Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Law of Effect

Law of Effect

B.F. Skinner, a prominent figure in behavioral psychology, introduced operant conditioning by emphasizing the role of consequences in shaping behavior. This theory builds upon the law of effect proposed by Edward Thorndike, which posits that behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are likely to be repeated. In contrast, those followed by unsatisfying outcomes are less likely to recur.
Edward Thorndike's foundational work involved studying learning in animals, particularly using puzzle boxes...

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

In operant conditioning, the timing of reinforcement is crucial. For animals like rats and cats, immediate reinforcement (within a few seconds) is much more effective than delayed reinforcement. For example, a food reward for a rat needs to follow within 30 seconds of pressing a bar to be effective.
Humans, however, can respond to delayed reinforcers. We often make decisions between immediate small rewards and delayed larger rewards. This ability to delay gratification is a significant factor...

Observational Learning

Observational Learning

Albert Bandura's observational learning, also known as imitation or modeling, occurs when a person observes and imitates another's behavior. It is a quicker process than operant conditioning. A well-known example is the Bobo doll study, where children who saw an adult acting aggressively towards the doll were more likely to act aggressively when left alone, compared to those who observed a nonaggressive adult. Many psychologists view observational learning as a form of latent learning because...

Associative Learning

Associative Learning

Associative learning is a fundamental concept in behavioral psychology, wherein a connection is established between two stimuli or events, leading to a learned response. This process is critical in understanding how behaviors are acquired and modified. Conditioning, the mechanism through which associations are formed, can be divided into two main types: classical conditioning and operant conditioning, each elucidating different aspects of associative learning.
Classical conditioning, also known...

Long-term Potentiation

Long-term Potentiation

Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre- and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.

Long-term Potentiation

Long-term Potentiation

Long-term potentiation, or LTP, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTP is the process of synaptic strengthening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic strengthening of LTP works in opposition to the synaptic weakening of long-term depression (LTD) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when presynaptic neurons...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Encoding neural representations of time-continuous stimulus-response transformations in the human brain with advanced deep neural networks.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2026

Same author

Probing the causal contribution of premotor and parietal cortex in habit formation and expression.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026

Same author

Advances in deep reinforcement learning enable better predictions of human behavior in time-continuous tasks.

PloS one·2025

Same author

Implementation and recognition of novel negatively instructed stimulus-response rules.

Psychological research·2025

Same author

Exploring the link between anticipatory outcome encoding in the brain and goal-directed behavior during outcome devaluation.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2025

Same author

Progressive Changes Between Thalamic Nuclei and Cortical Networks Across Stimulus-Response Learning.

Human brain mapping·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Recording Single Neurons' Action Potentials from Freely Moving Pigeons Across Three Stages of Learning

Recording Single Neurons' Action Potentials from Freely Moving Pigeons Across Three Stages of Learning

Published on: June 2, 2014

On the timescale of stimulus-based action-effect learning.

Uta Wolfensteller¹, Hannes Ruge

¹Neuroimaging Center, Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. uta.wolfensteller@tu-dresden.de

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)

|March 19, 2011

Summary

Response (R)-effect (E) learning rapidly forms within 12 stimulus-response-effect repetitions in a stimulus-based mode. Complete consistency between stimulus, response, and effect appears crucial for initial R-E association development.

More Related Videos

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task

Published on: June 1, 2015

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

Published on: May 3, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Recording Single Neurons' Action Potentials from Freely Moving Pigeons Across Three Stages of Learning

Recording Single Neurons' Action Potentials from Freely Moving Pigeons Across Three Stages of Learning

Published on: June 2, 2014

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task

Published on: June 1, 2015

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

Published on: May 3, 2018

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Learning Sciences
Neuroscience

Background:

Response (R)-effect (E) learning describes the association between actions and their outcomes.
Understanding the timescale and conditions for incidental R-E learning is crucial for cognitive models.
Previous research has not fully elucidated the rapid formation of R-E associations in stimulus-based acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate incidental R-E learning within a stimulus (S)-based acquisition mode.
To determine the minimum number of stimulus-response-effect (S-R-E) repetitions required for stable R-E associations.
To examine the role of S-E and R-E associations and S-R-E consistency in R-E learning.

Main Methods:

Utilized a forced-choice, stimulus-based acquisition paradigm.
Assessed R-E learning through effect-based response priming in a subsequent test phase.
Conducted three experiments with varying S-R-E mappings and repetition counts (e.g., 2-2-2, 4-2-4) and S-R-E consistency levels.

Main Results:

R-E learning was confirmed to occur in a stimulus-based action mode.
Stable R-E associations formed rapidly, requiring as few as 12 S-R-E repetitions.
Complete S-R-E consistency appeared relevant for R-E learning during the initial phase.

Conclusions:

R-E learning is a rapid process that can occur incidentally in a stimulus-based context.
The formation of R-E associations is highly efficient, emerging after minimal exposure.
Initial R-E learning is sensitive to the consistency of the stimulus-response-effect relationship.