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| Behavior Analytic Bridge Studies: Addressing Issues of Application via Basic Research |
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| Fairfax B |
| Area: EAB/DDA; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Timothy R. Vollmer (University of Florida) |
| Discussant: Thomas S. Critchfield (Illinois State University) |
| Abstract: Learning Objectives
Describe the logic of using Clozapine as treatment for severe aggression.
Describe how lean conditions may function as reinforcement in one context but as punishment in other contexts.
Distinguish between positive, neutral, and negative contingency arrangements. |
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| Behavioral Pharmacology of Aggression in Mice Lacking the tailless Gene |
| MARIA G. VALDOVINOS (Vanderbilt University), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Aggression is a primary reason why individuals with developmental disabilities still reside in state institutions. While behavioral assessments have been used to identify many environmental causes of aggression, the genesis of aggression is unknown. For lesser-understood phenomena such as aggression, a strategy often employed is the use of genetically altered animals to identify which genes may relate to specific behaviors. Our study used mutant mice reported to be hyper-aggressive due to the deletion of the tailless gene. The tailless gene is a member of the superfamily of genes encoding transcription factors of the ligand-activated nuclear receptor type. These mice develop normally except for a defective limbic system in the telecephalon region of the brain. Using the tailless mice, we conducted resident/intruder tests to determine the severity of aggression. Upon obtaining baseline measures for aggression, clozapine, an atypical neuroleptic often used to treat aggression in people with developmental disabilities, was administered and the resident/intruder test was conducted again. Results show that clozapine decreased the number of aggressive incidents and the length of attacks. Future research will focus on the operant nature of aggression (i.e., is it a positive reinforcer) and what neurotransmitters may be involved in aggressive behavior. |
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| Aversive Properties of Positive Reinforcement in Pigeons and People |
| DEAN C. WILLIAMS (University of Kansas), Michael Perone (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: Previous research in our laboratory has considered situations in which animals earn food rewards by working on tasks that involve “rich” conditions (large food rewards, frequent rewards, or low work requirements) and “lean” conditions (smaller rewards, infrequent rewards, or high work requirements). We have been especially interested in situations in which the subject is required to shift back and forth between rich and lean conditions These shifts are psychologically important. Although lean conditions may be readily accepted when arranged by themselves or when they are hard to detect, they take on disruptive properties when juxtaposed with rich conditions. Responding is interrupted and attention is directed away from the task at hand, even at the cost of delaying or losing the positive consequences of responding. We believe, therefore, that this research points the way to a laboratory model of inattentive, oppositional, and other forms of aberrant or maladaptive behavior that may be motivated by unfavorable shifts in conditions of work and reward. The present research represents a translation of basic behavioral processes from animal-based basic research to the study processes that may underlie chronic aberrant behavior in persons with mental retardation, and the translation of results from applied research to basic behavioral processes. Here we report our initial replication of the animal findings in human subjects with mild mental retardation and discuss its utility as laboratory model of variables that operate in the natural environment to make otherwise neutral or positive situations aversive. |
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| Effects of Contingency Manipulations on Responding with Rats |
| ANDREW SAMAHA (University of Florida), Timothy R. Vollmer (University of Florida), Laura E. O'Steen (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: We examined rats’ lever pressing under manipulations in which we varied the probability of a pellet delivery following a response and the probability of a pellet delivery following the nonoccurrence of a response. In addition, we collected data on responses made on a second lever that had no effect on the probability of pellet delivery. Results showed that animals continued to respond under circumstances when doing so does not necessarily “pay off,” but these response patterns were dependent on individual histories of reinforcement. The results will be presented in terms of response rates under various contingency values (positive, neutral, negative). The results have applied implications because humans usually encounter a mix of exposure to reinforcers that occur sometimes following behavior and sometimes not following behavior. For example, treatment integrity failures produce a blend of contingent and response independent reinforcers. The results also have implications for common treatments for problem behavior like differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). |
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