Genetically-determined abnormal behavior in dogs: Some implications for psychiatry

This paper discusses the neglect of behavioral genetics by psychiatry; summarizes experiments on a stable and an unstable strain of the pointer dog (reported in detail in a companion article); and points up the value of the obtained results for models of mental illness. The importance of genetically-determined extreme variations in temperament in shaping the individual's responses to particular environments is emphasized. These variations occur spontaneously among animals, and probably are relatively favored for procreation among civilized man and domesticated animals. Various dimensions of temperament and of inborn perceptual, cognitive, and integrational deficiencies are placed alongside early experience and later-life stresses, as equally important in contributing to mental breakdowns.     

Persistence of stereotypic behavior: examining the effects of external reinforcers

Basic research has shown that behavioral persistence is often positively related to rate of reinforcement. This relation, expressed in the metaphor of behavioral momentum, has potentially important implications for clinical application. The current study examined one prediction of the momentum metaphor for automatically reinforced behavior. Participants were 3 children who had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and who engaged in stereotypic behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement. Results suggested that stereotypic behavior was more resistant to disruption following periods of access to preferred stimuli delivered on a variable-time schedule than following periods without access to preferred stimuli. The implications of these findings for the treatment of automatically reinforced behavior are discussed.     

Some historical relationships between science and technology with implications for behavior analysis

The relationship between science and technology is examined in terms of some implications for behavior analysis. Problems result when this relationship is seen as one in which science generally begets technology in a one-way, or hierarchical, relationship. These problems are not found when the relationship between science and technology is seen as two-way, or symmetrical, within a larger context of relationships. Some historical examples are presented. Collectively, these and other examples in the references weaken the case for a prevailing one-way, hierarchical relationship and strengthen the case for a two-way, symmetrical relationship. In addition to being more accurate historically, the symmetrical relationship is also more consistent with the principles of behavior analysis.     

Modifying the behavior of leaders: A state-wide attempt

Project Breakthrough is a two-year, two-phase cooperative effort to retrain leadership personnel in special education and pupil personnel services by utilizing the resources of universities, P.L. 85–926, as amended, Title VI-A, ESEA, local education agencies, and the state education agency. Two hundred selected teacher consultants, school psychologists, and supervisors and directors of special education and pupil personnel were trained in the effective utilization and application of reinforcement theory and directive and/or diagnostic teaching techniques with handicapped children. A state plan for utilizing limited sources to effect state-wide behavioral changes is outlined, along with management and implementation strategies.     

Some qualifying notes on the development and implementation of behavior modification programs

Value judgements are inherent in the development and implementation of any behavior modification program. However, there is concern that techniques will become the prime originator of values and that a broader new of the child and his terms will be lost.

This article has reviewed three aspects of program planning in terms of the value issues involved. These include the manipulation of both abtecedent and consequent events to the behavior, the inclusion of the child in program planning, and teacher resistance to the program.     

Naturalistic observations of pathological behavior in hospitalized psychiatric patients

Naturalistic observations were conducted on 19 acutely ill psychiatric patients in the hospital ward milieu. The study was designed to determine relationships between selected social and environment variables and overt atypical behavior. Patients were observed on an individual basis with time-sampling techniques. In total, 16 pathological behaviors were coded and the most frequent (postural deviance, pace, agitation, hyperactivity, withdrawal, foot shake/body sway, leg swing) were selected in order to determine variation in frequency of these behaviors as a function of the following variables: area within hospital, week of hospitalization, distance between the focal subject and his/her nearest neighbor, number of people in an area, and time of day. Results showed differential changes in pathological behavior as a function of week of hospitalization, number of people in a given area, and distance from the focal subject's nearest neighbor. There was no significant change in the frequency of pathological behaviors as a function of area within hospital or time of day. In addition, most pathological behaviors decreased significantly when patients were engaged in the sending or receiving of verbal behavior. Cluster analyses revealed varying degrees of dissociation between pathological behaviors and social-interaction behaviors. These results support (a) a nonunitary concept of the general category pathological and (b) the view that there are inhibitory effects of social interaction on the enactment of atypical behaviors. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.R.H.P. completed this research during his tenure as a postdoctocal fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, Human Ethology Laboratory, UCLA (NIMH Fellowship 1 F32MHO7627-01). Support for this research also came from the Veterans Administration.     

