Task selection cost asymmetry without task switching

The switch cost asymmetry (i.e., larger costs when switching from a nondominant into a dominant task than vice versa) has been explained in terms of the trial-to-trial carryover of activation levels required for the dominant versus the nondominant task. However, there is an open question about whether an actual switch in task is in fact necessary to obtain a “selection” cost asymmetry. In Experiments 1 and 2, we modified an alternatingruns paradigm to include either long or short response-to-stimulus intervals (RSIs) after each pair of trials (i.e., AA-AA-BB-BB), thereby inducing selection costs not only at the point of a task switch (i.e., AA-BB), but also between same-task pairs (i.e., AA-AA). Using spatially compatible versus incompatible response rules (Experiment 1) and Stroop word versus color naming (Experiment 2), we found asymmetric effects not only at task-change transitions, but also at task-repeat transitions when the RSI was long (presumably inducing frequent losses of set). In Experiments 3A and 3B, a cost asymmetry for long RSIs was obtained even when competing tasks were separated into alternating single task blocks, but not when the tasks were compared in a betweensubjects design. This general pattern cannot be explained by activation carryover models, but is consistent with the idea that the asymmetry arises as a result of interference from long-term memory traces.     

The response cost lottery: A time efficient and effective classroom intervention

An ABAB design was used to evaluate the effect of a response cost lottery procedure on the percentage of on-task behavior and accuracy of academic work of three fourth-grade students. Although contingencies were attached primarily to behavior, both on-task behavior and academic performance measures increased in treatment conditions. Teacher reports indicated the intervention was both easy to use and effective.     

Biofeedback training with a learning disabled child.

Biofeedback training was used to increase a learning disabled child's ability to control his breathing patterns. The procedure was most effective when the child was permitted to explore freely the correlations between his respiratory movements and feedback from the apparatus. Probe trials showed that increased external and self-directed control over the direction and volume of breathing was achieved. Results were discussed in terms of the relationship between biofeedback technology and learning and behavior problems.     

Microfeedback: Biofeedback Monitoring Using Home Computers - a Pilot Study

The increasing focus on information technology has led to widespread growth in the use of microcomputer systems in counselling settings. While many applications depend on expensive and sophisticated equipment, the humble home computer has many facilities to offer. High resolution graphics and versatile control interfacing, designed for games use, enable easy adaptation to tasks such as visual presentation of biofeedback with the facility for data retention and analysis. A pilot system based on the Commodore 64 is described.     

Biofeedback and gifted children: an initial investigation

37 intellectually gifted students were given a 15-min. training session in EMG frontalis biofeedback to determine its effectiveness for reduction of stress. While differences across sex in biofeedback training were not found, these highly able students significantly reduced their levels of tension.     

Biofeedback as a treatment for childhood hyperactivity: a critical review of the literature

Hyperactivity is a significant problem for which no causal theories have been unequivocally substantiated and one in which treatment approaches have met with limited success. Recent research in behavioral medicine has brought biofeedback into use as a treatment for disorders that are mediated by physiologic functioning, with hyperactivity as one such disorder. 36 studies are reviewed in which biofeedback was used as a treatment for hyperactivity. This review indicated that biofeedback treatments alone have not been effectively evaluated, and methodological problems with the current studies severely limit generalizations that may be made to hyperactive populations. Biofeedback in conjunction with other techniques appears to have promise for reducing some of the behavioral symptoms of the hyperactivity syndrome. Directions for further research are presented.     

