Concurrent schedules: undermatching and control by previous experimental conditions.

Five pigeons were trained on concurrent variable-interval schedules. A series of conditions in which the ratio of reinforcement rates on two keys was progressively increased and then decreased was arranged twice. The birds were then exposed to an irregular sequence of conditions. Each condition in which reinforcement was available on both keys lasted six sessions. Performance in the first, third, and sixth sessions after a condition change was analyzed. Following a condition change, preference was biased toward the preference in the last condition, but this effect largely disappeared before the sixth session of training. The birds' preferences also appeared less sensitive to reinforcement rates in early sessions after a transition. Preference in a session was a function of both the reinforcements in that session and the reinforcements obtained in as many as four or five previous sessions. The effects of reinforcements in previous sessions could be summarized by the performance in the immediately preceding session, giving a relatively simple relation between present performance and a combination of present reinforcement and prior session performance. While such hysteresis could cause undermatching when only a small number of sessions are arranged in a condition, undermatching in a stable-state performance probably arises elsewhere.     

BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS APPLIED TO ENVIRONMENTAL/ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS; A REVIEW1

Recent applications of operant technology, including the manipulation of environmental conditions and response consequences, have been directed toward the improvement of man-environment relations. This document summarizes the research designs, procedures, results, and conclusions of these recent behavioral interventions for ecological rebalance. Each of the 32 studies reviewed was undertaken since 1970; all studies were relatively successful in changing the probability of an ecology-related response; all studies incorporated basic methodologies applicable for large-scale, community programs; most of the investigations were conducted in field settings (e.g., college campuses, grocery stores, mobile-trailer parks, homes, movie theaters, public campgrounds, and a football stadium). Several of the studies are as yet unpublished. Sources for receiving documentation of the unpublished research are provided in this document. About 50% of the investigations reviewed were designed to influence behaviors related to environmental litter; the others were of behavior-modification programs that substantially increased bus-ridership, decreased lawn-trampling, promoted the purchase of drinks in returnable rather than throwaway containers, initiated a recycling process, or reduced energy consumption. Essentially, the interventions were either preventive in nature (i.e., designed to discourage environment-destructive behaviors before they occur), or remedial (i.e., designed to encourage behaviors that correct an existing environmental problem). Usually, the preventive measures emphasized responses priming (or prompting), while the corrective measures applied some form of positive reinforcement. Response priming was accomplished with modelling techniques, or with written and/or verbal prompts presented either publicly or on a personal, one-to-one basis. Among the positive reinforcement procedures were field applications of token economies, lottery systems, feedback programming, and intergroup contests, as well as individual contingency contracting. Some experimental designs provided for comparisons between the behavioral effects of response priming and positive reinforcement.     

SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF CONTINGENCY MANAGED INSTRUCTION ON LOW,MEDIUM, AND HIGH GPA STUDENTS1

Undergraduate students had been assigned to a contingency managed course or a conventional lecture course (Du Nann and Fernald, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1976, 9 , 373–374). Two years later, some 35% (N = 86) of the original classes responded to a letter offering them $2.00 to participate in a study of their educational experiences. These students completed a multiple-choice test on material from the course, and answered questions about activities and attitudes that might have been affected by the experience in Introductory Psychology. In the contingency management course 2 yr past, students were tested each week on a chapter of textbook material with 10-item multiple-choice quizzes. The course employed a modified “Doomsday Contingency”, requiring each student to achieve 80% mastery on one of the four weekly quizzes or drop the course. Quizzes were given in small groups and scored individually, while the student stood near, by an undergraduate proctor assigned to that group. The proctor was asked to show interest in the students' quiz performances, help clear up difficult areas, and develop a friendly working relationship with each student. While many students passed the quiz on the first attempt, others were given individual tutoring, so that no one was in fact forced to drop the course. In addition to the weekly quiz assignment, students in the contingency managed group were asked to attend one lecture each week. While the contingency management course procedures had much in common with PSI (Keller, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1968, 1 , 79–89), several departures made them unique. First, self-pacing was curtailed because students were required to master one unit per week or drop the course. Second, proctors met with students in small groups, usually giving individual tutoring only to those students who did not pass the quiz on the first attempt. Finally, students were asked to attend one lecture per week. Students in the conventional lecture group were not asked to pass weekly quizzes, but instead attended three 50-min lectures each week. Two of these lectures followed the textbook material closely, while the third, which was also attended by students from the contingency management course, covered material only indirectly related to the text. This partition of lecture content allowed material to be similar across the two instructional groups. Although students in the lecture condition were told they could obtain copies of the quizzes, few of them did so. Course grades were determined by scores on two 45-item multiple-choice hourly exams, each covering half the semester material (each worth 25%), and by a 90-item final exam, which served as a measure of short-term retention. Before analyzing the follow-up data, several characteristics of the returning students were compared to determine the comparability of the sample from the two original classes. Most important, both attrition and the current mean GPAs of students from the two classes were very similar. These considerations, and others, suggested there was no systematic sampling bias to confound comparisons of student performance. A 2 (contingency management versus traditional lecture) by 3 (high, medium, and low GPA) analysis of variance was computed on the course final-exam scores and the follow-up measures. Instructional procedure and GPA interacted on the final exam such that low and medium GPA students performed significantly better under contingency management, but there was no significant effect of instructional procedure with high GPA students. On the 2-yr retention measures, students from the contingency management course performed significantly (p < 0.01) better on items drawn from quizzes used in their original course, and marginally better (p < 0.10) on items drawn from the final exams, but no interactions with GPA appeared. Furthermore, instructional method produced no significant main effects or interaction with how many students became majors or minors in psychology, how many psychology courses were later taken, how many books in psychology were reported to have been read, or on students' evaluation of the interest and importance of psychology.     

