Intraindividual consistency on a cross-modality matching task

Three observers matched tone bursts and flashes for stimulus magnitude. Matches were made by each observer during 14 sessions over a 2-month period. No intraindividual differences in power function exponents were found. Power function exponents for individuals seem to remain constant across many repetitions of this psychophysical task.     

Lifelong hyperarousal in the spontaneously hypertensive rat indicated by operant behavior

Instrumental conditioning techniques were used to obtain objective evidence of differences in behavioral arousal between the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and the normotensive ancestral Wistar Kyoto (WKY) strain. Subjective emotionality ratings previously indicated that the genetically hypertensive rats were more active and aggressive than their normotensive cousins. In a lengthy series of operant conditioning sessions using a small number of adult female SHR and WKY rats, hyperarousal in the SHR was confirmed by their significantly higher response outputs on either response contingent or time contingent schedules of reinforcement. Conditioned emotionality tests during this series of experiments also suggested hyperarousal and aggressiveness in the SHR, since the fear-conditioned stimulus suppressed bar-pressing in the SHR much less than in the WKY. Further experiments with young prehypertensive SHR rats provided the same evidence of hyperresponsivity in the SHR compared to the WKY strain. Furthermore, these young SHR failed to develop hypertension by the end of the study (14 weeks of age), while their nonconditioned SHR cousins had become clearly hypertensive by the same age. This suggests that factors related to the conditioning methods modified the development of high blood pressure in this animal model of essential hypertension.     

Adolescent verbal behavior

This investigation assessed the relationship of race and delinquent status with the noncontent verbal behavior of adolescent males. A standardized videotape interview was used to ensure consistent stimulus presentation. Sixteen white and sixteen black delinquents were compared with equal numbers of nondelinquents on the noncontent verbal measures of total time (performance time), units (frequency), and latency. It was predicted that nondelinquents would be more verbal than delinquents and whites would be more verbal than blacks. No racial differences were found. Delinquents, however, were found to talk significantly less than nondelinquents and to have significantly longer verbal latencies. Discussion of these results centered on the verbal demand characteristics of certain settings, such as classrooms and court hearings.     

Operant techniques used in stuttering therapy: A review

This article reviews research concerning the use of operant conditioning in stuttering therapy, and discusses the clinical implications of this literature. In order to be considered for this review, a report had to treat the findings of research specifically designed to use operant conditioning in the manipulation of speech disfluency. This body of experimental literature clearly indicates that operant management techniques can effectively reduce stuttering with punishment of disfluencies producing more notable results than reinforcement of fluent responses. Operant conditioning is an effective means of modifying stuttering behavior and should be more visible in terms of procedures used by speech therapists.     

Infant visual attention under response-contingent and response-independent conditions

The visual attention behavior of 2- to 3-month-old infants was monitored as part of their participation in an operant conditioning study. Attention was monitored under three conditions: a baseline condition where a visual target remained stationary; a baseline conditioning where the target was made to move on an aperiodic, response-independent schedule; and a conditioning phase where the target was operantly under the control of the subjects. Fixation time differed significantly as a function of experimental condition, with the response-contingent condition producing the greatest amount of fixation and the stabile, baseline condition producing the least amount of fixation. The implications of the findings for intervention purposes are discussed.     

Acceptability of positive and reductive behavioral interventions: Factors that influence teachers'' decisions

Treatment acceptability refers to individuals' judgments as to whether psychological treatment procedures are appropriate, fair, and reasonable for a given problem. In the present two-experiment study, experienced teachers' ratings of acceptability for positive (i.e., praise, home-based reinforcement, and token economy) and reductive (i.e., ignoring, response-cost lottery, and seclusion time-out) behavioral interventions were investigated. Using the Intervention Rating Profile (IRP) and a case study methodology to manipulate variables of intervention complexity and problem behavior severity, it was established that (a) teachers' acceptability ratings of both positive and reductive interventions varied with the severity of a target behavior, (b) the complexity of an intervention influenced teachers' ratings of acceptability, less complex or time-consuming interventions being rated generally more acceptable, and (c) mean acceptability ratings were significantly more favorable for positive than reductive treatments. These findings are discussed in the context of previous acceptability research and future investigations.     

A pilot study of effects of cardiopulmonary resuscitation training on participants' self-concepts

The administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was taught to a group of 12 adults. The Tennessee Self-concept Scale Form-C and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior Scale (FIRO-B) were administered before and after their training. A control group of 12 was administered both scales twice with one day between administrations. Analysis indicated both groups showed significant differences between the pre- and posttest administrations on expressed affection on the FIRO-B. However, participants in a brief CPR course did not score significantly differently from a control group on these measures, as expected.