Antecedent Stimuli Research Articles

Habits, action sequences and reinforcement learning

It is now widely accepted that instrumental actions can be either goal-directed or habitual; whereas the former are rapidly acquired and regulated by their outcome, the latter are reflexive, elicited by antecedent stimuli rather than their consequences. Model-based reinforcement learning (RL) provides an elegant description of goal-directed action. Through exposure to states, actions and rewards, the agent rapidly constructs a model of the world and can choose an appropriate action based on quite abstract changes in environmental and evaluative demands. This model is powerful but has a problem explaining the development of habitual actions. To account for habits, theorists have argued that another action controller is required, called model-free RL, that does not form a model of the world but rather caches action values within states allowing a state to select an action based on its reward history rather than its consequences. Nevertheless, there are persistent problems with important predictions from the model; most notably the failure of model-free RL correctly to predict the insensitivity of habitual actions to changes in the action-reward contingency. Here, we suggest that introducing model-free RL in instrumental conditioning is unnecessary, and demonstrate that reconceptualizing habits as action sequences allows model-based RL to be applied to both goal-directed and habitual actions in a manner consistent with what real animals do. This approach has significant implications for the way habits are currently investigated and generates new experimental predictions.

PROTOCOL: Cognitive‐Behavioural Therapies for Young People in Outpatient Treatment for Non‐Opioid Drug Use

PROTOCOL: Cognitive‐Behavioural Therapies for Young People in Outpatient Treatment for Non‐Opioid Drug Use

An fMRI Study of Self-Regulatory Control and Conflict Resolution in Adolescents With Bulimia Nervosa

The authors examined functional activity in the frontostriatal systems that mediate self-regulatory capacities and conflict resolution in adolescents with bulimia nervosa. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to compare blood-oxygen-level-dependent response in 18 female adolescents with bulimia nervosa and 18 healthy female age-matched subjects during performance on a Simon spatial incompatibility task. Bayesian analyses were used to compare the two groups on patterns of brain activation during correct responses to conflict stimuli and to explore the effects of antecedent stimulus context on group differences in self-regulation and conflict resolution. Adolescents with and without bulimia nervosa performed similarly on the task. During correct responses in conflict trials, frontostriatal circuits-including the right inferolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices and putamen-failed to activate to the same degree in adolescents with bulimia nervosa as in healthy comparison subjects. Instead, deactivation was seen in the left inferior frontal gyrus as well as a neural system encompassing the posterior cingulate cortex and superior frontal gyrus. Group differences in cortical and striatal regions were driven by the differential responses to stimuli preceded by conflict and nonconflict stimuli, respectively. When engaging the self-regulatory control processes necessary to resolve conflict, adolescents with bulimia nervosa displayed abnormal patterns of activation in frontostriatal and default-mode systems. Their abnormal processing of the antecedent stimulus context conditioned their brain response to conflict differently from that of healthy comparison subjects, specifically in frontal regions. It is suspected that functional disturbances in frontal portions of frontostriatal systems may release feeding behaviors from regulatory control, thereby perpetuating the conflicting desires to consume fattening foods and avoid weight gain that characterize bulimia nervosa.

PATRONES CONDUCTUALES EN REDES NEURALES CARENTES DE INERVACIÓN SENSORIAL

A new approach is offered wherein behavior emitted by neural networks without antecedent stimuli is either shaped to produce a patterned behavioral output (Simulation 1) or is strengthened by delayed reinforcement through the mediation of response afterdischarges (Simulation 2). These networks demonstrate how Stein's InVitro Reinforcement (lVR) of neuronal bursts might account for various reinforcement effects at a behavioral level. The explorations presented iIIustrate two benefits to behavior analysis provided by biobehaviorally-based computational models of learning: accomodation of new biological information and recasting of behavioral concepts in ways compatible with this new information.

Parallel goal-directed and habitual control of human drug-seeking: Implications for dependence vulnerability.

