Schedule-induced aggression as a function of fixed-ratio value

Pigeons responding for food on fixed-ratio reinforcement schedules attacked live target birds when the ratio value was increased, but not when the value was decreased. The frequency of attacks peaked several days after ratio value change, and then gradually decreased to an original level.     

Learning from experience: The value of analysing Avalon

In this article some of the experiences and insights gained from roughly fifteen years of conducting a long term study of Glastonbury are examined. Glastonbury, a small town in the south west of England, has become a multivalent pilgrimage site for a variety of spiritual seekers, and an icon of integrative spirituality (my preferred term for ‘alternative’ or ‘New Age’ spirituality).The concept of vernacular religion is explained, and its appropriateness in relation to both place-centred study and research into integrative spirituality is demonstrated. The rationale and some of the methodological complexities underlying this type of study are explored, and some of the trends and phenomena that the long term observation of one location has revealed are considered. The contextual detail and depth of knowledge gained from such long term study feed into an appreciation of both the internal dynamics of Christianity in Glastonbury, for example, and the growing institutionalisation of the Glastonbury Goddess movement and the spread of its influence through a variety of conduits. The role of the internet in framing expectations and presentations of Glastonbury is examined, and research relating to its unique spiritual service industry is briefly summarised.While Glastonbury is by no means ‘typical’, it is indicative of a number of trends in relation to ‘integrative’ spirituality and therefore lessons learned from there can have wider implications for the study of phenomena increasingly common in the contemporary milieu.     

An evaluation of resurgence following functional communication training conducted in alternative antecedent contexts via telehealth

Treatments based on differential reinforcement may inadvertently increase the recurrence of problem behavior in the face of challenges because reinforcers for appropriate behavior occur in the same context as problem behavior. The current study evaluated one potential approach to mitigating these problems with differential reinforcement treatments based on behavioral momentum theory. Specifically, appropriate behavior was trained in contexts without a history of reinforcement prior to intervening with problem behavior. Participants were 4 children with autism spectrum disorder. Treatment used telehealth to implement functional communication training (FCT) in three alternative contexts with minimal or no history of reinforcement for problem behavior before initiating FCT in the treatment context. Evaluations of the effects of treatment and tests of resurgence were conducted intermittently during treatment to evaluate maintenance. When FCT treatment was initiated in alternative contexts, initial results were comparable to more typical implementations of FCT. Resurgence was reduced to similar levels during tests of resurgence for all participants when compared to more typical previously published implementations of FCT, but clinically significant reductions in resurgence occurred more quickly in the present study. These findings support training appropriate behavior in an alternative context to mitigate the resurgence of problem behavior during differential reinforcement treatments.     

Classification of empirically derived prototypes as a function of category experience

In three experiments, subjects learned to classify dot patterns into three categories represented by either three, six, or nine exemplars. Following learning, subjects were tested on an additional set of patterns, which included patterns from the learning phase, the category objective prototypes, and new distortions of the objective prototypes. Also included in the test set were empirical prototypes and distortions of empirical prototypes. Empirical prototypes were derived by averaging feature values of category exemplars in the learning phase. The overall results revealed that empirical prototypes were classified more accurately than were objective prototypes. In addition, a pattern of convergence in error rates was observed for distortions of the objective and empirical prototypes as category set size increased, but this same pattern was not observed for the objective and empirical prototypes themselves. This lack of convergence for the prototypes is inconsistent with explanations of the category set size effect that rely on the central limit theorem.     

Happiness as an additional antecedent of schadenfreude

The current study examined whether dispositionally happy individuals feel less happiness when another person experiences a misfortune. Happy individuals are known to be less vulnerable to upward comparison information. In addition, schadenfreude is elicited by upward comparison targets (e.g. high achievers and tall poppies). Thus, it was assumed that happiness would decrease schadenfreude. The lower level of hostile feelings in happy individuals, which are elicited by threats to one’s person and inferiority heightened when confronted with a high achiever, was hypothesized to decrease schadenfreude. Studies 1 and 2 were conducted with scenario experiments, and the hypotheses were supported in both studies. Regression analyses revealed a significant direct effect of happiness on a reduction in schadenfreude. How not feeling schadenfreude when witness another person’s misfortune helps people maintain and/or increase their happiness is discussed.     

Emotional competence as antecedent to performance: a contingency framework

Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor one's own and others' thinking and actions. In this integrative review, the author seeks to determine the causes of the weak relationship between emotional intelligence and performance by positing that certain emotional competencies, rather than emotional intelligence, are the true predictors of performance. The author theorizes that emotional competencies (including self-control, resilience, social skills, conscientiousness, reliability, integrity, and motivation) interact with organizational climate and job demands or job autonomy to influence performance, as represented in the form of 5 empirically testable propositions. Self-control and emotional resilience are considered to delay the onset of a decline in performance from excessive job demands. Social skills, conscientiousness, reliability, and integrity assist to promote trust, which in turn may build cohesiveness among the members of work groups. Motivation may fuel job involvement in environments that promise psychological safety and psychological meaningfulness. A combination of superior social skills and conscientiousness may enhance the self-sacrifice of benevolent employees to heightened levels of dependability and consideration. Finally, emotional honesty, self-confidence, and emotional resilience can promote superior performance, if positive feedback is delivered in an informative manner, and can mitigate the adverse effects of negative feedback.     

Boundaries of cognitive performance as a function of age and flight experience

Age and expertise effects on time-sharing performance were examined. Pilots were considered to have an expertise in time-sharing because of their cockpit experience. Ninety pilots and nonpilots performed a battery of cognitive tasks that represented different aspects of piloting. The results revealed that time-sharing performance was age sensitive. However, expertise appeared to have some moderating influence on the age effects. Further, analysis of the overlap of the response distributions from different age groups suggested that age alone was not a definitive discriminator of an individual's time-sharing skill.     

Learning as a function of coordination bias: building upon pre-practice behaviours

Instructions and demonstrations were manipulated to make pre-practice behaviours explicit and inform participants how to build-upon these to perform a novel bi-manual movement. In Experiment 1, participants who could perform only in- and anti-phase movements were studied, whereas in Experiment 2, individuals who could perform additional movements were tested. Zanone and Kelso (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 23 (1997) 1454) predicted differential learning progressions as a result of initial ability. Instruction promoting gradual adaptation of an existing skill would be more likely to benefit participants in Experiment 2. Irrespective of initial ability, participants did not benefit from instruction. Instructions that built-upon the in-phase pattern were particularly detrimental to acquisition, as compared to withholding instruction and providing only feedback. Instructional effects were related to decreased within-trial variability early in practice due to avoidance of certain movements and a complement bias to another undesirable one. It was suggested that trying to implement instructions, especially for the participants in Experiment 2, caused individuals to exert control over processes better controlled by lower, less cognitive levels of the motor system.