The search for an effective clinical behavior analysis: the nonlinear thinking of Israel goldiamond

This paper has two purposes; the first is to reintroduce Goldiamond's constructional approach to clinical behavior analysis and to the field of behavior analysis as a whole, which, unfortunately, remains largely unaware of his nonlinear functional analysis and its implications. The approach is not simply a set of clinical techniques; instead it describes how basic, applied, and formal analyses may intersect to provide behavior-analytic solutions where the emphasis is on consequential selection. The paper takes the reader through a cumulative series of explorations, discoveries, and insights that hopefully brings the reader into contact with the power and comprehensiveness of Goldiamond's approach, and leads to an investigation of the original works cited. The second purpose is to provide the context of a life of scientific discovery that attempts to elucidate the variables and events that informed one of the most extraordinary scientific journeys in the history of behavior analysis, and expose the reader (especially young ones) to the exciting process of discovery followed by one of the field's most brilliant thinkers. One may perhaps consider this article a tribute to Goldiamond and his work, but the tribute is really to the process of scientific discovery over a professional lifetime.     

Much Ado About Nothing? Some Comments on B. F. Skinner's Definition of Verbal Behavior

Some have suggested that the definition of verbal behavior offered by B. F. Skinner (1957) fails to capture the essence of language insofar as it is too broad and not functional. In this paper, I argue that the ambiguities of Skinner's definition are not an indictment of it, and that suggestions to the contrary are problematic because they suffer a critical error of scientific reasoning. Specifically, I argue that (a) no clear definition of verbal behavior is possible because there is no natural distinction between verbal and nonverbal behavior; (b) attempts at an immutable definition are essentialistic; and (c) Skinner's functional taxonomy of language is in no way affected by the particulars of any definition of verbal behavior.     

A systematic examination of different parameters of presession exposure to tangible stimuli that maintain problem behavior

We examined the effects of three different presession conditions on tangibly maintained problem behavior for 2 students with autism, using individual-participant multielement designs. First, an analogue functional analysis demonstrated that problem behavior was maintained by access to tangible items. Next, topographies of item rejection were identified. Finally, students were exposed to (a) brief access, (b) no access, and (c) satiation to the tangible items prior to tangible sessions. The results demonstrated high levels of problem behavior following the brief-access and no-access presession conditions and low levels of problem behavior following the satiation condition. The findings are discussed in the context of how satiation might best be defined for these sorts of evaluations.     

AN EVALUATION OF RESURGENCE DURING TREATMENT WITH FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING

Extinction‐induced resurgence is the recurrence of previously reinforced behavior when another behavior is placed on extinction (Lieving, Hagopian, Long, & O'Connor, 2004). This phenomenon may account for some instances of treatment relapse when problem behavior recovers during extinction‐based treatments. The current study sought to determine whether resurgence of problem behavior would reliably occur with 5 participants who received treatment with FCT. Results showed that problem behavior reemerged for all but 1 participant when the communicative response was exposed to extinction or thin schedules of reinforcement. These findings suggest that resurgence may account for some instances of response recovery during treatment, and that the described procedure may be useful for the further study of resurgence and eventual prevention of this phenomenon.     

USE OF LATENCY TO PROBLEM BEHAVIOR TO EVALUATE DEMANDS FOR INCLUSION IN FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES

Few direct‐assessment procedures are designed to identify potential negative reinforcers (e.g., including demands in the escape condition of functional analyses). Two participants were systematically exposed to a series of demands nominated by caregivers as potential negative reinforcers. Sessions ended following the first instance of problem behavior, and a hierarchy of demand aversiveness was created based on the latency to the first problem behavior. Subsequent functional analyses confirmed the predictive value of the hierarchy, with shorter latency demands consistently producing more differentiated functional analysis outcomes.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF SELF‐INJURY IN A CAPTIVE OLIVE BABOON

Self‐injurious behavior (SIB), such as self‐biting and head banging, has been reported to occur in approximately 10% of captive, individually housed nonhuman primates. Accounts of the etiology of SIB in primates range from ecological to physiological. However, to date, no research has examined the possible influence of social consequences delivered by handlers and keepers in the maintenance of SIB in this population. The current study investigated the effects of social contact as a potentially reinforcing consequence for the SIB displayed by an olive baboon (Papio hamadryas anubis). Results indicated that the behavior was maintained by attention from humans. As treatment, reinforcement was arranged for an appropriate alternative response, resulting in increases in the appropriate alternative behavior and decreases in SIB.     

