Brief functional analysis and treatment of eye poking

A brief functional analysis suggested that eye poking exhibited by a 5‐year‐old boy diagnosed with cortical visual impairment was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Levels of eye poking in additional conditions suggested that the behavior might be maintained by visual stimulation. Response blocking through the use of safety goggles effectively reduced eye poking in the analog setting. Data from the natural environment suggest that, during intervention, eye poking was confined to times when response blocking was not in effect. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-control and choice in humans: Effects of video game playing as a positive reinforcer

Participants chose between reinforcement schedules differing in delay of reinforcement (interval between a choice response and onset of a video game) and/or amount of reinforcement (duration of access to the game). Experiment 1 showed that immediate reinforcement was preferred to delayed reinforcement with amount of reinforcement held constant, and a large reinforcer was preferred to a small reinforcer when both were obtainable immediately. Imposing a delay before the large reinforcer produced a preference for the immediate, small reinforcer in 40% of participants. This suggested a limited degree of “impulsivity.” In Experiment 2, unequal delays were extended by equal intervals, the amounts being kept equal. Preference for the shorter delay decreased, an effect that presumably makes possible the “preference reversal” phenomenon in studies of self-control. Overall, the results demonstrate that video game playing can produce useful, systematic data when used as a positive reinforcer for choice behavior in humans.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF EYE POKING WITH RESPONSE BLOCKING

A functional analysis of eye poking by a 4-year-old female with severe disabilities and visual impairments showed that high rates occurred in all conditions. We conducted a series of probes to identify the maintaining variable for eye poking following an undifferentiated functional analysis. Results showed that eye poking decreased only when we interrupted finger-eye contact by blocking the response.     

Using a stimulus correlated with reprimands to suppress automatically maintained eye poking

A functional analysis indicated that chronic eye poking exhibited by a woman with profound mental retardation persisted in the absence of social contingencies. We initiated a procedure in which a therapist delivered a punisher (mild reprimand) contingent on eye poking in the presence, but not the absence, of a neutral stimulus (wristbands). Subsequently, eye poking was suppressed when the participant wore the wristbands in novel environments without the reprimand contingency.     

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Video Game Violence on Interpersonal Trust

Two studies investigate the psychological processes underlying short- and long-term effects of video game violence on interpersonal trust. Study 1 demonstrates that interacting with physically aggressive virtual agents decreases players' trust in subsequent interactions. This effect was stronger for players who were dispositionally sensitive to victimization. In Study 2, long-term effects of adolescents' frequent exposure to video game violence on interpersonal trust and victim sensitivity were investigated. Cross-lagged path analyses show that the reported frequency of playing violent video games reduced interpersonal trust over a period of 12 months, particularly among victim-sensitive players. These findings are in line with the sensitivity to mean intentions (SeMI) model, and they suggest that interpersonal mistrust is a relevant long-term outcome of frequent exposure to video game violence.     

Cyber-dehumanization: Violent video game play diminishes our humanity

Across two studies we show that engaging in violent video game play diminishes perceptions of our own human qualities. In addition, when other players are the targets of this violence it reduces our perceptions of their humanity also. In Study 1, we demonstrate that playing Mortal Kombat against another player reduces the perceived humanity of the self as well as the humanity of one's opponent (compared to playing a non-violent game). In Study 2 we replicate this effect on perceived humanity of the self when playing a violent game with a co-player. However, we find no dehumanization of co-players who are not the targets of violence. We demonstrate these effects cannot be reduced to mood, self-esteem, gender, or other characteristics of the game such as excitement and enjoyment. The findings provide a broader perspective from which to view previous work on the adverse effects of violent video games.     

The effects of constant versus varied reinforcers on preference and resistance to change

Previous research has demonstrated that factors such as reinforcer frequency, amount, and delay have similar effects on resistance to change and preference. In the present study, 4 boys with autism made choices between a constant reinforcer (one that was the same food item every trial) and a varied food reinforcer (one that varied randomly between three possible food items). For all 4 boys, varied reinforcers were preferred over constant reinforcers, and they maintained higher response rates than constant reinforcers. In addition, when a distraction (a video clip) was introduced, responding maintained by varied reinforcers was more resistant to distraction than responding maintained by constant reinforcers. Thus, the present experiment extended the generality of the relation between preference and resistance to change to variation in reinforcer quality.     

