Mirari Elcoro, M.S.
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology
West Virginia University
I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela.
I came to the U.S. six years ago and continued conducting research in psychology. I have been involved in
research in an area known as Timing or Temporal Control for the last nine years. Before coming to WVU, I worked at
the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City developing an animal
model for the study of timing impairments in Parkinson's Disease. There, I had
the opportunity to collaborate in several other projects on the neurochemical underpinnings of temporal
control. I am now a fourth-year Behavior Analysis graduate student at West
Virginia University. I work in the Life Sciences Building, Morgantown, West
Virginia. I spend most of my time at
Dr.
Andy Lattal's Operant
Research Laboratory, my research adviser.
At Dr. Lattal's Laboratory I am currently conducting research
on the resistance of temporally controlled behavior. Some of these projects are:
Delivery of response-independent food at different temporal locations in a peak-interval procedure (Master's thesis: https://etd.wvu.edu/etd/filelist.eTD?documentid=4363).
Delivery of response-independent food at different temporal locations in a multiple peak-interval procedure.
Delay of reinforcement according to fixed-time and a differential-reinforcement-of-other behavior schedules in fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement.
Delivery of response-independent food at different temporal locations of inter-trial intervals of a fixed-interval schedule and a free-operant psychophysical procedure (Current dissertation work).
Operant conditioning with Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens).
I also work in
Dr. Karen Anderson's Behavioral Pharmacology
Laboratory. I have participated in a project on
response acquisition with delay of reinforcement in rats of different strains
(Fischer 344 and Lewis rats), used as models to study ADHD in humans. There, I
have also participated in research on selfcontrol and delay discounting and how
they are affected by drugs such as corticosterone, nicotine, and caffeine.
Whenever I get the chance to go out, I like
to hike and swim. Some beautiful places that I have visited in West Virginia,
1. With Chata at Snake Hill, WV 10-15-2006.
2. The "trout pond", outside of Morgantown, WV Fall 2004.
3. Cooper's Rock, WV, May 2005.
4. Blue Hole, WV, end of Summer 2006.
Besides doing research in operant conditioning and behavioral pharmacology, I also have been teaching for the past three years of graduate school. I am currently teaching the lab component for Biological Foundations of Behavior (PSYC 301). I have also taught the lab component for a graduate course Experimental Analysis of Behavior (PSYC 531), a lecture section of Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 101) and a laboratory component for Behavior Principles (PSYC 302), known as The Rat Lab.
I enjoy working with undergraduate students in the lab. The
students that I have worked with so far and their projects:
Darlene Sapp (Spring 2004), worked conducting experiments with the Bettas and analyzing data.
Justin Boyd (Spring 2004), worked conducting experiments with the Bettas and analyzing data.
Jessica Hallahan (Fall 2005), worked conducting experiments with the Bettas and analyzing data.
Shari Winters (Fall 2005; Spring 2006), currently a graduate student in the Behavior Analysis program. Completed her honor's thesis entitled Response acquisition of male Betta splendens with live female conspecifics as reinforcers.
Amy D. Blackshire (Spring, Fall 2006; Spring 2007), has worked on a project that involves delay of reinforcement and temporal control. Amy is currently working on her honor's thesis entitled Comparison of fixed DRO and escalating DRO in eliminating unwanted behavior in pigeons. Amy was recently admitted to the Behavior Analysis Program at West Virginia University.
Karen Calvert (Fall 2006), worked conducting experiments with pigeons on a project on delay of reinforcement and temporal control.
Morgan S. Bridi (Spring 2007), continues research with the Betta splendens. Morgan is currently conducting an acquisition experiment in which a female Betta can swim through a ring and gain access to view a male of her same species. The idea is to examine whether such access to view a male Betta functions as a reinforcer of ring swimming.
With some of my graduate colleagues,
1. Harold, James, Yusuke, and Chata (SEABA 2005, Wilmington,
NC).
2. With James in Greenville for SEABA 2006.
3. With Megan and Raquel at the Life Sciences Building, 2005.
4. My office mates James and Yusuke, sometime in the Spring of 2006.
My interests also encompass the relation between Behavior Analysis and Neuroscience. I am particularly interested in the development of animal models of human behavior to further understand psychiatric disorders. To me, it is important to disseminate operant conditioning as a behavioral technology to improve the understanding of human behavior.
Most recent work:
Anderson, K. G., & Elcoro, M. (2007). Response acquisition with delayed reinforcement in Lewis and Fischer 344 rats. Behavioural Processes, 74, 311-318.
Elcoro, M., Blackshire, A. D., Calvert, K., & Lattal, K. A. (2007, May). Effects on delay of reinforcement and temporal control. Poster accepted for presentation at the Annual Convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis, San Diego, CA.
Elcoro, M., DaSilva, S., & Lattal, K. A. Visual reinforcement in female Betta splendens. (Manuscript submitted for publication).
Elcoro, M., & Lattal, K. A. (2006, May). Resistance of temporally controlled behavior to change. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlanta, GA.
My CV
Frequently visited links:
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Behavioural Processes - Elsevier
Science/AAAS | Scientific research, news
and career information
Association
for Behavior Analysis International
Skeptic : The Skeptics Society & Skeptic
magazine
The Leakey Foundation
ThrowingMusic
björk.com/unity