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| Transient Behavioral Changes: Theory, Data and Discussion |
| Saturday, May 26, 2018 |
| 3:00 PM–3:50 PM |
| Marriott Marquis, San Diego Ballroom A |
| Area: EAB/VBC; Domain: Translational |
| Chair: Deisy De Souza (Universidade Federal de São Carlos) |
| Abstract: The objective of the symposium is to present theoretical discussion and data on transient states of behavior, its controlling variables and applied implications. The field of Behavior Analysis has been paid attention to stable states of behavior, and few studies take an empirical analysis of transient states of behavior and its applied implications. The first presentation is going to analyze behavior dynamics as a field devoted to the fundamental question of what forces drive changes in behavior. Exemplars of different problems and approaches will be briefly reviewed, such as the phenomenon of shaping. Shaping is foundational to all of behavior analysis, yet this has received surprisingly little systematic analysis. The second presentation will show experimental studies demonstrating that the verbal operant called qualifying autoclitic, when presented as an antecedent condition of a response, may have persuasive effects upon it, altering the function of verbal stimuli that accompanies them, producing temporary changes. The applied implications of these temporary changes will be addressed. |
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| Behavior Dynamics: Themes and Variations |
| (Theory) |
| MARCUS JACKSON MARR (Georgia Tech) |
| Abstract: Behavior dynamics is a field devoted to the fundamental question of what forces drive changes in behavior. Exemplars of different problems and approaches will be briefly reviewed. For example, the phenomenon of shaping is foundational to all of behavior analysis, yet this has received surprisingly little systematic analysis. Part of the difficulty here is the need for careful specification of the initial behaviors which are then subject to transformation into new behaviors through differential reinforcement. Typically, to address this problem, some steady-state “baseline” is established under some simple contingency and then a new contingency is introduced and the transition to a new steady-state performance is investigated. This, too, has received remarkably little attention, so that we understand relatively little about how the typical patterns of responding under commonly studied schedules of reinforcement actually emerge. A more common approach, exemplified by a fair number of studies, is to investigate transitions within sessions by repeated changes in the behavior-consequence relations to see how, for example, response rates track changes in available reinforcement rates. These studies have been subject to the most detailed mathematical modeling. Other approaches include explorations of feedback functions and, in general, complex contingencies wherein ongoing behavior-consequence relations modify how the contingencies control subsequent behavior. |
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Verbal Behavior of Higher Order: Theoretical-Empirical Analysis of Transient Effects of Autoclitics Upon Nonverbal Behavior |
| (Basic Research) |
| MARTHA COSTA HÜBNER (University of São Paulo) |
| Abstract: The experimental studies presented will demonstrate that the verbal operant called autoclitic, when presented as an antecedent condition of a response, may have persuasive effects upon it, altering the function of verbal stimuli that accompanies them and produce temporary changes. The empirical base is eleven experiments with A-B-A or Pre-Post Test designs. The participants were typical developed children and young university adults. The procedures always evolved a baseline, where it was observed the frequency of a nonverbal response. In experimental phases, one or more verbal manipulations were conducted, evolving verbal antecedent stimuli with the autoclitics topography suggested by Skinner (1957), where one or more verbal responses, previously observed during baseline, were differentially reinforced or instructed. After this, Post-Test measures, under similar conditions of those in baseline, were taken, verifying the reversion or not of the responses observed during baseline. The results in the majority of the studies indicated that the effects of autoclitics verbal stimuli upon nonverbal behavior were transient. Nevertheless, applied implications of transient states produced by autoclitics are highlighted. Transient states produced by autoclitic verbal stimuli on nonverbal response were identified through subtle measures such as latency of a response. |
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