|
| SQAB Tutorial: Dynamics of Response: Uninterrupted Measurement of the Behavior Stream |
| Saturday, May 29, 2010 |
| 1:00 PM–1:50 PM |
| 007CD (CC) |
| Area: EAB/BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Presenting Authors: : STEPHEN FOWLER (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: This tutorial will show 1) how the behavior analytic reach of operant conditioning methods can be increased by examining force, duration, and time integral of force (effort) of individual operant responses and 2) will describe a non-video method (i.e., force-plate actometer as the floor of an operant chamber) for tracking and otherwise quantifying behaviors that occur during interresponse times. Measurement of operant response force, duration and effort introduces new levels of complexity and apparatus considerations that are not present when responses are treated as intermittent, dimensionless events. These issues will be addressed in the context of selected behavioral pharmacology experiments with emphasis on drugs that affect brain dopamine systems. Tracking and measuring drug-induced behaviors with a force-plate as the floor of an operant chamber will be illustrated in two different paradigms: 1) rats self-administering cocaine and 2) rats performing on a 72-s differential reinforcement of low rate schedule of reinforcement under baseline and amphetamine-treatment conditions. Recent pertinent work conducted between the writing of this abstract and the convening of the annual meeting may also be described. |
| |
| STEPHEN FOWLER (University of Kansas) |
 In 1966, Stephen C. Fowler received his BS in Mathematics and Physics (undeclared major in Psychology) from the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa). That same year he joined the laboratory of Joseph Notterman at Princeton University and earned a doctorate in Experimental Psychology in 1970. Notterman received his Ph.D. from Columbia and worked closely with both Keller and Schoenfeld. Notterman and collaborator Don Mintz are remembered for their pioneering work on the force, duration, and time integral of force (effort) of operant responses as complementary to the response rate variable. In 1973, Dr. Fowler joined the Psychology Department at the University of Mississippi. While there, he built his laboratory, served a 3.5-yr term as department chair, and received several awards, including being named an “F.A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor.” He moved to the University of Kansas in 1994 to accept appointments in Human Development and the Life Span Institute. Since 2002, his home academic department has been Pharmacology and Toxicology (where “molecular” is not a metaphor). Fowler has spent much of his research time developing the use of force measurements in biobehavioral research, especially in behavioral pharmacology and behavioral neuroscience. Dr. Fowler has authored/coauthored, with dozens of collaborators, over 120 refereed publications, and has enjoyed nearly continuous NIH research support (his current NIMH grant is in its 21st consecutive year). |
|
| |