THE USE OF PEER MONITORS TO REDUCE NEGATIVE INTERACTION DURING RECESS

The negative interactions of a mildly retarded child, Dennis, were reduced in three daily recess periods, withthe use of a point system. Adult monitors initiatedthe intervention inthe morning recess; reductions achieved during adult monitoring were maintained in that recess during two subsequent conditions: peer monitoring and self-monitoring. Dennis' negative interactions were reduced next inthe afternoon recess by peer monitors. Again, reductions were maintained during a subsequent self-monitoring condition. Finally, duringthe noon recess, Dennis was trained to serve as a peer monitor for Ed, a moderately retarded classmate. Dennis' rate of negative interactions quickly decreased following his appointment as a peer monitor. The results show that a point system, originally designed for adult monitoring, can be adapted without loss of program effectiveness for peer monitoring or self-monitoring. The results also suggest that classmates who serve as peer monitors may benefit significantly from their role. The conditions under which these therapeutic effects occur andthe role that treatment order effects may play in this process require further investigation.     

USE OF NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR

Behavioral assessment procedures were used to determine the maintaining conditions of self-injury exhibited by 2 children with severe multiple handicaps. For both children, negative reinforcement (escape from grooming activities) was determined to be the maintaining reinforcer for self-injury (hand/arm biting) within an alternating treatments design. The treatment packages involved the use of negative reinforcement (brief escape from grooming activities) contingent upon a behavior that was incompatible with self-injury (reaching and pressing a microswitch that activated a prerecorded message of “stop”). Treatment was evaluated with a reversal design for 1 child and with a multiple baseline across grooming activities for the 2nd child. The treatment led to a marked decrease in self-injury for both children. At follow-up, high rates of self-injury were reported for the 1st child, but low rates of self-injury and an increase in task-related appropriate behavior were observed for the 2nd child.     

THE USE OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF ESCAPE-MAINTAINED DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

We identified 3 clients whose destructive behavior was sensitive to negative reinforcement (break from tasks) and positive reinforcement (access to tangible items, attention, or both). In an instructional context, we then evaluated the effects of reinforcing compliance with one, two, or all of these consequences (a break, tangible items, attention) when destructive behavior produced a break and when it did not (escape extinction). For 2 clients, destructive behavior decreased and compliance increased when compliance produced access to tangible items, even though destructive behavior resulted in a break. For 1 client, extinction was necessary to reduce destructive behavior and to increase compliance. Subsequently, when the schedule of reinforcement for compliance was faded for all clients, destructive behavior was lower and fading proceeded more rapidly when compliance produced multiple functional reinforcers (i.e., a break plus tangible items or attention) and destructive behavior was on extinction. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of relative reinforcement value and extinction on concurrent operants.     

USE OF THE GATB IN PREDICTING SUCCESS ON THE TESTS OF GENERAL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

An attempt was made to determine how useful the General Aptitude Test Battery can be when used as a predictor of success on the Tests of General Educational Development. The General Ability and Verbal Aptitude subtests of the GATB were found to be the best predictors. Estimating the applicant's chance of passing the GED from the ‘G’ and ‘V’ scores was discussed.     

THE GENERALITY OF NEGATIVE AFTEREFFECT FOLLOWING ADAPTATION TO CURVATURE

Twenty-six subjects made judgments of curvature by the method of magnitude estimation. The influence of prior adaptation to a moderate degree of curvature was assessed for test-curvatures greater and less than the adapting curvature and in the same and opposite directions. The median aftereffect was negative in all cases but not statistically significant for the most extreme difference between adapting and test curvatures. It is argued that negative aftereffect for all test-curvatures along the same stimulus-continuum is a necessary condition for postulating that these experimental effects represent a general normalizing tendency in perception.     

