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…

This study evaluated a device that applied a sustained increase in accelerator pedal back force whenever drivers exceeded a preset speed criterion without buckling their seat belts. This force was removed once the belt was fastened. Participants were 6 commercial drivers who operated carpet-cleaning vans. During baseline, no contingency was in…

This papers looks into whether combining Skype, blogging and class discussions reinforces or refutes stereotypes. The hypothesis was that some students do not have an adequate chance to reflect on their skype experience and course content. To see if students have made improvements in reducing stereotypes, the Standards for Foreign Language…

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…

A literature search identified 17 articles reporting data on 34 subjects who engaged in precursors to severe problem behavior, which we examined to identify topographical and functional characteristics. Unintelligible vocalization was the most common precursor to aggression (27%) and property destruction (29%), whereas self- or nondirected…

Eight young children who displayed destructive behavior maintained, at least in part, by negative reinforcement received long-term functional communication training (FCT). During FCT, the children completed a portion of a task and then touched a communication card attached to a microswitch to obtain brief breaks. Prior to and intermittently…

Seven adults participated in simulated teaching sessions with an experimenter who role played as a student with developmental disabilities. The experimenter engaged in problem behavior and either (a) terminated problem behavior contingent on participant reprimands (negative reinforcement) or (b) did not terminate problem behavior contingent on…

We examined the effects of a negative reinforcement-based treatment on the self-feeding of 1 child with food selectivity by type and texture. Self-feeding increased when the child could choose to either self-feed 1 bite of a target food or be fed 1 bite of the target food and 5 bites of another food. Possible mechanisms that underlie the…

An attempt was made to modify the Gambling Functional Assessment (GFA), which was proposed to identify four possible contingencies maintaining the respondent's gambling behavior. However, previous research found that it only identified two contingencies (i.e., positive vs. negative reinforcement), with some items cross-loading on both…

Results from a qualitative study with parents about underage drinking are presented. Semistructured interviews (n = 44) were conducted with parents of teens to investigate whether and why parents permit underage drinking. Parents had three primary reasons for allowing underage drinking: deliberate, spontaneous, and harm reduction. Deliberate…

Given the effectiveness of putative escape extinction as treatment for feeding problems, it is surprising that little is known about the effects of escape as reinforcement for appropriate eating during treatment. In the current investigation, we examined the effectiveness of escape as reinforcement for mouth clean (a product measure of…

An extensive literature on the causes of challenging behaviors has been developed, primarily in the applied behavior analysis literature. One hundred and seventy-three empirical studies were reviewed where functional assessment serves as the primary method of identifying these causes. Most of the studies were able to identify a clear function or…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of functional communication training (FCT) on the occurrence of non-targeted disruptive behavior. The 10 participants were preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities who engaged in both destructive (property destruction, aggression, self-injury) and disruptive (hand flapping,…

It has been suggested that the target areas of dopaminergic midbrain neurons, the dorsal (DS) and ventral striatum (VS), are differently involved in reinforcement learning especially as actor and critic. Whereas the critic learns to predict rewards, the actor maintains action values to guide future decisions. The different midbrain connections to…

This qualitative study examines the experiences of Latinas/os in community college English and math developmental education courses. Critical race theory in education and the theory of validation serve as guiding frameworks. The authors find that institutional agents provide academic validation by emphasizing high expectations, focusing on social…