Precriterion stationarity in markovian learning models

Two forms of stationarity prior to criterion in absorbing Markov chains are examined. Both forms require that the probability of a particular response on a particular trial before absorption be independent of trial number. The stronger of these forms holds that this is true independent of starting state; the weaker, only for a specified set of starting probabilities. Simple, necessary and sufficient conditions for both forms are developed and applied to several examples.The author would like to thank Charles Lewis for his help in developing this article, and Peter Polson of the University of Colorado and an anonymous referee for several fruitful suggestions made in reviews of earlier versions.     

环境公正:和谐社会的基本前提

人与人的和谐是和谐社会的“底线要求”,人与社会的和谐是和谐社会的核心所在,而人与自然的和谐是和谐社会的基本前提。人与自然和谐集中体现为环境公正。它首先是指人与自然物种之间的种际公正,具体体现为两个维度的公正：在空间维度上,要促进国际公正、族际公正、域际公正、群际公正;在时间维度上具有代际公正意识。     

环境因素与成人认知关系的研究

本研究旨在考察环境因素与认知发展的关系.采用问卷和心理测量的方法对121名21～80岁成人被试的基本认知能力和环境影响变量进行测量.结果发现,在基本认知能力上存在显著的年龄差异;在环境测量的环境维度因素方面仅出现年龄差异,而环境测量的休闲维度因素方面却存在显著的年龄和性别双重差异;多项环境因素与基本认知能力存在显著相关.结论老年人基本认知能力低于年轻被试,且环境因素对认知发展有一定影响.     

人际关系适应特征的情境评价方法研究

本研究运用情境评价法对人际关系适应特征进行了实验研究 ,结果表明 :1以 Schutz提出的人际关系六因素为评价标准 ,采用情境评价法比问卷形式能更有效地揭示人际适应特征 ;2在情境评价中 ,以合作为主的情境设置比以竞争为主的情境设置更利于反映出人际适应特征 ;3情境评价采用定向、组织、交流和问题解决等阶段的过程设计符合情境评价的实际进程 ,有助于分阶段展开被试的行为特征 ,提高情境评价的可控性和准确性。     

主动性人格与工作绩效：个体-组织匹配的调节作用

本研究的目的：考察主动性人格在中国企业内对工作绩效的预测性及个体-组织匹配在其中的调节作用。方法：研究以三家中国本土企业的253名员工为被试,使用修订过的主动性人格量表。结果：（1）除了大五人格和社会赞许性之外,主动性人格还可以解释工作绩效8．5％的方差变异;（2）整体分析时只有团队导向因素显著,单独分析时高新独资企业中注重细节因素、团队导向因素和结果导向因素有显著的调节作用;民营企业中尊重员工因素有显著的调节作用;国有企业中革新性因素和团队导向因素有显著的调节作用。结论：主动性人格可以有效地预测工作绩效,个体-组织匹配则根据不同的企业组织,不同的因素在主动性人格和工作绩效的关系中起调节作用。关于本研究的贡献与不足以及未来的研究方向都有所讨论。     

群体绩效和团队效能研究的新进展

近几年来 ,在群体和团队方面的研究比较活跃 ,并取得了不少新的进展。本文在近几年的国内外文献的基础上 ,着重讨论几个与群体绩效有关的长期存在的问题 ,主要包括群体构成、凝聚力、激励、领导、群体目标等因素。同时探讨团队与组织之间的内在联系。然后 ,讨论团队效能研究中的几个开放性问题 ,以及将来研究的新动向新趋势。最后 ,对影响团队效能的几个关键的调节因素作一简要的讨论。     

Intraindividual variability in driving simulator parameters of healthy drivers of different ages

Intraindividual variability is a fundamental behavioural characteristic of aging but has been examined to a very limited extent in driving. This study investigated intraindividual variability in driving simulator measures in healthy drivers of different ages using the coefficient of variation (COV) as a variability measure. Participants were healthy volunteers who were regular drivers, who were divided into a “young” group, a “middle-aged” group, and an “old” group. They drove in two environments (rural, 72 drivers; urban, 60 drivers), under conditions of moderate and high traffic load, without and with distraction (conversation). Significant differences in COV were observed in the rural condition for headway distance and lateral position as a function of traffic load, with high traffic (without and with distraction) resulting in increased COV of headway and decreased COV of lateral position. Significant differences in COV were observed in the urban condition for headway distance only, with high traffic (without and with distraction) resulting in increased COV of headway. No age effects were found for any of the driving conditions. The results indicate that traffic load affected headway distance and lateral position in opposite directions in all three age groups: high traffic resulted in increased variability of headway in both rural and urban conditions but in decreased variability of lateral position in the rural conditions compared to moderate traffic irrespective of distraction. The study indicates that driving conditions affect the intraindividual variability of driving measures in selective ways, which may be linked to the extent of automatization of the driving variables and to adaptive changes to traffic condition challenges.