COVARIATION WITHIN FUNCTIONAL RESPONSE CLASSES: IMPLICATIONS FOR TREATMENT OF SEVERE PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

Two studies examined the effects of a reductive treatment versus instruction-based treatments on the generalized reduction of problem behaviors. Each study involved a detailed analysis of multiple problem behaviors performed by school-aged youth with severe intellectual disabilities. The analysis examined the contrasting effects of one of two different positive intervention procedures (teaching a positive alternative behavior or providing additional teacher assistance during instruction) versus blocking and/or verbally reprimanding a problem behavior. The focus of each analysis was on the covariation of multiple problem behaviors within functional response classes. Results of the investigation indicated that when only one member of the response class was blocked, a collateral increase was observed in one or more different problem behaviors from the same response class. Alternatively, when 1 participant was taught a functionally equivalent mand response, all problem behaviors in the response class were reduced. Problem behaviors also were reduced for the remaining participant by presenting antecedent teacher assistance. Implications of the research extend to analysis of covariation within response classes and to procedures that result in generalized reduction of problem behaviors within a response class.     

Inhibitory control and negative emotional processing in psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder

The field of personality disorders has had a long-standing interest in understanding interactions between emotion and inhibitory control, as well as neurophysiological indices of these processes. More work in particular is needed to clarify differential deficits in offenders with antisocial personality disorder (APD) who differ on psychopathic traits, as APD and psychopathy are considered separate, albeit related, syndromes. Evidence of distinct neurobiological processing in these disorders would have implications for etiology-based personality disorder taxonomies in future psychiatric classification systems. To inform this area of research, we recorded event-related brain potentials during an emotional-linguistic Go/No-Go task to examine modulation of negative emotional processing by inhibitory control in three groups: psychopathy (n = 14), APD (n = 16), and control (n = 15). In control offenders, inhibitory control demands (No-Go vs. Go) modulated frontal-P3 amplitude to negative emotional words, indicating appropriate prioritization of inhibition over emotional processing. In contrast, the psychopathic group showed blunted processing of negative emotional words regardless of inhibitory control demands, consistent with research on emotional deficits in psychopathy. Finally, the APD group demonstrated enhanced processing of negative emotion words in both Go and No-Go trials, suggesting a failure to modulate negative emotional processing when inhibitory control is required. Implications for emotion-cognition interactions and putative etiological processes in these personality disorders are discussed.     

Different groups, different threats: a multi-threat approach to the experience of stereotype threats

Two studies demonstrated that different negatively stereotyped groups are at risk for distinct forms of stereotype threats. The Multi-Threat Framework articulates six distinct stereotype threats and the unique constellations of variables (e.g., group identification, stereotype endorsement) that elicit each stereotype threat. Previous research suggests that different negatively stereotyped groups systematically vary across these stereotype threat elicitors; a pilot study confirms these differences. Across two studies, groups that tend to elicit low stereotype endorsement (religion, race/ethnicity, congenital blindness) were less likely to report experiencing self-as-source stereotype threats (stereotype threats requiring stereotype endorsement) and groups that tend to elicit low group identification (mental illness, obesity, blindness later in life) were less likely to report experiencing group-as-target stereotype threats (stereotype threats requiring group identification). This research suggests that traditional models may overlook the experiences of stereotype threats within some groups and that interventions tailored to address differences between stereotype threats will be most effective.     

THE MAGIC OF PLAY: LOW‐INCOME MOTHERS’ AND FATHERS’ PLAYFULNESS AND CHILDREN'S EMOTION REGULATION AND VOCABULARY SKILLS

Using data from a diverse sample of low‐income families who participated in the Early Head Start Research Evaluation Project (n = 73), we explored the association between mothers’ and fathers’ playfulness with toddlers, toddler's affect during play, and children's language and emotion regulation at prekindergarten. There were two main findings. First, fathers’ playfulness in toddlerhood was associated with children's vocabulary skills in prekindergarten whereas mothers’ playfulness was related to children's emotion regulation. Cross‐parental effects were found only for mothers. The association between mothers’ playfulness and children's vocabulary and emotion regulation was strengthened when fathers engaged in more pretend play and when children were affectively positive during the play. These findings show that playfulness is an important source of variation in the vocabulary and emotion regulation of children growing up in low‐income families. They also point to domain‐specific ways that mothers and fathers promote children's regulatory and vocabulary skills, and highlight the importance of children's positive engagement in play.     

From stereotype threat to stereotype threats: implications of a multi-threat framework for causes, moderators, mediators, consequences, and interventions.

More than 100 articles have examined the construct of stereotype threat and its implications. However, stereotype threat seems to mean different things to different researchers and has been employed to describe and explain processes and phenomena that appear to be fundamentally distinct. Complementing existing models, the authors posit a Multi-Threat Framework in which six qualitatively distinct stereotype threats arise from the intersection of two dimensions--the target of the threat (the self/one's group) and the source of the threat (the self/outgroup others/ingroup others). The authors propose that these threats constitute the core of the broader stereotype threat construct and provide the foundation for understanding additional, as of yet uncharacterized, stereotype threats. The proposed threats likely differentially peril those with different stigmatizable characteristics, have different eliciting conditions and moderators, are mediated by somewhat different processes, are coped with and compensated for in different ways, and require different interventions to overcome.     

The Effect of a Neutralizing Routine on Problem Behavior Performance

A functional analysis of noncompliance, aggression, and disruptive behavior during instruction was conducted with a 10-year-old boy with severe disabilities. We studied the relation between participant responsiveness and the rate and function of problem behavior. Results showed that unresponsiveness before difficult instruction was associated with higher rates of problem behavior negatively reinforced by termination of that instruction. A neutralizing routine, called precorrection, was then applied before difficult instruction when the participant was rated as not responsive. Results showed that the neutralizing event increased responsiveness and reduced problem behavior during difficult instruction. The study demonstrates a promising assessment and treatment method for problematic behavior that begins prior to instruction.