Association for Behavior Analysis International

Novel object recognition (NOR) tasks are commonly used with rodents to assess aspects of learning and memory, and these tasks involve measuring the cumulative amount of time a rodent interacts with two presented objects. Many researchers use digital timers to score the total duration of interactions from recorded videos, but such an approach requires an assessment of reliability to determine the accuracy with which these data are collected, and reliability scores have rarely been reported. In the current study, we evaluated the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of total duration when used by five human observers to score object interactions using a repeated-measures design. During each session, participants watched a recorded NOR task and scored the cumulative amount of time a rodent interacted with two objects using two digital timers. We compared the exact number of seconds scored to criterion records and measured the total duration of scoring time to determine the participants’ accuracy and efficiency, respectively. Interobserver agreement was also calculated across all permutations of participants. Results supported the efficiency of total duration measures, but total duration measures produced low accuracy (M = 60%, range, 6%-100%) and reliability (M = 38%; range, 11%-82%) scores across participants.

The episodes that in ordinary language practices are identified as "comprehension" constitute functional contacts in which the person uses psychological reactive systems of a linguistic type, such as observing, listening or reading, and afterward acts in functional correspondence with what he has observed, listened or read. When these types of episodes are part of an educational practice, they are called habilitation. The analysis of the didactic discourse in its textual modality is related to what is traditionally known as “learning strategies” for reading comprehension. The purpose of this study was to identify the differential effect on learning that could be exerted by the use and variation of active linguistic modes such as student performance against textual study material. Eight randomly selected university students participated in fourth pairs. A design between subjects with three phases was used: pre-test, intervention and post-test. The results suggest that the active speaking mode acquires functional relevance when it constitutes a complex response pattern that includes the production of an educational discourse from contact with the text.

Effective quantification of behavioral data has been a goal of behavior analysts for decades. Carlin and Costello (2018) proposed a statistical effect size (RD) for single case designs that is similar to effect sizes used in between group research. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which RD’s proposed critical value (1.2) agrees with visual analysis from experts regarding a pairwise comparison. Visual analysis is the primary method of analysis in SCEDs, and quantitative analysis is a useful complement. Similar studies have been undertaken with overlap measures and found useful information regarding the limits of such measures.

In special education settings, prompts are often used in discrete trial (DT) programs. The efficacy of a card-sorting procedure to teach prompt definitions for 3 DT programs (receptive labeling, social questions, and motor imitation) was tested. Stimuli were cards with correct and incorrect definitions and graphics of prompts from the DT programs. Examples included more and less restrictive examples of gestural, vocal, and motor prompts for both initial trials and correction trials. In a pretest, undergraduate participants sorted cards from all programs based on examples of correct versus incorrect definitions for both trial types. Then, they studied a handout containing correct definitions from one program, followed by repeated card sorts for that program to 90% accuracy. A posttest with all the cards, training on second program, and a final posttest followed. Figure 1 depicts results from 8 participants, including 4 who did not complete the entire sequence. The number of training/sort cycles to reach criterion ranged from 1–6. Generalization to untrained programs in the posttest was variable, but suggests positive transfer. Although this procedure may effectively teach prompt definitions, refinements are needed to reduce training time and increase posttest accuracy. Maintenance of learning over time should also be assessed.

Understanding and following verbal commands or instructions is an important and adaptive behavioral function. Comprehension is related to the ability to arbitrarily group stimuli in classes, a prominent feature of symbolic behavior. The stimulus equivalence paradigm, as a model of symbolic behavior, may explain the origins of the comprehension of instructions. The present research aimed to evaluate whether vocal English instructions (verb and object) included as members of a class of equivalent stimuli acquire the same meaning as the other stimuli in the class (videos and abstract pictures), and whether participants would follow instructions using the same sentences and recombined sentences. The procedure, conducted with three children, included: 1) teaching conditional discriminations between dictated English phrases and actions filmed on videotape; and teaching conditional discriminations between spoken sentences and abstract pictures, 2) probing for class formation, and 3) testing for instructional control. All children comprehended the English phrases, relating, through equivalence, the actions and abstract pictures. Two children followed the spoken instructions, but none did so for the abstract pictures and neither followed new instructions (spoken or pictorial). Results replicated previous findings indicating that class formation could promote instruction-following behavior, but that recombinative performances may depend on other teaching conditions.

