Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-121).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008. / "December 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-44). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-151) and index.

The Class Pass Intervention (CPI) is designed for students who engage in escape-motivated problem behavior to avoid or escape difficult or aversive academic work and who are not responsive to the system-wide universal supports provided to all students. Research on the CPI is in its initial stages and requires replications to be proven effective in multiple settings and become evidenced-based. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to expand the literature on CPI by targeting elementary school students and assess its impact on decreasing disruptive behavior maintained by attention and on increasing academic engagement. The study involved 4 students with disruptive classroom behavior and low academic engagement and their 2 classroom teachers. A multiple-baseline design across participants was used to demonstrate the intervention outcomes. The intervention was implemented during a targeted routine or academic time period when behavior was most likely to occur. Results indicated that teachers implemented the CPI with high levels of fidelity, and their implementation was effective in increasing academic engagement and decreasing disruptive behavior with all participants. The intervention effects were maintained after undergoing fading for all 4 students and during 2-week follow-up for 2 students. The results of social validity assessments indicated students and teachers found the intervention to be acceptable and effective. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

The importance of showing that Drosophila are capable of learning an instrumental response would, with the information already known from genetic studies, enable researchers to possibly isolate the genetic basis of a simple learning process and thus gain greater insight into this phenomenon. If a reliable technique can be found for earning in Drosophila, a new field of research would be opened which could greatly add to our knowledge of the evolution of behavior. The following two studies attempted to demonstrate that Drosophila can learn and also investigated which system, vision or olfaction, serves best in this capacity.

Experimental examination of the generality of learned helplessness has previously been confined to treatment and tests employing aversive motivators, such as electric shock. In the present study, rats were used to evaluate the effect of inescapable shock on their performance in a water test of competitive dominance which employs no aversive motivator. The subjects were paired and pre-tested for competitive dominance. In the experimental groups one member of each pair was treated with inescapable shock and the pairs were then post-tested for competitive dominance either 48, 72, or 168 hours after treatment. The control subjects were pre- and post-tested with no treatment intervening. Competitive dominance ranks were assigned to subjects after each test. Rank differences from pre- to post-test were analyzed for treated and control subjects. Controls showed no shifts in dominance from pre- to post-test, while significant shifts toward subordination appeared in all three experimental groups. No treated subjects showed shifts toward dominance. Significant pre- to post-test differences in drinking time were produced in all treatment groups, with the greatest difference at 72 hours after treatment. These results parallel those of Glazer and Weiss (1976) for escape time latencies at different times of posttreatment testing. The results of the present study, in contrast to those of Glazer and Weiss, cannot be accounted for by the principles of stimulus control. Instead, they support the claim of Maier and Seligman (1976) for considerable generality to the effect of learned helplessness, though the generality observed in this study is not explained by current principles of learning theory.

The purpose of the present experiments was to determine whether a change in skin conductance is a reliable component of the fear pattern in the mouse. In these experiments, the sight of E was employed as an aversive stimulus. SC and defecation increased and activity decreased when the stimulus was presented. The SC and defecation responses tended to adapt with repeated testing. Decreases in activity on Day 1 were replaced by increases on subsequent days. Early handling severely attenuated the SC, defecation and freezing responses that would be normally seen on the first day of testing. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Several studies have shown that the strength of classically conditioned fear varies inversely with the length of the CS-UCS interval (McAllister & McAllister, 1971). If fear conditioning is important in the vicious-circle (VC) phenomenon (Brown, 1969; Melvin, 1971; Mowrer, 1947), then the interstimulus interval between brightness cues (CS) and shock (UCS) may similarly affect VC behavior. Experiment 1 examined effects of brightness cue change on VC responding. Forty male hooded rats were assigned to four groups in a 2 x 2 design, using the presence or absence of shock in the third segment during extinction and the presence or absence of cue change as independent variables. Experiment 2 examined the effects of pre-shock brightness cue changes on VC behavior, and varied the interval between the cue change location and shock. Eighty male hooded rats were assigned to eight groups in a 2 x 4 design, using the presence or absence of shock in the third segment and cue change placement as independent variables. The results indicated that brightness cue changes can reduce VC behavior. Experiment 2 also demonstrated that a cue change in the first alley segment reduced vc·responding as effectively as a total alley cue change. Changing the lower startbox cues was less effective and changing Segment 2 cues had little effect on VC behavior. The results were consistent with the ISI effects found in conditioned-fear research, since there was a relationship between the strength of VC responding and the spatio-temporal interval between changed cues and shock. / Master of Science

