Há ainda resultados controversos na literatura indicando a superioridade ou não do procedimento de seleção de estímulos em relação ao de emissão de diferentes topografias de respostas no ensino de comportamento verbal para indivíduos não verbais ou com repertório verbal limitado. Os resultados dos estudos publicados anteriormente, por possuírem dados conflitantes em diferentes populações com atraso no desenvolvimento, parecem não ser generalizáveis. O estudo teve por objetivo realizar comparações entre os dois procedimentos, em que diferentes tatos foram treinados, buscando com isso, caracterizar o procedimento que produzisse a) menor quantidade de respostas necessárias para atingir critério de aprendizagem e b) menor número de erros e c) maior número de respostas corretas no pós-teste de simetria. No presente estudo foram empregados três participantes, com idades entre três e treze anos, diagnosticados com o transtorno do espectro autista, sem outras comorbidades psiquiátricas. Para o estudo foram criadas duas condições experimentais divididas em duas fases cada, duas para Seleção de Estímulos e duas para Topografia de Respostas e cada uma das fases se utilizou de conjuntos de estímulos (um objeto, um símbolo não familiar e um sinal de linguagem de sinais) especialmente desenvolvidos para o estudo. A primeira condição foi a de resposta baseada em Topografia, em que o participante é exposto a um objeto e o experimentador pergunta o que é isso? . A criança tem até cinco segundos para fazer o sinal de língua de sinais arbitrária correspondente ao estímulo. A segunda condição foi a de resposta baseada em seleção de estímulos ( tais condições foram invertidas na Fase 2). O experimentador apresentava um objeto e a criança tinha até cinco segundos para apontar o símbolo não familiar correspondente, que era randomizado com outros dois estímulos arbitrários. A randomização foi produzida por sorteio dos conjuntos de estímulos e a posição dos mesmos foi alterada em posição e ordem de apresentação. Após a aplicação de C1 e C2 na fase 1 e aplicação de C2-C1 na fase 2, foi aplicado um pós-teste de simetria para os tatos treinados. Os resultados apontam que apesar de haver vantagem no procedimento baseado em Topografias de Respostas, pode haver um efeito de ordem significativo e que a direção de aplicação dos procedimentos não apresenta diferenças significativas entre si. Tais achados parecem coadunar com as ideias de Shaffer (1993) que defende a busca de métodos individualizados de acordo com os repertórios particulares de cada aluno e a união de procedimentos deve ser adotada como principal estratégia de ensino para crianças com TEA / There still are controversies in the literature regarding the superiority or not of the Selection Based procedure as compared to Topography Based in verbal behavior teaching for nonverbal individuals or individuals with limited verbal repertoire. The results of previously published studies, having conflicting data in different populations with developmental delay, do not seem to be generalizable. The study aimed to make comparisons between the two procedures in which different tacts were trained, seeking thereby to characterize the procedure that produced a) lower number of responses needed to meet criteria for learning, b) fewer errors and c) higher number of correct answers in symmetry posttest. The present study employed three participants, aged between three and thirteen, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder without other psychiatric comorbidities. For the study were created two experimental conditions divided into two stages each, two for Stimuli Selection and two for Responses Topography. Each phase used stimuli sets (an object, an unfamiliar symbol and a speech signal signals) specially developed for the study. The first condition was the topography based response, in which the participant is exposed to an object and the experimenter asks \"what is this? \". The child had up to five seconds to make the arbitrary language sign corresponding to the stimulus. The second condition was a response based on stimuli selection (such conditions are reversed in phase 2). The experimenter had an object and the child had up to five seconds to point the corresponding unfamiliar symbol, which was randomized with two other arbitrary stimuli. Randomization was produced by drawing of the sets of stimuli and the position thereof was changed in position and presentation order. After application of C1 and C2 in phase 1 and applying C1-C2 in step 2, a symmetry post-test for trained tacts was applied. The results show that although the Topography Based procedure has its advantages, there may be a significant order effect. Also, the direction of application of the procedures does not show significant differences. These findings appear to be consistent with the ideas of Shaffer (1993) who argues for the pursuit of methods customized to the particular repertoires of each student and that a unification of procedures should be adopted as the main teaching strategy for children with ASD

Over the past decades, decision making under risk has garnered a great amount of attention both in the field of economics and psychology. Although state-dependent variabilities of risk taking are well-documented, little is known about the effects of a person’s preferred time of day, or chronotype, in risky decision making. Under circumstances of circadian mismatch (e.g., when an “early bird” makes decisions in the evening), research suggests that decision making may reflect a greater reliance on heuristics, such as using stereotypes in social judgments. However, the effects of circadian mismatch on heuristics in risky decision making are relatively unexplored. This paper looks into the effects of circadian mismatch on the reflection effect: a behavioral bias in financial decision making, wherein individuals are risk averse when facing potential gains, and risk seeking when facing potential losses. Participants will be randomly assigned to their circadian matched or circadian mismatched conditions and will play a series of financial gambling tasks with real monetary incentives. This study predicts that the reflection effect will be exacerbated in circadian mismatched individuals as compared to matched participants. Exploring such an effect could have real-world implications on decision making under risk by providing critical knowledge about the effects of time of day on our susceptibility to behavioral biases. It could therefore point to the existence of a more optimal time of day to engage in such critical decision making.

