Learning Sickness


Book Description

Diagnosed at the age of 26, the author spent the next five years coming to terms with how to live with a chronic illness. During that time he fathered two children, earned a Ph.D., accepted his first teaching position, and launched a writing career.




The Biology of Learning


Book Description

P. Marler* and H. S. Terrace** *The Rockefeller University Field Research Center Millbrook, NY 12545 **Dept. of Psychology, Columbia University New York, NY 10027, USA For the first half of this century, theories of animal conditioning were regarded as the most promising approach to the study of learning - both animal and human. For a variety of reasons, disillusionment with this point of view has become widespread during recent years. One prominent source of disenchantment with conditioning theory is a large body of ethological observations of both learned and unlearned natural behavior. These challenge the generality of principles of animal learning as derived from the intensive study of a few species in specialized laboratory situations. From another direction, the complexities of human language acquisition, surely the most impressive of learned achievements, have prompted developmental psychologists to doubt the relevance of principles of animal learning. Even within the realm of traditional studies of animal learning, it has become apparent that no single set of currently available principles can cope with the myriad of new empirical findings. These are emerging at an accelerating rate from studies of such phenomena as selective attention and learning, conditioned food aversion, complex problem solving behavior, and the nature of reinforcement. Not very surprisingly, as a reaction against the long-held but essentially unrealized promise of general theories of learning, many psychologists have asked an obvious question: does learning theory have a future? 2 r. Marler and B. S.




Adaptive Behavior and Learning


Book Description

Summarizes the current state of both theoretical and experimental knowledge about learning in animals.




Chemosensory Learning and Memory


Book Description

The contribution of research in the chemosensory field to advancing knowledge on learning and memory mechanisms has a long tradition. At the middle of the twentieth century, behavioural data provided evidence that taste and olfactory cues led to robust long-lasting memories after single learning episodes. The peculiar features of some of these types of learning, such as conditioned taste aversion in mammals, were a challenge for learning theory at the time, which was modified in order to integrate the new findings. In the following decades, the reliability of the behavioural models favoured the application of anatomical, neurophysiological and pharmacological techniques prompting great progress in the identification of the specific neural circuits involved in taste and olfactory learning, thanks to the use of a variety of invertebrate and vertebrate models. In spite of the previous views that considered chemosensory learning as simple models of learning, based on its phylogenetic and ontogenetic universality, at present the systems-level approach is revealing the need to focus on the interactions between a variety of sensory, rewarding, cognitive, emotional and motor systems for a full understanding. The great impact on the field of the more recent developments in molecular biology and human neuroimaging techniques are also remarkable. Nowadays understanding the brain processes involved in learning and memory requires a wider approach to the experience-dependent neural plasticity that includes new phenomena such as adult neurogenesis and epigenetics. In fact, research on plasticity in the olfactory system is important in both areas. Moreover, the realms of chemosensory learning and memory have expanded to shield light on social, clinical and applied issues, thus creating a wide multidisciplinary scene. In this context, this Research Topic is aimed to offer an updated scene of the present knowledge and questions raised in a rapidly expanding field by gathering views obtained with different species from invertebrate to humans and various techniques.




Motion and Space Sickness


Book Description

This compendium, written by active researchers in the field, encompasses topics ranging from anatomical and physiological subjects, through analyses of stimulus characteristics, prediction of sickness, and consideration of human factors, to pharmacological and behavioral therapeutic measures for terrestrial as well as microgravity travelers. Material often found scattered in diverse journals, paper-bound proceedings of symposia, difficult-to-find laboratory reports, or included with other topics in collections having a diffuse focus, are presented here in one volume dedicated to a single theme. The critical up-to-date- reviews are a first source for researchers and research program managers as well as an essential information source for engineers and practitioners.




The Origins of Health and Disease


Book Description

Some phenomena in medicine and psychology remain unexplained by current theory. Chronic fatigue syndrome, repetitive strain injury and irritable bowel syndrome, for example, are all diseases or syndromes that cannot be explained in terms of a physiological abnormality. In this intriguing book, Michael E. Hyland proposes that there is a currently unrecognised type of illness which he calls 'dysregulatory disease'. Hyland shows how such diseases develop and how the communication and art of medicine, good nursing care, complementary medicine and psychotherapy can all act to reduce the dysregulation that leads to dysregulatory disease. The Origins of Health and Disease is a fascinating book that develops a novel theory for understanding health and disease, and demonstrates how this theory is supported by existing data, and how it explains currently unexplained phenomena. Hyland also shows how his theory leads to new testable predictions that, in turn, will lead to further scientific advancement and development.




Food Aversion Learning


Book Description

During the past 10 years, the study of learned aversions to foods has become one of the most' 'popular" areas of research in animal psychology. Learned aversions to foods are typically produced in the laboratory by first allowing an animal to eat (or drink) some distinctively novel substance and then making the animal' 'ill" in some way, most frequently by either giving it an injection of some "illness" -producing drug such as lithium chloride or by exposing it to a toxic dose of radiation. When an animal that has been treated in this way is subsequently given another opportunity to ingest the same or a similar substance, one usually observes that it will either totally avoid ingesting the substance or that it will consume less of it than a control animal that was not made ill after previously consuming the same substance. This form of learning has attracted the interest of many researchers because there are two apparently striking differences in the acquisition of food aversions and the acquisition of other types of associative learning.




Lifelong Learning in Action


Book Description

Since the concept of lifelong learning came to prominence much excellent work has been undertaken but, as Professor Longworth's new book shows, major change in some areas is still needed if the concept of learning from cradle to grave is to become a true reality. Using his unique vantage point from consulting with schools, universities, local, governmental and global authorities, Professor Longworth brings the development of lifelong learning bang up-to-date with a complete survey of the principles of lifelong learning including examples from around the world and crucial information on the impact of lifelong learning on 21st century schools.




Learning to be Old


Book Description

In the second edition of Learning to Be Old, Margaret Cruikshank examines the social construction of aging, especially women's aging, from a number of different angles: medical, economic, cultural, and political. Featuring new research and analysis, expanded sections on gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender aging and critical gerontology, and an updated chapter on feminist gerontology, the second edition even more thoroughly than the first looks at the variety of different forces affecting the progress of aging. Through it all, we learn a better way to inhabit our age whatever it is.




Medical Education: Theory and Practice E-Book


Book Description

Medical Education: Theory and Practice is a new text linking the theory and the practice for graduate students and educators who want to go beyond the basics. The scholarship of medical education is, above all, a ‘practice’, but one that has a strong theoretical foundation. Neither theory nor practice stand still, and both are grounded in research. The novelty of this book lies in its interweaving of practice, theory, innovation and research. The book starts with a theorised, contemporary overview of the field. Next, it explores the theoretical foundations of medical education in depth. The remainder of the book reviews a whole a range of educational contexts, processes and outcomes. This work has been edited by a distinguished, international team of medical educationalists and written by equally accomplished authors from across the globe representing a spectrum of disciplines. This will be an invaluable text for all Masters Students in health professions education as well as PhD students and education researchers wanting a background to the discipline. Educators and medical students will also find it a very useful resource. Written by key figures in medical educational research combined with a strong editorial influence from the international editorial team. The text has a strong evidence-based approach that is fully cognisant of research methodology issues, The book provides a scholarly explanation on the topic, rather than aiming to say the last word. Written throughout in a clear and comprehensible style. The content is extensively referenced with additional suggestions for further reading.