PROMOTING SAFETY BELT USE WITH TRAFFIC SIGNS AND PROMPTERS

Two studies were conducted examining the stimulus-control effects of conventional traffic signs as prompts for motor vehicle driver safety belt use. Following pilot research which suggested that a traffic sign reading “Fasten Safety Belt” posted at a parking lot exit was effective in producing small increases in safety belt use, Study I demonstrated the superiority of having human prompters display such signs compared to simply posting the signs. Study II replicated the findings of Study I and found that posted signs became more effective in prompting safety belt use if simple posting was preceded by a period involving human prompters who displayed the signs. The results bear upon the development of more effective use of traffic signs in promoting safety belt use and in viewing such use as an instance of rule-governed behavior.     

Observed behaviors during clinical interviews predict improvement in depression

A considerable percentage of depressed patients do not respond to antidepressive treatment. Early indicators of prognosis are needed. The aims of this study are to examine (a) whether the interpersonal behavior of patients and psychiatrist, as assessed by means of direct observation of behavior during a baseline clinical interview, might have predictive value with respect to therapeutic outcome and (b) which predictive potency measures of psychomotor activation, as assessed by less refined methods, such as global clinical judgment, might have. In the analysis used, speech-pause behavior was taken as the basic structure of the interaction. The relations of other behaviors such as looking and hand and head movement with this structure were determined. Evidence is presented that in a group of 31 depressives, improvement after a period of 10 weeks was related to observed behaviors during a baseline interview. The behaviors of the patients are interpreted as relational or nonrelational. The relational behaviors (i.e., looking yesnodding, gesturing) occur less in patients who will improve, whereas the nonrelational behaviors (i.e., intensive body touching, head movements) occur more in these patients. The nonrelational behaviors are presumed to be indicative of the state of arousal. The predictive potency of these variables could not be explained by their relationship with the baseline severity of depression, which in itself also predicted improvement. Moreover, global clinical assessment of psychomotor activation (i.e., retardation and agitation) could not be related to outcome.     

Examining the trajectory of parent emotion talk in mothers of toddlers: A predominantly Latine sample

Supportive parent emotion socialization has been associated with greater child emotion understanding and expression and lower levels of externalizing behavior problems, with limited understanding on parent emotion socialization in toddlerhood. The current study examined the developmental trajectory of emotion socialization via emotion talk in mothers of toddlers from a predominantly Latine sample. Participants were 101 mother-toddler dyads assessed over three time points from ages 12–25 months. Overall, maternal emotion talk remained relatively stable over time, although there was a significant decrease between the first and second assessments before returning to initial rates at the third assessment. Maternal emotion talk did not predict child externalizing behavior over time. Interestingly, however, greater toddler externalizing behavior problems was associated with an increase in maternal emotion talk over time. These findings suggest maternal emotion talk is relatively stable for parents of children who are low on externalizing behaviors and may fluctuate (i.e., slowly increase) for mothers of children who are high in externalizing behaviors. Understanding these mechanisms further could help inform how we implement and personalize parenting interventions.     

Examining Safety Behavior Subtypes Across Distinct Social Contexts in Social Anxiety Disorder and Major Depression

People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) use different types of safety behaviors that have been classified as avoidance vs. impression management. The current study investigated differences in safety behavior subtype use in 132 individuals with principal diagnoses of social anxiety disorder (SAD, n = 69), major depressive disorder (MDD, n = 30), and nonpatient controls (n = 33) across two social contexts: an interpersonal relationship-building task (social affiliation) and a speech task (social performance). We examined whether diagnostic groups differed in safety behavior subtype use and whether group differences varied by social context. We also explored relationships between avoidance and impression management safety behaviors, respectively, and positive and negative valence affective and behavioral outcomes within the social affiliation and social performance contexts. Safety behavior use varied by diagnosis (SAD > MDD > nonpatient controls). The effect of diagnosis on impression management safety behavior use depended on social context: use was comparable for the principal SAD and MDD groups in the social performance context, whereas the SAD group used more impression management safety behaviors than the MDD group in the social affiliation context. Greater use of avoidance safety behaviors related to higher negative affect and anxious behaviors, and lower positive affect and approach behaviors across contexts. Impression management safety behaviors were most strongly associated with higher positive affect and approach behaviors within the social performance context. These findings underscore the potential value of assessing safety behavior subtypes across different contexts and within major depression, in addition to SAD.     

