Habituation contributes to within-session changes in free wheel running.

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that habituation contributes to the regulation of wheel running. Rats ran in a wheel for 30-min sessions. Experiment 1 demonstrated spontaneous recovery. Rats ran more and the within-session decreases in running were smaller after 2 days of wheel deprivation than after 1 day. Experiment 2 demonstrated dishabituation. Running rate increased immediately after the termination of a brief extra event (application of the brake or flashing of the houselight). Experiment 3 demonstrated stimulus specificity. Rats completed the second half of the session in either the same wheel as the first half, or a different wheel. Second-half running was faster in the latter case. Within-session patterns of running were well described by equations that describe data from the habituation, motivation, and operant literatures. These results suggest that habituation contributes to the regulation of running. In fact, habituation provides a better explanation for the termination of wheel running than fatigue, the variable to which this termination is usually attributed. Overall, the present findings are consistent with the proposition that habituation and sensitization contribute to the regulation of several forms of motivated behavior.     

Social anxiety and evaluation of social crowds: explicit and implicit measures

To investigate whether social anxiety disorder is indeed characterized by a biased negative evaluation of facial expressions, 25 highly socially anxious (SA) participants and 30 non-anxious controls (NACs) were asked to respond to different ratios of neutral-angry or happy-angry face combinations (crowds). In an indirect Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT), participants used a joystick to pull the crowds towards themselves (approach) or push them away (avoidance). SAs showed faster avoidance of neutral-angry crowds when the number of angry faces in the crowd increased. The happy-angry crowds were generally avoided, independent of the ratio of the two emotions. NACs did not show any specific response tendency. When directly rating the friendliness of the crowds, the two groups did not differ.     

Within‐session supervision communication in the training of clinical psychologists

There is little research evaluating within‐session supervision communication in the training of clinical psychologists. This study evaluated the perception of 37 interns and 49 patients regarding communication between supervisor and intern during the therapy session. Most supervisors used such communication infrequently. While some interns and patients viewed call‐ins or walk‐ins as intrusive and unhelpful, the majority did not. Indeed, some valued the feedback. No association was found between the use of call‐ins or walk‐ins and patient reports of therapist behaviours or intern reports of supervisory style. It is concluded that within‐session communication is not deemed as necessary by most supervisors, who should remain cautious in their use of such communication, unless patient care is compromised.     

Engaging in upward and downward comparisons as a determinant of relative deprivation at work: A longitudinal study

A longitudinal study was conducted among 93 nurses to determine the role of comparing one’s performance with that of one’s colleagues in the increase versus decrease of perceived relative deprivation at work over a period of one year. Relative deprivation at T2 had increased particularly among those high in social comparison orientation (Gibbons & Buunk, 1999) who at T1 (1) more frequently engaged in upward comparisons; (2) more frequently derived positive as well as negative feelings from such comparisons; and (3) more frequently derived negative feelings from downward comparison. Moreover, engaging in downward comparison also led to an increase in perceived relative deprivation at T2. This study is one of the few to find evidence for longitudinal effects of social comparison activity, and the first to find that such effects occur only for those high in social comparison orientation.     

Future Time Perspective and Gratitude in Daily Life: A Micro‐longitudinal Study

Preliminary cross‐sectional evidence suggests that future time perspective (FTP) is associated with dispositional gratitude, but research on daily perceptions of FTP and their relations to daily gratitude is lacking. In this study, we addressed this gap by examining how FTP and gratitude jointly unfold in daily life and how these relations vary within and across individuals. A micro‐longitudinal design (N = 331, adults aged 18–77) with daily assessments over two workweeks was employed to examine the relations between gratitude and two components of FTP (remaining opportunities and time). Three important results from random intercepts cross‐lagged panel models stand out. First, we found evidence for within‐person day‐to‐day carry‐over effects in FTP and gratitude. Second, FTP and gratitude were systematically related within and across individuals. Third, age and dispositional forms of FTP and gratitude predicted between‐person differences in FTP and gratitude in daily life. Finally, exploratory multilevel analyses have shown that the associations between daily FTP and gratitude vary across ages at the between‐person level but not at the within‐person level. Overall, these findings advance our understanding of perceptions of FTP in daily life and their associations with gratitude in adulthood. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Randomization tests as alternative analysis methods for behavior‐analytic data

