bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PREFERRED CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND REDUCED PROBLEM BEHAVIORS IN STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
Authors: Foster‐Johnson Lynn , Ferro Jolenea , Dunlap Glen
Published: March 2006

This research examined the relation between students' preferences for curricular activities and the occurrence of problem and desirable behaviors in 3 students with moderate intellectual disabilities. Activity preference was determined with a systematic assessment procedure. Subsequently, the influence of activity preference on student behavior was evaluated using a reversal design. Results showed that preferred activities were associated with reduced levels of problem behavior and increased levels of desirable behaviors. The findings of this investigation contribute to the applied literature on activity preference and suggest directions for future research in the areas of curriculum design, preference, and curricular modifications as a viable behavior‐management strategy.
ANALYZING ALERTNESS AMONG PEOPLE WITH PROFOUND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR PROVISION OF TRAINING
Authors: Green Carolyn W. , Gardner Shirley M. , Canipe Vicki S. , Reid Dennis H.
Published: March 2006

We investigated whether variations in alertness among individuals with profound multiple disabilities affected subsequent responsiveness to training programs. Three experiments were conducted involving 5 people. In Experiment 1, results indicated that alertness of 3 individuals increased with provision of skill‐acquisition training programs. Results also indicated no predictive relationship between alertness levels prior to training and subsequent responsiveness to training. Experiment 2 replicated results of Experiment 1 with 2 participants from Experiment 1 and an additional participant. Results of Experiment 2 also indicated that the increased alertness levels accompanying provision of training were not a function of the participants simply being in an inactive environment prior to training. Results of Experiment 3 indicated that alertness of an additional participant increased through provision of another training intervention, involving a systematic preference assessment. Responses during the preference assessment appeared to be unrelated to previously existing alertness levels. These findings suggest the need for caution when considering the withholding of scheduled training because an individual appears to be nonalert.
INCREASING REQUESTS BY ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES USING INCIDENTAL TEACHING BY PEERS
Authors: Farmer‐Dougan Valeri
Published: March 2006

A peer‐delivered incidental‐teaching procedure was used to instruct appropriate requesting in adults with moderate to severe mental retardation or autism. Three pairs of group‐home residents participated in an incidental‐teaching procedure to increase appropriate requesting, prompting, and responding of residents during lunch‐preparation sessions. An increase in the number of incidental‐teaching episodes during dinner was obtained, and remained high when lunch‐making training sessions were withdrawn. In addition, during the incidental‐teaching phase, an increase in appropriate requests and overall verbalizations occurred for the peer learners. Changes in appropriate requesting and overall verbalizations also remained higher than baseline when training was withdrawn.
ASSESSING INFLUENTIAL DIMENSIONS OF REINFORCERS ON CHOICE IN STUDENTS WITH SERIOUS EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE
Authors: Neef Nancy A. , Shade Doran , Miller Mark S.
Published: March 2006

We examined how reinforcer rate, quality, delay, and response effort combined to influence the choices of 6 youths with learning and behavior difficulties, and the viability of an assessment methodology derived from matching theory for determining differential responsiveness to those reinforcer and response dimensions. The students were given two concurrent sets of math problems that were equal on two dimensions but competed on two other dimensions (e.g., one set yielded higher rate and lower quality reinforcement than the other). Competing dimensions were counterbalanced across the six conditions of the initial assessment phase, permitting assessment of each dimension on time allocation. The conditions resulting in the most and least time allocated to one problem set alternative relative to the other were then replicated. Time allocated to each of the problems within sets was differentially affected by the reinforcer and/or response dimensions, with allocation patterns varying across students. The results are discussed in the context of implications for the design of treatments and extrapolations from basic research on matching and behavioral economics.
LIMITED MATCHING ON CONCURRENT‐SCHEDULE REINFORCEMENT OF ACADEMIC BEHAVIOR
Authors: Mace F. Charles , Neef Nancy A. , Shade Doran , Mauro Benjamin C.
Published: March 2006

Three adolescent students with special educational needs were given a choice between completing one of two available sets of math problems. Reinforcers (nickels) across these alternatives were arranged systematically in separate experimental phases according to three different concurrent variable‐interval schedules (reinforcement ratios of 2:1, 6:1, and 12:1). Time allocated to the two stacks of math problems stood in linear relationship to the reinforcement rate obtained from each stack, although substantial undermatching and bias were observed for all subjects. However, changes in the schedules were not followed by changes in allocation patterns until adjunct procedures (e.g., changeover delays, limited holds, timers, and demonstrations) were introduced. The necessity of adjunct procedures in establishing matching in applied situations is discussed as a limitation to quantitative applications of the matching law in applied behavior analysis.
BEHAVIORAL CONTRAST IN A TWO‐OPTION ANALOGUE TASK OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING
Authors: Hantula Donald A. , Crowell Charles R.
Published: March 2006

