Maternal sensitivity behavior and infant behavior in early interaction

Maternal sensitivity behavior and infant behavior in early interaction were investigated among 57 Finnish mother–child pairs. Their interaction was video‐recorded at home in free‐play situation when the infants were 3 months and 12 months of age, and evaluated using the Parent–Child Early Relational Assessment Scale (PCERA). Maternal sensitivity behavior was mainly related to infant's positive aspects of mood, social and play behavior, and visual contact, both at 3 months and 12 months of age. Even though maternal sensitivity behavior correlated to infant behavior at 3 months and 12 months, infant behavior at 3 months of age contributed to later maternal sensitivity behavior. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Countercontrol in behavior analysis

Countercontrol is a functional class of behavior that is part of Skinner's analysis of social behavior. Countercontrol refers to behavioral episodes comprised of socially mediated aversive controlling conditions and escape or avoidance responses that do not reinforce, and perhaps even punish, controllers' responses. This paper suggests that neglect of countercontrol in modern behavior analysis is unfortunate because the concept applies to interpersonal and social relations the fundamental operant principle that human behavior is both controlled and controlling-humans are not passive and inflexible. Countercontrol is addressed here in terms of conceptual status, contemporary developments in behavior analysis, its importance in a behavior-analytic approach to freedom and cultural design, applications, and research. The main conclusion is that Skinner's formulation of counter-control is scientifically supported and worthy of increased prominence in behavior analysis.     

Strategic behavior in monkeys

In a recent paper, Lee et al. examined adaptive decision-making processes by training monkeys to play a competitive game against a computer programmed to play using various strategies. They found that the monkeys' responses were sensitive to the computer's strategies and consistent with reinforcement learning. Research such as this strongly complements current research in behavioral economics. We propose some potential future directions for this work, and put forward conjectures about what might be learned about decision-making in humans.     

Superstitious behavior in humans

Twenty undergraduate students were exposed to single response-independent schedules of reinforcer presentation, fixed-time or variable-time, each with values of 30 and 60 s. The reinforcer was a point on a counter accompanied by a red lamp and a brief buzzer. Three color signals were presented, without consistent relation to reinforcer or to the subjects' behavior. Three large levers were available, but the subjects were not asked to perform any particular behavior. Three of the 20 subjects developed persistent superstitious behavior. One engaged in a pattern of lever-pulling responses that consisted of long pulls after a few short pulls; the second touched many things in the experimental booth; the third showed biased responding called sensory superstition. However, most subjects did not show consistent superstitious behavior. Reinforcers can operate effectively on human behavior even in the absence of a response-reinforcer contingency and can, in some cases, shape stable superstitious patterns. However, superstitious behavior is not a consistent outcome of exposure of human subjects to response-independent reinforcer deliveries.     

网络欺负中的旁观者行为

网络欺负中的旁观者是指“目击网络欺负事件的个体”。旁观者目击欺负后的行为反应可以分为：亲社会行为和反社会行为。影响旁观者行为的因素有旁观者的个人特质(冲动性、外向性和开放性)、旁观者的心理因素(同理心、自我效能感、社会支持和孤独感)、受欺负个体的自我表露程度和生态环境中的关系等。旁观者效应、道德脱离和旁观者干预模型可以对旁观者目击网络欺负事件后的反应进行解释。未来可以从具身认知、脑神经机制、跨文化和网络环境塑造等方面作出进一步探索。     

Development in understanding the relation of others' behavior to own behavior

120 Ss from six age groups (range 7–22 years) were tested for their understanding that others' responses were related to a preceding behavior in Ss. The understanding was tested after experimental interaction episodes with Ss as participants. The results indicated the following development sequence: 7–9 year old persons relate others' response to Ss' behavior in situational terms, 11–13 year old persons relate others' response to others' perceptiodcognition of Ss' behavior, and older persons are able to relate others' behavior simultaneously to Ss' behavior and to dispositional properties in the others.     

Some verbal behavior about verbal behavior

Beginning with behavior analysts' tendency to characterize verbal behavior as "mere" verbal behavior, the author reviews his own attempt to employ it to influence both his staff and policies of our government. He then describes its role in psychopathology, its effect on speakers in healing themselves and on engendering creativity. The paper ends by calling to our attention the role of verbal behavior in the construction of behavior analysis.     

Positive behavior support and applied behavior analysis

This article reviews the origins and characteristics of the positive behavior support (PBS) movement and examines those features in the context of the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). We raise a number of concerns about PBS as an approach to delivery of behavioral services and its impact on how ABA is viewed by those in human services. We also consider the features of PBS that have facilitated its broad dissemination and how ABA might benefit from emulating certain practices of the PBS movement.     

Spontaneous alternation behavior in hamsters

Male and female golden hamsters spontaneously alternated successive entries of T-maze arms (derived from a + − maze) rather than body turns during a series of eight consecutive trials except when not confined to the arm chosen on each trial. Only unconfined males failed to alternate on their first opportunity. Confinement to an entered arm for 30 seconds had no effect on females but increased alternation in males. Increasing the visual discriminability of the arms had no effect on alternation in either sex. It was concluded that spontaneous alternation behavior in hamsters depended upon whether or not they were confined to a chosen arm and their sex. It is possible that the phenomenon was escape-related.     

Differential behavior in monozygotic twins

The Psychological Record -