Understanding the “cognitive revolution” in psychology

In this paper it is argued that the “cognitive revolution” in psychology is not best represented either as a Kuhnian “paradigm shift,” or as a movement from an instrumentalist to a realist conception of psychological theory, or as a continuous evolution out of more “liberalized” forms of behaviorism, or as a return to the form of “structuralist” psychology practiced by Wundt and Titchener. It is suggested that the move from behaviorism to cognitivism is best represented in terms of the replacement of (operationally defined) “intervening variables” by genuine “hypothetical constructs” possessing cognitive “surplus meaning,” and that the “cognitive revolution” of the 1950s continued a cognitive tradition that can be traced back to the 1920s. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Learning and memory impairment in rats fed a high saturated fat diet

At the age of 1 month, three separate groups of Long-Evans rats were placed on 20% (w/w) fat (40% of calories) diets high in either saturated fatty acids (lard-based) or polyunsaturated fatty acids (soybean oil-based) or standard laboratory chow (Purina, 4.5% (w/w) fat). After 3 months, all rats were administered three tests of learning and memory--Olton's radial arm maze, a variable-interval delayed alternation task, and the Hebb-Williams maze series. The lard-fed group was impaired on all tests. The soybean oil-fed group was slightly impaired on some measures, relative to the chow-fed group, but consistently performed better than the lard-fed group. The results indicate that a diet high in saturated fatty acids can impair a wide range of learning and memory functions and are in line with biochemical and physiological evidence showing widespread effects of such diets on brain function.     

Is Human Behavior Autocorrelated? An Empirical Analysis

The current review and analysis investigated the presence of serial dependency (or autocorrelation) in single-subject applied behavior-analytic research. While well researched, few studies have controlled for the number of data points that appeared in the time-series and, thus, the negative bias of the r coefficient, and the power to detect true serial dependency effects. Therefore, all baseline graphs that appeared in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) between 1968 and 1993 that provided more than 30 data points were examined for the presence of serial dependency (N = 103). Results indicated that 12% of the baseline graphs provided a significant lag-1 autocorrelation, and over 83% of them had coefficient values less than or equal to (±.25). The distribution of the lag-1 autocorrelation coefficients had a mean of .10. Subsequent distributions of partial autocorrelations at lags two through seven had smaller means indicating that as the distance between observations increases (i.e., the lag), serial dependency decreased. Although serial dependency did not appear to be a common property of the single-subject behavioral experiments, it is recommended that, whenever statistical analyses are contemplated, its presence should always be examined. Alternatives for coping with the presence of significant levels of serial dependency were discussed in terms of: (a) using alternative statistical procedures (e.g., ARIMA models, randomization tests, the Shewhart quality-control charts); (b) correcting statistics of traditional parametric procedures (e.g., t, F); or (c) using the autocorrelation coefficient as an indicator and estimate of reliable intervention effects.     

Classwide Peer Tutoring: Effects on the Spelling Performance and Social Interactions of Students with Mild Disabilities and Their Typical Peers in an Integrated Instructional Setting

The effectiveness of Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) to enhance the spelling performance and social interactions of three typical students and three students with mild disabilities was investigated. The classroom ecology was measured using the New Code for Instructional Structure and Student Academic Response (NCISSAR). Social interactions were assessed using the Multiple Option Observation System for Experimental Studies (M.O.O.S.E.S.). Spelling performance was measured by weekly pre-posttests. Using an ABAB single-subject design, results indicated that CWPT resulted in: (a) gains in the spelling accuracy of all students (up to 49%), (b) increases of students' duration of positive social interactions (up to 86%), and (c) high satisfaction ratings for both the students and the teacher. Comparisons between typical students and students with mild disabilities during CWPT suggested no differences in their duration of social interactions. Furthermore, the mean spelling accuracy of the students with mild disabilities was comparable to the spelling accuracy of the typical students (91% vs. 96%, respectively). Implications of the findings for the inclusion of students with mild disabilities in general education settings are discussed.     

Stress, Glucocorticoids, and Damage to the Nervous System: The Current State of Confusion

