An experimental analysis of negative reinforcement contingencies for adult-delivered reprimands

Seven adults participated in simulated teaching sessions with an experimenter who role played as a student with developmental disabilities. The experimenter engaged in problem behavior and either (a) terminated problem behavior contingent on participant reprimands (negative reinforcement) or (b) did not terminate problem behavior contingent on reprimands (extinction). Results suggested that reprimands were sensitive to negative reinforcement in the form of the immediate cessation of problem behavior. These preliminary findings support role play as a potentially viable laboratory model for analyzing behaviors of typical adults.     

An evaluation of two differential reinforcement procedures with escape extinction to treat food refusal

Consumption of solids and liquids occurs as a chain of behaviors that may include accepting, swallowing, and retaining the food or drink. In the current investigation, we evaluated the relative effectiveness of differential reinforcement of the first behavior in the chain (acceptance) versus differential reinforcement for the terminal behavior in the chain (mouth clean). Three children who had been diagnosed with a feeding disorder participated. Acceptance remained at zero when differential reinforcement contingencies were implemented for acceptance or mouth clean. Acceptance and mouth clean increased for all 3 participants once escape extinction was added to the differential reinforcement procedures, independent of whether reinforcement was provided for acceptance or for mouth clean. Maintenance was observed in 2 children when escape extinction was removed from the treatment package. The mechanism by which consumption increased is discussed in relation to positive and negative reinforcement contingencies.     

On the relative contributions of positive reinforcement and escape extinction in the treatment of food refusal

We compared the effects of positive reinforcement alone, escape extinction alone, and positive reinforcement with escape extinction in the treatment of the food and fluid refusal of 4 children who had been diagnosed with a pediatric feeding disorder. Consumption did not increase when positive reinforcement was implemented alone. By contrast, consumption increased for all participants when escape extinction was implemented, independent of the presence or absence of positive reinforcement. However, the addition of positive reinforcement to escape extinction was associated with beneficial effects (e.g., greater decreases in negative vocalizations and inappropriate behavior) for some participants.     

On the relative contributions of noncontingent reinforcement and escape extinction in the treatment of food refusal

In the current investigation, we evaluated the relative effects of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), escape extinction, and a combination of NCR and escape extinction as treatment for the feeding problems exhibited by 4 children. For each participant, consumption increased only when escape extinction was implemented, independent of whether NCR was present or absent. These results were consistent with prior research suggesting that positive reinforcement alone is insufficient for increasing consumption, and that escape extinction often is necessary to increase and maintain food acceptance. However, NCR appeared to decrease inappropriate behavior for some participants.     

The role of reinforcement contingencies in chronic alcoholism: An experimental analysis of one case

investigators have questioned chronic alcoholics and round that some of them have returned to normal social drinking (Davies, 1962; Lemere, 1953; Nørvig and Nielsen, 1956; Selzer and Holloway. 1957; and Shea, 1954). These findings would seem inconsistent with such notions as loss of control or craving as the basis of compulsive drinking. Moreover, antecedents and consequences of these explanatory constructs, have not been elucidated. The purpose of this research was to make an intensive study of a single subject to see if specific conditions could be identified under which a chronic alcoholic's drinking could be controlled, in a setting in which environmental variables could be systematically varied and drinking behavior documented.     

Tactical contingencies in the experimental analysis of reinforcement and operant classes

In his “Tactics of Scientific Research” (1960), his work on avoidance, his discovery of equivalence classes and his cautions on applications of coercion, Murray Sidman created high standards for behavior analytic research. I illustrate his influence in the context of three examples he might have characterized as pilot studies. Each examined trial N+1 response probabilities depending on whether trial N responding had produced a reinforcer. Differentially reinforced interresponse times, keys pecked in arbitrary matching, and two-key response sequences provided no robust evidence that reinforcing some response property on trial N raises the probability of responding with that property on trial N+1. These negative findings shed light on the nature of operant classes and on the relation of reinforcers to the responses that produced them. Through selection, reinforcers create operant classes and engender variations of the responses within those classes; operant classes are held together by common contingencies. Sidman extended our understanding of operant classes by expanding them to include equivalence relations.     

