DIRECT AND COLLATERAL EFFECTS OF RESTRAINTS AND RESTRAINT FADING

Mechanical restraints are commonly used to reduce the risks associated with severe self-injurious behavior (SIB), but may result in movement restriction and adverse side effects (e.g., bone demineralization). Restraint fading may provide a method for decreasing SIB while increasing movement and reducing these side effects. In the current investigation, rigid arm sleeves and restraint fading (gradually reducing the rigidity of the sleeves) were used with 3 clients who engaged in hand-to-head SIB. Restraints and fading reduced the hand-to-head SIB of all clients. However, for 1 client, the addition of a water mist procedure further reduced SIB to near-zero levels. For a 2nd client, another form of SIB developed that was not prevented by the rigid sleeves. For a 3rd client, a topography of SIB that was not physically prevented by the rigid sleeves was also reduced when restraints and fading were introduced.     

HYPOTHESIS-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR TANTRUM BEHAVIORS OF PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES IN SCHOOL SETTINGS

We conducted a functional assessment of problem behaviors of 2 students with developmental disabilities in their classroom environments. Results of the assessments showed that although there were more tantrums in demand than in no-demand conditions, the function of the behavior was to gain attention (positive reinforcement) rather than to avoid or escape demands (negative reinforcement); demand conditions apparently served a discriminative function for the availability of attention. Therefore, intervention was based on the positive reinforcement hypothesis, resulting in a substantial reduction of tantrums for both subjects.     

The effects of attentional shift training on the execution of soccer skills: A preliminary investigation

One of the most important skills in soccer is the ability to respond quickly and accurately to the changing demands of the competitive environment (i.e., position of ball, teammates, opponents). A multiple baseline design across 4 male collegiate soccer players was used to determine the effectiveness of an attentional training program on the execution of targeted soccer skills. The treatment included information and laboratory attentional shift exercises followed by practice of attentional shifting skills on the execution of different soccer exercises. Following treatment, the accuracy of execution of the experimental soccer drill improved.     

ANALYSIS OF A HIGH-PROBABILITY INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE AND TIME-OUT IN THE TREATMENT OF CHILD NONCOMPLIANCE

This study evaluated the effectiveness of high-probability requests and time-out as treatments for noncompliance that appeared to be maintained by contingent attention in 2 developmental normal children. The introduction of high-probability requests increased compliance for 1 child but not the other. Time-out was effective with both children, and improvements in compliance were maintained at an 8-week follow-up.     

I am not a Crook: Effects of Denials on Perceptions of a Defendant's Guilt, Personality, and Motives

Two studies were conducted to explore the effects of a defendant's overinformative denials (i.e., denials not prompted by an accusation or specific request) in a courtroom trial. Subjects read the testimony of a defendant who either did or did not deny several negative propositions (Study I) or whose denials either were or were not in response to the prosecutor's questions (Study 2). The denials had little effect on subjects' beliefs regarding the denied propositions. However, the defendant who provided the overinformative denials was perceived as being less trustworthy, more nervous, more concerned with presenting a positive image, and more likely to believe that others believed the negative propositions. Subjects who read the testimony of this defendant also generated more negative and fewer positive thoughts, and they perceived the defendant as being more guilty. The results illustrate the importance of the conversational context for determining the pragmatic meaning of a speaker's remarks.     

The effects of temporal-precision and time-minimization constraints on the spatial and temporal accuracy of aimed hand movements

Discrete aimed hand movements, made by subjects given temporal-accuracy and time-minimization task instructions, were compared. Movements in the temporal-accuracy task were made to a point target with a goal movement time of 400 ms. A circular target then was manufactured that incorporated the measured spatial errors from the temporal-accuracy task, and subjects attempted to contact the target with a minimum movement time and without missing the circular target (time-minimization task instructions). This procedure resulted in equal movement amplitude and approximately equal spatial accuracy for the two task instructions. Movements under the time-minimization instructions were completed rapidly (M = 307 ms) without target misses, and tended to be made up of two submovements. In contrast, movements under temporal-accuracy instructions were made more slowly (M = 397 ms), matching the goal movement time, and were typically characterized by a single submovement. These data support the hypothesis that movement times, at a fixed movement amplitude versus target width ratio, decrease as the number of submovements increases, and that movements produced under temporal-accuracy and time-minimization have different control characteristics. These control differences are related to the linear and logarithmic speed-accuracy relations observed for temporal-accuracy and time-minimization tasks, respectively.     

Motor skill acquisition and retention as a function of average feedback, summary feedback, and performance variability

Summary feedback involves withholding feedback from subjects until the last trial in a block is completed, and then presenting feedback about each trial. A variation of this method, called average feedback (Young & Schmidt, 1992), presents subjects with only the mean of the trial block. We investigated whether these methods have similar effects on acquisition and retention of a simple motor skill. Five groups of subjects (n = 16 per group) performed 60 acquisition trials of an aiming task involving both spatial and temporal accuracy. We presented average and summary feedback based on either 5-trial blocks or 15-trial blocks and compared these schedules with every-trial feedback. During acquisition, all groups improved with practice, with a slight tendency for the every-trial condition to have less absolute error than the longer summary and average conditions. Analysis of delayed no-feedback retention tests, however, revealed a strong advantage for the 5-trial summary and average conditions compared with the every-trial condition. In addition, we found that for long blocks of acquisition trials without augmented feedback, the performance variability of those trials was associated with retention performance. Results are discussed in terms of how these different manipulations may make feedback less useful during acquisition, but foster the use of certain information processing activities that enhance overall learning.     

The role of neuroimaging in the discovery of processing stages a review

In this contribution we show how neuroimaging methods can augment behavioural methods to discover processing stages. Event Related Brain Potentials (ERPs), Brain Electrical Source Analysis (BESA) and regional changes in cerebral blood flow (rCBF) do not necessarily require behavioural responses. With the aid of rCBF we are able to discover several cortical and subcortical brain systems (processors) active in selective attention and memory search tasks. BESA describes cortical activity with high temporal resolution in terms of a limited number of neural generators within these brain systems. The combination of behavioural methods and neuroimaging provides a picture of the functional architecture of the brain. The review is organized around three processors: the Visual, Cognitive and Manual Motor Processors.     

AN EXPLOSION OF DAZZLING FLASHES: TEILHARD'S UNITY OF FAITH AND SCIENCE

Abstract. Science and revelation have been presented as two books with the same “author,” their reconciliation being called “concordism.” Teilhard opposed concordism, insisting that supposed “revelations” be treated as scientific hypotheses to be verified or not in experience. Applying his criterion for truth (Does it bring “coherence and fecundity” to the phenomena?) to Christian revelation, he told of finding “an explosion of dazzling flashes.” So Teilhard spoke of the hypothesis as the supreme spiritual act wherein the dust of experience takes on form and is kindled at the fire of knowledge.     

SOMETHING TO OFFEND EVERYONE: TIPLER'S VISION OF IMMORTALITY

Abstract. Frank Tipler's The Physics of Immortality provides abundant cause for intellectual offense—including challenges to physics, to theology, and, seemingly, to common sense. Few philosophical conundrums remain unaddressed. Still, the book is stimulating and well presented.