The magnitude-of-reinforcement function in closed and open economies.

It has been hypothesized that the magnitude-of-reinforcement effect may differ in closed and open experimental economies. We determined the relationship between magnitude of reinforcement and response rate in three feeding conditions: a closed economy in which total intake was unrestricted, a closed economy in which total intake was restricted so as to maintain body weight at 85% of free-feeding weight, and a traditional open economy in which subjects received food outside the experimental session. In the closed economies, regardless of body weight, the rats responded faster for smaller pellets and when the fixed ratio for pellets was higher. In the open economy, there was no reliable effect of pellet size or pellet cost on response rate. It is concluded that although there are circumstances in which response rate is an immediate function of the parameters of reinforcement, rate is not necessarily a measure of response strength. Response rate may instead, or additionally, contribute to a strategy of reducing the costs associated with resource utilization.     

GENERALIZATION AND MANTENANCE OF TREATMENT GAINS OF BEHAVIORALLY HANDICAPPED STUDENTS FROM RESOURCE ROOMS TO REGULAR CLASSROOMS USING SELF-EVALUATION PROCEDURES

This study provided six behaviorally handicapped elementary school students with a short-term resource treatment to bring their behavior under the control of a combination of treatment procedures emphasizing self-evaluation. Once acceptable levels of appropriate behavior were maintained with only minimal external reinforcement and students were accurately self-evaluating their own work and behavior, generalization and maintenance of behavior gains were sought by introducing a reduced form of the self-evaluation procedures in the students' regular classrooms. A multiple baseline across pairs of subjects design was used to examine individual student's behavior. Analysis of the results of the study indicated that students transferred and maintained high levels of appropriate classroom behavior in their regular classrooms, once self-evaluation procedures were extended into those settings. For four of the six students, all extra-training components were faded. Only two students required a modified form of the original intervention to maintain behavior gains in their regular classrooms.     

Relation of work and retirement to health and well-being in older age.

Patterns of labor-force participation were studied with a broad array of indicators of physical and psychological well-being. The sheer amount of work--whether people work and, if so, how many hours they work--shows little relationship to health and well-being. Drawing on scattered existing research and theory, it is hypothesized and found that persons whose patterns of labor-force participation (or nonparticipation) reflect their personal preference report higher levels of physical and psychological well-being than do those whose level of labor-force involvement is constrained by other factors. The results do not differ by gender, age (65 years and older vs. 55-64 years), or occupation (professional vs. clerical or sales vs. blue-collar workers). Data are from 1,339 respondents 55 years of age or older in the Americans' Changing Lives Survey, a large national, cross-sectional survey of Americans 25 years of age and older with an oversample of those 60 years of age and older, and are analyzed by ordinary least squares multiple regression.     

Human genome research in an interdependent world.

This has been the year of agenda-setting conferences for the ambitious ELSI (ethical, legal and social issues) program of the Human Genome Project (HGP). But of the dozen or more major meetings of this sort held across the country, the one held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, June 2-4, 1991, was distinctive in several respects. As its name implies, "Human Genome Research in an Interdependent World" was a global look at the issues raised by gene mapping and sequencing. Unlike previous conferences, however, this meeting looked beyond a comparative analysis of clinical and domestic legal issues, and concentrated on topics that may require responses on a truly international level if they are to be successfully resolved....[Capron served as general chairman of the conference]     

Type A behavior and reminiscence in college undergraduates

This study represents the first empirical test of Friedman and Ulmer's (1984. Treating Type A behavior and your heart. New York: Fawcett) clinical observation that deficits in the capacity to reminisce about pleasant past events are among the most pervasive and dysfunctional correlates of Type A behavior. Type A (N = 79) and B (N = 109) college undergraduates completed a questionnaire assessing the frequency, content, style, and consequences of their reminiscence about positive past experiences. Findings supported two hypotheses: relative to Type Bs, Type As were less likely to report that they consciously look back on positive events after these events are over in order to store details for later recall, and were more likely to report that they typically reminisce about past achievements. Contradicting Friedman and Ulmer's observations, however, there were no significant A/B differences in the reported frequency, style, or consequences of recalling positive memories. The findings are discussed in terms of components of Type A behavior, such as competitive achievement-striving and self-esteem enhancement, that may make Type As (a) less likely to store, but not to recall, positive memories and (b) particularly likely to reminisce about personal accomplishments. Plausible reasons for the relative lack of support for Friedman and Ulmer's hypotheses are discussed in the context of directions for future research.     

Effects of short-term isolation on the locomotor activity of the angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare).

Two experiments were conducted to test in angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) some implications of Gallup and Suarez's (1980) ethological model of open-field behavior and to differentiate between the initial locomotor effects of a novel environment and those of isolation per se. Juveniles placed alone in a novel environment initially showed increased locomotion compared with their previous level when kept as a group and with that of fish placed in the novel environment in groups of three and five. When placed alone in a novel tank, individuals that had already been isolated for 10 days moved about less than those that had been isolated for 4 days. During isolation, angelfish significantly reduced activity to a minimum after 3 to 4 days, and after 10 days the level was still lower than in the group situation. The results suggest that, in addition to birds and rodents, Gallup and Suarez's model is applicable to fish and may account for the effects of longer exposure to a novel environment.     

The effects of isolation rearing on behavioural inhibition in the rat

The possibility that isolation-rearing in the rat affects the development of inhibitory mechanisms was studied in a series of experiments. It was found that socially-isolated rats were (1) slower to learn both a lever-panel alternation, and a two-lever alternation schedule of reinforcement, (2) more persistent than controls in pressing a lever for food when a supply of identical “free food” was introduced into the operant chamber, but (3) similar to control rats in their response to preloading with food, a procedure which inhibited lever pressing to the same extent in the two groups. Finally, it was shown in a separate experiment that the effects of increased food deprivation on lever pressing in the presence of free food were qualitatively different from the effects of social isolation, and therefore the social/isolate difference cannot be interpreted as motivational. The possible contributions of neophobia to the difference are discussed. It is concluded that isolates may well suffer from a disinhibitory defect, but that there are probably other effects of isolation in addition.