Effects of fixed and variable ratios on human behavioral variability.

The effect that ratio schedules of reinforcement had upon variability of responding was investigated in college students. Subjects were paid $0.02 contingent upon completion of eight presses, distributed in any combination across two push buttons; 256 different sequences were possible. Sequence emission was reinforced according to fixed- and variable-ratio schedules. Ratio requirements of 1, 2, 4 and 8 were presented in alternate components of a multiple schedule. The variability engendered by variable-ratio schedules was also compared to that engendered by fixed ratios. Variability increased with ratio size, irrespective of whether the schedule requirement was fixed or variable. The data demonstrate the similarity between the determinants of human and nonhuman variability, and they illustrate the role of ratio size in determining variability in operant behavior.     

Skinner's verbal behavior, Chomsky's review, and mentalism.

Skinner's Verbal Behavior (1957) is a comprehensive treatise that deals with most aspects of verbal behavior. However, its treatment of the learning of grammatical behavior has been challenged repeatedly (e.g., Chomsky, 1959). The present paper will attempt to show that the learning of grammar and syntax can be dealt with adequately within a behavior-analytic framework. There is no need to adopt mentalist (or cognitivist) positions or to add mentalist elements to behaviorist theories.     

Verbal self-reports of delayed matching to sample by humans

Undergraduates participated in two experiments to develop methods for the experimental analysis of self-reports about behavior. The target behavior was the choice response in a delayed-matching-to-sample task in which monetary reinforcement was contingent upon both speed and accuracy of the choice. In Experiment 1, the temporal portion of the contingency was manipulated within each session, and the presence and absence of feedback about reinforcement was manipulated across sessions. As the time limits became stricter, target response speeds increased, but accuracy and reinforcement rates decreased. When feedback was withheld, further reductions in speed and reinforcement occurred, but only at the strictest time limit. Thus, the procedures were successful in producing systematic variation in the speed, accuracy, and reinforcement of the target behavior. Experiment 2 was designed to assess the influence of these characteristics on self-reports. In self-report conditions, each target response was followed by a computer-generated query: “Did you earn points?” The subject reported by pressing “Yes” or “No” buttons, with the sole consequence of advancing the session. In some cases, feedback about reinforcement of the target response followed the reports; in other cases it was withheld. Self-reports were less accurate when the target responses occurred under greater time pressure. When feedback was withheld, the speed of the target response influenced reports, in that the probability of a “Yes” report increased directly with the speed of accurate target responses. In addition, imposing the self-report procedure disrupted target performance by reducing response speeds at the strictest time limit. These results allow investigation of issues in both behavioral and cognitive psychology. More important, the overall order in the data suggests promise for the experimental analysis of self-reports by human subjects.     

B. F. Skinner and G. H. Mead: on biological science and social science.

Skinner's contributions to psychology provide a unique bridge between psychology conceptualized as a biological science and psychology conceptualized as a social science. Skinner focused on behavior as a naturally occurring biological phenomenon of interest in its own right, functionally related to surrounding events and, in particular (like phylogenesis), subject to selection by its consequences. This essentially biological orientation was further enhanced by Skinner's emphasis on the empirical foundations provided by laboratory-based experimental analyses of behavior, often with nonhuman subjects. Skinner's theoretical writings, however, also have affinity with the traditions of constructionist social science. The verbal behavior of humans is said to be subject, like other behavior, to functional analyses in terms of its environment, in this case its social context. Verbal behavior in turn makes it possible for us to relate to private events, a process that ultimately allows for the development of consciousness, which is thus said to be a social product. Such ideas make contact with aspects of G. H. Mead's social behaviorism and, perhaps of more contemporary impact in psychology, L. Vygotsky's general genetic law of cultural development. Failure to articulate both the biological and the social science aspects of Skinner's theoretical approach to psychology does a disservice to his unique contribution to a discipline that remains fragmented between two intellectual traditions.     

ASSESSMENT OF STIMULI CONTROLLING THE REQUESTS OF STUDENTS WITH SEVERE MENTAL RETARDATION DURING A SNACK ROUTINE

This study assessed stimuli controlling requests during a snack routine after extensive request training with a delayed prompt procedure. During training sessions, one of three three-item snack groups was presented to 3 subjects with severe mental retardation. Assessment sessions involved (a) training conditions (all items were visible), (b) presenting two of three items from a particular group, or (c) presenting no items. One subject requested food items when no food items were present, 2 frequently requested a missing item when the two other items were visible, and all subjects requested visible items. Procedures for assessing stimulus control, such as those described in the current paper, should lead to a better understanding of the variables controlling behaviors that initially appear perplexing and unpredictable.     

Programmed instruction: What it is and how to do it

Five behaviorological features of programmed instruction are outlined: behavioral objectives, reinforcement, activity rate: high and relevant, successive approximation, and mastery progression. Each of these topics is explained, and examples are given to illustrate the differences between programmed instruction and the more common transmission model of teaching. A final section provides suggestions on specific techniques of successive approximation.     

动作记忆：记忆研究的新范畴

动作记忆是伴随动作操作和意识卷入过程的一种记忆活动, 其强调意识卷入状态和操作情景对记忆活动的影响。以往的研究均采用SPT范式探讨动作记忆及其影响因素, 并提出非策略加工、多通道加工、动作编码和情景整合理论以解释SPT效应, 但由于关注角度不同, 所提的理论模型不能全面揭示动作记忆的加工机制。部分研究试图从来源监控方面探究动作记忆的内在机制, 但研究仍然存在分歧。     

汉语儿童阅读能力发展中的语音加工技能研究

通过对儿童阅读发展这一领域相关研究的回顾,对汉语儿童阅读能力发展中的语音加工问题进行了探讨。在汉语阅读过程中,语音成分的介入已经得到了研究的普遍支持,但是在语音技能与阅读能力间的关系方面,虽然语音加工技能的不同成分（语音意识、声旁意识及言语工作记忆）与儿童阅读能力发展间都存在着一定的联系,但这些语音技能在汉语儿童阅读能力发展中所起作用的具体机制及介入程度还需进一步的研究论证。