On the use of fluency training in the behavioral treatment of autism: a commentary

The substantial demand for behavior-analytic treatment of early childhood autism has been associated with rapid dissemination of treatment procedures to practitioners and caregivers. This level of demand could plausibly induce premature dissemination of treatments that do not yet have sufficient empirical support. We argue that this might have happened with the use of fluency training for learners with autism and identify four areas of research that are necessary to ensure that dissemination efforts are better matched to the available empirical support for this instructional strategy.     

Executive dysfunction in a survival environment

Victims often respond to survival incidents with maladaptive behaviours that suggest impairment in executive function. To examine this hypothesis the authors tested sub‐components of executive function during an intensive military survival exercise. Compared to a control group the survival course participants showed significant impairment in the incongruent condition of the Stroop task; the mean repetition gap and adjacent letter pair components of the random letter generation task; and the planning and action components of the Tower of London task. No impairment was found in dual‐task performance nor in verbal fluency. The pattern of the data suggests that the maladaptive behaviour frequently observed in survival incidents may be explained by dysfunction in the supervisory system‐contention scheduler interface. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring Relational Aggression in Middle Childhood in a Multi-Informant Multi-Method Study

Relational aggression includes behaviors intended to damage the social status and relationships of others. Recent work has demonstrated problematic outcomes for both aggressors and victims. These behaviors have been associated with psychopathology, including early borderline personality pathology. Despite the importance in better understanding these behaviors, numerous questions remain regarding the validity of different informants and methods for assessing relational aggression. In a community-based sample of 330 families evenly split by child gender (50.3% female), relational aggression data was assessed via multiple informants (mother, father, and self) and multiple methods (questionnaire and interview). The results suggest that mothers and fathers show higher agreement for girls’ relational aggression than for boys’ and that the presence of gender differences depends on the method of measurement. In addition, both mothers and fathers reports of relational aggression uniquely predicted internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and social problems, with fathers’ reports emerging as a particularly robust predictor. Relational aggression scores accounted for a greater amount of predicted variance in externalizing behaviors than in the other two domains. Results are discussed in the context of the utility of multiple informants and the conceptualization of relational aggression in a broader externalizing psychopathology framework.     

Dating is Hard Work: A Narrative Approach to Understanding Sexual and Romantic Relationships in Young Adulthood

This study utilized a qualitative approach informed by a narrative perspective to examine 57 young adults’ stories about sexual and romantic relationships. Participants (25 men and 32 women) were asked to define relationships in terms of how they know they are in a romantic or a sexual partnership. Young adults identified the language they use for different types of relationships, their perceptions of the hierarchy of romantic and sexual relationships, and their confusion or uncertainty about their relationship experiences. We discuss implications for clinicians working with young adults and provide suggestions for re-storying the confusing territory of intimate (and sometimes impersonal) interaction.     

A Comparison of Function-Based Differential Reinforcement Interventions for Children Engaging in Disruptive Classroom Behavior

This study provides a direct comparison of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA). Participants included three children in center-based classrooms referred for functional assessments due to disruptive classroom behavior. Functional assessments included interviews and brief functional analyses. An alternating treatments design was used to evaluate the relative effectiveness of function-based DRO and DRA interventions. Results indicated that both intervention procedures effectively reduced disruptive behavior, but the DRA procedure consistently resulted in greater reductions in disruptive behavior across all participants. Results are discussed in terms of directions for future functional assessment and intervention research as well as implications for applied practice.     

