Williams, Robert
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Browsing Williams, Robert by Subject "Biofeedback training"
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- ItemA problem solving approach to visceral learning(1981) Roberts, Larry E.; Williams, Robert J.; Marlin, Richard G.An earlier paper in this series depicted visceral learning as a problem in concept identification in which subjects seek information about the visceral target (Roberts, Williams, Farrell, & Marlin. 1979). Concepts pertaining to this target are based initially upon procedural details of training and are modified as feedback identifies instances of the desired response. Evidence for this view was sought by examining verbal reports for the information about target responding that is presumably the product of a concept identification process. Accurate self-report was observed when subjects were successfully trained to produce either: 1) an increase and decrease in heart rate, or 2) lateralized changes (L > R and R> L) in skin conductance. Control of the response in the absence of accurate self-report was not observed in either training condition. The present paper describes an extended framework for the study of learning mechanisms. In this approach, a task statement is assumed to establish a problem space within which visceral learning proceeds. Major components of this space include: 1) a representation of task objectives. 2) initial concepts concerning effective strategies derived from the task statement and the subject's personal history, and 3) a processing system which is organized to acquire information about the response from feedback events. The processing system is seen as a construction which is determined uniquely for each learning procedure by processing requirements that are implicit in problem structure. The system organizes memory to receive information about the response and codes this information in a manner appropriate for production of the target in accordance with performance requirements of the task. This analysis suggested that within-subject training for two visceral targets with a transfer requirement (as in Roberts et al., 1979) might have favored identification of differences rather than similarities between the targets and encoding in a manner appropriate for recall without feedback as a retrieval cue. Consequently accurate self-report was assessed as a function of forewarning of transfer when subjects were trained to produce a single target alone. The purpose was to determine whether a problem-solving approach might identify processing conditions that favor veridical self-report following training on a feedback task. (Supported by A0132 from NSERC of Canada)
- ItemVisceral learning as concept identification(Blackwell Publishing, 1980-05) Roberts, Larry E.; Williams, Robert J.; Farrell, V. T.; Keleher, B.; Marlin, Richard G.Visceral learning may be depicted as a process in which subjects seek information about the behavioral goal. Concepts of this goal are based initially upon procedural details of training and are modified as feedback identifies instances of the target response. This approach was assessed by determining whether subjects were capable of describing activities associated with the visceral target after feedback training. Two groups were given visual feedback for changes in heart rate (HR) or lateralized skin conductance (LSC). The two visceral targets within each group (HR: inc/dec; LSC: L>R/R>L) were designated as Response A and Response B. Production of the response on A and B trials in the presence (Training) and absence (Transfer) of feedback was measured. After a one-hour session subjects were asked, without prior notification, to provide written reports describing what they did to control feedback on A and B trials. Awareness of the response was assessed by determining whether judges given the reports successfully identified the visceral target which was required on A and B trials for each subject. Awareness of activities related to feedback was also assessed by quantitative scales completed by the subjects after the written report. Awareness of the response was demonstrated on identification tasks for each experimental condition (HR and LSC). Furthermore, awareness (measured as probability ofcorrect identification) was significantly correlated with performance during Training and Transfer in the HR oroup, but this relationship was obtained only for Transfer in the LSC condition. Transfer without awareness was not observed in either group. Scale ratings did not differ between the visceral targets in either training condition. However, awareness was confirmed by significant correlations between these ratings and visceral performance for Training and Transfer in the HR group and for Transfer in the LSC group. These findings suggest that veridical concepts of the behavioral goal are formed during visceral learning. The concept-formation process appears important to Transfer but does not fully explain performance on feedback trials in the LSC experiment. (Supported by A0132 from NSERC of Canada)
- ItemVisceral learning as problem solving(North Holland, 1982) Roberts, Larry E.; Marlin, Richard G.; Keleher, B.; Williams, Robert J.One purpose of this paper is to describe some experiments that have examined what subjects learn about a visceral target as a consequence of training on a feedback task. Initially this research was undertaken to explore the proposition (implicit in Brcner, 1974a) that control of the viscera is possible only when subjects have learned to recognize events associated with the production of target behavior. Subsequent efforts to explain current findings have led us to employ a tentative theoretical framework for the study of learning mechanisms that bears greater resemblance to analyses of human problem solving than to motor skills and other models that currently dominate the visceral learning literature (Schwartz and Beatty, 1977). A second purpose of this paper is to briefly describe this framework.