Experiments have shown that equivalence-based instructions may be used to teach academic skills. Fienup et al. (2010) exposed university students to 16 conditional discriminations with stimuli showing different areas of the brain, its function and the effect a damage to the respective area would have. Then, they tested for emergence of four 5-member stimulus classes. Training of the baseline relations took only about 15 minutes and all participants formed the experimenter-defined classes. Current study replicates the procedure by Fienup et al. Furthermore, two sets of stimuli were used to study the effect of the complexity of the stimuli on class formation. The results from the first 10 participants showed rapid acquisition of the baseline conditional discrimination with seven participants responding in accordance with equivalence. The preliminary results showed minimal effect of the different stimulus sets on stimulus equivalence class formation.

The nodal distance hypothesis suggests that responding in accordance with emergent conditional discrimination decreases as a function of an increasing nodal number. This present study investigated (a) the nodal number effect as a function of a simultaneous matching-to-sample (MTS) protocol or a simple-to-complex protocol, (b) the concordance of the nodal number effect during MTS tests and responses in accordance with nodal structure during a sorting test, and (c) the concordance of the nodal number effect during a post-class equivalence test and responses during sorting tests. Twenty participants were exposed for an MTS procedure to establish 3-class 5-member stimulus equivalence classes. Ten participants were assigned to an MTS simultaneous protocol, a sorting test, a post-class equivalence test, and a second sorting test. Ten other participants were assigned to an MTS simple-to-complex protocol, a sorting test, a post-class equivalence test, and a second sorting test. The results show that more individuals which were exposed for the simple-to-complex protocol produced the nodal number effect. However, the results show a greater nodal number effect for participants which were exposed for the simultaneous condition, when that the sum of participants responding which were exposed for the same sequence of conditions was measured.

Attention has been used as a sort-of “catch-all” term often in behavior-analytic research to describe social interactions between two individuals (Allen, Hart, Buell, Harris & Wolf, 1964; Barton, 1981; DiCarlo & Reid, 2004; Duffy & Nietupski, 1985; Gable & Shores, 1980; McLaughlin, 1982; Poulson, 1983; Rheingold, 1956; Schutte & Hopkins, 1970; Thomas et al, 1968). When authors write about “attention,” they may be referencing vocal-verbal interactions (e.g., praise, conversations, reprimands), physical contact between two individuals (e.g., hugs, pats on the back), or even changes in facial expressions (e.g., smiles, winks, frowns). There has been much previous research demonstrating the reinforcing effects of attention for increasing desirable behavior (e.g., Gable & Shores, 1980; McLaughlin, 1982), as well as undesirable behavior (e.g., Fisher, Ninness, Piazza, Owen-DeSchryver, 1996; Kodak, Northup, & Kelly, 2007; Lovaas & Simmons, 1969; Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994) in many populations across settings. Previous researchers have also demonstrated that different topographies of attention (i.e., eye contact, praise, physical, conversation, and reprimands) affect an individual's responding differentially (e.g., Fisher et al., 1996; Kodak et al., 2007), and some types of attention (i.e., praise, physical attention, and conversation) are more preferred and/or reinforcing than other types of attention (e.g., Clay, Samaha, Bloom, Bogoev, & Boyle, 2013; Harper, 2014; Nuernberger, Smith, Czapar, and Klatt, 2012). However, in the current literature, the therapist or researcher has remained constant, and it is possible that the different ways in which attention is delivered may affect preference hierarchies and reinforcing efficacies. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to determine if different types of attention are consistently preferred across different adults and if those preferences are consistent with the reinforcing efficacies both within and across adults.

The ability to make choices between various items throughout a session may allow children to access items based on moment-to-moment – or trial-to-trial – changes in motivating operations (MO), particularly when edible reinforcers are being used. Changes in MOs have been shown to affect the amount of responding allocated to reinforcer (Vollmer & Iwata, 1991); therefore, preferences for choice opportunities may be the result of participants accessing reinforcers based on momentary fluctuations in preference (i.e., momentary fluctuations in satiation and deprivation; Ackerlund Brandt et al., 2015). Therefore, it is possible that choice may be less preferred in situations in which immediate access to reinforcers is not available (e.g., token economies) and therefore, changes in MOs based on satiation and deprivation would be less likely to occur. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether children’s preference for choice-making opportunities would be affected by the immediate provision of edible reinforcers vs. token reinforcers during a session.

