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No description available.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) are the majority of population in residential settings. Many clients in residential settings engage in problem behavior that interferes with their daily routine and work requirements. Restricted and repetitive behavior are one of the features of ASD diagnosis, typically in the form of invariable responding and predictable responses. Differential reinforcement has been used to produce and maintain response variability. I evaluated the utility of a fixed ratio 1 (FR1) schedule on variability to increase the diversity of activity selections in the treatment of problem behavior occasioned by the interruption of routines. Chase engaged in problem behaviors in his bathroom routine, no matter by himself or with his housemate. Results demonstrated a reinforcement-based treatment increased both variable and novel selections while decreasing the rate of self injurious behavior.

This study was designed to test the effectiveness of 2 different behavioral interventions: a high-probability request sequence and a differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors (DRA) procedure in a classroom setting. The aim of the interventions was to reduce the frequency of task refusal as well as increase the frequency of task compliance in adolescents in a general education setting. The study included 4 adolescents with the same teacher who were reported by their teacher as completing 50% or less of their course work since the beginning of the school year. The teacher implemented the interventions with the participants to test their potential effectiveness. Each student responded differently to the interventions. This was demonstrated using visual analysis of graphs as well as a comparison of descriptive statistics. Some were more compliant when the teacher implemented the high-probability request sequence; others demonstrated greater compliance with the DRA in place. Two participants also demonstrated higher levels of compliance beginning with placement of a camera (and operator) prior to the high-probability request sequence or the DRA implementation. These results indicate that each of these interventions may have the potential to increase compliance with classroom tasks for typically functioning adolescents through the mechanism of increased attention.

No description available.

The principle of least effort suggests that animals should minimize effort to reinforcement. Thus, not pecking should be preferred over pecking. However, pigeons often peck when it is allowed but not required (e.g., fixed time schedules) but pecking may be adventitiously reinforced. In the present experiment, to better compare a schedule of reinforcement that requires pecking with one that requires the absence of pecking, we compared a fixed-interval (FI) schedule in which reinforcement follows the first peck after the interval has elapsed and a differential-reinforcement-of-other behavior (DRO) schedule which requires pigeons abstain from pecking for a similar interval. The delay to reinforcement was matched on a trial-by-trial basis by extending the duration of the FI to match the DRO schedule that preceded it. Of 12 pigeons, 6 preferred the DRO schedule over the FI schedule and 6 did not show a schedule preference. Those that were indifferent between the schedules had acquired the contingences, as they responded appropriately to the two schedules but had a spatial preference stronger than their schedule preference. Individual differences in the preference of the pigeons may be related to their behavior during the DRO.

No description available.

Many clients with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities (ID/DD) do not tolerate routine medical or dental procedures and may require intrusive interventions, including restraint of various types (i.e. chemical, mechanical, physical, etc.) during appointments. Graduated exposure, or stimulus fading, along with reinforcement for compliance, have been shown to increase cooperation and tolerance in some clients; however, many do not respond to these types of interventions. Nine participants diagnosed with ID/DD recieved compliance/tolerance training for routine medical or dental procedures. Results of these interventions were evaluated in the context of several potential indices of readiness, such as medical diagnoses, level of disability, and presence of challenging behavior, among others. Several of the variables appeared to be correlated with program responsiveness; however, a larger sample will be necessary to draw definitive conclusions. Client characteristics and past assessments (anecdotals, preference assessments, terminal probes, and survey data) were evaluated. The analytical framework developed for this analysis may be useful to future researchers and clinicians as a model for assessing readiness for tolerance training programs.

