title: Vicarious eyelid conditioning.
abstract: This study attempted to demonstrate that elicited electromyographic (EMG) reactions in observers may become conditioned to environmental events during the observation of a modeling sequence. Observers were shown a videotape of a model in a simulated direct eyelid discriminative conditioning situation involving adaptation, acquisition, and extinction trials. Various EMG measures were obtained in order to determine the occurrence of vicarious instigation and conditioning. The results demonstrated vicarious EMG eyelid responses. Also, the motor reactions were found to be localized to specific muscular activity rather than a result of general arousal. Some theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D003215:Conditioning, Eyelid / Q000502:physiology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D004576:Electromyography; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction