Exposure and response prevention of morbid ruminations and compulsive avoidance

Two patients with morbid ruminations and compulsive avoidance behavior were independently treated by the authors with exposure and response prevention strategies. The patients were quite different with respect to age (23 vs 58), occupational status (student vs civil servant) and length of disorder (2 vs 40 years), although their disorders were quite similar. The present report describes the patients and treatment procedures and reports on dramatic behavioral changes that occurred within brief time periods.     

Developments in infants' search for displaced objects

In an exploratory study of infants' search for displaced objects, 13-month-olds and 21-month-olds were tested on three kinds of displacement problems—visible displacements, invisible displacements, and transpositions—as well as singlehiding problems. Two aspects of performance on the displacement problems were distinguished: (1) searching within the locations involved in the displacement rather than at a control location, and (2) selecting between the displacement locations. Both the younger and the older infants were able to select the correct location on visible displacement problems and to search within the displacement locations on invisible problems. Neither age group was able to solve the transposition problems, but the older infants did at least search within the relevant locations on those problems. Age differences appeared to be due primarily to improved skill at identifying relevant locations rather than to improvements in selecting among those locations. Other factors contributing to the age differences in performance were a decrease in response biases and an increase in skills for coping with multiple possibilities.     

Self-monitoring in communicative interactions: Social cognitive consequences of goal-directed message modification

The hypothesis was examined that previously demonstrated message modification and its subsequent social cognitive effects would be more characteristic of high than low self-monitors. Subjects first read an essay describing a stimulus person and were then requested to communicate a referential message concerning him to a listener who supposedly either liked (positive audience condition) or disliked (negative audience condition) the stimulus person. Subjects were subsequently given, after both a brief and long delay interval, a reproduction, impression, and attitude measure. The results indicated that high self-monitors were more likely to modify their message in a manner that was evaluatively consistent with their listener's attitude. In addition, this message modification had the predicted social cognitive consequences in that it affected the high self-monitor's subsequent impressions of (but not necessarily attitude toward) the target person. The results suggested that the responses obtained from high self-monitors in many experimental contexts may themselves be the results of a self-monitoring strategy. The implications of these results for research examining the effects of “self-monitoring” are discussed.     

Poison-enhanced neophobia: Effects of CS-UCSUCS-CS procedures and long-delay training

Experiment 1 (n = 110 male rats) showed that pairing sucrose with toxicosis under forward or backward conditioning procedures yielded reliable poison-enhanced neophobia toward casein hydrolysate. Forward procedures produced reliably greater and more persistent enhancement of neophobia. Experiment 2 (n = 160 male rats) showed that interpolating 10 min, or 1, 4, 8, or 12 hr between sucrose and toxicosis yielded reliable aversion effects to sucrose and poison-enhanced neophobia to casein at each interval except 8 and 12 hr. Generally speaking, the effects of training interval were similar for conditioned aversion and enhanced neophobia but conditioned aversion effects were more enduring.     

Tool use by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) of the Arnhem Zoo community

Abstract: Chimpanzees have a large repertoire of tool-use behaviors. This study reports on the variety and the extent of tool use exhibited by the chimpanzees of the Arnhem Zoo community in The Netherlands, living in an enriched captive setting since 1971. The use of tools by 29 chimpanzees aged from 0 to 37 years was observed. We identified 13 types of tool use comparable to those found in the wild. Some of these types of tool use seem to be specific to this community, and can be explained by the ecological characteristics of this captive setting. Chimpanzees started to use tools from the age of 2 years. Young chimpanzees, from 5 to 9 years old, showed a greater repertoire of tool use than infants and adults. All types of tool use in the community have appeared by the age of 10, the age of puberty for chimpanzees. Multivariate analysis was applied for the 29 individuals by 13 types of tool use in a one-zero matrix. The results show two major categories of tool use, one in a practical or substantial context and the other in a nonpractical or play context. The subjects clustered into groups reflecting developmental stages, although there are great individual differences. In conclusion, this captive community provides a unique opportunity to clarify the details of tool use by chimpanzees.     