In order to examine flexible decision making, operant manipulations of reinforcer amount, delay, and probability have been used for animals such as rodents. Zebrafish are becoming a popular vertebrate animal model for many biomedical and behavioral investigations. However, equivalent procedures have not been developed for zebrafish. We have developed a procedure capable of measuring behavioral sensitivity to reinforcer amount in adult zebrafish, based on an appetitive automated Go / No-Go task. The test session consisted of 16 forced-choice trials and 16 free-choice trials. In the forced-choice trials, a trial was initiated when fish passed through an observing gate and only one of two choice windows was illuminated. If fish entered through the illuminated window, either a large or small amount of reinforcer was presented based on the assignment; otherwise timeout was implemented. In free-choice trials, both windows were illuminated, and entering the first side of the windows was reinforced by either a large or small amount of reinforcer assigned to the window. Choice rate to a window increased when the reinforcer amount increased (p < .04). The present result indicates that zebrafish are sensitive to reinforcer amount.

Anxiety disorders represent the most frequently diagnosed mental health problem among American college students. Impulsivity has been linked with an anxiety as a potential risk factor. Impulsivity is defined as choosing smaller, sooner rewards, over larger, later rewards and is commonly measured with delay discounting tasks. It has been suggested that the delay discounting e?ect, i.e., the tendency to value less delayed rewards, in anxious individuals is driven by their intolerance of uncertainty. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is defined as how acceptable uncertain situations are. In the current study, it is hypothesized that those with higher levels of anxiety will exhibit more delay discounting and higher intolerance of uncertainty than those with lower levels of anxiety. Preliminary analyses of 29 participants currently reveals no significant relationships between anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty and impulsivity measures (i.e.. computerized delay discounting and impulsivity tasks). Data collection is ongoing. This study will increase our understanding of anxiety which could lead to an improvement in the treatment and prevention of anxiety.

The effects of varying the probability of reinforcement of reversion responses on choices in a delay-discounting and in a delay-of-gratification procedures were assessed. Reversion responses were defined as the first response to the smaller immediate reinforcer during the delay period to obtain the larger later one. Both procedures consisted of series of choices between the delivery of a relatively large amount of water after a delay or a smaller amount of water delivered immediately; the delay of delivery of the larger reinforcer varied between 0 and 32 s. In Experi-ment 1, five rats were exposed to each of the procedures in three blocks of 25 ses-sions each. In Experiment 2, ten rats were exposed to six consecutive experimental conditions, in which the probability of reinforcement of a reversion response varied from 0.00 to 1.00. In all delays tested, the proportion of reversion responses decreased as the probability of reinforcement of these responses increased. This finding suggests that delay-discounting and delay-of-gratification procedures are part of a continuum of the probability of reinforcement of reversion responses.

The present study investigated the self-control and impulsiveness in elementary school children with the delay discounting and self-control tasks. In the delay discounting task, children were presented with a series of choices between an immediate smaller reward and a delayed larger reward in a booklet. The immediate smaller reward was consistently “200 yen now”. The delay time to the larger reward was different ranging from 30 minutes to one year in each question, but the amount of reward was consistently “500 yen”. In the self-control task, each participant was presented with a comic illustrating a parent and child’ conversation regarding children’s self-control in daily life. Participants were presented with a choice between one toy now and two toys ten months later. Choosing the one toy now is regarded as impulsiveness, whereas choosing the two toys later is regarded as self-control. Preliminary analysis of 647 children, ages 6-12 years, suggests that children’s impulsiveness in the delay discounting task decreased as a function of age. In the self-control task children’s impulsiveness decreased from 6 to 7 years-old, but increased from 7 to 12 years-old. The relationship between children's choice and their teachers’ ratings will be also discussed.

A recurring issue in the literature on resurgence of operant responding in humans is lack of sensitivity to reinforcement contingencies and extinction. In the 1950s, Holland demonstrated that vigilance tasks could be useful to show systematic effects of reinforcement schedules on human operant responding. Participants pressed a button to observe the state of a pointer on a dial (vigilance response). The pointer deflected on a variable interval (VI) schedule and served as reinforcement for the vigilance response. When a deflection was detected, pressing another button produced points exchangeable for money. In the present experiment, Holland’s procedure was used in a resurgence three-phase procedure using a console with four buttons. During Phase 1, presses on a target vigilance button were reinforced. During Phase 2, presses on an alternative vigilance button were reinforced and presses on the target button were extinguished. In Phase 3, presses on both buttons were extinguished. During all phases presses on a control button showed the state of the pointer but were not reinforced. Resurgence of the target-vigilance response was observed in the four participants. Additionally, responses apparently induced by responding on the target button were observed on the control button only during the resurgence phase.

