Racial Differences in Responses to the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to examine differences in responses to the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) between African American and White caregivers of children with emotional and behavioral challenges. Significant item- and scale-level differences were detected across groups with African Americans consistently reporting less strain. We examined whether these differences were more likely due to nonequivalent measurement than to real differences in the experience of caregiver strain. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model fit the data well for both racial groups, but there were some differences in structural components. Internal consistency was equivalent across the groups. In an examination of criterion validity, regression analyses showed that African American caregivers experienced a slower rate of increase in objective caregiver strain at a given increase in child internalizing problems. No other race differences were found in the regression analyses. In general, we conclude that the CGSQ can be useful for detecting caregiver strain and identifying family support needs for both White and African American caregivers. Differences across groups in reports of caregiver strain, however, call for more research on racial differences in the impact on the family of caring for a child with emotional and behavioral disorders.     

Sequential evaluation of behavioral treatments and methylphenidate dosage for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

We used a sequential approach to evaluate the relative and combined effects of different types of behavioral treatments, as well as dosage of methylphenidate (MPH), on the disruptive behavior of 3 students who had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Results showed that individualized behavioral treatments produced decreases in disruptive behavior equivalent to MPH for all 3 participants and demonstrated the need to evaluate behavioral treatments and medication dosage on an individual basis.     

Citation trends of applied journals in behavioral psychology 1981-2000

One variable with which to evaluate scientific journals is how often their articles are cited in the literature. Such data are amenable to longitudinal analysis and can be used as a measure of a journal's impact on research within a discipline. We evaluated multiple citation measures for a number of applied journals in behavioral psychology from 1981 to 2000. The results indicate a relatively consistent impact across these journals, with some evidence of growth.     

Science and Human Behavior: a tutorial in behavior analysis

B. F. Skinner's Science and Human Behavior (1953) became the main source of my understanding of behavior during my first semester as a college professor in 1955 at Kansas University. It has continued to exert a major influence throughout my career as the basis for a completely deterministic science of behavior, as a handbook to be consulted as a first step in dealing with any issue in behavior analysis, and as a tutorial in behavioral interpretive analysis--in the use of a small number of behavioral concepts and principles to understand behavior of all degrees of complexity. I describe four general interpretive orientations or maxims that are of broad significance for behavior analysis, and also two underappreciated major theoretical contributions.     

Metaphors in behavioral genetics

Behavioral geneticists sometimes use metaphorsto describe the role of genes in humanbehavior. In this paper, five sample texts areanalyzed: a popular book, a textbook, ascientific review article, and two originalscientific articles representing differentapproaches in behavioral genetics. Metaphorsare found in all the different kinds of sampletexts, not only in the popular book and thetextbook. This suggests that metaphors are usednot only for rhetorical or pedagogical purposesbut play a more fundamental role in scientificunderstanding. In the sample texts, themetaphors tend to be antideterministic, i.e.,they do not imply genetic determinism butstress the interaction of multiple genes andmultiple environmental factors. No conclusioncan be drawn, however, as to whetherantideterminism is representative ofpresent-day behavioral geneticists in general.Certain historically important metaphors thatmay imply genetic determinism are qualified,avoided, or explicitly rejected. There aretensions between some of the metaphors, makingthem difficult to combine. All the metaphorsthat are used appear empirically apt, howeversometimes only with certain qualifications.     

Second-order schedules of token reinforcement with pigeons: effects of fixed- and variable-ratio exchange schedules

Pigeons' key pecks produced food under second-order schedules of token reinforcement, with light-emitting diodes serving as token reinforcers. In Experiment 1, tokens were earned according to a fixed-ratio 50 schedule and were exchanged for food according to either fixed-ratio or variable-ratio exchange schedules, with schedule type varied across conditions. In Experiment 2, schedule type was varied within sessions using a multiple schedule. In one component, tokens were earned according to a fixed-ratio 50 schedule and exchanged according to a variable-ratio schedule. In the other component, tokens were earned according to a variable-ratio 50 schedule and exchanged according to a fixed-ratio schedule. In both experiments, the number of responses per exchange was varied parametrically across conditions, ranging from 50 to 400 responses. Response rates decreased systematically with increases in the fixed-ratio exchange schedules, but were much less affected by changes in the variable-ratio exchange schedules. Response rates were consistently higher under variable-ratio exchange schedules than tinder comparable fixed-ratio exchange schedules, especially at higher exchange ratios. These response-rate differences were due both to greater pre-ratio pausing and to lower local rates tinder the fixed-ratio exchange schedules. Local response rates increased with proximity to food under the higher fixed-ratio exchange schedules, indicative of discriminative control by the tokens.     

