认知重评对负性效价的抑制促进条件性恐惧消退

认知重评能有效降低个体对情感刺激的负性情绪体验, 但指导性认知重评在恐惧记忆治疗中效果存在争议。本文将认知重评范式与辨别式条件恐惧反应范式结合, 以效价和US预期值为指标, 探讨指导性认知重评训练对恐惧情绪习得和消退的影响效果。以低认知重评能力个体为被试, 在实验前24 h进行指导性认知重评训练。条件性恐惧任务为期2天, 第一天完成条件性恐惧的习得和消退任务, 第二天完成条件性恐惧的再消退任务。结果显示, 经过重评训练后个体在条件性恐惧任务中的恐惧情绪效价显著较低, 说明认知重评有效降低低认知重评能力个体在急性应激状态下的负性情绪体验。所有被试均成功完成辨别式条件性恐惧的习得和消退任务, 因此重评训练并不削弱个体对危险或者安全信息的辨别能力。但在条件性恐惧的消退过程中, 认知重评指导训练加快了恐惧消退, 且24 h后测得的条件性恐惧程度显著较低, 说明指导性重评提高了条件性恐惧记忆的消退效率, 并减弱了条件性恐惧的消退返回。     

Observing ben wyckoff: from basic research to programmed instruction and social issues

L. Benjamin Wyckoff's seminal contributions to both psychological theory and application are the subject of this review. Wyckoff started his academic career as a graduate student at Indiana University, where he developed the observing-response procedure under the guidance of B. F. Skinner and C. J. Burke. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wyckoff refined his mathematical theory of secondary reinforcement. This theory was the impetus for his creation of an electronic simulation of a rat running a T maze, one of the first "computer models" of learning. Wyckoff next went to Emory University, leaving there to help create two of the most successful companies dedicated to the advancement of programmed instruction and teaching machines: Teaching Machines, Inc. and the Human Development Institute. Wyckoff's involvement in these companies epitomizes the application of basic behavior-analytic principles in the development of technology to improve education and human relationships. The emergent picture of Wyckoff is that of a man who, through his research, professional work in educational applications of behavioral principles, and active involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, was strongly committed to applying behavioral science to positively influence human behavior change.     

An exploratory analysis of task-interspersal procedures while teaching object labels to children with autism

Research has demonstrated that interspersing mastered tasks with new tasks facilitates learning under certain conditions; however, little is known about factors that influence the effectiveness of this treatment strategy. The initial purpose of the current investigation was to evaluate the effects of similar versus dissimilar interspersed tasks while teaching object labels to children diagnosed with autism or developmental delays. We then conducted a series of exploratory analyses involving the type of reinforcer delivered for correct responses on trials with unknown or known object labels. Performance was enhanced under the interspersal condition only when either brief praise was delivered for all correct responses or presumably more preferred reinforcers were provided for performance on known trials rather than on unknown trials.     

Conditioned reinforcement value and resistance to change

Three experiments examined the effects of conditioned reinforcement value and primary reinforcement rate on resistance to change using a multiple schedule of observing-response procedures with pigeons. In the absence of observing responses in both components, unsignaled periods of variable-interval (VI) schedule food reinforcement alternated with extinction. Observing responses in both components intermittently produced 15 s of a stimulus associated with the VI schedule (i.e., S+). In the first experiment, a lower-valued conditioned reinforcer and a higher rate of primary reinforcement were arranged in one component by adding response-independent food deliveries uncorrelated with S+. In the second experiment, one component arranged a lower valued conditioned reinforcer but a higher rate of primary reinforcement by increasing the probability of VI schedule periods relative to extinction periods. In the third experiment, the two observing-response components provided similar rates of primary reinforcement but arranged different valued conditioned reinforcers. Across the three experiments, observing-response rates were typically higher in the component associated with the higher valued conditioned reinforcer. Resistance to change was not affected by conditioned reinforcement value, but was an orderly function of the rate of primary reinforcement obtained in the two components. One interpretation of these results is that S+ value does not affect response strength and that S+ deliveries increase response rates through a mechanism other than reinforcement. Alternatively, because resistance to change depends on the discriminative stimulus-reinforcer relation, the failure of S+ value to impact resistance to change could have resulted from a lack of transfer of S+ value to the broader discriminative context.     

