Everyone, including children with developmental disabilities, encounters stimuli they find aversive every day (e.g., the sound of a classmate tapping their pencil). These aversive stimuli may not be problematic for typically developing individuals, because they learn to behave in ways that allow them to escape or avoid this aversive stimulation. They could, for example, mand (i.e., request) for something to be changed in the environment (e.g., ask their classmates to stop tapping their pencils). A child with developmental disabilities, however, may not have the communication skills necessary to request the termination of aversive stimuli, which may result in frequent exposure to aversive situations. For these children, it may be useful to acquire a general mand (e.g., saying, "No, thank you") which could be used to avoid or terminate a variety of aversive stimuli. Previous researchers teaching mands for negative reinforcement have focused on replacing problem behavior maintained by escape from task demands. The current study extended the literature on teaching mands for negative reinforcement by teaching children with developmental disabilities to mand for escape from a variety of nonpreferred stimuli, while assessing generalization to untrained stimuli and settings. Participants were two school-aged boys with autism who engaged in problem behavior when they encountered nonpreferred stimuli, and did not use an appropriate mand for negative reinforcement. First, we employed a non-preferred stimulus assessment to identify stimuli for subsequent use in mand training. Next, we conducted mand training sequentially across nonpreferred stimuli until sufficient exemplars were trained for generalization to untrained stimuli to occur. Finally, we conducted probes to assess generalization of the mand response to nontraining contexts outside of the experimental setting. For both participants, training was required across two stimuli before cross-stimulus generalization was observed. Because generalization did not bring the mand to criterion levels with the third stimulus, for either participant, training was introduced to facilitate acquisition. The mand response was acquired with a fourth stimulus in the absence of training. Through the inclusion of appropriate control conditions, we showed that the stimulus control of the mand response was appropriate, occurring almost exclusively in the presence of nonpreferred stimuli. In addition, we showed decreases in problem behavior, for both participants, which corresponded to acquisition of the mand response. We also provided evidence of generalization to nontraining contexts. We discuss limitations of the current study and present suggestions for future research.

While gamification has been extensively studied in specific fields, such as education and health, its application in other domains remains understudied. This thesis explores how battle passes, a common gamification system found in video games, are implemented and examines their potential challenges and limitations within and beyond video games. The study adopted a mixed-methods research approach, gathering qualitative and quantitative data through a survey designed to inquire battle pass users about how they use and are affected by the battle pass systems in Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Fortnite, Overwatch 2 and Valorant. The results indicate that gamers generally prefer completing the battle pass through passive generation of XP by playing the game. Challenges are still considered a fun addition to the battle pass system, although with varying levels of enjoyment. Gamers are motivated to complete even unenjoyable challenges to earn higher rewards, both highlighting the power of extrinsic motivators and the risks of implementing battle passes. It is important that companies implement battle passes responsibly, as these systems can be manipulative and exploitative. For example, entities implementing battle passes should consider that battle passes can cause exhaustion in users, and participation should as a consequence be optional. While the intentions of companies cannot be controlled, informing battle pass users about the potential negative impacts of battle passes can help them to protect themselves from exploitation. Overall, this study offers a foundation for future investigation into the effectiveness of gamification and battle passes.

The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effects of combining negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement during teaching with the effects of using positive reinforcement alone. A behavior was trained under two stimulus conditions and procedures. One method involved presenting the cue ven and reinforcing successive approximations to the target behavior. The other method involved presenting the cue punir, physically prompting the target behavior by pulling the leash, and delivering a reinforcer. Three other behaviors were trained using the two cues contingent on their occurrence. The results suggest that stimuli associated with both a positive reinforcer and an aversive stimulus produce a different dynamic than a situation that uses positive reinforcement or punishment alone.

Feral and fearful cats and kittens in animal shelters are not likely to be adopted as companion animals because they emit fearful or aggressive behaviors in the presence of humans. The purpose of the fearful to friendly (F2F) research was to investigate a shaping procedure to increase friendly behaviors of feral and fearful domestic cats and kittens with the goal of achieving animal shelters’ adoptability criteria. The results showed the F2F procedure was a safe and very effective procedure to quickly tame feral kittens deemed unadoptable. The day after implementing F2F, three out of four kittens approached me and accepted petting and holding without any additional training.