The effects of an alternative course of action on sustained escalation and persistence in the face of failure was investigated using a computerized stock investment task. Subjects invested in “stock” in two “markets” that yielded returns according to two‐component multiple variable‐interval schedules. Both markets yielded equal but intermittent return rates during the first phase. In the second phase, one market ceased to yield returns, while the return rate for the other market was unchanged. During the second phase, behavioral contrast effects were evident. Investing in the market that ceased to yield returns dropped precipitously, and investing in the unchanged market increased significantly. Although the behavior may be economically “irrational,” it is predictable from the matching law and shows that interactions among a history of intermittent returns in a course of action, current return rate, and currently available alternative courses of action are important determinants of persisting in, or withdrawing from, a failing course of action.
BEHAVIORAL MOMENTUM AND STIMULUS FADING IN THE ACQUISITION AND MAINTENANCE OF CHILD COMPLIANCE IN THE HOME
Authors: Ducharme Joseph M. , Worling David E.
Published: March 2006

The provision of a series of requests to which compliance is highly likely (high‐probability requests) immediately antecedent to low‐probability requests has been used to establish behavioral momentum of compliance. We evaluated a fading procedure for maintaining high levels of compliance obtained with high‐probability requests. Fading involved a systematic reduction in the number of high‐probability requests and an increase in the latency between the high‐ and low‐probability requests. High levels of compliance for both “do” and “don't” requests were maintained for 16 weeks in a 5‐year‐old boy with developmental disabilities after the high‐probability request sequence was faded. Similar maintenance was obtained for “do” requests in a 15‐year‐old girl with developmental disabilities. For this subject, however, the high‐probability request sequence was ineffective with “don't” requests. When “don't” requests were phrased as “do” requests, the high‐probability request sequence produced high levels of compliance to the low‐probability request. High levels of compliance to these “do” requests were maintained for 16 weeks after the high‐probability request sequence was faded.
MOMENTUM AND EXTINCTION EFFECTS ON SELF‐INJURIOUS ESCAPE BEHAVIOR AND NONCOMPLIANCE
Authors: Zarcone Jennifer R. , Iwata Brian A. , Mazaleski Jodi L. , Smith Richard G.
Published: March 2006

Previous research on applications of behavioral momentum has indicated that a high‐probability (high‐p) instructional sequence, in which a series of instructions for which there is a high probability of compliance is presented immediately before an instruction for which there is a low probability of compliance, is an effective method for increasing compliance. It is not dear, however, whether the procedure is effective when individuals actively attempt to escape from the instructional situation. In this study, we examined the effects of the high‐p sequence, when implemented first alone and then later with an extinction component, as treatment for the self‐injurious escape behavior of 2 individuals. Results showed that when the instructional sequence was implemented without extinction, rates of self‐injury increased and percentage of compliance decreased. In addition, the percentage of trials occasioning escape behavior increased for both high‐ and low‐probability instructions. When an extinction component was added to the high‐p sequence, rates of self‐injury and the percentage of trials containing self‐injury decreased, and compliance increased. These findings suggest that extinction may be an important component of treatment when escape behavior such as self‐injury accompanies noncompliance in instructional contexts and competes with compliant behavior.
A NOTE ON TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL IN THE DELAYED‐CUE PROCEDURE: FACILITATION BY AN OVERT DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE
Authors: Glat Rosana , Gould Karen , Stoddard Lawrence T. , Sidman Murray
Published: March 2006

This case study describes initially unsuccessful attempts to use the delayed‐cue procedure to teach conditional discriminations to an individual with moderate mental retardation. The task was matching printed‐word comparison stimuli to dictated‐name sample stimuli. In three experiments, the subject typically waited for the delayed cue unless differential responses to the dictated samples (repeating the sample names) were required. Hence, the study provides an example of a way to make the delayed‐cue method more effective. The stimulus control bases for the results are discussed.
ASSESSMENT OF STEREOTYPIC AND SELF‐INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR AS ADJUNCTIVE RESPONSES
Authors: Lerman Dorothea C. , Iwata Brian A. , Zarcone Jennifer R. , Ringdahl Joel
Published: March 2006

Certain responses of both humans and nonhumans appear to be maintained indirectly by intermittent reinforcement schedules and have been referred to collectively as adjunctive behavior. Although basic research has examined adjunctive behavior extensively, relatively few studies have been conducted with humans, particularly those with developmental disabilities who often engage in frequent and varied stereotypic behavior. This study assessed possible adjunctive characteristics of self‐injurious and stereotypic behaviors using a multielement design containing two types of control conditions. Four subjects who engaged in both self‐injurious behavior and stereotypy participated after variables maintaining their self‐injury were identified via functional analyses. Each day, subjects were exposed to three 15‐min sessions in random order: (a) noncontingent presentation of food on a fixed‐time schedule (e.g., FT 30 s), (b) a massed‐reinforcement (food) control, and (c) a no‐reinforcement control. A variety of fixed‐time schedules were examined during different experimental phases. Results of this preliminary study suggested that self‐injury was not induced by intermittent reinforcement schedules, whereas the stereotypic behavior of some individuals showed characteristics of adjunctive behavior. The importance of research on adjunctive behavior and suggestions for future studies are discussed.
THE USE OF GOAL SETTING AND CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING FOR IMPROVING CHILDREN'S HOMEWORK PERFORMANCE
Authors: Miller Deborah L. , Kelley Mary Lou
Published: March 2006

