EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT FOR ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIOR DURING PUNISHMENT OF SELF-INJURY

A number of variables influence the effectiveness of punishment and may determine the extent to which less intrusive forms of punishment may be used as alternatives to more intrusive interventions. For example, it has been suggested that response suppression during punishment may be facilitated if reinforcement is concurrently available for an alternative response. However, results of basic research demonstrating this finding have not been replicated with interventions more commonly prescribed as treatments for problem behavior. We evaluated the effects of relatively benign punishment procedures (reprimands or brief manual restraint) on the self-injurious behavior of 4 individuals who had been diagnosed with mental retardation, when access to reinforcement for alternative behavior (manipulation of leisure materials) was and was not available. In all cases, punishment produced greater response suppression when reinforcement for an alternative response was available.     

Examination of ambiguous stimulus preferences with duration-based measures

Items that produced ambiguous results in an approach-based preference assessment were reassessed using a duration-based assessment. The reinforcing effects of three items on free-operant responding were subsequently tested. The results suggested that the duration-based assessment produced slightly more differentiated results and that predictions about reinforcer value, based on this assessment, were accurate.     

Analysis of activity preferences as a function of differential consequences

Individuals who do not possess the verbal skills to express meaningful choice in the absence of its consequences may have difficulty indicating their preference for protracted activities that are unavailable until some time in the future (e.g., taking a walk, riding a bike). When we examined the preferences of 4 individuals with developmental disabilities by showing them pictorial representations of various activities, their initial choices showed no clear preferences. In a subsequent condition, selecting a photograph resulted in brief access to the depicted activity. When selections produced differential consequences (i.e., access to the activity), clear preferences emerged. In addition, 3 individuals' preferences were later shifted to an initially less preferred but more socially desirable option by superimposing additional reinforcement contingencies for engaging in the less preferred activity. Results are discussed in terms of the conditions under which choice functions as an indicator of preference and how those conditions may be altered to improve the quality of choice making without limiting access to preferred options.     

Reliability of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Form Y in Japanese samples.

The internal consistency of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Form Y was examined using data collected from Japanese participants by five diverse surveys, in which one included American university students. Cronbach coefficient alpha was calculated separately for state and trait items as well as for anxiety-present and absent items. The internal consistency was higher for the anxiety-absent items than those of the state and trait anxiety items, but this tendency was not clear for the anxiety-present items. The trait anxiety items showed the lowest internal consistency for all Japanese groups, whereas the anxiety-present items showed the lowest alpha for American university students. It can be considered that this difference might induce the difference in two--factor structure between Japanese and people in Western countries.     

Effects of reinforcer consumption and magnitude on response rates during noncontingent reinforcement

Results of previous research on the effects of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) have been inconsistent when magnitude of reinforcement was manipulated. We attempted to clarify the influence of NCR magnitude by including additional controls. In Study 1, we examined the effects of reinforcer consumption time by comparing the same magnitude of NCR when session time was and was not corrected to account for reinforcer consumption. Lower response rates were observed when session time was not corrected, indicating that reinforcer consumption can suppress response rates. In Study 2, we first selected varying reinforcer magnitudes (small, medium, and large) on the basis of corrected response rates observed during a contingent reinforcement condition and then compared the effects of these magnitudes during NCR. One participant exhibited lower response rates when large-magnitude reinforcers were delivered; the other ceased responding altogether even when small-magnitude reinforcers were delivered. We also compared the effects of the same NCR magnitude (medium) during 10-min and 30-min sessions. Lower response rates were observed during 30-min sessions, indicating that the number of reinforcers consumed across a session can have the same effect as the number consumed per reinforcer delivery. These findings indicate that, even when response rate is corrected to account for reinforcer consumption, larger magnitudes of NCR (defined on either a per-delivery or per-session basis) result in lower response rates than do smaller magnitudes.     

Response-restriction analysis: II. Alteration of activity preferences

We used response-restriction (RR) assessments to identify the preferences of 7 individuals with mental retardation for a variety of vocational and leisure activities. We subsequently increased their engagement in nonpreferred activities using several procedures: response restriction per se versus a Premack-type contingency (Study 1), supplemental reinforcement for engagement in target activities (Study 2), and noncontingent pairing of reinforcers with nonpreferred activities (Study 3). Results indicated that preferences are not immutable and can be altered through a variety of relatively benign interventions and that the results of RR assessments may be helpful in determining which types of procedures may be most effective on an individual basis.     

Motivational influences on performance maintained by food reinforcement

In Study 1, we examined the independent effects of reinforcer consumption during sessions and meal consumption prior to sessions on performance maintained by food reinforcement. Nine individuals with developmental disabilities participated. On alternate days, a preferred edible item was delivered during (a) seven sessions conducted before lunch (repeated-reinforcement condition) versus (b) one session each conducted before and after lunch (pre- and postmeal conditions). Results for 7 of 9 participants showed decreased response rates across sessions in the repeated-reinforcement condition; results for 3 of 9 participants showed decreased rates during postmeal relative to premeal conditions. Two participants who did not show a decrement in responding during either comparison participated in Study 2, in which reinforcer consumption during sessions, combined with meal consumption prior to sessions, also had no effect on their performance. In Study 3, we determined whether (a) choice of reinforcers, (b) increased break time between sessions, (c) varied reinforcers, or (d) intermittent reinforcement schedules mitigated the satiation effects observed for the 7 participants in Study 1. Presession choice of reinforcers resulted in maintained performance for 2 of 6 participants exposed to this condition. Varied reinforcement resulted in maintained performance for only 1 of 5 participants exposed to this condition. Neither the increased break between sessions nor the intermittent reinforcement schedule was effective in maintaining performance for the participants who were exposed to these conditions.