Biofeedback and reinforcement to increase heterosexual arousal in homosexuals

Relatively few procedures exist for developing heterosexual arousal in the treatment of sexual deviation (Barlow, 1973) although several recent studies suggest this is a necessary component of treatment (Feldman and MacCulloch, 1971; Bancroft, 1970; Barlow, 1974).In recent years, biofeedback techniques have been applied to many types of disorders (Blanchard and Young, 1974). Basic to biofeedback technology is the notion that providing a person with feedback (or immediate information) of a bioelectric response enables him to learn (gain) self-control of that response. These responses traditionally have been considered involuntary and include heart rate (Scott et al., 1973a). blood pressure (Benson et al., 1971), stomach acid pH (Welgan. 1972), and electroencephalographic activity (Sterman, 1972), In the present experiments, biofeedback and its attendant technology was applied to the problem of generating heterosexual arousal in homosexual males.Frequently, in biofeedback research, reinforcement has been used in addition to feedback in attempting to teach self-control of a response. In fact, an alternate way of conceptualizing and describing the biofeedback research is in terms of operant conditioning (e.g., Weiss and Engel, 1971: Scott et al., 1973b). In one sense, however, feedback and reinforcement are inextricably confounded: the delivery or non-delivery of a reinforcer provides the S with information about the rightness or wrongness of his response and hence, binary feedback about it. Likewise, if feedback or knowledge of whether the response has reached a criterion level or not is effective in leading to a change in the response, then feedback functions as a reinforcer. Reinforcement, however, may be viewed as providing both information about the response (feedback) plus an incentive to change it in the desired direction in addition to any incentive provided by successful performance of a task. Thus, if one provides Ss with a separate, functionally defined reinforcer in such a way that no additional information about the response is conveyed, it becomes possible to detect additive effects of reinforcement over feedback effects. Such was the second purpose of this study.Several recent analogue experiments with volunteers have reported success in modifying erections through feedback and/or reinforcement. Price (1973) found that heterosexual volunteers who received analogue visual feedback as well as binary feedback, provided by a colored light once the needle had passed a pre-set criterion, showed a shorter latency to peak erection and maintained criterion erection longer than a control group receiving no feedback. Both groups were listening to erotic audio tapes. Rosen (1973) demonstrated significant suppression of tumescence in a group of heterosexual volunteers provided with response contingent signal lights. A group receiving non-contingent feedback did not show this effect. In a technical paper, Laws and Pawlowski (1973) have suggested audio feedback of tumescence as a treatment for deficits in sexual arousal.In the clinic, Harbison, Quinn and McAllister (1970), in an uncontrolled case study, reported increasing heterosexual responsiveness in homosexuals through reinforcement of erection. In one of their homosexual patients they were able, over a long series of trials, to increase erection to a heterosexual stimulus (female slide) through rewarding progressively larger responses with sips of iced lime after the patient was water deprived. In addition to the reinforcement, this S was given feedback, of sorts, in that a light was flashed for each successful trial. A second homosexual patient was similarly rewarded for maintaining progressively longer and clearer fantasies of heterosexual behavior. Since other treatments were also applied and no experimental analysis was performed, it is not possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the procedure.In the present experiment the separate effects of feedback and reinforcement to increase heterosexual arousal in homosexuals was experimentally evaluated using single case experimental design methodology (Barlow and Hersen, 1973). Since each experiment was somewhat different in design and purpose, each will be described separately.     

The cost of a strategy

Abstract

Experiment 1 demonstrated a new kind of dual-task interference effect. The primary task was a speeded left-right discrimination of stimulus position (R1). The un speeded secondary task consisted of reporting verbally whether the stimuli were the same or different (R2). Stimulus exposure time was either 150 or 2000 msec. Two groups of subjects performed the primary task only, whereas two other groups performed both tasks and were instructed to emit R1 before R2. It was reasoned that the decision would be made to emit R1 before R2, and that this decision would produce a lengthening of R1. The results supported this prediction. Experiment 2 showed that the interference effect also occurred when the subjects were not explicitly instructed to emit R1 before R2, and was not due to either the mere presence of the second task or to response grouping. Experiments 3 and 4 compared two possible models for explaining the interference effect, i.e. the capacity-sharing model and the postponement model. As predicted by the postponement model, task difficulty did not interact, or interacted underadditively, with task overlap (Experiment 3), and the interference effect was not influenced by the amount of processing resources devoted to the primary task (Experiment 4). It was concluded that this new type of interference effect is best explained by the version of the postponement model that locates the bottleneck at the decision stage.     

生物反馈在功能性结直肠病中的应用及体会

生物反馈作为一种新兴的行为疗法,在治疗功能性结直肠病中发挥着越来越重要的作用,主要用于治疗功能性大便失禁和功能性便秘。根据目前的研究,依从性和心理状况是影响生物反馈疗效的主要因素。本文就生物反馈在功能性结直肠病中的应用及体会做一综述。     

Dissociating restart cost and mixing cost in task switching

Three experiments investigated the cognitive mechanisms underlying the restart cost and mixing cost in task switching. To this aim, the predictability of task order was varied (unpredictable in Experiment 1 and predictable in Experiments 2 and 3) across experiments, which employed a multiple-trial paradigm. Verbal cues for color and shape matching tasks were presented before a run of four trials. Focusing on task-repetition runs only, we measured restart cost as the difference in performance between trials 1 and 2 and mixing cost as the difference in performance on the non-cued trials under mixed-tasks conditions (Experiments 1 and 2) and single-task conditions (Experiment 3). The restart cost was observed under mixed-tasks conditions with both unpredictable and predictable task orders but not under the single-task condition. In contrast, the mixing cost was observed under the mixed-tasks condition with unpredictable task order only (Experiment 1). This finding implies that the optimal task execution on repetition trials depends on how predictable the identity of the approaching task is. Therefore, we suggest that mixing cost arises from limited preparation on repetition trials when task order is unpredictable, while restart cost arises from processes involved in cue-based task activation that is needed to resolve task interference. Together, these data suggest that restart cost and mixing cost are based on dissociable mechanisms.

---

Biofeedback, cognitive training and relaxation techniques as multimodal adjunct therapy for hospitalized adolescents: a pilot study

Modifications and adjuncts to traditional therapy techniques appear to be necessary for successfully treating hospitalized adolescents with impaired social and verbal skills, and a history of acting-out behavior. Modified therapy groups were combined with a structured biofeedback and cognitive training program to help these adolescents control anger and modify their behavior. Used in conjunction with training and practice in relaxation techniques, this multimodal treatment approach appeared to be helpful in both reducing incidents of acting out on residential units, and in reaching individualized therapeutic goals. The present paper describes use of this multimodal approach within selected residential settings, and outlines the structured materials developed by the authors.