Playing With Prejudice: The Prevalence and Consequences of Racial Stereotypes in Video Games

A content analysis of top-selling video game magazines (Study 1) and of 149 video game covers (Study 2) demonstrated the commonality of overt racial stereotyping. Both studies revealed that minority females are virtually absent in game representations. Study 1 revealed that, in video game magazines, minority males, underrepresented generally, were more likely to be portrayed as athletes or as aggressive, and less likely to be depicted in military combat or using technology, than White males. Study 2 also showed evidence of the “dangerous” minority male stereotype in video game covers. Again, underrepresented overall, minority males were overrepresented as thugs, using extreme guns, and also as athletes. Study 3, an experiment, exposed players to both violent and nonviolent games with both White and Black characters. Participants were faster at classifying violent stimuli following games with Black characters and at classifying nonviolent stimuli following games with White characters, indicating that images of popular video game characters evoke racial stereotypes.     

Bouts of responding: the relation between bout rate and the rate of variable-interval reinforcement

By nose poking a lighted key, rats obtained food pellets on either a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement or a schedule that required an average of four additional responses after the end of tile variable-interval component (a tandem variable-interval variable-ratio 4 schedule). With both schedule types, the mean variable interval was varied between blocks of sessions from 16 min to 0.25 min. Total rate of key poking increased similarly as a function of the reinforcer rate for the two schedule types, but response rate was higher with than without the four-response requirement. Analysis of log survivor plots of interresponse times showed that key poking occurred in bouts. The rate of initiating bouts increased as a function of reinforcer rate but was either unaffected or was decreased by adding the four-response requirement. Within-bout response rate was insensitive to reinforcer rate and only inconsistently affected by the four-response requirement. For both kinds of schedule, the ratio of bout time to between-bout pause time was approximately a power function of reinforcer rate, with exponents above and below 1.0.     

Effects of an Antecedent Intervention on Repetitive Behaviors of a Child With Autism

Repetitive self-injurious eye poking and stereotypic hand clapping were assessed in a child with autism and hearing impairment. A functional behavioral assessment conducted to identify the variables maintaining eye-poking behaviors indicated automatic reinforcement. Choice and environmental enrichment strategies were implemented to decrease the motivating operations associated with eye poking. Providing a choice of toys to hold in his hand led to the greatest reductions in both repetitive eye poking and hand clapping. Three follow-up observations were conducted 9 months after the intervention, which indicated that eye poking was eliminated and hand clapping was greatly reduced. This antecedent intervention was simple and effective, two hallmarks of sustainable behavior interventions.     

IMPULSIVITY IN STUDENTS WITH SERIOUS EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE: THE INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF REINFORCER RATE,DELAY, AND QUALITY

We conducted two studies extending basic matching research on self-control and impulsivity to the investigation of choices of students diagnosed as seriously emotionally disturbed. In Study 1 we examined the interaction between unequal rates of reinforcement and equal versus unequal delays to reinforcer access on performance of concurrently available sets of math problems. The results of a reversal design showed that when delays to reinforcer access were the same for both response alternatives, the time allocated to each was approximately proportional to obtained reinforcement. When the delays to reinforcer access differed between the response alternatives, there was a bias toward the response alternative and schedule with the lower delays, suggesting impulsivity (i.e., immediate reinforcer access overrode the effects of rate of reinforcement). In Study 2 we examined the interactive effects of reinforcer rate, quality, and delay. Conditions involving delayed access to the high-quality reinforcers on the rich schedule (with immediate access to low-quality reinforcers earned on the lean schedule) were alternated with immediate access to low-quality reinforcers on the rich schedule (with delayed access to high-quality reinforcers on the lean schedule) using a reversal design. With 1 student, reinforcer quality overrode the effects of both reinforcer rate and delay to reinforcer access. The other student tended to respond exclusively to the alternative associated with immediate access to reinforcers. The studies demonstrate a methodology based on matching theory for determining influential dimensions of reinforcers governing individuals' choices.     

