The use of mixed modeling to evaluate the impact of treatment integrity on learning

Treatment integrity, or the degree to which an intervention is implemented as intended, is a critical feature of skill acquisition tasks. Single‐case design consistently demonstrates that low treatment integrity slows or inhibits learning, but the relative impact of different types of instructional errors, or the presence of multiple errors, is less clear. The present study utilized a multilevel modeling approach to evaluate the impact of type of error (omission versus omission and commission) and error component (reinforcer delivery versus feedback) on learning. Findings revealed that learning outcomes worsened based on the type of error and as the complexity of errors increased; more specifically, participants performed better when only a single type of error occurred and when only a single error component was manipulated. Additionally, individual characteristics contributed to learning outcomes, highlighting the use of multilevel modeling as a helpful tool to supplement single‐case design. The differential impact of integrity errors on learning may be due to timing of errors (i.e., commission errors more likely to occur early in learning) or how errors affect reinforcement schedule versus discriminative control.     

Male HIV-1 transgenic rats show reduced cocaine-maintained lever-pressing compared to F344 wildtype rats despite similar baseline locomotion

The HIV-1 transgenic (Tg) rat model is valuable for understanding HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) and accompanying substance use and misuse. Tg and F344/NHsd wildtype (WT) rats were allowed to self-administer intrajugular cocaine. For the first 7 sessions, neither genotype self-administered cocaine (0.1 mg/kg/infusion) on a fixed ratio 1 schedule. We thus implemented a lever–cocaine “autoshaping” session followed by a series of manipulations changing dose and reinforcement schedule. Tg rats self-administered much less cocaine than WT rats throughout the study. Of 8 Tg rats, 5 modestly increased self-administration from sessions 36–50. Of those, only 3 showed a lever discrimination. Of 10 WT rats, 8 acquired robust self-administration by session 19; all WT rats self-administered cocaine by the end of the study. WT and Tg rats had similar baseline locomotor activity in the self-administration chamber suggesting that the low levels of cocaine intake in the Tg rats did not reflect a nonspecific motor impairment in this rat strain. Concomitant measurement of activity with self-administration revealed activity increases that followed increased cocaine intake. That relation held in Tg rats. Therefore, the present study provides evidence that HIV-1 Tg rats are less sensitive to the reinforcing effects of cocaine than their F344 WT counterparts.     

Differential Relationships of Light and Darker Forms of Humor with Mindfulness

This study proposes two links between facets of mindfulness and different forms of humor: First, the common benevolence should link mindfulness positively to light forms of humor and negatively to darker forms of humor. Second, similar cognitive mechanisms should underlie both mindfulness and humor ability (humor detection, comprehension, and production). Third, both are malleable, and we hypothesize that fostering humor and mindfulness may mutually influence each other, leading to innovative and practical interventions for settings such as the workplace. In three studies, the relationship of humor and mindfulness as outlined in the Humor Mindfulness Relationship Model was investigated. In Studies 1 and 2, the relationship of different forms of humor and mindfulness was investigated in a sample of health care professionals and a broad online sample. In Study 3, the effect of a mindfulness intervention on humor as a character strength was investigated, giving preliminary insights into the mutual malleability of both. Results confirmed the positive relationship among light forms of humor and mindfulness as well as negative relationships of darker forms of humor with mindfulness. The mindfulness intervention fostered humor as a character strength. These results indicate that humor and mindfulness may be fruitfully combined in positive interventions as well as in the vocational setting. Moreover, the results suggest initial evidence for the Humor Mindfulness Relationship Model.

     

The predictive validity of peer assessment in law enforcement: a 6 year follow-up

This study examined the relations between peer assessment and long-term law enforcement/job performance. Sixty-nine law enforcement cadets completed peer rankings of likelihood of success in job performance. These peer rankings were significantly correlated with supervisor ratings, as well as absenteeism and retention, after 1 year of employment. In the present study, both subjective and objective job performance data were collected from a variety of employing job performance agencies after 6 years of employment. Peer rankings were still significantly correlated (r=.40, p<.05) with retention after 6 years, but were not significantly correlated to any job performance index. These results support the potential usefulness of peer assessment data even after several years have passed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of video feedback on running form

Correct running form is important for injury prevention; as such, correct form promotes continued engagement in running as a long-term form of exercise. Researchers have shown video feedback to be an effective strategy to improve athletic form for a variety of sports, but it has not been evaluated in any behavior analytic research as a method for improving running form. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of video feedback to improve running form for regular runners. During baseline, each participant was video recorded while running without any feedback (verbal or video). During intervention, the researcher recorded the participant, then showed them the video and provided feedback on correct or incorrect form, according to a 9-step task analysis. Results show that all three participants achieved 100% correct steps on the task analysis when video feedback was used to maintain their form during follow-up.     

A new Big Five: fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality

Despite impressive advances in recent years with respect to theory and research, personality psychology has yet to articulate clearly a comprehensive framework for understanding the whole person. In an effort to achieve that aim, the current article draws on the most promising empirical and theoretical trends in personality psychology today to articulate 5 big principles for an integrative science of the whole person. Personality is conceived as (a) an individual's unique variation on the general evolutionary design for human nature, expressed as a developing pattern of (b) dispositional traits, (c) characteristic adaptations, and (d) self-defining life narratives, complexly and differentially situated (e) in culture and social context. The 5 principles suggest a framework for integrating the Big Five model of personality traits with those self-defining features of psychological individuality constructed in response to situated social tasks and the human need to make meaning in culture.     

Predicting eating disorder group membership: an examination and extension of the sociocultural model

The purpose of this research was to examine and extend portions of the sociocultural model of bulimia nervosa (Stice, E. (1994). Review of the evidence for a sociocultural model of bulimia nervosa and an exploration of the mechanisms of action. Clinical Psychology Review, 14, 633-661; Stice, E., & Agras, W. S. (1998). Predicting onset and cessation of bulimic behaviors during adolescence: A longitudinal grouping analysis. Behavior Therapy, 29, 257-276). Participants were women who reported engaging in binge eating at baseline and the 1-year follow-up (n = 26), women who began binge eating between these 2 points (n = 25), and women who did not report binge eating during the course of the study (n = 199). Results of the first discriminant function analysis provided support for the sociocultural model. However, the results of subsequent analyses suggest that additional variables, including stress, escape-avoidance coping, and interoceptive awareness, emerged as important. Implications of these findings for our understanding of the development and maintenance of binge eating are discussed.