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OPERAIIT REDIFORCEME OF A HEDIATED AUICICHIC RESPOISE

Backrround:

towrer and some other psychologists bave argued that there are two distinct methcds or conditioning or learning (roughly, classical conditionine and instrumental learnina). Purtherzore they bave insisted thet instrurental learning cannot be reduccd to classical conditionins, and that classical coniitioning carnot be explained by the lave of instruzental leeraing. As evidence, Kowrer poiats to the fact that autonoaic responses and skeletal responses are qualitatively different as they are given in nature. "Here we are assusing tnat bebavioral responses are categorically different ro exotional responses: the forzer are 'voluntary' ará subject to inrlueuce through revard and puniahment (and not conditionable, strictly speakine), whereas the latter are iovoluntary and conditiosable and not rubject to control throusn revard aná punistment, or at ieast not ia the same way as are tine overt behavioral responses." (:towrer, 196o.)

Inero ere everyday inatances of apperent learninz of an autononic respocse shrough revard; Skinnsr cites the child who cried "real teers" because tears kad been rolloved by uttentioa and candy 1n the pest, and recently sane experimentsl evidonce. has siows that autonouic responees can be directiy modifiei by reaponse contincent reinforcemcnt. hovever, it is not posciblc to rila cut the effect of skeletul mediating reaponses in any or thege cases. If the autonomic respoase in qucstion ie clicited uy an unobserved skeletal respozse, it

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is poesible that ull of the evidence for upparcnt sutononic learning merely reflects the parunitic reinforcement of the undcrlying skeletal tesponse,

Some authors (Kendier, 1962) have ineisted that even the posaibility of okcletal mellators is sufficient to rejcet ths hipotneeis of autorozic learning throueh direct reinforcemcnt.

The zedietion explanation ssserts that tàc meiietor 1s a skclctal response which precedes and elicito the autonacic response. As a result of rewariine the autonomic response, the ekeletal response is paresitically reinforced and learned. Thus it is impliei that a typical negetively accelerated learning curve wculd develop for the skcletal response. It is also implied that the variability in the autonoric response can be fuliy explained by the changes in the frequwincy of the underlying skelctal response." :

. In the present experiment, it is proposed to set up an explicit nediating akeletal response vhich elicits a drop in galvanic skin resistance, and then reinforce the elicited sutoseic reponse.

If the mediation explanation is correct, it shoild be possible to discover both the negatively accelerated curve.of the skcletal response and to explain the variability of the elicited sutonomic responsc. It ray also bu posoible to compere these fiodings with tte results of the earlier studies where an sutonomic response was apparently direstly reinforced. Ir the learaing curves sre very sicilar, it vould suggest that an unknowm skeletal mediator was rosponsible for the changes observed in the earlier vork.

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It Ls possible that results fron this atudy will give ua some kind of model of. operant learning of autopomic responses as it occurs in stressful aituations.

Method:

The method will be & fairly áirect extension of pethodoloy used in eerlier studies /college age ferale volunteers will be used; this will pernit a reasonable comparison with the old data. Ten experimental and l0 control subjects will be run, tbey will be matched for frequency of GsR noncpecific deflections on the first day of the experiment and yoked for scheiules of reinforcement for the rezninder or the experinent.

In the earlier stuiios. it was observed that very leree respirations occurred intermittently in'vhet wse othervise e very regular recpireticn rate. Tese large respiratios vere otten folloved by & GSR deflection. Por example, on the last day of thc 1963 experirent, the eighteen sutjects enitted 0 to'26 groes 1rreqularities of respirutions during the twenty mimute session with an averace of 7 per subject. These respirations often elicited GSh derlections. .Te rate of GEk elicitation varied from 12% for one of the subjecte to l00j for fcur or Whe subjucts; the median was SGi. In that exqcriment e epecial efiort vos raùe to avoić reiusorcinc recpiration-clieited CER derlecticus. In the precent stuy, it iu proposed that these gross irregularities cf respirution be utilszed as e.:sletal mediatorsl and that their associateá'Guk derlcctions be systezaticelly reinforced. Tnis rerponse lies the acvantage er beire rclatively

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subtle and not immediately diecernible to the subject.

It is suggested trat the responses be ronitored by the experinenter at this point. It vould probably be too complicated to set up an automtic reinforcer for what should be a relatively short, contained study.

Otherwise, methodology will follow the earlier stodies. All subjects ill be given' 2 days of adaptation, five days of reinforcement (contingent or yokod) and three days of extinction. We will follow the policy of having the subjects sit quietly for twenty-five minutes before each day's session of tucnty nimutea. All girls will be screened for medical problems and run in between menstrcal periods. The experiment abould be conducted in a sound-pzoof constant tempernture roa.

Equioment:

Sanbora GSR with Wenger electrodes, plethysmocraph (Xenelco. Corp.) pnquiacnoceter.

