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Differences in reinforcers earned and unit price predictions: A comparative study of concurrent progressive schedules
Ano: 2025
Abstract Research in behavioral economics and the experimental analysis of behavior have involved concurrent progressive ratios (PRs) to examine relative reinforcing efficacy and response allocation between competing alternatives. Despite their ubiquity in the literature, PRs are limited by a lack of generality outside the lab. Duration‐based schedules of reinforcement, particularly progressive durations (PDs), may address such limitations. Previous research has identified several similarities between PRs and PDs, but there are no examples of concurrent PDs in the basic literature, limiting their integration within behavioral economics. The present study sought to develop a novel concurrent PD schedule and compare outcomes to a concurrent PR arrangement across several dimensions. The results showed similarities in post‐reinforcement pause and differences in breakpoint variability and reinforcers earned. A unit price analysis of switchover patterns revealed differences in predictive fit between concurrent PRs and concurrent PDs.
Different criteria affect prevalence of relapse of behavior targeted for treatment
Ano: 2025
Abstract Several studies have examined the prevalence of behavioral relapse among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities following common treatment challenges (context changes, schedule thinning). Most applied studies compare behavior during the treatment challenges with the maximum level of behavior from five preceding treatment sessions. This max‐of‐5 criterion could inadvertently capture behavior in transition during the preceding treatment phase, thereby underestimating the prevalence of relapse. In the current study, we reanalyzed existing clinical data with the max‐of‐5 criterion and an alternative criterion less likely to capture target behavior in transition—the mean of the last two sessions (mean‐of‐2 criterion) of the treatment phase. As hypothesized, the max‐of‐5 criterion produced lower prevalence estimates relative to the mean‐of‐2 criterion. We encourage researchers conducting these analyses to weigh different approaches to reporting prevalence data and discuss considerations for future areas of research and practice related to measurement of relapse.
Differential reinforcement and stimulus fading without escape extinction to teach cooperation with nasal swab tests
Ano: 2025
Abstract A nasal swab test is commonly used to detect the presence of respiratory viruses, such as SARS‐COV2 or influenza. Some individuals with autism spectrum disorder may display challenging behavior during these types of tests, which may interfere with safe and successful test completion. Research has shown that differential reinforcement without escape extinction combined with stimulus fading can be effective to increase cooperation with other types of medical tasks (e.g., blood draws). The purpose of the current study was to systematically replicate the procedures described in Stuesser and Roscoe (2020) to increase cooperation with nasal swab tests with five participants with autism spectrum disorder in a group‐home setting in the context of an urgent global pandemic. Differential reinforcement was effective for one participant, and the addition of stimulus fading was effective for the remaining four participants. All five participants continued to cooperate with the nasal swab test during follow‐up probes.
Discounting of probabilistic food reinforcement by pigeons
Ano: 2025
Abstract Two experiments examined pigeons' discounting of probabilistic food reinforcers using a concurrent‐chains procedure within sessions combined with an adjusting‐amount procedure across sessions. The study is the first to evaluate probability discounting functions in nonhuman animals in which the obtained probability equaled that programmed in each session. In Experiment 1, pigeons chose between a smaller, certain and a larger, but probabilistic food reinforcer. In Experiment 2, the probabilities of receiving both reinforcement options were reduced by a common factor, creating a choice situation in which both options were probabilistic: a smaller, more probable reinforcer and a larger, but less probable reinforcer. Results revealed that regardless of whether choices involved a certain versus a probabilistic reinforcer or they involved two probabilistic reinforcers, subjective value decreased systematically as a function of the odds against receipt of the reinforcer and that the data were well described by the hyperboloid discounting function. In addition, no significant effect of reinforcer amount on degree of probability discounting was observed, consistent with results from studies of the discounting of delayed reinforcers by nonhuman animals.
Discrimination of highly similar stimuli as members of different equivalence classes
Ano: 2025
Abstract Learning to discriminate between physically similar stimuli as members of different classes can be relevant in certain situations. This study investigated effective methods of displaying two pairs of quasi‐identical stimuli, as samples and/or comparisons, during the training of baseline conditional discriminations. The goal was to enable participants to form three 3‐member equivalence classes and discriminate similar stimuli as members of distinct equivalence classes. Eighteen adults underwent arbitrary relations (AB/AC) training. A multiple‐probe design assessed maintenance and emergence of stimulus relations. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six training conditions across three experiments. Conditions 1, 2, and 5 presented quasi‐identical stimuli successively as samples during training. Condition 3 presented quasi‐identical stimuli successively as comparisons, whereas Condition 4 presented quasi‐identical stimuli simultaneously as comparisons. Condition 6 presented each pair of quasi‐identical stimuli simultaneously as a sample and a comparison. Condition 4 uniquely resulted in successful equivalence class formation for all participants. Conditions 3 and 6 failed to form equivalence classes, whereas Conditions 1, 2, and 5 did not yield baseline learning. These findings highlight the relevance of presenting quasi‐identical stimuli as simultaneous comparisons (Condition 4) to foster equivalence class formation. Understanding optimal training conditions has implications for discussions on the acquisition of simple discriminations required in training simultaneous conditional discriminations.
