The present comments concern Michael's concept of motivative variables, and the implications of that concept for our understanding of the nature of reinforcement as well as the extinction of responses maintained through positive and negative reinforcement. We note that both extinction and altering motivative variables decrease responding, but…

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…

Context renewal is identified when the conditioned response (CR) elicited by an extinguished conditioned stimulus (CS) reappears as a result of changing the contextual cues during the test. Two experiments were designed for testing contextual renewal in a conditioned taste aversion preparation. Experiment 1 assessed ABA and AAB context renewal,…

With recent advances in the behavioral treatment of depression and growing dissatisfaction with medical and cognitive interventions, a resurgence of interest in behavior analytic treatment of depression has occurred. Currently, several behavioral and cognitive behavioral models of depression exist. In reviewing these models, certain agreed upon…

When responses function to produce the same reinforcer, a response class exists. Researchers have examined response classes in applied settings; however, the challenges associated with conducting applied research on response class development have recently necessitated the development of an analogue response class model. To date, little research…

Two experiments were conducted to identify the conditions likely to produce resurgence among adult human participants. The preparation was a simulated caregiving context, wherein a recorded infant cry sounded and was terminated contingent upon targeted caregiving responses. Results of Experiment 1 demonstrated resurgence with human participants in…

Research on the emergence of human avoidance behavior in the absence of direct contact with an aversive event is somewhat limited. Consistent with work on derived relational responding, the present study sought to investigate the transformation of avoidance response functions in accordance with the relational frames of Same and Opposite.…

The choice-making behavior of 2 typically developing children who engaged in problem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement was evaluated within a concurrent-operants assessment that varied the quality of attention across free-play and demand conditions. The results demonstrated that it was possible to bias responding towards academic…

Two experiments were designed to replicate and extend previous findings on the transformation of avoidance response functions in accordance with the relational frames of Same and Opposite. Participants were first exposed to non-arbitrary and arbitrary relational training and testing. Next, during avoidance conditioning, one stimulus from the…

The effects of manipulations of task variables on inaccurate responding and disruption were investigated with 3 children who engaged in noncompliance. With 2 children in an outpatient clinic, task directives were first manipulated to identify directives that guided accurate responding; then, additional dimensions of the task were manipulated to…

In general, the study confirmed the prediction that learning of a discrimination under punishment or a reward-punishment condition is superior to that under reward alone. (Authors)

Investigated subjects' state anxiety arousal in response to an in vivo vicarious threat to self-esteem. Results indicated state anxiety as self-reported by high-empathic subjects increased following vicarious threats to self-esteem manipulation. Trait anxiety was consistently related to A-State and A-State increases. (Author/BEF)