The neural substrates of higher-order conditioning: A review

Sensory preconditioned and second-order conditioned responding are each well-documented. The former occurs in subjects (typically rats) exposed to pairings of two relatively neutral stimuli, S2 and S1, and then to pairings of S1 and a motivationally significant event [an unconditioned stimulus (US)]; the latter occurs when the order of these experiences is reversed with rats being exposed to S1-US pairings and then to S2-S1 pairings. In both cases, rats respond when tested with S2 in a manner appropriate to the affective nature of the US, e.g., approach when the US is appetitive and withdrawal when it is aversive. This paper reviews the neural substrates of sensory preconditioning and second-order conditioning. It identifies commonalities and differences in the substrates of these so-called higher-order conditioning protocols and discusses these commonalities/differences in relation to what is learned. In so doing, the review highlights ways in which these types of conditioning enhance our understanding of how the brain encodes and retrieves different types of information to generate appropriate behavior.

The impact of mediated learning on the academic writing performance of medical students in flipped and traditional classrooms: scaffolding techniques

Writing as a multiple-step process is one of the most complex and demanding skills for graduate students to master. Foreign or second language learners who are required to write for academic purposes at the university level may even find it more demanding to master. One of the ways of decreasing the burden of mastering this skill for learners is mediation, using scaffolding techniques to teach writing. Hence, having a good understanding of the impact(s) of adopting mediating or scaffolding techniques in writing classes is absolutely indispensable. To this end, the present study employed an experimental research design to investigate the impact of mediation in the flipped writing classrooms of the students of medicine. To peruse this goal, 47 medical students were selected through purposive sampling and put into control and treatment groups. Medical students in the treatment group watched teacher-made video content(s) before their writing classes. The students in this group experienced organized-interactive writing group activities in their classes. Unlike the experimental group, the students in the control group received all the instructions in the classroom and were assigned homework. The findings obtained through the ANOVA and t-test indicated that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the control group in terms of their writing. A probable conclusion could be that by requiring students to study in advance and take responsibility for their learning, flipped classroom can provide the opportunity for learners to actively construct knowledge rather than receive the information passively in the classroom. Flipped classroom can also cultivate interactive class time for teachers and enable them to invest in more fruitful academic practices, instead of asking students to spend a substantial amount of time each week doing homework independently.

Using internal memory representations in associative learning to study hallucination-like phenomenon

Studies of Pavlovian conditioning have enriched our understanding of how relations among events can adaptively guide behavior through the formation and use of internal mental representations. In this review, we illustrate how internal representations flexibly integrate new updated information in reinforcer revaluation to influence relationships to impact actions and outcomes. We highlight representation-mediated learning to show the similarities in properties and functions between internally generated and directly activated representations, and how normal perception of internal representations could contribute to hallucinations. Converging evidence emerges from recent behavioral and neural activation studies using animal models of schizophrenia as well as clinical studies in patients to support increased tendencies in these populations to evoke internal representations from prior associative experience that approximate hallucination-like percepts. The heightened propensity is dependent on dopaminergic activation which is known to be sensitive to hippocampal overexcitability, a condition that has been observed in patients with psychosis. This presents a network that overlaps with cognitive neural circuits and offers a fresh approach for the development of therapeutic interventions targeting psychosis.

Who is that masked educator? Deconstructing the teaching and learning processes of an innovative humanistic simulation technique

Simulation learning in nursing has long made use of mannequins, standardized actors and role play to allow students opportunity to practice technical body-care skills and interventions. Even though numerous strategies have been developed to mimic or amplify clinical situations, a common problem that is difficult to overcome in even the most well-executed simulation experiences, is that students may realize the setting is artificial and fail to fully engage, remember or apply the learning. Another problem is that students may learn technical competence but remain uncertain about communicating with the person. Since communication capabilities are imperative in human service work, simulation learning that only achieves technical competence in students is not fully effective for the needs of nursing education. Furthermore, while simulation learning is a burgeoning space for innovative practices, it has been criticized for the absence of a basis in theory. It is within this context that an innovative simulation learning experience named "Mask-Ed (KRS simulation)", has been deconstructed and the active learning components examined. Establishing a theoretical basis for creative teaching and learning practices provides an understanding of how, why and when simulation learning has been effective and it may help to distinguish aspects of the experience that could be improved. Three conceptual theoretical fields help explain the power of this simulation technique: Vygotskian sociocultural learning theory, applied theatre and embodiment.