Andrew Velkey - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Andrew Velkey

Perceptual and Motor Skills, Feb 1, 2000

The effect of pencil lead diameter on the completion time of a multiple-choice response sheet was... more The effect of pencil lead diameter on the completion time of a multiple-choice response sheet was examined. Participants used three pencil lead diameters (.5 mm, .9 mm, and a standard No. 2 pencil) to fill in “bubbles” on response sheets in one experiment; a .7-mm pencil was substituted for the No. 2 pencil in Exp. 2. Participants using a .5-mm pencil completed response sheets more slowly than when using a 7-mm, .9-mm, or a No. 2 pencil.

CRC Press eBooks, Apr 28, 2009

Appetite, Sep 1, 2013

How food tastes plays a key role in our food choices and eating behavior, with important implicat... more How food tastes plays a key role in our food choices and eating behavior, with important implications for health and nutrition. The negative relationship of genetically predisposed sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and food preferences for bitter, creamy, and spicy foods, and alcohol is often reported in both scholarly and popular literature. Our review of research indicates the empirical results are far from conclusive. We conducted a questionnaire-based study to examine enjoyment ratings for 12 foods and beverages often reported to be disliked by PROP supertasters. We measured PROP ratings on the modified gLMS scale and administered a questionnaire to assess food preferences of a sample of 139 college undergraduates. Analysis of variance showed no significant group differences between supertasters, medium tasters, and nontasters in ratings of how much they liked brussels sprouts, raw broccoli, cabbage, spinach, black coffee, dark chocolate, crushed red pepper, jalapenos, chili peppers, red wine, beer, creamy salad dressing, or mayonnaise. Preferences for only two foods out of twelve, dark chocolate and chili peppers, had a significant correlation with PROP sensitivity in the predicted negative direction. While statistically significant, these correlations were low and of little practical significance. The role of culture in shaping attitudes toward food is proposed as a more powerful influence than the genetic factors that relate to PROP sensitivity.

Psychopharmacology, Oct 1, 2002

Rationale: The generalized matching law predicts that the relative rate of behavior maintained by... more Rationale: The generalized matching law predicts that the relative rate of behavior maintained by different reinforcers will match the relative rate of reinforcement. It has previously been shown that responding maintained by either food deliveries or cocaine injections under concurrent variable-interval (conc VI) schedules is well described by the generalized matching law. However, the generality of this conclusion to the choice between a drug and a non-drug reinforcer has not been well established. Objective: The objective of the present study was to determine the extent to which the generalized matching law could account for choice between cocaine and food. Methods: Four male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) lever pressed under various pairs of conc VI schedules with food and/or cocaine injection as the maintaining events. Two doses of cocaine (0.025 and 0.05 mg/kg per injection) were selected to provide information about reinforcer magnitude. Results: As has been found in a context of choice between identical reinforcers, the generalized matching law accounted for most behavior. As in earlier studies with identical reinforcers, there was less responding apportioned to the alternative with the greater reinforcement frequency than predicted by the generalized matching law, i.e., undermatching was observed frequently. There was a tendency for more responding to be emitted toward the food alternative when the lower dose of cocaine was available and toward the drug alternative when the higher dose of cocaine was available. Conclusion: These results suggest that, as proposed by the generalized matching law, relative reinforcement rate is an important determinant of choice between a drug and a non-drug reinforcer.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2006

The authors also acknowledge Clare Eng and Camilla Chan for their excellent research assistance i... more The authors also acknowledge Clare Eng and Camilla Chan for their excellent research assistance in the collection and coding of the Project data. We also wish to thank the many Chapter 13 trustees, chief bankruptcy judges, bankruptcy court clerks, and regional United States Trustees in the seven judicial districts included in the Project for their assistance in collecting and reviewing the Project data.