Training of efficient oculomotor strategies enhances skill acquisition

The present study investigated the hypothesis that efficient oculomotor behaviours can be acquired through practice on a series of simple tasks and can be transferred subsequently to a complex visuomotor task, such as a video game. Each of two groups of subjects were exposed to a different set of simple tasks, or drills. One group, the efficient eye movement experimental group, received training designed to minimize eye movements and optimize scan path behaviours, whereas a second group of subjects, the inefficient eye movement experimental group, received training designed to increase the frequency of eye movements. Oculomotor training was interspersed with practice on the video game. Performance of these two experimental groups in the video game was compared to a control group playing the video game but receiving no specific training and matched for total time in the experiment. The group receiving efficient oculomotor training exhibited significantly superior performance in the video game and fewer foveations than either the inefficient or control groups, which did not differ from each other. Overall there was a significant inverse correlation between the number of foveations in the game and game score. The results of this study are discussed in terms of their implications for the importance of oculomotor training in the acquisition of any complex perceptual motor task.     

Resistance to extinction following variable-interval reinforcement: reinforcer rate and amount

Rats obtained food-pellet reinforcers by nose poking a lighted key. Experiment 1 examined resistance to extinction following single-schedule training with different variable-interval schedules, ranging from a mean interval of 16 min to 0.25 min. That is, for each schedule, the rats received 20 consecutive daily baseline sessions and then a session of extinction (i.e., no reinforcers). Resistance to extinction (decline in response rate relative to baseline) was negatively related to the rate of reinforcers obtained during baseline, a relation analogous to the partial-reinforcement-extinction effect. A positive relation between these variables emerged, however, when the unit of extinction was taken as the mean interreinforcer interval that had been in effect during training (i.e., as an omitted reinforcer during extinction). In a second experiment, rats received blocks of training sessions, all with the same variable-interval schedule but with a reinforcer of four pellets for some blocks and one pellet for others. Resistance to extinction was greater following training with the larger (four pellets) than with the smaller (one pellet) reinforcer. Taken together, these results support the principle that greater reinforcement during training (e.g., higher rate or larger amount) engenders greater resistance to extinction even when the different conditions of reinforcement are varied between blocks of sessions.     

Identification With Video Game Characters as Automatic Shift of Self-Perceptions

Two experiments tested the prediction that video game players identify with the character or role they are assigned, which leads to automatic shifts in implicit self-perceptions. Video game identification, thus, is considered as a kind of altered self-experience. In Study 1 (N = 61), participants either played a first-person shooter game or a racing game. Subsequently, they performed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) designed to detect cognitive associations between character-related concepts and players' self. Findings indicate a stronger automatic association of military-related concepts to shooter players' self and a stronger association of racing-related concepts to racing game players' self. Study 2 (N = 48) replicated the IAT result from Study 1 and demonstrated the stability of the identification pattern. Implications for identification as an element of the video game experience and future research directions are discussed.     

Effects of reinforcer consumption and magnitude on response rates during noncontingent reinforcement

Results of previous research on the effects of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) have been inconsistent when magnitude of reinforcement was manipulated. We attempted to clarify the influence of NCR magnitude by including additional controls. In Study 1, we examined the effects of reinforcer consumption time by comparing the same magnitude of NCR when session time was and was not corrected to account for reinforcer consumption. Lower response rates were observed when session time was not corrected, indicating that reinforcer consumption can suppress response rates. In Study 2, we first selected varying reinforcer magnitudes (small, medium, and large) on the basis of corrected response rates observed during a contingent reinforcement condition and then compared the effects of these magnitudes during NCR. One participant exhibited lower response rates when large-magnitude reinforcers were delivered; the other ceased responding altogether even when small-magnitude reinforcers were delivered. We also compared the effects of the same NCR magnitude (medium) during 10-min and 30-min sessions. Lower response rates were observed during 30-min sessions, indicating that the number of reinforcers consumed across a session can have the same effect as the number consumed per reinforcer delivery. These findings indicate that, even when response rate is corrected to account for reinforcer consumption, larger magnitudes of NCR (defined on either a per-delivery or per-session basis) result in lower response rates than do smaller magnitudes.     