We examined the effects of goal setting and contingency contracting on children's homework performance. Subjects were 4 parent—child dyads in which the child exhibited substantial homework problems. Using a combination of multiple baseline and reversal (ABAB) designs, goal setting and contingency contracting produced significant improvements in children's homework accuracy. Two of the 4 subjects showed substantial improvements in on‐task behavior. Consumer satisfaction with the procedures was supported by parent ratings conducted posttreatment.
USING EXTINCTION TO PROMOTE RESPONSE VARIABILITY IN TOY PLAY
Authors: Lalli Joseph S. , Zanolli Kathleen , Wohn Ted
Published: March 2006

We report the effects of extinction and positive reinforcement on the number of untrained topographies emitted by children with toys. Baseline showed no appropriate toy play. Participants were then trained individually on one topography for each toy. Previously reinforced topographies of toy play were placed on extinction, resulting in the induction of untrained topographies.
TIMING IN FREE‐OPERANT AND DISCRETE‐TRIAL AVOIDANCE1
Authors: Hineline Philip N. , Herrnstein R. J.
Published: March 2006

A procedure (“discrete‐trial” avoidance) was devised to differentiate between the two main theories of responding in Sidman's “free‐operant” avoidance procedure. One theory, a version of two‐factor theory, holds that responding is reinforced by the removal of a conditioned aversive stimulus. The conditioned aversive stimulus is held to be temporal, which accounts for the spaced responding, or timing, that Sidman's procedure produces. The other theory holds that the reinforcement for both responding and timing is shock‐frequency reduction. The new procedure eliminated this reinforcement for timing, but retained the conditions for the formation of conditioned aversive temporal stimuli. According to one theory, the new procedure should have sustained timing as well as Sidman's, while according to the other, it should have sustained no timing. The results confirmed neither theory. Timing was found with both procedures, but unequally in degree and kind. Large variations in the precision of timing did not appear to be correlated with successful avoidance for either procedure.
SUPERSTITIOUS KEY PECKING AFTER THREE PECK‐PRODUCED REINFORCEMENTS1
Authors: Neuringer Allen J.
Published: March 2006

The first three pecks on a response key by experimentally naive pigeons produced grain reinforcements. Thereafter, for approximately 50 experimental sessions and under a variety of schedule conditions, grain was presented independently of the subjects' behaviors. The pigeons continued to peck the response key “superstitiously” throughout the 50 sessions. The results suggest that superstitions are commonplace—not relatively infrequent or abnormal events—in the behavior of pigeons.
A RESPONSE‐INITIATED FIXED‐INTERVAL SCHEDULE OF REINFORCEMENT1
Authors: Shull Richard L.
Published: March 2006

On a tandem fixed‐ratio one fixed‐interval schedule, the first response after reinforcement initiates a fixed interval of time and the first response after the interval has elapsed is reinforced. Pigeons trained with that schedule of food reinforcement paused after reinforcement for a period of time that approximated the fixed‐interval duration for values of that duration ranging from 3.75 to 60 sec. Cumulative records revealed response patterns best described as break‐and‐run.
DISCRIMINATION OF AUDITORY INTENSITIES BY RATS1
Authors: Terman Michael
Published: March 2006

Rats were trained to press one of two keys when a standard intensity value of a 4.0‐kHz sine tone (70 or 100 db re 2 × 10−4 microbar) was presented from a centrally located loudspeaker. Pressing the other key was reinforced when comparison intensity values (as much as 30 db less than the standard value) were presented. The animals initiated tone presentations by breaking a light beam at the rear of the chamber. Correct choices produced brain‐stimulation reinforcement, and errors produced a timeout. A procedure designed by Jenkins was used to partial out choice data under potential control of sequential cues in the stimulus series. When the standard‐comparison intensity difference was varied, the rats showed similar psychometric functions despite wide differences in response bias (relative position preference). A signal detection analysis showed that response biases for individual animals remained fairly consistent during psychophysical testing. The trend of decreasing choice accuracy at small intensity differences was described by the cumulative normal probability function. The similarity of psychometric functions obtained with 70‐ and 100‐db standards supported Weber's law. There was some evidence that response latencies were controlled by intensity differences even when choice behavior was undifferentiated.
WAVELENGTH GENERALIZATION AND PREFERENCE IN MONOCHROMATICALLY REARED DUCKLINGS1
Authors: Tracy William K.
Published: March 2006

Two experiments determined the effects of early color experience on gradients of wavelength generalization. In each experiment, one group of ducklings was raised in monochromatic (589 nanometers) sodium‐vapor light and a second group, in white light. In Exp. I, ducklings pecked a key transilluminated by 589 nanometers. In a subsequent test, the group raised in white light produced steeper gradients. However, several monochromatically reared ducklings produced gradients as steep as those for the white‐reared ducklings. In Exp. II, ducklings pecked a white line. In a subsequent test, using a fully illuminated key, subjects in both groups responded more often to “green” (510, 530, 550, or 570 nanometers) than to “non‐green” wavelengths (490, 589, 610, or 650 nanometers). Ducklings raised in monochromatic light preferred shorter “green” wavelengths than ducklings raised in white light. This difference between the “green” preferences for the two groups accounted for most of the differences between the gradients of wavelength generalization obtained from the two groups in Exp. I after training at 589 nanometers.
AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION: A THREE‐VARIABLE ANALYSIS OF INTENSITY EFFECTS1
Authors: Pierrel Rosemary , Sherman J. Gilmour , Blue Scot , Hegge Frederick W.
Published: March 2006