Resistance to change of operant variation and repetition

A multiple chained schedule was used to compare the relative resistance to change of variable and fixed four-peck response sequences in pigeons. In one terminal link, a response sequence produced food only if it occurred infrequently relative to 15 other response sequences (vary). In the other terminal link, a single response sequence produced food (repeat). Identical variable-interval schedules operated in the initial links. During baseline, lower response rates generally occurred in the vary initial link, and similar response and reinforcement rates occurred in each terminal link. Resistance of responding to prefeeding and three rates of response-independent food delivered during the intercomponent intervals then was compared between components. During each disruption condition, initial- and terminal-link response rates generally were more resistant in the vary component than in the repeat component. During the response-independent food conditions, terminal-link response rates were more resistant than initial-link response rates in each component, but this did not occur during prefeeding. Variation (in vary) and repetition (in repeat) both decreased during the response-independent food conditions in the respective components, but with relatively greater disruption in repeat. These results extend earlier findings demonstrating that operant variation is more resistant to disruption than is operant repetition and suggest that theories of response strength, such as behavioral momentum theory, must consider factors other than reinforcement rate. The implications of the results for understanding operant response classes are discussed.     

Applying Utilization Management Principles to a Comprehensive Service System for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and Their Families: A Feasibility Study

The Comprehensive Services Act for At Risk Youth and Families of Virginia (CSA), is a service, funding, and organizational reform initiative designed to improve the provision of child centered and family focused services within a community setting. We conducted this study in order to assess the feasibility of applying utilization management principles to the CSA in order to improve the appropriateness, quality, and cost effectiveness of this service delivery system. Data were gathered through focus groups, surveys, clinical profiling, and analysis of costs, and service utilization. While overall program costs increased since inception of the program, the costs per child served rose less than the rate of inflation. CSA appeared to be serving children with a high degree of emotional and behavioral difficulties. There was considerable variation among localities in placement patterns. A majority of survey and focus group respondents were willing to consider the application of utilization management principles to the CSA as long as decision making remained within localities. We concluded that there is a constructive role for utilization management approaches to improve the appropriateness and quality of services as well as enhancing efficiency in child mental health.     

Food and cocaine self-administration by baboons: effects of alternatives.

The effects of the availability of an alternative reinforcer on responding maintained by food pellets or drug solutions were examined in 8 adult male baboons (Papio hamadrayas anubis). During daily 23-hr experimental sessions, baboons had access to both food pellets and fluid under a two-choice procedure, in which the response requirement, under a fixed-ratio schedule, differed for the two commodities. There were no restrictions on access to water, which was continuously available from a spout at the rear of each cage. In Experiment 1, the fixed-ratio requirement, or cost, for fluid delivery remained constant while the fixed-ratio requirement for pellets was changed every 2 or 3 days when (a) no fluid, (b) a dilute dextrose vehicle, (c) 0.008 mg/kg per delivery cocaine, (d) 0.016 mg/kg per delivery cocaine, or (e) 0.032 mg/kg per delivery cocaine was available concurrently. In Experiment 1, progressively increasing the response requirement for pellets decreased pellet intake, but for 4 baboons pellet intake at maximum pellet cost was lower when cocaine, compared to the vehicle, was available. Increasing the response requirement for pellets had variable effects on vehicle intake. However, increasing the response requirement for pellets increased intake of at least one dose of cocaine to a greater extent than vehicle in all 8 baboons. Thus, cocaine could be considered a more effective economic substitute than vehicle for pellets. Experiment 2 systematically varied the order in which the response requirements for a pellet delivery were presented and added a control condition in which cocaine doses, yoked to the amount self-administered, were given three times during the session by the experimenter. Again, pellet intake at maximal pellet cost was lower when cocaine, compared to the vehicle, was available. In contrast, experimenter-given cocaine doses did not alter responding maintained by pellets. Thus, the effects of self-administered cocaine on responding maintained by food pellets differed from the effects of experimenter-given cocaine on responding maintained by food pellets.     

Reinforcement of compliance with respiratory treatment in a child with cystic fibrosis.

An 8-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis (CF), mental retardation, and autism exhibited noncompliance with respiratory treatments that were essential for the management of his CF. A treatment involving shaping cooperation while still allowing escape for aggression and avoidance behavior resulted in increases compliance with respiratory treatments and decreases in problem behavior. Treatment gains were maintained over 3 months.