bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE FAILURE OF FEEDBACK ON ALCOHOL IMPAIRMENT TO REDUCE IMPAIRED DRIVING
Authors: Nau Paul A. , Van Houten Ron , Rolider Ahmos , Jonah Brian A.
Published: March 2006

We examined the effects of rules to govern drinking, individual feedback on blood alcohol concentration (BAC), and public posting of group data on impaired driving on the incidence of impaired driving. Level of impairment was determined from breath samples taken from tavern patrons. Following baseline, an intervention package consisting of (a) cards to guide patrons in pacing their drinking to stay under the legal limit, (b) individual feedback on BAC, and (c) posted group feedback on the percentage of patrons driving while impaired the preceding week was introduced in two taverns. Results indicated that the intervention package did not reduce the percentage of impaired drivers departing either tavern. The addition of a brief intensive police enforcement program directed at impaired driving produced a short‐term reduction in impaired driving.
EFFECTS OF COMMUNITY AND CENTER‐BASED SETTINGS ON THE ALERTNESS OF PERSONS WITH PROFOUND MENTAL RETARDATION
Authors: Belfiore Phillip J. , Browder Diane M. , Mace F. Charles
Published: March 2006

We studied effects of different settings on the behavior of persons with profound mental retardation. Adaptive (alert) and nonadaptive behaviors were observed in two community settings and a center setting. Results of the descriptive assessment showed that participants engaged in a higher percentage of adaptive behaviors and a lower percentage of nonadaptive behaviors in the “high stimulation” community setting. The results are discussed in light of environmental setting events on persons with profound mental retardation.
EFFICACY AND MAINTENANCE OF AN EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR A CONSUMER COOPERATIVE
Authors: Altus Deborah E. , Welsh Thomas M. , Miller L. Keith , Merrill Michael H.
Published: March 2006

We examined the effects of contingency management on participation in and maintenance of an education program by new members of a student housing cooperative. With credit and fine contingencies in place, the percentage of participants completing study guides was five times higher than without the contingencies. Members continued to implement the program for 9 years without researcher involvement.
EMPIRICALLY DERIVED INJURY PREVENTION RULES
Authors: Peterson Lizette , Schick Brenda
Published: March 2006

This study describes a set of empirically derived safety rules that if followed, would have prevented the occurrence of minor injuries. Epidemiologists have criticized behavioral interventions as increasing “safe” behavior but failing to demonstrate a decrease in injury. The present study documents retrospectively the link between safe behavior and injury. It demonstrates that these empirically derived rules are very similar to rules for the prevention of serious injury. The study also shows that these rules are not widely accepted and implemented by parents. Suggestions for future research in this area are advanced.
BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS OF MOTION CONTROL FOR PEDIATRIC NEUROIMAGING
Authors: Slifer Keith J. , Cataldo Michael F. , Cataldo Marilyn D. , Llorente Antolin M. , Gerson Arlene C.
Published: March 2006

Magnetic resonance imaging is a promising technological advance used for research and diagnosis of disease. The procedure has no risks, except when uncooperative patients require sedation. Four normal children participated in simulated scans to study the effects of (a) antecedent changes in the imaging environment and (b) operant conditioning of movement inhibition. Changing the environment can decrease movement, but operant contingencies were necessary to decrease movement to a level that, in most cases, would allow the procedure to occur without sedation.
ANALYSIS OF A SIMPLIFIED TREATMENT FOR STUTTERING IN CHILDREN
Authors: Wagaman Joel R. , Meltenberger Raymond G. , Arndorfer Richard E.
Published: March 2006

We investigated the effectiveness of a simplified program for the treatment of stuttering in children. The simplified treatment included awareness training, in which the subjects learned to detect every occurrence of stuttering; training a response incompatible with stuttering, which involved relaxation and regulation of air flow over the larynx when speaking; and social support, which involved parent‐delivered prompts and praise of children's use of the techniques in everyday environments. Eight children were treated in their homes with the simplified treatment, in a multiple baseline across subjects design, and all reached the criterion level of less than 3% words stuttered. In addition, the reduction in stuttering generalized to the school setting and was maintained at posttreatment (10 to 13 months). The subjects' rates of speech remained stable throughout baseline and treatment. Pretreatment and posttreatment ratings by the parents showed that they found treatment to be both acceptable and credible. Finally, social validity measures revealed a noticeable improvement in the subjects' speech to parents and speech pathologists.
EFFECTS OF MEMORY AIDS ON THE DYADIC CONVERSATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA
Authors: Bourgeois Michelle S.
Published: March 2006