An extensive literature demonstrates that glucocorticoids (GCs), the adrenal steroids secreted during stress, can have a broad range of deleterious effects in the brain. The actions occur predominately, but not exclusively, in the hippocampus, a structure rich in corticosteroid receptors and particularly sensitive to GCs. The first half of this review considers three types of GC effects: a) GC-induced atrophy, in which a few weeks' exposure to high GC concentrations or to stress causes reversible atrophy of dendritic processes in the hippocampus; b) GC neurotoxicity where, over the course of months, GC exposure kills hippocampal neurons; c) GC neuroendangerment, in which elevated GC concentrations at the time of a neurological insult such as a stroke or seizure impairs the ability of neurons to survive the insult. The second half considers the rather confusing literature as to the possible mechanisms underlying these deleterious GC actions. Five broad themes are discerned: a) that GCs induce a metabolic vulnerability in neurons due to inhibition of glucose uptake; b) that GCs exacerbate various steps in a damaging cascade of glutamate excess, calcium mobilization and oxygen radical generation. In a review a number of years ago, I concluded that these two components accounted for the deleterious GC effects. Specifically, the energetic vulnerability induced by GCs left neurons metabolically compromised, and less able to carry out the costly task of containing glutamate, calcium and oxygen radicals. More recent work has shown this conclusion to be simplistic, and GC actions are shown to probably involve at least three additional components: c) that GCs impair a variety of neuronal defenses against neurologic insults; d) that GCs disrupt the mobilization of neurotrophins; e) that GCs have a variety of electrophysiological effects which can damage neurons. The relevance of each of those mechanisms to GC-induced atrophy, neurotoxicity and neuroendangerment is considered, as are the likely interactions among them.     

The efficacy of progressive relaxation in systematic desensitization and a proposal for an alternative competitive response--the relaxation response.

The theoretical basis of systematic desensitization is reciprocal inhibition in which an alternative, competitive response to anxiety is conditioned to arousal-producing, phobic stimuli. Abbreviated training in progressive relaxation is believed to serve as a competitive response to anxiety by decreasing autonomic nervous system activity. However, physiologic studies of progressive relaxation have not substantiated that its practice is associated with such decreased autonomic activity. Consequently, the use of progressive relaxation has been a confounding factor in the determination of the function of reciprocal inhibition in systematic desensitization. To confirm and refine the theoretical constructs of reciprocal inhibition, it is necessary to test the effects of a response which is competitive to the anxiety response. Such a response may be the relaxation response which is characterized by physiologic changes consistent with decreased autonomic nervous system activity. Derived from meditational practices, techniques which ehcit the relaxation response incorporate the element of focused attention which has been implicated as a critical factor in systematic desensitization. Thus, the use of the relaxation response should be a more appropriate method than progressive relaxation if the therapeutic usefulness of systematic desensitization is indeed due to reciprocal inhibition.     

SPLIT-BRAINS AND SINGULAR PERSONHOOD

In this paper it is argued that the experimental data on commissurotomy patients provide no grounds for denying the singular personhood of commissurotomy patients. This is because, contrary to most philosophical accounts, there is no “unity of consciousness” discriminating condition for singular personhood that is violated in the case of commissurotomy patients, and because no contradictions arise when singular personhood is ascribed to commissurotomy patients.     

EFFECTS OF COLLATERAL PEER SUPPORTIVE BEHAVIORS WITHIN THE CLASSWIDE PEER TUTORING PROGRAM

A classwide peer tutoring procedure was implemented in an urban elementary school classroom to improve students' spelling performance. Three students combined untrained or collateral tutoring behaviors with the core behaviors initially taught. To explore the function of these natural and spontaneous behaviors, a multielement single-subject experiment with replications was conducted. Results indicated that the additional tutoring behaviors increased (a) the academic response frequencies of 3 tutees and (b) the weekly spelling achievement of 1 target tutee. The remaining class members were successfully taught and continued to use these behaviors over the final 3 weeks of the school year. These findings are discussed with regard to academic instruction, natural communities of peer reinforcement, and the social validation of intervention procedures.     

Treating criminal psychopaths in a therapeutic community program

A Therapeutic Community (TC) treatment program for adult male offenders is summarized and treatment outcome data are discussed. Psychopaths showed less clinical improvement, displayed lower levels of motivation and were discharged from the program earlier than non-psychopaths. There were significant positive treatment effects for the non-psychopaths and a mixed group. Psychopathy Checklist scores (Hare, 1985) consistently postdict and predict treatment outcome and attrition from the program.     

The behavior analyst consulting model: Identifying and validating naturally effective instructional models

Increasingly, behavior analysts are attempting to develop interventions based on precision assessments of the situational factors surrounding a behavior of interest, those requiring reduction (as in functional analysis) or those requiring acceleration (as in ecobehavioral analysis). Using ecobehavioral assessments of naturalistic classroom instruction, we sought to identify a set of potentially effective procedures and to test their function. Using as selection criteria students' gains in academic achievement, and their observed academic behavior, we identified potentially effective versus ineffective instructional procedures used to teach language arts skills to students with learning disabilities (Study I). Subsequently, we sought to test and replicate the functionality of the identified procedures within a series of single-subject experiments. Results from a resource room application (Study II) indicated that the targeted effective procedure surpassed the targeted ineffective procedure in terms of both content mastery and the quality of students' written language samples. Results from a regular classroom application (Study III) indicated that the targeted effective procedure was also more effective than the conventional instructional procedure employed naturally by the regular education teacher. The implications of these findings are discussed.