The acquisition of auditory intensity discriminations in rats trained on multiple variable interval extinction schedules was studied as a function of some of the variables that contribute to the speed of development of differential responding and the final level attained. The effects of three variables were isolated and studied in detail: (1) the decibel difference between the discriminative stimuli (intensity difference); (2) the intensity relationship between the stimuli (relative intensity); and (3) the position of the stimuli on the intensity continuum (absolute intensity). Each of the three variables generated orderly relationships and interacted with one another to produce complex effects upon differential responding.
CHOICE, RATE OF REINFORCEMENT, AND THE CHANGEOVER DELAY1
Authors: Silberberg Alan , Fantino Edmund
Published: March 2006

Pigeons distribute their responses on concurrently available variable‐interval schedules in the same proportion as reinforcements are distributed on the two schedules only when a changeover delay is used. The present study shows that this equality between proportions of responses and proportions of reinforcements (“matching”) is obtained when the value of the changeover delay is varied. When responses are partitioned into the set of rapid response bursts occurring during the delay interval and the set of responses occurring subsequently, the proportion of neither set of responses matches the proportion of reinforcements. Instead, each set deviates from matching but in opposite directions. Matching on the gross level results from the interaction of two patterns evident in the local response rates: (I) the lengthening of the changeover delay response burst is accompanied by a commensurate decrease in the number of changeovers; (2) the changeover delay response burst is longer than the scheduled delay duration. When delay responses are eliminated by introducing a blackout during the delay interval, response matching is eliminated; the pigeon, however, continues to match the proportion of time spent responding on a key to the proportion of reinforcements obtained on that key.
OPERANT ACCELERATION DURING A PRE‐REWARD STIMULUS1
Authors: Henton Wendon W. , Brady Joseph V.
Published: March 2006

Stimuli of 20, 40, and 80 sec duration terminated with five non‐response‐contingent food pellets were superimposed upon lever pressing reinforced with single pellets on a DRL 30‐sec schedule. Two rhesus monkeys served as subjects. No change in response frequency was observed during the 20‐ and 40‐sec stimuli. During the 80‐sec pre‐food stimulus, overall response frequency increased to approximately 150% and 220% of pre‐stimulus levels, and the temporal distributions of interresponse times shifted toward the shorter intervals. When the 80‐sec stimulus was no longer terminated with food, the response frequency decreased and the temporal distributions of interresponse times gradually approached pre‐stimulus levels. An increased frequency of short interresponse times and an increase in response rate was again observed when the pellet termination procedure was reinstituted with the 80‐sec stimulus. No change in response frequency or interresponse times was observed in the absence of the conditioning stimulus, and performance efficiency, as reflected in the ratio of responses to reinforcements during non‐stimulus periods, remained stable throughout the experiment.
SOME PUNISHING EFFECTS OF RESPONSE‐FORCE1
Authors: Miller L. Keith
Published: March 2006

The present experiment explored the punishing effect of different response‐force requirements by means of a two‐operant design analogous to a two‐component chain schedule. The first component of the chain required a lever pull through 0.25 in. (0.64 cm) at 1 lb (4.45 N) of force. The second component required a lever pull through an additional 0.75 in. (1.90 cm) with the force varied between sessions from 1 lb to 50 lb (4.45 N to 223 N). Completion of the second component of the chain was reinforced after variable intervals averaging 1 min. The average rate of first‐component response decreased as the force requirement for second‐component responses was increased. This rate reduction did not appear to be due to increased response duration, “fatigue”, or differing rates of reinforcement. If the force requirement for the second‐component response is viewed as a consequence for the first‐component response, then the results of the experiment show that a high force requirement is a punisher.
AGGRESSION DURING THE FIXED‐RATIO AND EXTINCTION COMPONENTS OF A MULTIPLE SCHEDULE OF REINFORCEMENT1
Authors: Knutson John F.
Published: March 2006

Pigeons were trained to key peck for food on multiple reinforcement schedules including components of continuous and fixed‐ratio reinforcement and extinction. At the end of the chamber opposite the response key was a restrained target pigeon. The target restraining equipment was designed to record automatically blows struck against the target. When the experimental pigeons were paired with restrained target pigeons they attacked the target. Attack occurred during extinction after both continuous and fixed‐ratio reinforcement. Attack also occurred occasionally during fixed‐ratio 25 and fixed‐ratio 40 and frequently during fixed‐ratio 60 and fixed‐ratio 120. No attack occurred during fixed‐ratio 15 and continuous reinforcement. After a history of stable responding without a target bird present, the introduction of a target bird resulted in severely strained key‐peck responding characterized by long periods of neither key pecking nor aggressing.
RATE OF RESPONSE AS A VISUAL SOCIAL STIMULUS1
Authors: Danson Carl , Creed Thomas
Published: March 2006

In Exp. 1, a high rate of responding (chain pulling) of a stimulus monkey was established as a visual positive discriminative stimulus for the operant behavior (bar pressing) of an observer monkey. The terminal performance of the observer under conditions in which a high rate of response of the stimulus monkey alternated in a variable temporal arrangement with a zero rate of response of the stimulus monkey (negative discriminative stimulus) was essentially the same as when nonbehavioral stimuli are correlated with the availability of reinforcement. By manipulating the schedule of reinforcement to change the rate of responding of the stimulus subject without changing its rate of reinforcement, Exp. 2 showed that the effective behavioral stimulus for the observer was the rate of chain pulling by the stimulus subject. A novel intermediate rate of responding by the stimulus monkey resulted in an intermediate rate (generalization) on the part of the observer during an extinction test. These experiments demonstrated that the rate of responding of one organism can function as a discriminative stimulus to control the rate of responding of another organism; and that the rate of responding is similar to other physical stimuli in terms of discrimination and generalization.
A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMICS OF THE PECKING RESPONSE IN PIGEONS1
Authors: Rilling Mark , Kramer Thomas J. , Askew Henry R.
Published: March 2006

The pecking response of pigeons is usually measured by a transducer that senses the presence or absence of a response. Typically, the response force as a function of time has not been accurately measured. Data were collected using a transducer specially designed to record the waveform of the pecking response in pigeons. Each response on the target surface of the transducer was reinforced and followed by a blackout. The response was stored on an oscilloscope screen and the peak force and duration of the response were recorded manually from the oscilloscope screen. The mean peak force of the response substantially exceeded the minimum criterion for reinforcement of 35 g (0.343 Newtons) of force. Photographs of the waveform of pecks on the transducer showed great variability in response force and demonstrated that the waveform produced by pecking the target surface was complex. The responses were frequently asymmetrical with the rise time shorter than the fall time, although no single verbal description could be applied to all of the waveforms. Bimodal peaks and double responses were observed and the first peak or response was usually larger than the second. A disadvantage of the transducer was that pecking produced oscillation of the transducer at its resonant frequency. In spite of this deficiency, the waveform of the peck was easily recognizable.
SIGNALLED AND UNSIGNALLED FREE‐OPERANT AVOIDANCE IN THE PIGEON1
Authors: Foree Donald D. , LoLordo Vincent M.
Published: March 2006

Pigeons were trained to depress a lever to avoid electric shock under free‐operant avoidance schedules without a warning signal, or with a warning signal that could be terminated only by a response. Most birds in the signalled avoidance procedure terminated more than 50% of the warning signals before shock. In the unsignalled avoidance procedure, several birds formed a temporal discrimination and received relatively few shocks; other birds responded only in post‐shock bursts, and received many more shocks.
TITRATION SCHEDULE WITH RATS IN A RESTRAINING DEVICE
Authors: Dallemagne Ghislaine , Richelle Marc
Published: March 2006

In a restraining device, providing a constant localization and easy placement of stimulating electrodes, rats were conditioned to push a front panel in order to reduce the intensity of a shock which otherwise increased regularly every 10 sec. Rapid conditioning was obtained from all subjects. They showed a very stable behavior, with negligible inter‐ or intra‐individual variability throughout very long experimental sessions. The operant nature of the response was demonstrated further in extinction, where no shock was delivered, and in situations where the animal could not change the predetermined intensity of the shock. The interpretation of the obtained threshold was discussed with reference to previous studies on titration schedule. It was suggested that, with the parameters used, the shock intensity at which it was maintained by the rats' behavior, had the value of a warning signal, and that, in this particular case, the titration schedule generated mainly discriminative avoidance behavior rather than escape behavior.
PIGEON CONCEPT FORMATION: SUCCESSIVE AND SIMULTANEOUS ACQUISITION1
Authors: Siegel R. K. , Honig W. K.
Published: March 2006

Pigeons were trained to discriminate the presence of one or more human forms in displays projected on a panel above the response key. This task was mastered, although imperfectly, with successive and with simultaneous presentations of positive and negative instances. The course of acquisition of the discrimination was similar for the two training procedures. Animals were able to transfer the discrimination from the successive to the simultaneous situation. Various tests were carried out to control for artifactual cues on which the discrimination might have been based. The discrimination was maintained when new displays were presented, when reinforcement was omitted, and when displays were inverted 180°. Animals were also able to discriminate between pairs of displays that were identical, except that one member of the pair contained a human form. The research extends the techniques used by Herrnstein and Loveland (1964), and confirms their finding that pigeons can master the concept of “person‐present” in a visual display.
THE ELIMINATION OF INTERFERING RESPONSE PATTERNS IN LEVER‐PRESS AVOIDANCE SITUATIONS1
Authors: Forgione Albert G.
Published: March 2006