The effects of a prosthetic memory aid on the conversational content and social skills of dyads with dementia were evaluated. Six individuals with moderate to severe dementia served as either subject or partner in dyads during 5‐min conversational probes conducted three times per week in daycare and nursing‐home settings. During phases when a memory aid, consisting of personally relevant picture and sentence stimuli, was available, most subjects used their own aid to improve the quality of conversations by increasing the frequency of on‐topic statements, diminishing nonproductive utterances, lengthening their conversational turn, and/or increasing the frequency of turns taken. Most partners demonstrated awareness of social discourse conventions by appropriately relinquishing conversational dominance, decreasing both content and nonproductive utterances, and increasing acknowledging or affirmative comments when subjects used memory aids. Naive judges' ratings of aided and unaided conversational samples on seven conversational dimensions reflected differences in perceptions of significant improvement as a function of the conversational discourse style of each dyad.
THE UTILITY OF CURRICULUM‐BASED MEASUREMENT FOR EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF METHYLPHENIDATE ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Authors: Stoner Gary , Carey Sean P. , Ikeda Martin J. , Shinn Mark R.
Published: March 2006

Two case studies were conducted to investigate the utility of curriculum‐based measurement of math and reading for evaluating the effects of methylphenidate on the academic performance of 2 students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Following baseline measurement, double‐blind placebo‐controlled procedures were employed to evaluate each student's response to three levels (5 mg, 10 mg, and 15 mg) of the medication. Results of the first study suggest that the curriculum‐based measures were sensitive indicators of the student's response to medication. This finding was replicated in the second study. In the second study, when the student's follow‐up dose of medication was based on trial‐phase data, follow‐up performance was improved compared to baseline performance. These case studies suggest that further research is warranted on the utility of curriculum‐based measurements for monitoring and evaluating stimulant medication interventions with children with this disorder.
WHAT MAKES EXTINCTION WORK: AN ANALYSIS OF PROCEDURAL FORM AND FUNCTION
Authors: Iwata Brian A. , Pace Gary M. , Cowdery Glynnis Edwards , Miltenberger Raymond G.
Published: March 2006

We examined methods for determining how extinction should be applied to different functions of self‐injurious behavior (SIB). Assessment data indicated that the head banging of 3 children with developmental disabilities was maintained by different reinforcement contingencies: One subject's SIB was positively reinforced by attention from adults, the 2nd subject's SIB was negatively reinforced by escape from educational tasks, and the 3rd subject's SIB appeared to be automatically reinforced or “self‐stimulatory” in nature. Three functional variations of extinction—EXT (attention), EXT (escape), and EXT (sensory)—were evaluated, and each subject was exposed to at least two of these variations in reversal or multiple baseline designs. Reductions in SIB were observed only when implementation of “extinction” involved the discontinuation of reinforcement previously shown to be responsible for maintaining the behavior. These results highlight important differences among treatment techniques based on the same behavioral principle (extinction) when applied to topographically similar but functionally dissimilar responses, and further illustrate the practical implications of a functional analysis of behavior disorders for designing, selecting, and classifying therapeutic interventions.
MANIPULATING ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS TO ALTER THE STIMULUS CONTROL OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOR
Authors: Kennedy Craig H.
Published: March 2006

In a three‐phase study, antecedent conditions involving instructor's task demands and social comments were evaluated for 3 students with severe disabilities who emitted problem behavior. The results of a descriptive analysis (Phase 1) demonstrated that task demands served as antecedents for problem behavior, and social comments were generally associated with increased levels of positive social affect. In a subsequent experimental analysis (Phase 2), an instructor emitted high rates of social comments and gradually faded in task demands across sessions. The results of Phase 2 showed initial reductions in problem behavior to near‐zero levels from the onset of intervention, with the successful reintroduction of task demands for all students. Phase 3 replicated the procedures of Phase 1. The results demonstrated that for 2 students, task demands no longer served as antecedents to problem behavior. The outcomes from two social validity assessments indicated that substantial improvements were perceived in student behavior and that the independent variable was a socially acceptable means of reducing problem behavior.
EFFECTS OF IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED ERROR CORRECTION ON THE ACQUISITION AND MAINTENANCE OF SIGHT WORDS BY STUDENTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
Authors: Barbetta Patricia M. , Heward William L. , Bradley Donna M. , Miller April D.
Published: March 2006

We compared immediate and delayed error correction during sight‐word instruction with 5 students with developmental disabilities. Whole‐word error correction immediately followed each error for words in the immediate condition. In the delayed condition, whole‐word error correction was provided at the end of each session's three practice rounds. Immediate error correction was superior on each of the four dependent variables.
REEMERGENCE AND EXTINCTION OF SELF‐INJURIOUS ESCAPE BEHAVIOR DURING STIMULUS (INSTRUCTIONAL) FADING
Authors: Zarcone Jennifer R. , Iwata Brian A. , Smith Richard G. , Mazaleski Jodi L. , Lerman Dorothea C.
Published: March 2006

