Using high-probability foods to increase the acceptance of low-probability foods

Studies have evaluated a range of interventions to treat food selectivity in children with autism and related developmental disabilities. The high-probability instructional sequence is one intervention with variable results in this area. We evaluated the effectiveness of a high-probability sequence using 3 presentations of a preferred food on increasing acceptance in a child with autism who refused a few specific foods. The high-probability sequence increased acceptance of 3 foods. We then systematically faded the intervention for 2 foods.     

Relative efficacy of human social interaction and food as reinforcers for domestic dogs and hand-reared wolves

Despite the intimate relationship dogs share with humans in Western society, we know relatively little about the variables that produce and maintain dog social behavior towards humans. One possibility is that human social interaction is itself a reinforcer for dog behavior. As an initial assessment of the variables that might maintain dog social behavior, we compared the relative efficacy of brief human social interaction to a small piece of food as a reinforcer for an arbitrary response (nose touch). We investigated this in three populations of canids: shelter dogs, owned dogs, and hand-reared wolves. Across all three canid populations, brief social interaction was a relatively ineffective reinforcer compared to food for most canids, producing lower responding and longer latencies than food.     

A brief thought on the future of global ethics: military robots and new food technologies

To deal with an uncertain future, global ethics as an academic endeavour might consider a common value we all share, such as sustainability, which acts as an all-encompassing term to indicate our future direction. Technologies of the near future that are currently in development hold problems and promise, and are clear subjects for the ethics of sustainability at a global level. Autonomous military combat robots, insects as food (entomophagy) and in vitro synthetically grown meat are significant cases. Such robots might in fact serve injustice and work against sustainability, and such novel food technologies may hold hope for promoting sustainability and global justice.     

Increasing donations to supermarket food-bank bins using proximal prompts

There has been little research into interventions to increase participation in donating items to food-bank bins. In New Zealand, there has been an increased demand from food banks (Stewart, 2002). This study demonstrated that point-of-sale prompts can be an effective method of increasing donations to a supermarket food-bank bin.     

Statistical manifold as an affine space: A functional equation approach

A statistical manifold M_μ consists of positive functions f such that defines a probability measure. In order to define an atlas on the manifold, it is viewed as an affine space associated with a subspace of the Orlicz space L^Φ. This leads to a functional equation whose solution, after imposing the linearity constrain in line with the vector space assumption, gives rise to a general form of mappings between the affine probability manifold and the vector (Orlicz) space. These results generalize the exponential statistical manifold and clarify some foundational issues in non-parametric information geometry.     

Stability of pigeon body weight under free-feeding conditions

Increases in regulatory oversight of animal research require verification of effects of standard practices. There are no formal guidelines for establishing free-feeding weights in adult pigeons. In the present study, pigeons were obtained from a commercial supplier, weighed upon arrival, and then held in quarantine for 7 days with free access to food. Subsequently, still with continuous access to food, they were weighed daily for 30 days. No significant changes in weights occurred over the 30-day period for male pigeons, indicating that seven days is sufficient for establishing a baseline body weight. A secondary finding of higher day-to-day variability in the weights of female pigeons may serve as a method of sexing pigeons.     

INCREASING THE VARIETY OF FOODS CONSUMED BY A PICKY EATER: GENERALIZATION OF EFFECTS ACROSS CAREGIVERS AND SETTINGS

A multiple baseline across settings was used to evaluate the effects of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, nonremoval of the fork ( Hoch, Babbitt, Coe, Krell, & Hackbert, 1994 ), and stimulus fading on consumption of food rejected previously. The study was conducted in two separate settings, and caregivers were trained in the intervention technique to increase generalization to natural settings. Food variety increased in both settings.