Using video modeling and reinforcement to teach perspective-taking skills to children with autism

We evaluated video modeling and reinforcement for teaching perspective-taking skills to 3 children with autism using a multiple baseline design. Video modeling and reinforcement were effective; however, only 2 children were able to pass an untrained task, indicating limited generalization. The findings suggest that video modeling may be an effective technology for teaching perspective taking if researchers can continue to develop strategies for enhancing the generalization of these new skills.     

Motivating operations and terms to describe them: some further refinements

Over the past decade, behavior analysts have increasingly used the term establishing operation (EO) to refer to environmental events that influence the behavioral effects of operant consequences. Nonetheless, some elements of current terminology regarding EOs may interfere with applied behavior analysts' efforts to predict, control, describe, and understand behavior. The present paper (a) describes how the current conceptualization of the EO is in need of revision, (b) suggests alternative terms, including the generic term motivating operation (MO), and (c) provides examples of MOs and their behavioral effects using articles from the applied behavior analysis literature.     

Recovery,work engagement,and proactive behavior: a new look at the interface between nonwork and work

This study examined work-related outcomes of recovery during leisure time. A total of 147 employees completed a questionnaire and a daily survey over a period of 5 consecutive work days. Multilevel analyses showed that day-level recovery was positively related to day-level work engagement and day-level proactive behavior (personal initiative, pursuit of learning) during the subsequent work day. The data suggest considerable daily fluctuations in behavior and attitudes at work, with evidence that these are related to prior experience and opportunity for recovery in the nonwork domain.     

Sequential evaluation of behavioral treatments and methylphenidate dosage for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

We used a sequential approach to evaluate the relative and combined effects of different types of behavioral treatments, as well as dosage of methylphenidate (MPH), on the disruptive behavior of 3 students who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Results showed that individualized behavioral treatments produced decreases in disruptive behavior equivalent to MPH for all 3 participants and demonstrated the need to evaluate behavioral treatments and medication dosage on an individual basis.     

The interactive effect of leader-member exchange and communication frequency on performance ratings

The authors tested the hypothesis that communication frequency moderates the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and job-performance ratings. In a study of 188 private sector workers, they found that LMX was more strongly related to job-performance ratings among individuals reporting frequent communication with the supervisor than among those reporting infrequent communication. At high levels of LMX, workers reporting frequent communication with the supervisor received more favorable job-performance ratings than did workers reporting infrequent communication. In contrast, at low levels of LMX, workers reporting frequent communication with the supervisor received less favorable job-performance ratings than workers reporting infrequent communication. The authors conducted a 2nd study of 153 public sector workers to provide a constructive replication and found similar results.     

Time and number discrimination in a bisection task with a sequence of stimuli: a developmental approach

Children, aged 5 and 8 years, and adults were tested in a bisection task with a sequence of stimuli in which time and number co-varied. In a counting and a non-counting condition, they were instructed either to process the duration of this sequence while ignoring the number of stimuli (temporal bisection), or to process the number of stimuli while ignoring the duration (numerical bisection). In the temporal bisection task, number interfered with the 5-year-olds' temporal performance, indicating that young children did not process time and number independently in a sequence of stimuli when they had to attend to duration. However, number interference decreased both with age and counting strategy. In contrast, in the numerical bisection task, duration did not interfere with numerical discrimination for any age group.     

A critique of Lilienfeld et al.'s (2000) "The scientific status of projective techniques"

Lilienfeld, Wood, and Garb (2000) published a largely negative critique of the validity and reliability of projective methods, concentrating on the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach (Exner, 1993), 3 systems for coding the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) cards, and human figure drawings. This article is an effort to document and correct what I perceive as errors of omission and commission in the Lilienfeld et al. article. When projective measures are viewed in the light of these corrections, the evidence for the validity and clinical usefulness of the Rorschach and TAT methods is more robust than Lilienfeld et al. represented.     

Microstructure of eating behavior associated with Rorschach characteristics in obesity

The relationship between the microstructure of eating behavior and personality aspects according to the Rorschach Comprehensive System (Exner, 1991, 1993) was investigated among obese participants (N = 32). Eating behavior was measured using a computerized eating monitor, VIKTOR (Cabmek, Stockholm, Sweden), calculating initial eating rate and the eating curve. A higher initial eating rate reflecting eating drive was associated with Rorschach signs of stress overload according to the D Score and higher affective responsiveness to external stimuli seen in the Affective ratio. The stress overload may prompt eating, and affective responsiveness may be linked to appetite through a higher sensitivity to food stimuli, thus increasing eating drive. An accelerating rate of consumption during the meal was associated with intense emotionality and oral dependency, suggested by Pure C and Food responses.     

Changes in adolescent response patterns on the MMPI/MMPI--a across four decades

The purpose of this study was to explore changes in adolescent self-presentation on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Hathaway & McKinley, 1940) and MMPI-A (Butcher et al., 1992) over a 40-year period. The primary samples used for comparison in this study include 1,235 adolescents, age 14 through 16, derived from the MMPI-A normative sample (Butcher et al., 1992) collected in 1989 and 10,514 adolescents, age 14 through 16, collected in 1948 and 1954 from Hathaway and Monachesi's (1963) study of adolescent personality and behavior. MMPI basic scale and item-level data were also included for 817 adolescents, age 14 through 16, collected by Colligan and Offord (1992) in 1985 as a further comparison. Between-sample analyses at the profile level revealed that adolescents from the MMPI-A normative sample scored significantly higher across basic clinical scales and lower on validity scales L and K than adolescents from the Hathaway and Monachesi (1963) sample, with mean data from the Colligan and Offord (1992) sample typically falling at a midpoint value. Analyses of Harris-Lingoes (Harris & Lingoes, 1955) subscale and item-level data were conducted to provide refined definitions of the contents of scale-level changes. Results were interpreted as reflecting moderate to large changes in response frequencies between eras of data collection, and emphasis was placed on the relatively high frequency of item endorsements by contemporary adolescents in the clinical direction in the MMPI-A normative sample. A series of cautions and limitations are also offered in interpreting these patterns.     

Bimanual training reduces spatial interference

The authors investigated whether training can reduce bimanual directional interference by using a star-line drawing paradigm. Participants (N = 30) were required to perform rhythmical arm movements with identical temporal but differing directional demands. Moreover, the effectiveness of part-task training in which each movement was practiced in isolation was compared with that of whole-task training in which only combined movements were performed. Findings revealed that bimanual training substantially reduced spatial interference, but unimanual training did not. The authors therefore concluded that the spatial coupling of the limbs is not implemented in a rigid way; instead, the underlying neural correlate can undergo plastic changes induced by training. Moreover, the practical implication that emerged from the present study is that athletic, musical, or ergonomic skills that require a high degree of interlimb coordination are best served by whole-task practice.