Discriminative control of choice by reinforcers in children and adults
Ano: 2025
Abstract Research with nonhumans and human children has questioned the notion of the strengthening properties of reinforcers when choices are controlled by what reinforcers signal about upcoming events. We extended this work by developing and evaluating an automated task to evaluate the discriminative versus strengthening effects of reinforcers with two children of typical development (Experiment 1) and 18 university students (Experiments 2 and 3). Participants responded by touching one of two concurrently available images on a touchscreen. Across conditions, the probability that the next reinforcer would be delivered at the same location as the immediately preceding reinforced response varied with probabilities of .10 (switch), .50 (control), and .90 (stay). Both children and students responded according to the arranged reinforcer probabilities of the next reinforcer instead of where the most recent reinforcer had been delivered. The present findings add to the body of work suggesting that reinforcers serve a discriminative function, and we use a quantitative model of reinforcer misallocation to account for choices being imperfectly controlled by contingencies.
Discriminative properties of reinforcers modulate resurgence: A human‐operant demonstration
Ano: 2025
Abstract Resurgence refers to the recurrence of a previously reduced or eliminated operant following the worsening of reinforcement conditions for an alternative behavior. The contextual account of resurgence posits that the discriminative properties of reinforcers modulate this relapse. Evidence supporting the contextual account of resurgence stems from translational laboratory investigations with nonhuman subjects. The purpose of the current study was to further translate this work using a human‐operant preparation with a young boy with autism and intellectual disability across three experiments. Experiment 1 was conducted according to a conventional three‐phase resurgence preparation. In Experiment 2, the reinforcer (O2) that maintained the alternative response (R2) in Phase 2 was delivered noncontingently in Phase 3. Finally, in Experiment 3 the reinforcer (O1) that maintained the target response (R1) in Phase 1 was delivered noncontingently in Phase 3. Although both O1 and O2 mitigated resurgence relative to extinction alone, the magnitude of resurgence was slightly higher with O2 deliveries. Our results are generally consistent with the contextual account of resurgence. The influence of a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐other‐behavior contingency in Phase 3 and other procedural aspects of this study are discussed, as are applied implications for reducing relapse in behavioral treatments.
Distribution of follow‐up sessions influences determinations of skill maintenance
Ano: 2025
Abstract Maintenance refers to the persistence of behavior change over time after some or all instruction has been discontinued. The distribution of follow‐up sessions can affect the frequency of practice opportunities in the absence of ongoing instruction and determinations of maintenance based on how often performance is assessed. An adapted alternating‐treatments design was used to evaluate the frequency and schedule of follow‐up session distribution on the maintenance of an arbitrary labeling task taught to nine college‐aged students. Following acquisition, the participants completed virtual follow‐up sessions across at least 30 days. The follow‐up session distributions were equally effective with respect to maintenance for six participants. The progressively increasing distribution was associated with higher maintenance for two participants, and the equal distribution was associated with higher maintenance for one participant. Across all participants, some distribution of opportunities to practice the skill was associated with higher levels of maintenance relative to the control.
Does e‐cigarette nicotine strength influence substitution for combustible cigarettes?
Ano: 2025
Abstract Using the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace, we examined the effects of e‐liquid freebase nicotine strength (3–24 mg/mL) and e‐liquid price (US$0.25–$1.00/mL) on behavioral economic substitution for cigarettes in dual cigarette/e‐cigarette ( n = 41) and exclusive cigarette ( n = 40) users. Subjective effects of nicotine strength were also examined. All nicotine strengths served as a substitute for combustible cigarettes, with greater substitution observed in dual users. When analyzing e‐liquid volume purchased (mL), nicotine strength did not influence substitution; however, when analyzing e‐liquid nicotine purchased (mg), degree of substitution increased as a function of nicotine strength. Additionally, higher nicotine strengths reduced the volume and probability of e‐liquid purchasing, increased cigarette demand, and produced less favorable subjective effects than lower strengths. Increasing e‐liquid price reduced e‐liquid purchasing and did not influence substitution. We conclude that nicotine strength does not robustly affect the degree to which e‐liquid substitutes for cigarettes, as no effect was observed in analysis of the unit of purchase most relevant to real‐world sales (volume). Instead, high‐strength nicotine potentially reduces the appeal and probability of purchasing e‐liquid. Future work should examine these effects in nicotine salt‐based e‐liquids compared with freebase nicotine (used here) and in choice contexts with concurrent access to different nicotine strengths.
Does increasing absolute conditioned reinforcement rate improve sensitivity to relative conditioned reinforcement rate?
Ano: 2025
Abstract Previous research has demonstrated several procedural modifications that improve the sensitivity of human behavior to relative rates of conditioned reinforcement or S+ production. Denser rates of reinforcement have proved useful in related human operant research, but the influence of denser rates of S+ production has yet to be evaluated. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate how the absolute S+ production rate influenced sensitivity to relative S+ production rate. Thirty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to three groups for which the absolute rate of S+ production varied but the programmed relative rate of S+ production was held constant across groups. Results similar to those of previous research were obtained with many participants; however, the absolute rate of S+ production exerted no systematic effect on sensitivity or the quality of fits of the generalized matching equation. Exploratory analyses suggest that methods ensuring steady‐state responding and improving the predictive value of S+ are important directions for future research.