Some implications of the analyst feeling disturbed while working with disturbed patients

The analyst's experience of patients' disturbances is explored as an aspect of analytic technique. A number of premises are examined. First, it is expected that the analyst is committed to tolerating and understanding disturbances evoked in him by his patients' personalities and their disturbances. Second, that he regards the disturbances evoked in him as a form of manifest content to be understood in the usual method of association. Third, countertransference attitudes may propel the analyst toward rapid formulaic conceptions of his patients' disturbances or to considerations of diagnostic designations carrying serious, if not pejorative implications, such as borderline, narcissistic, perverse, or sociopathic. Such attitudes may also underlie the urge to consider psychotropic medications in response to the patients' disturbances. A selected review of the literature as well as illustrative work with disturbing patients are presented in support of the paper's premises.     

Mechanisms of resurgence II: Response-contingent reinforcers can reinstate a second extinguished behavior

Three experiments with rat subjects examined resurgence of an extinguished instrumental response using the procedure introduced by Epstein (1983) with pigeons. There were three phases: (1) initial acquisition of pressing on a lever (L1) for pellet reward, (2) extinction of L1, and (3) a test session in which a second lever (L2) was inserted, briefly reinforced, and then extinguished. Experiment 1 confirmed that if pressing L2 delivered 20 pellets followed by extinction, rats would resume L1 responding in the final test. Experiment 2 compared the effects of response-contingent and non-contingent rewards delivered upon insertion of L2. Although insertion of L2 alone did not increase L1 responding, response-contingent and non-contingent rewards led to comparable increases in L1 responding. Experiment 3 found that the delivery of non-contingent pellets during extinction of L1, which would be expected to reduce the ability of pellets to set the occasion for the L1 response, also reduced the effects of both response-contingent and non-contingent rewards during the final test. The results indicate that in this method, the resurgence treatment leads to an increase in L1 pressing due to simple presentation of the pellet; delivering the reinforcer after extinction of L1 reinstates L1 responding by setting the occasion for the L1 response.     

Role of conditioned reinforcers in the initiation,maintenance and extinction of drug-seeking behavior

The development of a secondary reinforcer as a result of associating a neutral stimulus (buzzer) with intravenous (IV) doses of morphine was studied in rats. Secondary reinforcement developed in the absence of physical dependence and followed the association of the stimulus with either response-contingent or non-contingent injections of morphine. Strength of the conditioned reinforcer, measured in terms of responding on a lever for the stimulus plus infusion of saline solution, was proportional to the unit dosage of morphine employed in pairings of buzzer and drug. When extinction of the lever-press response for IV morphine was conducted (by substituting saline for morphine solution) in the absence of the conditioned reinforcing stimulus, it was seen later that the stimulus could still elicit lever responses, until it too had been present for a sufficient interval of non-reinforced responding. Similarly, extinction of the response for morphine by blocking its action with naloxone in the absence of the stimulus did not eliminate the conditioned reinforcement. Another study showed that a passive, subcutaneous (SC) dose of morphine served to maintain lever-pressing on a contingency of buzzer plus sahne infusion. Furthermore, the stimuli resulting from the presence of morphine (after a SC injection) were able to reinstate the lever-responding with only the buzzer-saline contingency when such responses had previously been extinguished. Moreover, it was shown thatd-amphetamine could restore responding under the same conditions, and that morphine could also do so for rats in which the primary reinforcer had beend-amphetamine. It is suggested that animal data such as these show that procedures designed for the elimination of human drug-taking behavior must take into account secondary reinforcers as well as the primary reinforcer(s).     

Evaluation of the rate of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers across preference assessments

The rates of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers were evaluated across 3 preference assessment formats (i.e., paired stimulus, multiple-stimulus without replacement, and free operant). The experimenter administered each assessment format 5 times in a random order for 7 children with developmental disabilities whose problem behavior was maintained by attention, tangible items, or escape. Results demonstrated different effects related to the occurrence of problem behavior, suggesting an interaction between function of problem behavior and assessment format. Implications for practitioners are discussed with respect to assessing preferences of individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibit problem behavior.     

Accumulated reinforcers increase academic responding and suppress problem behavior for students with Attention‐Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

We compared rates of academic responses and problem behavior during mathematics with distributed and accumulated reinforcer arrangements for 3 students with Attention‐Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder who engaged in chronic, severe problem behavior. All 3 students engaged in more academic responding and less problem behavior when reinforcers accumulated throughout the session, relative to conditions in which reinforcers were distributed throughout the session or withheld completely. We then conducted concurrent‐chain analyses to evaluate student preference for the reinforcer arrangements. Two students preferred distributed reinforcers, even though this arrangement continued to produce problem behavior. One student preferred accumulated reinforcers. Our data replicate previous findings regarding the efficacy of accumulated‐reinforcer arrangements, but suggest that students do not always prefer the most efficacious reinforcer arrangement.