IRT-stimulus contingencies in chained schedules: implications for the concept of conditioned reinforcement

Two experiments with pigeons investigated the effects of contingencies between interresponse times (IRTs) and the transitions between the components of 2- and 4-component chained schedules (Experiments 1 and 2, respectively). The probability of component transitions varied directly with the most recent (Lag 0) IRT in some experimental conditions and with the 4th (Lag 4) IRT preceding the most recent one in others. Mean component durations were constant across conditions, so the reinforcing effect of stimulus change was dissociated from that of delay to food. IRTs were longer in the Lag-0 than in the Lag-4 conditions of both experiments, thus demonstrating that stimulus change functioned as a reinforcer. In the Lag-0 conditions of Experiment 2, the Component-1 IRTs increased more than the Component-2 IRTs, which in turn increased more than the Component-3 IRTs. This finding runs counter to the conditioned-positive-reinforcement account of chained-schedule responding, which holds that the reinforcing effect of stimulus change should vary in strength as an inverse function of the delay to the unconditioned reinforcer at the end of the chain because conditioned reinforcement is due to first- or higher-order classical conditioning. Therefore, we present other possible explanations for this effect.     

PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS OF PRESESSION EXPOSURE TO EDIBLE AND NONEDIBLE STIMULI

We assessed the effects of individually defined small, medium, and large periods of presession access to edible and nonedible reinforcers on response rates during sessions in which responding produced access to identical reinforcers. Any presession access to an edible reinforcer decreased response rates for 1 participant, and small and medium periods of presession access to nonedible reinforcers resulted in similar or increased response rates for 2 participants.     

USE OF LATENCY TO PROBLEM BEHAVIOR TO EVALUATE DEMANDS FOR INCLUSION IN FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES

Few direct‐assessment procedures are designed to identify potential negative reinforcers (e.g., including demands in the escape condition of functional analyses). Two participants were systematically exposed to a series of demands nominated by caregivers as potential negative reinforcers. Sessions ended following the first instance of problem behavior, and a hierarchy of demand aversiveness was created based on the latency to the first problem behavior. Subsequent functional analyses confirmed the predictive value of the hierarchy, with shorter latency demands consistently producing more differentiated functional analysis outcomes.     

TOKEN REINFORCEMENT: A REVIEW AND ANALYSIS

Token reinforcement procedures and concepts are reviewed and discussed in relation to general principles of behavior. The paper is divided into four main parts. Part I reviews and discusses previous research on token systems in relation to common behavioral functions—reinforcement, temporal organization, antecedent stimulus functions, and aversive control—emphasizing both the continuities with other contingencies and the distinctive features of token systems. Part II describes the role of token procedures in the symmetrical law of effect, the view that reinforcers (gains) and punishers (losses) can be measured in conceptually analogous terms. Part III considers the utility of token reinforcement procedures in cross‐species analysis of behavior more generally, showing how token procedures can be used to bridge the methodological gulf separating research with humans from that with other animals. Part IV discusses the relevance of token systems to the field of behavioral economics. Token systems have the potential to significantly advance research and theory in behavioral economics, permitting both a more refined analysis of the costs and benefits underlying standard economic models, and a common currency more akin to human monetary systems. Some implications for applied research and for broader theoretical integration across disciplines will also be considered.     

EFFECT OF REINFORCER MAGNITUDE ON PERFORMANCE MAINTAINED BY PROGRESSIVE‐RATIO SCHEDULES

This experiment examined the relationship between reinforcer magnitude and quantitative measures of performance on progressive‐ratio schedules. Fifteen rats were trained under a progressive‐ratio schedule in seven phases of the experiment in which the volume of a 0.6‐M sucrose solution reinforcer was varied within the range 6–300 μl. Overall response rates in successive ratios conformed to a bitonic equation derived from Killeen's (1994) Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement. The “specific activation” parameter, a, which is presumed to reflect the incentive value of the reinforcer, was a monotonically increasing function of reinforcer volume; the “response time” parameter, δ, which defines the minimum response time, increased as a function of reinforcer volume; the “currency” parameter, b, which is presumed to reflect the coupling of responses to the reinforcer, declined as a function of volume. Running response rate (response rate calculated after exclusion of the postreinforcement pause) decayed monotonically as a function of ratio size; the index of curvature of this function increased as a function of reinforcer volume. Postreinforcement pause increased as a function of ratio size. Estimates of a derived from overall response rates and postreinforcement pauses showed a modest positive correlation across conditions and between animals. Implications of the results for the quantification of reinforcer value and for the use of progressive‐ratio schedules in behavioral neuroscience are discussed.     

条件反射性抗体反应增强的动态分析——以OVA为非条件刺激物

研究了条件反射性抗体反应增强模型的建立。被试为49只雄性成年Wistar大鼠,采用糖精水作为条件性刺激,一种蛋白抗原卵清蛋白作为非条件性刺激配对给予大鼠,两者结合后,在初次抗体应答下降阶段再次单独给予条件刺激,用酶联免疫吸附法分时段检测抗体水平的变化。发现条件组在条件刺激后15,20,25天左右抗体水平明显高于对照组。这一过程与初次抗体应答的规律类似。这些结果证实经一次条件训练,单独给予条件刺激能诱导出明显的条件反射性抗体反应增高。