Within-session Response Patterns On Conjoint Variable-interval Variable-time Schedules

Operant responding often changes within sessions, even when factors such as rate of reinforcement remain constant. The present study was designed to determine whether within-session response patterns are determined by the total number of reinforcers delivered during the session or only by the reinforcers earned by the operant response. Four rats pressed a lever and 3 pigeons pecked a key for food reinforcers delivered by a conjoint variable-interval variable-time schedule. The overall rate of reinforcement of the conjoint schedule varied across conditions from 15 to 480 reinforcers per hour. When fewer than 120 reinforcers were delivered per hour, the within-session patterns of responding on conjoint schedules were similar to those previously observed when subjects received the same total number of reinforcers by responding on simple variable-interval schedules. Response patterns were less similar to those observed on simple variable-interval schedules when the overall rate of reinforcement exceeded 120 reinforcers per hour. These results suggest that response-independent reinforcers can affect the within-session pattern of responding on a response-dependent schedule. The results are incompatible with a response-based explanation of within-session changes in responding (e.g., fatigue), but are consistent with both reinforcer-based (e.g., satiation) and stimulus-based (e.g., habituation) explanations.     

Within-session changes in responding during concurrent schedules with different reinforcers in the components.

Rats and pigeons responded on several concurrent schedules that provided different reinforcers in the two components (food and water for rats, Experiment 1; wheat and mixed grain for pigeons, Experiment 2). The rate of responding and the time spent responding on each component usually changed within the session. The within-session changes in response rates and time spent responding usually followed different patterns for the two components of a concurrent schedule. For most subjects, the bias and sensitivity to reinforcement parameters of the generalized matching law, as well as the percentage of the variance accounted for, decreased within the session. Negative sensitivity parameters were sometimes found late in the session for the concurrent food-water schedules. These results imply that within-session changes in responding could cause problems for assessing the validity of quantitative theories of concurrent-schedule responding when the components provide different reinforcers. They question changes in a general motivational state, such as arousal, as a complete explanation for within-session changes in responding. The results are compatible with satiation for, or sensitization-habituation to, the reinforcers as explanations.     

Characteristics of recovery of drawing ability in left and right brain-damaged patients

Drawings of a "person" were obtained from 21 patients with left brain damage (LBD) and 13 patients with right brain damage (RBD) at hospital discharge and 1 month postdischarge, corresponding to 2-4 and 6-8 weeks postonset, respectively. Early LBD drawings were simplistic and often incoherent. Most were placed in the upper left quadrant of the page. RBD drawings were scattered, fragmented, and elaborately detailed. Many showed evidence of left-sided neglect. The resolution of drawing disability also differed between the two groups: LBD subjects recovered drawing abilities more rapidly and more completely than RBD subjects. These differences in drawing characteristics and in the resolution of drawing disability were discernable for experienced neuropsychologists.     

Rapid recovery from aphasia: a detailed language analysis

The paper presents a daily analysis of the language recovery of a patient who was globally aphasic at the time of her first observation and who had recovered language, as measured by the Western Aphasia Battery, at the time of her discharge 14 days later. The paper emphasizes the relatively regular growth of normal syntactic, lexical, and pragmatic features coupled with similar regular decreases in aphasic features. Observations of both phenomena are necessary to describe language recovery.     

A Comparative Effectiveness Study of Two High-Frequency Word Interventions: Traditional Drill and WordSheets

Traditional drill and practice (TDP) has been shown to be both effective and efficient for increasing word recognition. WordSheets (WS) is a novel drill procedure similar to TDP with two key differences: (a) WS increases opportunities to respond, which may increase efficiency and (b) WS present instructional stimuli in a context that more closely resembles actual reading passages, which may enhance generalization to connected text. The study sought to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of TDP and WS in a sample of first-grade students (n = 27) identified by their teachers as struggling readers. Results indicated that, although WS led to significantly more opportunities to respond, it was both less effective and efficient than TDP with regard to cumulative retention. However, there were no significant differences across interventions in regard to the maintenance or generalization of treatment gains. Limitations and implications of the current study for school-based professionals are discussed.     

Tap,swipe, and build: Parental spatial input during iPad® and toy play

Despite the increase in the use of interactive technological devices, little is known about the impact that play context has on the production of spatial language by parents. To investigate whether there is differential parental spatial input afforded by play contexts with their preschoolers, 34 children (20 girls, 14 boys) and their primary caregivers engaged in 30‐min 3‐dimensional (3D) spatial play using blocks and puzzles and virtual 2‐dimensional (2D) spatial play using an iPad^® in 2 separate home visits. There were no significant differences in the average amount of spatial talk and the number of spatial categories used by parents in both 3D and 2D play contexts. However, the amount of parental spatial talk decreased significantly with older preschoolers using the iPad^®. In the 3D play contexts, parents produced more words related to spatial dimensions, location and directions, and continuous amount than in the 2D play contexts. However, in the 2D play contexts, they produced more words associated with orientations and transformations as well as deictics than in the 3D play contexts. Our findings suggest that technology can be effectively introduced into play contexts to elicit enriched parental spatial input by supporting parents and caregivers with best practices.

Highlights

• The present study examines the differences in parental spatial talk when using traditional versus technology‐based learning tools with their preschoolers.
• Two 30‐min home observations of parent–child dyads playing blocks and puzzles versus spatial apps on an iPad^®. No significant differences in the amount of parental spatial talk and the number of spatial categories in both play contexts were found.
• Our findings suggest that technology can be effectively introduced into play contexts to elicit enriched parental spatial input.

     

A case-controlled field study evaluating ICD-11 proposals for relational problems and intimate partner violence

Background/Objective: Intimate partner relationship problems and intimate partner abuse and neglect — referred to in this paper as “relational problems and maltreatment” — have substantial and well-documented impact on both physical and mental health. However, classification guidelines, such as those found in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), are vague and unlikely to support consistent application. Revised guidelines proposed for ICD-11 are much more operationalized. We used standardized clinical vignette conditions with an international panel of clinicians to test if ICD-11 changes resulted in improved classification accuracy. Method: English-speaking mental health professionals (N = 738) from 65 nations applied ICD-10 or ICD-11 (proposed) guidelines with experimentally manipulated case presentations of presence or absence of (a) individual mental health diagnoses and (b) relational problems or maltreatment. Results: ICD-11, compared with ICD-10, guidelines resulted in significantly better classification accuracy, although only in the presence of co-morbid mental health problems. Clinician factors (e. g., gender, language, world region) largely did not impact classification performance. Conclusions: Despite being considerably more explicated, raters’ performance with ICD-11 guidelines reveals training issues that should be addressed prior to the release of ICD-11 in 2018 (e. g., overriding the guidelines with pre-existing archetypes for relationship problems and physical and psychological abuse).