Models of human social behavior and their application to health psychology

Abstract

Theoretical models popular in the health domain differ in level of generality. Some were developed to deal with any human social behavior and then applied to health psychology, others were specifically designed to deal with health-related issues. Content-specific theories, such as the health-belief model and the perceptual-cognitive approach, outline in detail factors relevant for our understanding of health-related beliefs and actions. In contrast, it is only in the course of empirical research that content-free models, such as social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior, obtain the specific information required for understanding. Their advantage lies in their applicability across behavioral domains. Whether content-specific or content-free, the major utility of models developed to date has been to organize and communicate knowledge about health-related behavior. Few profound insights have as yet resulted from their application, with the possible exception of the recognition that self-regulation, and especially self-efficacy, plays a major role in all aspects of health, illness, and recovery.     

The dynamics of infant visual foraging

Human infants actively forage for visual information from the moment of birth onward. Although we know a great deal about how stimulus characteristics influence looking behavior in the first few postnatal weeks, we know much less about the intrinsic dynamics of the behavior. Here we show that a simple stochastic dynamical system acts quantitatively like 4-week-old infants on a range of measures if there is hysteresis in the transitions between looking and looking away in the model system. The success of this simple three-parameter model suggests that visual foraging in the first few weeks after birth may be influenced more by noise and hysteresis in underlying neural mechanisms than by how infants process visual information after a look begins.     

Let's hang up and try again: Lessons learned from a social support intervention

Conclusion Theorists and researchers have spent some 15 years trying to better understand social support. A great deal of progress has been made in the assessment of support resources, behavior, and appraisals, in conceptualizing the support process, and in understanding how support might influence well-being. Community psychologists, in particular, have sought this knowledge as a basis for social intervention. The point has been reached where research and theory, though still incomplete, can inform intervention. Indeed, intervention programs are likely to make a unique contribution to our understanding.Yet, if anything has been learned, it is that the social support process is far more complex than initially thought, as is its relationship to well-being. It is essential that support interventions reflect that complexity. The greatest threat is not that powerful and effective support interventions will prove impossible to develop and implement, but that we may become disillusioned by misunderstanding our failures.     

Establishing operations

The first two books on behavior analysis (Skinner, 1938; Keller & Schoenfeld, 1950) had chapter-length coverage of motivation. The next generation of texts also had chapters on the topic, but by the late 1960s it was no longer being given much treatment in the behavior-analytic literature. The present failure to deal with the topic leaves a gap in our understanding of operant functional relations. A partial solution is to reintroduce the concept of the establishing operation, defined as an environmental event, operation, or stimulus condition that affects an organism by momentarily altering (a) the reinforcing effectiveness of other events and (b) the frequency of occurrence of that part of the organism's repertoire relevant to those events as consequences. Discriminative and motivative variables can be distinguished as follows: The former are related to the differential availability of an effective form of reinforcement given a particular type of behavior; the latter are related to the differential reinforcing effectiveness of environmental events. An important distinction can also be made between unconditioned establishing operations (UEOs), such as food deprivation and painful stimulation, and conditioned establishing operations (CEOs) that depend on the learning history of the organism. One type of CEO is a stimulus that has simply been paired with a UEO and as a result may take on some of the motivative properties of that UEO. The warning stimulus in avoidance procedures is another important type of CEO referred to as reflexive because it establishes its own termination as a form of reinforcement and evokes the behavior that has accomplished such termination. Another CEO is closely related to the concept of conditional conditioned reinforcement and is referred to as a transitive CEO, because it establishes some other stimulus as a form of effective reinforcement and evokes the behavior that has produced that other stimulus. The multiple control of human behavior is very common, and is often quite complex. An understanding of unlearned and learned establishing operations can contribute to our ability to identify and control the various components of such multiple determination.     