Lever holding into shock and short‐latency responses to shock onset are two response patterns that interfere with avoidance acquisition in free‐operant and discriminated avoidance situations. In an attempt to eliminate these patterns, an additional timer disabled the lever for a period slightly longer than shock duration. A free‐operant avoidance schedule with a warning stimulus, but without the additional timer, constituted the control condition. The lever‐disabling timer was turned on by different events in two experimental conditions: (a) release of the lever at the onset of shock, (b) shock onset. Interfering responses diminished most rapidly, and efficient avoidance behavior appeared earliest, when the lever‐disabling timer was turned on by shock onset.
A CHOICE TECHNIQUE TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF SELECTIVE PUNISHMENT ON FIXED‐RATIO PERFORMANCE1
Authors: Davison M. C.
Published: March 2006

The emission of a fixed number of responses by rats was followed by food reinforcement. This fixed number could be accumulated in any way from two continuously available but mutually incompatible response classes, bar pressing, and not bar pressing for a fixed time period. A preference for one response class was arranged by specifying different maximum reinforcement rates for the two classes. Under selective punishment conditions, the preferred response occasionally led to both food and electric shock, while the non‐preferred response led only to food. Selective punishment effects were measured through changes in the preference to the two responses in the sequence. The actions of shock intensity, deprivation, the specification of the non‐preferred response, and three drugs were investigated. The results were broadly similar to the work reported by Dardano and Sauerbrunn (1964), who found localized increases in interresponse times before punished responses in fixed‐ratio schedules. Performance under this procedure was found to be stable and sensitive to each of the experimental variables examined.
SUMMATION OF CONDITIONED SUPPRESSION1
Authors: Houten Ronald Van , O'Leary K. Daniel , Weiss Stanley J.
Published: March 2006

Four rats were trained to suppress responses in the presence of two separately presented stimuli that signalled shock in a conditioned‐suppression paradigm. The two stimuli that signalled shock were then presented simultaneously to evaluate the effect of stimulus compounding on conditioned suppression. Two rats were tested by presenting the compound conditioned stimulus while conditioned suppression was being maintained to the individual conditioned stimuli. The other two rats were tested by giving them random presentations of the compound conditioned stimulus and the single conditioned stimuli during extinction of conditioned suppression. All four rats showed greater suppression to the compound stimulus than to either stimulus presented alone.
EFFECT OF REINFORCEMENT DURATION ON FIXED‐INTERVAL RESPONDING1
Authors: Staddon J. E. R.
Published: March 2006

Five different reinforcement durations occurred randomly within each session on fixed interval 60‐sec. Postreinforcement pause was directly related (and “running” rate inversely related) to the duration of reinforcement initiating each fixed interval.
PREFERENCE FOR FIXED‐INTERVAL SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT1
Authors: Killeen Peter
Published: March 2006

Pigeons were trained on a two‐link concurrent chain schedule in which responding on either of two keys in the initial link occasionally produced a terminal link, signaled by a change in the color of that key and a darkening of the other. Further responding on the lighted key was reinforced with food according to a fixed‐interval schedule. For one of the keys, this fixed interval was always 20 sec, while for the other it was held at values of 5, 14, 30, or 60 sec for several weeks. In the initial link, all pigeons responded relatively more often on the key with the shorter fixed interval than was predicted by the matching hypothesis. Responding in the initial link showed a large negative recency effect: pigeons responded less frequently on the key that provided their last reinforcement than predicted from the overall response rates
RATE‐DEPENDENT EFFECTS OF DRUGS: MODIFICATION BY DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI OF THE EFFECTS OF AMOBARBITAL ON SCHEDULE‐CONTROLLED BEHAVIOR1
Authors: McKearney James W.
Published: March 2006

Food‐deprived pigeons responded under a 10‐min fixed‐interval schedule of food presentation. During even‐numbered minutes of the schedule, the discriminative stimuli were the same as those present when food was delivered. During odd‐numbered minutes there was either a change in keylight color or a change in overhead illumination, either for the entire duration of the odd‐numbered minutes, or for 3‐sec after each response. Responding during even‐numbered minutes showed the usual pattern of positive acceleration; responding during odd‐numbered minutes was similarly graded, but rates were much lower. The response‐rate‐increasing effects of amobarbital were inversely related to control rates of responding for both even‐ and odd‐numbered minutes. However, when the stimulus change during odd‐numbered minutes was either keylight color or a change from a darkened to a brightly illuminated chamber, increases in responding were considerably less than predicted on the basis of the effects on responding during even‐numbered minutes. When the stimulus change was from a darkened to a dimly illuminated chamber, control rates of responding changed little, but increases in responding during odd‐numbered minutes after amobarbital were considerably greater, and of the approximate order expected on the basis of control rate.
FRACTIONAL PUNISHMENT OF FIXED‐RATIO PERFORMANCE1
Authors: Dardano J. F.
Published: March 2006