Mental-state attribution drives rapid, reflexive gaze following

When presented with a face stimulus whose gaze is diverted, observers’ attention shifts to locations fixated by the face. Such “gaze following” has been characterized by some previous studies as a consequence of sophisticated theory of mind processes, but by others (particularly those employing the “gaze-cuing” paradigm) as an involuntary response that is triggered directly and reflexively by the physical features of a face. To address this apparent contradiction, we modified the gaze-cuing paradigm using a deception procedure to convince observers that prerecorded videos of an experimenter making head turns and wearing mirrored goggles were a “live” video link to an adjacent room. In two experiments, reflexive gaze following was found when observers believed that the model was wearing transparent goggles and could see, but it was significantly reduced when they believed that the experimenter wore opaque goggles and could not see. These results indicate that the attribution of the mental state “seeing” to a face plays a role in controlling even reflexive gaze following.     

The Effect of Advances in Video Game Technology and Content on Aggressive Cognitions,Hostility, and Heart Rate

Two studies were conducted that tested the moderating role of video game graphics quality in the relationship between video game content and aggression-related variables. In both studies, participants played either a violent or nonviolent video game on one of three video game systems with differing technological computing power (which contributes to the realism depicted in these video games). In Study 2, the moderating and mediating role of immersion was also tested. Results showed that video game violence exposure was related to aggressive cognitions and state of hostility. Video game technology did not moderate this relationship. Finally, immersion, as an individual difference variable, did not moderate or mediate this relationship. This suggests that aggressive cognitions and feelings occur independent of how technologically advanced the graphics are and the extent to which one feels as though they are immersed in a violent video game. Implications and future research are discussed.     

A study of time management: the correlation between video game usage and academic performance markers.

This study analyzes the correlation between video game usage and academic performance. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and grade-point average (GPA) scores were used to gauge academic performance. The amount of time a student spends playing video games has a negative correlation with students' GPA and SAT scores. As video game usage increases, GPA and SAT scores decrease. A chi-squared analysis found a p value for video game usage and GPA was greater than a 95% confidence level (0.005 < p < 0.01). This finding suggests that dependence exists. SAT score and video game usage also returned a p value that was significant (0.01 < p < 0.05). Chi-squared results were not significant when comparing time spent studying and an individual's SAT score. This research suggests that video games may have a detrimental effect on an individual's GPA and possibly on SAT scores. Although these results show statistical dependence, proving cause and effect remains difficult, since SAT scores represent a single test on a given day. The effects of video games maybe be cumulative; however, drawing a conclusion is difficult because SAT scores represent a measure of general knowledge. GPA versus video games is more reliable because both involve a continuous measurement of engaged activity and performance. The connection remains difficult because of the complex nature of student life and academic performance. Also, video game usage may simply be a function of specific personality types and characteristics.     

Further examination of video‐based preference assessments without contingent access

The first purpose of this study was to attempt to replicate previous findings that video‐based preference assessments without access to selected stimuli may accurately predict relative reinforcing efficacy of stimuli. To do this, we conducted a concurrent operant reinforcer assessment in which we evaluated the relative reinforcing value of highly preferred and less preferred items identified in a video‐based preference assessment. The second purpose of this study was to begin to evaluate the potential behavioral mechanisms responsible for the validity of this assessment. To conduct this analysis, we evaluated the relative reinforcing value of those same stimuli depicted in video format and then compared results to results obtained during the reinforcer assessment for tangible stimuli. For all five participants, stimuli identified as highly preferred functioned as reinforcers, and four of five participants, responding during the reinforcer assessment was similar in the presence of tangible stimuli and videos depicting those stimuli.     

EFFECTS OF PROBLEM DIFFICULTY AND REINFORCER QUALITY ON TIME ALLOCATED TO CONCURRENT ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS

Students with learning difficulties participated in two studies that analyzed the effects of problem difficulty and reinforcer quality upon time allocated to two sets of arithmetic problems reinforced according to a concurrent variable-interval 30-s variable-interval 120-s schedule. In Study 1, high- and low-difficulty arithmetic problems were systematically combined with rich and lean concurrent schedules (nickels used as reinforcers) across conditions using a single-subject design. The pairing of the high-difficulty problems with the richer schedule failed to offset time allocated to that alternative. Study 2 investigated the interactive effects of problem difficulty and reinforcer quality (nickels vs. program money) upon time allocation to arithmetic problems maintained by the concurrent schedules of reinforcement. Unlike problem difficulty, the pairing of the lesser quality reinforcer (program money) with the richer schedule reduced the time allocated to that alternative. The magnitude of this effect was greatest when combined with the low-difficulty problems. These studies have important implications for a matching law analysis of asymmetrical reinforcement variables that influence time allocation.