The functions of the orbitofrontal cortex

The orbitofrontal cortex contains the secondary taste cortex, in which the reward value of taste is represented. It also contains the secondary and tertiary olfactory cortical areas, in which information about the identity and also about the reward value of odours is represented. The orbitofrontal cortex also receives information about the sight of objects from the temporal lobe cortical visual areas, and neurons in it learn and reverse the visual stimulus to which they respond when the association of the visual stimulus with a primary reinforcing stimulus (such as taste) is reversed. This is an example of stimulus-reinforcement association learning, and is a type of stimulus-stimulus association learning. More generally, the stimulus might be a visual or olfactory stimulus, and the primary (unlearned) positive or negative reinforcer a taste or touch. A somatosensory input is revealed by neurons that respond to the texture of food in the mouth, including a population that responds to the mouth feel of fat. In complementary neuroimaging studies in humans, it is being found that areas of the orbitofrontal cortex are activated by pleasant touch, by painful touch, by taste, by smell, and by more abstract reinforcers such as winning or losing money. Damage to the orbitofrontal cortex can impair the learning and reversal of stimulus-reinforcement associations, and thus the correction of behavioural responses when there are no longer appropriate because previous reinforcement contingencies change. The information which reaches the orbitofrontal cortex for these functions includes information about faces, and damage to the orbitofrontal cortex can impair face (and voice) expression identification. This evidence thus shows that the orbitofrontal cortex is involved in decoding and representing some primary reinforcers such as taste and touch; in learning and reversing associations of visual and other stimuli to these primary reinforcers; and in controlling and correcting reward-related and punishment-related behavior, and thus in emotion. The approach described here is aimed at providing a fundamental understanding of how the orbitofrontal cortex actually functions, and thus in how it is involved in motivational behavior such as feeding and drinking, in emotional behavior, and in social behavior.     

Emergent verbal behavior and analogy: skinnerian and linguistic approaches

The production of verbal operants not previously taught is an important aspect of language productivity. For Skinner, new mands, tacts, and autoclitics result from the recombination of verbal operants. The relation between these mands, tacts, and autoclitics is what linguists call analogy, a grammatical pattern that serves as a foundation on which a speaker might emit new linguistic forms. Analogy appears in linguistics as a regularity principle that characterizes language and has been related to how languages change and also to creativity. The approaches of neogrammarians like Hermann Paul, as well as those of Jespersen and Bloomfield, appear to have influenced Skinner's understanding of verbal creativity. Generalization and stimulus equivalence are behavioral processes related to the generative grammatical behavior described in the analogy model. Linguistic forms and grammatical patterns described in analogy are part of the contingencies of reinforcement that produce generalization and stimulus equivalence. The analysis of verbal behavior needs linguistic analyses of the constituents of linguistic forms and their combination patterns.     

Spatiotemporal pattern of appraising social and emotional relevance: Evidence from event-related brain potentials

Social information is particularly relevant for the human species because of its direct link to guiding physiological responses and behavior. Accordingly, extant functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data suggest that social content may form a unique stimulus dimension. It remains largely unknown, however, how neural activity underlying social (versus nonsocial) information processing temporally unfolds, and how such social information appraisal may interact with the processing of other stimulus characteristics, particularly emotional meaning. Here, we presented complex visual scenes differing in both social (vs. nonsocial) and emotional relevance (positive, negative, neutral) intermixed with scrambled versions of these pictures to N = 24 healthy young adults. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to intact pictures were examined for gaining insight to the dynamics of appraisal of both dimensions, implemented within the brain. Our main finding is an early interaction between social and emotional relevance due to enhanced amplitudes of early ERP components to emotionally positive and neutral pictures of social compared to nonsocial content, presumably reflecting rapid allocation of attention and counteracting an overall negativity bias. Importantly, our ERP data show high similarity with previously observed fMRI data using the same stimuli, and source estimations located the ERP effects in overlapping occipitotemporal brain areas. Our novel data suggest that relevance detection may occur already as early as around 100 ms after stimulus onset and may combine relevance checks not only examining intrinsic pleasantness/emotional valence but also social content as a unique, highly relevant stimulus dimension.     

Mindsets,shopping motivations and compulsive buying: Insights from China

This study investigates how mindsets (i.e., the beliefs that individuals have about the nature of human characteristics) are associated with compulsive buying behavior (i.e., the tendency to buy impulsively and obsessively). In particular, we test the relationships between consumer mindsets, three shopping motivations (deal proneness, social comparison, and hedonic motives) and compulsive buying. Based on a survey of 421 respondents conducted in China, our findings reveal the mechanism through which mindsets affect compulsive buying. The results show that when consumers believe in the consistency of personal traits (fixed mindset), they tend to be more vulnerable to deal offers and social comparison. These motivations increase the desire to seek hedonic pleasure, which is associated with a greater propensity for compulsive buying. However, when consumers believe that personal traits can be changed and developed (growth mindset), they seek hedonic pleasure in shopping, which result in a greater tendency to engage in compulsive buying. The present study adds to the existing body of knowledge by unveiling how different mindsets are associated with compulsive buying. In terms of practical implications, this study provides policy makers and marketers with a better understanding of the different motivations that lead to compulsive buying.     

镜像神经元是认知科学的“圣杯”吗?