區辨性增強低頻反應作業 (differential reinforcement of low-rate responding task, DRL task) 為一與時間相關聯之操作式制約行為作業，該作業常用於計時行為、行為抑制功能、或抗焦慮與抗憂鬱症等藥物之行為藥理研究的探討。雖然DRL作業是一種實驗室常用的動物行為模式，但是對於上述行為或藥理機制的探討往往缺乏一致性的解釋，其中可能的原因為DRL作業的行為同時包含了計時與行為抑制的成份。針對上述問題，本研究將以DRL行為作業為研究主題，探討作業習得歷程之神經機制。首先根據DRL作業之行為內涵，將作業的習得分為行為抑制與計時先後表現的兩個階段；並依據過去的研究文獻整理出的八個與行為抑制和計時表現相關之大腦區塊，以c-Fos免疫組織化學染色法探討行為抑制和計時的神經機制。實驗結果發現受試於行為抑制的表現階段，其眶眼皮質、內側前額葉皮質、與海馬CA1區域的c-Fos表現量較高；而在計時行為的表現階段，除了和行為抑制有關的三個大腦區塊外，尚有前扣帶迴、紋狀體、與齒狀迴呈現c-Fos表現量增加的現象。綜合以上結果，DRL-10秒作業於學習初期所進行的行為抑制可能和前額葉皮質與海馬體的神經互動有關；而學習較末階段的計時表現，則可能需要前額葉皮質、紋狀體、與海馬等三處較多的次級區域的組織加入，形成神經網路的方式支援之。 / Differential reinforcement of low-rate responding (DRL) task was an operant conditioned behavior based on temporal contingency. This task has been widely used to investigate the behavioral components of timing and behavioral inhibition, which is frequently used for pharmacological screening of anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs. Despite of being widely used as an animal behavioral model in the laboratory, but the performance of the DRL task was varied and inconsistent when the drug test conducted. One way to encounter this problematic issue is to differentiate the distinct behavioral components of DRL task and correlate the involved neural substrates, which was the theme investigated in the present study. This study first characterized the acquisition process of the DRL-10 sec task into behavioral inhibition and the timing stages, and then assessed the c-Fos levels by immunohistochemistry in the eight brain areas that potentially involved in behavioral inhibition and the timing processes. Regarding the stage of behavioral inhibition, significant increases in c-Fos-positive neurons were observed in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and the hippocampal CA1 area. At the stage of the timing being acquired, c-Fos immunohistochemical activity was highly expressed in the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), OFC, mPFC, the dorsolateral striatum (dlS), the dentate gyrus (DG), and the hippocampal CA1 area. Together, these results showed that the functioning dual paths between the hippocampus CA1 and the prefrontal cortex (OFC and mPFC) are critically essential for developing the appropriate performance via behavioral inhibition in the early-stage of the DRL task and with three other areas (ACC, dlS, and DG) being recruited, an anatomical circuitry connecting prefrontal/striatal/hippocampal structures were involved in the acquisition of interval timing toward the later establishment of the DRL behavior.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:17:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carolina Krauter Kracker.pdf: 3705226 bytes, checksum: 2d14824d7cb8a26f483a95c38dd83639 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-05-03 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Metacontingencies are the product and the process of selection of cultural practices in the third level of selection by consequences, in which variation is a fundamental requisite for selection to occur. Three experiments were conducted with the objectives of investigate the effects of schemes analogous to differential reinforcement schemes of variability LAG, and CRF, upon the behavior variability in cultural selection processes, and to ascertain in which ways more or less variability along these processes would affect the selection of a new metacontingency, in the face of a change in the cultural consequences presentation criterion. In the Experiment I, 21 participants worked in trios, under the effect of schemes analogous to LAG 2 and LAG 1 for the products of responses of inserting numbers from 0 to 9 in spots placed in some computers´ screens. It was required, as a condition to the presentation of cultural consequences (bonus), that an aggregate product (PA) featured by an specific relation among the sums of the numbers inserted by the participants and by non-repetition of the sums between cycles, according to the n of the LAG contingence, was produced. It was observed that there wasn´t systematic production of this PA along more than two consecutive generations of participants and that only the specified relation among sums recurred along different generations. Stereotypies in the operant responses´ topographies and in the sums were found. In the face of the change in the criterion of presentation of the cultural consequences, featured by a different relation among the sums (new PA), the selection of/ by metacontingencies and cultural transmission occurred and the production