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Comparing and intervening on behavioral demand for snack foods among justice‐involved adolescents: A preliminary translational analysis
Ano: 2025
Abstract Obesity may be more prevalent among populations who are of low socioeconomic status, have limited access to nutrient‐dense foods, or both. One such population is justice‐involved youth. This series of translational experiments builds on previous research on food reinforcement and behavioral demand by (a) assaying demand for snack foods among justice‐involved adolescents and (b) evaluating the effect of a nutrition intervention on justice‐involved adolescents' demand for healthier alternatives. In Experiment 1, participants completed preference assessments for high‐ and low‐energy‐density snack foods and corresponding commodity purchasing tasks. The results indicated significant differences in demand based on energy density and preference. In Experiment 2, justice‐involved adolescents received a nutrition intervention. Following intervention, participants repeated preference assessments and commodity purchasing tasks. The researchers used mixed‐effects modeling to evaluate the effect of (a) the intervention, (b) participant age, and (c) the amount of intervention received on pre–post differences in demand for healthier alternatives. Results and implications are discussed along with future directions for improving conditions of confinement for justice‐involved adolescents.
Comparing traditional match‐to‐sample training with observational learning to establish equivalence classes with adults
Ano: 2025
Abstract The purpose of the current study was to compare the efficacy and efficiency of video‐based observational learning (OL) with traditional match‐to‐sample (MTS) training to establish three 3‐member equivalence classes of abstract visual stimuli with adult participants. Video models used during OL depicted a first‐person perspective of a computer screen with modeled on‐screen movements of a mouse cursor making comparison selections. Adult participants in the OL‐mixed group received training in which the video models depicted progressive increases in correct responding of modeled baseline relations across five blocks of trials. Participants in the OL‐expert group received identical training except that the models always depicted 100% correct responding across the five modeled trial blocks. Participants in the MTS group actively responded while completing five blocks of traditional MTS training. Posttest results showed that OL‐mixed training resulted in the highest mean percentage of class‐consistent responding and yield of equivalence classes relative to traditional MTS and the OL‐expert group despite minimal differences in total duration during training. Across the groups, nearly all who successfully demonstrated equivalence class formation during the computerized posttest also showed generalization of class‐consistent responding during the card sorting posttest. The results showed that OL‐mixed training was most effective and that the procedures were similarly efficient.
Comparison of matching the compound or elements as a differential problem‐solving response
Ano: 2025
Abstract Differential observing responses (DORs) are additional response requirements used to promote orientation to a stimulus in a discrimination task. Farber and Dickson (2023) recently provided a DOR taxonomy, and these authors reported that no prior research has compared the effects of distinct DOR requirements. We compared the effects of two DOR requirements on textual responding by five children exhibiting reading deficits. Participants read a daily word list and were required to emit DORs that involved matching the compound or individual elements of the target stimulus. When a word was unknown, emitting the condition‐specific DOR resulted in a tablet‐produced echoic prompt. The DOR that required matching of the individual elements met the acquisition criterion in the fewest days for four participants but was not preferred by any participant. Implications for DORs in a problem‐solving paradigm and conditions contributing to their efficacy are considered.
Competition and preference in the treatment of automatically reinforced challenging behavior
Ano: 2025
Abstract The experimenters compared the relative utility of two types of pretreatment assessments, the competing‐stimulus assessment (CSA) and the paired‐stimulus preference assessment (PSPA), for identifying items to treat automatically reinforced challenging behavior. Five individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who exhibited automatically reinforced challenging behavior participated. The relative efficacy of the CSA item and the PSPA item were compared during two treatment evaluations: noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). NCR reduced challenging behavior for four of the five participants. For three of these participants, the CSA item was more efficacious than the PSPA item; CSA and PSPA items were equally efficacious for the remaining participants. For two participants, DRO decreased challenging behavior and there were minimal differences in treatment efficacy across CSA and PSPA items. Implications for the utility of the CSA and the PSPA as pretreatment assessments in treatment development are discussed.
Computer‐based training to teach structured mealtime assessment skills
Ano: 2025
Abstract Behavior‐analytic interventions are empirically supported treatments for pediatric feeding disorder; however, there are a limited number of intensive feeding programs in the country, making access to services and specialized training difficult. Given the prevalence of this disorder and scarcity of in vivo training resources, clinicians would benefit from computer‐based instruction, such as e‐learning modules. But e‐learning modules have not been tested for feeding protocols. Therefore, we replicated Ibañez et al. (2022) but adapted the procedures to evaluate training modules to teach 14 undergraduate students and two registered behavior technicians to conduct a structured mealtime assessment. The training increased performance for all participants, and we observed generalization to two untrained protocols and novel child behavior. The implications for computer‐based instruction and future directions in this area are discussed.
