The effect of contingent reinforcement on target variables in outpatient psychotherapy for depression: a successful and unsuccessful case using functional analytic psychotherapy

The current study investigated a behavior-analytic treatment, functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP), for outpatient depression utilizing two single-subject A/A+B designs. The baseline condition was cognitive behavioral therapy. Results demonstrated treatment success in 1 client after the addition of FAP and treatment failure in the 2nd. This study highlights the challenges in measuring treatment progress and outcome idiographically in this population.     

Further examination of discriminated functional communication

One child with developmental disabilities was taught to mand for attention by saying "excuse me." Treatment effects were extended to multiple training contexts by teaching the participant to attend to naturally occurring discriminative stimuli through differential reinforcement of communication during periods of the experimenter's nonbusy activities (e.g., reading a magazine). Results are discussed in terms of future research on the generalization and maintenance of functional communication in the natural environment.     

Functional analysis and treatment of aggression maintained by preferred conversational topics

After an initial functional analysis of a participant's aggression showed unclear outcomes, we conducted preference and reinforcer assessments to identify preferred forms of attention that may maintain problem behavior. Next, we conducted an extended functional analysis that included a modified attention condition. Results showed that the participant's aggression was maintained by access to preferred conversational topics. A function-based intervention decreased aggression and increased an appropriate communicative response.     

A comparison of various forms of reinforcement with and without extinction as treatment for escape-maintained problem behavior

The present investigation compared the effects of reinforcing compliance with either positive or negative reinforcement for a participant who displayed escape-maintained problem behavior. The results indicated that positive reinforcement in the form of a highly preferred edible or leisure item produced higher levels of compliance and lower levels of problem behavior when compared to negative reinforcement in the form of escape from demands. In addition, an extinction procedure was unnecessary to achieve high levels of compliance.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF ELOPEMENT ACROSS TWO SCHOOL SETTINGS

The elopement of a child with Asperger syndrome was assessed using functional analyses and was treated in two school settings (classroom and resource room). Functional analyses indicated that elopement was maintained by access to attention in the resource room and obtaining a preferred activity in the classroom. Attention- and tangible-based interventions were compared in an alternating treatments design in both settings. Results validated the findings of the functional analyses. Implications for the assessment and treatment of elopement are discussed.     

心理资本在工作压力源和压力反应问的作用：调节还是中介？

谊研宛采用工作压力源量表、压力反应量表以及积极心理资本问卷对天津市某企业230名员工进行了调查。分析了心理资本与工作压力源和压力反应的关系及其作用机制。结果发现：（1）工作压力源对压力反应有显著的正向预洲作用;（2）心理资本对压力反应有显著的负向预测作用;（3）心理资本在工作压力源与压力反应之间起部分中介作用而不是调节作用,其中中介效应占总效应的比例为16％;（4）心理资本在各种工作压力源与压力反应问均起到中介作用,中介效应和直接效应的比值介于17．4％-26．1％之间。     

How the disadvantaged appraise group-based exclusion: The path from legitimacy to illegitimacy

Although many forms of differential treatment based on group membership are perceived to be legitimate, disadvantaged group members’ responses to discrimination have been studied primarily in contexts in which such treatment is appraised as illegitimate. This has resulted in an impoverished understanding of differential group-based treatment and a failure to illuminate the processes by which discrimination can shift from being seen as legitimate to being viewed as illegitimate. We discuss the determinants of disadvantaged group members’ legitimacy appraisals and the de-legitimisation process, whereby forms of discrimination appraised as legitimate come to be increasingly perceived as illegitimate. Whether group-based exclusion is addressed collectively or individually depends on socio-structural factors such as the pervasiveness of discrimination, impermeability of intergroup boundaries, and the availability of cognitive alternatives to the status quo. We conclude that understanding the antecedents and consequences of legitimacy appraisals is necessary to develop a comprehensive account of disadvantaged group members’ experiences of group-based discrimination.     

The Home-Based Occupational Therapy Intervention in the Alzheimer's Disease Multiple Intervention Trial (ADMIT)

There is no way to prevent functional declines related to Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The use of occupational therapy (OT) has been shown to be successful in managing some aspects of AD. We added home-based OT to evidence-based best practice for AD with the aim of delaying functional decline in people with AD. OT was delivered in the home to a caregiver dyad including the person with AD and her/his caregiver. This article describes the OT intervention for the AD Multiple Intervention Trial, a parallel randomized controlled trial. We include baseline data on the 180 caregiver dyads.     

A Functional Analysis of Psychological Terms Redux

In his seminal paper, “An Operational Analysis of Psychological Terms,” Skinner (1945) offered the revolutionary suggestion that, rather than endlessly debating the meanings of psychological terms, psychologists should analyze the variables that control their occurrence as verbal behavior. Skinner''s suggestion reflected the essence of his 1957 book, Verbal Behavior, wherein he argued that the behaviors of which language is composed (i.e., speaking and listening) are controlled by variables found in the social environment (which he called the verbal community), and that analyzing those variables would lead to an understanding of the behaviors. Although Skinner formally introduced his radical approach to language in 1945, it has yet to be fully realized. The result is that psychologists, including behavior analysts, still debate the definitions of terms. In the present paper, I review Skinner''s functional approach to language and describe ways in which behavior analysts have already applied it to traditional psychological terms. I conclude by looking at other current terms in behavior analysis that engender some confusion and encourage behavior analysts to apply a functional analytic approach to their own verbal behavior.