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-04-23T12:34:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Gabriela Lembo Dias Powys.pdf: 1897814 bytes, checksum: 9ab3187cd07f4e34583f68b32d006a79 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-23T12:34:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gabriela Lembo Dias Powys.pdf: 1897814 bytes, checksum: 9ab3187cd07f4e34583f68b32d006a79 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-09 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Aversive control is a controversial area of study within Behavioral Analysis, especially when humans are used as experimental subjects. This work sets out to review basic studies into aversive control with humans that took place within the last 11 years. Specifically, this work aims to: (a) analyze and characterize basic studies that used human beings as participants and used aversive stimulus in the period between 2007 and 2017, focusing on details of the method used; (b) identify whether the author(s) justified or tested the aversive stimulus/stimuli used; (c) identify whether the author(s) name/comment on/evaluate the byproducts of aversive control; and (d) identify whether the author(s) make any ethical comments on the use of aversive stimulation with humans. Articles, theses and dissertations from Brazil and abroad conducted between 2007 and 2017 on online platforms were selected. These include 129 works, of which 35 were conceptual/historical/revisions, 37 applied studies and 57 basic studies – the latter were read in their entirety. The index of agreement between the researcher and the independent observer was 98.7%. Results indicate that the most commonly studied modality of aversive control is avoidance, participants used are generally typical adults, most experimental activities are conducted using a computer, and the aversive stimuli used as US are mainly auditory stimuli. In many studies analyzed, the authors substitute the unconditioned aversive stimulus used in studies with non-human animals with conditioned stimuli, although the results of some experiments which took this approach did not succeed in reproducing the results found in animal literature. Furthermore, a significant divergence was observed in the use and detailing of the description of certain kinds of aversive stimulation (conditioned and unconditioned) in basic studies with humans. It was confirmed that few basic studies refer to the byproducts of aversive control, or present ethical discussions related to this kind of control / O controle aversivo é uma área de pesquisa controversa dentro da Análise do Comportamento, principalmente quando são empregados seres humanos como sujeitos experimentais. O presente estudo propôs-se a revisar as pesquisas básicas sobre controle aversivo com humanos que ocorreram nos últimos 11 anos. Especificamente, este trabalho teve por objetivo: (a) analisar e caracterizar as pesquisas básicas que empregaram seres humanos como participantes e utilizaram estimulação aversiva no período de 2007 a 2017 com foco nos detalhes do método utilizado; (b) verificar se o(s) autor(es) justifica(m) ou testa(m) o(s) estímulo(s) aversivo(s) utilizado(s); (c) identificar se o(s) autor(es) cita(m)/comenta(m)/avalia(m) os subprodutos do controle aversivo; e (d) identificar se o(s) autor(es) faz(em) algum comentário ético quanto ao uso de estimulação aversiva com humanos. Foram selecionados artigos, teses e dissertações brasileiras e internacionais conduzidos entre 2007 e 2017 com base em plataformas online. Foram recuperados 129 trabalhos, sendo 35 conceituais/históricos/revisões, 37 pesquisas aplicadas e 57 pesquisas básicas, as quais estas últimas foram lidas integralmente. O índice de concordância entre a pesquisadora e um observador independente quanto a categorização dos dados foi de 98,7%. Os resultados da revisão indicaram que a modalidade de controle aversivo mais estudada é a esquiva em estudos realizados principalmente com adultos típicos, empregando como estímulos aversivos incondicionados majoritariamente estímulos auditivos e a maior parte das atividades sendo realizadas num computador. Em muitos estudos analisados, os autores substituíram o estímulo aversivo incondicionado usado em pesquisas com animais não humanos por estímulos condicionados, sendo que os resultados de alguns experimentos que seguiram este caminho não conseguiram reproduzir os resultados encontrados na literatura animal. Além disso, foi observada uma grande variabilidade quanto ao uso e detalhamento da descrição de determinados tipos de estimulação aversiva (condicionada e incondicionada) em pesquisas básicas com humanos. Verificou-se também que poucos estudos básicos referem-se aos subprodutos do controle aversivo e/ou apresentam discussões éticas relacionadas a esse tipo de controle

Aversive tasks and activities are commonly encountered in the everyday routines of most individuals. For individuals with intellectual disabilities, a means to assess individual sensitivities to aversive stimulation could allow caregivers to avoid unnecessary contact with aversive events, teach appropriate ways to avoid or escape aversive situations, and condition tolerance to unavoidable aversive tasks and activities. The current study, conducted at a large, state-operated residential facility for adults with intellectual disabilities, used an anecdotal assessment, the Sensitivities to Aversive Stimulation Survey (SASS), to evaluate the relative aversiveness of an array of commonly encountered tasks and activities for each participant. Five caregivers complete the 25-question assessment, using Likert-type scales to rate individual participants' affect, compliance or tolerance, and severity of problem behavior related to each item. The mean scores of the raters were used to estimate the aversiveness of each task, condition, or activity. The outcomes from the SASS were then compared with outcomes of an experimental analysis in which participants could emit responses to escape situations that were ranked either high or low using the SASS. Relative aversiveness was evaluated by comparing the percentage of trials with escape behavior and duration of exposure for each stimulus. Preliminary results indicate that the SASS may be useful in identifying aversive tasks and stimuli.