The effects of hormones,Type A behavior pattern,and provocation on aggression in men

Thirty-eight male college students, classified as either Type A or Type B based on their Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS-T) scores, competed in a reaction time task that allowed them to administer shocks to an increasingly provocative fictitious opponent. Salivary testosterone and cortisol were measured both prior to and after the task. Aggression was defined as the level of shock the subject was willing to set for the opponent. The results of this study indicate that a relationship exists between endogenous testosterone levels in men and direct physical aggression. Some evidence for the moderating effects of hormones on the level of aggression expressed by Type As was observed. No direct relationship between Type A and aggression was found.     

Does cyberbullying predict internalizing problems and conduct problems when controlled for traditional bullying?

In this study, relations between cybervictimization and internalizing and conduct problems were analyzed while controlling for traditional victimization. A sample of 701 emerging adults in secondary vocational education completed self-reports about cybervictimization, traditional victimization, internalizing problems and conduct problems. Using multiple regression analyses with heteroscedasticity-consistent estimates, it was found that cybervictimization is related to internalizing and conduct problems while controlling for traditional victimization. The results suggest that cybervictimization is related to both internalizing and conduct problems over and above traditional victimization. The discussion focuses on the need to address bullying and cyberbullying among emerging adults.     

Using high-probability foods to increase the acceptance of low-probability foods

Studies have evaluated a range of interventions to treat food selectivity in children with autism and related developmental disabilities. The high-probability instructional sequence is one intervention with variable results in this area. We evaluated the effectiveness of a high-probability sequence using 3 presentations of a preferred food on increasing acceptance in a child with autism who refused a few specific foods. The high-probability sequence increased acceptance of 3 foods. We then systematically faded the intervention for 2 foods.     

Impact of treatment integrity on intervention effectiveness

Treatment integrity has cogent implications for intervention effectiveness. Understanding these implications is an important, but often neglected, undertaking in behavior analysis. This paper reviews current research on treatment integrity in applied behavior analysis. Specifically, we review research evaluating the relation between integrity failures and the efficacy of behavioral interventions. Avenues for future research are provided.     

A Historical Perspective on the Future of Behavior Science

Like all natural sciences, behavior science has much to offer toward an understanding of the world. The extent to which the promise of behavior science is realized, though, depends upon the extent to which we keep what we know before us. This paper considers fundamental concepts in behavior science, including the concepts of behavior, stimulation, setting conditions, and language. In considering these concepts, we revisit comments from B. F. Skinner and J. R. Kantor and also consider some areas of behavior analytic research and the implications they have for reconsidering long-held assumptions about the analysis of behavior. We hope that, in considering our foundations, the vitality and strength of the discipline might be enhanced, our impact on science improved, and our future secured.     

Assessing Preferences Among Behavioral Interventions With Japanese Parents of Children With Developmental Disabilities

As the cultural dynamic continues to become increasingly complex, it is critical to assess cultural factors that influence practice. The present study considers the treatment preferences of Japanese mothers of children with developmental disabilities. After answering demographic questions, each participant was given four scenarios and asked how they would respond by choosing one of four interventions (differential reinforcement, ignoring, reprimanding, and time-out). Overall, we found that parents preferred differential reinforcement strategies the most. Moreover, parents who reported that their children had a history of involvement with applied behavior analysis were especially likely to choose differential reinforcement. Implications for future research and practice are provided.     

Socio-Economic Status,Time Spending,and Sleep Duration in Indian Children and Adolescents

In this article physical activity, screen time, and academic work are studied as mediators between socio-economic status and sleep duration among school children in India. Participants were 268 school children aged 10–15 from Pune, India. They were sampled from private schools and impoverished public schools. We found that the highest socio-economic status children reported almost an hour and a half less sleep than their lowest socio-economic status counterparts. The lower socio-economic status children reported more physical activity and screen time, and the higher socio-economic status children reported spending more time on academic work. Although screen time was negatively related to sleep duration, academic work was the strongest mediator between socio-economic status and sleep duration. Physical activity was not a significant mediator. In India, academic work is a strong predictor of a lower sleep duration among children and adolescents.     

Normative Publication Productivity of Communication Scholars at Selected Career Milestones

This study builds on past research on normative publication practices in the communication discipline by exploring rates of contribution to the discipline’s literature as represented in the Communication Institute for Online Scholarship’s ComAbstracts database. The ComAbstracts database, spanning 90 years and more than 46,000 publications, provides significantly greater breadth and depth than previously available data sources. The strategy for sampling scholars included in this study also differs from prior work by limiting the sample to scholars affiliated with the communication field through membership in one of its primary professional societies. For purposes of studying historical change in productivity, the sample of scholars was divided into six cohorts at different points in their careers to discover norms for publication productivity at milestone intervals following career onset, defined as the date of award of the Ph.D. or an equivalent terminal degree. Among other findings, results suggest (a) that rates of contribution of single‐authored articles have fallen significantly over the years without compensating increases in the number of multiauthored publications, (b) that an early high rate of publication productivity is highly predictive of a sustained high rate, and (c) that more than one third of the membership of the scholars sample had not contributed any articles to the field’s mainline periodical literature. As well, a metric for determining exceptionally high and low productivity rates by career stage is suggested and illustrated, revealing a way of identifying top‐tier and subnormal productivity adjusted for years in career.     

Breast Cancer as Trauma: Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth

Diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been associated with both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and posttraumatic growth (PTG). This cross-sectional study sought to assess the frequency, common predictors, and interrelationships of PTSD symptoms and PTG in breast cancer survivors (n = 65). In this sample, symptoms of PTSD and reports of PTG were common and were not significantly related to one another. Greater social constraints on talking about breast cancer and perception of cancer as a traumatic stressor were associated with greater PTSD symptomatology. Younger age and perception of cancer as a traumatic stressor were associated with greater PTG. Findings suggest the central role of subjective appraisal in adjustment to cancer. Psychosocial interventions should be sensitive to the potential for PTG, both in treatment design and in assessment of outcomes.