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Vocal stereotypy, or repetitive, noncontextual vocalizations, is a problematic form of behavior exhibited by many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recent research has evaluated the efficacy of response interruption and redirection (RIRD) in the reduction of vocal stereotypy. Research has indicated that RIRD often results in reductions in the level of vocal stereotypy; however, many previous studies have only presented data on vocal stereotypy that occurred outside RIRD implementation. The current study replicated the procedures of previous studies that have evaluated the efficacy of RIRD and compared 2 data‐presentation methods: inclusion of only data collected outside RIRD implementation and inclusion of all vocal stereotypy data from the entirety of each session. Subjects were 7 children who had been diagnosed with ASD. Results indicated that RIRD appeared to be effective when we evaluated the level of vocal stereotypy outside RIRD implementation, but either no reductions or more modest reductions in the level of vocal stereotypy during the entirety of sessions were obtained for all subjects. Results suggest that data‐analysis methods used in previous research may overestimate the efficacy of RIRD.

Research suggests that students spend a substantial amount of time transitioning between classroom activities, which may reduce time spent academically engaged. This study used an ABAB design to evaluate the effects of a computer‐assisted intervention that automated intervention components previously shown to decrease transition times. We examined the effects of the intervention on the latency to on‐task behavior of 4 students in 2 classrooms. Data also were collected on students' on‐task behavior during activities and teachers' use of prompts and praise statements. Implementation of the intervention substantially decreased students' latencies to on‐task behavior and increased on‐task behavior overall. Further, the 2 teachers used fewer prompts to cue students to transition and stay on task and provided more praise during intervention phases. We discuss how automating classroom interventions may affect student and teacher behavior as well as how it may increase procedural fidelity.

In recent decades, researchers have integrated measurements of delay discounting, how the subjective valuation of a reward changes as a function of time, into their study of addiction. Research has begun to explore the idea that delay discounting may serve as both a marker for the effectiveness of existing treatments for addiction and a potential target for novel intervention strategies. As this work is in its infancy, many potentially significant connections between the construct of delay discounting and the treatment of addiction have yet to be explored. Here, we present a conceptual review highlighting novel points of intersection between delay discounting and two approaches to treating addiction that have become increasingly popular in recent years: those that focus on the development of mindfulness skills and those that emphasize the use of distraction techniques. Viewing these two techniques through the lens of delay discounting is particularly intriguing because of the very different way that they address the experience of drug cravings in the present moment (nonjudgmentally attending to vs. shifting attention away from subjective cravings, respectively). We propose that these opposing strategies for dealing with cravings may interact with delay discounting in ways that have important implications for treatment effectiveness.

The importance of delay discounting to many socially important behavior problems has stimulated investigations of biological and environmental mechanisms responsible for variations in the form of the discount function. The extant experimental research, however, has yielded disparate results, raising important questions regarding Gene X Environment interactions. The present study determined the influence of stimuli that uniquely signal delays to reinforcement on delay discounting in two inbred mouse strains using a rapid‐acquisition procedure. BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice responded under a six‐component, concurrent‐chained schedule in which the terminal‐link delays preceding the larger‐reinforcer were presented randomly across components of an individual session. Across conditions, components were presented either with or without delay‐specific auditory stimuli, i.e ., as multiple or mixed schedules. A generalized matching‐based model was used to incorporate the impact of current and previous component reinforcer‐delay ratios on current component response allocation. Sensitivity to reinforcer magnitude and delay were higher for BALB/c mice, but within‐component preference reached final levels faster for C57Bl/6 mice. For BALB/c mice, acquisition of preference across blocks of a component was faster under the multiple than the mixed schedule, but final levels of sensitivity to reinforcement were unaffected by schedule. The speed of acquisition of preference was not different across schedules for C57Bl/6 mice, but sensitivity to reinforcement was higher under the multiple than the mixed schedule. Overall, differences in the acquisition and final form of the discount function were determined by a Gene X Environment interaction, but the presence of delay‐specific stimuli attenuated genotype‐dependent differences in magnitude and delay sensitivity.

Self‐injurious behavior (SIB) is maintained by automatic reinforcement in roughly 25% of cases. Automatically reinforced SIB typically has been considered a single functional category, and is less understood than socially reinforced SIB. Subtyping automatically reinforced SIB into functional categories has the potential to guide the development of more targeted interventions and increase our understanding of its biological underpinnings. The current study involved an analysis of 39 individuals with automatically reinforced SIB and a comparison group of 13 individuals with socially reinforced SIB. Automatically reinforced SIB was categorized into 3 subtypes based on patterns of responding in the functional analysis and the presence of self‐restraint. These response features were selected as the basis for subtyping on the premise that they could reflect functional properties of SIB unique to each subtype. Analysis of treatment data revealed important differences across subtypes and provides preliminary support to warrant additional research on this proposed subtyping model.

O artigo discute a proposição por Ribes (2015) do conceito de desligamento funcional como referência para a identificação da causa eficiente do comportamento, à luz da teoria aristotélica das causas dos fenômenos A elaboração de Ribes remete a articulações entre sistemas diversos de relações, cujas interações produzem contextos de condicionalidades para as relações (de tríplice contingência) tipicamente investigadas na ciência do comportamento. Desse modo, reafirma o caráter dinâmico e processual do fenômeno comportamental, oferecendo um quadro abrangente para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa na área. Conduz, ainda, a uma reflexão sobre dimensões da ciência comportamental que definem centralmente a sua filosofia e impactam de modos ainda não suficientemente explorados o seu desenvolvimento e contribuição à cultura moderna. Três dessas dimensões são aqui discutidas motivadas pela análise de Ribes: a distinção entre universo e ambiente, a noção de reatividade comportamental e o probabilismo implicado no selecionismo como modo causal. Palabras clave : Análise do Comportamento, comportamento humano, desligamento funcional.

Se comenta el artículo objetivo de Ribes desarrollando la tesis de que el desligamiento funcional no puedeser la causa eficiente aristotélica. Los argumentos que sostienen la tesis son dos: a) que sea así supone confundir lo que se explica y lo explicado y b) una exégesis de la causalidad en Aristóteles y en particular la causa eficiente, exige que ésta cumpla ciertas características que no satisface el desligamiento funcional, entre las que se encuentra ser un factor responsable de la actualización, consistir en el contacto entre entidades ubicables y distintas, y que el moviente aporte una forma al movido en donde se actualiza. Se concluye con una contrapropuesta que ubica a la mediación como causa eficiente, entendiendo aquélla como articulación de una arquitectura de contingencias de ocurrencia. Así mismo, se alienta el desarrollo de la lógica explicativa de Teoría de la Conducta como alternativa en psicología experimental

We used a changing criterion design to evaluate the extent to which differential negative reinforcement of other behavior increased compliance with wearing a medical alert bracelet for a young boy with autism. Results showed the duration for which the participant wore the bracelet systematically increased across trials from 5 s to 7 hr over several weeks.

We evaluated the efficacy of a procedure that incorporated a mirror to teach gross motor imitation with a 2‐year‐old boy who had been diagnosed with autistic disorder. Responses taught with a mirror were acquired more quickly than responses taught without the mirror and were maintained after the mirror was removed. These data indicate that a mirror can facilitate acquisition of motor imitation.