Dual-process theories of learning and addiction propose that whereas freely elected drug/reward-seeking is goal-directed in being mediated by the expected value of the outcome, cue-elicited drug/reward-seeking is habitual in being elicited directly by antecedent stimuli, without retrieving a representation of outcome value. To substantiate this claim, the current study conducted a human devaluation-transfer procedure in which young adult smokers were first trained on a concurrent choice task to earn tobacco and chocolate points before one outcome was devalued by specific satiety or health warnings against consumption of that outcome. When choice was again tested in extinction, the selective reduction in performance of the action associated with the devalued outcome indicated that choice was controlled by an expectation of outcome value, that is, was goal-directed. Moreover, the presentation of tobacco and chocolate cues enhanced selection of the response associated with that outcome, indicating that transfer was also mediated by the retrieval of the outcome representation. Paradoxically, however, the magnitude of this transfer effect was unaffected by devaluation, indicating that the stimulus retrieved a representation of outcome identity but not current incentive value. Individual differences in tobacco dependence in the young adult sample were associated with tobacco preference in the concurrent choice task but not with the devaluation or transfer effects. These data accord with dual-process theories in suggesting that drug/reward-seeking are mediated by goal-directed and habitual controllers under freely elected and cued conditions, respectively, and that initial uptake of drug use is associated with hyper-valuation of the drug as an outcome of goal-directed drug-seeking rather than with accelerated habit formation.

The effect of sensational interference and the day and night circle on selective association behavior of laboratorial rats

According to dominant biological behavior theory laboratorial behaviors are over determined; this principle states that we must be aware of preparedness evolutionary. In this study, the effect of tone, movement and light interference on selective association behavior of laboratorial rats during the day and night has been studied. Subjects of this study include 4 white laboratory rats which have randomly chosen and divided into experimental and control groups. Then the rats were manipulated in two groups during the day and night with shock, avoidance program and compound antecedent stimuli (light, tone and movement). The subjects of both groups were manipulated concomitancy of compound shock stimulus was done next in the antecedent stimulus as a conditional to control the avidness answer was chosen to be analyzed. Different parts of the antecedent compound were presented to the rats in two groups during the day and night. The results show that there is a significant difference between the frequencies of selective associations during the day and night. The result cast doubt on this principle that all stimuli and responses are equally conditionable and any reinforcer could be paired with any behaviour so that learning would occur with equal strength and rapidly

Agreement Between Descriptive and Experimental Analyses of Behavior under Naturalistic Test Conditions

We compared the results of a contingency space analysis (CSA) of behavior-consequence recordings to the results of functional analysis (FA) test conditions involving antecedent stimuli and verbal statements that both differed from and mimicked those in the natural environment. Three preschool children with autism spectrum disorder participated. During Phase I, we identified teacher-delivered consequences that were contingent on problem behavior from observational data. During Phase II, each child participated in FA test conditions conducted by their teacher or a same-sex experimenter in an ABA reversal design. Two Experimenter FA conditions were identical to the Teacher FA, with an additional condition involving a different task, demands, and verbal statements. Teacher FAs revealed a clear function for problem behavior for two children, whereas the Experimenter FA was undifferentiated. The reverse pattern was observed for the third child. Results of the CSAs were consistent with the Teacher FAs for two children. Implications for generalizing the outcomes of analog FA test conditions are discussed.

Learning processes and the neural analysis of conditioning.

Classical and operant conditioning principles, such as the behavioral discrepancy-derived assumption that reinforcement always selects antecedent stimulus and response relations, have been studied at the neural level, mainly by observing the strengthening of neuronal responses or synaptic connections. A review of the literature on the neural basis of behavior provided extensive scientific data that indicate a synthesis between the two conditioning processes based mainly on stimulus control in learning tasks. The resulting analysis revealed the following aspects. Dopamine acts as a behavioral discrepancy signal in the midbrain pathway of positive reinforcement, leading toward the nucleus accumbens. Dopamine modulates both types of conditioning in the Aplysia mollusk and in mammals. In vivo and in vitro mollusk preparations show convergence of both types of conditioning in the same motor neuron. Frontal cortical neurons are involved in behavioral discrimination in reversal and extinction procedures, and these neurons preferentially deliver glutamate through conditioned stimulus or discriminative stimulus pathways. Discriminative neural responses can reliably precede operant movements and can also be common to stimuli that share complex symbolic relations. The present article discusses convergent and divergent points between conditioning paradigms at the neural level of analysis to advance our knowledge on reinforcement.