Based on results of a functional analysis indicating that the self‐injurious behavior (SIB) of 3 individuals was maintained by negative reinforcement (escape from instructional situations), the effects of stimulus (instructional) fading were evaluated in a multiple baseline design across subjects. The rate of instructions was reduced to zero at the beginning of treatment and was gradually increased (faded in) across sessions as long as SIB remained low. However, if SIB remained high for 10 consecutive sessions, extinction was implemented until SIB decreased, at which point extinction was withdrawn and fading was resumed. Treatment was completed when the rate of instructions was the same as in baseline (two per minute), and SIB remained below 0.5 responses per minute for two consecutive sessions. Results showed that instructional fading (without extinction) virtually eliminated SIB initially, but these effects were not maintained. All 3 subjects required multiple exposures to extinction and over 150 treatment sessions in order to meet the end‐of‐treatment criteria. Advantages and limitations of fading procedures without an extinction component, as well as extensions of both interventions to other clinical problems, are discussed.
SCHEDULE EFFECTS OF NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT ON ATTENTION‐MAINTAINED DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR IN IDENTICAL QUADRUPLETS
Authors: Hagopian Louis P. , Fisher Wayne W. , Legacy Steven M.
Published: March 2006

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), a response‐independent schedule for the delivery of reinforcement, has been found to be effective in reducing behavior when the reinforcer delivered is responsible for behavioral maintenance. In this study, dense and lean schedules of response‐independent attention were compared to determine whether it is necessary to begin with a dense schedule before fading to a lean schedule, or whether treatment would be as effective using a lean schedule at the outset. The subjects were 5‐year‐old identical quadruplets diagnosed with mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorder who displayed destructive behavior that was maintained by social attention. NCR was selected partially because it is not very labor intensive and could be implemented by a single mother simultaneously with all 4 children. Using a combination multielement and multiple baseline design, it was found that (a) a dense schedule of response‐independent reinforcement (i.e., fixed‐time 10 s) resulted in immediate and dramatic reductions in destructive behavior with no evidence of an extinction burst, and (b) an equivalent reduction in destructive behavior was achieved with a lean schedule of response‐independent reinforcement (fixed‐time 5 min) only after a systematic fading procedure was implemented. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of NCR may be dependent on the use of a dense schedule initially, and that systematic fading can increase the effectiveness of a lean schedule.
ANALYSIS OF A HIGH‐PROBABILITY INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE AND TIME‐OUT IN THE TREATMENT OF CHILD NONCOMPLIANCE
Authors: Rortvedt Angela K. , Miltenberger Raymond G.
Published: March 2006

This study evaluated the effectiveness of high‐probability requests and time‐out as treatments for noncompliance that appeared to be maintained by contingent attention in 2 developmental normal children. The introduction of high‐probability requests increased compliance for 1 child but not the other. Time‐out was effective with both children, and improvements in compliance were maintained at an 8‐week follow‐up.
PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AS TREATMENT FOR STEREOTYPIC HAND MOUTHING: SENSORY EXTINCTION OR PUNISHMENT EFFECTS?
Authors: Mazaleski Jodi L. , Iwata Brian A. , Rodgers Teresa A. , Vollmer Timothy R. , Zarcone Jennifer R.
Published: March 2006

We examined the effects of noncontingent and contingent protective equipment as treatment for self‐injurious hand mouthing exhibited by 2 individuals with profound mental retardation. Results of a functional analysis assessment revealed that neither subject's self‐injury was maintained by social reinforcement: One subject's self‐injury was cyclical in nature; the other's occurred during all assessment conditions but most frequently when left alone. In the noncontingent‐equipment condition, oven mitts were placed on the individual's hands at the beginning of a session and remained on throughout. In the contingent‐equipment condition, the mitts were briefly placed on the individual's hands following occurrences of hand mouthing. For 1 subject, noncontingent mitts produced a large decrease in the rate of hand mouthing and contingent mitts produced similar results following a return to baseline. Hand mouthing was also reduced in the 2nd subject, but this individual was exposed only to the contingent‐equipment condition (i.e., there was no prior history with the noncontingent‐equipment condition). These results suggest either a punishment or a time‐out interpretation rather than an extinction interpretation to account for the behavior‐reducing effects of contingent protective equipment on self‐injury.
TRANSFER OF BEHAVIORAL FUNCTION AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN TREATMENT RELAPSE
Authors: Lerman Dorothea C. , Iwata Brian A. , Smith Richard G. , Zarcone Jennifer R. , Vollmer Timothy R.
Published: March 2006

When relapse occurs following successful treatment to reduce problem behavior, it is often attributed to inconsistent implementation of maintenance programs. Although less likely, another potential cause for relapse is a change in the behavior's maintaining contingency over time. To examine this possibility, additional assessment was conducted with 4 individuals who were rereferred to a day‐treatment program due to recurrence of their self‐injurious behavior (SIB) 2 months to 2 years following successful treatment. In each case, the original treatment had been developed and implemented based on the outcome of functional analysis assessments. For 1 subject, results of a second functional analysis were consistent with those from the original assessment, indicating that the function of her SIB had remained unchanged. For the other 3 subjects, results of the second assessment suggested that their SIB had acquired new or additional functions. These findings indicate that factors other than program inconsistency can lead to relapse, and that clinical revaluation for such cases should include a current functional analysis to determine if new treatment components are needed.
COMMENTS ON FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS PROCEDURES FOR SCHOOL‐BASED BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
Authors: Repp Alan
Published: March 2006

