EFFECTS OF A PROCEDURE DERIVED FROM THE OVERCORRECTION PRINCIPLE ON MANIPULATED AND NONMANIPULATED BEHAVIORS

Positive practice overcorrection has been shown to be effective in reducing stereotypic self-stimulatory behaviors displayed by retarded and autistic individuals. In addition, the procedure also may increase the occurrence of appropriate behavior through intensive practice. In the present study, several stereotypic and one appropriate behavior (appropriate toy play) displayed by two autistic children were measured before and during treatment by a positive practice in appropriate toy play overcorrection procedure. Overcorrection was introduced for each of the targeted inappropriate behaviors in succession for both children. Results showed that overcorrection reduced all stereotypic behaviors displayed by both children. In addition, one subject displayed marked increases in the behavior practised during overcorrection, appropriate toy play, relative to its baseline rate of occurrence. The results indicate that for some individuals, overcorrection may be effective in teaching and motivating appropriate forms of behavior as well as in reducing stereotypy.     

On the effects of component durations and component reinforcement rates in multiple schedules

Four experiments, each using the same six pigeons, investigated the effects of varying component durations and component reinforcement rates in multiple variable-interval schedules. Experiment 1 used unequal component durations in which one component was five times the duration of the other, and the shorter component was varied over conditions from 120 seconds to 5 seconds. The schedules were varied over five values for each pair of component durations. Sensitivity to reinforcement rate changes was the same at all component durations. In Experiment 2, both component durations were 5 seconds, and the schedules were again varied using both one and two response keys. Sensitivity to reinforcement was not different from the values found in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, various manipulations, including body-weight changes, reinforcer duration changes, blackouts, hopper lights correlated with keylights, and overall reinforcement rate changes were carried out. No reliable increase in reinforcement sensitivity resulted from any manipulation. Finally, in Experiment 4, reinforcement rates in the two components were kept constant and unequal, and the component durations were varied. Shorter components produced significantly increased response rates normally in the higher reinforcement rate component, but schedule reversals at short component durations eliminated the response rate increases. The effects of component duration on multiple schedule performance cannot be interpreted as changing sensitivity to reinforcement nor to changing bias.     

Effects of methamphetamine and scopolamine on variability of response location.

Methamphetamine and scopolamine were studied in monkeys responding under a multiple fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement. A response on any one of six levers could satisfy the schedule requirements. Variability of response location was evaluated in terms of switches, where a switch was defined as a response on one lever followed by a response on a different lever. Under baseline conditions the fixed-ratio schedule generated a high rate of responding and a low level of variability, while the fixed-interval schedule generated a low rate of responding and a high level of variability. Both methamphetamine (0.1 to 0.5 mg/kg) and scopolamine (2.4 to 240 microgram/kg) decreased overall response rate and increased variability of response location in each component of the multiple schedule with increasing doses of drug. At lower doses both drugs were found to decrease rate without affecting response variability.     

Test-retest reliability of retrospective self-reports in three populations of alcohol abusers

The reliability of alcohol abusers' retrospective self-reports was evaluated using a time-line follow-back interview technique. Independent groups of male subjects were interviewed in three different treatment settings (outpatient,n=12; inpatient,n=12; residential,n=12) on two separate occasions to assess the test-retest reliability of their self-reports of daily drinking and related events occurring 1 year prior to treatment. Correlational and scatterplot analyses generally showed a high correlation and low discrepancy between the two sets of interview responses for all groups. However, since some population differences were found in the reliability of reports for some variables, further research is needed to delineate the conditions under which reliable and valid retrospective self-reports can be obtained from different populations of alcohol abusers.This research was supported, in part, by Grant No. AA07072 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to Vanderbilt University.     

中国古代心理测验及其特色与价值

文章对中国古代心理测验历史进行反思,认为中国古代心理测验是以知人观为其理论依据,渊远流长,内容丰富,既有类似于现代西方的小时空心理测验,也有西方至今尚未充分关注的大时空心理测验。文章还阐释了中国古代心理测验的几个具体特色;置测验于生活实际中;文化与超文化测验井存;测验与选拨、训练、教学、娱乐相结合;精于定性,疏于定量。     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF SEPARATE TOPOGRAPHIES OF ABERRANT BEHAVIOR

We conducted a functional analysis of distinct topographies of aberrant behavior displayed by 4 clients. We first analyzed the behaviors in an aggregate fashion and then separated the behaviors to formulate hypotheses about the maintaining variables for each behavior. The procedures were used in a two-phase experiment. During Phase 1, two extended functional analyses were completed, one in an inpatient unit and one in a special education classroom. During Phase 2, two brief functional analyses were completed in an outpatient clinic. Results indicated that hypotheses of separate functions for distinct behaviors can be generated using both extended and brief functional analyses when the results are graphed in the aggregate and are separated by response topography. The results also suggest that these methods can improve the accuracy of data interpretation and treatment selection.     

Performances on ratio and interval schedules of reinforcement: Data and theory

Two differences between ratio and interval performance are well known: (a) Higher rates occur on ratio schedules, and (b) ratio schedules are unable to maintain responding at low rates of reinforcement (ratio “strain”). A third phenomenon, a downturn in response rate at the highest rates of reinforcement, is well documented for ratio schedules and is predicted for interval schedules. Pigeons were exposed to multiple variable-ratio variable-interval schedules in which the intervals generated in the variable-ratio component were programmed in the variable-interval component, thereby “yoking” or approximately matching reinforcement in the two components. The full range of ratio performances was studied, from strained to continuous reinforcement. In addition to the expected phenomena, a new phenomenon was observed: an upturn in variable-interval response rate in the midrange of rates of reinforcement that brought response rates on the two schedules to equality before the downturn at the highest rates of reinforcement. When the average response rate was corrected by eliminating pausing after reinforcement, the downturn in response rate vanished, leaving a strictly monotonic performance curve. This apparent functional independence of the postreinforcement pause and the qualitative shift in response implied by the upturn in variable-interval response rate suggest that theoretical accounts will require thinking of behavior as partitioned among at least three categories, and probably four: postreinforcement activity, other unprogrammed activity, ratio-typical operant behavior, and interval-typical operant behavior.     

TEACHING CHOICE MAKING DURING SOCIAL INTERACTIONS TO STUDENTS WITH PROFOUND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

We taught 4 students with profound multiple disabilities to use a microswitch communication system to request a change in recreational stimuli during social interactions with nondisabled peers. In Study 1, we conducted a preference assessment across a range of stimuli for each student. The most and least preferred stimuli were incorporated into microswitch communication system training in Study 2. During the second study, 3 of the 4 students (a) learned to use the microswitch communication system to control stimulus presentation, (b) more clearly differentiated their time among stimuli, and (c) increased their level of general alertness. Study 3 extended the use of the microswitch communication system to social interactions with nondisabled peers. Two students were more engaged in interactions when they chose when to change stimuli; 1 student was more alert when a peer chose when to change activities; a 4th student showed an undifferentiated pattern. The outcomes of the investigation are discussed in terms of the effects of controlling stimulus presentation on the behavior of students with profound multiple disabilities and the stability of preference hierarchies over time.     

REDUCTION OF SELF-INJURIOUS HAND MOUTHING USING RESPONSE BLOCKING

We evaluated a response-blocking procedure for reducing the self-injurious hand mouthing of 2 adults with profound disabilities. The procedure reduced mouthing in both cases. The results suggest research is warranted to delineate the behavioral process responsible for the effect of response blocking and to determine the procedure's long-term utility.     

Should “multiple imputations” be treated as “multiple indicators”?

Rubin's multiple imputation approach to missing data creates synthetic data sets, in which each missing variable is replaced by a draw from its predictive distribution, conditional on the observed data. By construction, analyses of such filled-in data sets as if the imputations were true values have the correct expectations for population parameters. In a recent paper, Mislevy showed how this approach can be applied to estimate the distributions of latent variables from complex samples. Multiple imputations for a latent variable bear a surface similarity to classical multiple indicators of a latent variable, as might be addressed in structural equation modelling or hierarchical modelling of successive stages of random sampling. This note demonstrates with a simple example why analyzing multiple imputations as if they were multiple indicators does not generally yield correct results; they must instead be analyzed by means concordant with their construction.I am grateful to Frank Jenkins, John Mazzeo, Kentaro Yamamoto, and Rebecca Zwick for comments on earlier versions of this paper.