To explore relational processes of couple’s satisfaction this study drew on the relational spirituality framework (Mahoney, 2010) in order to test a relational religiosity model to evaluate the effects of public, private, ideological, intellectual, and experiential religiosity that were mediated by relational virtues of commitment, sacrifice, forgiveness, and sanctification and relational equality on couple’s satisfaction in two cultures. Data for this component used convenience samples of English-speaking respondents (hereafter American sample; n = 1,529) and Russian-speaking respondents (hereafter Russian sample; n = 529). Results provided evidence to partially support relational religiosity model; specifically commitment, while a statistically significant intervening element, worked alongside other relational virtues such as (a) sanctification, as hypothesized, to positively mediate the indirect effect of ideological religiosity on couple’s satisfaction for the American men, (β = .17, 95% BCa CI [.11, .24], p < .001); (b) sanctification, as hypothesized, to positively mediate the indirect effect of experiential religiosity for the Russian men (β = .39, 95% BCa CI [.12, .65], p = .002); and (c) sacrifice and forgiveness, contrary to the hypotheses, to negatively mediate the indirect (β = -.20, 95% BCa CI [-.35, -.06], p = .005) and total (β = -.27, 95% BCa CI [-.43, -.12], p = .001) effects of ideological religiosity on couple’s satisfaction among Russian women. The second approach to this topic followed the family systems perspective, to examine the effect of religiosity on respondents’ own and their partners’ satisfaction with the relationship via the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006). This dyadic approach used samples of 435 American couples (n = 870) and 129 Russian couples (n = 258). The results provided evidence to support an actor effect of husbands’ religiosity on their own couple’s satisfaction for the American (t = 2.00, p = .046, β = .15, 95% CI [.01, .29]) and Russian (t = 3.65, p < .001, β = .45, 95% CI [.21, .70]) husbands. Moreover, APIM testing provided sufficient evidence to support a positive partner effect in that husband’s religiosity predicted their wives’ satisfaction with the relationship in the American (t = 2.06, p = .041, β = .17, 95% CI [.01, .33]) and Russian (t = 2.77, p = .006, β = .37, 95% CI [.11, .64]) couples. The parallels between the cultures strongly resembled existing cross-cultural dyadic scholarship providing compelling evidence to support cultural similarities rather than differences and suggesting that cross-cultural relational dissimilarities might not exist in the ways religiosity is linked to couple’s satisfaction; however, the differences between male and female respondents in each culture might be worth studying further. Additionally, this dissertation’s results and scholarship mentioned above reveal that religiosity and couple’s satisfaction may be indifferent to cultural variations suggesting these phenomena may be universal rather than culture-specific. Outcomes of this dissertation may benefit researchers, educators, policy makers, and practitioners who are interested in relationship virtues and religiosity's effect on couple’s satisfaction, which is known to provide a positive connection to the psychological, social, physical, and spiritual well-being of couples.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using a video model, graduated exposure (i.e., touch, smell, try, eat), and positive reinforcement to first increase food exploration, and then increase consumption of non-preferred foods in young children that exhibit food selectivity in a school setting. A multiple probe design across behaviors replicated across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment package. The treatment package consisted of a video model of each target behavior (touch, smell, try, eat) and positive reinforcement which included preferred foods and materials. The results indicated that the treatment package was effective in increasing the food exploration and consumption of non-preferred foods for one participant, and was inconclusive for the second participant.

The present study examined tact-to-mand transfer procedures and prompting procedures on a child diagnosed with autism. There was one participant, a 3-year-old Hispanic male, with a limited manding repertoire whom also possessed knowledge of tacting items. A multiple baseline design across settings was implemented in order to increase the number of mands emitted by the participant. Data were collected using paper and pen recording by the researcher and another observer to provide interobserver agreement. Mastery probes were collected at one week, two weeks, and four weeks. Results indicated that transfer procedures may be helpful in generalizing manding for a child with a limited manding repertoire. The implications of these findings are discussed in order to enhance manding repertoires in children with autism. Further research for this study would be to expand vocalizations and knowledge in order to use a pure mand instead of a prompt.