of stereotypies was again observed. In the second experiment, that counted on 14 participants, similar experimental phases were conducted, except that there wasn´t a phase in which schemes analogous to LAG were in effect. The selection of/by metacontingencies and its transmission were verified in these conditions, and when the change in the criterion of presentation of the cultural consequences was made, a new cultural selection was observed in a similar moment of the occurrence of this phenomenon in the previous experiment; the practice was also transmitted. Behavior stereotypies were noticed, mainly in the first process of cultural selection that was described. There were 18 participants in the third experiment, in which a scheme analogous to LAG 1 for the sums was introduced; after 13 generations of participants the selection of/by metacontingencies was ascertained, as well as its transmission. It was observed that there was more variability in the responses topographies and in the sums, but patterns that indicated restrictions in the behavior variability were identified when the cultural selection occurred. It was concluded that the introduction of schemes analogous to LAG hampered the selection of/by metacontingencies and that a new cultural selection happened rapidly, despite of more or less behavioral variability in the microcultures´ stories previously the modification of the criterion related to the presentation of cultural consequences / Metacontingências são o produto e o processo de seleção de práticas culturais no terceiro nível de seleção por consequências, em que variação é requisito fundamental para ocorrência de seleção. Três experimentos foram conduzidos com os objetivos de investigar os efeitos de esquemas análogos a esquemas de reforçamento diferencial de variabilidade LAG e CRF em relação à variabilidade comportamental em processos de seleção cultural; e de averiguar de que maneira maior ou menor variabilidade ao longo desses processos afetariam a seleção de uma nova metacontingência, diante de uma mudança no critério de apresentação das consequências culturais. No Experimento I, 21 participantes trabalharam em trios, vigorando esquemas análogos a LAG 2 e LAG1 em relação a produtos das respostas de inserção de números de 0 a 9 em caselas dispostas nas telas de computadores. Exigiu-se, como condição para a apresentação de consequências culturais (bônus), que um produto agregado (PA) caracterizado por uma determinada relação entre as somas dos números inseridos pelos participantes e pela não-repetição das somas entre ciclos, de acordo com o n do LAG, fosse produzido. Observou-se que não houve produção sistemática desse PA por mais de duas gerações consecutivas de participantes e que apenas a relação entre as somas especificada recorreu por diversas gerações, observando-se estereotipias nas topografias das respostas operantes e nas somas. Diante da mudança no critério de apresentação da consequência cultural, caracterizada por uma relação diferente da anterior entre as somas (novo PA), ocorreu a seleção de/por metacontingências e transmissão cultural, novamente observando-se a geração de estereotipias. No segundo experimento, que contou com 14 participantes, fases experimentais semelhantes foram conduzidas, exceto que não houve uma fase em que esquemas análogos a LAG vigoraram. Averiguou-se que a seleção de/por metacontingências e sua transmissão ocorreram nessas condições e, diante de mudança no critério de apresentação da consequência cultural, nova seleção cultural foi observada em momento próximo ao verificado no experimento anterior, ocorrendo também a transmissão da prática. Estereotipias comportamentais foram notadas, principalmente no primeiro processo de seleção cultural descrito. Houve 18 participantes no terceiro experimento, em que se implementou um esquema análogo a LAG 1 para as somas; após 13 gerações de participantes, a seleção de/ por metacontingências com esse esquema em vigor pôde ser constatada, bem como sua transmissão. Foi observada maior variabilidade nas topografias de respostas e somas, mas padrões que indicaram restrição na variação comportamental foram identificados diante da ocorrência da seleção cultural. Constatou-se que a introdução de esquemas análogos a LAG teve como efeito dificultar a seleção de/ por metacontingências e que uma nova seleção cultural ocorreu rapidamente a despeito de haver maior ou menor variabilidade comportamental nas histórias de microculturas, anteriormente à mudança de critério para apresentação da consequência cultural de microculturas.