Functional analysis procedures were developed in the 1980s in an effort to determine whether clinicians could identify the function of behavior problems like self‐injury and aggression. More recently, several groups of researchers have been attempting to extend that procedure to classroom environments. The following commentary reflects my viewpoint of this transition.
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY: SOME CLOSING COMMENTS
Authors: Iwata Brian A.
Published: March 2006

Functional analysis methodologies have emerged as powerful tools in research on the assessment and treatment of severe behavior disorders. Although the defining feature of these approaches is the systematic identification of environmental determinants of behavior, research methodology has varied widely with respect to the arrangements used to demonstrate experimental control as well as the types of variables subject to analysis. This commentary summarizes methodological and conceptual issues that have been raised in current research and offers some suggestions for their resolution.
A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF EMPIRICALLY DERIVED CONSEQUENCES FOR THE TREATMENT OF PICA
Authors: Fisher Wayne W. , Piazza Cathleen C. , Bowman Lynn G. , Kurtz Patricia F. , Sherer Michelle R. , Lachman Susan R.
Published: March 2006

Individualized treatment packages were developed for 3 children with high‐rate severe pica using a discrimination training paradigm and a behavioral assessment‐based procedure known as empirically derived consequences. Children received empirically derived reinforcers for eating under appropriate stimulus conditions (i.e., eating food only from a plate and placemat that served as a discriminative stimulus) and empirically derived punishers for attempts to engage in pica. This treatment package resulted in marked reductions in pica and an increase in appropriate eating for all 3 children in a “baited” analogue condition. In addition, low rates of pica were maintained for 9 months for all 3 children. These results suggest that treatment effectiveness may be enhanced when behavioral assessment data are used to identify potent consequences.
CLASSWIDE PEER TUTORING: AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS AND PROMOTE PEER INTERACTIONS AMONG STUDENTS WITH AUTISM AND GENERAL EDUCATION PEERS
Authors: Kamps Debra M. , Barbetta Patricia M. , Leonard Betsy R. , Delquadri Joseph
Published: March 2006

A multiple baseline design across subjects with a reversal was used to examine the effects of classwide peer tutoring relative to traditional reading instruction on reading skills and social interaction time for 3 high‐functioning students with autism and their typical peers in integrated, general education classrooms. Traditional reading instruction consisted largely of teacher‐led instruction with individual student participation and seat work. Classwide peer tutoring consisted of 25 to 30 min of well‐specified instruction in which tutor—learner pairs worked together on a classwide basis on reading fluency and comprehension skills. All students participated in 15‐ to 20‐min unstructured free‐time activities immediately following reading instruction. Results of reading assessments demonstrated that classwide peer tutoring increased reading fluency and correct responses to reading comprehension questions for students with autism and their peers. The procedure further increased the total duration of free‐time social interactions for students with autism and typical peers, with individual variation in performance.
A GROUP‐ORIENTED CONTINGENCY TO INCREASE LEISURE ACTIVITIES OF ADULTS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
Authors: Davis Paula K. , Outturn Robert
Published: March 2006

An interdependent group‐oriented contingency and graphic feedback were used to increase the activity levels of residents of a group home for persons with traumatic brain injury. Results showed that the intervention was effective for 4 of the 6 subjects. Individual performances must be examined when implementing group contingencies because all subjects may not respond.
CORRELATION BETWEEN SELF‐REPORTED RIGIDITY AND RULE‐GOVERNED INSENSITIVITY TO OPERANT CONTINGENCIES
Authors: Wulfert Edelgard , Greenway David E. , Farkas Paula , Hayes Steven C. , Dougher Michael J.
Published: March 2006

Adults were selected on the basis of their scores on the Scale for Personality Rigidity (Rehfisch, 1958a). Their scores served as a measure of hypothesized rule governance in the natural environment. Experiment 1 studied the effects of accurate versus minimal instructions and high versus low rigidity on performance on a multiple differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate (DRL) 4‐s fixed‐ratio (FR) 18 schedule. When the schedule was switched to extinction, accurate instructions and high rigidity were associated with greater perseveration in the response pattern subjects developed during the reinforcement phase. In Experiment 2, the effects of rigidity and of accurate versus inaccurate instructions were studied. Initially, all subjects received accurate instructions about an FR schedule. The schedule was then switched to DRL, but only half of the subjects received instructions about the DRL contingency, and the other half received FR instructions as before. Accurate instructions minimized individual differences because both high and low scorers on the rigidity scale earned points in DRL. However, when inaccurate instructions were provided, all high‐rigidity subjects followed them although they did not earn points on the schedule, whereas most low‐rigidity subjects abandoned them and responded appropriately to DRL. The experiments demonstrate a correlation between performances observed in the human operant laboratory and a paper‐and‐pencil test of rigidity that purportedly reflects important response styles that differentiate individuals in the natural environment. Implications for applied research and intervention are discussed.
GENERALIZED IMITATION AND RESPONSE‐CLASS FORMATION IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
Authors: Young Jill M. , Krantz Patricia J. , McClannahan Lynn E. , Poulson Claire L.
Published: March 2006