A variabilidade comportamental pode ser induzida por reforçamento parcial ou extinção, assim como pode ser reforçada diferencialmente. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar como a variabilidade comportamental pode ser influenciada por estímulos aversivos, tanto no processo de indução por reforçamento parcial e extinção, como no reforçamento negativo contingente à variação. Oito ratos Wistar machos foram divididos em dois experimentos. Em ambos foram realizadas sessões com 60 choques elétricos de (1mA), administrados no piso da caixa, em VT 60s (10-110s). O objetivo do Experimento 1 foi comparar os níveis de variabilidade da alocação da resposta de focinhar de três sujeitos experimentais em condições de nível operante, reforçamento negativo (fuga) e extinção. No Experimento 2 visou reforçar negativamente a variabilidade comportamental, expondo cinco sujeitos à sessões de Nível Operante, CRF, FR2, LAG1, LAG3 e Acoplado. Os resultados do Experimento 1 demonstram que os sujeitos emitiram a resposta de fuga durante as sessões de CRF com altos índices de variabilidade, mesmo a variabilidade não sendo exigida. Na sessão de extinção, dois dos sujeitos aumentaram ainda mais a variação das respostas. Discute-se que a resposta de focinhar ficou sob controle da contingência operante, enquanto que a sua variabilidade pode ter sido induzida pelo choque ou pelo esquema de reforçamento. Os resultados do Experimento 2 replicam os do Experimento 1 durante as sessões de CRF. Na fase de FR2 houve uma diminuição da variabilidade das respostas, provavelmente em virtude do alto custo da variação da resposta durante a fuga, somado aos efeitos de habituação ao estímulo aversivo. Com a introdução das contingências LAG1 e LAG3, os dados mostraram que os sujeitos aumentaram os índices de variabilidade de acordo com a contingência. Conclui-se que o reforçamento diferencial da variabilidade produziu altos índices de variação. Tais dados estão de acordo com os resultados obtidos com procedimento de reforçamento positivo da variabilidade comportamental em estudos recentes na área, o que sugere a equivalência desses controles. / Behavioral variability can be induced by partial reinforcement or extinction, and be differentially reinforced. The purpose of this study was to investigate how behavioral variability can be influenced by aversive stimuli, both in the process of induction by partial reinforcement and extinction as well as in the negative reinforcement contingent to variation. Eight Wistar male rats were used in two experiments. In both experiments the animals were exposed to 60 electric shocks (1mA) delivered through the box floor, in VT 60s (10-110s). The objective of Experiment 1 was to compare the variability of nose-poke response location of three animals in operant level, continuous negative reinforcement (escape) and extinction. In Experiment 2 five subjects were exposed to sessions of Operant Level, CRF, FR2, LAG1, LAG3 and Yoke condition. Although variability was not required, the results of Experiment 1 revealed that the subjects emitted escape responses with high levels of variation during CRF sessions. In the extinction session, an increase in response variability was found for two subjects. It is argued that the nose-poke response was under control of the operating contingency, while the response variability may have been elicited by shock or the schedule of reinforcement. The results of CRF sessions of Experiment 2 replicate the findings of Experiment 1. During FR2 phase it was detected a decrease in response variability, probably due to the high cost of response variation during escape in addition to the effects of habituation to the aversive stimulus. With the exposure to LAG1 and LAG3 schedules of variation, the data show that the subjects\' variability levels increased according to the contingency in effect. The differential reinforcement of variability resulted in high levels of variation. These data match the results of recent studies on the influence of positive reinforcement procedures on behavioral variability, what suggests the equivalence of these controls.

