Association for Behavior Analysis International

Sorting tasks are commonly used to assess categorization responses, and it has also been applied to verify arbitrary stimulus relations established in experimental settings. This study employed a sorting task to assess whether teaching new arbitrary relations, including abstract and meaningful stimulus, affects pre-experimental relations. Pre- and post-tests verified how participants distributed 51 familiar and 15 abstract pictures compared to seven potential experimenter-defined classes (Birder, Sailor, Gardner, Dentist, Baker, Car Mechanic, and Abstract). Nine of the abstract stimuli were used in teaching AB and AC arbitrary relations under a matching-to-sample procedure for the emergence of three 3-member arbitrary classes. After the formation of ABCs classes, participants learned DA relations where D were meaningful words (Dentist, Baker, Mechanic; Condition 1) or pseudowords (Tabilu, Gogica, Reveca; Condition 2), and showed class expansion (ABC-D, for both conditions). Condition 1 produced the emergence of relations between ABCD and the familiar pictures related to dentist, baker, and car mechanic, according to experimenter-defined classes. Condition 2 produced the emergence of participant-defined classes distinct from experimenter-defined ones. The comparison between sorting tasks in pre- and post-test evidenced a shift of stimulus control for relating abstract and familiar pictures, according to the arbitrary relations established experimentally.

In the basic procedure from Piaget (1921), when a relation of the form if A > B and B > C is given, a logical inference A > C is expected. This process is called transitive inference (TI). The adapted version for animals involves the presentation of a simultaneous discrimination between stimuli pairs. In this way, when A+B-, B+C-, C+D-, D+E- is trained, a B>D preference is expected, assuming that if A>B>C>D>E, then B>D. This effect has been widely reported using several procedures and different species (Lazareva, 2021). In the current experiment TI was evaluated employing probabilistic reinforcement. Thus, for the positive stimuli a .7 probability was administered and for the negative stimuli a .3 probability was administered. Under this arrangement the relation A>B>C>D>E is still allowed, but TI becomes more difficult. Five pigeons (Columba Livia) were exposed to the mentioned arrangement. Only four pigeons completed the training phases, from those pigeons, two were capable of learning TI, whereas the other two were not. Additionally, it was found that correct response ratios did not predict BD performance. The results are relevant for the two main accounts of TI: the associative account and the ordinal representation account.

Risky choice, prevalent in populations with substance use disorders, may be defined as continuing to behave in a given manner despite the possibility of receiving an aversive consequence (e.g., continuing to smoke cigarettes despite the possibility of health problems). In this study, rats were repeatedly presented with choices between smaller (1 dipper presentation of sucrose solution) and larger (3 dipper presentations) reinforcers. The fixed-ratio (FR) requirement associated with choice of the smaller reinforcer remained at 1, while the probability of contacting an aversive outcome (i.e., a large FR) associated with the larger reinforcer was varied across blocks within each session; these probabilities were 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 87.5%. Two subgroups of rats (n = 4 per subgroup) experienced probabilities in either ascending or descending order. For some (but not all) rats, choice of the larger reinforcer decreased as a function of increasing probability of the large FR; risky choice in the procedure also was affected by additional parametric manipulations (e.g., FR size; yoked-time schedule). In general, developing novel procedures for studying choice controlled by probabilistic aversive outcomes may allow researchers to examine effects of neurobiological manipulations (e.g., drugs) on risky choice without having to resort to electric shock.

Rich-to-lean and other transitions have been shown to function aversively for several species, including humans, rats, and pigeons. In the current study, pigeons had experience pecking under a multiple fixed ratio fixed ratio schedule in which ratios ended in a large/rich or small/lean amount of grain. Each of the four transitions between rich and lean was signaled by a different key light color. Pigeons paused approximately twice as long as or longer during the rich-to-lean transitions than during other transitions. A dependent concurrent variable interval 2-min variable interval 2-min schedule (Thompson, 1965) will be established in order to assess punishing effects of the transition-specific stimuli. After stability is reached, punishment probes will be implemented, during which one of the transition-specific stimuli is flashed contingent on responses on one of the keys according to a random-ratio 5 schedule. Potential conditioned punishment (e.g., rich-to-lean and lean-to-lean stimuli) and reinforcement (e.g., lean-to-rich and rich-to-rich) effects will be evaluated. Results may inform clinical practice in that they may demonstrate how advance notice or prompts that remind individuals to do work may function aversively.

Reinstatement is a type of relapse that occurs when a noncontingent reinforcer is presented during extinction. Most studies of reinstatement have trained and then extinguished a single response in a single setting. In the present study, rats were trained to respond on a multiple schedule signaled by three odor stimuli. In positive components, the first response after 5-s resulted in the delivery of a sugar pellet and initiated a 30-s intertrial interval (ITI). In negative components, the odor was presented for 5-s and terminated with the ITI. In Phase 1 nose-poke responding was reinforced on an FI 5-s schedule in each of the three components. In subsequent phases, one or more components were placed on extinction. After behavior had extinguished in one component, introduction of extinction in a second component often resulted in relapse in the first component (resurgence). When extinction was programmed in all components, reinstatement was studied by delivering non-contingent sugar pellets during the inter-trial interval. Most rats showed reinstatement under these conditions and the general findings were that magnitude of reinstatement was directly related to reinforcement frequency and extinction duration. These findings will be discussed in terms of Behavioral Momentum Theory and Resurgence as Choice Theory.