生物化学测定用于紧张状态的评定和处理

本文以实例说明在工业紧张状态的评定中问卷法可能是一不可靠的方法。提出了应用内分泌(激素)测定作为替代方法的理由。以实例表明在实验室研究中人为地造成紧张状态时尿内肾上腺素、去甲肾上腺素、多巴胺和皮质醇水平增高。根据我们实验室的资料表明在心理紧张和体力活动时血液动力测量和激素间相关是不同的,这证实了下述假设:“格斗—逃跑”激素反应对应付心理紧张来说是不适宜的。在欧洲和澳大利亚的工业中进行的流行病学研究表明在某些职业与心血管疾病发病率之间的相关。从实验室研究所得资料证明,由于紧张状态引起激素改变而导致心脏病的因果关系。拉屈别大学研究组的研究表明了在服装工业中在自动化机器和手工操作机器工人之间肾上腺素和去甲肾上腺素水平的差异。其他由现场研究得来的资料如在锯木厂、在领港员和邮政工人中的研究也表明了与职业有关的激素改变。在进一步发展应用激素水平作为应激指标中,根据对警察和经理的紧张状态处理的研究结果表明,处理结束时接受紧张状态处理方案的人尿内激素水平比未接受处理的对照组低。结论是:生化测量在预测与紧张状态有关的疾病的发生中是更为可靠和有效的,它们的应用对澳大利亚工会和厂方来说也是可以接受的。     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIFFICULTY AND FACTOR LOADINGS OF SOME VISUAL-PERCEPTUAL TESTS

WERDELIN, I. & STJERNBERG, G. The relationship between difficulty and factor loadings of some visual-perceptual tests. Scand. J. Psychol. , 1971, 12, 21–28. – The study aimed at investigating whether it is possible to change factor loadings by varying the difficulty and complexity of the same visual-perceptual tests. 171 sixth grade pupils were given 27 tests. Some of these defined reference factors, others were differently difficult versions of four tests from separate parts of the visual-perceptual field. Data were treated by factor analysis, yielding the four factors R, S, N and P. It was found that the more difficult the test the higher its loadings on the S and R factors, and the easier the test the higher its loadings on the N and particularly the P factor.     

-BRIEF REPORT: ON THE DANGER INVOLVED IN THE USE OF TESTS WHICH MEASURE FACTORS

relatively pure factors. Measures of factors developed through the use of relationships among individual differences are not necessarily measures of factors is the same sense when they are used as dependent variables in experiments designed to determine the effect of an independent variable. Until a measure of a factor (developed from correlations among individual differences) has been empirically demonstrated to be a factor in an experimental sense (correlated mean changes), the construct validity of measures of factors must remain zero when the measures are used as dependent variables in experiments. Factor analytic procedures have produced tests which purport to measure     

THE USE OF RESPONSE PREVENTION TO ELIMINATE NOCTURNAL THUMBSUCKING

The effects of a response prevention strategy consisting of the fading of restraint and the removal of reinforcers on nocturnal thumbsucking behavior was evaluated in four experiments. In the first experiment, nocturnal thumbsucking was restrained for approximately 1 week by having each of two boys wear a boxing glove to bed. Next they wore absorbent cotton over the thumb for 11 nights. During the last phase in this condition, they wore a fingertip bandage over the thumb for 10 to 11 nights. The response prevention package completely eliminated thumbsucking behavior in both boys. In the second experiment, the removal of reinforcers alone for nocturnal thumbsucking had little or no effect on the thumbsucking behavior of three girls whereas the later introduction of the entire package completely suppressed thumbsucking in all three girls. In the third experiment, the package was evaluated in the absence of the glove restraint condition. The results showed that the treatment package was effective in the absence of the glove restraint condition for all three children. The final experiment examined whether the package could be effective if the absorbent cotton condition was abruptly removed without using the fingertip bandage condition. The results showed the treatment to be effective with one of two boys, but not the other.     

