Aaron Blaisdell, Ph.D.

Biography

After receiving his BA and MA in Biological Anthropology (at SUNY Stony Brook and Kent State University, respectively), Dr. Blaisdell realized that animal cognition was even more interesting than dead humans. So he trekked on over to SUNY Binghamton for his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with Dr. Ralph Miller, where he studied learning, memory, and temporal cognition in the rat. This was followed by a brief stint as an NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Robert Cook, an expert on Avian Visual Cognition at Tufts University, where he learned how pigeons perceive and think about the world. Since 2001, Dr. Blaisdell has emigrated to the climatological and cultural paradise of sunny LA as Professor in Learning & Behavior and Behavioral Neuroscience in the UCLA Psychology Department. He presides over a comparative cognition lab, studying cognitive processes in rats, pigeons, hermit crabs, and humans. His lab website is http://pigeonrat.psych.ucla.edu.

Leising Kenneth J, Wong Jared, Blaisdell Aaron P   Extinction and spontaneous recovery of spatial behavior in pigeons Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition, 2015; 41(4): 371-7.

Ping Xiaoge, Lee Ji Sun, Garlick Dennis, Jiang Zhigang, Blaisdell Aaron P   Behavioral evidence illuminating the visual abilities of the terrestrial Caribbean hermit crab Coenobita clypeatus Behavioural processes, 2015; 118(4): 47-58.

Leising Kenneth J, Wong Jared, Ruprecht Chad M, Blaisdell Aaron P   Blocking between landmarks during 2-D (touchscreen) and 3-D (ARENA) search tasks with pigeons Learning & behavior, 2014; 42(4): 357-64.

Blaisdell Aaron P, Lau Yan Lam Matthew, Telminova Ekatherina, Lim Hwee Cheei, Fan Boyang, Fast Cynthia D, Garlick Dennis, Pendergrass David C   Food quality and motivation: a refined low-fat diet induces obesity and impairs performance on a progressive ratio schedule of instrumental lever pressing in rats Physiology & behavior, 2014; 128: 220-5.

Bouchekioua Youcef, Miller Holly C, Craddock Paul, Blaisdell Aaron P, Molet Mikael   Spatial integration of boundaries in a 3D virtual environment Acta psychologica, 2013; 144(2): 316-23.

Watanabe Noelle M, Stahlman W David, Blaisdell Aaron P, Garlick Dennis, Fast Cynthia D, Blumstein Daniel T   Quantifying personality in the terrestrial hermit crab: different measures, different inferences Behavioural processes, 2012; 91(2): 133-40.

Biedermann Traci, Garlick Dennis, Blaisdell Aaron P   Food choice in the laboratory pigeon Behavioural processes, 2012; 91(1): 129-32.

Waldmann Michael R, Schmid Martina, Wong Jared, Blaisdell Aaron P   Rats distinguish between absence of events and lack of evidence in contingency learning Animal cognition, 2012; 15(5): 979-90.

Ryan Kelsea M, Blumstein Daniel T, Blaisdell Aaron P, Stahlman W David   Stimulus concordance and risk-assessment in hermit crabs (Coenobita clypeatus): implications for attention Behavioural processes, 2012; 91(1): 26-9.

Leising Kenneth J, Sawa Kosuke, Blaisdell Aaron P   Factors that influence negative summation in a spatial-search task with pigeons Behavioural processes, 2012; 90(3): 357-63.

Cook Robert G, Katz Jeffrey S, Blaisdell Aaron P   Temporal properties of visual search in pigeon target localization Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes, 2012; 38(2): 209-16.

Fast Cynthia D, Blaisdell Aaron P   Rats are sensitive to ambiguity Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2011; 18(6): 1230-7.

Leising Kenneth J, Garlick Dennis, Blaisdell Aaron P   Overshadowing between landmarks on the touchscreen and in arena with pigeons Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes, 2011; 37(4): 488-94.

