A Near‐Term Bias Reconsidered

Standard accounts of prudential rationality enjoin temporal neutrality. “Rationality,” or so says Rawls, “requires an impartial concern for all parts of our life.” And while I accept this form of temporal neutrality, I argue in this paper that a powerful rationale exists for a competing form of prudential rationality according to which it is permissible to be biased toward near‐future rather than far‐future parts of one's life. After arguing that traditional defenses of temporal neutrality do not succeed against this rationale, I offer a new proposal, drawn from the phenomenon of intrapersonal reactive attitudes.     

Using equivalence‐based instruction to teach the visual analysis of graphs

Previous research has demonstrated low rater agreement when visually inspecting trends in single‐subject design graphs (see Wolfe, Seaman, & Drasgow, 2016). Didactic instruction of visual analysis of practicing behavior analysts has resulted in generally poor and unreliable performances (Danov & Symons, 2008; Diller, Barry, & Gelino, 2016). Therefore, a refined instructional technology to improve the reliability among behavior analysts is warranted. Developing research has focused on the application of equivalence‐based instruction (Brodsky & Fienup, 2018; Rehfeldt, 2011) for a variety of complex human behaviors. In the current study, equivalence‐based instruction was used to train four participants to identify functional relations displayed in five different classes of graphs. Training resulted in the formation of five equivalence classes by all participants consisting of three members (graph, functional relation rule, and functional relation statement). In addition, the skills were maintained for up to 2 weeks and generalized to novel graphs.     

Task analysis,correspondence training,and general case instruction for teaching personal hygiene skills

The effect of a 10‐step task analysis, general case instruction, and correspondence training was evaluated for teaching appropriate personal hygiene following bowel movements. Correspondence training maintained a central role in this study. According to Israel (1978), the relationship between an individual's verbal and nonverbal behaviors is influential in self‐instruction training. Essentially, correspondence training encourages an individual to generate his or her own instructional cues; in consequence, the procedure can be instrumental in ensuring the maintenance and generalization of important verbal and nonverbal behavior. Three adults with developmental disabilities participated in this study. The dependent variables included the level of assistance required on each step of the task analysis and an end of sequence rating on a three‐point Likert‐type cleanliness scale. Results showed that all three participants learned to care for themselves appropriately following bowel movements. Moreover, the skills generalized to other settings and were maintained over a nine‐month period. The target skill was evaluated against the five criteria for a behavioral cusp and met the criteria for ‘an important behavior change’ (Bosch & Fuqua, 2001, p. 123). Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Clamped Corticosterone (B) Reveals the Effect of Endogenous B on Both Facilitated Responsivity to Acute Restraint and Metabolic Responses to Chronic Stress

To determine the effects of both corticosterone (B) and chronic stressors on acute ACTH responses to restraint, young male rats were exposed to streptozotocin-induced diabetes, cold (5-7 degreesC) or intracerebroventricular (icv) neuropeptide Y (NPY) for 5 d and then exposed to restraint within 2 h after lights on. Two groups of rats were studied: intact and adrenalectomized replaced with B pellets that maintained plasma B in the normal mean 24-h range of intact rats. In addition to ACTH and B responses to restraint on d 5, body weight, food intake, fat depots, glucose and other hormones were measured to determine the role of stress-induced elevations in B on energy balance. ACTH responses to restraint were normal in intact rats subjected to diabetes or cold. By contrast, there was no ACTH or B response to restraint in NPY-infused intact rats. All 3 groups of chronically stimulated adrenalectomized rats with clamped B had facilitated ACTH responses to restraint compared to their treatment controls. Overall food intake increased in all groups of stressed rats; however, augmented intake occurred only during the light in intact rats and equally in the light and dark in B-clamped rats. White adipose depot weights were decreased by both diabetes and cold and increased by NPY in intact rats; the decreases with cold and increases with NPY were both blunted and changes in fat stores were not significant in adrenalectomized, B-clamped rats. We conclude that: 1. diabetes- and cold-induced facilitation of restraint-induced afferent input to hypothalamic control of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is opposed in intact rats by the elevated feedback signal of B secretion; 2. NPY does not induce facilitation of afferent stress pathways; 3. chronic stimulation of the HPA axis induces acute hyperresponsiveness of hypothalamic neurons to restraint provided that the afferent input of this acute stimulus is not prevented by B feedback; 4. stimulus-induced elevations in B secretion result in day-time feeding; 5. insensitivity of both caloric efficiency and white fat stores to chronic stress in adrenalectomized, B-clamped rats results from loss of normally variable B levels.     

TREATMENT OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR USING A WATER MIST: INITIAL RESPONSE SUPPRESSION AND GENERALIZATION

This study evaluated the effects of a fine mist of water applied to the face contingent upon self-injurious behavior (SIB) exhibited by profoundly retarded persons. In Experiment 1, results of individual reversal designs showed substantial reductions in a variety of SIB's (mouthing, hand biting, skin tearing, and head banging) for seven participants. In Experiment 2, two participants who frequently bit their hands were each observed in two different settings. Following initial baselines in each setting, a series of manipulations was undertaken to compare the effects of mild verbal punishment (“No”) with those of a combined treatment (“No” plus mist procedure). Results in one setting indicated that “No” suppressed SIB only after it was first paired with the water mist. Data also suggested that, once acquired, the punishing properties of “No” could be extended to a second setting in which the mist was never applied, and that these effects could be generalized across therapists. Results of these experiments indicate that the water mist procedure may be an effective alternative to traditional punishment techniques. Although conclusions regarding generalization are limited due to the brevity of the maintenance conditions, the data suggest that treatment gains may be transferred to more acceptable forms of social punishment and reinforcement.     

Alcoholism and the Force of Education

Education in regard to alcoholism has not been a noted success. This problem is examined by approaching the situation from a psychoanalytic view, as well as through the review of the history of the use, abuse, and prohibition of alcohol in this country. Attitudes toward alcohol share much in common with the attitudes to the other instinctual gratifications. Because of the many repressions involved, the problems of transference make their appearance in the performance of the alcoholism educator, as well as the student. The conscious avoidance of patronizing, prohibitionist, and similar attitudes might allow the teacher to present both the advantages and the dangers in the use of alcohol, and thus open the subject to more wholesome consideration.     

Exploring Issues of Generalization and Maintenance in Training Instructional Aides in a Public School Setting

In today’s climate, with the ever-increasing demand for competent behavior analytic services, it is necessary for behavior analysts to work across a variety of settings, including home, school, and community, overseeing instructional aide staff as the frontline providers of applied behavior analysis (ABA) services. It is common practice for ABA practitioners to provide the supervision and training to parents, caregivers, and direct-care staff, who may have limited knowledge and experience within the field of ABA. In 2013, the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB^®) initiated an effort to establish standards for the training of instructional aides and direct-care staff in the delivery of instructional and treatment services based on the principles of ABA. This new standard and credential is known as a Registered Behavior Technician? (RBT^®). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the training process outlined by the BACB, focusing specifically on the generalizability and long-term maintenance of newly acquired skills taught through a competency-based approach, to novel opportunities for implementation. Training was conducted through two methods: in vivo training with clients versus role-play with peers. Both these types of staff training approaches are commonly used instructional practices in the field of ABA.     

TOWARD A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF SELF-INJURY

This study describes the use of an operant methodology to assess functional relationships between self-injury and specific environmental events. The self-injurious behaviors of nine developmentally disabled subjects were observed during periods of brief, repeated exposure to a series of analogue conditions. Each condition differed along one or more of the following dimensions: (1) play materials (present vs absent), (2) experimenter demands (high vs low), and (3) social attention (absent vs noncontingent vs contingent). Results showed a great deal of both between and within-subject variability. However, in six of the nine subjects, higher levels of self-injury were consistently associated with a specific stimulus condition, suggesting that within-subject variability was a function of distinct features of the social and/or physical environment. These data are discussed in light of previously suggested hypotheses for the motivation of self-injury, with particular emphasis on their implications for the selection of suitable treatments.