Multilevel covariance structure analysis of sibling substance use and intrafamily conflict

Conventional covariance structure analysis, such as factor analysis, is often applied to data that are obtained in a hierarchical fashion, such as siblings observed within families. A more appropriate specification is demonstrated which explicitly models the within-level and between-level covariance matrices of sibling substance use and intrafamily conflict. Participants were 267 target adolescents (mean age=13.11 years) and 318 siblings (mean age=15.03 years). The level of homogeneity within sibling clusters, and heterogeneity among families, was sufficient to conduct a multilevel covariance structure analysis (MCA). Parental and family-level variables consisting of marital status, socioeconomic status, marital discord, parent use, and modeling of substances were used to explain heterogeneity among families. Marital discord predicted intrafamily conflict, and parent marital status and modeling of substances predicted sibling substance use. Advantages and uses of hierarchical designs and conventional covariance structure software for multilevel data are discussed.     

Tool use by naked mole-rats

Naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber, Rodentia: Bathyergidae) excavate extensive subterranean burrows with their procumbent incisors. Captive individuals often place a wood shaving or tuber husk behind their incisor teeth and in front of their lips and molar teeth while gnawing on substrates that yield fine particulate debris. This oral barrier may prevent choking or aspiration of foreign material. Consistent use of tools has rarely been reported in rodents. Received: 14 February 1998 / Accepted after revision: 9 April 1998     

GENERALIZED EFFECTS OF A PEER-DELIVERED FIRST AID PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS WITH MODERATE INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Peers with mild intellectual disabilities taught first aid skills to 4 students with moderate intellectual disabilities. A multiple probe design across participants was used to examine the effects of the peer teaching program during an acquisition and a partial sequential withdrawal phase. Generalization assessments were conducted in the participants' homes using novel, randomized simulated injuries. Results suggested that the peer teaching program resulted in acquisition of first aid skills, and the participants' skills generalized to the home, to novel simulated-injury locations, and to new trainers. Additionally, a more detailed analysis of the generalized responding suggested that when given a choice among first aid materials, participants treated burns using large adhesive bandages rather than the materials used in training. Participants also successfully treated injuries when novel instructional cues were used. The findings are discussed with respect to training issues, generalization and maintenance of the acquired skills, and the use of peer tutors with disabilities.     

Ways of coping with excessive drug use in the family: A provisional typology based on the accounts of 50 close relatives

This paper outlines an eight-fold typology of coping actions based upon a qualitative analysis of the accounts provided by 50 close relatives of people with drug problems. In a number of different ways relatives draw attention to the contrasts between these distinguishable ways of coping. Emphasis is placed upon the provisional nature of this typology and upon the compromises between, and combinations of, ways of coping that are often used by relatives in practice. Different ways of coping represent alternative choices for relatives, often explicitly expressed by them as difficult dilemmas. Links are suggested between the ways of coping identified here and those discussed in the literature on coping with other disorders and disabilities in the family, with ways of coping described in the general literature on coping with stress, and with types of social action appearing in general models of interpersonal behaviour. Implications for counselling close relatives of people with drug problems are also outlined.     

A single-subject approach to evaluating vehicle safety belt reminders: Back to basics

A single-subject ABA reversal design was applied to evaluate the effectiveness of a limited 8-s safety belt reminder system and two modified reminder systems (a delayed and second reminder) to increase the safety belt use of 13 drivers. The research was conducted with a specially equipped research vehicle that permitted the manipulation of different safety belt reminder stimuli and the unobtrusive recording of a driver's belt use. For 2 subjects, the limited 8-s reminder increased safety belt use. For another 2 subjects, the second reminder markedly increased belt use. Some subjects were uninfluenced by the reminder systems presented; others always buckled up during both baseline and intervention conditions. The approach and results are discussed with regard to the application of behavior analysis methodologies (e.g., cumulative records) and principles (e.g., schedules of reinforcement) to advance the utility and investigation of safety belt reminder systems.