A descriptive analysis of potential reinforcement contingencies in the preschool classroom

In recent years, functional analysis methods have been extended to classroom settings; however, research has not evaluated the extent to which consequences presented during functional analysis are associated with problem behavior under naturalistic classroom conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether the social consequences commonly manipulated in functional analyses occur in typical preschool classrooms. A total of 14 children attending preschool programs participated in the study. Data were collected on the occurrence of antecedent events (e.g., presentation of tasks), child behaviors (e.g., aggression), and teacher responses (e.g., delivery of attention). The probability of various teacher responses given child behavior was then calculated and compared to the response-independent probabilities of teacher responses. Attention was found to be the most common classroom consequence (100% of children), followed by material presentation (79% of children), and escape from instructional tasks (33% of children). Comparisons of conditional and response-independent probabilities showed that the probability of teacher attention increased given the occurrence of problem behavior for all children, suggesting that a contingency existed between these two events. Results suggest that functional analyses that test the effects of attention, escape, and access to materials on problem behavior may be appropriate for preschool settings.     

An experimental study about the congruence between type A behavior pattern and type of task

This paper is an experimental study, the basic aim of which is to check whether the congruence between personality characteristics and task characteristics has positive effects for performance and satisfaction on individuals. The results obtained reveal that Type A behavior pattern individuals get better results in cases of congruence than in cases of incongruence, while the performance of Type B behavior pattern individuals is not related to the (in)congruence between personal needs/aims and the task's demands. Besides, we have found that Type A behavior pattern individuals also have greater levels of satisfaction in cases of congruence than in cases of incongruence. However, Type B behavior pattern individuals show the same levels of satisfaction in both cases.     

Goal orientation, task difficulty, and task interest: A multilevel analysis

We studied whether goal orientation affects the relationships that task difficulty and interest have with self-set goals. Using a sample of 499 undergraduate students who listed grade goals for their classes, we employed Hierarchical Linear Modeling to explain differences in the extent to which difficulty and interest related to goals. Higher goals were set for more interesting and easier classes, and for individuals higher in mastery goal orientation and for those lower in performance-avoidance orientation (at average levels of interest and difficulty). Furthermore, performance-approach and performance-avoidance orientations reduced and strengthened (respectively) the effects of task difficulty on self-set goals, and the buffering effect of mastery orientation was marginally significant. Portions of this paper were presented at the 19^th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL, in April 2004.     

Comparisons of synthesized and individual reinforcement contingencies during functional analysis

Researchers typically modify individual functional analysis (FA) conditions after results are inconclusive (Hanley, Iwata, & McCord, 2003). Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, and Hanratty (2014) introduced a marked departure from this practice, using an interview‐informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA). In the test condition, they delivered multiple contingencies simultaneously (e.g., attention and escape) after each occurrence of problem behavior; in the control condition, they delivered those same reinforcers noncontingently and continuously. In the current investigation, we compared the results of the IISCA with a more traditional FA in which we evaluated each putative reinforcer individually. Four of 5 participants displayed destructive behavior that was sensitive to the individual contingencies evaluated in the traditional FA. By contrast, none of the participants showed a response pattern consistent with the assumption of the IISCA. We discuss the implications of these findings on the development of accurate and efficient functional analyses.     

A comparison of functional analysis methods of inappropriate mealtime behavior

Investigators have evaluated two procedural variations for conducting a functional analysis of inappropriate mealtime behavior exhibited by children with feeding problems. One method involves prompting bites only in the escape condition (e.g., Najdowski et al., 2008). Another method involves prompting bites across all conditions (e.g., Piazza et al., 2003). We assessed the food refusal of 3 children diagnosed with a feeding disorder by comparing the two variations. The two methods resulted in different outcomes for 2 of 3 children. Prompting bites only in the escape condition identified a single function (i.e., escape). Prompting bites across all conditions identified multiple functions (i.e., escape and attention). We then examined the relative effects of extinction procedures (individually and in combination) to determine the validity of each method. Results of the treatment evaluation suggested that the procedural variation that failed to identify an attention function for 2 of 3 children produced false negative findings.     

