THE CLASS SPECIFIC EFFECTS OF COMPLIANCE TRAINING WITH “DO” AND “DON'T” REQUESTS: ANALOGUE ANALYSIS AND CLASSROOM APPLICATION

Two experiments are reported in which the relationship between compliance with “do” and “don't” requests was examined with developmentally disabled children. In Experiment 1, a multiple baseline design across subjects with counterbalanced treatment conditions was used to evaluate a compliance training program composed of four phases: (a) baseline, during which no consequences were delivered for compliance, (b) reinforcement for compliance with one targeted “do” request, (c) reinforcement for compliance with one targeted “don't” request, and (d) follow-up with reinforcement on a variable ratio schedule for compliance with any “do” or “don't” request. Results of probes conducted before and after training within each condition indicated that generalized compliance occurred only with requests of the same type as the target exemplar (“do” or “don't”). In Experiment 2, these results were replicated in a classroom setting. Following collection of baseline probe data on student compliance, a teacher training program was successfully implemented to increase reinforcement of compliance first with one “do” and subsequently with one “don't” request of a target student. Results of multiple baseline probes across “do” and “don't” requests indicated that the teacher generalized and maintained reinforcement of compliance with other requests of the same type and to other students, with a resulting increase in student compliance with the type of requests reinforced. The impact of treatment on both teacher and student behavior was socially validated via consumer ratings. Implications of these findings with respect to response class formation and compliance training programs are discussed.     

A procedural theory of eye movements in doing arithmetic

A procedural theory of eye movement that accounts for main features of the stochastic behavior of eye-fixation durations and direction of movement of saccades in the process of solving arithmetic exercises of addition and subtraction is presented. The best-fitting distribution of fixation durations with a relatively simple theoretical justification consists of a mixture of an exponential distribution and the convolution of two exponential distributions. The eye movements themselves were found to approximate a random walk that fits rather closely in both adult and juvenile subjects the motion postulated by the normative algorithm ordinarily taught in schools. Certain structural features of addition and subtraction exercises, such as the number of columns, the presence or absence of a carry or a borrow, are well known to affect their difficulty. In this study, regressions on such structural variables were found to account for only a relatively small part of the variation in eye-fixation durations.     

A biased random walk model for two choice reaction times

This paper generalizes Stone's (1960, Psychometrika 25, 251–260) random walk model of two choice response times (RTs) that is based on the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) and that predicts equal correct and incorrect RTs to the same response. The generalized version allows a bias of the type found in signal detection theory to enter directly into the accumulation process so that ambivalent evidence may be seen as slightly favoring one alternative. The resulting biased SPRT model can predict any relation between correct and incorrect mean RTs. In particular, unlike the special symmetric case of Link and Heath's (1975, Psychometrika 40, 77–105) relative judgment theory (RJT), the biased SPRT model can predict that correct mean RTs are faster for one response but slower for the other. The biased SPRT model, the classical SPRT model, and the symmetric RJT model are all fit to the data of an RT deadline experiment reported by Green and Luce (1973, Attention and performance, New York: Academic Press) and it is shown that, of the three, the biased SPRT model provides the best account. Finally, a method for incorporating the same sort of bias into RJT models is sketched out.     

Implicit psychophysiology: Effects of common beliefs and idiosyncratic physiological responses symptom reporting

Every individual exhibits unique perceptual, behavioral, and physiological responses within and across a variety of settings. Despite the idiosyncratic nature of responses, we seek to establish theories that generalize across a large number of individuals. A strict idiographic method intensively examines the response patterns of a small number of individuals, whereas a nomothetic approach focuses on common responses across a large number of individuals. In the present investigation, we seek to learn how individuals perceive and report physical symptoms and sensations. We offer a methodology that capitalizes on the unique physiological responses of individuals but, at the same time, assumes that the underlying perceptual processes relevant to symptom reporting are comparable across individuals. Our approach, then, is both idiographic and nomothetic. As will be discussed, this integrative approach has the potential to be applied to a multitude of behaviors and processes that are of interest to social and personality psychologists.     

Locus of control and the aggression inhibiting effects of aggressive humor appreciation

Empirical investigation into the theoretical connection between humor appreciation and aggression has provided a continued series of equivocal results. This experiment examined the proposition that previous inconsistencies were due to the lack of concern for individual locus of control. Female subjects, differentiated as internals and externals, received either an aggression arousal induction procedure or a neutral nonarousal procedure. Subjects were presented three stimulus situations: neutral humor, aggressive humor, or nonhumorous material, and assessed for mood state. Locus of control was found to be a significant variable in the effectiveness of aggressive humor to reduce aggressive mood. Internals were able to reduce aggressive mood through appreciation of aggressive humor and demonstrated preference for this humor type. Importance of internals' cognitive style interacting with humor content was found significant in relationship between humor and aggressive reduction.     

Personality characteristics of the users of corporal punishment in the schools

The Rokeach Dogmatism Scale and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire were correlated with educator-reported use of corporal punishment. Respondents were from a medium-size school system in Tennessee. Results indicated that closed-mindedness, as measured by the Rokeach scale, and Neuroticism, as measured by the Eysenck Scale, were highly correlated with reported use of corporal punishment. Of the remaining two dimensions of personality measured by the Eysenck questionnaire, Extraversion was found to be moderately correlated with reported use of corporal punishment while Psychoticism showed no significant relationship. A significant negative correlation was found between years of experience in teaching and use of corporal punishment. Frequency of physical punishment used on an educator when he/she was in grades K-12 was positively correlated with reported use of corporal punishment. Heavy users of corporal punishment tended to be relatively inexperienced, close-minded, neurotic, and impulsive as compared to their peers who did not use corporal punishment.     

The SOMPA: A brief examination of technical considerations,philosophical rationale,and implications for practice

The SOMPA is examined in terms of the multicultural model and Mercer's justification for multiple normal distributions within that model. The philosophical basis of the approach and the environments in which any assessment strategy must function are also examined. It is concluded that multiple normal distributions are not justified based on the variance accounted for in WISC-R scores by the Sociocultural Scales of the SOMPA. The pholosophical basis of the SOMPA, the sociology of knowledge, is not considered helpful or useful in the assessment process because of internal logic problems associated with the paradigm and because it creates an artificial separation of populations. Some of the components which influence education are examined in an effort to place the SOMPA in a realistic operational environment and to contrast the complexity of that environment with the oversimplified view offered by the SOMPA.     

Analgesic and opioid involvement in the shock-elicited activity and escape deficits produced by inescapable shock

Three experiments examined the involvement of analgesic processes and endogenous opioids in the production of the shuttlebox escape acquisition and unconditioned activity deficits which follow exposure to inescapable shock. Experiment 1 found that the opiate antagonist naltrexone administered before the inescapable shock session interfered with the shuttlebox escape acquisition deficit which would normally follow. Experiment 2 found naltrexone to completely prevent the unconditioned activity deficit. The final experiment revealed that dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid which abolishes the analgesia produced by inescapable shock, reversed the activity deficit. These results indicate that endogenous opioids may be involved in the production of both the escape acquisition and activity deficits. They also suggest that the analgesia produced by these opioids may participate in the mediation of the activity deficit, even though analgesia is not involved in producing the shuttlebox acquisition deficit.