AN EVALUATION OF METHODS TO SELECT RESPONDENTS TO STRUCTURED JOB-ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRES

The purpose was to evaluate methods for selecting respondents who would respond accurately to items on a job-analysis questionnaire. One general method involved obtaining from employees measures that assessed background, performance, and organizational information. This information could be used to identify respondents who were knowledgeable about the job and, therefore, able to rate the job accurately. A second general method involved collecting job-analysis data from all potential job-analysis respondents and, on the basis of indices computed on these data, selecting a subsample from them. Two indices were investigated: (1) the D index, which assessed similarity between an individual's ratings and the population's mean ratings, and (2) the carelessness index, which measured an individual's tendency to rate tasks known to be unrelated to the focal job as important. Both methods were applied to a sample of 343 mental-health workers. Four general postulates for job analysts were proposed on the basis of the results: (1) Different selection measures yield somewhat different job-analysis respondents. (2) Respondents are not equally accurate and, with the use of the carelessness index, may be screened for the tendency to make errors. (3) In some applications, the number of sampled respondents needs to be greater than three in order to obtain reliable results. (4) To the degree that the job is ill-defined and unstable, the selection of job-analysis respondents assumes greater importance and is riskier.     

THE USE OF SELF-MODELING TO IMPROVE THE SWIMMING PERFORMANCE OF SPINA BIFIDA CHILDREN

The use of edited videotape replay (which showed only “positive” behaviors) to improve the water skills of three spina bifida children, aged 5 to 10 years was examined. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used, and behavioral changes were observed to occur in close association with intervention. One child was given successive reapplications of videotaped self-modeling with continuing improvements. It appears that a useful practical technique has been developed.     

TESTS FOR CONTROL BY EXCLUSION AND NEGATIVE STIMULUS RELATIONS OF ARBITRARY MATCHING TO SAMPLE IN A “SYMMETRY-EMERGENT” CHIMPANZEE

In the present experiments, controlling relations in arbitrary matching-to-sample performance were tested in a 9-year-old female chimpanzee who showed statistically significant emergence of symmetry in previous two-choice conditional discrimination experiments. In Experiment 1, a novel (undefined) sample stimulus was followed by a pair of trained (defined) and undefined comparison stimuli to assess the control by exclusion in arbitrary matching. The chimpanzee selected the undefined shape comparison, excluding the defined one, in color-sample-to-shape-comparison probe trials, although stimulus preferences were relatively stronger than control by exclusion in shape-sample trials. An additional test for control by relations of the sample to the positive comparison (S+ control) showed that her behavior was also under the control of relations of the sample to the positive comparison. In Experiment 2, a defined sample was followed by a pair of negatively defined and undefined comparisons to test control by the relations of the sample to the negative comparison. (S- control). The subject selected undefined comparisons in both color-shape and shape-color test trials. These results clearly indicate that the conditional discrimination behavior of this “symmetry-emergent” chimpanzee was under both S+ and S- control. Furthermore, her performance was also under control by exclusion in color-shape arbitrary matching, unlike other chimpanzees who showed no evidence of symmetry but only S+ control of arbitrary matching.     

THE USE OF PROMPTS TO ENHANCE VICARIOUS EFFECTS OF NONVERBAL APPROVAL

The effect of nonverbal teacher approval (physical contact in the form of patting approvingly) delivered to target subjects on the attentive behavior of adjacent peers was examined in a special-education classroom. In a reversal design, two pairs of moderately retarded children were exposed to nonverbal approval, with only one subject in each pair receiving approval. In different phases, nonverbal approval was delivered alone or in conjunction with a verbal prompt directed to the adjacent peer or to the class as a whole. The prompt was designed to make salient the target subject's attentive behavior and the nonverbal reinforcing consequences that followed. Providing contingent nonverbal approval alone consistently altered attentive behavior of the target subjects but did not alter the attentive behavior of adjacent peers. However, accompanying nonverbal approval with a verbal prompt did increase attentive behavior of nonreinforced peers.