非英语专业大学生CET4成绩影响因素的结构模型

以501名参加过CET4的非英语专业大学生为研究对象,通过英语自我效能感问卷（ESEQ）、英语学习焦虑量表（ELAS）和英语学习策略量表（ELSI）的测量,探讨CET4成绩与其主要影响因素性别、英语自我效能感、英语学习焦虑和英语学习策略之间的结构关系模型。结果显示：（1）非英语专业大学生的英语学习焦虑存在显著的性别差异（女生低于男生）;（2）性别除与英语学习策略不存在直接路径作用外,与CET4成绩、英语自我效能感、英语学习焦虑间均存在直接路径作用;（3）英语学习焦虑对CET4成绩既存在直接路径作用,又通过英语自我效能感、英语学习策略和英语自我效能感的中介产生问接路径作用;（4）英语学习策略仅通过英语自我效能感的中介对CET4成绩产生间接路径作用。研究还表明英语自我效能感在CET4成绩影响因素的结构模型中起着瓶颈作用。     

A Unified Nonparametric IRT Model for <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>-Dimensional Psychological Test Data (<Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>-ISOP)

The (univariate) isotonic psychometric (ISOP) model (Scheiblechner, 1995) is a nonparametric IRT model for dichotomous and polytomous (rating scale) psychological test data. A weak subject independence axiom W1 postulates that the subjects are ordered in the same way except for ties (i.e., similarly or isotonically) by all items of a psychological test. A weak item independence axiom W2 postulates that the order of the items is similar for all subjects. Local independence (LI or W3) is assumed in all models. With these axioms, sample-free unidimensional ordinal measurements of items and subjects become feasible. A cancellation axiom (Co) gives, as a result, the additive isotonic psychometric (ADISOP) model and interval scales for subjects and items, and an independence axiom (W4) gives the completely additive isotonic psychometric (CADISOP) model with an interval scale for the response variable (Scheiblechner, 1999). The d-ISOP, d-ADISOP, and d-CADISOP models are generalizations to d-dimensional dependent variables (e.g., speed and accuracy of response). The author would like to thank an Associate Editor and two anonymous referees and also Professor H.H. Schulze for their very valuable suggestions and corrections.     

人类工作记忆的某些神经影像研究

采用神经影像技术研究人类工作记忆的脑机理是目前一个十分活跃的研究领域。研究表明存在负责不同信息加工的工作记忆系统 ,如词语工作记忆、空间工作记忆等 ,其中词语工作记忆主要由大脑左半球参与 ,空间工作记忆主要由大脑右半球参与。前额叶在工作记忆中的作用相当复杂 ,包括对记忆信息的注意和抑制、管理、整合等功能。合理巧妙的实验设计、多种研究手段的综合应用必将使人类工作记忆的脑机理得到充分阐明。     

Formal Schooling Influences Two- but Not Three-Dimensional Naming Skills

The modulatory influence of literacy on the cognitive system of the human brain has been indicated in behavioral, neuroanatomic, and functional neuroimaging studies. In this study we explored the functional consequences of formal education and the acquisition of an alphabetic written language on two- and three-dimensional visual naming. The results show that illiterate subjects perform significantly worse on immediate naming of two-dimensional representations of common everyday objects compared to literate subjects, both in terms of accuracy and reaction times. In contrast, there was no significant difference when the subjects named the corresponding real objects. The results suggest that formal education and learning to read and to write modulate the cognitive process involved in processing two- but not three-dimensional representations of common everyday objects. Both the results of the reaction time and the error pattern analyses can be interpreted as indicating that the major influence of literacy affects the visual system or the interaction between the visual and the language systems. We suggest that the visual system in a wide sense and/or the interface between the visual and the language system are differently formatted in literate and illiterate subjects. In other words, we hypothesize that the pattern of interactions in the functional-anatomical networks subserving visual naming, that is, the interactions within and between the visual and language processing networks, differ in literate and illiterate subjects.