Randomization statistics offer alternatives to many of the statistical methods commonly used in behavior analysis and the psychological sciences, more generally. These methods are more flexible than conventional parametric and nonparametric statistical techniques in that they make no assumptions about the underlying distribution of outcome variables, are relatively robust when applied to small‐n data sets, and are generally applicable to between‐groups, within‐subjects, mixed, and single‐case research designs. In the present article, we first will provide a historical overview of randomization methods. Next, we will discuss the properties of randomization statistics that may make them particularly well suited for analysis of behavior‐analytic data. We will introduce readers to the major assumptions that undergird randomization methods, as well as some practical and computational considerations for their application. Finally, we will demonstrate how randomization statistics may be calculated for mixed and single‐case research designs. Throughout, we will direct readers toward resources that they may find useful in developing randomization tests for their own data.     

Instructions as discriminative stimuli (2): A within‐subject examination of the effect of differential reinforcement on establishing novel instructional control1

Abstract: Six undergraduates were exposed to a fixed‐ratio schedule with an instruction to respond slowly and to a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate schedule with an instruction to respond rapidly when a white circle was presented on a display monitor. When a yellow circle was presented, however, the subjects were exposed to the fixed‐ratio schedule with the instruction to respond rapidly and to the differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate schedule with the instruction to respond slowly. Following this, a fixed‐interval schedule was in effect during those stimuli and instructions. Under the white circle, response rates were higher with the instruction to respond slowly than with the instruction to respond rapidly during the fixed‐interval schedule. Such control by instructions was not observed under the yellow circle. A previous study examined establishment of novel instructional control by between‐subject comparisons and found that for three of four subjects ( Okouchi, 1999 ). In contrast, the present results demonstrate the instructional control through within‐subject comparisons for all six subjects.     

Studies of wheel-running reinforcement: parameters of Herrnstein's (1970) response-strength equation vary with schedule order

Six male Wistar rats were exposed to different orders of reinforcement schedules to investigate if estimates from Herrnstein's (1970) single-operant matching law equation would vary systematically with schedule order. Reinforcement schedules were arranged in orders of increasing and decreasing reinforcement rate. Subsequently, all rats were exposed to a single reinforcement schedule within a session to determine within-session changes in responding. For each condition, the operant was lever pressing and the reinforcing consequence was the opportunity to run for 15 s. Estimates of k and R(O) were higher when reinforcement schedules were arranged in order of increasing reinforcement rate. Within a session on a single reinforcement schedule, response rates increased between the beginning and the end of a session. A positive correlation between the difference in parameters between schedule orders and the difference in response rates within a session suggests that the within-session change in response rates may be related to the difference in the asymptotes. These results call into question the validity of parameter estimates from Herrnstein's (1970) equation when reinforcer efficacy changes within a session.     

Higher investment levels into pre-planned routes increase the adherence of pedestrians to them

Extensive research has focused on identifying the principles in pedestrian route choice, often assuming that pedestrians follow an optimal route measured by factors, such as route length and busyness. However, the question of the extent to which pedestrians adhere to their planned route has not been convincingly resolved. Here, we form the hypothesis that the more pedestrians invest into a planned route by walking further along it, the bigger their tendency to stick to this route, even when it becomes less attractive than other options due to congestion, for example. We term this behaviour “route commitment effect” and conduct an online survey with over 300 participants to test and establish the existence of this effect. We propose a novel model to formalise this effect. Using simulations of our model, we give illustrative examples for the consequences of the route commitment effect. Our findings suggest that the route commitment effect can significantly influence pedestrian route choice in a simple scenario with only two possible routes. In more complex scenarios with many routes, the impact of the route commitment effect on the overall dynamics is much weaker, as pedestrians are distributed across routes. In general, we find that the route commitment effect reduces the efficiency of pedestrian flow and leads to more predictable pedestrian dynamics. Our study sheds light on the role of cognitive bias in pedestrian decision-making and may thus be helpful for facility design or operations.