Comparisons of standardized and interview-informed synthesized reinforcement contingencies relative to functional analysis

We compared the functions of problem behavior identified by (a) a functional analysis (FA), (b) an interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) that was informed by the results of an open-ended interview and a structured observation, and (c) a standardized-synthesized contingency analysis (SSCA) in which we synthesized three common functions of problem behavior across 12 individuals in a controlled consecutive case series. We then compared outcomes across assessments. The FA was sufficient in identifying the variables maintaining problem behavior for 11 of the 12 participants, replicating the findings of Fisher, Greer, Romani, Zangrillo, and Owen (2016). Error type (i.e., false positives, false negatives) and error prevalence were similar across functions identified by the IISCA and the SSCA, calling into question the utility of the open-ended interview and the structured observation that informed the IISCA.     

Refining the experimental analysis of academic skills deficits: part II. Use of brief experimental analysis to evaluate reading fluency treatments

The technology of brief experimental analysis is just beginning to be used for identification of effective treatments for individual students who experience difficulty with oral reading fluency. In this study, the effect of a reading fluency treatment package was examined on easy and hard passages, and generalization was assessed on passages with high content overlap. The results suggest that the treatment package increased reading fluency for all 3 students. Effects were moderated by difficulty level for all 3 students. Results are discussed in terms of future refinements to the procedures, validation of the methods, and potential applications in clinical and school settings.     

Refining the experimental analysis of academic skills deficits: Part I. An investigation of variables that affect generalized oral reading performance

Experimental analyses for improving reading fluency deficits have rarely targeted generalized increases in academic responding. As a consequence, the variables that may help students to generalize newly learned forms of academic responding like reading are not well understood. Furthermore, experimental analyses of reading fluency interventions have not systematically examined difficulty level as a variable that may affect instructional outcomes. The experiment reported in this paper expands (a) the measurement of the dependent variables to include generalized increases across tasks (reading passages) and (b) the combination of independent variables used to produce measurable generalized increases. The results demonstrate the importance of combining reward and instructional variables (including difficulty level) to produce generalized increases and how those variables can be meaningfully investigated prior to making treatment recommendations.     

A comparison of various forms of reinforcement with and without extinction as treatment for escape-maintained problem behavior

The present investigation compared the effects of reinforcing compliance with either positive or negative reinforcement for a participant who displayed escape-maintained problem behavior. The results indicated that positive reinforcement in the form of a highly preferred edible or leisure item produced higher levels of compliance and lower levels of problem behavior when compared to negative reinforcement in the form of escape from demands. In addition, an extinction procedure was unnecessary to achieve high levels of compliance.     

饮酒期望、饮酒拒绝自我效能与青少年的饮酒行为:有中介的调节效应分析

以544名初一、初二、高一和高二的学生为研究对象,考察在控制了相关人口学变量后,消极饮酒期望对积极饮酒期望与青少年饮酒行为关系的调节作用,以及饮酒拒绝自我效能对消极、积极饮酒期望及两者交互作用与饮酒行为关系的中介作用。结果发现:(1)28.31%的中学生在过去一个月中曾饮酒,其中13.60%在过去一个月中曾大量饮酒,8.27%曾醉酒;(2)积极饮酒期望能正向预测青少年的饮酒行为,消极饮酒期望在积极饮酒期望与青少年饮酒行为关系中发挥调节作用;(3)饮酒拒绝自我效能在消极饮酒期望与饮酒行为关系中起部分中介作用,在积极饮酒期望与饮酒行为的关系以及消极饮酒期望的调节作用中发挥了完全中介作用;(4)调节效应的中介机制表明,低消极期望组中,随着积极期望的提高,饮酒拒绝自我效能呈直线下降的趋势;而在高消极期望组中,无论积极期望高或者低,饮酒拒绝自我效能均较高。研究结果对青少年饮酒行为的干预有重要的指导意义。     

Brief functional analysis and treatment of tantrums associated with transitions in preschool children

A brief functional analysis was used to examine the influence of termination of prechange activities and initiation of postchange activitieson tantrums exhibited by 2 preschool children. For 1 participant, tantrums were maintained by access to certain (pretransition) activities. For a 2nd participant, tantrums were maintained by avoidance of certain task initiations. Although advance notice of an upcoming transition was ineffective, differential reinforcement of other behavior plus extinction reduced tantrums for both participants.