Key‐peck responses of pigeons under a fixed‐rate 60 (Exp. I) or fixed‐ratio 99 (Exp. II) schedule of positive reinforcement were punished by response‐dependent electric shock during a segment of the ratio. The punishing stimulus was scheduled in one of three locations: the first third of the ratio, the middle third, or the final third. At high shock levels, the different loci of punishment differentially affected the typical fixed‐ratio performance pattern. Post‐reinforcement pauses were lengthened by all punishment conditions but to a greater degree when the responses in initial third of the ratio were punished. Disruption of responses before the punished segment of the ratio was a conspicuous feature of the performances when the middle or final third of the ratio was punished. Two of the punishment conditions produced similar effects on both fixed‐ratio baselines but punishing the final third of the ratio suppressed the punished responses of the ratio only with the fixed‐ratio 99 schedule. General effects of all punishment conditions included consistent intrasession recoveries of partially suppressed performances, the rapid recovery of the FR performances after the punishment dependency was removed after complete suppression, and the facilitation of overall and/or local response rates of most subjects by low‐intensity shock.
THE EFFECT OF PUNISHMENT SHOCK INTENSITY UPON RESPONDING UNDER MULTIPLE SCHEDULES1
Authors: Powell Robert W.
Published: March 2006

In the first of two experiments, responses of two pigeons were maintained by multiple variable‐interval, variable‐ratio schedules of food reinforcement. Concurrent punishment was introduced, which consisted of a brief electric shock after each tenth response. The initial punishment intensities had no lasting effect upon responding. Then, as shock intensity increased, variable‐ratio response rates were suppressed more quickly than variable‐interval response rates. When shock intensity decreased, variable‐interval responding recovered more quickly, but the rates under both schedules eventually returned to their prepunishment levels. In the second experiment, the following conditions were studied in three additional pigeons: (1) With each shock intensity in effect for a number of sessions, punishment shock intensity was gradually increased and decreased and responding was maintained by multiple variable‐ratio, fixed‐ratio schedules of food reinforcement; (2) Changes in punishment shock intensity as described above with responding maintained by either a variable‐ratio or a fixed‐ratio schedule, which were presented on alternate days; (3) Session‐to‐session changes in shock intensity with responding maintained by multiple variable‐ratio, fixed‐ratio schedules. Responding under the two schedules was suppressed to approximately the same extent by a particular shock intensity. Also, post‐reinforcement pauses under the fixed‐ratio schedule increased as response suppression increased.
THE DEVELOPMENT AND THE EXTINCTION OF HYPERTHERMIA INDUCED BY CONDITIONED AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR IN RATS1
Authors: Delini‐Stula Alexandra
Published: March 2006

Hyperthermia was observed at the end of each conditioning session in rats trained to avoid electric shocks by jumping on a platform. The temperature rise was also observed after the conditioned behavioral response was well established and was elicited even in the absence of shocks. There was no tendency for the hyperthermia to diminish over the course of nine extinction sessions.
THE RESPONSE‐SHOCK—SHOCK‐SHOCK INTERVAL AND UNSIGNALLED AVOIDANCE IN GOLDFISH1
Authors: Scobie Stanley R.
Published: March 2006

Goldfish were trained to swim back and forth in a shuttle tank to avoid unsignalled shocks. The response‐shock interval and the shock‐shock interval were always of equal duration; both were either 15, 30, 45, or 60 sec. Response rates varied inversely with response‐shock—shock‐shock interval duration, as has been found with rats. Percentage of shocks avoided was somewhat lower at the 15 sec response‐shock—shock‐shock interval, but otherwise did not vary systematically with changes in the interval. As the response‐shock—shock‐shock interval increased, the fish made increasingly more responses than necessary to avoid all shocks. Interresponse‐time distributions showed that response probability rose to a maximum at about 15 to 25 sec after a response, regardless of the response‐shock—shock‐shock interval. Thus, at the longer intervals the fish were responding too early in the response‐shock—shock‐shock interval to minimize response rates.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING IN MONKEYS
Authors: Myers William A.
Published: March 2006

Observer monkeys were housed next to demonstrator monkeys that were conditioned to respond on a multiple reinforcement schedule whose components were fixed‐ratio 32, variable‐interval 3‐min, and extinction 5‐min followed by an additional 30 sec of extinction during which every response started a new 30‐sec interval. After observational periods from 113 to 210 hr long, during which observers could not perform the response and were given no extrinsic reinforcers, their first‐response latencies to fixed ratio and variable interval were as short as the demonstrators; and their rates of responding were well above pre‐observational baseline levels. About 8 hr later, a temporal pattern of responding appropriate to the multiple schedule emerged, including non‐emission of responses during extinction. Controls lacking the chance to observe did not develop typically patterned responding after 60 hr in one case and, in two other cases, after 80 hr during which, on two occasions, every one of 50 responses was reinforced. In a second experiment, the stimulus lights associated with fixed ratio and variable interval were presented simultaneously. Subjects chose one of the schedules by responding to one of the levers beneath the lights. All subjects initially chose fixed ratio. Seeing the demonstrators switch to variable interval, due to increases in the fixed‐ratio requirement, had no effect upon observers, which continued to choose fixed ratio.
CONDITIONED REINFORCEMENT AND DISCRIMINATION PERFORMANCE1
Authors: Stubbs Alan , Galloway W. D.
Published: March 2006

