Time limits for completing fixed ratios

Two experiments investigated how the addition of time limits affected fixed-ratio behavior. In Exp. 1, pigeons obtained food only if they completed the ratio within a specified time after the end of the preceding ratio. In Exp. 2, they obtained food only if they took longer than a specified time. Failures to meet the time criteria produced brief timeouts. The times taken depended on the requirements in both experiments. In Exp. 1, progressively briefer time criteria resulted in faster ratios, and in Exp. 2, longer time criteria increased the time taken in each ratio. The pigeon's sensitivity to the temporal variable, a property of the entire period extending from the first opportunity to respond to the end of the ratio, indicated that performance involved a behavioral unit encompassing both the post-reinforcement pause and the responses comprising the ratio.     

The church and prevention of alcoholism

Conclusion The task of the church is to join a coalition for the improvement of community resources for the alcoholic through legislation and appropriation of funds; to train a task force of clergymen and lay counselors who are able to assist mental health professionals and A. A. members; and to communicate the Word of Reconciliation to those who are hungering and thirsting for the right life. We are able to help the alcoholic as he discovers new values and experiences without compulsive drinking. Clinebell summarizes the ministry of the church to the alcoholic when he points out: The most important thing a congregation must give a recovering alcoholic is a sense of acceptance in the fellowship. Such direct involvement in helping deeply troubled people forces a congregation to test the reality of its dedication to loving God and neighbor.⁴² May God help the church to be the church for the alcoholic.a pilot project sponsored by the Makiki Christian Church, is also a staff member of the Diamond Head Mental Health Clinic, a research and training facility cooperating with the University of Hawaii School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the National Rehabilitation Association and an associate member of the Academy.     

Black perceptions of guidance

The demand made by black students that administrators employ more black counselors reveals not only students' needs to proclaim black identity and pride but also their grievances against guidance that have deeper roots than just the current social revolution. This article examines the black student's view of guidance in order that counselors might develop a role for the profession that will serve this student more effectively.     

Technology and guidance: a balance

The following symposium discusses the place of technology in guidance and some of the concerns involved. Tiedeman, a leading authority on technological applications in guidance, takes the position that guidance technology is an important new development. Schmidt, who has written widely in the areas of psychology and counseling, questions the place of technology in guidance and society and underlines some of the concerns related to the adoption of technology. The authors' discussions of “one-way” versus “two-way” thinking and the problem of control over the technology should be of interest to readers concerned with applying technology in guidance.     

Irrelevant behaviour,information processing and arousal homeostasis

Summary This paper expands a new hypothesis on the causal mechanisms underlying irrelevant behaviour. It begins with a critical summary of earlier theories which attempted to explain displacement activities, but failed to predict the consistency with which certain types of behaviour are shown in stressful situations by a variety of species. Behavioural and physiological studies suggest that these behaviour patterns are closely associated with the incipient activation of sleep. The functional significance of this link and some of the causal processes which may be responsible for it are discussed. Paradoxically, however, displacement activities occur when animals are in a state of high arousal. The concept of arousal is reconsidered in the light of information theory and assumed to be closely correlated with the information processing rate in the nervous system. The relationships between neural and autonomic arousal are considered in this context. It is argued that over-arousal may occur when information handling exceeds the limited channel capacity of the system, with a consequent loss of efficiency. It is pointed out that there are mechanisms capable of controlling the information influx into the brain, and it is hypothesized that they are tied up in a feedback mechanism which regulates arousal and which involves the activation of a de-arousal system, corresponding to the neurological sleep mechanism. Displacement activities are viewed as consequences of this regulatory activation of the sleep system. This hypothesis is then compared with existing theories of displacement and its relationship with them is discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Die Arbeit erweitert eine neue Hypothese über die kausalen Mechanismen, die dem übersprungverhalten zugrunde liegen. Sie beginnt mit einer kritischen Übersicht der früher vorgeschlagenen Theorien und zeigt auf, daß diese nicht die Beständigkeit, mit der gewisse Verhaltensweisen von einer Anzahl von Tierarten in Stress-Situationen gezeigt werden, erklären. Verhaltens- und physiologische Studien deuten an, daß diese Verhaltensweisen in einem engen Zusammenhang mit einer partiellen Schlafaktivierung stehen. Die funktionelle Bedeutung dieses Zusammenhanges und die möglichen physiologischen Mechanismen, die dafür verantwortlich sein könnten, werden diskutiert. Paradoxerweise werden aber Übersprungsverhalten dann gezeigt, wenn sich Tiere in einem gesteigerten Wachzustand befinden. In diesem Zusammenhang wird das Arousal-Konzept im Lichte der Informationstheorie neu beleuchtet und es wird angenommen, daß der Arousal-Zustand eines Tieres im engen Zusammenhang mit der jeweiligen Informationsverarbeitungsrate im Nervensystem steht. Die Verhältnisse zwischen neuralem und autonomischen Arousal werden diskutiert. Es wird vorgeschlagen, daß sich Überarousal dann einstellt, wenn die Informationsverarbeitungsrate die Kanalkapazität des Systems übersteigt mit einem sich daraus ergebenen Wirkungsgradverlust. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, daß es Mechanismen gibt, die den Informationsfluß in das Gehirn regeln und angenommen, daß diese innerhalb eines Rückkopplungssystems funktionieren, welches Arousal reguliert. Diese Regelung benötigt die Aktivierung eines Arousal herabsetzenden Systems, das in den neurologischen Schlafmechanismen besteht. Das Auftreten von Übersprungsverhalten wird als eine Konsequenz dieser regulatorischen Aktivierung des Schlafsystems angesehen. Die Hypothese wird dann mit den vorhandenen Übersprungsverhaltenstheorien verglichen.

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The research underlying this paper has been supported by grants from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research through the European Office of Aerospace Research, the Science Research Council and the Royal Society to Professor N. Tinbergen, F. R. S. and myself. It was partly carried out at the Department of Zoology, Oxford. I am grateful to Dr. S. A. Hillyard who by revising an earlier version contributed much to whatever merits this paper has.