AN ANALYSIS OF SOME VARIABLES INFLUENCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF REPRIMANDS

Although several studies have shown that social reprimands can function as punishers, no study reported to date has isolated any of the factors influencing reprimand efficacy. Three experiments were conducted to investigate several factors. Experiment 1 used an alternating treatments design and was conducted on two elementary school boys, one of whom was in a special education class. Results showed that verbal reprimands delivered with eye contact and firm grasp of the student's shoulders reduced disruptive behavior to a greater extent than did verbal reprimands delivered without eye contact and grasp. Both types of reprimand were more effective than a baseline condition during which disruptive behavior was ignored. Experiment 2 also used an alternating treatments design and was conducted on one elementary school boy. Results demonstrated that reprimands delivered from one meter away were considerably more effective than reprimands delivered from seven meters away. Experiment 3 used a reversal design and was conducted on two pairs of elementary school children, one a pair of boys and the other a pair of girls. Results demonstrated that reprimands delivered to just one member of the pair reduced the disruptive behavior of both members of the pair. Thus, the effects of reprimands “spilled” over to nonreprimanded students.     

CONTINGENT EXERCISE: A MILD BUT POWERFUL PROCEDURE FOR SUPPRESSING INAPPROPRIATE VERBAL AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Two single-subject experiments were conducted in public school classrooms for severely emotionally disturbed children. Both experiments investigated the effects of a treatment requiring a child to exhibit a simple exercise task after a verbal or aggressive response, using reversal and multiple-baseline designs. The independent variable, contingent exercise, required standing up and sitting on the floor five to ten times contingent on an inappropriate behavior. It was found that contingent exercise was easy to carry out, and following it, the child quickly returned to the learning task that had been interrupted by the inappropriate behavior. The contingent exercise procedure required a minimum of prompting or manual guidance. Although contingent exercise was not topographically related to the inappropriate response, it decreased those responses dramatically. The results suggested that contingent exercise was not only more powerful than DRO but also could be administered independently. It was concluded that contingent exercise may constitute an alternative procedure that can be used by therapists confronted with severely abnormal behaviors. It would appear to be particularly relevant in settings where procedures such as timeout and painful consequences find restricted use. Finally, a number of guidelines have been proposed as a safeguard against the misuse of this mild but powerful procedure.     

TREATMENT OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR USING A WATER MIST: INITIAL RESPONSE SUPPRESSION AND GENERALIZATION

This study evaluated the effects of a fine mist of water applied to the face contingent upon self-injurious behavior (SIB) exhibited by profoundly retarded persons. In Experiment 1, results of individual reversal designs showed substantial reductions in a variety of SIB's (mouthing, hand biting, skin tearing, and head banging) for seven participants. In Experiment 2, two participants who frequently bit their hands were each observed in two different settings. Following initial baselines in each setting, a series of manipulations was undertaken to compare the effects of mild verbal punishment (“No”) with those of a combined treatment (“No” plus mist procedure). Results in one setting indicated that “No” suppressed SIB only after it was first paired with the water mist. Data also suggested that, once acquired, the punishing properties of “No” could be extended to a second setting in which the mist was never applied, and that these effects could be generalized across therapists. Results of these experiments indicate that the water mist procedure may be an effective alternative to traditional punishment techniques. Although conclusions regarding generalization are limited due to the brevity of the maintenance conditions, the data suggest that treatment gains may be transferred to more acceptable forms of social punishment and reinforcement.     

博弈中的反社会惩罚

博弈中的反社会惩罚是指博弈者对表现出亲社会行为的高贡献或高合作性他人实施有代价经济惩罚、消极评价或排斥打压的现象。已有研究用带惩罚的经典博弈范式证明了反社会惩罚受到多种个体与环境因素的影响, 并分别从侵犯、报复、社会比较、偏离群体规范、进化策略视角提出了解释其产生机制的5种假说。未来研究可在进一步厘清概念与测量指标、创新研究方法、拓展影响因素研究、明确产生机制、开展针对性干预研究方面做深入探索。     

The decline of aggressiveness in male mice during group caging as determined by punishment delivered by the cage mates

Group-housed rodents are generally less aggressive than isolated counterparts. The present study examined the role of defeat by cage mates as a reason for this decline in aggressiveness. In Experiment I, highly aggressive isolated male mice were introduced into aggressive or nonaggressive resident groups. The intruder's level of aggressiveness directed toward a group-housed standard opponent declined more rapidly after daily exposure to the aggressive than to the nonaggressive groups. Intruders in the aggressive groups received more attacks from their cage mates, and delivered fewer attacks to them than did the intruders in the nonaggressive groups. In Experiment II, the intruders lived for seven days in small wire net cages in the middle of the group cages. Their level of aggressiveness toward standard opponents decreased little during the preexposure but after being put freely into the groups, their aggressiveness declined to a minimal level within a day. Experiment III showed that when the wire net protection in the middle of the cage was installed after the group caging experience, the aggressiveness of the intruders did not return to the isolation level as effectively as it did in isolation. This is explained by the aggression-inhibiting content that the cues from the cage mates have acquired during group caging. The decline of aggressiveness in male mice during group caging is determined by punishment delivered by the cage mates.     