Implicit learning as an ability

The ability to automatically and implicitly detect complex and noisy regularities in the environment is a fundamental aspect of human cognition. Despite considerable interest in implicit processes, few researchers have conceptualized implicit learning as an ability with meaningful individual differences. Instead, various researchers (e.g., Reber, 1993; Stanovich, 2009) have suggested that individual differences in implicit learning are minimal relative to individual differences in explicit learning. In the current study of English 16–17 year old students, we investigated the association of individual differences in implicit learning with a variety of cognitive and personality variables. Consistent with prior research and theorizing, implicit learning, as measured by a probabilistic sequence learning task, was more weakly related to psychometric intelligence than was explicit associative learning, and was unrelated to working memory. Structural equation modeling revealed that implicit learning was independently related to two components of psychometric intelligence: verbal analogical reasoning and processing speed. Implicit learning was also independently related to academic performance on two foreign language exams (French, German). Further, implicit learning was significantly associated with aspects of self-reported personality, including intuition, Openness to Experience, and impulsivity. We discuss the implications of implicit learning as an ability for dual-process theories of cognition, intelligence, personality, skill learning, complex cognition, and language acquisition.     

Brand logo and name association: it's all in the name

Despite the expense of designing and the popularity of using logos to represent brands, there is a paucity of information on how such symbols are processed. This series of experiments used Repetition Blindness (RB) to measure implicit association of logos and names that varied in (1) the abstractness of the logo, and (2) the level of familiarity with the logo. RB is a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when two items, presented in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), are encoded along repeated dimensions (e.g. visual, phonological, semantic) resulting in only one item being perceived (Bavelier, 1994 ; Buttle, Ball, Zhang, & Raymond, 2005 ; Kanwisher, 1987 ). Phonological RB was revealed for both abstract and figurative logos and occurred regardless of familiarity. The results suggest that as long as a consumer has the opportunity to be exposed to the name of a logo then logo‐name association learning is a rapid process. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Callous-unemotional features, behavioral inhibition, and parenting: independent predictors of aggression in a high-risk preschool sample

A behaviorally-uninhibited temperament, callous-unemotional (CU) features, and harsh parenting have been associated with specific patterns of aggressive behavior in older children and adolescents. We tested the additive and interactive effects of these factors in predicting different types of aggressive behavior in a high-risk preschool sample. Forty-nine preschoolers and their parents registering for Head Start programs were recruited for participation. Behavioral inhibition, CU features, and attitudes toward various types of parenting were assessed through parent rating scales completed at the time of registration. Behavioral inhibition, CU features, and aggression were assessed by teacher ratings approximately six months later. Analyses revealed that behavioral inhibition, CU features, and harsh parental attitudes all contributed independently to the prediction of aggressive behavior. These associations were strongest for proactive types of aggression. Our results suggest that a behaviorally uninhibited temperament, CU features, and attitudes favoring harsh parenting are all important for understanding the development of aggression in preschool children.     

Beliefs About Poverty and Opportunity Among Mexican Immigrant Farm Workers1

This study examined attributions for poverty and beliefs about upward mobility among 124 Mexican immigrant farm workers. The effects of gender and length of United States residency were also analyzed. Despite living in poverty and perceiving racism as a significant problem, respondents expected upward mobility for themselves and their children. Consistent with previous research on low‐income and ethnic minority attributions (Bullock, 1999; Hunt, 1996; Kluegel & Smith, 1986), structural explanations for poverty were favored over individualistic causes, however, considerable support for individualistic causes was also expressed. Gender and length of residency were not predictive of immigrants’ beliefs about poverty. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Saying no to negativity: The effects of context and motivation to control prejudice on automatic evaluative responses

The current research explored the interaction of context and motivation to control prejudice reactions (MCPR) on automatic evaluative responses toward individuals of different races. Three studies incorporated contextual backgrounds into an evaluative priming procedure. Across all three studies, White participants low in MCPR demonstrated automatic ingroup biases when threatening contexts were presented. However, in contexts where targets could be construed as threatening, Whites high in MCPR showed automatic outgroup biases in favor of Blacks over Whites. Importantly, this outgroup bias was driven by an automatic inhibition of negative responses toward Blacks. The results indicate that even at the automatic level, people high in motivation to control prejudice can inhibit negative responses toward Blacks in contexts that have cues associated with prejudice.