Obtained versus programmed reinforcement practical considerations in the treatment of escape-reinforced aggression

This investigation provides a preliminary examination of the difference between programmed and obtained reinforcement rates and its potential influence during treatment of aggression in a natural setting. Following a functional analysis that suggested that the aggression of a boy with autism was negatively reinforced, intervention was implemented by the boy's mother. Concurrent fixed-ratio (FR) 1 FR 1 schedules of escape were arranged for manding and aggression. When mands failed to compete effectively with aggression, obtained reinforcement ratios were calculated; these indicated that obtained reinforcement varied from the programmed schedule for aggression but not for mands. Increasing the rate of prompts for mands resulted in an increase in mands and a decrease in aggression to near-zero levels.     

A mechanism of implicit lexicalized phonological recoding used concurrently with underdeveloped explicit letter-sound skills in both precocious and normal reading development

These are findings of theoretical interest from: (i) follow-up of a case study of a precocious reader; and (ii) normally developing readers who served as comparison groups. The precocious reader was first reported when 2–3 years of age (Cognition 74 (2000) 177). From 3 to 7 years of age her precocious reading development continued, her word reading accuracy increasing from the 8- to the 16-year-level, although her phonemic awareness skills remained underdeveloped relative to word reading. Nonword reading continued to develop rapidly. Her word reading, however, was more than phonological recoding. At 5 years of age, in comparison with reading-level matched normal 11-year-olds she exhibited strong effects of semantic characteristics of words and evidence of well-specified lexical orthographic representations. In common with normal comparison 11-year-olds, who had not received instruction in explicit phonics, her explicit letter-sound skills were underdeveloped but she possessed high speed and accuracy in nonword reading, a result most theories of the acquisition of reading fail to explain. Her responses to irregularly spelt nonwords indicated higher proficiency than the 11-year-olds in acquiring lexical orthographic representations not predictable from prior phonological recoding knowledge. It is considered that this proficiency contributes to an explanation of her precocious reading development. A mechanism of implicit lexicalized phonological recoding is involved which explains the dissociation of skills in both the precocious reader and normally developing readers.     

Implicit sequence learning: effects of level of structure, adult age, and extended practice

The influence of structure and age on sequence learning was investigated by testing 24 young and 24 older participants for 10 sessions in an alternating serial response time task in which pattern trials alternated with random trials. Individuals encountered lag-2 or lag-3 structure, and learning was measured by the difference (in response time and accuracy) between pattern and random trials. Both ages learned lag-2 structure, but the young learned more than the older participants. Only the young people learned lag-3 structure, and they did so more slowly and to a lesser degree than they learned lag-2 structure. These age deficits in higher order sequence learning after extended practice are consistent with simultaneity theory and with theories positing that age-related deficits in neuromodulation lead to less distinctive representations.     

Evaluating the convergence of muscle appearance attitude measures

There has been growing interest in the assessment of a muscular appearance. Given the importance of assessing muscle appearance attitudes, the aim of this study was to explore the convergence of the Drive for Muscularity Scale, Somatomorphic Matrix, Contour Drawing Rating Scale, Male Figure Drawings, and the Muscularity Rating Scale. Participants were 76 men and 103 women who each completed four measures of body image that were meant to evaluate two distinct domains of appearance attitudes: muscularity and body fat. For both genders, data indicated low convergence among muscularity measures, but high convergence among body fat measures. For men, the Drive for Muscularity Body Image subscale exhibited the greatest concurrent validity with behaviors used to increase muscularity. The results are discussed in light of the selection of methods for the assessment of muscle appearance attitudes.     

Self-injurious behavior and the efficacy of naltrexone treatment: a quantitative synthesis

People with mental retardation, autism, and related developmental disabilities who self-injure are treated with a wide array of behavioral techniques and psychotropic medications. Despite numerous reports documenting short-term and some long-term changes in self-injury associated with the opiate antagonist naltrexone hydrochloride, no quantitative review of its efficacy has been reported. We conducted a quantitative synthesis of the peer-reviewed published literature from 1983 to 2003 documenting the use of naltrexone for the treatment of self-injurious behavior (SIB). Individual-level results were analyzed given subject and study characteristics. A sample of 27 research articles involving 86 subjects with self-injury was reviewed. Eighty percent of subjects were reported to improve relative to baseline (i.e., SIB reduced) during naltrexone administration and 47% of subjects SIB was reduced by 50% or greater. In studies reporting dose levels in milligrams, males were more likely than females to respond. No significant relations were found between treatment outcomes and autism status or form of self-injury. Results are discussed with respect to future efficacy work related to study outcomes and the pharmacological treatment of self-injury.     

Decomposing retrieval and integration in memory for actions: a multinomial modeling approach

Typically, action phrases are recalled better if participants are asked to enact the phrases than if they are just asked to remember them. When investigating which processes constitute this enactment effect a difficulty is that observable effects in standard memory tests are ambiguous because such tests require several processes. In the present article, we introduce a multinomial model that decomposes observable memory performance into a retrieval parameter and a parameter concerning the item-specific processing and integration of an action phrase. These parameters are estimated from free recall and cued recall performance. The model fitted the data of two experiments designed to test it. Experiment 1 demonstrated the basic usefulness of the model by showing expected differences in the integration parameter in the absence of unexpected differences in the retrieval parameter. Experiment 2 extended the conditions under which the model is useful by showing expected differences in the retrieval parameter even in the presence of unexpected differences in the integration parameter. Together, these findings support our theoretical framework according to which enactment generally boosts integration of action phrases, but increases retrieval only for phrases with context cues.     

Five-factor model (Big Five) personality traits and universal-diverse orientation in counselor trainees

In this study the authors explored the relationship between five-factor model (FFM: Big Five) personality traits (J. M. Digman, 1990; R. R. McCrae & O. P. John, 1992; J. S. Wiggins & P. D. Trappnell, 1997) and universal-diverse orientation (UDO; M. L. Miville et al., 1999) in counselor trainees. FFM traits were measured using the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992). Statistically significant relationships were found between UDO and one of the Big Five personality traits (Openness to Experience) in counselor trainees. Further regression analysis suggested a relationship between UDO and a particular facet of Openness to Experience, Openness to Aesthetics. This finding suggests that counselor trainees who are open to the creative expressions of others may be comfortable working with a wide variety of clients. These results suggest that counselor training that encourages experiences of aesthetic diversity in addition to an exploration of values may promote trainees' ability to work with diverse clients.     

Response to commentary on the multimodal treatment study of ADHD (MTA): mining the meaning of the MTA

In the December 2000 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, we published a set of papers presenting secondary analyses of the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD (MTA), and R. A. Barkley (2000) provided a commentary. A critique of the design of the study (MTA Cooperative Group, 1999) was presented based on a theoretical perspective of a behavioral inhibition deficit that has been hypothesized as the core deficit of ADHD (R. A. Barkley, 1997). The commentary questioned the design and analysis of the MTA in terms of (1) the empirical criteria for selection of components of behavioral (Beh) intervention, (2) the effectiveness of the Beh intervention, (3) the methods for analyses at the group and individual level, (4) implications of the MTA findings for clinical practice, (5) the role of genetics in response to treatment, and (6) the lack of a nontreatment control group. In this response, we relate the content of the papers to the commentary, (1) by reviewing the selection criteria for the Beh treatment, as outlined by K. C. Wells, W. E. Pelham, et al. (2000), (2) by addressing the myth that the MTA Beh treatment was ineffective (Pelham, 1999), (3) by describing the use of analyses at the level of the individual participant, as presented by J. S. March et al. (2000) and W. E. Pelham et al. (2000) as well as elsewhere by J. M. Swanson et al. (2001) and C. K. Conners et al. (2001), (4) by relating some of the suggestions from the secondary analyses about clinically relevant factors such as comorbidity (as presented by J. S. March et al., 2000) and family and parental characteristics (as presented by B. Hoza et al., 2000, S. P. Hinshaw et al., 2000, and K. C. Wells, J. N. Epstein, et al., 2000), (5) by discussing the statistical concept of heritability and the lack of a significant difference in the presence of ADHD symptoms in parents of the MTA families compared to parents in the classmate-control families (as presented by J. N. Epstein, et al., 2000), and (6) by acknowledging that an ethically necessary weakness of the MTA design is that it did not include a no-treatment control group. We discuss the use of secondary analyses to suggest how, when, and for what subgroups effectiveness of the Beh treatment may have been manifested. Finally, we invite others to use the large and rich data set that will soon be available in the public domain, to perform secondary analyses to mine the meaning of the MTA and to evaluate theories of ADHD and response to treatments.     

The relative influence of attitudes and subjective norms from childhood to adolescence: between-participant and within-participant analyses

Children and adolescents (ages 8-16) were asked to indicate their behavioral intentions, attitudes, and subjective norms for 34 behaviors. Between-participant and within-participant analyses demonstrated that attitudes and subjective norms were good predictors of behavioral intentions both singly and in combination. In addition, attitudes generally were better predictors than were subjective norms both across behaviors and across participants. Most importantly, however, there were no differences in the relative importance of attitudes and subjective norms in predicting behavioral intentions across age groups.