Data Analvoie:

Do you think we en get direct taplng of tihe output of all threc varlablest In Gsa, all wa need is s frequency count--amplitule of the derlections does not scen to bs iriort.nt. Tust ahould sieplify the proble:, too. However, zinuto ty zimute bacal resistance counts srould be obtained. The fact that basal resistance sbifts over the tuerty minute period may present special cirriculties. On tas plethyszosraph

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record, I'd like to take ofr beart rate (in twenty second intervals) and amplitude (about once every twenty seconds). The respiration record may be the most difficult to automate, is our experience in recording by band is any irdicator. I have axplo samples of ell these, plus e fairly speciic outlire of how they wore counted by band.

Once the data are ia digital for, ve will need iniividual and group curves on allthree variables. In the past I heve used sane rathes simple nonparametric stetistics for looking at dirferences. It ia quite clear that the mejor variuble will be an iatra-individuul change fram adaptation (days 1 and 2) to extinction (days 9 and 10). It has been suggested to me that there is some vay of looking at clusters of all three vuriables at once as a measure or lcarnine (Hoteling's T). However, I am not sure that with this smali saxpie, noa-normal dmta, etc., that that is Peasible. Any suggestions?

It seems to me that at this early atage of expcrimentine, the automation of all these things should be kept siwple--to leave roaa for changes in procedure and to maintain quite a bit of flexibility in the systes. We are handicapped by the fact that our backcround knowledge of oncoinc basal rates and individuei dirferences in Gsa nonspccirics, plethysaograph auplitudes, etc. is still ¿uite linitel.

Deta Parameters:

1. Eagal Rosistance

In general, all subjcots show un Sncrease in busal resistance froa day onc to ten in his kinl of stu'y. 1nu controln tend to ebow a

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relatively Ereater increase than the experimcntal subjects.

Ibere are side individual differences in besal resistance. In zy 196 study, I found thet it varied fro 61.9 K (, day 1) to 444.6 K (101, day 5).

Within an individual, a maximum change of atout 150-200 K could be seen from day one of the experizent to day ten. Hedian rendings for each day vere uscd as estimates of each subject's daily level.

Basal resistance can show ratner parked change witbin a daily session for scze individuals. In the lgéi study, at Icast one subject had an incrense of over 200 K fron beginnine to end of'the twenty tirute nession on dey 9 (cJ). Other subjccto ton! to rensis quite stable vithin e dey's run end froz day to day.

In eenerai, subjects with lows basal rosistance gut out a high frequency of ponspecirics, while subjecta vith high basai resistance proauce few nonspecisice. For inctance, in the l9Gh study, one subject (C) had an initial basal resistance of cnly 61 K anl ber output of nonspecifies was over 6 per minute. inother sulject with a hign basal resistance (331 K) had a nonapecific rate er .4 per nimute:.

2. llonspecifics

In the 1964 study, experimentals tonded to maintain their initial rate of nonspecirics while controls declined.

There are large iadividual differences in frequancy ef nonspcciricc. In the l964 study, the lowest reecing on dcy 1 was . per mimite, the high wae over 6 per pioutc. Both experimentals and controls show somc

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decline in rate over the tan days, so the range on day 10 is .05 per mimute to about 5 por micute.

I do not bave any current data oo Lmplitude of derlestions. The malleat we counted was .4 F and thc largest was 50 E, but there vere uaqucstionebly Larger ones. Data rrom the l962 study muggests that size tends to increaue as basal resistance increases fran dey one to dey ten; median aplitude increased as mch as three tizes the da one aplitida (conductance readings).

3. Heart Rate

In the lg64 study, experimentals snintained their initial level of heart rate while controla showed a small but conaistent decline.

Agein, there are tairly large individual differences. In the 196h study, the eighteen subjects rangod from 61.8 to l0k.7 vith a standard deviation of 12.8.

Under son-stressful repeated trials, the standard deviation within an individual is about 6 beate per minute. The maximm vithin individual variation thet ve saw over daye was 1s beata per minute.

4. Plethyemograph

Tis data is purely ranked deta. On the firot day of the 2954 study ve found that subjects varied fros a miaitun anplituic reading to twice that reading. Over the ten day sessiou, controls tended to incresse in anplitude vhile experimcntele rerin reletively constunt. Soe subjccts doubled their emplitude over the ton áayu, wiile at leest onu subject shovel a redcing which was halr as large to his initial arplituce.

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The heaviest expanses for thie study vill be tape and computer time.. Each subjact is run for 3 1/3 hours.' Wo made sase estimates et . for this kind of study. I don't know whether these coats are copmrable, but for what they'ravorth:

Apparatus batteries, etc. Analog Recorder tape at 1:

Digital tape ct

Computer tize. Anaiog to digital cop-. version et

Computer time.. Digital analysia at

Subjects at

This does not include the cost of a computer programner to set up the program. We estimated that might take ss long aa three nonths and coat about \$

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