Signaled Delay of Reinforcement: Effects of Postconditioning Manipulation of Context Associative Strength on Instrumental Performance

Two experiments examined the influence of postconditioning treatments of contextual cues on instrumental responding acquired with a signaled delay of reinforcement schedule. In Experiment 1, mere exposure to the conditioning context after instrumental training resulted in an attenuated response rate during an extinction test. In the second experiment, responding was decreased by exposure to the contextual cues or sessions in which signaled noncontingent reinforcements occurred. The greatest response decrement, however, occurred following unsignaled noncontingent food presentations. The results are discussed with respect to the different roles of contextual cues on operant responding.     

Spatial distribution of visual attention: Perceptual sensitivity and response latency

Studies of the spatial distribution of visual attention have shown that attentional facilitation monotonically decreases in a graded fashion with increasing distance from an attended location. However, reaction time (RT) measures have typically shown broader gradients than have signal detection (SD) measures of perceptual sensitivity. It is not clear whether these differences have arisen because the stages of information processing indexed by RT measures are different from those indexed by SD measures, or whether these differences are due to methodological confounds in the SD studies. In the present set of experiments, the spatial distribution of attention was studied by using a luminance detection task in an endogenous cuing paradigm that was designed to permit accurate calculations of SD and RT measures for targets at cued and uncued locations. Subjects made target-present/absent decisions at one of six possible cued or uncued upper visual hemifield locations on each trial. The results from three experiments suggest that the differences between broad and focal attentional distributions are not the result of different stages of information processing indexed by RT measures as opposed to SD measures. Rather, the differing distributions appear to reflect variations in attentional allocation strategies induced by the perceptual requirements typical of RT paradigms as opposed to SD paradigms. These findings support numerous prior studies showing that spatial attention affects perceptual sensitivity and that the strategic allocation of attention is a highly flexible process.     

An examination of response covariation in the behavioral treatment of identical twin boys with multiple behavioral disorders

This study examined the response covariation phenomenon in the behavioral treatment of a noncompliant, nonattentive child with autism in a school setting. The treatment consisted of reinforcement for compliance and attention. Results showed that the reinforcement of compliance was associated with increased levels of compliance, attending, and directed verbalizations. Sequential scatterplot data analysis suggested that compliance and attending directly covaried as a function of the reinforcement for compliance contingency. The results of this multiple treatment study suggests that reinforcement of compliance had the broadest positive effect for the subject since positive collateral changes were observed in attending and directed verbalizations when compliance was reinforced.     

DESIGN OF LIVING ENVIRONMENTS FOR NURSING-HOME RESIDENTS: INCREASING PARTICIPATION IN RECREATION ACTIVITIES1

Nursing-home residents have frequently been characterized as unoccupied and disengaged. At the outset of the present study, most residents were to be found in their own rooms, not exhibiting gross motor behavior or social interaction, and not participating in appropriate activities. To modify residents' levels of participation with the environment, a manipulative area was provided in the lounge. Participation in the lounge averaged 20% on days when the activity was not available, but increased to a mean of 74% on days when equipment and materials were given and residents were prompted to participate. When prompts were withdrawn and materials were available only by request, mean participation fell to 25%. The findings demonstrate that manipulative activities can support a high level of participation with the environment, if residents are prompted to use equipment and materials.     

The value of confession and forgiveness according to Jung

This article represents a broad survey of the views of C. G. Jung regarding confession and for giveness. Man, a naturally religious being, has a need to confess his wrong and to gain forgiveness of one sanctioned to absolve. The curative effect of confession has been known for centuries. Without confession, man remains in moral isolation. Priests, ministers, and rabbis, as well as psychotherapists, attest to the universality of this human phenomenon. Confession is located in that place where psychology and religion meet-guilt. Jung's views on confession bridge the chasm between psychology and religion.     

Perception of gait

Our ability of perceive the identity and naturalness of a human gait is examined in a series of four experiments involving computer-animated stick figures. The results indicate that the perceived naturalness of a walking or running gait can be influenced by the motion of any limb segment, but the perceived identity of these gaits is primarily determined by the movements of the lower leg (i.e., the tibia). The results also demonstrate that a perceptually salient walking gait can be transformed into running (or vice versa) by adding or subtracting a constant value to the angle of the lower leg over the entire step cycle. The size of this constant value is affected by the shape of the lower leg angle function and the motion of other limb segments.     

EXPERIMENTS IN A COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER: INCREASING CLIENT PAYMENTS FOR OUTPATIENT SERVICES

Although public health care systems often depend on revenue generated from client payment for services, inadequate agency fee payment systems continue to create substantial administrative problems. The first study examined the effects of implementing a system for producing and maintaining routine client fee payment. The second study was a replication of the first study. The Credit Criterion System was designed to: (a) allow clients to establish intra-agency credit by paying cash for each of the first three visits; and (b) pay for services monthly after credit was established. The system resulted in a baseline collection rate of 20%, compared with the Credit Criterion rate of 96.6%. The Credit Criterion System did not create additional administrative costs and it had no effect on attendance. Thus, the Credit Criterion System appears to be a reasonable set of procedures for allowing clients to meet their financial obligations to an agency.