Safety behaviors were associated with greater anxious symptoms during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

Research shows that people who use safety behaviors are at greater risk factor for anxiety than people who do not use safety behaviors. However, the perception of some safety behaviors changed during the COVID-19 pandemic; behaviors that were once considered unnecessary or excessive were now commonplace (e.g., monitoring bodily symptoms, avoiding crowds). The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which the pandemic changed the status of health-related safety behaviors as a risk factor for symptoms of anxiety. To this end, we tested the effect of safety behavior use on anxious symptoms during the first year of the pandemic using a longitudinal design with 8 time points and participants (n = 233) from over 20 countries. Despite possible changes in their perception, those engaging in high levels of safety behaviors reported the greatest levels of anxious symptoms throughout the pandemic year. However, the outcomes for safety behavior users were not all negative. Safety behavior use at baseline was the only predictor of participants' willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine (measured one year later).     

Between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Examination of Reasons for Academic Study based on the Theory of Internalization

In contrast with the view that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are antagonistic, the view proposed in this article is that they are anchors of a continuous variable. According to the theory set out here, intrinsic motivation develops by means of internalization. This gives rise to four types of motivation: external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic. The main purpose of this study was to construct a scale to measure these four types of motivation for academic achievement and then to examine its validity. The Stepping Motivation Scale, created by the author, was administered to 483 junior high school students. Intercorrelations among the four subscales conformed to a simplex structure, and documented a continuum from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation. To clarify the distinction among the four types of motivation, relevant variables such as causal attributions and coping behaviors in failing situations, beliefs in links between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and teachers' evaluation of students' motivation were related to motivation types. A difference in motivational types was exhibited in the differential patterns of correlations.     

BEHAVIORAL CUSPS: A DEVELOPMENTAL AND PRAGMATIC CONCEPT FOR BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Most concepts of development explain certain behavior changes as products or markers of the invariable succession of emerging periods, stages, refinements, or achievements that define and order much of an individual's life. A different but comparable concept can be derived from the most basic mechanisms of behavior analysis, which are its environmental contingencies, and from its most basic strategy, which is to study behavior as its subject matter. From a behavior-analytic perspective, the most fundamental developmental questions are (a) whether these contingencies vary in any systematic way across the life span, and thus make behavior change in a correspondingly systematic way; and (b) whether some of these contingencies and their changes have more far-reaching consequences than others, in terms of the importance to the organism and others, of the behavior classes they change. Certain behavior changes open the door to especially broad or especially important further behavior change, leading to the concept of the behavioral cusp. A behavioral cusp, then, is any behavior change that brings the organism's behavior into contact with new contingencies that have even more far-reaching consequences. Of all the environmental contingencies that change or maintain behavior, those that accomplish cusps are developmental. Behavior change remains the fundamental phenomenon of development for a behavior-analytic view; a cusp is a special instance of behavior change, a change crucial to what can come next.     

HYPOTHESIS-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR TANTRUM BEHAVIORS OF PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES IN SCHOOL SETTINGS

We conducted a functional assessment of problem behaviors of 2 students with developmental disabilities in their classroom environments. Results of the assessments showed that although there were more tantrums in demand than in no-demand conditions, the function of the behavior was to gain attention (positive reinforcement) rather than to avoid or escape demands (negative reinforcement); demand conditions apparently served a discriminative function for the availability of attention. Therefore, intervention was based on the positive reinforcement hypothesis, resulting in a substantial reduction of tantrums for both subjects.     

Cooperative learning revisited

The endeavor to teach academic skills known as cooperative learningis of interest to behavioral educators due to its record of effectiveness, its use of behavioral procedures, and its relatively widespread adoption by regular educators. All forms of cooperative learning emphasize operations that encourage students to work together to achieve commonly held goals rather than competing with or ignoring the efforts of others. Despite the apparent soundness of the approach, the present commentary raises several issues. First, it states that some cooperative learning proponents fail to describe the behavioral processes underlying the approach. Second, it is pointed out that it is unclear whether cooperative learning is an independent or dependent variable. Given that cooperative learning applies group contingencies to academic behavior, the question is raised as to whether group contingencies do, in fact, produce desirable social interactions, and whether group contingencies are appropriate for academic behaviors. A concern is also raised as to whether the spontaneous peer tutoring generated by cooperative learning compares favorably with planned peer tutoring. Finally, it is claimed that the minor variations from academic group contingencies that cooperative learning proponents have introduced do not require identifying a new process.