EFFECTIVENESS OF FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING WITH AND WITHOUT EXTINCTION AND PUNISHMENT: A SUMMARY OF 21 INPATIENT CASES

Functional communication training (FCT) is a frequently used treatment for reducing problem behavior exhibited by individuals with developmental disabilities. Once the operant function of problem behavior is identified by a functional analysis, the client is taught to emit an appropriate communicative response to obtain the reinforcer that is responsible for behavioral maintenance. Studies on FCT have typically used small numbers of participants, have reported primarily on clients for whom FCT was successful, and have varied with respect to their use of other treatment components. The main purposes of the present study were to evaluate the efficacy of FCT for treating severe problem behavior in a relatively large sample of individuals with mental retardation (N = 21) and to determine the contribution of extinction and punishment components to FCT treatment packages. FCT with extinction was effective in reducing problem behavior for the majority of clients and resulted in at least a 90% reduction in problem behavior in nearly half the applications. However, when demand or delay-to-reinforcement fading was added to FCT with extinction, treatment efficacy was reduced in about one half of the applications. FCT with punishment (both with and without fading) resulted in at least a 90% reduction in problem behavior for every case in which it was applied.     

Structural Stability within the Lateral Cerebellar Nucleus of the Rat Following Complex Motor Learning

Complex motor learning, but not mere motor activity, has been previously shown to induce structural modifications within the cerebellar cortex. The present experiment examined whether similar changes occur within one of the primary output targets of the region of the cerebellar cortex in which these structural changes were described, the lateral cerebellar nucleus (LCN; dentate nucleus). Adult female rats were randomly allocated to one of three training conditions. Acrobatic condition (AC) rats were trained to complete a complex motor learning task consisting of a series of elevated obstacles while motor control (MC) condition animals were forced to traverse a flat obstacle-free runway equal in length to the AC task. Inactive condition (IC) animals received no motor training. Unbiased stereological techniques and electron microscopy were used to obtain estimates of synapse number and postsynaptic density (PSD) length within the LCN. Results showed that neither synapse number nor PSD length was significantly altered as a function of training condition. These results indicate that complex motor skill learning is associated with structural plasticity within the cerebellar cortex and with structural stability within the lateral cerebellar nucleus.     

Fathering and Early Onset Conduct Problems: Positive and Negative Parenting, Father–Son Attachment, and the Marital Context

Research literature linking negative and positive aspects of the father–child relationship with early onset conduct problems is reviewed. Evidence from the Preschool Families Project, a longitudinal study of clinic-referred preschool boys at risk for conduct disorder, is presented, including previously unpublished data on father–child attachment. Both negative (e.g., harsh, angry, and physically punitive) and positive (involvement, warmth, and secure attachment) dimensions of fathering, as well as aspects of the marital relationship, appear to be associated with the emergence of early onset conduct problems.     

The Boundaries of the Analytic Encounter: Clinical and Ethical Dimensions: A Roundtable Discussion: January 15, 1998

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Importance of fathers' parenting to African-American toddler's social and cognitive development

The present study examined the degree to which parenting attitudes and behavior (i.e., self-reported warmth, restrictiveness, and behavioral sensitivity as assessed during a freeplay session) were related to toddlers' development. Results showed a restrictive attitude was negatively related to social and cognitive development, whereas paternal sensitivity was positively related to aspects of social development that are less dependent on language skills (e.g., motor and daily living skills). Fathers of girls exhibited greater sensitivity in their freeplay interactions than fathers of boys. More globally, the present research demonstrates important relations between the parenting attitudes and behavior of low- to working-income African-American fathers and young children's development, and similarities to White, middle-income fathers.