A repeated simple discrimination reversal procedure has produced evidence for classification of arbitrary (symbolic) stimuli in several species, showing promise as an animal model of symbolic learning. The present study in rats assessed whether a novel response trained to one class member would transfer without direct training to other class members, as has been demonstrated in humans. In Phase 1, using a go/no-go arrangement, rats were trained to nose-poke in a center response port in the presence of odors designated as members of Set X, while responses to members of Set Y were unreinforced. Contingencies (i.e., which set was positive) were repeatedly reversed each time subjects met mastery criteria. Discriminative performance on the first presentation of odors following a reversal was considered evidence for functional class formation. In Phase 2, a novel left- or right-side port response was trained to one member of each class in a new context (X1-right, Y1-left). Following task mastery, other class members were presented on unreinforced probe trials to test for response transfer. Some rats demonstrated statistically significant transfer, but overall, probe performance was variable. Further analysis is warranted to ascertain sources of variability to validate this task as a model of symbolic processes.

Discontinuation of the contingency between a response and its reinforcer sometimes produces a temporary increase in the response before its rate decreases, a phenomenon called the extinction burst. Prior clinical and basic studies on the prevalence of the extinction burst provide highly disparate estimates. Existing theories on the extinction burst fail to account for the dynamic nature of this phenomenon, and the basic behavioral processes that control response bursting remain poorly understood. In this paper, we first review the basic and applied literature on the extinction burst. We then describe a recent refinement of the concatenated matching law called the temporally weighted matching law that appears to resolve the above-mentioned issues regarding the extinction burst. We present illustrative translational data based conceptually on the model. Finally, we discuss specific recommendations derived from the temporally weighted matching law regarding procedures clinicians could implement to potentially mitigate or prevent extinction bursts.

In a delay-discounting procedure, choosing between a smaller and immediate reward and a larger delayed one could be modulated by the range of delays of the larger reward. This possibility was addressed in this study with hypothetical money, and low and high-caloric value food and beverages as rewards. Twenty-four participants chose between rewards delivered immediately or delayed 1 day, 7 days, 1 month, 1 year, or 5 years. For the other twenty-four participants, the delays of the larger reward were 1 day and 2 days, 1 month, 180 days, and 1 year. The discounting rates were higher for delays varying from one day to five years than for delays ranging from one day to one year. In contrast with the other four rewards, only high-caloric food showed a similar discounting rate in both ranges of delay. These data are discussed in terms of the contribution of the range of delay, one day to one year or one day to five years, to the relative choice of the larger later reward, and the interaction of this range of delays with the reward type.

The efficacy of treatments for challenging behavior relies on caregiver adherence to treatment plans. Even when caregivers implement treatments with fidelity, such adherence commonly contacts extinction due to context change (e.g., clinical to home setting) when a child relapses and caregivers engage in commission and omission errors. Previous laboratory models have demonstrated relapse of caregiver behavior for children whose challenging behavior's maintained by social-positive reinforcement. The current study evaluated relapse using refinements and extensions of prior laboratory models of relapse of caregiver behavior (i.e., commission and omission errors) with six caregivers whose children engaged in escape-maintained challenging behavior. We used a 3-phase procedure consisting of baseline, functional communication training, and a treatment-adherence challenge. For all participants, during baseline, treatment nonadherence duration was stable or increasing across sessions. During the treatment-adherence challenge, all caregivers’ behavior relapsed, and they all committed omission or commission errors, providing evidence of resurgence/renewal. Our results demonstrate the need for additional research on methods for mitigating caregiver relapse during treatment challenges of their child's challenging behavior and the usefulness of the proposed measurement system for future research.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (SAD) present problems in the development of life skills, mainly related to health and education. The purpose of this research is to identify the interdependent interactions of an individual with autism spectrum disorders and relevant stimulus objects while acquiring shaving-related competencies. The present study is based on the Analysis Behavior conceptual approaches proposed by Ribes (2018) and its purpose is to analyze conditional interactions such as states and transitions between functional levels using a Teaching-Learning Unit designed to establish the behavior of shaving. An adolescent with autism spectrum disorder participated in the study. A Baseline, Intervention Phase and Follow-up Phase design was used. An observation and recording system was designed to identify in real time interdependent relationships such as states and transitions between functional levels. The results showed that during the application of the Teaching-Learning Unit and Follow-up Phase, behavioral competencies, analyzed as conditional interactions, were identified at different functional levels. The results are described based on the molar measure of directionality and the transitions between functional levels using a continuous recording system. These findings are discussed based on the concepts and field logic that underlies the theoretical proposal assumed in this study.

Pigeons may be an excellent model for studying age-related remembering effects, particularly considering the extensive literature using them to study memory. Toward the goal of investigating the interaction between aging & remembering, older (18 years) and younger (6 years) pigeons were exposed to a delayed matching to sample (DMTS) procedure (White and Brown, 2011) that varied retention intervals (0.2-s to 24-s) over daily sessions. There were three conditions that varied the presentation of a houselight (HL) stimulus during the RI (no HL, HL presented during the first 3 s of the delay, and a HL presented for the duration of the interval). Our results replicated White and Brown: when the HL was on through the whole RI, performance was lower compared to when the HL was not on during the interval. When the HL was presented during the first 3-s, we found a reversal of the course of forgetting. We also found an age-related effect such that the performance of the older birds was, on average, 7% lower than the younger birds. Thus, our results provide support for the use of pigeons as a model subject for studying remembering and aging.