The model of basal ganglia function proposed by Albin, Young and Penney (1989) describes two anatomically independent motor pathways, the direct and indirect. However, under normal conditions striatal dopamine (DA) is required for the expression of motor behavior, and DAergic control of the two pathways (via D1 and D2 receptors, respectively) is dependent on co-activation. We tested for a possible breakdown of D1/D2 synergism using transgenic R6/1 mice bearing the human huntingtin allele (Htt). Motor stereotypy, observed prior to the onset of HD-related symptoms, was rated on a 5-point scale following activation of: A) D1 receptors alone, B) D2 receptors alone, and C) stimulation of both D1 and D2 receptors. Results revealed that mice with the HD allele, like their WT litter mates, depend on the co-activation of the indirect and direct motor pathways to facilitate deliberate behavior.

This study explores some of the possible correlations between creativity and criminal thinking evident in the literature in an attempt to link the two forms of cognition. An understanding of the concept of Malevolent Creativity can serve the purpose of elucidating another component of the criminal personality.

This research addressed the influence employee age has on organizational justice perceptions (OJPs) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) through conscientiousness. Given the valuable contributions of older employees in the workforce, the aim of this study was to investigate the processes by which age affects justice perceptions, the expression of conscientiousness traits, and workplace behaviors. Additionally, a theoretical framework was provided where the conservation of resource, equity, fairness, socioemotional selectivity, and conscientiousness at work theorieshelp explain the linkages from the integrative model. A total of 179 MTurk workers participated in this study, which required participants to answer questions about their workplace perceptions and behaviors. The primary scales used in this study measuring OJPs, conscientiousness, and OCBs were obtained from previous studies that found these measures to be reliable and valid. Using those scales, three main hypotheses were tested: Hypothesis 1 predicted age would moderate the relationship between OJPs and OCBs; Hypotheses 2 predicted conscientiousness would mediate the relationship between OJPs and OCBs; and Hypothesis 3 predicted employee age (moderating variable) would interact with justice perceptions (independent variable) and predict organizational citizenship behaviors (dependent variable), through conscientiousness (mediating variable). Results suggested that age does not moderate the relationship between OJPs and OCBs; however, conscientiousness mediates the relationship between OJPs and OCBs; and employee age only moderates the mediating effects of conscientiousness in the relationship between distributive justice perceptions and OCBs. Overall, this research provides preliminary findings to a model that had never been researched before, provides theoretical and practical implications, as well as directions for future research.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is recognized as a public health problem with consequences affecting all levels of the ecological model. In recent years it has been recognized that up to 40% of reported sexual offenses occur at the hands of adolescent offenders (Burton, 2000), who are defined as children aged 12-18 years. In recent years, research has suggested that attachment deficits contribute to sexual offending behavior in adolescence. The current study augments the sparse research with adolescent offenders and by exploring of the participant's perceived attachment to important others (mother/mother figures, father/father figures, and peers/friends). Participants included 101 Juvenile sex offenders (JSO) and 97 Juvenile Delinquents (JD) detained in Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) facilities during the summer of 2010. Significant differences were found in adolescents' attachment to father/father figures in both overall attachment and a perceived degree of trust. Additionally JSO also showed a higher level of alienation from father/father figures and lower in overall perceived degree of trust with all important others. These findings may provide an opportunity for early intervention strategies, as well as support programs designed to strengthen or develop connections between adolescent offenders and positive male role models to enhance the effectiveness of juvenile sex offender treatment.

Despite an abundance of research on interventions to improve social skills of young children with intellectual disabilities (ID), there is limited research on interventions aimed at improving social skills of adults with ID. The purpose of this single-subject study was to evaluate the outcomes of the Behavioral Opportunities for Social Skills (BOSS) teaching program for adults with ID. The theoretical framework for this study was Skinner's operant conditioning which incorporates the principles of applied behavior analysis, reinforcement, and operant extinction. After direct support professionals were trained in the BOSS teaching program, research questions were used to determine (a) changes in the frequency of praise statements given by direct support professionals to adults with ID; (b) differences in the frequency of cooperative and polite behaviors of adults with ID; and (c) increases or decreases in the frequency of challenging behaviors exhibited by adults with ID. A multiple-baseline design across participants and settings was used to evaluate the behavioral changes. Prosocial behaviors of 3 adults with ID and 3 direct support professionals' delivery of specific praise statements showed visually discernable increases and large effect sizes (ES -?¥ 0.92). The outcomes of this study contribute to positive social change as demonstrated by the positive behavioral changes achieved by the adults with ID who increased their prosocial behaviors and the direct support professionals who increased their delivery of specific praise statements following the implementation of the BOSS teaching program.