An experimental analysis of imitation was conducted to examine the influence of response topography on generalization of imitation across three response types. Four children with autism were presented with both reinforced training trials and nonreinforced probe trials of models from vocal, toy‐play, and pantomime response types. The probe trials were used to examine generalization within each response type. A multiple baseline design was used to analyze percentage of matching and nonmatching responses to models across response types. This study, the first to analyze imitative response classes in children with autism, showed that imitation generalized from reinforced training models to nonreinforced probe models within a response type, but it did not generalize across response types. Thus, functional response classes determined by topographical boundaries were exhibited within generalized imitation.
TREATMENT OF ESCAPE‐MAINTAINED ABERRANT BEHAVIOR WITH ESCAPE EXTINCTION AND PREDICTABLE ROUTINES
Authors: Lalli Joseph S. , Casey Sean , Goh Han , Merlino Joann
Published: March 2006

We evaluated the effects of two daily activity schedules on 2 participants' rates of aberrant behavior and their compliance. Functional analysis identified the operant function of the participants' aberrant behaviors to be escape from tasks. Participants were taught to use stimuli contained in daily schedules, and were tested based on a modified stimulus‐equivalence model that consisted of flash cards and activity schedules comprised of words or photographs that corresponded to the participants' daily activities. On pretests, the participants demonstrated simple and conditional discriminations with the photographs but not with the printed stimuli. A time‐delay procedure was used to teach the participants to name the flash cards. Following training, the printed activity schedules corresponded to lower rates of problem behavior and higher rates of compliance than the photographic activity schedules. Performance on posttests indicated the establishment of functional classes of stimuli involving the flash cards and activity schedules even though this type of correspondence was not directly trained.
SHAPING IN THE 21ST CENTURY: MOVING PERCENTILE SCHEDULES INTO APPLIED SETTINGS
Authors: Galbicka Gregory
Published: March 2006

The present paper provides a primer on percentile reinforcement schedules, which have been used for two decades to study response differentiation and shaping in the laboratory. Arranged in applied settings, percentile procedures could be used to specify response criteria, standardizing treatment across subjects, trainers, and times to provide a more consistent training environment while maintaining the sensitivity to the individual's repertoire that is the hallmark of shaping. Percentile schedules are also valuable tools in analyzing the variables of which responding is a function, both inside and outside the laboratory. Finally, by formalizing the rules of shaping, percentile schedules provide a useful heuristic of the processes involved in shaping behavior, even for those situations that may not easily permit their implementation. As such, they may help further sensitize trainers and researchers alike to variables of critical importance in behavior change.
DETECTION OF BRIEF TONES IN NOISE BY RATS1
Authors: Irwin R. J. , Terman Michael
Published: March 2006

Two rats were trained to detect brief 8000‐Hz tones centered in a one‐third octave band of noise. The procedure was analogous to the yes‐no method of human psychophysics in that one response was defined as correct and reinforced if the tone were present in the noise, and another response was correct and reinforced if the tone were absent. The percentage of correct responses was determined principally by the energy in the tone for the range of durations studied (75 to 600 msec): if the tone's duration were halved, for example, its power had to be doubled to keep the percentage of correct responses about the same. The ratio of the energy in the tone to the power per cycle of the noise needed to maintain 75% correct responses was about 36 db for one animal and 41 db for the other. Although the two responses were similar, and their consequences equal, biases in responding were sometimes observed.
SUMMATION OF RESPONDING MAINTAINED BY FIXED‐INTERVAL SCHEDULES1
Authors: Miller Laurence , Ackley Richard
Published: March 2006

A light and tone were separately correlated with responding maintained by fixed‐interval schedules, in which the level of responding varied continuously throughout the duration of the interval. Responding during the presence of the single stimuli and their compound was compared during the successive segments of the interval. The following results were obtained: (1) more responses were emitted during compounding than were emitted during either stimulus alone in all segments of the interval; (2) increases in the number of responses across the interval during compounding paralleled increases during single‐stimulus presentations. The sum of the responses emitted during the single stimuli was similar to the number of responses emitted during compounding, suggesting that the response tendencies correlated with the single stimuli combined in a summative or additive fashion.
EFFECTS OF CHLORPROMAZINE IN THE PIGEON UNDER A SECOND‐ORDER SCHEDULE OF FOOD PRESENTATION1
Authors: Marr M. Jackson
Published: March 2006

Chlorpromazine was studied for its effects on responding under a second‐order schedule in which food was presented following a sequence of 20 one‐minute fixed‐interval components. A brief visual stimulus occurred at the completion of each fixed interval including the one that terminated with food presentation. Chlorpromazine showed rate‐dependent effects in that it increased low rates in the early components of the second‐order schedule and, to a lesser extent, decreased high rates in the later components. Chlorpromazine also increased rates in the early quarters within the 1‐min fixed‐internal components and to a smaller extent decreased rates in the final quarter. The alteration in the patterns of responding within 1‐min fixed‐interval components terminating in a brief stimulus presentation was substantially less than that which occurred throughout the succession of 1‐min fixed‐interval components terminating in food presentation, thus suggesting that the presentation of the brief stimulus exerted more control over responding within components than did food presentation over the sequence of components. This result and others suggest that studies using drugs may be useful in elucidating the factors controlling patterns of responding in second‐order schedules.
SCHEDULE‐INDUCED POLYDIPSIA: ARE RESPONSE‐DEPENDENT SCHEDULES A LIMITING CONDITION?1
Authors: Burks Charles D.
Published: March 2006