Appetite, 2013

How food tastes plays a key role in our food choices and eating behavior, with important implicat... more How food tastes plays a key role in our food choices and eating behavior, with important implications for health and nutrition. The negative relationship of genetically predisposed sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and food preferences for bitter, creamy, and spicy foods, and alcohol is often reported in both scholarly and popular literature. Our review of research indicates the empirical results are far from conclusive. We conducted a questionnaire-based study to examine enjoyment ratings for 12 foods and beverages often reported to be disliked by PROP supertasters. We measured PROP ratings on the modified gLMS scale and administered a questionnaire to assess food preferences of a sample of 139 college undergraduates. Analysis of variance showed no significant group differences between supertasters, medium tasters, and nontasters in ratings of how much they liked brussels sprouts, raw broccoli, cabbage, spinach, black coffee, dark chocolate, crushed red pepper, jalapenos, chili peppers, red wine, beer, creamy salad dressing, or mayonnaise. Preferences for only two foods out of twelve, dark chocolate and chili peppers, had a significant correlation with PROP sensitivity in the predicted negative direction. While statistically significant, these correlations were low and of little practical significance. The role of culture in shaping attitudes toward food is proposed as a more powerful influence than the genetic factors that relate to PROP sensitivity.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) share a considerable amount of biological similarity with mammals, includ... more Zebrafish (Danio rerio) share a considerable amount of biological similarity with mammals, including identical or homologous gene expression pathways, neurotransmitters, hormones, and cellular receptors. Zebrafish also display complex social behaviors like shoaling and schooling, making them an attractive model for investigating normal social behavior as well as exploring impaired social function conditions such as autism spectrum disorders. Newly-formed and established shoals exhibit distinct behavior patterns and inter-member interactions that can convey the group’s social stability. We used a three-chamber open-swim preference test to determine whether individual zebrafish show a preference for an established shoal over a newly-formed shoal. Results indicated that both sexes maintained greater proximity to arena zones nearest to the established shoal stimulus. In addition, we report the novel application of Shannon entropy to discover sex differences in systematicity of responses...

Most of the work still to be done in science and the useful arts is precisely that which needs kn... more Most of the work still to be done in science and the useful arts is precisely that which needs knowledge and cooperation of many scientists and disciplines. That is why it is necessary for scientists and technologists in different disciplines to meet and work together, even those in branches of knowledge which seem to have least relation and connection with one another. Antoine Lavoisier, 1793 Once science was the nearly exclusive province of the lone researcher. Now scientists from disparate fields glean grains of knowledge that when combined may address important societal problems and complex scientific questions. Individuals still must master their respective fields, but their contributions within teams assembled to transcend disciplines increasingly add to the whole to make it greater than the sum of the parts. Worldwide, scientific research has taken a new approach to discover and apply knowledge from many seemingly unrelated disciplines to create completely new research and pr...

An experiment was conducted in which choices for various effort requirements were examined. It wa... more An experiment was conducted in which choices for various effort requirements were examined. It was hypothesized that the lowest effort condition possible would be selected in any given choice situation.. . Subjects were four, adult Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) with some prior video experience but naive to effort manipulations. Subjects foraged in a computer-generated video environment on an analog joystick which allowed for measurement of sub-and supra-threshold responding with effort: defined as the tangential force applied to the end of the joystick (e.g., 0.9, 2.7, and 4.1 Kg). Subjects made choices among pairings of icons representing the three levels of effort. Each subject experienced a corresponding level of effort following a choice condition. The results, as a whole, indicate the effort requirements were discriminable to the subjects as all subjects reliably chose the lowest effort condition possible in any given pairing. Supra-threshold responding was greatest m the low-effort condition and sub threshold responding was greatest in the high-effort condition. Subjects' responses closely corresponded with the requirements in the medium-effort condition. These results indicate that researchers investigating the effects of effort: requirements on behavior should include sub-and supra-threshold responding in their preparations. These findings demonstrate the ability of Rhesus monkeys to make reliable choices based on effort.

Cognitive Technology Journal

The Rogers, Howard, and Vessey (1993) method for testing equivalency between groups uses standard... more The Rogers, Howard, and Vessey (1993) method for testing equivalency between groups uses standard tests of significance to evaluate nondifference, but the method can be extended to examine similarity at the individual level. The definition of equivalency is extended in the present paper to include 2 separate components: non-difference (at the group level) and similarity (at the individual level). In addition to tests for nondifferences, we recommend testing for heterogeneity of variance, examining the Participant by Treatment interactions, and calculating a correlation coefficient using repeated-measures data to evaluate similarity. Examples of this test of similarity, in conjunction with the Rogers et al. method, are used to test group and individual equivalence to demonstrate the manner in which conclusions can be made about non-difference and similarity.

Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 1995. Includes bibliographical references (leav... more Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 1995. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-36).

csc-studentweb.lr.edu

... to adapt its behavior to environmental reward contingencies (eg, patch quality) is both impor... more ... to adapt its behavior to environmental reward contingencies (eg, patch quality) is both important for survival and a key to understanding the forager's cognitive capacity (Aparicio, 2001; Doughty,Shahan, & Lattal ... Batson, JD, Best, MR, Phillips, DL, Patel, H., & Gilleland, KR (1986 ...

Despite the differences in the response of male Betta splendenstoward various stimuli, no researc... more Despite the differences in the response of male Betta splendenstoward various stimuli, no research has attempted to determine the preference for a live conspecific versus a mirror presentation. A submerged T-maze was used to present both stimuli to healthy male B. splendens(N = 16). The results indicated that subjects' start box and swimway latencies decreased significantly over the 30 trials.

Cognitive Technology Journal

The Rogers, Howard, and Vessey (1993) method for testing equivalency between groups uses standard... more The Rogers, Howard, and Vessey (1993) method for testing equivalency between groups uses standard tests of significance to evaluate nondifference, but the method can be extended to examine similarity at the individual level. The definition of equivalency is extended in the present paper to include 2 separate components: non-difference (at the group level) and similarity (at the individual level). In addition to tests for nondifferences, we recommend testing for heterogeneity of variance, examining the Participant by Treatment interactions, and calculating a correlation coefficient using repeated-measures data to evaluate similarity. Examples of this test of similarity, in conjunction with the Rogers et al. method, are used to test group and individual equivalence to demonstrate the manner in which conclusions can be made about non-difference and similarity.

Despite the differences in the response of male Betta splendenstoward various stimuli, no researc... more Despite the differences in the response of male Betta splendenstoward various stimuli, no research has attempted to determine the preference for a live conspecific versus a mirror presentation. A submerged T-maze was used to present both stimuli to healthy male B. splendens(N = 16). The results indicated that subjects' start box and swimway latencies decreased significantly over the 30 trials.

The Science of Working Dogs, 2009

Perceptual and Motor Skills, Feb 1, 2000

The effect of pencil lead diameter on the completion time of a multiple-choice response sheet was... more The effect of pencil lead diameter on the completion time of a multiple-choice response sheet was examined. Participants used three pencil lead diameters (.5 mm, .9 mm, and a standard No. 2 pencil) to fill in “bubbles” on response sheets in one experiment; a .7-mm pencil was substituted for the No. 2 pencil in Exp. 2. Participants using a .5-mm pencil completed response sheets more slowly than when using a 7-mm, .9-mm, or a No. 2 pencil.

CRC Press eBooks, Apr 28, 2009

Appetite, Sep 1, 2013

How food tastes plays a key role in our food choices and eating behavior, with important implicat... more How food tastes plays a key role in our food choices and eating behavior, with important implications for health and nutrition. The negative relationship of genetically predisposed sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and food preferences for bitter, creamy, and spicy foods, and alcohol is often reported in both scholarly and popular literature. Our review of research indicates the empirical results are far from conclusive. We conducted a questionnaire-based study to examine enjoyment ratings for 12 foods and beverages often reported to be disliked by PROP supertasters. We measured PROP ratings on the modified gLMS scale and administered a questionnaire to assess food preferences of a sample of 139 college undergraduates. Analysis of variance showed no significant group differences between supertasters, medium tasters, and nontasters in ratings of how much they liked brussels sprouts, raw broccoli, cabbage, spinach, black coffee, dark chocolate, crushed red pepper, jalapenos, chili peppers, red wine, beer, creamy salad dressing, or mayonnaise. Preferences for only two foods out of twelve, dark chocolate and chili peppers, had a significant correlation with PROP sensitivity in the predicted negative direction. While statistically significant, these correlations were low and of little practical significance. The role of culture in shaping attitudes toward food is proposed as a more powerful influence than the genetic factors that relate to PROP sensitivity.

