Effects of grammar instruction and fluency training on the learning of the and a by native speakers of japanese.

In a computer-assisted sentence completion task, the effects of grammar instruction and fluency training on learning the use of the definite and indefinite articles of English were examined. Forty-eight native Japanese-speaking students were assigned to four groups: with grammar/accuracy (G/A), without grammar/accuracy (N/A), with grammar/fluency (G/F), and without grammar/fluency (N/F). In the G/A and N/A groups, training continued until performance reached 100% accuracy (accuracy criterion). In the G/F and N/F groups, training continued until 100% accuracy was reached and the correct responses were made at a high speed (fluency criterion). Grammar instruction was given to participants in the G/A and G/F groups but not to those in the N/A and N/F groups. Generalization to new sentences was tested immediately after reaching the required criterion. High levels of generalization occurred, regardless of the type of mastery criterion and whether the grammar instruction was given. Retention tests were conducted 4, 6, and 8 weeks after training. Fluency training effectively improved retention of the performance attained without the grammar instruction. This effect was diminished when grammar instruction was given during training. Learning grammatical rules was not necessary for the generalized use of appropriate definite and indefinite articles or for the maintenance of the performance attained through fluency training.

Angiotensinergic modulation of osmotic activation of neurosecretory neurons.

Extracellular recordings were obtained from 34 phasically active neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of male rats under urethane anesthesia. Intracarotid injections of hypertonic saline (0.2 M NaCl solution, 0.05 ml) caused an increase in neuronal activity of 27 PVN cells. Pretreatment with saralasin (Sar, 10(-10) M), a specific angiotensin II (ANG II) antagonist, into the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) diminished the excitatory response to the osmotic stimulation in 13 of 17 cells tested. Pretreatment with Sar in the vicinity of the MnPO or the third ventricle did not cause a marked change. These results suggest that the ANGergic system in the MnPO could contribute to the mechanism of osmotic activation of PVN neurosecretory cells.

A1 noradrenergic modulation of AV3V inputs to PVN neurosecretory cells.

Phasically active neurosecretory neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of urethane-anesthetized rats displayed orthodromic excitation, inhibition or no response following electrical stimulation of the anteroventral third ventricle (AV3V) region, and exhibited orthodromic excitation or no response following electrical stimulation of the A1 noradrenergic region of the ventrolateral medulla. Of the 14 neurons that responded to both the stimuli, A1 region stimulation at the subthreshold current significantly enhanced the excitation induced by AV3V region stimulation, and the enhancement was abolished by iontophoretically applied phentolamine, an alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist, but not by timolol, a beta-adrenoceptor antagonist. These results suggest that A1 noradrenergic projections may act to potentiate the excitatory inputs from the AV3V region to vasopressinergic PVN neurons through alpha-adrenoceptor mechanisms.

Subfornical organ efferents enhance extracellular noradrenaline concentrations in the median preoptic area in rats.

The present study was carried out to examine whether angiotensinergic pathways from the subfornical organ (SFO) regulate the noradrenergic system in the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO). Intracerebral microdialysis techniques were used to quantify the extracellular concentration of noradrenaline (NA) in the MnPO area. In urethane-anesthetized male rats, electrical stimulation (5-20 Hz, 0.6 mA) of the SFO significantly increased the NA concentration in the MnPO area, and the increase was significantly diminished by pretreatment with the angiotensin II (ANG II) antagonist saralasin (Sar; 5 microg), into the third ventricle (3V). Injections of ANG II (5 microg) into the 3V significantly enhanced NA release in the MnPO area. The data imply that the angiotensinergic pathways from the SFO to the MnPO may act to enhance NA release in the MnPO area.

Ascending pathways from the nucleus of the solitary tract to the subfornical organ in the rat.

Electrical stimulation of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) produced orthodromic excitation (n = 28, 15%) and inhibition (n = 6, 4%) of the activity of neurons in the subfornical organ (SFO) in male rats under urethane anesthesia. Almost all (n = 26) of the excitatory responses (n = 28) were blocked by microiontophoretically applied phentolamine, an alpha-adrenergic antagonist, but not by timolol, a beta-adrenergic antagonist. In contrast, the inhibitory response of all the neurons (n = 6) tested was not affected by either phentolamine or timolol. Approximately two-third (n = 19) of SFO neurons that demonstrated the excitatory response to NTS stimulation exhibited an increase in neuronal activity in response to hemorrhage (10 ml/kg b.w.t.). Hemorrhage did not cause any change in the activity of all the neurons that demonstrated the inhibitory response to NTS stimulation. These results suggest that the excitatory pathways from the NTS to the SFO may transmit the peripheral baroreceptor information through alpha-adrenoreceptor mechanisms.

The relationship between pronunciation and listening discrimination when Japanese natives are learning English.

Two Japanese students were taught to pronounce and discriminate English words that contain unfamiliar phonemic contrasts (e.g., rock and lock). Teaching pronunciation was found to be easier than teaching listening discrimination. Teaching listening discrimination resulted in collateral improvement in pronunciation and, to a lesser extent, vice versa.

An analysis of concept learning: simple conceptual control and definition-based conceptual control.

Concept learning can involve either contingency shaping of stimulus-class discriminations or the application of definitions of the concepts. Experimental behavior analysts have studied contingency shaping, whereas educational psychologists have studied definitional concept training. In this paper, we analyze definition-based concept learning in terms of stimulus-response chains. Then we apply this chaining analysis to principles of instruction proposed by educational psychologists. These principles include (a) stating the definition in terms of critical and variable attributes, (b) using examples and nonexamples, (c) using a rational set of examples and nonexamples, (d) presenting coordinate concepts simultaneously, and (e) presenting the next instance based on the learner's previous error.

[Schedule sensitivity in human operant behavior: instructed versus shaped verbal behavior].

Presses on left and right buttons by undergraduate students occasionally produced points exchangeable for money, according to a multiple random-ratio random-interval schedule. During interruptions in the schedule, the subjects were required to fill out sentence-completion guess sheets about how they should press the buttons to gain the points available. Three of six subjects were instructed about the rules of button pressing (the instructed group), whereas the others received no instructions but their guesses were shaped with differential points also worth money (the shaped group). The schedule was changed so that button pressing relying on the instructed or shaped rules substantially decreased the available points in the contact condition but not in the no-contact condition. A schedule change in the no-contact condition produced no performance change in either groups. In the contact condition, shaped group subjects showed a performance change, whereas instructed group subjects did not until they temporarily encountered an extinction schedule. When the no-contact condition was reintroduced, sensitive responding occurred in the shaped group but not in the instructed group suggesting that prior experience in the contact condition increased the schedule sensitivity of the shaped group. The findings clearly demonstrated that responding was more sensitive to schedule changes when the rules were shaped than when they were instructed.