This paper reviews research based on the psychological autopsy (PA) method applied to the study of suicide. It evidences the presence of a number of methodological problems. Shortcomings concern sampling biases in the selection of control subjects, confounding influences of extraneous variables, and reliability of the assessment instruments. The…

Paired associates and serial list memory are typically investigated separately. An "isolation principle" (J. B. Caplan, 2005) was proposed to explain behavior in both paradigms by using a single model, in which serial list and paired associates memory differ only in how isolated pairs of items are from interference from other studied items. In…

Seminal articles are not only timely in their ability to push the field in new directions but are often timeless in their message. As relevant today as it was 20 years ago, Mayer Shevin's and Nancy Klein's 1984 article on the importance of choice making raises thought-provoking implications about what choice making is, why it is essential in the…

The sunk cost effect is the increased tendency to persist in an endeavor once an investment of money, effort, or time has been made. To date, humans are the only animal in which this effect has been observed unambiguously. We developed a behavior-analytic model of the sunk cost effect to explore the potential for this behavior in pigeons as well…

Four rats responded under a "self-control" procedure designed to obtain delay- discount functions within sessions. Each session consisted of seven blocks, with seven trials within each block. Each block consisted of two initial forced- choice trials followed by five free-choice trials. On choice trials, the rats could press either of two…

This paper attempts to discuss behaviorism and the construction of knowledge. This review investigates whether behaviorism methodology has any advantages in learning a language in our classroom. This assessment also observes the critics of behaviorism and its weaknesses in a learning environment. This inquiry concentrates on the view point of B.F.…

Rhesus monkeys were trained and tested in visual and auditory list-memory tasks with sequences of four travel pictures or four natural/environmental sounds followed by single test items. Acquisitions of the visual list-memory task are presented. Visual recency (last item) memory diminished with retention delay, and primacy (first item) memory…

Information that is spaced over time is better remembered than the same amount of information massed together. This phenomenon, known as the spacing effect, was explored with respect to its effect on learning and neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus of the hippocampal formation. Because the cells are generated over time and because learning…

Family patterns of dysfunction that often reinforce maladaptive behaviors and cognitions of children growing up in an alcoholic home environment are often difficult to overcome. Adjustment issues associated with being an adult child of an alcoholic (ACOA) are presented along with factors that have been identified as being important in developing…

The topic of early intervention for autism is widely researched and discussed within the literature. The application of applied behavioral analysis (ABA) continues to be an important topic. Due to the extensive amount of research on behavioral treatments for autism, and its widespread practice, the focus of this paper will be based upon treatment…

An obstacle to broader acceptability of effect sizes in single case research is their lack of intuitive and useful interpretations. Interpreting Cohen's d as "standard deviation units difference" and R[superscript 2] as "percent of variance accounted for" do not resound with most visual analysts. In fact, the only comparative analysis widely…

This study examined reactions of 1-year-olds and young 2-year-olds to being controlled by mothers. Mothers' supportive behavior predicted children's willing compliance. However, contrary to research with older children, defiance was also associated with variables linked to maternal competence, specifically, mothers' supportive behavior,…

Dynamic factor models have been used to analyze continuous time series behavioral data. We extend 2 main dynamic factor model variations--the direct autoregressive factor score (DAFS) model and the white noise factor score (WNFS) model--to categorical DAFS and WNFS models in the framework of the underlying variable method and illustrate them with…

This article describes a manualized-group treatment of eating disorders, the attunement in mind, body, and relationship (AMBR) program. The cognitive behavioral and dialectic behavioral research as well as the innovative prevention interventions upon which the program is based (e.g., interactive discourse, yoga, and mediation) are introduced. The…

We examined women's participation, relative to men's, at the annual meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) between 1975 and 2005. Among our findings are upward trends in female presenters across formats (e.g., posters), types of authorship (e.g., first authors), and specialty areas (e.g., autism). Where women have attained…