Effect of a reliability observer on the frequency of positive parent behavior recorded during naturalistic parent-child interactions

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of the presence of a reliability observer on the number of positive parent behaviors recorded by a primary observer during naturalistic parent-child interactions. Thirty parents and their young clinic-referred children served as subjects. After two initial home observations, a reliability observer was present to record data in observation session 3, but not session 4, for one-half the subjects. For the remaining subjects the reliability observer was present in session 4 but not session 3. The results of a 2 × 2 analysis of variance indicated a group by session interaction which resulted from an increase in maternal attention to the child in the presence of a reliability observer. Hypotheses to explain the finding are presented and implications of the results are discussed.This research was supported in part by NIMH Grant MH28859-01.     

Effects of ethanol on multiple fixed-interval fixed-ratio schedule performances: dynamic interactions at different fixed-ratio values.

Key pecking by three pigeons was maintained under a multiple fixed-interval fixed-ratio schedule of food presentation. The fixed-interval value remained at 3 minutes, while the fixed-ratio size was increased systematically in 30-response increments from 30 to either 120 (two pigeons) or 150 (one pigeon). At least two lower fixed-ratio values were also redetermined. The effects of ethanol (5 to 2.5 g/kg) were assessed at each of the different schedule parameters. Both overall and running response rates under the fixed-ratio schedule decreased with increases in the size of the fixed-ratio schedule; pause duration under the fixed-ratio schedule was directly related to increases in fixed-ratio size. Overall and running rates of responding under the fixed-interval schedule changed little with increases in the size of the fixed-ratio schedule. Despite the relative invariance of fixed-interval responding across the different fixed-ratio values, the effects of ethanol on responding under the fixed-interval schedule differed depending on the size of the fixed-ratio schedule. Greater increases occurred in both overall and in lower local rates of responding under the fixed-interval schedule when the fixed-ratio value was 120 or 150. The effects of ethanol on responding under the fixed-ratio schedule also depended on the size of the fixed ratio. Increases in responding under the fixed-ratio schedule were typically greater at the higher fixed-ratio values where response rates were lower. When the effects of ethanol were redetermined at the lower fixed-ratio parameter values, rates and patterns of responding were comparable to those obtained initially. However, the dose-effect curves for responding under both fixed-ratio and fixed-interval schedules were shifted up and to the right of those determined during the ascending series. The effects of ethanol can depend on rate or responding, behavioral history, and the context in which behavior occurs.     

A comparison of peer verbal responding directed toward adolescents with behavioral disorders and nonhandicapped peers

One of the primary intents of inclusion is the maximization of interaction between persons with and without disabilities. The purpose of this study was to analyze the verbal responding that peers directed toward adolescents with behavioral disorders and, to this effect, several comparisons were made: verbal responding of peers directed toward adolescents with behavioral disorders was compared to verbal responding of peers directed toward regular class adolescents; verbal responding of peers directed toward the same adolescents with behavioral disorders was compared across their self-contained and integrated settings; and verbal responding of peers directed toward adolescents with behavioral disorders in integrated settings was compared to verbal responding of peers directed toward regular class adolescents. Data, collected in real time using portable microcomputers, focused on positive, negative, and neutral social responding and positive, negative, and neutral academic responding. All verbal responding of peers directed toward 14 adolescents with behavioral disorders and 14 regular class peers was recorded. Data were analyzed by group and setting, as well as by social or academic content. Results of the study support inclusion, with high levels of peer responding directed toward adolescents with behavioral disorders in integrated classrooms. Almost all peer responding was positive or neutral in content. Results were discussed as they related to placement of students, social skills training, and previous research.     

Reversibility of single-incentive selective associations.

Rats were trained to press a lever in the presence of a tone-light compound stimulus and not to press in its absence. In each of two experiments, schedules were designed to make the compound a conditioned punisher for one group and a conditioned reinforcer for the other. In Experiment 1, one group's responding produced food in the presence of the compound but not in its absence. The other group's responding terminated the compound stimulus, and food was presented only in its absence. When tone and light were later presented separately, light controlled more responding than did tone in the former group, but tone gained substantial control in the latter. The same effects were also observed within subjects when the training schedules were switched over groups. In Experiment 2, two groups avoided shock in the presence of the compound stimulus. In the absence of the compound, one group was not shocked, and the other received both response-independent and response-produced shock. When tone and light were presented separately, the former group's responding was mainly controlled by tone, but the latter group's responding was almost exclusively controlled by light. These effects were also observed within subjects when the training schedules were switched over groups. Thus, these single-incentive selective association effects (appetitive in Experiment 1 and aversive in Experiment 2) were completely reversible. The schedules in which the compound should have been a conditioned reinforcer consistently produced visual control, and auditory control increased when the compound should have become a conditioned punisher. Currently accepted accounts of selective associations based on affinities between shock and auditory stimuli and between food and visual stimuli (i.e., stimulus-reinforcer interactions) do not adequately address these results. The contingencies of reinforcement most recently associated with the compound and with its absence, rather than the nature of the reinforcer, determined whether auditory or visual stimulus control developed.     

Further analysis of the separate and interactive effects of methylphenidate and common classroom contingencies

We evaluated separate and interactive effects between common classroom contingencies and methylphenidate (MPH) on disruptive and off-task behaviors for 4 children with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Analogue conditions consisting of contingent teacher reprimands, brief time-out, no interaction, and alone were conducted in a multielement design. Medication status (MPH or placebo) was alternated across days in a superordinate multielement design. Results indicate that (a) the behavioral effects of MPH were influenced by one or more of the analogue conditions for each participant, and (b) time-out was associated with zero or near-zero levels of both disruptive and off-task behavior for 3 of the 4 participants during MPH and placebo conditions. Implications for the clinical effectiveness of MPH and possible behavioral mechanisms of action of MPH in applied settings are discussed.     

Five-months-olds' attention and affective responses to still-faced emotional expressions

Mothers posed happy, sad, or neutral still-faces (SFs) between periods of normal interactions. Lowered infant attention and affect and increased grimacing occured during SF regardless of emotional expression posed during the SF period. Different static expressions elicited differential smiling; infants smiled slightly but significantly more to happy SFs. Greater differences occured with changes in contingent aspects of interactions.     

Classwide Peer Tutoring: Effects on the Spelling Performance and Social Interactions of Students with Mild Disabilities and Their Typical Peers in an Integrated Instructional Setting

The effectiveness of Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) to enhance the spelling performance and social interactions of three typical students and three students with mild disabilities was investigated. The classroom ecology was measured using the New Code for Instructional Structure and Student Academic Response (NCISSAR). Social interactions were assessed using the Multiple Option Observation System for Experimental Studies (M.O.O.S.E.S.). Spelling performance was measured by weekly pre-posttests. Using an ABAB single-subject design, results indicated that CWPT resulted in: (a) gains in the spelling accuracy of all students (up to 49%), (b) increases of students' duration of positive social interactions (up to 86%), and (c) high satisfaction ratings for both the students and the teacher. Comparisons between typical students and students with mild disabilities during CWPT suggested no differences in their duration of social interactions. Furthermore, the mean spelling accuracy of the students with mild disabilities was comparable to the spelling accuracy of the typical students (91% vs. 96%, respectively). Implications of the findings for the inclusion of students with mild disabilities in general education settings are discussed.     

Predictive Validity of Adult Attachment Measures in Relation to Emotion Regulation Behaviors in Marital Interactions

This study examined the predictive validity of 2 assessment approaches to adult attachment in relation to emotion regulation behaviors during marital conflict interactions. Both partners of 40 couples completed the Adult Attachment Style self-report (AAS; C. Hazan & P. Shaver, 1987), the Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ; J. A. Simpson, 1990), the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1985), and a videotaped interaction during which the partners engaged in a problem-solving discussion. The discussions were coded by means of the Interactional Dimensions Coding System (IDCS; D. Julien, H. J. Markman, & K. M. Lindhal, 1989). Results showed that AAI classification predicted proactive emotion regulation behaviors, whereas the AAS and the AAQ did not. Issues concerning the predictive validity of current measures of adult attachment are discussed.     

Sensory modality and stimulus control in the pigeon: Cross-species generality of single-incentive selective-association effects

In earlier studies with rats, the effectiveness of the auditory element of a tone–light discriminative stimulus was enhanced when the conditioned incentive value of the compound was negative rather than positive. The present experiment systematically replicated these results in pigeons trained to press a treadle in the presence of a tone–light compound under food-reinforcement or shock-avoidance schedules. Positive incentive value was conditioned to the compound by associating it with either food or relative safety from shock. The compound was made negative in other groups by associating it with shock or the absence of food. When tone and light were presented separately following this training, control by the auditory element was significantly enhanced in the conditions designed to make the compound negative rather than positive. The similarity of this constraint on learning in rats and pigeons suggests that it involves a fundamental attentional and incentive-motivational process with widespread species generality.     

Both maternal sensitivity and atypical maternal behavior independently predict attachment security and disorganization in adolescent mother-infant relationships

Extant theory holds that variation in attachment security is largely determined by caregiver sensitivity whereas disorganization has its roots in atypical interactions that frighten the infant. These hypotheses were confirmed in the current study of a high-risk sample but, contrary to current theory, both atypical maternal behavior and maternal sensitivity were also significant independent predictors of attachment disorganization and security.