Telehealth parent training for a young child at risk for autism spectrum disorder

The global pandemic has highlighted the importance of telehealth to access behavioral interventions. Face-to-face parent training improves the development and behaviors of young children at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We evaluated a telehealth parent training intervention for a child at risk for ASD. Two parents identified possible early ASD symptoms in their 30-month-old son (lack of imitation, pointing, and vocal manding). Both parents simultaneously received telehealth behavioral skills training on the Parent Intervention for Children at Risk for Autism program for 1 hour per week over 29 weeks. Multiple baseline designs across parent and child behaviors showed that both parents improved their parent teaching fidelity above 80% and the child improved on all trained behaviors. This study expands the utility of telehealth behavioral parent training to young children at risk for ASD to mitigate early symptoms of ASD.     

Literalism as a marker of hypnotic "trance": disconfirming evidence

The responses given by highly hypnotizable, hypnotic subjects and those of unhypnotizable subjects who simulated hypnosis to questions of the type, "Do you mind telling me your name?" and "Do you mind standing up?" were contrasted. The purpose was to examine Erickson's (1980) assertion that literalism (answering "yes" or "no" verbally or nonverbally without any cognitive elaboration) is a marker of hypnotic "trance." Simulators exhibited a greater rate of literalism than hypnotic "virtuosos" (i.e., extreme scorers on both group and individual hypnotizability measures). Hypnotized subjects and nonhypnotized subjects approached in the campus library responded comparably. Because less than a third of hypnotic virtuosos responded literally, our results strongly refuted Erickson's assertion that literalism is a cognitive feature of hypnosis.     

A comparison of observed and reported adult-infant interactions: Effects of perceived sex

Interactions of 16 adults (eight married couples whose youngest child was less than 2 1/2 years old) with a single actor infant, dressed as either a male or a female, were recorded and analyzed in four categories: direction of gaze, facial expression, physical contact with the infant, and toy used. After the interaction period, a 45-minute interview on child rearing was conducted with each member of the couple. Observed interactions were then compared with interview data. The results support previous studies which show that both male and female parents behave differently toward unfamiliar infants on the basis of perceived sex. However, parents, especially mothers, appeared unaware of their differential treatment of male and female infants. These results suggest subtle sex-typing of infants by adults.     

Behavioral changes over several successful agonistic encounters between male mice: Effects of type of “standard opponent”

This study assessed whether two types of non-aggressive “standard opponents” (“intact” and “anosmic” group-housed males) produced similar behavioral changes in isolated OF1 male mice given several experiences of victory. Experimental groups confronted either intact or anosmic opponents every two days until they had completed four encounters. The behavioral changes were recorded using a detailed ethologically inspired analysis. These changes were clearly different depending on the opponent type. When intact opponents were used, experimental subjects increased the time spent in digging, non-social exploration, explore from a distance, and attack over encounters, but showed decreased time spent in threat and a decreased latency to the first attack. In encounters with anosmic opponents, only declines in the latencies to threat and attack were noted. Moreover, the experimental groups differed in their behaviors over encounters. Those confronting intact opponents spent less time in social investigation, more time in explore from a distance and threat, and showed a shorter latencies to threat and attack than counterparts confronting anosmics. These results suggest that, although both types of “standard opponents” are similar in their non-aggressiveness, they elicit rather different behavioral responses in their adversaries. These findings provide additional support for the view that the type of opponent used in studies on intermale aggression is of paramount importance. Indeed, the use of different types of “standardized non-aggressive opponents” appears to be an important source of variability between studies. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder to ask “where” questions using a speech-generating device

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have limited speech are often taught to communicate using a speech-generating device (SGD). We evaluated procedures for teaching a mand for information (i.e., Where is [item]?) using an interrupted behavior chain procedure. In Experiment 1, all participants (3 children with ASD who communicated using an SGD) acquired the target mand but transfer to a novel stimulus did not occur. In the second experiment, 2 participants were taught to approach alternative communication partners when the first partner did not provide the information. The second experiment also included procedures to test whether the responses were under the control of appropriate motivating operations (MOs). Generalization across communication partners occurred with both participants, but transfer across behavior chains with only 1 participant. The results of both experiments suggest that teaching multiple behavior chains and evaluating MO control may be necessary to establish generalized manding for information.     

Testosterone and cortisol responses to competitive fighting in human males: A pilot study

Serum testosterone and cortisol levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in 14 young male judo competitors, in samples taken 10 minutes before and 45 minutes after two different procedures. The first involved physical exercise and the second competitive fighting. Both procedures were of 5 minutes duration and sessions took place at the same time (between 10:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M. local time) but on different days. Comparing the two situations over all subjects revealed that testosterone increased after exercise and decreased slightly after Competition. Between subject comparisons suggested that contrary to previous claims, winning or losing did not significantly change the testosterone and cortisol levels. Comparisons of subjects who were members of the Regional Team with individuals who were not part of that group confirmed that members increased their testosterone levels after competition, whereas the nonmembers showed a significant decrease. Moreover, success of the individuals, in their sporting record, correlated positively and significantly with the changes of testosterone observed during the competition. These preliminary results suggest that previous personal experience of success can influence the pattern of the psychoendocrine response to a contest situation.     

The effect of implicit person theory on performance appraisals

Four studies examined whether implicit person theory (IPT) regarding the malleability of personal attributes (e.g., personality and ability) affects managers' acknowledgment of change in employee behavior. The extent to which managers held an incremental IPT was positively related to their recognition of both good (Study 1) and poor (Study 2) performance, relative to the employee behavior they initially observed. Incremental theorists' judgments were not anchored by their prior impressions (Study 3). In the 4th study, entity theorists who were randomly assigned to a self-persuasion training condition developed a significantly more incremental IPT. This change in IPT was maintained over a 6-week period and led to greater acknowledgment of an improvement in employee performance than was exhibited by entity theorists in the placebo control group.