Response cost in mainstreamed settings

This study illustrates the use of a response cost token system to decrease inappropriate behaviors of mainstreamed students in the regular classroom milieu. Data were taken on a student's inappropriate request for teacher attention and another student's inappropriate verbalizations. A reversal design was employed. Results showed that a response cost token system was a viable and effective method for decreasing inappropriate behaviors of mainstreamed students in the regular classroom. Reasons for the effectiveness of this technique were discussed.     

Three-mode factor analytic reference curves for concept identification

Tucker's three-mode common factor analysis is used to explore the intrinsic individual differences in a figural, disjunctive conceptual behavior task. The results reveal differential shifts in the structure of the individual differences during concept identification. Individual patterns can be described by five factors, each of which specifies the parameter vales for the shape of the individual performance functions. A three-way core further identifies the nature of the individual differences factors. These results indicate that averaged curves for the separate response measures would not have adequately reflected the individual data in this sample. The present findings are consistent with earlier work and suggest that a better approach to the study of complex human behavior is to identify the individual differences intrinsic to the situation before mapping antecedent influences on the dimensionality of the behavior.     

A deletion ahead of its time

An alleged defect in transformational treatment of syntax acquisition is the absence from child speech of certain predicted errors with ‘wh-’ constructions. In this paper, a theory of acquisition dynamics and intensive longitudinal data are brought to bear on this issue. The key observations involve an early precursor, at 24—28 months, of the relative clause. The analysis sheds light on two fundamental issues in transformational acquisition theory: The permissibility of simultaneous rule changes and whether a transformation can be acquired before the associated deep structure. The issues and analysis can be translated into non-transformational terms.     

Organization revealed by recall orders and confirmed by pauses

The technique introduced here induces the organization of information in memory from systematic inspection of regularities in free recall. The form of the representation of this organization is an “ordered tree.” The technique has the advantage of being based on a theory of the way in which the data were generated and can be shown to produce a unique structure that captures all the kinds of regularities the theory of recall prescribes. Also presented is a collateral technique for measuring the amount of organization evidenced in a struture, as well as a procedure for identifying errors. The experimental work shows the technique's ability to recover the details of an organization presented to subjects and provides converging evidence for the particular structures induced from the pattern of recall pauses. In addition, the application of the technique to structures unknown a priori produced organizations that were easy to interpret and a second set of pauses that further confirmed the details of the induced structures.     

Use of simple reaction time in motor programming studies: a reply to Klapp, Wyatt and Lingo

Following a more explicit explanation of the 1960 memory-drum theory and the reasons for using the simple (rather than choice) RT method in testing predictions based on it, the eight experiments utilizing large-scale precued arm movements constrained as to directional accuracy are reviewed. In all cases, increasing complexity of the movement consistently increased response latency; control RT levels agreed with well-established typical values for auditory and visual stimuli. Following practice the complexity effect leveled off, retaining a significant latency differential. Results from experiments varying duration of a held movement position (with movement minimal and complexity invariant) are not relevant to these studies.     

Roles of anoxia and noise-induced hearing loss in the postictal refractory period for audiogenic seizures in mice.

The present series of experiments demonstrated a postictal refractory period for audiogenic seizures in DBA/2J mice, which was not related to hearing loss but apparently was related to anoxia. Unlike many previous studies, Experiment 1 controlled for the effects of noise exposure upon hearing sensitivity and demonstrated reduced susceptibility to subsequent audiogenic seizures for at least 1 hr after initial clonic-tonic convulsions. The postictal refractory period was shown to result from the occurrence of seizures per se, not from noise exposure alone. Experiment 2 demonstrated deficiencies of sensorimotor functions that accompanied reduced postictal seizure susceptibility. The two phenomena had similar time courses of recovery, which suggested a common mechanism, probably anoxia, associated with the initial convulsions. In support of this view, Experiment 3 showed that recovery from both phenomena was expedited by allowing subjects to breathe increased O2. The role of anoxia in fatal convulsions was suggested by the finding that subjects experiencing clonic-tonic convulsions in a high-O2 environment survived without exception. In contrast, seizures of air-breathing controls were almost always fatal. Taken together, the data indicate that the postictal reduced susceptibility to audiogenic seizures was closely related to metabolic depletion (in particular, anoxia). The pattern of recovery of susceptibility further suggests that the effects of anoxia impair the spread of seizure activity through the central nervous system, although the initiation of seizures is also affected for a short time.     

Parameterizations of Markov models for two-stage learning

Alternative parameterizations of Greeno's representation of two-stage learning are developed for general and restricted cases. Boundaries of the parameter space are exhibited in both cases.     

Image and anti-image covariance matrices from a correlation matrix that may be singular

Following the work of Tucker, Cooper, and Meredith, image and anti-image covariance matrices from a correlation matrix that may be singular are derived.     

Polynomial psychophysics of group risk perception

The Coombs and Huang (1970) distributive theory of perceived risk is reinterpreted as a more robust statistical hypothesis to describe central tendencies of noisy replicates drawn from a homogeneous population. Barron's (1976) sample of 13 business faculty rank-order responses are pooled to obtain a replicated complete 3 × 3 × 3 design which is analyzed by a new stochastic conjoint measurement (SCJM) approach to axiomatic data analysis. SCJM implements statistical analogues of the deterministic Krantz and Tversky (1971) diagnostics for error-free data. SCJM diagnosis based on a series of one-sided nonparametric two-cell comparisons at the α = 0.04 level supports the hypothesis of interaction between the expected-value and number-of-plays attributes of gambles yet contradicts Barron's odd-even effects hypothesis. SCJM diagnosis with two-cell α < 0.04 supports an additive statistical model.     

MODIFICATION OF COMBINED MIGRAINE-MUSCLE CONTRACTION HEADACHES USING BVP AND EMG FEEDBACK

The effect of blood volume pulse (BVP) and frontalis muscle action potential (EMG) feedback on control of vasoconstriction of the temporal artery and frontalis muscle activity in combined migraine-muscle tension subjects was investigated in a multiple baseline design (across subjects and responses). The data indicated: (a) both subjects obtained an ability to control BVP during BVP feedback and EMG during EMG feedback; (b) there were decreases in frequency of migraine headaches during BVP feedback and decreases in muscle contraction headaches during EMG feedback. The results of this study supported the theoretical explanation of two pain mechanisms involved in combined muscle contraction-migraine headaches as well as the effectiveness of biofeedback procedures that target directly the specific pain mechanism in the elimination of the two types of head pain.