Contingency management for monosubstance use disorders: Systematic review and assessment of predicted versus obtained effects
Ano: 2025
Abstract Contingency management (CM) is notably successful as a substance use disorder treatment and is most effective when targeting monosubstance use. Evidence suggests the effects of CM exceed predictions based on the value of the incentives delivered for monosubstance abstinence. In this systematic review, we examine common variations of CM interventions applied to a single substance to determine what factors may contribute to the larger effect. Our results show that CM produced moderate to large effect sizes when single drugs were targeted, with stable effects over time. We also found that interventions targeting cocaine abstinence overwhelmingly outperformed their predicted effect, whereas interventions for smoking cessation did not. Thus, incentives alone may not account for the success of CM, at least when applied to stimulant use disorder. We propose other potential sources of the effect including social reinforcement and the specific parameters of the reinforcement schedule.
Contrasting effects of reinforcer rate and magnitude on differential resistance to change in humans
Ano: 2025
Abstract The effects of the magnitude of reinforcement on the resistance to change of humans engaged in a computer task were examined in two experiments. In each, responding was disrupted by increasing the force requirement of the required response. In Experiment 1, the participants were exposed to a multiple variable‐interval (VI) VI schedule of reinforcement. Responses meeting the VI requirement resulted in the addition of a monetary value to the computer screen. At the end of each session, the monetary value was exchanged for real money. In Experiment 2, snacks or money provided at the time earned were the reinforcers. There was no differential resistance to change as a function of reinforcer magnitude in either experiment. These findings led to Experiment 3, in which the participants from Experiment 2 were exposed to schedules arranging different reinforcement rates using as reinforcers snacks, money at the time it was earned, and points exchangeable for money at the session's end. There was greater resistance to change in the VI component with a higher reinforcement rate. The results are discussed in relation to the varied effects of reinforcer magnitude on both response rates and resistance to change.
Contributions of delay, duration, and intensity of shock on rats' choices involving conflicting‐valence consequences
Ano: 2025
Abstract Problems related to “self‐control” can occur in situations in which a single choice produces both reinforcing and aversive consequences. We exposed rats to choice situations in which a press on one lever produced only food and a press on a second lever produced food and delayed shock. Within and across conditions of four experiments, adjusting‐delay procedures were used to identify indifference points—delays at which the consequences produced by the two levers exerted equal control over choice. Experiment 1 investigated the effects of intensity and duration of delayed shock on choice between a small food reinforcer or a large food reinforcer followed by delayed shock. Experiment 3 investigated the effects of shock's delay on choice between food delivered immediately and followed by delayed shock or food delivered after a delay. Experiments 2 and 4 investigated the effects of signaling the delayed shock in Experiments 1 and 3, respectively. The effects of delayed shock on choice were a direct function of shock intensity and shock duration and an inverse function of shock's delay. Signals did not affect choice systematically. The results extend findings from research on the punishment of operant behavior and on the temporal discounting of reinforcing and punishing events.
Correspondence between preference for and efficacy of behavioral interventions: A systematic review
Ano: 2025
Abstract Understanding of the correspondence between intervention preference and efficacy is limited. We systematically reviewed 112 articles (457 cases) evaluating efficacy of and preference for behavioral interventions. We analyzed the percentage of cases for whom interventions were preferred and efficacious across broad (e.g., behavior reduction, performance, skill acquisition) and specific (e.g., noncontingent reinforcement, video modeling) intervention types. Authors reported one preferred intervention for most cases. Regarding efficacy, authors reported about half of cases as having one efficacious intervention and the other half having multiple equally efficacious interventions. The same intervention was preferred and efficacious for 74% of cases for whom authors reported one preferred and one efficacious intervention. Several specific interventions were generally preferred and efficacious across cases (e.g., digital stimuli, computer‐based instruction, accumulated reinforcement, contingent reinforcement). We discuss clinical recommendations, the importance of assessing preference, and the need for research in developing protocols for assessing intervention preference.
Development and evaluation of a simultaneous bilingual communication intervention protocol for autistic children
Ano: 2025
Abstract This study explored bilingual approaches to establishing communication repertoires for culturally and linguistically diverse nonverbal autistic children. We explored concurrent English and Spanish mand instruction across language‐specific contexts (i.e., blocked vs. shuffled language trials). Participants first received communication intervention in a blocked context (e.g., first half in English), followed by communication intervention in a mixed‐language context (i.e., shuffled trials). Mixed‐language probes were incorporated throughout the evaluations to detect the emergence of conditional discriminations specific to the present linguistic context (i.e., therapist language). Participants established linguistic discrimination for topographically distinct forms of functional communication with minimal formal language discrimination instruction. These findings suggest that a communication intervention including elements of bilingualism can be effective for both establishing functional communication and discriminating the contexts in which certain responses are likely to be reinforced (i.e., linguistic discrimination).