Psychopharmacology, Oct 1, 2002

Rationale: The generalized matching law predicts that the relative rate of behavior maintained by... more Rationale: The generalized matching law predicts that the relative rate of behavior maintained by different reinforcers will match the relative rate of reinforcement. It has previously been shown that responding maintained by either food deliveries or cocaine injections under concurrent variable-interval (conc VI) schedules is well described by the generalized matching law. However, the generality of this conclusion to the choice between a drug and a non-drug reinforcer has not been well established. Objective: The objective of the present study was to determine the extent to which the generalized matching law could account for choice between cocaine and food. Methods: Four male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) lever pressed under various pairs of conc VI schedules with food and/or cocaine injection as the maintaining events. Two doses of cocaine (0.025 and 0.05 mg/kg per injection) were selected to provide information about reinforcer magnitude. Results: As has been found in a context of choice between identical reinforcers, the generalized matching law accounted for most behavior. As in earlier studies with identical reinforcers, there was less responding apportioned to the alternative with the greater reinforcement frequency than predicted by the generalized matching law, i.e., undermatching was observed frequently. There was a tendency for more responding to be emitted toward the food alternative when the lower dose of cocaine was available and toward the drug alternative when the higher dose of cocaine was available. Conclusion: These results suggest that, as proposed by the generalized matching law, relative reinforcement rate is an important determinant of choice between a drug and a non-drug reinforcer.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2006

The authors also acknowledge Clare Eng and Camilla Chan for their excellent research assistance i... more The authors also acknowledge Clare Eng and Camilla Chan for their excellent research assistance in the collection and coding of the Project data. We also wish to thank the many Chapter 13 trustees, chief bankruptcy judges, bankruptcy court clerks, and regional United States Trustees in the seven judicial districts included in the Project for their assistance in collecting and reviewing the Project data.

Appetite, 2013

How food tastes plays a key role in our food choices and eating behavior, with important implicat... more How food tastes plays a key role in our food choices and eating behavior, with important implications for health and nutrition. The negative relationship of genetically predisposed sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and food preferences for bitter, creamy, and spicy foods, and alcohol is often reported in both scholarly and popular literature. Our review of research indicates the empirical results are far from conclusive. We conducted a questionnaire-based study to examine enjoyment ratings for 12 foods and beverages often reported to be disliked by PROP supertasters. We measured PROP ratings on the modified gLMS scale and administered a questionnaire to assess food preferences of a sample of 139 college undergraduates. Analysis of variance showed no significant group differences between supertasters, medium tasters, and nontasters in ratings of how much they liked brussels sprouts, raw broccoli, cabbage, spinach, black coffee, dark chocolate, crushed red pepper, jalapenos, chili peppers, red wine, beer, creamy salad dressing, or mayonnaise. Preferences for only two foods out of twelve, dark chocolate and chili peppers, had a significant correlation with PROP sensitivity in the predicted negative direction. While statistically significant, these correlations were low and of little practical significance. The role of culture in shaping attitudes toward food is proposed as a more powerful influence than the genetic factors that relate to PROP sensitivity.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) share a considerable amount of biological similarity with mammals, includ... more Zebrafish (Danio rerio) share a considerable amount of biological similarity with mammals, including identical or homologous gene expression pathways, neurotransmitters, hormones, and cellular receptors. Zebrafish also display complex social behaviors like shoaling and schooling, making them an attractive model for investigating normal social behavior as well as exploring impaired social function conditions such as autism spectrum disorders. Newly-formed and established shoals exhibit distinct behavior patterns and inter-member interactions that can convey the group’s social stability. We used a three-chamber open-swim preference test to determine whether individual zebrafish show a preference for an established shoal over a newly-formed shoal. Results indicated that both sexes maintained greater proximity to arena zones nearest to the established shoal stimulus. In addition, we report the novel application of Shannon entropy to discover sex differences in systematicity of responses...

Most of the work still to be done in science and the useful arts is precisely that which needs kn... more Most of the work still to be done in science and the useful arts is precisely that which needs knowledge and cooperation of many scientists and disciplines. That is why it is necessary for scientists and technologists in different disciplines to meet and work together, even those in branches of knowledge which seem to have least relation and connection with one another. Antoine Lavoisier, 1793 Once science was the nearly exclusive province of the lone researcher. Now scientists from disparate fields glean grains of knowledge that when combined may address important societal problems and complex scientific questions. Individuals still must master their respective fields, but their contributions within teams assembled to transcend disciplines increasingly add to the whole to make it greater than the sum of the parts. Worldwide, scientific research has taken a new approach to discover and apply knowledge from many seemingly unrelated disciplines to create completely new research and pr...

