“in”, “on”, and “under” revisited

The present study presents evidence that young children's comprehension of the locatives ‘in’, ‘on’, and ‘under’ is, at least in part, contextually determined. Children aged 1;6–3;0 were given tasks with verbal instructions which were either contextually congruent or incongruent. The results were interpreted in terms of the non-linguistic as well as linguistic strategies apparently used to interpret speech. The results and interpretation are in contrast to those of earlier research.     

“Generalized imitation” on a nonimitative task: Effects of modeling and task history

Two experiments investigated characteristic generalized imitation procedures on a nonimitative successive visual discrimination task. In Experiment I, no discriminative behavior was obtained though a number of procedures designed to enhance discrimination were employed. The introduction of a differential modeling procedure after nine or 10 sessions of nondifferential performance was ineffective in producing differential responding for three of four Ss. In the second experiment, the differential modeling procedure was introduced as an initial manipulation and was successful in establishing discriminative performance in all Ss. After several sessions of differential responding, the observation of a model performing nondifferentially was relatively ineffective in altering the pattern of responding. These results suggest (1) that modeling may be functional in altering a S's behavior depending on what point in the procedures the manipulation is introduced and (2) that certain procedural variables may define a functional response class characterized by the failure to develop discriminative responding.     

A computerized method of analyzing and playing back vibratory animal signals

In water striders or other animals that communicate with vibratory or oscillatory signals, surface wave signals can be recorded, analyzed in digital form by computer, then played back accurately by oscillating a magnet, glued to the animal, with electromagnetic fluctuations from a coil driven by the computer. Signals can be played with great flexibility through a normally behaving animal, in laboratory or field.     

Tactile Prompting and Weekly Performance Feedback for Increasing Teachers’ Behavior-Specific Praise

The school-based consultation literature includes a variety of empirically supported procedures for increasing teachers’ implementation of classroom management strategies. However, teachers may respond differently to empirically supported consultation procedures. This study used a multiple baseline design across three elementary teachers to test the effects of a tactile prompting and weekly performance feedback consultation procedure for increasing teachers’ behavior-specific praise. Additionally, this study included data for teachers’ rate of reprimands and their classrooms’ appropriately engaged behavior and disruptive behavior. Results indicated that tactile prompting and weekly performance feedback increased behavior-specific praise for all three teachers. However, a functional relation between tactile prompting and weekly performance feedback and changes in teachers’ reprimands and their classrooms’ appropriately engaged and disruptive behavior was not established. Implications for applied practice, and limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

Virtual reality goes to war: a brief review of the future of military behavioral healthcare

Numerous reports indicate that the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning OEF/OIF military personnel is creating a significant healthcare challenge. These findings have served to motivate research on how to better develop and disseminate evidence-based treatments for PTSD. Virtual Reality delivered exposure therapy for PTSD has been previously used with reports of positive outcomes. This article details how virtual reality applications are being designed and implemented across various points in the military deployment cycle to prevent, identify and treat combat-related PTSD in OIF/OEF Service Members and Veterans. The summarized projects in these areas have been developed at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, a U.S. Army University Affiliated Research Center, and this paper will detail efforts to use virtual reality to deliver exposure therapy, assess PTSD and cognitive function and provide stress resilience training prior to deployment.