A dificuldade de aprendizagem de comportamentos reforçados negativamente, após uma história de exposição a estímulos aversivos incontroláveis, é denominada desamparo aprendido. Uma interpretação deste fenômeno é que a exposição à incontrolabilidade faz com que os sujeitos aprendam que não há relação entre suas respostas e o que ocorre nesse ambiente, o que posteriormente dificulta a aprendizagem sob reforçamento negativo (hipótese do desamparo aprendido). Outra é que, em função de reforçamento acidental, os sujeitos aprendem a ficar inativos (hipótese da inatividade aprendida). Alguns dados experimentais contradizem ambas as hipóteses, sendo os mesmos passíveis de serem interpretados por uma hipótese alternativa: a exposição à incontrolabilidade pode tornar mais relevante a contiguidade temporal entre resposta e eventos ambientais, facilitando ou dificultando novas aprendizagens (hipótese da contiguidade potencializada). Para testar tal hipótese, foram realizados três experimentos nos quais dezesseis grupos (n=8) de ratos Wistar foram expostos a tratamentos com choques controláveis, incontroláveis ou nenhum choque, sendo posteriormente testados em contingência de fuga com diferentes parâmetros do atraso do reforço, tais como período temporal de atraso e sua regularidade. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que atrasos variáveis entre 450 e 750ms produziram o efeito de desamparo aprendido, enquanto que atrasos fixos de 500 e 600ms não produziram esse efeito de forma consistente, a despeito da exposição prévia à incontrolabilidade dos choques. Tais resultados sugerem que o atraso na liberação do reforço negativo pode ser um fator relevante para que eventos aversivos incontroláveis produzam o desamparo aprendido. São discutidas as implicações desses dados para a manutenção ou refutação das hipóteses explicativas desse efeito comportamental. A hipótese alternativa da contiguidade potencializada testada parece ser a que melhor explica os dados experimentais aqui obtidos, bem como os da literatura. Tal hipótese pode sustentar novas possibilidades de análise experimental do fenômeno denominado desamparo aprendido. Entre as possibilidades se destaca o papel que a seleção acidental do comportamento pode exercer sobre a ocorrência deste fenômeno. / The difficulty of learning behaviors that are negatively reinforced, after a history of exposition to uncontrollable aversive stimulus, is named learned helplessness. An interpretation is that the exposition to uncontrollability makes the subjects learn that there is no relationship between their responses and what happens on this environment (learned helplessness hypothesis). Another interpretation is that, due to accidental reinforcement, the subjects learn to stay inactive (learned inactivity hypothesis). Some experimental data contradict both hypothesis, which are able to be interpreted using an alternative hypothesis: the exposition to uncontrollability can make the temporal contiguity between responses and environmental events more relevant, making new learnings easier or more difficult (potentiated contiguity hypothesis). In order to test such hypothesis, three experiments were carried out in which sixteen groups (n=8) of Wistar rats were exposed to controllable shocks, uncontrollable shocks, and none shock. Later were tested in escape contingency with different parameters of delay of reinforcement, such as the temporal period of delay and its regularity. The obtained results indicated that delays between 450 and 750ms produced the learned helplessness effect, while fixed delays of 500 and 600ms did not produce this effect in a consistent manner, despite the previous exposition to the uncontrollability. Such results suggest that the delay of the negative reinforcement may be a relevant factor to produce learned helplessness. The implications of these findings to the maintenance or denial of the hypothesis that explains this behavioral effect are discussed. The alternative hypothesis of potentiated contiguity seems to be the one that best explains the experimental data obtained, as well as from literature. Such hypothesis may support new possibilities of experimental analysis of the helplessness. Between the possibilities, stands out the role that accidental selection of the behavior can exert on the occurrence of this phenomenon.

