Obsessional-compulsive checking

The relations between obsessional-compulsive checking and cleaning, and between phobias are discussed. Separate but related hypotheses are proposed to account for the genesis and the maintenance of compulsive checking and these are followed by 9 predictions. The identification of compulsive checking and active avoidance behaviour is discussed and some conclusions offered.     

ACCURACY OF SELF-ASSESSMENT OF ON-TASK BEHAVIOR BY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN1

Being able to assess one's own performance would seem to be prerequisite to most forms of self-management. The present study investigated the extent to which children in a typical second-grade classroom could accurately assess their own academic on-task behavior. In essence, this investigation replicated an experiment by Glynn and Thomas (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1974, 7 , 299–306) and extended those findings, by studying self-assessment over a longer span of time. The 31 children in the class ranged in age from 7 yr five months to 8 yr six months. Although only eight “problem” children were observed and studied, the self-control treatment procedures were applied to all children in the class. Behavior was observed daily during mathematics lessons for over eight school weeks. The study utilized a five-phase ABABC design, where the A phases were baseline periods, B phases were self-control periods, and C phase was a postcheck. In the self-control phases, children were asked by the teacher to put a check on their own individual performance card if they were on-task when a signal sounded. If they were not on-task, they were instructed not to touch their card. Typically, 15 to 20 signals occurred per 40-min session. At the end of the lesson, children were allowed to choose games to play according to how many checks they had earned. During all experimental phases, observers measured children's on-task behavior. Other observers measured the children's accuracy of self-assessment in the self-control phases. The results showed noticeable increases in the daily mean on-task behavior scores in the self-control phases following baseline phases. Also, a high level of on-task behavior was maintained in the postcheck phase. The variances of on-task behavior scores during the self-control phases were noticeably smaller than those in the baseline phases. Generally, individual data reflected group results, with some minor differences. Levels of accuracy of self-assessment varied from very accurate (95% of the time) to relatively inaccurate (56% of the time). The overall level of accuracy for all children was 78%. No consistent individual pattern appeared across phases. Some children got better as the study proceeded and some got worse. Most subjects tended to give themselves too much reinforcement, rather than too little. Peer social surveillance appeared to be the major factor that influenced individuals' evaluation of their own behavior, even though the teacher did make some control remarks in regard to how the children marked their cards. The results also demonstrated that self-control techniques can increase on-task behavior in a classroom with no history of external reinforcement, and that these techniques can have a lasting effect for more than two months of a school year.     

A comparison of frequency, interval, and time-sampling methods of data collection

Data representing high, medium, and low response rates in constant and nonconstant patterns were generated by electromechanical equipment to determine whether the same data collected by time-sampling, interval recording, and frequency recording would be represented similarly by each method. Results indicated: (1) that time-sampling provided an extremely inaccurate estimate of responding, and (2) that interval recording accurately represented responding of low and medium rates, but grossly underestimated high-rate responding.     

Facilitating paper recycling: effects of prompts, raffles, and contests

The effects of prompts and reinforcement to promote paper recycling were compared in six university dormitories. For a Prompt condition, residents were urged to recycle paper for ecological reasons via flyers distributed to each room. For a Raffle contingency, residents were given one raffle ticket for every pound of paper brought to a collection center. For a Contest contingency, two dorms were paired and the dorm whose residents delivered the most paper won $15 for its treasury. Contingency awareness was strengthened via a flyer placed under the door of each resident's room. Flyers alone had little effect in increasing paper-recycling behaviors, but the raffle (substantially) and the contest (somewhat) increased the amount of paper brought to a dorm's recycling center. Students whose rooms were closest to the collection center showed the greatest participation. Removal of the reinforcement contingencies resulted in a return to baseline levels.     

A developmental study of the effect of eye movements on the processing of shape information

Three experiments were performed using an aperture-viewing technique to assess the accuracy of shape perception when subjects were required to emit eye movements in order to pick up shape information, compared with the accuracy of shape perception when subjects were not required to emit eye movements in order to pick up the same shape information. In two of the three experiments, we also tried to elicit two different kinds of eye movements which have been suggested as being differentially useful for the processing of shape information. All three experiments explored whether the usefulness of eye movements varied as a function of age. The results of all three experiments indicate that the accuracy of shape perception improves with age under aperture-viewing conditions. The conditions in which eye movements were required to pick up the shape information led to an improvement in the processing of the shape information. This improvement seems to be about the same for both of the eye movement conditions and for all of the age groups tested (4.6 years through 21.7 years).     

Information about the model's unconditioned stimulus and response in vicarious classical conditioning.

Four groups with 16 observers each participated in a differential, vicarious conditioning experiment with skin conductance responses as the dependent variable. The information available to the observer about the model's unconditioned stimulus and response was varied in a 2 X 2 factorial design. Results clearly showed that information about the model's unconditioned stimulus (a high or low dB level) was not necessary for vicarious instigation, but that information about the unconditioned response (a high or low emotional aversiveness) was necessary. Data for conditioning of responses showed almost identical patterns to those for vicarious instigation. To explain the results, a distinction between factors necessary for the development and elicitation of vicariously instigated responses was introduced, and the effectiveness of information about the model's response on the elicitation of vicariously instigated responses was considered in terms of an expansion of Bandura's social learning theory.