Basic Behavioral Processes Lab (Sanabria)
Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology research focused on collective learning, associative learning, time perception, response inhibition, choice, decision making, animal behavior, and computational models of behavior.
Keywords
Collective learning, associative learning, time perception, response inhibition, choice, decision making, animal behavior, computational models of behavior.
Lab Area
Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology
Actively Recruiting Undergraduate Researchers
Yes
Actively Recruiting Graduate Students
No
Overview
Our lab uses detailed analyses of animal behavior to investigate basic behavioral and cognitive processes and their implication in behavioral dysregulation. Common focuses of this research include timing, learning, decision-making, and impulsivity. The BBP lab relies on the collection of high-resolution operant behavioral data, the development of mathematical models of learning and behavior, and on the design of novel behavioral paradigms for use in animal models.
Current Projects
Collective learning. This project aims to identify fundamental processes of collective learning, using rats as animal model. In a series of associative-learning experiments, we test which form of training--individual or collective--results in faster and more durable learning that is resilient to interference from uninformative cues. In another set of experiments, we examine how pairs of animals use complementary skills to solve complex problems. Findings from these experiments will aid in determining the factors that can promote or impede collective intelligence when humans or machines (e.g., artificial intelligence) perform tasks as a group.
Alcohol-seeking behavior. This project has two components, both implemented in mice. The first one is to determine whether the maintenance, extinction, and reinstatement of alcohol-seeking behavior in mice is organized as bouts of activity. A critical part of this aim is to establish the extent to which the rate of initiation and length of bouts are selectively sensitive to key manipulations. A second goal is to study the sensitivity of alcohol-seeking behavior to economic variables such as unit price and availability of economic substitutes. Findings from this project will inform strategies to detect the efficacy of treatments to reduce alcohol seeking and craving.
Contact Us
If you are interested in joining our lab and would like to know more about us, send an email to Adeline Hibshman at ahibshma@asu.edu. If there is an opening available, an interview and lab tour will be arranged.