FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF SEPARATE TOPOGRAPHIES OF ABERRANT BEHAVIOR

We conducted a functional analysis of distinct topographies of aberrant behavior displayed by 4 clients. We first analyzed the behaviors in an aggregate fashion and then separated the behaviors to formulate hypotheses about the maintaining variables for each behavior. The procedures were used in a two-phase experiment. During Phase 1, two extended functional analyses were completed, one in an inpatient unit and one in a special education classroom. During Phase 2, two brief functional analyses were completed in an outpatient clinic. Results indicated that hypotheses of separate functions for distinct behaviors can be generated using both extended and brief functional analyses when the results are graphed in the aggregate and are separated by response topography. The results also suggest that these methods can improve the accuracy of data interpretation and treatment selection.     

High-Risk Palliative Care Patients’ Knowledge and Attitudes about Hereditary Cancer Testing and DNA Banking

Even at the end of life, testing cancer patients for inherited susceptibility may provide life-saving information to their relatives. Prior research suggests palliative care inpatients have suboptimal understanding of genetic importance, and testing may be underutilized in this clinical setting. These conclusions are based on limited research. This study aimed to estimate genetic testing prevalence among high-risk palliative care patients in a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. We also aimed to understand these patients’ understanding of, and attitudes toward, hereditary cancer testing and DNA banking. Palliative care in-patients with cancer completed structured interviews, and their medical records were reviewed. Among patients at high risk for hereditary cancer, we assessed history of genetic testing/DNA banking; and related knowledge and attitudes. Among 24 high-risk patients, 14 (58.3%) said they/their relatives had genetic testing or they had been referred for a genetics consultation. Of the remaining 10 patients, seven (70%) said they would “probably” or “definitely” get tested. Patients who had not had testing were least concerned about the impact of future testing on their family relationships; two (20%) said they were “extremely concerned” about privacy related to genetic testing. Of patients without prior testing, five (50%) said they had heard or read “a fair amount” about genetic testing. No high-risk patients had banked DNA. Overall, 23 (95.8%) said they had heard or read “almost nothing” or “relatively little” about DNA banking. Written materials and clinician discussion were most preferred ways to learn about genetic testing and DNA banking. Overall, this study demonstrates underutilization of genetics services at the end of life continues to be problematic, despite high patient interest.     

Alternative Models of Price Behavior in Dyadic Negotiations: Market Prices, Reservation Prices, and Negotiator Aspirations

Three competing predictors of price are manipulated in a two-party distributive negotiation. These include prevailing market prices, negotiator reservation prices, and negotiator aspirations. We offer a cognitive interpretation of how each type of information is incorporated into the negotiator′s thought processes as an alternative cognitive reference point. In two studies varying the levels of these three factors, only reservation prices, not prevailing market prices or negotiator aspirations, account for significant variance in negotiated outcomes. Discussion is offered, suggesting that the negotiator as decision maker may experience a "dominant reference point" effect. When multiple pieces of relevant information are available, the negotiator may only be able to focus on one of them. Among the three predictors studied, the reservation price may be cognitively interpreted as the most absolute limit.     

The effects of presession exposure to attention on the results of assessments of attention as a reinforcer

The effects of presession exposure to attention on responding during subsequent assessments of attention as a reinforcer were evaluated across three behavioral assessments. In Experiment 1, a contingent attention assessment condition was preceded by either a noncontingent attention condition (free play) or a contingent escape condition. In Experiment 2, a diverted attention with extinction condition was preceded by either an alone or a free-play condition. In Experiment 3, a two-choice preference assessment was preceded by either 10 min of free play or 10 min of playing alone. In each experiment, the participant responded differentially within the test condition according to the presence or absence of dense schedules of attention immediately prior to that condition. The results of this study show that events occurring immediately prior to an assessment condition can influence behavior within the assessment.     

Running-wheel activity and avoidance in the mongolian gerbil

In the first of two experiments, running-wheel activity and unsignaled (Sidman) avoidance were studied in gerbils and albino rats. All gerbils ran at higher rates than any of the four rats studied. Under the avoidance procedure, four rats developed effective responding; the other two performed much less successfully. While avoidance developed more slowly in the gerbils, all showed asymptotic performance as effective as the four superior rats. The rats showed a consistent warm-up effect, receiving 60% to 80% of the total shocks in the initial third of the session. The gerbils displayed no warm-up, with shocks being evenly distributed over the session. Warm-up in the rats was not related to either response rate or to how effectively the animal was avoiding. When shock was removed, extinction occurred more rapidly in the rats than the gerbils. In the second experiment, which involved two-way shuttle avoidance, gerbils and albino mice quickly acquired the response. All animals met a criterion of 90% avoidance over 80 trials.     

The Relationship of Physiological Arousal with Demand and Withdraw Behavior: Examining the Accuracy of the Escape-Conditioning Hypothesis

The escape-conditioning model suggests that husbands experience greater physiological arousal during marital conflict than their wives. This greater arousal is hypothesized to lead to withdrawal from conflict in order to lessen the arousal. The present results, based on a U.S. sample of 64 heterosexual couples, found no support for this model. During problem-solving discussions, husbands did not exhibit greater skin conductance and did not report greater arousal than their wives. Furthermore, skin conductance was negatively linked to withdraw behavior. These results, while not consistent with the escape-conditioning model, are in line with recent studies that have explicitly examined gender differences in other types of physiological arousal during marital conflict.     

Variations in adults' subjective ages in relation to birthday nearness,age awareness,and attitudes toward aging

This research examined the extent to which variations in adults' subjective age identities were related to information provided by proximal age markers, which are specific age-symbolic experiences presumed to channel shifts in age identities. To this end, adults' psychological, physical, and social subjective age identities were examined in relation to the nearness of their birthdays. In the absence of proximal age information, younger and older adults showed distinctive age-related changes in subjective age. On the other hand, older men's and women's social subjective ages as well as older women's psychological subjective age were less youthful the nearer their birthdays. However, younger adults' age identities did not vary with the closeness of their birthdays. Several gender differences in addition to the moderating effects of adults' awareness of their age and their attitudes toward aging were also observed.