Flooding therapy: Effectiveness,stimulus characteristics,and the value of brief in vivo exposure

Three analogue experiments examined flooding therapy. Experiment 1 showed that flooding was more effective than standardized desensitization in reducing snake phobia. Experiment 2 examined three different modes of presenting the feared stimuli in flooding: taped auditory presentation, pictorial presentation, and a combination of these two. An additional combination group were given a brief in vivo exposure to the feared object immediately after each of three treatment sessions. Both a behavioral test and subjective estimates of fear showed advantages for the combined group that had the in vivo exposure, although it appeared that auditory instructions to imagine interaction with the snake was the best method for presenting the feared stimuli. Experiment 3 compared the auditory imagined method with and without ‘aversive’ or ‘implosive’ scenes, and with either an immediate or a delayed in vivo exposure. The only procedure to produce marked effects was the one that omitted ‘aversive’ scenes and provided immediate post-treatment in vivo exposure.     

Short-term memory in deaf and hearing children in relation to stimulus characteristics

Experiment 1 examined short-term memory with a serial probe task in 20 younger (mean age: 6 years, 3 months) and 20 older (mean age: 8 years, 8 months) deaf children. Four sets of stimuli were used: familiar animals, unfamiliar nonsense forms, fingerspelled letters, and lower-case print. In contrast to earlier research with hearing children, strong primacy effects were found with all stimuli at both ages, with frequent gestural and/or oral labeling but little cumulative rehearsal evident. To determine whether results were uniquely tied to deafness, identical procedures were used in Experiment 2 with 20 younger (4 years, 9 months) and 20 older (5 years, 10 months) hearing children. Again, overt activity was common, with strong primacy effects on animals and nonsense forms in the older group and on animals in the younger group. Contrasts between present and earlier findings suggest the need to consider the degree to which stimulus labels are overlearned, the role of nonverbal mediators in rehearsal, and the effects of changing educational experiences.     

Control of observing by antecedent stimuli

Five pigeons were run on a one-key discrete trials observing procedure. Trial onset was signaled by a white or yellow key light. Pecks in white or yellow intermittently produced S⁺ and S⁻, green and red key lights that signaled whether the trial would end with response-independent grain reinforcement or nonreinforcement. In the Redundant conditions, white and yellow were correlated with trial outcome, making S⁺ and S⁻ redundant. In the Informative condition, white and yellow were uncorrelated with trial outcome, so that S⁺ and S⁻ provided new information. During the Informative condition, all birds responded in the formerly positive, now uncorrelated color at higher rates than they did during the preceding or succeeding Redundant conditions, in which that same color was positively correlated with primary reinforcement. This result confirmed the prediction that an animal will observe at higher rates in the absence of reinforcement-correlated cues than in their presence.     

The sensory basis of avoidance responding in the rat : Relative dominance of auditory or visual warning signals and safety signals

Three experiments determined the relative degree of stimulus control exerted by the elements of a compound auditory-visual stimulus when this stimulus was presented in various temporal relationships to a barpress avoidance response. When the compound discriminative stimulus for barpress avoidance responding consisted of onset of white noise and onset of either light or darkness, the white noise always exerted dominant control. When the compound discriminative stimulus consisted of offset of white noise and onset of light, neither element controlled avoidance responding. On the other hand, when a barpress avoidance response produced a compound feedback stimulus consisting of onset of white noise and onset of either light or darkness, the visual element always exerted dominant control. When the compound feedback stimulus consisted of offset of white noise and onset of light, both elements exerted stimulus control.     

A theory of intelligence: I. span and the complexity of stimulus control

A theory of intelligence is couched in stimulus-response terms, bridging the gap between S-R and cognitive psychology. The chief theoretical concepts are span ability (a capacity notion), response string (sequentially cued responses), and complexity of stimulus control (task complexity). Span is equated with the ability to respond appropriately when several cues are conjunctively relevant for correct performance (complex stimulus control). So defined, span is consistently and broadly related to many aspects of intelligent behavior.     

Startbox-goalbox confinement durations as determinants of self-punitive behavior

Two levels of confinement duration (5 or 60 sec) in either startbox or goalbox were factorially combined with presence or absence of shock during extinction of a runway escape response in a self-punitive paradigm under a spaced-trials procedure. All groups were equated for amount and temporal spacing of handling before and after each trial. Shocked rats were more resistant to extinction than nonshocked rats only when startbox confinement was short. When startbox confinement was long, shock facilitated extinction. Long goalbox confinement enhanced running speed for shocked rats, but only in the presence of shock. It was suggested that duration of startbox confinement affects strength of conditioned fear, with long confinement leading to its extinction.     

Contralateral interference and ear advantages for identification of three-element patterns

Recent experience with attempts to test relatively simple patterns such as three-tone sequences in a traditional dichotic-listening paradigm indicates that when such sequences are used for both target and contralateral interference, performance tends to be low in both ears and not useful for measuring or comparing ear advantages in various target conditions. It is reported that tests with a variety of sounds presented contralaterally to three-element patterns show that several such sounds can (1) allow performance in at least one ear to remain above floor values, (2) result in performance in at least one ear that is below ceiling, and (3) reveal ear advantages that are similar in direction and magnitude to those seen with the traditional dichotic paradigm.     

L’affaire Lambert et la Convention internationale relative aux droits des personnes handicapées (CIDPH)

While the Conseil d’État once again confirmed the legality of the medical decision to stop treatment of Vincent Lambert, the Cour de Cassation held that the French State is not required to suspend the execution of the said decision pending the opinion of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a United Nations’ body. Nevertheless, the High jurisdiction does not directly pronounce itself on the question of the binding force of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its additional protocol, nor on the scope of these texts.