The collateral water intake of albino rats was measured when the inter‐pellet intervals in fixed‐ratio and fixed‐time schedules were equated. Fixed‐ratio and fixed‐time inter‐pellet intervals were equated by dividing the average fixed‐ratio session time of each subject by 150 (food pellets). The average inter‐pellet interval obtained then defined the subsequent fixed‐time schedule for each individual subject. Shifts to fixed‐time schedules followed the completion of each fixed‐ratio 20, 40, and 80 schedule. This procedure permitted an assessment of the extent to which excessive collateral drinking was associated with inter‐pellet interval length or adventitious food reinforcement. For both the fixed‐ratio and fixed‐time schedules, drinking progressively increased as a function of increasing the duration of the inter‐pellet interval and was a post‐pellet event under the control of variables other than adventitious food reinforcement.
A RESPONSE DURATION SCHEDULE: EFFECTS OF TRAINING, EXTINCTION, AND DEPRIVATION
Authors: Stevenson Joan G. , Clayton Frances L.
Published: March 2006

Rats were trained to hold down a lever for at least 40 consecutive seconds. When the lever had been held down for 40 sec, white noise came on. Releasing the bar in the presence of the noise turned off the noise and operated a feeder that delivered a pellet of food. At the end of training, frequency distributions of response durations peaked at 40 to 41 sec. If as in training, holding down the lever produced white noise at the end of 40 sec, and release of the lever terminated the noise and operated the feeder, but no food delivery occurred, duration distributions and several other measures were initially not very different from when food was delivered. However, if during extinction white noise was never produced by lever holding, and feeder operation did not occur upon lever release, most responses were shorter than 1 sec in duration, some were much longer than 41 sec, and duration distributions did not peak at 40 to 41 sec. When reinforcement was reinstated after extinction, performance quickly returned to pre‐extinction measures. Further sessions at different levels of deprivation produced only temporary disruptions in performance.
A COMPARISON OF VARIABLE‐RATIO AND VARIABLE‐INTERVAL SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT1
Authors: Zuriff G. E.
Published: March 2006

Four pigeons responded under a two‐component multiple schedule of reinforcement. Responses were reinforced in one component under a variable‐ratio schedule and in the other component under a variable‐interval schedule. It was found that when rates of reinforcement were equal in the two components, the rate of response in the variable‐ratio component was nearly twice that in the variable‐interval component. Furthermore, for three of the four subjects, the function relating response rate to relative rate of reinforcement in the variable‐ratio component had a slope 2.5 to 3 times the slope of the corresponding function for the variable‐interval component.
INSTRUCTIONAL CONTROL OF HUMAN OPERANT RESPONDING DURING EXTINCTION FOLLOWING FIXED‐RATIO CONDITIONING
Authors: Weiner Harold
Published: March 2006

When given pre‐conditioning instructions correctly indicating the maximum number of reinforcements obtainable, subjects made few responses during extinction following FR 10 conditioning. More extinction responses occurred when the maximum‐reinforcement instructions suggested that reinforcements were obtainable during extinction. The highest rates of responding during extinction were produced by subjects who had no maximum‐reinforcement instructions.
DRL ESCAPE: EFFECTS OF MINIMUM DURATION AND INTENSITY OF ELECTRIC SHOCK1
Authors: Cohen Perrin S.
Published: March 2006

Three dogs were exposed to a DRL‐escape procedure that required them to endure a minimum duration of electric shock without responding in order for a response to terminate that shock. When this minimum duration increased from 0 to either 2.25 or 7.00 sec, response latencies increased proportionately. With the minimum duration held constant at 2.25 sec, a gradual increase in shock intensity to 5.0 ma had no systematic effect upon latencies. Even under the highest shock intensity, 5.0 ma, latency and interresponse‐time distributions were unimodal with very few latencies and interresponse times less than the minimum duration. Three additional dogs were exposed to an escape procedure in which every response was immediately reinforced. For these subjects, the same increase in shock intensity to 5.0 ma was accompanied by a decrease in latencies. The precise temporal spacing of responses obtained with the DRL‐escape procedure may in part be due to the fact that every response latency and interresponse time that did not meet the minimum duration was not only extinguished but was also punished.
RESPONDING UNDER FIXED‐RATIO AND MULTIPLE FIXED‐INTERVAL FIXED‐RATIO SCHEDULES OF ELECTRIC SHOCK PRESENTATION1
Authors: McKearney James W.
Published: March 2006