A dificuldade de aprendizagem de comportamentos reforçados negativamente, após uma história de exposição a estímulos aversivos incontroláveis, é denominada desamparo aprendido. Uma interpretação deste fenômeno é que a exposição à incontrolabilidade faz com que os sujeitos aprendam que não há relação entre suas respostas e o que ocorre nesse ambiente, o que posteriormente dificulta a aprendizagem sob reforçamento negativo (hipótese do desamparo aprendido). Outra é que, em função de reforçamento acidental, os sujeitos aprendem a ficar inativos (hipótese da inatividade aprendida). Alguns dados experimentais contradizem ambas as hipóteses, sendo os mesmos passíveis de serem interpretados por uma hipótese alternativa: a exposição à incontrolabilidade pode tornar mais relevante a contiguidade temporal entre resposta e eventos ambientais, facilitando ou dificultando novas aprendizagens (hipótese da contiguidade potencializada). Para testar tal hipótese, foram realizados três experimentos nos quais dezesseis grupos (n=8) de ratos Wistar foram expostos a tratamentos com choques controláveis, incontroláveis ou nenhum choque, sendo posteriormente testados em contingência de fuga com diferentes parâmetros do atraso do reforço, tais como período temporal de atraso e sua regularidade. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que atrasos variáveis entre 450 e 750ms produziram o efeito de desamparo aprendido, enquanto que atrasos fixos de 500 e 600ms não produziram esse efeito de forma consistente, a despeito da exposição prévia à incontrolabilidade dos choques. Tais resultados sugerem que o atraso na liberação do reforço negativo pode ser um fator relevante para que eventos aversivos incontroláveis produzam o desamparo aprendido. São discutidas as implicações desses dados para a manutenção ou refutação das hipóteses explicativas desse efeito comportamental. A hipótese alternativa da contiguidade potencializada testada parece ser a que melhor explica os dados experimentais aqui obtidos, bem como os da literatura. Tal hipótese pode sustentar novas possibilidades de análise experimental do fenômeno denominado desamparo aprendido. Entre as possibilidades se destaca o papel que a seleção acidental do comportamento pode exercer sobre a ocorrência deste fenômeno. / The difficulty of learning behaviors that are negatively reinforced, after a history of exposition to uncontrollable aversive stimulus, is named learned helplessness. An interpretation is that the exposition to uncontrollability makes the subjects learn that there is no relationship between their responses and what happens on this environment (learned helplessness hypothesis). Another interpretation is that, due to accidental reinforcement, the subjects learn to stay inactive (learned inactivity hypothesis). Some experimental data contradict both hypothesis, which are able to be interpreted using an alternative hypothesis: the exposition to uncontrollability can make the temporal contiguity between responses and environmental events more relevant, making new learnings easier or more difficult (potentiated contiguity hypothesis). In order to test such hypothesis, three experiments were carried out in which sixteen groups (n=8) of Wistar rats were exposed to controllable shocks, uncontrollable shocks, and none shock. Later were tested in escape contingency with different parameters of delay of reinforcement, such as the temporal period of delay and its regularity. The obtained results indicated that delays between 450 and 750ms produced the learned helplessness effect, while fixed delays of 500 and 600ms did not produce this effect in a consistent manner, despite the previous exposition to the uncontrollability. Such results suggest that the delay of the negative reinforcement may be a relevant factor to produce learned helplessness. The implications of these findings to the maintenance or denial of the hypothesis that explains this behavioral effect are discussed. The alternative hypothesis of potentiated contiguity seems to be the one that best explains the experimental data obtained, as well as from literature. Such hypothesis may support new possibilities of experimental analysis of the helplessness. Between the possibilities, stands out the role that accidental selection of the behavior can exert on the occurrence of this phenomenon.

