Establishing stimulus control of vocal stereotypy displayed by young children with Autism

We examined the vocal stereotypy of three boys who were diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Results of functional analyses indicated that each participant's vocal stereotypy was maintained by non‐social consequences. For two participants, verbal reprimands were provided contingent on vocal stereotypy in the presence of a red card (RC). For the third participant, after verbal reprimands alone did not decrease vocal stereotypy, toys were withdrawn contingent on vocal stereotypy in the presence of the RC. For all three participants, vocal stereotypy was permitted without programmed consequences the presence of a green card (GC). The results showed that vocal stereotypy decreased in the presence of the RC for all three participants; however, vocal stereotypy came under inhibitory control of the RC for only one of the three participants. The potential utility of using punishment to develop stimulus control of automatically reinforced problem behavior in academic settings is briefly discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Functional analysis of hair manipulation: a replication and extension

In a multi‐phase investigation, we assessed the problematic hair manipulation of a four‐year‐old male diagnosed with autism. In phase 1, a functional analysis of hair manipulation resulted in high levels of responding during a no‐interaction condition, while near‐zero levels were observed in other conditions. In phase 2, hair manipulation was reduced to near‐zero levels during a condition in which Billy wore gloves on his hands to attenuate digital‐tactile stimulation. In phase 3, a stimulus preference assessment indicated that object manipulation competed with hair manipulation, and that wearing gloves did not alter the amount of time that Billy manipulated preferred objects. The results are discussed in the context of interventions that achieve their effects via reinforcer substitutability or competition. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Therapeutic attitudes and practice patterns among psychotherapy trainees in Germany

Aim: This study aims to explore if and how values and attitudes from trainees of different psychotherapeutic schools vary during training. Another aim has been to evaluate the extent of their therapeutic self-confidence during training. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 171 trainees in German institutes with different theoretical orientations (Psychoanalysis – PA, Psychodynamic Therapy – PT and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – CBT) participated. Results are reported for two questionnaires: Therapeutic-Attitudes-Candidate-Version (ThAT-CV) and Work-Involvement-Scales (WIS). Results: Therapeutic attitudes showed significant differences between trainees with different theoretical orientations but no significant difference between different levels of training within the same school. Whereas the PA and CBT trainees endorsed contrasting attitude profiles, the PT group displayed less differentiated attitudes in between those contrasts. Most trainees experienced their psychotherapeutic practice as challenging, and Stressful Involvement in therapy sessions was lower with more years in training. Female trainees reported more Healing Involvement and felt more competent in general than their male colleagues. Self-reported competence was higher the more congruent the trainees’ attitudes with their school's theoretical orientation. Conclusions: The ThAT-CV discriminates significantly between trainees of different therapeutic schools. Our sample demonstrates high identification with attitudes belonging to their theoretical orientation. This may account for high ratings of self-reported therapeutic competence. Attitudes seem to be formed before training and change little thereafter. Less differentiated attitudes may explain PT-trainees’ higher levels of Stressful Involvement.     

How verbs and non-verbal categories navigate the syntax/semantics interface: Insights from cognitive neuropsychology

We report on two individuals with acquired language impairment who made thematic role confusion errors in both comprehension and production. Their confusions were remarkably specific, affecting the roles associated with spatial prepositions (“The box is in the bag” confused with The bag is in the box) and adjectival comparatives (“The glove is darker than the hat” confused with The hat is darker than the glove) but not the roles associated with verbs (e.g., in The woman helps the man). Additional results showed that the confusions did not arise from spatial deficits, deficits affecting the semantics of spatial terms and adjectives, or difficulties with spatial and comparative relationships. Interestingly, the selective deficits are well-explained by linguistic theories that propose that non-verbal lexical categories, when used as predicates, depend on special mechanisms and structures for linking their thematic roles to syntactic argument structures. These are the first neuropsychological results to show that thematic role assignment is supported by distinct brain mechanisms for verbal and non-verbal lexical categories. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the linguistic knowledge associated with verbal vs. non-verbal word classes and of the conditions under which these forms of knowledge support sentence processing.     

A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF HAIR PULLING

We experimentally assessed the functions of hair pulling and hair manipulation of a 19-year-old woman (Kris) with moderate mental retardation and cerebral palsy. In Phase 1 a functional analysis revealed that Kris pulled and manipulated hair for the greatest amount of time in the alone condition, suggesting that the behaviors were maintained by some form of automatic reinforcement (Vaughan & Michael, 1982). In Phase 2 we assessed the nature of the sensory stimulation that maintained hair pulling by providing continuous access to previously pulled or cut hair and, thereafter, by having Kris wear a rubber glove. The results suggested that hair pulling was maintained by digital-tactile stimulation (automatic positive reinforcement). These findings are discussed, and recommendations for further analyses of automatically reinforced habit behaviors are provided.