Pigeons were trained in a three‐key chamber to peck one side key in the presence of a vertical line on the center key and to peck the other side key in the presence of a horizontal line. Correct choice responses were reinforced with food according to fixed‐ and variable‐ratio, fixed‐interval, and differential‐reinforcement‐of‐long‐latency schedules of reinforcement. For each schedule, the birds performed under each of two conditions: (1) each correct choice response produced a brief presentation of stimuli intermittently paired with food, then the next trial; (2) each correct choice response produced an intertrial interval only. For all schedules except one long latency schedule, response rates were higher under the condition of brief stimulus presentation than under the comparable control condition. Presentation of brief magazine stimuli increased choice accuracy. The amount of change in accuracy was correlated with the rate of food presentation. Performance under the schedules with highest food reinforcement rates showed no enhancement; performance under the schedules with the lowest reinforcement rates showed the greatest enhancement.
OPERANT CONDITIONING IN REDWINGED BLACKBIRDS1
Authors: Bastian Chris W. , Hothersall David
Published: March 2006

An operant conditioning technique for use with passerine birds is described. Two redwinged blackbirds were successfully conditioned to perch‐hop for food reinforcement. Continuous reinforcement and fixed‐ratio schedules involving substantial ratio requirements were used to maintain this response. The behavior of the two redwinged blackbirds was comparable to that of more conventional organisms working on similar schedules of reinforcement.
INDEPENDENTLY DELIVERED FOOD DECELERATES FIXED‐RATIO RATES1
Authors: De Edwards Diane A. , Peek Vickie , Wolfe Frank
Published: March 2006

Following fixed‐ratio baselines, the independent delivery of reinforcers was scheduled alone or concomitant with the fixed‐ratio schedule for all subjects. Systematic manipulations of either the interreinforcement interval or the ratio size were also made during concomitant schedules. Response rates during the independent delivery of reinforcers did not decelerate until the subjects had been exposed for 50 or more sessions. Rates decelerated after a few sessions when the interreinforcement intervals were less than half of the original value and scheduled along with the ratio dependency. When both schedules were available, reductions in the ratio size resulted in slight deceleration of response rate when compared with the level of deceleration yielded by reductions in the independent reinforcement intervals.
EFFECTS OF A PRE‐SHOCK STIMULUS ON TEMPORAL CONTROL OF BEHAVIOR1
Authors: Blackman Derek
Published: March 2006

Rats were exposed to a situation in which a response on lever B was followed by reinforcement if a preceding response on lever A had been made at least 5, 10, or 15 sec before. The effects of signalled unavoidable shock were studied on the behavior maintained by this procedure. All rats made fewer A‐to‐B sequences during the periods of pre‐shock stimulus. In addition, when the A‐to‐B delay was 10 or 15 sec, the distribution of A‐to‐B times changed, there being more shorter intervals. However, for animals where the A‐to‐B delay was 5 sec, the distribution of A‐to‐B times was not changed during the pre‐shock stimulus. In all cases, there was an increased proportion of inappropriate B responses (i.e., with no preceding A response) during the pre‐shock stimulus; this was most marked with animals exposed to a 15‐sec A‐to‐B delay.
CONDITIONED NALORPHINE‐INDUCED ABSTINENCE CHANGES: PERSISTENCE IN POST MORPHINE‐DEPENDENT MONKEYS1
Authors: Goldberg Steven R. , Schuster Charles R.
Published: March 2006

Every tenth lever‐press of three morphine‐dependent rhesus monkeys was reinforced with food. A red light, initially a neutral stimulus, was presented every third or fourth session for 5 min before and 5 min after an intravenous injection of nalorphine, a morphine antagonist that produces an immediate abstinence syndrome in morphine‐dependent monkeys. After several pairings, conditioned suppression of lever pressing, heart‐rate decrease, vomiting, and excessive salivation were observed during the red‐light period before nalorphine injection. No conditioned electrocardiogram, respiration or temperature changes occurred. After 10 red light‐nalorphine pairings, morphine administration was completely discontinued and monkeys were then tested monthly for persistence of the conditioned responses. The red light paired with saline injection continued to suppress lever pressing and to produce heart‐rate decreases after 60 to 120 days of complete abstinence from morphine. Subsequently, daily presentations of the red light‐saline injection complex rapidly extinguished these conditioned responses. Nevertheless, they could be rapidly reinstated by additional nalorphine injections.
THE EFFECT OF A PRE‐SHOCK SIGNAL ON A FREE‐OPERANT AVOIDANCE RESPONSE1
Authors: Roberts A. E. , Hurwitz Harry M. B.
Published: March 2006

After 25 free‐operant avoidance training sessions, a 1‐min signal followed by a brief shock was presented on the average of once every 4 min. During the signal, the avoidance schedule was suspended (20 sessions). Response rates during the signal were markedly reduced. Shock rates during non‐signalled periods increased. Fifteen additional sessions were given during which the signal was presented without shock. Response rates during signalled periods were greater than previously observed during signalled periods, indicating that signalled shock had suppressive control over a previously acquired avoidance response rate.