The Motivating Effect of Antecedent Stimuli on the Web Shop: A Conjoint Analysis of the Impact of Antecedent Stimuli at the Point of Online Purchase

This article introduces the concept motivating operation (MO) to the field of online consumer research. A conjoint analysis was conducted to assess the motivating impact of antecedent stimuli on online purchasing. Stimuli tested were in-stock status, price, other customers' reviews, order confirmation procedures, and donation to charity. The results indicate that the concept of MO is applicable to the analysis of the motivating impact of antecedent stimuli on consumer purchase behavior. The advantage of the concept of MO is, first, that it leads to greater understanding of the complex world of contingencies operating within the consumer behavior setting online. Second, the MO account is designed specifically to facilitate intervention as it is formulated in terms of environmental stimuli that can be manipulated directly. This is important for online companies that strive to increase economic earnings from their Web shops by means of increasing customers' conversion rates.

Control de estímulos de efectos del castigo: Determinando las variables controladoras

The study of discriminative stimulus control of responding maintained by positive reinforcement has a long-standing and dominant role in the behavioral literature. In contrast, the literature on discriminative stimulus control of response suppression by punishment is small and moribund. Investigating the form of stimulus control that develops under conditions of punishment is a topic in need of further attention for both theoretical and practical reasons. In preparations wherein stimulus control can develop (e.g., multiple schedules), at least two stimuli can come to exert discriminative control over response suppression: an antecedent discriminative stimulus (e.g., multiple-schedule stimulus) and the punisher delivery itself. We reviewed the experimental and applied literatures involving punishment and found only a few unambiguous demonstrations of operant stimulus control by an antecedent stimulus. We discuss limitations in methods, and conventions of data analysis and presentation, that preclude unambiguous conclusions regarding the establishment of antecedent stimulus control with punishment. A consideration of these limitations is important because they bear on both basic and applied issues in behavior analysis.

Introduction: Translational science lectures

Among the most significant trendsin science over the past decade is onetoward translational research—workthat spans the continuum from labo-ratory science to practical applica-tion. The translational model, some-times also known as ‘‘bench tobedside,’’ seeks to build bridges acrossresearch areas and disciplines, promot-ingcross-fertilizationofideas.Muchofthe best work in behavior analysis is ofthis translational character. To high-light this research in behavior analysis,a special program track at the 2009Association for Behavior AnalysisInternational (ABAI) convention wascreated. Cosponsored by the ABAIPractice and Science Boards, the key-note events in this special track weretwo sessions—one on stimulus controlin autism and one on behavioralmomentum—withthecontributingau-thors invited to submit papers forpublication in The Behavior Analyst.The result is the present collection ofpapers.Stimulus Control in AutismIn the early days of autism researchand practice, consequence strategiesfor increasing skills and decreasingbehavioral challenges were empha-sized (Ferster, 1961). Lovaas’s earli-est autism work employed simplediscrimination procedures drawn di-rectly from the laboratory (Lovaas,1967). However, even in the earlyyears it was recognized that autism isdistinguished by unusual responses toantecedentstimuli(Lovaas&Schreib-man, 1971). It is widely recognizedtoday that lack of control by, andinappropriate responses to, anteced-ent stimuli are important distinguish-ing features of autism (AmericanPsychiatric Association, 1994, p. 72).Specifically, children and youth withautism may exhibit no spoken lan-guageinresponsetosocialorlanguagestimuliemanatingfromothers,ormayfailtorespondtosymbolicmeaningofwords or other symbols (AmericanPsychiatric Association, 1994, p. 75).McIlvane’s paper examines trans-lational behavior analysis, linkingnonhuman laboratory research oncomplex stimulus control proceduresto studies with individuals with au-tism and other developmental dis-abilities. Based on matching-to-sam-ple methodology originally developedby Sidman and Tailby (1982), McIl-vane, Dube, and colleagues haveconducted extensive research demon-strating that many individuals whohad heretofore been believed to beincapable of developing symboliclanguage skills, could be taught suchskills (McIlvane et al., in press). Theirmethods derived directly from non-human laboratory research and lab-oratory research with individualswith developmental disabilities. McIl-vane argues that translational behav-ior analysis is a two-way street, withknowledge generated by applied re-search feeding back and enrichingsubsequent laboratory investigations.Koegel, