A procedure for fading from experimenter-school-based to parent-home-based control of classroom behavior

A procedure was developed to establish control of three target classroom behaviors by making point reinforcers backed up by hard goods contingent upon working behavior in both math and reading classes. During Condition 1, points were immediately awarded on a variable-interval schedule. After control was demonstrated by an ABAB design, fading was introduced to encourage generalization. In Condition 2, points were given at the end of each 15-minute session. The teacher substracted points for inappropriate behavior in Condition 3, while the period of time points could be earned was extended in Condition 4. The procedure used in Condition 5 involved making the subject's weekly allowance contingent upon the teacher's report of the subject's behavior for the week. Behavior frequencies experimentally established were maintained during the fading procedures in both math and reading classes.     

The coronary-prone behavior pattern and the suppression of fatigue on a treadmill test.

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that Type A (coronary-prone) individuals would show greater suppression of subjective fatigue than Type B (non-coronary-prone) individuals in order to persist at a tiring but challenging task. Type A and Type B college students completed a Balke treadmill test (at a walking pace) while rating their fatigue at 2-minute intervals. Each subject also completed another treadmill test (at a running pace) that was designed to assess maximum aerobic capacity. Subjects' aerobic capacities and their aerobic performance levels attained on the Balke test were determined by analysis of expired air. Each subject's walking performance was scored as a proportion of his maximum aerobic capacity. Analysis of the resulting percentage values indicated greater effort among A's than B's. Moreover, the subjective fatigue ratings of A's were lower than those of B's. The results were discussed in terms of fatigue suppression as an instrumental response for attaining mastery over the environment. consideration was also given to the role of fatigue in the onset of coronary heart disease.     

The systematic use of positive and negative consequences in managing classroom encopresis

An 11-year-old male with a history of chronic encopresis was successfully treated by his teachers. Through the contingent application of a combination of positive (i.e., social reinforcers, token reinforcers, activity reinforcers) and negative consequences (i.e., required to wash himself and denied access to activity reinforcers), the subject's soiling behavior was reduced from an 80% daily occurrence level during Baseline to just two occasions during the final five-month treatment phase. A six-month follow-up conducted during the next school year revealed no incidences of soiling. The investigation utilized and ABACD type behavior modification design.     

Matrix analysis of identifiability of some finite markov models

Methods developed by Bernbach [1966] and Millward [1969] permit increased generality in analyses of identifiability. Matrix equations are presented that solve part of the identifiability problem for a class of Markov models. Results of several earlier analyses are shown to involve special cases of the equations developed here. And it is shown that a general four-state chain has the same parameter space as an all-or-none model if and only if its representation with an observable absorbing state is lumpable into a Markov chain with three states.This research was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service under Grant MH-12717 to Indiana University and Grant GM-1231 to the University of Michigan.Now at the University of Texas, Austin.     

Room to Grow: How Divergent Approaches to Counselling Can Enrich One Another

The ideas of Freud and Rogers have been significant in the development of two seemingly opposing views of therapy. In this paper, some of the basic premises underlying the two approaches are discussed, with the aims of establishing areas of similarity and difference, and exploring how each might be enriched by the other and by some of the innovatory ideas of Robert Langs.     

Sex roles and yielded/expressed self-control

Previous research has indicated that stereotypically masculine behaviors characterize leadership and that stereotypically feminine traits are devalued. However, this research may be questioned on the basis that the sex stereotype measures employed were not appropriate for the managerial role and that the rating task was not clearly defined. The present study attempts to deal with these concerns by asking groups to rate two different managers: the one they would wish to work for or the one they would wish to have working for them. As hypothesized, those who described the supervisors who they wished to have working for them valued masculine traits significantly more than those who described the supervisor they would like to work for. In all cases, however, stereotypically sexneutral traits were most highly valued.Reprint requests may be sent to either author at the Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina 28223. Preliminary data from this investigation were presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association Convention, March 1985. The authors wish to thank David Gilmore for his comments on an earlier version of the paper, and Debra Schwartz for her efforts in the data collection and analysis stages of the project.     

Relative durations of conditioned stimulus and intertrial interval in conditioned suppression.

The effects of the relative durations of the conditional stimulus and the intertrial interval on bar pressing during a conditioned-suppression procedure were examined as a function of two additional variables--type of operant baseline schedule and rate of shock presentation. In Experiment 1, response suppression was compared across components of a multiple fixed-ratio, random-ratio, fixed-interval, random-interval schedule, at relative conditioned-stimulus/intertrial-interval durations of 1/1, 1/4, and 1/9. In Experiment 2, relative conditioned-stimulus/intertrial-interval duration (1/5, 3/3, or 5/1) was manipulated across groups, while shock frequency (2, 6, or 10 shocks/hr) was manipulated within groups. In both experiments, suppression during the signal was virtually complete at all relative durations. Responding was also suppressed during the intertrial interval, but that suppression varied as a function of experimental manipulations. In Experiment 1, intertrial-interval response rates were higher when relative signal duration was 1/9 than when it was 1/1, although both relative signal duration and shock frequency, which covaried, could have contributed to the difference. In Experiment 2, the patterning of response rates between successive shocks was affected by relative duration, absolute rates during the intertrial interval varied as a function of shock frequency, and differences between suppression during the signal and suppression during the intertrial interval were affected by both relative duration and shock frequency. The data support an analysis based upon relationships between shock-correlated and intertrial-interval stimuli and, as assessed by the relative-delay-to-reinforcement metric, are comparable to results that have been reported from experiments using similar manipulations under the autoshaping paradigm.     

The Nature of Stereotypes II: A Multiple-Process Model of Evaluations1

A model integrating 3 theoretical perspectives regarding how stereotypes influence person perception was tested. The theories included evaluative extremity theories, assumed characteristics theory, and expectancy violation theory. Predictions were assessed by manipulating the ethnicity, personal appearance, and speech style of target job applicants. These applicants were rated by 109 judges. Results showed that: (a) Judges evaluated job applicants far more on the basis of their personal appearance and speech style than on the basis of their ethnicity; (b) the range of evaluations of African American applicants was larger than the range of evaluations of White applicants; and (c) overall, judges evaluated the African American applicants more favorably than the White applicants. Results strongly supported the model integrating the 3 theories. We discuss the applicability of the model to other research and naturalistic situations.     

The role of religion in heart-transplant recipients' long-term health and well-being

While religion has long been recognized clinically to provide important coping strategies in the face of serious health problems, there has been little systematic consideration of its role in organ transplant recipients' long-term reactions and adjustment to this experience. This study examines these issues through qualitative and quantitative evaluation of longitudinal data collected from 40 adult heart recipients followed during their first year post-transplant. Large proportions of recipients expressed strong beliefs and were able to increase religious participation over the 12-month study period. They delineated specific ways in which their faith had provided them support, as well as ways in which the transplant experience itself further strengthened their beliefs. We found empirical evidence that recipients with strong beliefs who participated in religious activities had better physical and emotional well-being, fewer health worries, and better medical compliance by the final 12-month assessment. The findings suggest the development of specific nursing, social-service, or pastoral-involvement strategies, continuing staff education about the role of religion in patient care. The implications of such interventions for maximizing quality of life in transplant recipients are discussed.This study was funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health.