Squirrel monkeys, initially trained under a schedule of electric shock postponement and then under fixed‐interval schedules of electric shock presentation, were studied under multiple fixed‐interval fixed‐ratio and under fixed‐ratio schedules of shock presentation. Under the fixed‐interval (10‐min) component of the multiple schedule, a pause was followed by a gradual increase in responding to a rate maintained until shock presentation; under the fixed‐ratio (3‐, 10‐, or 30‐response) component of the multiple schedule, a brief pause was typically followed by a relatively high and uniform rate of responding until shock was presented. When the 60‐sec timeout periods, which usually followed shock presentation, were eliminated from the multiple schedule for one monkey, responding was only transiently affected. In the one monkey studied, responding was maintained under a fixed‐ratio schedule alone (with timeout periods), but rates of responding were lower than under the fixed‐ratio component of the multiple schedule. Characteristic patterns of responding, similar to those engendered under schedules of food presentation or shock termination, can be maintained under fixed‐ratio schedules of shock presentation; further, patterns of responding can be controlled by discriminative stimuli in multiple schedules.
THE ROLE OF REINFORCEMENT IN CONTROLLING SEQUENTIAL IRT DEPENDENCIES
Authors: Angle Hugh V.
Published: March 2006

Sequential dependencies were investigated with two rats in a mixed and in a tandem differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate‐responding schedule. In each schedule, 5‐sec and 15‐sec components were presented in fixed alternation. In the mixed schedule, a 5‐sec interresponse time followed a 15‐sec interresponse time and a 15‐sec interresponse time followed a 5‐sec interresponse time in predictable sequence. The correlation between prior and subsequent interresponse times, however, existed only when the prior interresponse time resulted in reinforcement. In the tandem schedule, an interresponse time greater than 5 sec in the differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate 5‐sec component was not associated directly with reinforcement. One subject demonstrated sequential response patterns similar to those noted in the mixed schedule, even though the prior 5‐sec interresponse time was not reinforced in the tandem schedule. The results indicate that the prior interresponse time length alone is not sufficient to influence the subsequent interresponse time length. Implications are, however, that a temporal response pattern arises when an interresponse interacts with schedule contingencies to control the interreinforcement interval.
EFFECTS OF d‐AMPHETAMINE AND CHLORDIAZEPDXIDE ON SPACED RESPONDING IN PIGEONS1
Authors: McMillan D. E. , Campbell R. J.
Published: March 2006

The effects of d‐amphetamine and chlordiazepoxide were studied in pigeons on performance (1) under a schedule that reinforced responses on a key (food key) if they were more than 20 sec apart, (2) under the same schedule when responses also were required on a collateral key during the interresponse time on the food key, and (3) under the same schedule when responses were required on a collateral key during the interresponse time on the food key and collateral‐key responses could produce a stimulus correlated with the availability of food. Under all three spaced‐responding schedules, d‐amphetamine and chlordiazepoxide at low dose levels slightly increased the frequency of short interresponse times on the food key for about half the birds, and either did not affect the interresponse time patterns of the other birds, or lengthened the durations slightly. At higher dose levels, d‐amphetamine and chlordiazepoxide increased the frequency of long interresponse times or abolished responding in all birds. Changes in the pattern of interresponse times on the food key did not seem to depend on changes in the rate or pattern of collateral‐key responses.
EFFECTS OF RATE OF REINFORCEMENT‐TIME UPON CONCURRENT OPERANT PERFORMANCE1
Authors: Ten Eyck Robert L.
Published: March 2006

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the theoretical reduction of rate and duration of reinforcement to their product, rate of reinforcement‐time, under concurrent chain schedules. In Exp. I, rate of reinforcement‐time was varied by varying rate of reinforcement delivery, holding duration of reinforcement availability constant; in Exp. II, rate of reinforcement‐time was varied by holding rate of reinforcement delivery constant and varying duration of reinforcement availability; in Exp. III, rate of reinforcement‐time was held constant by varying both rate and duration of reinforcement simultaneously and inversely. For all three experiments, both relative rate of responding and relative time spent in the initial link were found to match approximately the relative rate of reinforcement‐time arranged in the terminal link. These data were interpreted as support for the notion that rate and duration of reinforcement may be functionally equivalent and reducible to a single variable, rate of reinforcement‐time.
TIME LIMITS FOR COMPLETING FIXED RATIOS1
Authors: Zeiler Michael D.
Published: March 2006

Two experiments investigated how the addition of time limits affected fixed‐ratio behavior. In Exp. 1, pigeons obtained food only if they completed the ratio within a specified time after the end of the preceding ratio. In Exp. 2, they obtained food only if they took longer than a specified time. Failures to meet the time criteria produced brief timeouts. The times taken depended on the requirements in both experiments. In Exp. 1, progressively briefer time criteria resulted in faster ratios, and in Exp. 2, longer time criteria increased the time taken in each ratio. The pigeon's sensitivity to the temporal variable, a property of the entire period extending from the first opportunity to respond to the end of the ratio, indicated that performance involved a behavioral unit encompassing both the post‐reinforcement pause and the responses comprising the ratio.
FIXED‐INTERVAL STIMULUS CONTROL1
Authors: Zeiler Michael D.
Published: March 2006

