Relative persistence of avoidance and positively reinforced behavior

In one experiment with rats, and a second with pigeons, subjects were trained on a schedule in which identical response dependencies applied to intermittent receipt of positive reinforcement (PR) for one group and avoidance (AV) of shock for a second group. After obtaining comparable stable training performance for groups PR and AV, persistence tests were conducted with a traditional extinction (EXT) procedure vs. response-independent (FREE) delivery of positive reinforcers or shocks. In both experiments, response elimination was rapid in EXT for groups PR and AV, and responding tended to be maintained in groups PR and AV in the FREE persistence test. These results contradict the widely held assumption that avoidance behavior is unusually resistant to extinction, and they call for a re-examination of elimination of avoidance responding.     

Effects of socialization on the physiological detection of deception

Effects of socialization on the physiological detection of deception using the control question test (CQT) were explored in three mock crime experiments. Subjects were 168 volunteers from criminal, community, and college student populations. Socialization was measured by the Socialization (So) scale of the California Psychological Inventory. All subjects were given a CQT using standard field techniques. The physiological data were blindly evaluated by a semiobjective field scoring technique and previously developed discriminant function. There were no effects of socialization on the accuracy of classification by the semiobjective field scoring or the discriminant function. A modest negative relationship was found between socialization scores and differential reactivity in the CQT as indicated by correlations with the semiobjective (r = −.22) and discriminant scores (r = −.17). It was concluded that socialization is not an important variable for field applications of the CQT.     

The effects of preschool on educationally advantaged children: First phases of a longitudinal study

This study is concerned with the preschool and kindergarten phases of a ten-year longitudinal research project designed to investigate the immediate and long-term effects of preschool on educationally advantaged children. Preschool data dealing with IQ, social competency, and school readiness, as well as physical abilities and self-concept were collected on two waves of subjects. Wave I(N = 129) consisted of 87 experimental and 42 control subjects, and in Wave II(N = 85) there were 54 experimental and 31 control subjects. Follow-up data on school readiness and social competency data were obtained from Wave I subjects in kindergarten. Analysis of data indicated that social competency, was enhanced through preschool participation and although there were no significant group differences in kindergarten test results, substantial social competency gains were observed for both groups. Findings will have greater meaning as the longitudinal study continues.     

Brain stem electrical responses of stutterers and normals by sex,ears, and recovery

Auditory brainstem electrical responses (BSER) of right and left ears of active stutterers, recovered stutterers, and nonstutterers, both male and female adults, were obtained at click rates of 11.1 and 71.1/sec. Latency intervals of waves I, III, and V were measured. The auditory systems of subjects were stressed using a rapid rate of 71.1 clicks/sec. The latency of wave V was used as the measure of the stress condition.Analysis of variance was used to determine statistical significances of main effects and interactions of mean BSER (waves I, III, V, and wave V in stress condition) of left and right ears of male stutterers (active and recovered), female stutterers (active and recovered), and male and female nonstutterers.With one exception, all main effects and all higher order interactions were nonsignificant. The one main effect that was significant was gender. Females have significantly faster rates of neural transmission than do males. The question was raised, does this finding contribute toward an explanation of the sex ratio in stuttering?     

Factors affecting the acquisition and elimination of children's donating behavior

Thirty-five 6- to 10-year-old children with initial low rates of donating to help a peer either simply received a fine for each failure to donate (n = 7) or also were informed of the contingency between the fine and failure to donate (n = 28). Explanation of the contingency was necessary to increase children's donation rates. Donations continued at high rates during a gradual, unannounced removal of the fine contingency, but decreased when children were informed that fines were no longer in effect, particularly for children who had failed to donate at least once during training and had actually been fined. Overall, addition of a distraction or an inequity procedure did not reduce donating below rate reductions due to the announced extinction procedure alone.     

Effects of toy guns and airplanes on children's antisocial free play behavior.

The effects of toy guns and toy airplanes on children's antisocial (aggression and rule-breaking) behavior was investigated in two settings (ten children in Study I and 13 in Study II) during 30-min free play sessions. Four-and 5-year-old children were observed during 15–16 free play sessions. During some sessions the children played either with (novel, aggressive) toy guns or with (novel, nonaggressive) toy airplanes in addition to their usual toys. In both studies, the toy guns treatment produced a reliably higher rate of antisocial behavior than the average of the toy airplaines and the usual toys. The novel-nonaggressive toy airplanes also increased the rate of antisocial behavior as compared to usual toys in Study II. The results were related primarily to Berkowitz's and Bandura's analyses of aggressive behavior, but they were related also to other theoretical models which predict stimulus control of behavior.