CISAB | Jeffrey R. Alberts

C E N T E R F O R T H E I N T E G R A T I V E S T U D Y O F A N I M A L B E H A V I O R

Jeffrey R. Alberts
Abstracts of Selected Publications

Alberts (1994) | Flory et al. (1997) | Gerrish & Alberts (1997)
Ph.D. Abstract | Curriculum vitae

Jeffrey R. Alberts. 1994. Learning as adaptation of the infant. Acta Paediatricia (Suppl. 39):77-85.

ABSTRACT
The present report advocates an adaptive, ecological approach to the study of learning in infants. Concepts of developmental niche and ontogenetic adaptation are applied to early mammalian development. Within this conceptual framework, it is asserted that learning cannot be fully understood separately from a behaving body; that learning is a dimension of behavior and physiology. The role of learning in the development of ingestive behavior, especially suckling and the transition to solid food, is used to illustrate the potential of studying learning in development. These considerations are offered as examples of an alternative approach to the empirical study of learning by infants. The approach advocated herein can be applied to clinical issues; developmental adaptations evolved in contexts that differ from our modern environments. Exposure to contexts or contingencies that are evolutionarily unexpected may inadvertently create pathology.

Graham S. Flory, Cynthia M. Langley, John F. Pfister, and Jeffrey R. Alberts. 1997. Instrumental learning for a thermal reinforcer in 1-day-old rats. Developmental Psychobiology 30:41-47.

ABSTRACT
One-day-old rats in a cool environment (25° C) quickly acquired an instrumental response when rewarded with a 20-s warming of the platform (from 25° C to 36° C) on which they lay. The instrumental response, turning the head to one side, was learned within 30 min after the thermal contingency began and extinguished when the contingency was reversed. This experiment demonstrates rapid operant learning by neonates in a task that does not contain a Pavlovian stimulus-reinforcer contingency. The novel experimental method has wide applicability in psychology and neuroscience.
© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Carolyn J. Gerrish and Jeffrey R. Alberts. 1997. Postsuckling behavioral arousal in weanling rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of Comparative Psychology 111: 37-49.

ABSTRACT
Twenty-day-old litters and their dams were observed in seminatural habitats consisting of a nest compartment and adjacent open field that contained powered rat chow. It was found that pups displayed marked bursts of activity after suckling. Independent feeding reliably followed nursing bout termination (Experiment 1). Nipple withdrawal, with or without mild transfer, induced behavioral arousal whereas withdrawal of thermotactile and conspecific odor cures did not (Experiments 2-3). Increased thermogenesis was observed following mild transfer (Experiment 4). Finally, postweanling pups (10- to 12-day-olds) also displayed postsuckling arousal within the confines of the nest; full locomotor expression of this arousal was not evident until weaning age (Experiment 5). It was concluded that postsuckling arousal in weanlings functions to stimulate activities performed away from the nest and suckling, propelling pups into the field where feeding begins.
© 1997 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.

P h. D.
Jeffrey R. Alberts. 1974. Sensory Controls and Physiological Regulations of Huddling in the Developing Rat. Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University.

| Alberts (1994)

| Flory et al. (1997)

| Gerrish & Alberts (1997)

| Ph.D. Abstract

| Psychology Alberts Page

| Curriculum vitae

| PubMed search for JR Alberts publications

Jeffrey R. Alberts
alberts@indiana.edu

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