An investigation of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior without extinction

We manipulated relative reinforcement for problem behavior and appropriate behavior using differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) without an extinction component. Seven children with developmental disabilities participated. We manipulated duration (Experiment 1), quality (Experiment 2), delay (Experiment 3), or a combination of each (Experiment 4), such that reinforcement favored appropriate behavior rather than problem behavior even though problem behavior still produced reinforcement. Results of Experiments 1 to 3 showed that behavior was often sensitive to manipulations of duration, quality, and delay in isolation, but the largest and most consistent behavior change was observed when several dimensions of reinforcement were combined to favor appropriate behavior (Experiment 4). Results suggest strategies for reducing problem behavior and increasing appropriate behavior without extinction.     

THE EFFECTS OF FIXED‐TIME ESCAPE ON INAPPROPRIATE AND APPROPRIATE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR

Few studies have explored the effects of fixed‐time (FT) reinforcement on escape‐maintained behavior of students in a classroom setting. We measured the effects of an FT schedule on the disruptive and appropriate academic behaviors of 2 junior high students in a public school setting. Results demonstrated that FT escape from tasks resulted in a substantial decrease in disruptive behavior and an increase in time engaged in tasks for both participants.     

Bayesian parameter estimation in the Expectancy Valence model of the Iowa gambling task

The purpose of the popular Iowa gambling task is to study decision making deficits in clinical populations by mimicking real-life decision making in an experimental context. Busemeyer and Stout [Busemeyer, J. R., & Stout, J. C. (2002). A contribution of cognitive decision models to clinical assessment: Decomposing performance on the Bechara gambling task. Psychological Assessment, 14, 253-262] proposed an “Expectancy Valence” reinforcement learning model that estimates three latent components which are assumed to jointly determine choice behavior in the Iowa gambling task: weighing of wins versus losses, memory for past payoffs, and response consistency. In this article we explore the statistical properties of the Expectancy Valence model. We first demonstrate the difficulty of applying the model on the level of a single participant, we then propose and implement a Bayesian hierarchical estimation procedure to coherently combine information from different participants, and we finally apply the Bayesian estimation procedure to data from an experiment designed to provide a test of specific influence.     

The Effect of Negative Incentives in Serial Learning: VII. Theory of Punishment

Eighty three-, four-, five-, and six-year-old boys and girls were presented with experimental conditions where context, transformational complexity, and verbal cue were varied, Two experimental tasks, a perceptually Concrete and an Abstract task, were included and Ss were assigned to a Verbal Cue or a Nonverbal Cue condition. All Ss responded to both the present progressive and the past tenses. Results revealed significant effects of the Age and Tense factors, and improved performance on Comprehension over Production. Younger children made fewer overall errors than older ones. Ss performed better on the present progressive than on the past tense on the perceptually Concrete task, while the reverse was true on the Abstract task. These findings demonstrate that language performance is the result of a complex interrelationship between transformational complexity and the perceptual properties of linguistic structures.     

A Test of the Adams-Creamer Decay Hypothesis for the Timing of Motor Responses

The Adams-Creamer hypothesis states that S uses the decay of proprioceptive feedback from an early portion of a movement to cue a timed response at some later time. This hypothesis was tested by creating passive left-arm movement in one group and withholding it from another, and having Ss make a right-hand response when exactly 2.0 sec. had elapsed since the end of the movement Ss with left-arm feedback had less absolute and algebraic error, and greater within-S consistency than did the no-movement control Ss and, when KR was withdrawn, Ss with left-arm movement regressed less than did Ss without the left-arm movement, which provided 2 lines of support for the decay hypothesis.     

Executive functioning moderates the relationship between motivation and adolescent depressive symptoms

We investigated the association between adolescent depressive symptoms and components of executive functioning (EF), including planning (Tower of London), set-shifting (Wisconsin Card Sorting Task), and inhibition (Stop Signal Task) in a community sample of 12–14 year olds. Further, EF was tested as a moderator of motivation (as operationalized by revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory) effects on depressive symptoms. Results suggested that planning ability was associated with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, planning ability moderated the relationship between motivation (fight-flight–freeze system; FFFS) and depressive symptoms, such that among adolescents with poor planning ability the FFFS positively predicted depressive symptoms, but among adolescents with strong planning ability the FFFS negatively predicted depressive symptoms. Neither set-shifting nor inhibition were associated with depressive symptoms. Findings highlight the need to consider multiple components of EF and to integrate motivational and executive dysfunction models to the study of depression.     

BIS- and BAS-activation and study outcomes: A mediation study

Building on Gray’s original Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, we examined how individual differences in students’ activation of the behavioral inhibition (BIS) and the behavioral approach (BAS) systems relate to overcommitment to one’s studies and study engagement, and how these two forms of heavy study investment relate to three academically relevant outcomes. Using data from 565 Dutch university students, structural equation modeling showed that BIS-activation was positively associated with overcommitment to one’s studies, which in turn was positively related to exhaustion and the intention to quit one’s studies. BAS-activation was positively associated with study engagement, which in turn was negatively related to exhaustion and the intention to quit, and positively related to academic performance. Bootstrapping techniques revealed a mediating role of the two forms of heavy study investment. Apparently, BIS- and BAS-activation are associated with heavy study behavior, student well-being, and study outcomes.     

A Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder Teaches Siblings to Skateboard: Effects on Sibling Skills and Family Social Behavior

Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have few common activities with their siblings who do not have ASD, and this can limit their opportunities for social play. In this study, we used a multiple-baseline across skills design to assess the effects of a boy with ASD following an activity schedule to teach his favorite activity of skateboarding to his two siblings who do not have ASD. Family social behavior was also measured before and after sibling training. After training by the boy with ASD, both of the siblings’ skateboarding skills improved, and measures of family social behavior also increased. Results suggest that sibling relationships may benefit when a child with ASD teaches siblings to play.     

Goal‐Proximity Decision‐Making

Reinforcement learning (RL) models of decision‐making cannot account for human decisions in the absence of prior reward or punishment. We propose a mechanism for choosing among available options based on goal‐option association strengths, where association strengths between objects represent previously experienced object proximity. The proposed mechanism, Goal‐Proximity Decision‐making (GPD), is implemented within the ACT‐R cognitive framework. GPD is found to be more efficient than RL in three maze‐navigation simulations. GPD advantages over RL seem to grow as task difficulty is increased. An experiment is presented where participants are asked to make choices in the absence of prior reward. GPD captures human performance in this experiment better than RL.