Stahlman W David, Chan Alvin Aaden Yim-Hol, Blumstein Daniel T, Fast Cynthia D, Blaisdell Aaron P   Auditory stimulation dishabituates anti-predator escape behavior in hermit crabs (Coenobita clypeatus) Behavioural processes, 2011; 88(1): 7-11.

Racey Deborah, Young Michael E, Garlick Dennis, Pham Jennifer Ngoc-Minh, Blaisdell Aaron P   Pigeon and human performance in a multi-armed bandit task in response to changes in variable interval schedules Learning & behavior, 2011; 39(3): 245-58.

Garlick Dennis, Gant Dana J, Brakel Linda A W, Blaisdell Aaron P   Attributional and relational processing in pigeons Frontiers in psychology, 2011; 2(3): 14.

Stahlman W David, Blaisdell Aaron P   The Modulation of Operant Variation by the Probability, Magnitude, and Delay of Reinforcement Learning and motivation, 2011; 42(3): 221-236.

Fridman Gene Y, Blair Hugh T, Blaisdell Aaron P, Judy Jack W   Perceived intensity of somatosensory cortical electrical stimulation Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale, 2010; 203(3): 499-515.

Stahlman W David, Young Michael E, Blaisdell Aaron P   Response variability in pigeons in a Pavlovian task Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication, 2010; 38(2): 111-8.

Stahlman W David, Roberts Seth, Blaisdell Aaron P   Effect of reward probability on spatial and temporal variation Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes, 2010; 36(1): 77-91.

Leising Kenneth J, Garlick Dennis, Parenteau Michael, Blaisdell Aaron P   Behavioral research in pigeons with ARENA: an automated remote environmental navigation apparatus Behavioural processes, 2009; 81(1): 105-13.

Stahlman W David, Blaisdell Aaron P   Blocking of spatial control by landmarks in rats Behavioural processes, 2009; 81(1): 114-8.

Leising Kenneth J, Blaisdell Aaron P   Associative Basis of Landmark Learning and Integration in Vertebrates Comparative cognition & behavior reviews, 2009; 4(1): 80-102.

Leising Kenneth J, Wong Jared, Waldmann Michael R, Blaisdell Aaron P   The special status of actions in causal reasoning in rats Journal of experimental psychology. General, 2008; 137(3): 514-27.

Badelt Steven W, Blaisdell Aaron P   Capacitive sensors for detecting proximity and response Behavior research methods, 2008; 40(2): 613-21.

Leising Kenneth J, Sawa Kosuke, Blaisdell Aaron P   Temporal integration in Pavlovian appetitive conditioning in rats Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication, 2007; 35(1): 11-8.

Nakajima Sadahiko, Takahashi Kosuke, Blaisdell Aaron P   An assessment of context-specificity of the CS-preexposure effect in Pavlovian excitatory and inhibitory conditioning Behavioural processes, 2006; 73(1): 84-91.

Cook Robert G, Blaisdell Aaron P   Short-term item memory in successive same-different discriminations Behavioural processes, 2006; 72(3): 255-64.

Blaisdell Aaron P, Sawa Kosuke, Leising Kenneth J, Waldmann Michael R   Causal reasoning in rats Science (New York, N.Y.), 2006; 311(5763): 1020-2.

Roper Karen L, Chaponis Deviney M, Blaisdell Aaron P   Transfer of directed-forgetting cues across discrimination tasks with pigeons Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2005; 12(6): 1005-10.

Sawa Kosuke, Leising Kenneth J, Blaisdell Aaron P   Sensory preconditioning in spatial learning using a touch screen task in pigeons Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes, 2005; 31(3): 368-75.

Blaisdell, A. P.   Mechanism through methodology: No madness in the method, International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2005; 18: 23-27.
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Cook Robert G, Levison Deborah G, Gillett Sarah R, Blaisdell Aaron P   Capacity and limits of associative memory in pigeons Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2005; 12(2): 350-8.

