The effects of preference assessment type on problem behavior

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who engage in problem behavior maintained by access to tangibles may exhibit more problem behavior during certain preference assessments. We compared three common preference assessments to determine which resulted in fewer problem behaviors. The paired stimulus and multiple‐stimulus without replacement assessments produced higher rates of problem behavior than the free operant (FO) assessment, suggesting that the FO assessment may be the most appropriate assessment for individuals who engage in problem behavior maintained by access to tangibles.     

Perception of synthetic speech produced automatically by rule: Intelligibility of eight text-to-speech systems

We present the results of studies designed to measure the segmental intelligibility of eight text-to-speech systems and a natural speech control, using the Modified Rhyme Test (MRT). Results indicated that the voices tested could be grouped into four categories: natural speech, high-quality synthetic speech, moderate-quality synthetic speech, and low-quality synthetic speech. The overall performance of the best synthesis system, DECtalk-Paul, was equivalent to natural speech only in terms of performance on initial consonants. The findings are discussed in terms of recent work investigating the perception of synthetic speech under more severe conditions. Suggestions for future research on improving the quality of synthetic speech are also considered.     

Program evaluation in community psychology

American Journal of Community Psychology -     

Evaluation of the Performance of Experimenters as a Function of Their Sex and Competence1

A study was conducted to investigate evaluations of experimenters as a function of their sex and competency. It was hypothesized that (a) competent male and female experimenters would be evaluated as equal in competence, but that females acting incompetently would be judged as less competent than would males who were also acting incompetently and (b) competent females would be judged as less feminine relative to incompetent females; whereas incompetent females would be judged as extremely feminine. Undergraduate males and females viewed videotapes of male or female experimenters acting either competently or incompetently and then rated these experimenters on a 20-item semantic differential scale. It was found that when the female experimenters unambiguously displayed competence, they were judged as of equal competence to male experimenters acting in a similar manner; in the incompetent condition, however, female experimenters were judged as less competent than male experimenters. Competent females were perceived as less feminine than incompetent females; incompetent females were perceived as more feminine than females in any other experimenter condition. It was postulated that these findings were due to (a) subjects’expecting incompetency of women and (b) subjects’equating competence with the masculine role and incompetence with the feminine role.     

An illusion of ingestion

Three experiments were conducted to find out why subjects ingest substantially more liquid than required when asked to match a visually displayed volume. All three experiments replicated the basic illusion phenomenon, and Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that it was attributable to the subjects’ underestimating the volume of liquid in their mouths. Experiment 3 revealed that the illusion was not present with solid substances, but it was evident with liquids when a quite different measurement procedure was employed.     

Training Genetic Counselors to provide teratogen counseling

Provision of teratogen counseling requires acquisition of knowledge and skills from several disciplines. Traditionally, training in teratogen counseling has occurred on the job. We describe a formal, didactic and experiential curriculum for teratogen counseling as an integral part of the Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling leading to the master of science degree at Northwestern University. All students complete a 5-week rotation with the Coordinator of the Illinois Teratogen Information Service (TIS). This provides them with an opportunity to evaluate a spectrum of teratogen exposures, to interpret teratogen studies in a manner useful for patients, and to develop skills in assessing and addressing psychosocial issues associated with fetal exposure to potential teratogens. Students also learn first hand about how a TIS functions and when and how to refer to TIS specialists. The goal of the program is to provide genetic counseling students with the opportunity to gain experience in accessing and interpreting teratology research and in communicating teratogen information to patients and health professionals in a sensitive, effective manner.     

Behaviorism and mentalism: Is there a third alternative?

Behaviorism and mentalism are commonly considered to be mutually exclusive and conjunctively exhaustive options for the psychological explanation of behavior. Behaviorism and mentalism do differ in their characterization of inner causes of behavior. However, I argue that they are not mutually exclusive on the grounds that they share important foundational assumptions, two of which are the notion of an innerouter split and the notion of control. I go on to argue that mentalism and behaviorism are not conjunctively exhaustive either, on the grounds that dropping these common foundational assumptions results in a distinctively different framework for the explanation of behavior. This third alternative, which is briefly described, is a version of non-individualism.