Developmental flavor experience affects utilization of odor, not taste in toxiphobic conditioning

Feeding experiences were varied in developing rats and the effects upon flavor neophobia and lithium chloride-induced flavor aversions were observed. In Experiment 1, nursing experience of neonate rats was reduced by artificial feeding via intragastric cannula; the rats then were tested with apple juice paired with lithium chloride injection at weaning or maturity. Conditioned aversions were not affected, but neophobia to novel apple juice was attenuated in artificially-reared rats tested at maturity. In Experiment 2, rats received enriched feeding experience after weaning, which consisted of (a) obtaining many complex flavors, a few of which were paired with poisoning, effortlessly in the home cage, or (b) foraging for various foods on an elevated maze. No dramatic effects on neophobia or conditioned taste aversion for saccharin water were apparent. In Experiment 3, rats were given experience after weaning with vanilla-scented water either paired or unpaired with quinine water, and then tested with the odor of almond or that odor compounded with saccharin water for neophobia and lithium-induced aversions. Flavor-experienced rats exhibited more pronounced odor conditioning and more resistance to extinction of the odor aversion after both simple and compound conditioning. In contrast, saccharin taste aversions were relatively unchanged. Apparently, enriched feeding and drinking experience facilitates the utilization of odor more than taste cues.     

Continuation of training as a variable influencing the generalization of speech in a retarded child

Imitation and differential reinforcement were applied in training a speech-deficient retarded child 4 separate verbal answers to 4 “everyday” questions. Training was provided in only one setting with one experimenter. After the subject had acquired each answer-response in the training situation, probes for stimulus generalization were given by both the trainer and nontrainers. These probes tested the usage of both trained and nontrained question-answering responses under nontraining conditions. Use of the separately trained responses in nontraining contexts increased as training continued beyond the established learning criteria. A concurrent reinforcement procedure for all 4 answerresponses increased the overall generalization effects across individuals and settings; the use of differential reinforcement of nonverbal responses in the training setting decreased the overall generalization effects.     

Intrusion patterns in rapid serial visual presentation tasks with two response dimensions.

A rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm using both one and two response dimensions was used to test parallel processing models of stimulus dimensions. Fifty subjects were asked to report the identity and/or color of a target uppercase word inserted in a series of lowercase words. The results produced a predominance of posttarget intrusions for color responses and a predominance of pretarget intrusions for identity responses. The requirement of a response to a second dimension impaired hit rates but did not change the pattern of intrusions. An examination of the distributions of intrusions in each response dimension as a function of the response given to the other dimension showed an unexpectedly high percentage of simultaneous hits, a moderate covariation between both responses, and the same patterns of intrusions when compared with the general distributions. While these results seem to be compatible with parallel models of processing for stimulus dimensions, two modifications to this model are suggested. First, the processing of response dimension(s) needs some attentional resources. Second, provision for a mixed model is indicated, which would include trials where no illusory conjunctions are formed.     

EFFECTS OF CHILD BEHAVIOR CHANGE ON TEACHER VERBAL BEHAVIOR AND RATING OF STUDENT BEHAVIOR1

The relationship between student behavior change and its effect on teacher behavior was investigated. A total of six boys and their two male teachers from two fourth-grade classrooms served as subjects. In two multiple-baseline experiments, students were exposed successively to baseline, placebo-therapy (a control for teacher expectation of student change), active-therapy (contingencies for student behavior improvement), and a return to placebo-therapy phases. As student behavior (the independent variable) improved, daily teacher ratings of children improved moderately, and the percentage of teacher vocalizations in response to appropriate (as compared with inappropriate) child behavior increased markedly. The latter shift in the distribution of teacher vocalizations was found to be largely attributable to the increased availability of appropriate behavior to which teachers could respond. This study raises questions about similar findings in an earlier experiment by Sherman and Cormier (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1974, 7 , 11–21). First, the main measure of teacher verbal behavior in both this and the earlier study was considered to be insufficient as a measure of teacher change. It did not control for the expected effects of changes in the base rate of student appropriate behavior. Second, student behavior improvement did not appear to reinforce teacher behavior. This was attributed to the noncontingency of student improvement on any class of teacher behaviors. The possible reinforcing value of student behavior improvement for teachers was not challenged. Implications of rating changes were also discussed.     

