GRADUATE STUDENTS
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Fall 2020 - Currently Not Accepting Applications
for Undergraduate Research Assistants
Fall 2019 - Spring 2020
Simon Balikos, Spencer Holst, Ryan Noble, Emily Miles, Rachael Lowe
Join FountainLab! Are you interested in becoming a Research Assistant (RA) in the Fountain lab? You can earn course credit that counts toward your major or upper-level college requirements.
Stephen B. Fountain, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Psychological Sciences
and Brain Health Research Institute
Kent State University
RECENT & UPCOMING EVENTS
CURRENT RESEARCH
The Serial Multiple Choice (SMC) task for rats in an octagonal operant chamber
The Serial Multiple Choice (SMC) task, developed in the FountainLab, is implemented in nosepoke octagonal operant chambers. This paradigm is currently being used to study the psychological and neural basis of complex cognitive learning and memory in rats, the role of cholinergic neurotransmission in complex cognition, and the effects of adolescent drug exposure on adult cognition.
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Muller, M. D., & Fountain, S. B. (2016). Concurrent cognitive processes in rat serial pattern learning: II. Discrimination learning, rule learning, chunk length, and multiple-item memories. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 105, 155-175.
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Sharp, J. L., Miller-Cahill, M. E., Riccio, D. C., & Fountain, S. B. (2018). Serial pattern retention in male and female rats. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 155, 578-582.
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Jackman, C. C., Dyer, K. H., Sharp, J. L., & Fountain, S. B. (2019, April). Sex differences and scopolamine effects in rat serial pattern learning and retention. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
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Sharp, J. L., Dyer, K. H., Jackman, C. C., & Fountain, S. B. (2019, April). Interference differentially impairs retention in serial pattern learning. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
Touchscreen SMC task and other behavioral paradigms in a touchscreen apparatus for rats
Touchscreen versions of the SMC task and other widely-used tasks are also being used to study the psychology, neurobiology, and psychopharmacology of complex cognitive learning and memory.
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Garlick, D., Fountain, S. B., & Blaisdell, A. P. (2017). Serial pattern learning in pigeons: Rule-based or associative? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 43, 30-47. http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/xan0000109
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Dyer, K. H., Jackman, C. C., Sharp, J. L., & Fountain, S. B. (2019, April). Serial pattern acquisition and effects of central cholinergic challenge in a touchscreen task for rats. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
Muscarinic neurotransmission and cognition
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Chenoweth, A. M., & Fountain, S. B. (2015). Central muscarinic cholinergic involvement in serial pattern learning: atropine impairs acquisition and retention in a serial multiple choice (SMC) task in rats. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 123, 18-27.
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Chenoweth, A. M., & Fountain, S. B. (2016). Strategy breakdown following muscarinic blockade in rats. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 131, 83-86.
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Jackman, C. C., Dyer, K. H., Sharp, J. L., & Fountain, S. B. (2019, April). Sex differences and scopolamine effects in rat serial pattern learning and retention. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
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Dyer, K. H., Jackman, C. C., Sharp, J. L., & Fountain, S. B. (2019, April). Serial pattern acquisition and effects of central cholinergic challenge in a touchscreen task for rats. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the International Conference on Comparative Cognition, Melbourne, FL.
Effects of adolescent drug expsoure on adult cognitive capacity
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Rowan, J. D., McCarty, M. K.*, Kundey, S. M. A., Osburn, C. D.*, Renaud, S. M., Kelley, B. M., Matoushek, A. W., & Fountain, S. B. (2015). Adolescent exposure to methylphenidate impairs serial pattern learning in the serial multiple choice (SMC) task in adult rats. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 51, 21-26.
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Renaud, S. M., & Fountain, S. B. (2016). Transgenerational effects of adolescent nicotine exposure in rats: Evidence for cognitive deficits in adult female offspring. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 56, 47-54.