Blaisdell Aaron P, Cook Robert G   Two-item same-different concept learning in pigeons Learning & behavior : a Psychonomic Society publication, 2005; 33(1): 67-77.

Blaisdell Aaron P, Cook Robert G   Integration of spatial maps in pigeons Animal cognition, 2005; 8(1): 7-16.

Denniston James C, Blaisdell Aaron P, Miller Ralph R   Temporal coding in conditioned inhibition: analysis of associative structure of inhibition Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes, 2004; 30(3): 190-202.

Chang Raymond C, Blaisdell Aaron P, Miller Ralph R   Backward conditioning: mediation by the context Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes, 2003; 29(3): 171-83.

Blaisdell Aaron P   The S-R information stream: where’s the filter? Integrative physiological and behavioral science : the official journal of the Pavlovian Society, 2003; 38(2): 146-65.

Denniston, J. C., Savastano, H. I., Blaisdell, A. P., & Miller, R. R.   Cue competition as a retrieval deficit Learning and Motivation, 2003; 34: 1-31.
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Blaisdell, A. P.   Proteus caught in a (neural) net. Review of Animal learning and cognition: A neural network approach. Nestor A. Schmajuk Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 2003; 47: 229-234.
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Cook, R. G., Shaw, R., & Blaisdell, A. P.   Dynamic Object Perception by Pigeons: Discrimination of Action in Video Presentations Animal Cognition, 2001; 4: 137-146.
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Blaisdell, A.P., Denniston, J. C., & Miller, R. R.   Recovery from the Overexpectation Effect: Contrasting Performance-focused and Acquisition-focused Models of Retrospective Revaluation Animal Learning & Behavior, 2001; 29: 367-380.
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Blaisdell, AP Miller, RR   Conditioned inhibition produced by extinction-mediated recovery from the relative stimulus validity effect: a test of acquisition and performance models of empirical retrospective revaluation Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes. , 2001; 27(1): 48-58.
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Blaisdell, A.P., Denniston, J. C., Savastano, H. I., & Miller, R. R.   Counterconditioning of an Overshadowed Cue Attenuates Overshadowing of Aversive Associations Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 2000; 26: 74-86.
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Blaisdell, A. P., Savastano, H. I., & Miller, R. R.   Overshadowing of Explicitly Unpaired Conditioned Inhibition is Disrupted by Preexposure to the Overshadowed Inhibitor Animal Learning & Behavior, 1999; 27: 346-357.
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Blaisdell, A. P., Gunther, L. M., & Miller, R. R.   Recovery from Blocking Achieved by Extinguishing the Blocking CS Animal Learning & Behavior, 1999; 27: 63-76.
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Blaisdell, AP Denniston, JC Miller, RR   Posttraining shifts in the overshadowing stimulus-unconditioned stimulus interval alleviates the overshadowing deficit Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes. , 1999; 25(1): 18-27.
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Blaisdell, AP Bristol, AS Gunther, LM Miller, RR   Overshadowing and latent inhibition counteract each other: support for the comparator hypothesis Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes. , 1998; 24(3): 335-51.
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Friedman, B., Blaisdell, A. P., Escobar, M. E., & Miller, R. R.   Comparator Mechanisms and Conditioned Inhibition: CS Preexposure Disrupts Pavlovian Conditioned Inhibition but not Explicitly Unpaired Inhibition Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 1998; 24: 453-466.
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Denniston, J. C., Blaisdell, A. P., & Miller, R. R.   Temporal Coding Affects Transfer of Serial and Simultaneous Inhibitors Animal Learning & Behavior, 1998; 26: 336-350.
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Blaisdell, A.P., Denniston, J. C., & Miller, R. R.   Temporal Encoding as a Determinant of Overshadowing Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 1998; 24: 72-83.
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Blaisdell, A.P., Denniston, J. C., & Miller, R. R.   Unblocking with Qualitative Change of Unconditioned Stimulus Learning and Motivation, 1997; 28: 268-279.
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