Effect of restraint on gastric acid secretion in cats

Experiments were carried out on cats fitted with a gastric fistula. In one group of 6 cats basal gastric secretion, and in another group of 7 cats pentagastrin induced gastric secretion was collected two or three times a week during a 2 hr session. The sessions were conducted either in a “harness” situation where the cat’s movements were restricted, or in a “cage” situation where the cat was unrestricted and could move freely. It was found that in four of 6 cats in the basal secretion group and in five of 7 cats in the pentagastrin induced secretion group, gastric acid output was significantly higher in sessions in harness than in sessions in cage. These differences in acid output were due to acidity rather than volume of secretion. It was hypothesized that restriction of the animal’s movements in the harness could evoke a “reflex of freedom” which, however, could not be accomplished because of the confinement. This could evoke a neural conflict eventually leading to functional disturbances in the autonomic system. This, in turn, resulted in changes in gastric acid secretion.     

Report of the ACA Ethics Committee: 1994–1995

This report contains data about ethical complaints and inquiries processed by the Ethics Committee in 1994–1995. The number of complaints was substantially lower than the preceding year and there were also changes in the nature of the complaints. Most common standards called under this year's complaints had to do with dual relationships, meeting personal needs at the expense of the client, failure to terminate a counseling relationship if unable to be of assistance to the client, and violation of the responsibility to meet high ethical standards in various professional settings. This report also includes a discussion of the findings, information about the approval of the new Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, and educational efforts undertaken by the committee.     

Evaluation of arm dominance by using the mechanomyographic signal

The authors collected and compared mechanomyo-graphic (MMG) signal behavior from the biceps brachii of left and right arms of right-handed men (n = 19) and women (n = 20) who performed isometric contractions at 5 contraction levels. Mean frequency (MF) and RMS values were calculated from the MMG signals that arose from lateral oscillations of muscle fibers. Across genders and arms, RMS values increased with contraction level and MF values decreased with increase in muscle contraction. The authors found no significant difference in those parameters between dominant and nondominant arms. Therefore, summation of muscle twitches obtained from the MMG signal collected in biceps brachii muscle does not reveal any difference between dominant and nondominant arms.     

Salivary cortisol concentrations, stress and quality of life in women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain

The objective of this study was to evaluate the perceived stress index, quality of life, and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain. For the study, 93 women with endometriosis and 82 healthy women volunteered. The visual analogue scale (VAS) (0=no pain; 10=severe pain) was used to determine pain intensity; the perceived stress questionnaire (PSQ) defined stress index, and the health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL)-SF-36 questionnaire was used to evaluate quality of life. Salivary cortisol was measured at 0800, 1600, and 2000 h and the awakening cortisol response was assessed to evaluate the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. The results show that women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain of moderate intensity (4.1+/-0.58, mean+/-SEM) have higher levels of perceived stress (0.55+/-0.01 versus 0.42+/-0.01, p<0.05), a poorer quality of life expressed as lower scores for all items of the inventory and hypocortisolism. Lower levels of salivary cortisol were observed in all three samples collected, as well as in the awakening cortisol response, for women with endometriosis (0.19+/-0.09 microg/dl) when compared with controls (0.78+/-0.08 microg/dl, p<0.05 l), and it was independent of pain intensity and Mental health (MH) scores in SF-36. We concluded that women with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain show low concentrations of salivary cortisol and a high level of perceived stress, associated with a poor quality of life. Whether the hypocortisolism was an adaptive response to the aversive symptoms of the disorder or a feature related to the etiology of endometriosis remains to be elucidated.     

CREATING SINGLE‐SUBJECT DESIGN GRAPHS IN MICROSOFT EXCEL™ 2007

Over 10 years have passed since the publication of Carr and Burkholder's (1998) technical article on how to construct single‐subject graphs using Microsoft Excel. Over the course of the past decade, the Excel program has undergone a series of revisions that make the Carr and Burkholder paper somewhat difficult to follow with newer versions. The present article provides task analyses for constructing various types of commonly used single‐subject design graphs in Microsoft Excel 2007. The task analyses were evaluated using a between‐subjects design that compared the graphing skills of 22 behavior‐analytic graduate students using Excel 2007 and either the Carr and Burkholder or newly developed task analyses. Results indicate that the new task analyses yielded more accurate and faster graph construction than the Carr and Burkholder instructions.