surface features. Experiment 2 controlled for time of day effects by testing participants either in the morning or the evening. Sleep improved analogical transfer, but effects were not due to improvements in subjective memory or similarity recognition, but rather effects of structural generalisation across problems.
Topics: Adult; Concept Formation; Female; Humans; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Problem Solving; Recognition, Psychology; Sleep; Transfer, Psychology; Young Adult
PubMed: 26113445
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2015.06.005 -
Cognitive Research: Principles and... Jun 2020Characteristics of both teachers and learners influence mathematical learning. For example, when teachers use hand gestures to support instruction, students learn more...
BACKGROUND
Characteristics of both teachers and learners influence mathematical learning. For example, when teachers use hand gestures to support instruction, students learn more than others who learn the same concept with only speech, and students with higher working memory capacity (WMC) learn more rapidly than those with lower WMC. One hypothesis for the effect of gesture on math learning is that gestures provide a signal to learners that can reduce demand on working memory resources during learning. However, it is not known what sort of working memory resources support learning with gesture. Gestures are motoric; they co-occur with verbal language and they are perceived visually.
METHODS
In two studies, we investigated the relationship between mathematical learning with or without gesture and individual variation in verbal, visuospatial, and kinesthetic WMC. Students observed a videotaped lesson in a novel mathematical system that either included instruction with both speech and gesture (Study 1) or instruction with only speech (Study 2). After instruction, students solved novel problems in the instructed system and transfer problems in a related system. Finally, students completed verbal, visuospatial, and kinesthetic working memory assessments.
RESULTS
There was a positive relationship between visuospatial WMC and math learning when gesture was present, but no relationship between visuospatial WMC and math learning when gesture was absent. Rather, when gesture was absent, there was a relationship between verbal WMC and math learning.
CONCLUSION
Providing gesture during instruction appears to change the cognitive resources recruited when learning a novel math task.
Topics: Adult; Female; Gestures; Humans; Learning; Male; Mathematical Concepts; Mathematics; Memory, Short-Term; Problem Solving; Space Perception; Teaching; Transfer, Psychology; Visual Perception; Young Adult
PubMed: 32519045
DOI: 10.1186/s41235-020-00215-8 -
Neuron Apr 2021A prerequisite for intelligent behavior is to understand how stimuli are related and to generalize this knowledge across contexts. Generalization can be challenging when...
A prerequisite for intelligent behavior is to understand how stimuli are related and to generalize this knowledge across contexts. Generalization can be challenging when relational patterns are shared across contexts but exist on different physical scales. Here, we studied neural representations in humans and recurrent neural networks performing a magnitude comparison task, for which it was advantageous to generalize concepts of "more" or "less" between contexts. Using multivariate analysis of human brain signals and of neural network hidden unit activity, we observed that both systems developed parallel neural "number lines" for each context. In both model systems, these number state spaces were aligned in a way that explicitly facilitated generalization of relational concepts (more and less). These findings suggest a previously overlooked role for neural normalization in supporting transfer of a simple form of abstract relational knowledge (magnitude) in humans and machine learning systems.
Topics: Adult; Algorithms; Brain; Electroencephalography; Female; Generalization, Psychological; Humans; Machine Learning; Male; Models, Neurological; Neural Networks, Computer; Psychomotor Performance; Size Perception; Transfer, Psychology; Young Adult
PubMed: 33626322
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.02.004