Automatically-maintained self-injurious behavior (SIB) is often difficult to assess and treat due to several variables. Two of these evaluated in past research include difficulties associated with SIB that is multiply maintained by both automatic and social reinforcement and SIB that is associated with self-restraint. In the current study, we evaluated these variables with a child with autism spectrum disorder who was exhibiting severe automatically-maintained SIB. First, we present data on multiple functional analyses conducted to determine the relationship between self-restraint and self-injury. We found evidence of no functional relationship between self-restraint and SIB (i.e., self-restraint was not negatively reinforced by the removal of SIB, self-restraint was not maintained by access to SIB, and SIB was not maintained by access to self-restraint). Next, SIB was further evaluated to determine if social reinforcers also played a role in maintaining the behavior. Through a series of functional analyses including conditions with and without sensory extinction, we identified that SIB was multiply maintained by attention in addition to automatic reinforcement. The results from this participant are discussed in relation to the past research on these topics and recommendations for clinicians.

Token reinforcement procedures are robust interventions for producing positive behavior change. Token reinforcement is especially amenable to investigating the conditions under which an organism will accumulate reinforcers prior to using them. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the effects of the token production schedule, exchange production schedule, and token generality, on accumulation. Five participants completed up to nine experimental conditions over approximately 30 days. Participants worked on a computerized paint by number task and earned one token for between 100 and 300 responses and could exchange their tokens at any time during the experiment. The travel distance required to make the exchange, effort required to earn a token, and the generality of the token was manipulated across conditions. The primary dependent variable in this study was the number of tokens accumulated at each exchange period. Overall, as the token production schedule increased, accumulation decreased, and as the exchange production schedule increased, accumulation increased. Both findings were consistent with previous research. For three of the five participants, accumulation increased as generality increased. Future research should investigate the extent that token generality disrupts the relationship between token production, exchange production, and accumulation.

Previous research indicates cockroaches will press a lever to access reinforcement; however, laboratory observations suggested the reinforcer is not always consumed, bringing into question the function of such lever-pressing behavior. Subjects in this study were male Madagascar hissing cockroaches (MHC). Methods were based on a reinforcer assessment by Dixon et al. (2016). Frequency of lever-pressing, and consuming sucrose solution were recorded. During the experimental phase, two MHC received access to sucrose solution contingent on lever-pressing on a fixed ratio one (FR1) schedule. An ABAB withdrawal design was used for two MHC, with A being baseline, and B being FR1 schedule. Another subject’s access to sucrose solution was yoked to a different subject’s sucrose consumption. That subject was then placed on an FR1 schedule. Data on cumulative records indicate MHC increased lever-pressing during the FR1 schedule, but consumed solution less than half of the times it was presented. Responding ceased after an extinction burst during the return to baseline conditions. Responding ceased completely on the FR1 schedule when directly following the yoking procedure. These results not likely explainable via place preference, higher ground preference, or satiation accounts of responding. Observing response, foraging, sign tracking, and induction are discussed as possible explanations.

The literature pertaining to the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach is lacking in several areas. One such area fit for study involves the conditioned place preference regarding floor texture and preferred versus nonpreferred solutions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between these stimuli to determine if a conditioned place preference should occur when a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach is in a state of deprivation. Four male cockroaches were used to investigate this association. Cockroaches experiencing exposure to the solutions displayed an inclination towards inactivity. Preferences shifted from one of the available floor textures to the center area in which the cockroaches were initially placed, the preference change displayed through their lack of movement. Although this inactivity provided a change in place preference, data were inconclusive as to why this change occurred. Potential factors leading to this change are discussed. Future research has many areas that could provide evidence as to which components may be more important the change displayed.

Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) or Aversion (CPA) were assessed in the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa). The scent of .1 ml of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol was paired twice with 60 grit sandpaper or AstroTurf after texture preference and smell preference were determined. Single trial learning was potentially demonstrated, although evidence does not support CPP or CPA taking place under these specific conditions.