Assessing potential reinforcement-like effects of brief stimuli unrelated to food reinforcers

It is widely assumed that reinforcers are biologically relevant stimuli, or stimuli that have been associated with biologically relevant stimuli. However, brief, arbitrary stimuli have also been reported to have reinforcement-like effects, despite being unrelated to biologically relevant stimuli like food. The present study explored the potential reinforcement-like effects of brief stimuli across 5 experiments. In Experiments 1 through 4, pigeon subjects responded for food reinforcement and brief stimulus presentations in a 2-component multiple schedule. Neither baseline response rates nor resistance to change during disruption tests were systematically greater in a component with versus without brief stimulus presentations. Increasing the rate and duration of brief stimulus presentations in Experiment 4 did not reveal reinforcement-like effects when compared directly with food. In Experiment 5, pigeons chose between independent terminal links in a concurrent-chains procedure. Across conditions, varying the location, duration, and rate of brief stimulus presentations in the terminal links had no systematic effects on preference. In contrast, varying rates of food reinforcers resulted in large and reliable shifts in preference. Therefore, the present study found no systematic evidence that brief stimuli unrelated to food reliably increase response rates, resistance to change, or preference. These data demonstrate the value of systematic replication, and a behavioral momentum approach to assessing potential reinforcement-like effects.     

A two-stage incentive mechanism for rebalancing free-floating bike sharing systems: Considering user preference

Free-floating bike sharing (FFBS) provides citizens with a flexible way for traveling. The operational performance of such systems is impacted by the imbalance problem of demand and supply. This paper proposes the first two-stage incentive mechanism to improve the service quality of FFBS. While inspired by the user-based rebalancing approach in station-based bike sharing (SBBS), our work is different from existing studies because location optimization is a new problem in FFBS and user preference is considered for the first time. We propose three mechanisms that are pick-up incentives, drop-off incentives, and two-stage incentives. When modeling users’ behavioral responses to incentive mechanisms, we think users prefer drop-off incentives to pick-up incentives, which is supported by a survey study. Each incentive offer is composed of a location and a price. To decide the suggested origin or destination, we first figure out the supply and demand of all valid locations based on Radiant Service Theory (RST) and then search the most problematic location comparing current inventory and future demand. The pricing scheme is modified Budgeted Procurement using Upper Confidence Bounds (BP-UCB). Simulation experiments validate the effectiveness of incentive mechanisms based on historical data from Capital BikeShare program. Results show that the service level of bike sharing systems can be significantly improved by three incentive mechanisms. The two-stage incentive mechanism unexpectedly shows no advantage over pick-up incentives. Sensitivity analysis further indicates that user preference will influence the ranking of two single-stage incentive mechanisms.     

A reformulation of the general Euclidean model for the external analysis of preference data

This paper discusses least squares methods for fitting a reformulation of the general Euclidean model for the external analysis of preference data. The reformulated subject weights refer to a common set of reference vectors for all subjects and hence are comparable across subjects. If the rotation of the stimulus space is fixed, the subject weight estimates in the model are uniquely determined. Weight estimates can be guaranteed nonnegative. While the reformulation is a metric model for single stimulus data, the paper briefly discusses extensions to nonmetric, pairwise, and logistic models. The reformulated model is less general than Carroll's earlier formulation.The author is grateful to Christopher J. Nachtsheim for his helpful suggestions.     

Factor structure of the Treatment Evaluation Inventory: Implications for measurement of treatment acceptability

The Treatment Evaluation Inventory (TEI), a frequently used measure of treatment acceptability, was used by 164 undergraduates to rate the acceptability of each of the following treatments: differential reinforcement of other behavior, exclusionary time-out, overcorrection, medical restraint, contingent electric shock, and physical restraint. TEI ratings of each treatment type were grouped separately, variance-covariance matrices were formed and compared, and data were subjected to factor analysis. The results indicated that the factor structure of the TEI varied with the treatment it was used to evaluate. Item analysis of the TEI indicated a high degree of internal consistency, although item-total correlations varied between rated treatments. The findings suggest that although the TEI is a reliable instrument, sensitive assessment of the treatment acceptability construct probably requires multidimensional measurement.     

