Behavioural and neural correlates of operant conditioning in Lymnaea stagnalis : role of previous experience during development /

The freshwater mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis was utilized in this study to further the understanding of how network properties change as a result of associative learning, and to determine whether or not this plasticity is dependent on previous experience during development. The respiratory and neural correlates of operant conditioning were first determined in normally reared Lymnaea. The same procedure was then applied to differentially reared Lymnaea, that is, animals that had never experienced aerial respiration during their development. The aim was to determine whether these animals would demonstrate the same responses to the training paradigm. In normally reared animals, a behavioural reduction in aerial respiration was accompanied by numerous changes within the neural network. Specifically, I provide evidence of changes at the level of the respiratory central pattern generator and the motor output. In the differentially reared animals, there was little behavioural data to suggest learning and memory. There were, however, significant differences in the network parameters, similar to those observed in normally reared animals. This demonstrated an effect of operant conditioning on differentially reared animals. In this thesis, I have identified additional correlates of operant conditioning in normally reared animals and provide evidence of associative learning in differentially reared animals. I conclude plasticity is not dependent on previous experience, but is rather ontogenetically programmed within the neural network.

Experiential learning instruments : an examination of the concept of the instrumental approach in experiential learning

Experiential Learning Instruments (ELls) are employed to modify the leamer's apprehension and / or comprehension in experiential learning situations, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of those modalities in the learning process. They involve the learner in reciprocally interactive and determining transactions with his/her environment. Experiential Learning Instruments are used to keep experiential learning a process rather than an object. Their use is aimed at the continual refinement of the learner's knowledge and skill. Learning happens as the leamer's awareness, directed by the use of Ells, comes to experience, monitor and then use experiential feedback from living situations in a way that facilitates knmvledge/skill acquisition, self-correction and refinement. The thesis examined the literature relevant to the establishing of a theoretical experiential learning framework within which ELls can be understood. This framework included the concept that some learnings have intrinsic value-knowledge of necessary information-while others have instrumental value-knowledge of how to learn. The Kolb Learning Cycle and Kolb's six characteristics of experiential learning were used in analyzing three ELls from different fields of learning-saxophone tone production, body building and interpersonal communications. The ELls were examined to determine their learning objectives and how they work using experiential learning situations. It was noted that ELls do not transmit information but assist the learner in attending to and comprehending aspects of personal experience. Their function is to telescope the experiential learning process.

Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1884.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1885.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1886.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1888-1889

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1889-1890.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1890-1891.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1892.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1892-1893.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1897.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1896-1897.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1897-1898.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1898-1899.

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Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1899-1900.

Report year irregular.