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Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Classical Short-Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in One-Year-Old Children

DOI: 10.3791/58037-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Set up eyeblink conditioning equipment for infant participants
  • ✓ Deliver paired stimuli using classical conditioning paradigm
  • ✓ Record and analyze eyeblink responses from video data
  • ✓ Interpret conditioned response acquisition in one-year-olds
Protocol

This protocol describes an eyeblink conditioning paradigm appropriate for experiments with one-year-old infants. Commercial or custom-made equipment can be used to deliver the stimuli, and data collection and analysis should be performed on the video recordings.

Difficulty
intermediate
Total time
~45 min per infant session (including setup, conditioning, and video analysis)

Steps

1
Assemble commercial or custom stimulus delivery equipment

Set up apparatus capable of delivering the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) to one-year-old infants. Equipment may include air puff delivery systems and tone generators.

▶ 01:10
2
Configure experimental paradigm parameters

Establish the stimulus pairing protocol defining CS-US onset intervals, trial structure, and inter-trial intervals appropriate for infant eyeblink conditioning.

▶ 01:55
3
Administer conditioning trials to infant participant

Present paired conditioned and unconditioned stimuli in systematic trials while recording video of the infant's facial responses, including spontaneous and conditioned eyeblinks.

▶ 02:43
4
Extract and score eyeblink responses from video

Review video recordings frame-by-frame to identify and measure conditioned eyeblink responses, recording response timing and amplitude for analysis.

▶ 03:59
5
Analyze conditioned response acquisition curves

Quantify eyeblink conditioning by plotting response probability across trial blocks to assess learning trajectory and conditioned response development in the infant.

▶ 05:13
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