Mand training is often a primary focus in early language instruction and typically includes mands that are positively reinforced. However, mands maintained by negative reinforcement are also important skills to teach. These include mands to escape aversive demands or unwanted items. Another type of negatively reinforced mand important to teach…

Action-outcome contingencies can be learnt either by active trial-and-error, or vicariously, by observing the outcomes of actions performed by others. The extant literature is ambiguous as to which of these modes of learning is more effective, as controlled comparisons of operant and observational learning are rare. Here, we contrasted human…

The current study examined the effects of bite placement with a flipped versus upright spoon on expulsion and mouth clean (product measure of swallowing) in the treatment of 3 children diagnosed with a pediatric feeding disorder and oral-motor deficits. For all 3 participants, extinction in the form of nonremoval of the spoon led to improvements…

The current study investigates the comparative effects of sensory-integration therapy and behavioral interventions on rates of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in a 9-year-old boy with diagnosis of autism. A functional analysis was conducted to identify the variables maintaining the self-injurious behavior. This analysis demonstrated that SIB was…

The major purpose of the study was to compare the frequency and effectiveness of positive and negative reinforcement practices deployed by teachers in boys' and girls' secondary schools in urban and rural areas. It was hypothesized that there would be no difference in use of reward and punishment by teachers in secondary schools in urban and rural…

The Gambling Functional Assessment (GFA; Dixon & Johnson, 2007) is a 20-item self-report inventory identifying four potential consequences maintaining gambling behavior. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses are performed for two large, nonclinical samples of university undergraduates. For the exploratory analysis, the optimal model…

The relation of mood and stress to binge eating and vomiting in the natural environments of patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) was examined using real-time data collection. Women (n = 131; mean age = 25.3 years) with BN carried a palmtop computer for 2 weeks and completed ratings of positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), anger/hostility (AH),…

The study investigates the development of English multiword negation, in particular the negation of zero marked verbs (e.g. "no sleep", "not see", "can't reach") from a usage-based perspective. The data was taken from a dense database consisting of the speech of an English-speaking child (Brian) aged 2;3-3;4 (MLU 2.05-3.1) and his mother. The…

The present study examined the linkage between pre-adolescent children's depressive symptoms and their preferences for receiving positive vs. negative feedback subsequent to being faced with an experimentally manipulated peer evaluation outcome in real time. Participants (n = 142) ages 10 to 13, played a computer contest based on the television…

Compared rapid smoking (overt aversion), covert sensitization (symbolic aversion), and a combination of the two in a self-punishment procedure for eliminating cigarette smoking. Training sessions were spaced over a one-month period. The overt group achieved significantly greater reduction than the symbolic group. The combined group did not differ…

Follow-up data are presented for 6- and 12-months on male alcoholics (N=20) who received either a multifaceted inpatient alcoholism treatment program alone (controls) or emetic or shock aversion therapy in addition to that program. Both emetic and control subjects compiled more days of abstinence than shock subjects. (Author)

College students in the United States and India provided information on their childhood punishment, personal evaluation of the punishment, and other data. The majority of both national groups reported having been physically punished as children. Physical punishment was condoned more by U.S. than by Indian students. More physical punishment in…

Results of prior studies (e.g. [J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 32 (1999) 285]) showing that participants chose alternative behavior (compliance) over escape-reinforced destructive behavior when this latter response produced escape and the former response produced positive reinforcement may have been due to (a) the value of the positive reinforcer…

The specific parenting domains measured by the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) make it particularly relevant to interventions concerned with the modification of parenting practices. This study assessed the validity and clinical utility of parent reports on the APQ using observational data of parents and children (N=56, aged 4-8 years)…

Effects of 2 home-based treatments to reduce school problems among 10 disruptive intermediate school students were probed. Although the treatment using only positive reinforcement yielded no significant change, a mixed reinforcement treatment brought both a decrease in rates of referrals to the office and decrease in depression rates. (Author/PB)