Capital sentencing and neuropsychiatry

The neuropsychiatric contribution to capital sentencing proceedings has grown substantially in recent decades as the consideration of neurological and psychiatric factors in criminal behavior has been increasingly accepted as relevant to the quest for justice. This review article will focus on the legal theories underlying neuropsychiatric input into capital sentencing decisions, as well as some of the investigative techniques and resulting data which may be offered by forensic neuropsychiatrists in this context. The death penalty is unique in its severity and irreversibility, as the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have noted repeatedly. “Death is different,” and the recognition of this has generated a set of court decisions and statutes pertinent specifically to capital proceedings, both procedural and substantive.     

SIDE EFFECTS OF THERAPEUTIC PUNISHMENT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND EYE CONTACT

The effects of therapeutic punishment delivered following inappropriate behavior on the academic responding and eye-to-face contact of 2 persons with developmental handicaps was examined using a counterbalanced alternating treatment design. Each subject was sequentially taught by two therapists each day. While one of the therapists taught the subject, the second therapist stood in close proximity directly behind the subject. During baseline, neither therapist delivered punishment following inappropriate behavior. During the treatment condition, one of the therapists delivered all punishment regardless of whether she was teaching or standing behind the subject. The therapist who delivered all punishment for 1 subject did not deliver any punishment for the other subject. During the last condition, the therapist delivering all punishment was reversed for 1 of the subjects. The results indicated that the task being taught was mastered by each subject only when the therapist delivering punishment was teaching. Data collected also indicated that each subject made more eye-to-face contact when the therapist delivering all punishment was teaching. Although neither therapist had to deliver punishers often, punishment had to be administered less often when the therapist teaching the subject was also the therapist delivering punishment.     

Punishment of an alternative behavior generates resurgence of a previously extinguished target behavior

Resurgence is often defined as the recurrence of an extinguished behavior when a more recently reinforced alternative behavior is also extinguished. Resurgence has also been observed when the alternative behavior is devalued by other means (e.g., reinforcement rate or magnitude reductions). The present study investigated whether punishment of an alternative behavior would generate resurgence. A target response was reinforced during Phase 1 and then extinguished in Phase 2 while an alternative response was reinforced. During Phase 3, response‐dependent foot shocks were superimposed on the schedule of reinforcement for the alternative response and shock intensity was escalated gradually across sessions. Resurgence of the target response was reliably observed, mostly at higher intensities. The effect was replicated in two subsequent exposures to the sequence of conditions, with resurgence tending to occur at the lowest foot shock intensity. These results suggest that devaluation of an alternative behavior via punishment can generate resurgence. Although it is difficult to reconcile the overall pattern of results with Bouton's context account, these findings are consistent with the suggestion that resurgence results from a “worsening of conditions” for the alternative behavior and with the formalization of that suggestion in terms of a choice‐based matching‐law account (i.e., Resurgence as Choice).     

Functional links of obsessive,dysmorphic, hypochondriac,and eating-disorders related mental intrusions

Background/Objective

Unwanted mental intrusions (UMIs) are the normal variants of obsessions in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), preoccupations about defects in Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), images about illness in Hypochondriasis (HYP), and thoughts about eating in Eating Disorders (EDs). The aim was to examine the similarities and differences in the functional links of four UMI contents, adopting a within-subject perspective. Method: 438 university students and community participants (M_age = 29.84, SD = 11.41; 70.54% women) completed the Questionnaire of Unpleasant Intrusive Thoughts (QUIT) to assess the functional links (emotions, appraisals, and neutralizing/control strategies) of the most upsetting UMIs with OCD, BDD, HYP and EDs-contents. Results: HYP-related intrusions caused the highest emotional impact, OCD-related intrusions were the most interfering, and EDs-related intrusions interfered the least. The four UMI were equally ego-dystonic. Women appraised OCD-related intrusions more dysfunctionally, but men appraised the four intrusive contents similarly. All UMI instigated the urge to “do something”, to keep them under control and/or neutralizing them. Conclusions: Similarities among the functional links of intrusions related to OCD, BDD, HYP and EDs contents support their transdiagnostic nature and they might contribute to understanding common factors in these disorders.     

Child Outcomes of Nonabusive and Customary Physical Punishment by Parents: An Updated Literature Review

This article updates the only previous systematic literature review of child outcomes of nonabusive and customary physical punishment by parents. The outcomes differ by methodologic, child, and subcultural factors as well as by how the physical punishment was used. All six studies that used clinical samples (including four randomized clinical studies) and all three sequential-analysis studies found beneficial outcomes, such as reduced noncompliance and fighting, primarily when nonabusive spanking was used to back up milder disciplinary tactics in 2- to 6-year olds. Five of eight longitudinal studies that controlled for initial child misbehavior found predominantly detrimental outcomes of spanking. However, those detrimental outcomes were primarily due to overly frequent use of physical punishment. Furthermore, apparently detrimental outcomes have been found for every alternative disciplinary tactic when investigated with similar analyses. Such detrimental associations of frequent use of any disciplinary tactic may be due to residual confounding from initial child misbehavior. Specific findings suggest discriminations between effective and counterproductive physical punishment with young children. More research is needed to clarify the role of spanking and alternative disciplinary tactics in control system aspects of parental discipline.