Pigeons were exposed to three stimuli simultaneously, with responses to one of them, the positive stimulus, followed by food presented according to a fixed‐interval schedule (FI 2‐min, FI 4‐min, FI 8‐min, or FI 16‐min). Over 90% of the total responses emitted were to the positive stimulus within a few sessions. When the birds were then studied under each of four fixed intervals, responding continued to be confined primarily to the same stimulus independent of interval size. In subsequent conditions, the three stimuli changed positions after each quarter of the interval. If the position changes did not require a response, response rate and the percentage of responses occurring to the positive stimulus decreased. If the changes did depend on a response, the complete interval appeared to be divided into four smaller intervals with a pause and then positively accelerated responding following each position change. Position changes produced by a response to any stimulus decreased control by the positive stimulus, and changes produced only by a response to it increased the percentage of responses made to that stimulus. All of the data suggested that the stimulus conditions contiguous with reinforcement controlled behavior.
THE RESPONSE‐REINFORCEMENT DEPENDENCY IN FIXED‐INTERVAL SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT1
Authors: Shull Richard L.
Published: March 2006

Pigeons were exposed to four different schedules of food reinforcement that arranged a fixed minimum time interval between reinforcements (60 sec or 300 sec). The first was a standard fixed‐interval schedule. The second was a schedule in which food was presented automatically at the end of the fixed time interval as long as a response had occurred earlier. The third and fourth schedules were identical to the first two except that the first response after reinforcement changed the color on the key. When the schedule required a peck after the interval elapsed, the response pattern consisted of a pause after reinforcement followed by responding at a high rate until reinforcement. When a response was not required after the termination of the interval, the pattern consisted of a pause after reinforcement, followed by responses and then by a subsequent pause until reinforcement. Having the first response after reinforcement change the color on the key had little effect on performance. Post‐reinforcement pause duration varied with the minimum interreinforcement interval but was unaffected by whether or not a response was required after the interval elapsed.
TWO‐KEY CONCURRENT RESPONDING: RESPONSE‐REINFORCEMENT DEPENDENCIES AND BLACKOUTS1
Authors: Herbert Emily W.
Published: March 2006

Two‐key concurrent responding was maintained for three pigeons by a single variable‐interval 1‐minute schedule of reinforcement in conjunction with a random number generator that assigned feeder operations between keys with equal probability. The duration of blackouts was varied between keys when each response initiated a blackout, and grain arranged by the variable‐interval schedule was automatically presented after a blackout (Exp. I). In Exp. II every key peck, except for those that produced grain, initiated a blackout, and grain was dependent upon a response following a blackout. For each pigeon in Exp. I and for one pigeon in Exp. II, the relative frequency of responding on a key approximated, i.e., matched, the relative reciprocal of the duration of the blackout interval on that key. In a third experiment, blackouts scheduled on a variable‐interval were of equal duration on the two keys. For one key, grain automatically followed each blackout; for the other key, grain was dependent upon a response and never followed a blackout. The relative frequency of responding on the former key, i.e., the delay key, better approximated the negative exponential function obtained by Chung (1965) than the matching function predicted by Chung and Herrnstein (1967).
CHOICE FOR PERIODIC SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT1
Authors: Duncan Barbara , Fantino Edmund
Published: March 2006

Pigeons' responses in the presence of two concurrently available (initial‐link) stimuli produced one of two different (terminal‐link) stimuli according to identical but independent variable‐interval schedules. Responding in the mutually exclusive terminal links was reinforced with food according to fixed‐ratio schedules for six pigeons and according to fixed‐interval schedules for two pigeons. None of the pigeons matched the proportion of (choice) responses in the initial links to the proportion of the rates of reinforcement obtained during the terminal links. Instead, as the values of each of the terminal‐link schedules were increased by a constant amount, the choice proportions for the stimulus associated with the smaller of the two values increased, even though the relative rates of reinforcement during the terminal links decreased. These results are incompatible with those from previous studies with aperiodic (variable‐interval or variable‐ratio) schedules. The present results do suggest, however, that in transforming aperiodic schedules into their periodic equivalents, it may be necessary to consider the size of the smallest interreinforcement interval comprising the terminal‐link schedules.
INHIBITION AND THE STIMULUS CONTROL OF OPERANT BEHAVIOR1
Authors: Hearst Eliot , Besley Serena , Farthing G. William
Published: March 2006

A variety of methods, definitions, and theoretical notions that have been used in the study of inhibitory stimulus control were reviewed and evaluated. Preliminary data from several new operant methods were also described. It was proposed that future workers distinguish clearly between two forms of inhibitory control: (a) the learned power of a specific stimulus to reduce behavior, and (b) a dimensional effect, in which responding increases as values progressively more distant from the value of that specific stimulus along some dimension are presented (generalization gradient). Conclusions from several important recent studies were shown to be strongly dependent on the individual experimenter's criterion for deciding when a stimulus is inhibitory. The concept of inhibition seems a very valuable one for the field of operant behavior, and it deserves more attention than it has received in the past.