A variabilidade comportamental pode ser induzida por reforçamento parcial ou extinção, assim como pode ser reforçada diferencialmente. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar como a variabilidade comportamental pode ser influenciada por estímulos aversivos, tanto no processo de indução por reforçamento parcial e extinção, como no reforçamento negativo contingente à variação. Oito ratos Wistar machos foram divididos em dois experimentos. Em ambos foram realizadas sessões com 60 choques elétricos de (1mA), administrados no piso da caixa, em VT 60s (10-110s). O objetivo do Experimento 1 foi comparar os níveis de variabilidade da alocação da resposta de focinhar de três sujeitos experimentais em condições de nível operante, reforçamento negativo (fuga) e extinção. No Experimento 2 visou reforçar negativamente a variabilidade comportamental, expondo cinco sujeitos à sessões de Nível Operante, CRF, FR2, LAG1, LAG3 e Acoplado. Os resultados do Experimento 1 demonstram que os sujeitos emitiram a resposta de fuga durante as sessões de CRF com altos índices de variabilidade, mesmo a variabilidade não sendo exigida. Na sessão de extinção, dois dos sujeitos aumentaram ainda mais a variação das respostas. Discute-se que a resposta de focinhar ficou sob controle da contingência operante, enquanto que a sua variabilidade pode ter sido induzida pelo choque ou pelo esquema de reforçamento. Os resultados do Experimento 2 replicam os do Experimento 1 durante as sessões de CRF. Na fase de FR2 houve uma diminuição da variabilidade das respostas, provavelmente em virtude do alto custo da variação da resposta durante a fuga, somado aos efeitos de habituação ao estímulo aversivo. Com a introdução das contingências LAG1 e LAG3, os dados mostraram que os sujeitos aumentaram os índices de variabilidade de acordo com a contingência. Conclui-se que o reforçamento diferencial da variabilidade produziu altos índices de variação. Tais dados estão de acordo com os resultados obtidos com procedimento de reforçamento positivo da variabilidade comportamental em estudos recentes na área, o que sugere a equivalência desses controles. / Behavioral variability can be induced by partial reinforcement or extinction, and be differentially reinforced. The purpose of this study was to investigate how behavioral variability can be influenced by aversive stimuli, both in the process of induction by partial reinforcement and extinction as well as in the negative reinforcement contingent to variation. Eight Wistar male rats were used in two experiments. In both experiments the animals were exposed to 60 electric shocks (1mA) delivered through the box floor, in VT 60s (10-110s). The objective of Experiment 1 was to compare the variability of nose-poke response location of three animals in operant level, continuous negative reinforcement (escape) and extinction. In Experiment 2 five subjects were exposed to sessions of Operant Level, CRF, FR2, LAG1, LAG3 and Yoke condition. Although variability was not required, the results of Experiment 1 revealed that the subjects emitted escape responses with high levels of variation during CRF sessions. In the extinction session, an increase in response variability was found for two subjects. It is argued that the nose-poke response was under control of the operating contingency, while the response variability may have been elicited by shock or the schedule of reinforcement. The results of CRF sessions of Experiment 2 replicate the findings of Experiment 1. During FR2 phase it was detected a decrease in response variability, probably due to the high cost of response variation during escape in addition to the effects of habituation to the aversive stimulus. With the exposure to LAG1 and LAG3 schedules of variation, the data show that the subjects\' variability levels increased according to the contingency in effect. The differential reinforcement of variability resulted in high levels of variation. These data match the results of recent studies on the influence of positive reinforcement procedures on behavioral variability, what suggests the equivalence of these controls.

The present study explored whether (a) positive or negative reinforcement would produce higher percentages of on-task student behavior at set timed intervals, (b) positive, negative, or total reinforcement would increase student attentiveness after reinforcement, and (c) if natural fluctuations in teacher approval/disapproval would have any bearing on percentages of student attentiveness. Findings of the 15-day study concluded that (a) positive reinforcement maintained significantly higher levels of student attentiveness over negative reinforcement, (b) negative reinforcement did not significantly lower percentages of student attentiveness, and (c) natural fluctuations in rates of teacher approval/disapproval had no apparent effect on the amount of on-task behavior in the beginning strings class.

Aggression in dogs is a significant public health concern with 7.2 mortality cases per 100 million inhabitants and approximately 4.7 million dog bites annually. Canine aggression is typically viewed as a genetic trait and treated as pathology through the use of medical or respondent behavioral procedures. In this study the effects of the differential negative reinforcement of safe, alternative behaviors to aggression using distancing as the reinforcer were evaluated. The results demonstrated that even when the aggression was in evidence throughout most of the dog's lifetime, it responded quickly to changes in reinforcement contingencies.