An experiment was conducted in which choices for various effort requirements were examined. It wa... more An experiment was conducted in which choices for various effort requirements were examined. It was hypothesized that the lowest effort condition possible would be selected in any given choice situation.. . Subjects were four, adult Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) with some prior video experience but naive to effort manipulations. Subjects foraged in a computer-generated video environment on an analog joystick which allowed for measurement of sub-and supra-threshold responding with effort: defined as the tangential force applied to the end of the joystick (e.g., 0.9, 2.7, and 4.1 Kg). Subjects made choices among pairings of icons representing the three levels of effort. Each subject experienced a corresponding level of effort following a choice condition. The results, as a whole, indicate the effort requirements were discriminable to the subjects as all subjects reliably chose the lowest effort condition possible in any given pairing. Supra-threshold responding was greatest m the low-effort condition and sub threshold responding was greatest in the high-effort condition. Subjects' responses closely corresponded with the requirements in the medium-effort condition. These results indicate that researchers investigating the effects of effort: requirements on behavior should include sub-and supra-threshold responding in their preparations. These findings demonstrate the ability of Rhesus monkeys to make reliable choices based on effort.

Cognitive Technology Journal

The Rogers, Howard, and Vessey (1993) method for testing equivalency between groups uses standard... more The Rogers, Howard, and Vessey (1993) method for testing equivalency between groups uses standard tests of significance to evaluate nondifference, but the method can be extended to examine similarity at the individual level. The definition of equivalency is extended in the present paper to include 2 separate components: non-difference (at the group level) and similarity (at the individual level). In addition to tests for nondifferences, we recommend testing for heterogeneity of variance, examining the Participant by Treatment interactions, and calculating a correlation coefficient using repeated-measures data to evaluate similarity. Examples of this test of similarity, in conjunction with the Rogers et al. method, are used to test group and individual equivalence to demonstrate the manner in which conclusions can be made about non-difference and similarity.

Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 1995. Includes bibliographical references (leav... more Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 1995. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-36).

csc-studentweb.lr.edu

... to adapt its behavior to environmental reward contingencies (eg, patch quality) is both impor... more ... to adapt its behavior to environmental reward contingencies (eg, patch quality) is both important for survival and a key to understanding the forager's cognitive capacity (Aparicio, 2001; Doughty,Shahan, & Lattal ... Batson, JD, Best, MR, Phillips, DL, Patel, H., & Gilleland, KR (1986 ...

Despite the differences in the response of male Betta splendenstoward various stimuli, no researc... more Despite the differences in the response of male Betta splendenstoward various stimuli, no research has attempted to determine the preference for a live conspecific versus a mirror presentation. A submerged T-maze was used to present both stimuli to healthy male B. splendens(N = 16). The results indicated that subjects' start box and swimway latencies decreased significantly over the 30 trials.

Cognitive Technology Journal

The Rogers, Howard, and Vessey (1993) method for testing equivalency between groups uses standard... more The Rogers, Howard, and Vessey (1993) method for testing equivalency between groups uses standard tests of significance to evaluate nondifference, but the method can be extended to examine similarity at the individual level. The definition of equivalency is extended in the present paper to include 2 separate components: non-difference (at the group level) and similarity (at the individual level). In addition to tests for nondifferences, we recommend testing for heterogeneity of variance, examining the Participant by Treatment interactions, and calculating a correlation coefficient using repeated-measures data to evaluate similarity. Examples of this test of similarity, in conjunction with the Rogers et al. method, are used to test group and individual equivalence to demonstrate the manner in which conclusions can be made about non-difference and similarity.

Despite the differences in the response of male Betta splendenstoward various stimuli, no researc... more Despite the differences in the response of male Betta splendenstoward various stimuli, no research has attempted to determine the preference for a live conspecific versus a mirror presentation. A submerged T-maze was used to present both stimuli to healthy male B. splendens(N = 16). The results indicated that subjects' start box and swimway latencies decreased significantly over the 30 trials.

The Science of Working Dogs, 2009