Three intensive community-based programs for children and youth with serious emotional disturbance and their families

Systems of care for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families have generally lacked intensive community-based programs. We describe three types of newly established community-based programs in New York State and present a general evaluation plan for determining which programs work for various children and their families. The three community-based programs are Intensive Case Management, Family-Based Treatment, and Family-Centered Intensive Case Management. Process and outcome evaluations are being conducted for each of these programs. These evaluations make use of common intake and termination instruments, based on a minimum data set, standardized assessment instruments, and a common logic model, thus facilitating the comparison of findings across evaluations.     

THE USE OF BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT TO PRESCRIBE AND EVALUATE TREATMENTS FOR SEVERELY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

Behavioral assessment procedures were used to prescribe and evaluate treatments of maladaptive behavior for 2 children with severe multiple handicaps. In Experiment 1, the results of an assessment of reinforcer preference were used in conjunction with a functional analysis of the conditions maintaining self-injurious behavior to prescribe a treatment for a child with severe disabilities. The treatment procedure involved the use of a pressure-sensitive microswitch to activate reinforcing stimuli during two solitary conditions, during which self-injurious behavior had occurred at high rates. The results were evaluated with a multiple baseline across settings design and indicated that self-injury decreased with concomitant increases in microswitch activation. Results were maintained at 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and 6 months. In Experiment 2, the results of behavioral assessments of reinforcer preference and self-injurious behavior were combined to develop a treatment for a second severely handicapped child, who exhibited high rates of self-injury in demand situations. This treatment was evaluated with a multiple baseline across tasks design and resulted in the elimination of self-injury for up to 15 months.     

EFFECTS OF WAIT-TIME AND INTERTRIAL INTERVAL DURATIONS ON LEARNING BY CHILDREN WITH MULTIPLE HANDICAPS

We investigated the influence of teacher wait-time and intertrial interval durations on the performance of 4 multiply handicapped students during instruction in 10 skills. Four experimental conditions were evaluated: long wait-time and long intertrial interval, long wait-time and short intertrial interval, short wait-time and long intertrial interval, and short wait-time and short intertrial interval. Instructors attempted to keep short intervals as close as possible to 1 s and long intervals as close as possible to 10 s for both variables. Results showed that student performance was superior under the long wait-time conditions irrespective of the length of the intertrial interval.     

ASSESSMENT OF STIMULUS PREFERENCE AND REINFORCER VALUE WITH PROFOUNDLY RETARDED INDIVIDUALS

We evaluated a procedure for identifying potential reinforcers with profoundly retarded individuals. In Experiment 1, six persons were repeatedly exposed to 16 stimuli, and approach behaviors to each stimulus were used to identify preferred and nonpreferred stimuli. In Experiment 2, we examined the reinforcing properties of preferred and nonpreferred stimuli by delivering them contingently on the occurrence of arbitrarily selected responses. Results revealed that the preferred stimulus conditions typically produced higher rates of responding than did either the baseline or the nonpreferred stimulus conditions, suggesting that the procedure can be used to assess reinforcer value for individuals with limited behavioral repertoires.     

CLINICAL BEHAVIORAL PHARMACOLOGY: METHODS FOR EVALUATING MEDICATIONS AND CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT

We evaluated methods for comparing the effects of dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), thioridazine (Mellaril), and contingency management in the control of severe behavior problems. A reversal design was used in which medications were systematically titrated and assessed in unstructured as well as structured settings with three clients. Subsequently, behavioral procedures including timeout, differential reinforcement of other behavior, and visual screening, were used in a multiple-baseline design across settings. The assessment and design methods were useful in comparing the interventions. Dextroamphetamine decreased inappropriate behaviors and improved academic behaviors in one client, but no reliable effects were observed in the other two clients. Thioridazine was variable across clients, settings, behaviors, and dosages. Contingency management produced consistent decreases in inappropriate behaviors and small improvements in academic performance.