镜像神经元作为近二十年来神经科学领域内最重要的发现之一,相关的一系列研究掀起了一场"理解社会行为的革命"。然而,通过系统考察镜像神经元最初的操作性定义、基本功能及其实验证据,发现许多研究者对于镜像神经元的定义存在误解,人类脑中是否存在镜像神经元及其功能依然是当前学术界的争议焦点。迄今仍然缺乏令人信服的证据表明镜像神经元(或系统)就是动作理解、动作模仿、共情以及读心的直接神经机制。因此,将镜像神经元视为"认知科学的圣杯"的主张是一种落后的模块论意识形态,只能催生新的"神经神话"。     

Neural theory for the perception of causal actions

The efficient prediction of the behavior of others requires the recognition of their actions and an understanding of their action goals. In humans, this process is fast and extremely robust, as demonstrated by classical experiments showing that human observers reliably judge causal relationships and attribute interactive social behavior to strongly simplified stimuli consisting of simple moving geometrical shapes. While psychophysical experiments have identified critical visual features that determine the perception of causality and agency from such stimuli, the underlying detailed neural mechanisms remain largely unclear, and it is an open question why humans developed this advanced visual capability at all. We created pairs of naturalistic and abstract stimuli of hand actions that were exactly matched in terms of their motion parameters. We show that varying critical stimulus parameters for both stimulus types leads to very similar modulations of the perception of causality. However, the additional form information about the hand shape and its relationship with the object supports more fine-grained distinctions for the naturalistic stimuli. Moreover, we show that a physiologically plausible model for the recognition of goal-directed hand actions reproduces the observed dependencies of causality perception on critical stimulus parameters. These results support the hypothesis that selectivity for abstract action stimuli might emerge from the same neural mechanisms that underlie the visual processing of natural goal-directed action stimuli. Furthermore, the model proposes specific detailed neural circuits underlying this visual function, which can be evaluated in future experiments.     

Contextual conditioning and the control of copulatory behavior by species-specific sign stimuli in male Japanese quail

Three experiments were conducted to identify species-specific sign stimuli sufficient to elicit copulatory behavior in male Japanese quail and to determine how learning is involved in the control of behavior by these sign stimuli. In Experiment 1, sexually experienced subjects were tested for copulatory behavior with a live female quail and with a model consisting of a female quail's head and neck mounted in front of a foam pad. Comparable levels of copulatory behavior were observed in the two tests, indicating that static visual cues provided by a female quail's head and neck are sufficient to elicit copulatory behavior in this species. Experiment 2 showed that male birds that previously received numerous opportunities to copulate with a live female quail in the test situation were significantly more likely to copulate with the head + neck model than were sexually inexperienced subjects. Experiment 3 showed that prior sexual experience with live quail facilitated responding to the head + neck model only if the sexual experience was provided in the same place where subjects were later tested with the model. This last finding suggests that sexual experience facilitates control of copulatory behavior by species-specific sign stimuli through contextual conditioning. Contextual conditioning may lower the threshold for sexual behavior with the result that a stimulus as impoverished as an immobile model containing only the head and neck of a female quail becomes sufficient to elicit normal levels of copulatory behavior. The results are also discussed as an example of conditioned stimulus facilitation of responding to an unconditioned stimulus.     

Predicting the effects of cellular-phone dialing on driver performance

Legislators, journalists, and researchers alike have recently directed a great deal of attention to the effects of cellular telephone (‘cell phone’) use on driver behavior and performance. This paper demonstrates how cognitive modeling can aid in understanding these effects by predicting the impact of cell-phone dialing in a naturalistic driving task. We developed models of four methods of cell-phone dialing and integrated these models with an existing driver model of steering and speed control. By running this integrated model, we generated a priori predictions for how each dialing method affects the accuracy of steering and speed control with respect to an accelerating and braking lead vehicle. The model predicted that the largest effects on driver performance arose for dialing methods with high visual demand rather than methods with long dialing times. We validated several of the model’s predictions with an empirical study in a fixed-based driving simulator.     

Murray Sidman's contributions to clinical behavior analysis

Murray Sidman was not himself a clinician nor directly involved in clinical research. Nevertheless, his experimental and conceptual work, especially in the area of stimulus equivalence, profoundly influenced the development of clinical behavior analysis. Before his work on stimulus equivalence, clinicians with a behavior analytic world view working with verbally sophisticated humans, were making some progress in understanding clinical phenomena and in developing innovative therapies. However, given the obvious and predominant role of verbal processes in both the development and treatment of clinical problems, that progress was constrained by the existing behavior analytic account of verbal behavior. Most fundamentally, it was hard to understand how, in the apparent absence of direct training, verbal events, even novel verbal events, acquire the functions of the nonverbal events that they stand for or represent. Sidman's work on stimulus equivalence, especially the transfer (transformation) of functions, offered an answer and thereby provided a conceptual framework of symbolic behavior around which clinical behavior analysis could cohere and develop.     

