The effects of response cost in the treatment of aberrant behavior maintained by negative reinforcement

Positive reinforcement contingencies can sometimes be used to decrease problem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement (e.g., escape). In the current study, we evaluated the extent to which response cost (i.e., contingent removal of a preferred stimulus) would compete with the negative reinforcer maintaining destructive behavior. The response cost contingency reduced destructive behavior by 87% from baseline levels even though the negative reinforcement contingency (i.e., escape) remained in place.     

Communicative development in Swedish children 16-28 months old: the Swedish early communicative development inventory--words and sentences

To describe the development of words and sentences in Swedish children 16-28 months old, 900 parental reports on 336 children were analyzed. Subjects were randomly selected from the national birth register, and there was a response rate of 88%. The assessments were made using the Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventory--words and sentences (SECDI--w&s). Age-based norms for productive vocabulary, pragmatic skills, grammar skills, and maximum length of utterance (MaxLU) were determined. We describe the development of feedback morphemes, semantic categories, and single words and tasks. Correlation across measures was significant, and especially strong between vocabulary size and grammar skills. Optimized positive predictive values were high for 25 to 28 month predictions (71%-88%), and vocabulary scores were found to be of particular predictive importance. No significant gender differences were detected. The clinical relevance of the instrument is discussed.     

Psychometric adaptation of the driving cost and benefit scale in Chinese drivers

The present study aimed to adapt the Driving Cost and Benefit Scale (DCBS, Taubman-Ben- Ari, 2008) to Chinese drivers and examine its relationships with driving style and traffic violations. Nine hundred drivers aged 18 to 60 years were asked to complete the DCBS and the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory. The results of exploratory factor analysis (n = 429) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 429) yielded a 36-item scale with satisfactory reliability. The Chinese version of the DCBS contains seven factors, including three driving cost factors (damage to self-esteem, life endangerment and distress) and four driving benefit factors (impression management, sense of control, thrill and pleasure). Significant associations between the DCBS-C factors and driving styles and traffic violations show that the discriminant validity of the scale is acceptable. Moreover, the driving cost factor of damage to self-esteem and the driving benefit factor of thrill both contributed to drivers’ traffic violations and crashes. The findings show that the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the DCBS are acceptable, and it can be used as a tool to measure driving motivation in China.     

Sunk cost of local elected representatives in situation of fiscal competition: An example of escalating commitment

Introduction

Competition between French local communities to build infrastructures to attract enterprises and residents could sometimes result in irrational public spending.

The sunk cost effect across species: A review of persistence in a course of action due to prior investment

The sunk cost effect is the bias or tendency to persist in a course of action due to prior investments of effort, money or time. At the time of the only review on the sunk cost effect across species (Arkes & Ayton, 1999), research with nonhuman animals had been ecological in its nature, and the findings about the effect of past investments on current choice were inconclusive. However, in the last decade a new line of experimental laboratory‐based research has emerged with the promise of revolutionizing the way we approach the study of the sunk cost effect in nonhumans. In the present review we challenge Arkes and Ayton's conclusion that the sunk cost effect is exclusive to humans, and describe evidence for the sunk cost effect in nonhuman animals. By doing so, we also challenge the current explanations for the sunk cost effect in humans, as they are not applicable to nonhumans. We argue that a unified theory is called for, because different independent variables, in particular, investment amount, have the same influence on the sunk cost effect across species. Finally, we suggest possible psychological mechanisms shared across different species, contrast and depreciation, that could explain the sunk cost effect.     

策略转换的成本与顺序效应

灵活的策略转换是个体有效地解决问题的重要条件。策略转换需要成本已得到大量证明,但策略转换成本是否为对称转换成本尚无定论。基于已有研究,对策略转换中存在策略顺序困难效应与较差策略顺序调节效应两种典型的顺序效应进行了具体介绍。在此基础上提出了不对称策略转换成本可能是对称转换成本与策略顺序困难效应之和的假设,并进而提出设想:可通过操纵时间变量来分离策略顺序困难效应与较差策略顺序调节效应。此外,从策略转换成本的角度创新地阐释了策略选择的惰性与倒退现象。     

工作记忆中转换加工的内源性准备 和外源性调节

考察工作记忆中转换加工的控制过程。采用“任务转换”范式,探究预知条件（实验一）和未预知条件（实验二）下的转换加工。结果发现：（1）任务重复与任务转换是两个不同的过程;无论是在预知条件还是未预知条件下都出现任务重复效应显著大于任务转换效应;（2）验证了转换加工包括内源性准备和外源性调节两个不同的加工过程, 内源性准备只是任务设置重建的一部分;（3）对先后呈现的两个任务（任务1—任务2 ：任务重复或任务转换）在预知重复、预知转换和未预知条件下,任务2对任务1的影响不同,存在前瞻性记忆效应。由此推断转换加工的心理过程是：在预知情况下,任务1呈现后即启动内源性准备,直到任务2呈现时,通过外源性调节最终完成任务转换;而在未预知情况下,只能依赖外源性调节来实现     

The costs of crossing paths and switching tasks between audition and vision

Switching from one functional or cognitive operation to another is thought to rely on executive/control processes. The efficacy of these processes may depend on the extent of overlap between neural circuitry mediating the different tasks; more effective task preparation (and by extension smaller switch costs) is achieved when this overlap is small. We investigated the performance costs associated with switching tasks and/or switching sensory modalities. Participants discriminated either the identity or spatial location of objects that were presented either visually or acoustically. Switch costs between tasks were significantly smaller when the sensory modality of the task switched versus when it repeated. This was the case irrespective of whether the pre-trial cue informed participants only of the upcoming task, but not sensory modality (Experiment 1) or whether the pre-trial cue was informative about both the upcoming task and sensory modality (Experiment 2). In addition, in both experiments switch costs between the senses were positively correlated when the sensory modality of the task repeated across trials and not when it switched. The collective evidence supports the independence of control processes mediating task switching and modality switching and also the hypothesis that switch costs reflect competitive interference between neural circuits.     

One-year-olds’ understanding of nonverbal gestures directed to a third person

We investigated whether infants comprehend others’ nonverbal communicative intentions directed to a third person, in an ‘overhearing’ context. An experimenter addressed an assistant and indicated a hidden toy's location by either gazing ostensively or pointing to the location for her. In a matched control condition, the experimenter performed similar behaviors (absent-minded gazing and extended index finger) but did not communicate ostensively with the assistant. Infants could then search for the toy. Eighteen-month-old infants were skillful in using both communicative cues to find the hidden object, whereas 14-month-olds performed above chance only with the pointing cue. Neither age group performed above chance in the control condition. This study thus shows that by 14–18 months of age, infants are beginning to monitor and comprehend some aspects of third party interactions.     

Preference-based escalation: A new interpretation for the responsibility effect in escalating commitment and entrapment

A prominent finding in escalating commitment and entrapment research is the “responsibility effect”: people invest more in a losing course of action or persist with it for longer if they themselves initiated this action (responsibility) as opposed to if it was assigned to them. We argue that this effect is driven by participants’ preferences. Responsible participants usually prefer the chosen alternative since they have chosen it themselves. Non-responsible participants, in contrast, represent a mix of persons who either favor or disfavor the chosen alternative. In two experiments, we demonstrate that responsible participants favor the chosen course of action more strongly than non-responsible participants do, that these preferences facilitate reinvestment in and persistence with the chosen course of action, and that responsibility has no effect over and above this effect of preferences. Non-responsible participants preferring the chosen course of action made similar reinvestments and exhibited similar persistence as responsible participants.