Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Timing and Consequences on Behavior01:08

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

292
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...
292
Instinctive Drift01:05

Instinctive Drift

564
Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of animals to revert to their innate behaviors despite repeated reinforcement. Breland and Breland demonstrated this concept in an experiment with a raccoon. The raccoon was trained to pick up two coins and place them in a container in exchange for food. Initially, the raccoon learned to associate the coins with food, making them a conditioned stimulus or a substitute for food. However, over time, the raccoon became less willing to put the coins into the...
564
Sign Test for Matched Pairs01:17

Sign Test for Matched Pairs

351
The sign test for matched pairs offers a robust method for comparing two paired samples, often for the effects of an intervention in one of them. This method is very useful in situations where the underlying distribution of the data is unknown. The test compares two related samples—often pre- and post-treatment measurements on the same subjects—to determine if there are significant differences in their median values.
To conduct the sign test, we first calculate the differences in...
351
Behavior Modification01:21

Behavior Modification

481
Behavioral approaches have often been criticized for ignoring mental processes and focusing solely on observable behavior. However, these approaches provide an optimistic perspective for individuals seeking to change their behaviors. Rather than concentrating on intrinsic personality traits, behavioral approaches suggest that even longstanding habits can be modified by changing the reward contingencies that maintain them.
A real-world application of operant conditioning principles is applied...
481
Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior01:28

Automatic Processing and Automatic Social Behavior

172
Automatic processing refers to the cognitive operations that occur without conscious intent or awareness, playing a fundamental role in shaping social cognition and behavior. These processes enable individuals to navigate complex social environments efficiently by relying on mental shortcuts and pre-existing knowledge structures known as schemas. One of the most influential mechanisms underlying automatic processing is priming, which subtly activates mental representations through exposure to...
172
Naturalistic Observations02:30

Naturalistic Observations

16.9K
If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
16.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

M-PACT leverages cell-free DNA methylomes to achieve robust classification of pediatric brain tumors.

Nature cancer·2026
Same author

Phasic dopamine encodes persistent attraction to reward cues.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

The Medulloblastoma Meta-Analysis Portal Enables Integrative Exploration of Clinical and Genomic Data from Patients.

Cancer research·2025
Same author

Lack of evidence for the transitional cerebellar progenitor.

Nature·2025
Same author

Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 primes group-3 medulloblastomas for cuproptosis.

Cancer cell·2025
Same author

Optogenetic Mapping of Rhythmic Phase-Dependent Excitability in the Mouse Striatum.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 26, 2025

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats
06:57

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Published on: February 4, 2016

11.4K

Sign-tracking behavior is sensitive to outcome devaluation in a devaluation context-dependent manner: implications

Kenneth A Amaya1, Jeffrey J Stott1, Kyle S Smith1

  • 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA.

Learning & Memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.)
|March 18, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Sign-tracking (ST) behavior is sensitive to outcome devaluation, but only when the devaluation context transfers to the testing environment. This suggests that the persistence of ST after outcome devaluation depends on the true devaluation of the outcome within the task context.

More Related Videos

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats
13:24

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats

Published on: September 19, 2014

13.2K
A System for Tracking the Dynamics of Social Preference Behavior in Small Rodents
08:38

A System for Tracking the Dynamics of Social Preference Behavior in Small Rodents

Published on: November 21, 2019

8.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 26, 2025

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats
06:57

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Published on: February 4, 2016

11.4K
A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats
13:24

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats

Published on: September 19, 2014

13.2K
A System for Tracking the Dynamics of Social Preference Behavior in Small Rodents
08:38

A System for Tracking the Dynamics of Social Preference Behavior in Small Rodents

Published on: November 21, 2019

8.0K

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral neuroscience
  • Learning and memory
  • Decision-making

Background:

  • Incentive salience describes how attractive cues drive behavior, serving as a model for drug seeking and relapse.
  • A key question is whether cue pursuit relates to outcome value or becomes habitual.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if reinforcer devaluation via conditioned taste aversion modifies sign-tracking (ST) behavior in rats.
  • To determine if this modification depends on the context of devaluation.

Main Methods:

  • Rats were trained using a sign-tracking (ST) paradigm where a lever predicted food reward.
  • Conditioned taste aversion was used for reinforcer devaluation.
  • The transfer of taste aversion to the testing context was manipulated.

Main Results:

  • ST behavior was sensitive to reinforcer devaluation when taste aversion transferred to the testing context.
  • When taste aversion did not transfer, ST remained high.
  • Outcome devaluation's effect on ST was contingent on the congruence of learning and testing contexts.

Conclusions:

  • Sign-tracking (ST) is sensitive to outcome devaluation, but context is critical.
  • The persistence of ST after devaluation is linked to the degree of outcome devaluation in the specific task context.
  • Findings reconcile conflicting reports on the flexibility/inflexibility of ST and inform the study of habits.