Understanding Manual-Based Behavior Therapy: Some Theoretical Foundations of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

ABSTRACT

Manualized therapy has been criticized as being incompatible with behavior therapy. However, the majority of empirically supported, manual-based therapies utilize basic behavioral principles, such as positive reinforcement, to achieve positive change in the target behavior. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), for example, is a manualized treatment that makes extensive use of the empirically-derived behavioral principles of this paradigm. Understanding how and why these fundamental principles operate is essential when attempting to tailor the program ideographically to meet clients' specific needs. The purpose of this article is to provide a model of understanding and evaluating manualized treatments by beginning with a review of the theory and data-driven principles upon which PCIT is based. As a point of illustration, several of the behavioral principles embedded in PCIT, such as reinforcement, punishment, and stimulus control, are highlighted, and clinically relevant examples are presented.     

How is physiology relevant to behavior analysis?

Physiology is an important biological science; but behavior analysis is not a biological science, and behavior analysts can safely ignore biological processes. However, ignoring products of biological processes might be a serious mistake. The important products include behavior, instinctive drift, behavior potentials, hunger, and many developmental milestones and events. Physiology deals with the sources of such products; behavior analysis can deal with how the products affect behavior, which can be understood without understanding their sources.     

Does Neighborhood Social Capital Buffer the Effects of Maternal Depression on Adolescent Behavior Problems?

Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to impact child well-being. However, it remains unclear how these factors combine with family characteristics to influence child development. The current study helps develop that understanding by investigating how neighborhoods directly impact child and adolescent behavior problems as well as moderate the influence of family characteristics on behavior. Using multilevel linear models, we examined the relationship among neighborhood conditions (poverty and social capital) and maternal depression on child and adolescent behavior problems. The sample included 741 children, age 5–11, and 564 adolescents, age 12–17. Outcomes were internalizing (e.g. anxious/depressed) and externalizing (e.g. aggressive/hyperactive) behavior problems. Neighborhood poverty and maternal depression were both positively associated with behavior problems for children and adolescents. However, while neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior problems, the interaction of social capital and maternal depression was significantly related to behavior problems for adolescents. This interaction showed that living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social capital attenuated the relationship between maternal depression and adolescent behavior problems and confirmed the expectation that raising healthy well-adjusted children depends not only on the family, but also the context in which the family lives.     

The role of social pressure,attention to the stimulus,and self-doubt in conformity

The theorizing of Asch and Moscovici was used as a framework for exploring the relationships among social pressure, attention to the stimulus, doubt about one's own judgment, and conformity. Male and female subjects (N = 185) were confronted either with one (low social pressure) or three (high social pressure) others who judged 12 critical pairs of noises as equal in loudness. The noises within each pair actually varied in how similar they were in loudness. High social pressure resulted in most subjects paying either little or much attention to the stimulus; low social pressure resulted in most subjects paying a moderate amount of attention to the stimulus. When social pressure was high, greater self-doubt was associated with less attention to the stimulus; when social pressure was low, greater self-doubt was associated with more attention to the stimulus. Conformity was positively associated with self-doubt and negatively associated with attention to the stimulus. Social pressure increased conformity, particularly when subjects paid little attention to the stimulus. Although the results are interpreted as partially consistent with both the Asch and the Moscovici perspectives, they are not totally consistent with either.     

VISITING DEAD ANCESTORS: SHAMANS AS INTERPRETERS OF RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS

Abstract. Religious traditions enable ancestors to encourage proper social behavior in their distant descendants. Although traditional myths and rituals can provide basic values, these values must be interpreted in light of the specific circumstances encountered by later generations. In tribal societies the task of interpreting religious traditions falls upon religious leaders known as shamans. Shamans, perhaps universally, are claimed to obtain instructions from dead ancestors on how to deal with social disruptions. This paper argues that a focus on the more exotic aspects of shamanism has kept previous studies from realizing the crucial role of shamans as interpreters of religious traditions.     

Cartoons in Counseling

Frequently human foibles are portrayed in thought-provoking ways within cartoons and comic strips. Counselors, searching for new and imaginative ways to deal with counselees, can use such caricatures as stimulus material and as a technique for facilitating self-exploration and understanding. This article outlines some possibilities for using cartoons in counseling.     

Testing models of object substitution with backward masking

A briefly presented visual target stimulus can be difficult to identify if shown in the context of a mask stimulus. There are several quantitative models that have been used to explain many different masking effects. Here, we look at modeling what has been called object substitution. We analyze four models and show that three of the models work with a common principle, whereas the fourth behaves quite differently. The three similar models have previously been used to explain many other aspects of visual masking, whereas the fourth model was designed exclusively to deal with object substitution masking effects. We identify an experimental test on the basis of which to choose between the models. The experimental results support the behavior of the fourth model.