A COMPARISON OF REINFORCER ASSESSMENT METHODS: THE UTILITY OF VERBAL AND PICTORIAL CHOICE PROCEDURES

We compared three methods of stimulus preference assessment for verbal children and specifically evaluated the utility of a verbal choice procedure for assessing relative reinforcer value. Using a token system, relative preference for five categories of reinforcers, representing 15 different stimuli, was assessed by three methods: a reinforcer survey, a verbal stimulus-choice questionnaire, and a pictorial stimulus-choice procedure. Results showed that the verbal and pictorial stimulus-choice assessments accurately identified high- and low-preference categories for 3 of 4 participants. Survey results alone often rated multiple categories as high preference, were less likely to identify low-preference categories, and were less likely to correspond with the results of a reinforcer assessment.     

The assessment of trust orientation

The development of the Trust Inventory, a 40-item measure of trust in generalized others (Generalized Trust) and romantic partners (Partner Trust) is described. A third conceptualization of trust in friends and family members (Network Trust) is also discussed College students (N = 1,229) participated in five stages of test construction and validation. Results indicated that the Trust Inventory scales are reliable, both internally and temporally, and that the Partner Trust and Generalized Trust Scales demonstrate both concurrent and construct validity. The resulting inventory is unique in its capacity to assess these types of trust simultaneously. Evidence supporting the discriminant validity of the Network Trust was mixed, whereas factor analytic treatments of Trust Inventory items supported the distinctiveness of Network Trust as compared to Partner and Generalized Trust, the Network Trust Scale correlated to roughly the same degree as the other two scales with several variables of differential theoretical relevance. Thus, little evidence supporting the incremental validity of Network Trust was observed Discussion focuses on the evidence suggesting the validity of interpretations of Generalized and Partner Trust and considers the issue of additional research regarding Network Trust.     

Effects of attentional set and rhythmic complexity on attending

In a target detection task involving sustained attentional monitoring, rhythmic properties of tone sequences were found to affect detection performance (area under receiver-operating characteristic curves) and reaction times. Alternating tone frequencies (high, low) formed three different recurrent rhythms (binary, trinary, mixed) which varied in complexity. Attentional set was also manipulated so that participants attended either to tones of both frequencies (divided) or to only the higher of the two tones (selective). The most interesting finding involved an interaction between attentional set and rhythm, indicating that selective attending is enhanced by the most complex (mixed) rhythm, whereas divided attending tends to be best with the simplest rhythm (binary). Results are discussed in terms of a theory of dynamic attending, in which it is assumed that listeners actively use attending oscillators to direct attending.     

The empirical investigation of factors affecting graphical visualization

An estimated 2.2 trillion graphs were published during 1994. These graphs used a multitude of different visual techniques in an effort to communicate information to a reader. Despite the many important applications for which graphs are used and the frequency of their use, little is known about what techniques make a graph most effective at communicating information to a reader. This paucity of knowledge stems largely from a dearth of empirical investigations pertaining to graphs. A major problem encountered by researchers who wish to undertake sound empirical research into the effectiveness of graphical presentations is the shortage of suitable tools. This article presents a computer software tool, Graphics Visualization, which offers the researcher an inexpensive yet accurate and reliable method of performing empirical research into factors that affect the accuracy and speed by which a reader can interpret data encoded within a graph.     

Discussion: Reflections from the clinical trenches

This paper involves a series of personal reflections on the deleterious impact of excessive bureaucracy and other institutional forces on the psychosocial treatment of the chronically mentally ill. The writer appeals to three groups of mental-health practitioners—behavior analysts, practicing clinicians, and academic clinicians—to promote cultural change by advocating a restructuring of large-scale bureaucracies with the concurrent establishment of multiple community-based associations.     

THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF TEACHER AND PEER ATTENTION ON THE DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR OF THREE CHILDREN WITH A DIAGNOSIS OF ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

We conducted functional analyses of classroom disruption during contingent teacher and peer attention conditions for 3 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Attention provided by peer confederates appeared to function as a distinct form of positive reinforcement for all 3 children.     

Are retailers fully prepared for the holiday shopping season?

Secret shoppers anonymously observed and rated 114 Chicagoland retailers during the 1991 end-of-year holiday shopping season. The raters assessed if the stores were clean, safe, and organized, and whether or not the employees and management provided a high-caliber of customer service. Statistical analyses showed that there were multiple opportunities for improvement in the areas of store organization, service management, employee productivity, and customers' overall feelings about the holiday shopping experience. It was also discovered that stores that were supervised by highly involved and enthused managers were better prepared for shoppers than were stores with no managers on the floor or else the managers were present yet they seem uninterested and uninvolved. Finally, stores that used multi-purpose employment tests appeared to be more prepared for shoppers than non-testing stores.     

A snapshot of autobiographical memory retrieval characteristics

This study attempts to replicate and extend the results of Burt (1992a), using more ecologically valid memory cues. Twenty-seven undergraduate students used 138 rolls of film over the 1992-3 summer vacation. The film produced approximately 4900 autobiographical photographs, which were categorized as to the nature of the cues (event information) they contained (e. g. activity, location, participant). A sample of the subject's autobiographical photographs, and a set of other individuals autobiographical photographs (autobiographical foils), were presented to each subject via a tachistoscope. The subjects were asked to indicate when they had retrieved the 'circumstances and associated context' surrounding the scene depicted in each photograph or had decided the latter was not possible. Differences in memory retrieval times were found between the foils and autobiographical photographs and across the cue categories. The results suggest that autobiographical event memory structures are formed around the most unique event attribute. Rehearsal of an event and occurrence of an experience within an extended event (e. g. a holiday) were also found to predict memory retrieval time.