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| Int'l Symposium - The Synergistic Influence of Translational Research on the Applied Setting and the Basic Laboratory |
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| Dalton |
| Area: EAB/TPC; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Patrick R. Progar (Bancroft Neurosciences Institute) |
| Discussant: Michael C. Davison (University of Auckland) |
| Abstract: Learning Objectives
Audience members will be able to define translational research and recognize examples of translational research in the field of behavior analysis.
Audience members will be able to apply principles of behavioral economics to preference assessment data.
Audience members will learn the definitions and applications of choice behavior and behavioral history to applied settings, and the importance of animal models for human behavior. |
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| Maternal Nutrition and Offspring Behaviour: Application of Choice Procedures |
| JASON LANDON (University of Auckland) |
| Abstract: The transfer of technology from behavioural laboratories to biomedical science is a relatively new and exciting area. We have an animal model of prenatal undernutrition in the rat which produces offspring who are growth retarded at birth, but develop hypertension, and metabolic disorders in adult life. These offspring also develop reduced locomotor activity and hyperphagia, which are exacerbated with advancing age and by a hypercaloric diet. The biological phenotype of these animals shows parallels with the “couch potato syndrome” in Western Societies that has been linked with major health problems. The discovery that the behavioral changes precede the metabolic disorder suggests the need to investigate behavioral differences in these animals, along with the neuroendocrine changes that may underlie them. The use of simple and complex choice procedures developed in our laboratory to quantify behavioral differences in this animal model, and examine the role of these critical behaviors in the development of the metabolic disorder will be discussed. |
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| Choice in the Applied Setting: What Basic Research Can Offer |
| FRANCES A. PERRIN (Bancroft NeuroHealth), Patrick R. Progar (Bancroft Neurosciences Institute), Michael C. Davison (University of Auckland), Elizabeth Gibbons (Bancroft NeuroHealth), Sheri Felice (Bancroft NeuroHealth), James J. Dunleavy (Bancroft NeuroHealth) |
| Abstract: The first study translated work in the basic laboratory on concurrent variable-interval schedules that alternated in a pseudorandom binary sequence to a clinical setting. This sequence allowed us to measure separate effects of proximal and distal contingencies of reinforcement on current responding. Two sets of identical math problems were presented on blue or pink paper. Correct answers were reinforced on a concurrent VI 60-s VI 240-s schedule. Behavior was most sensitive to the contingencies in the current session, whereas sensitivity to reinforcers beyond the previous day’s session was quite low. The second study is the first attempt at using the pseudorandom binary sequence to evaluate problem behaviors in a clinical setting. Appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior were reinforced on concurrent VI 15-s VI 60-s schedules. The results also indicated that behavior was most sensitive to the contingencies in the current session. Taken together the studies represent an analysis of transition-state responding in the clinical setting. Reliabity data were taken on approximately 30% of the sessions with interobserver agreement averaging over 90%. |
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| Demand Effects on Preference in Human Free Operant Responding |
| FRANCES A. PERRIN (Bancroft NeuroHealth), Ralph Spiga (Temple University), Deborah Anne Haas (Temple University), R. Stockton Maxwell (Temple University), Patrick R. Progar (Bancroft Neurosciences Institute) |
| Abstract: The topic of this presentation is an exploration of the implications of behavioral economics for preference assessment in applied settings. Determining the reinforcing effects of food items and activities is an important component of functional analytic assessment in applied treatment settings. These assessments rely on choice behavior to assess preference. The assessment and determinants of choice behavior has been a topic of interest to basic researchers in the non-human and human laboratories. Investigators have observed reversal of preferences, preference for variable rather than predictable outcomes and interactions of multiple reinforcers. Behavioral economic procedures may provide important concepts (e.g., elasticity and demand) and methods (e.g., cost) for assessing and describing the reinforcing effects in the applied setting. In this presentation the utility of behavioral economics to preference assessment will be discussed. Empirical results from the human and non-human drug self administration laboratories will illustrate behavioral economic principles. Data resulting from applied setting will be presented. Reliability data were generally quite high across conditions. The implications of the results for understanding the behavioral deficits of developmentally disabled children and for evaluating preferences will be explained. The research was supported by NIDA Grant #DA-12725 |
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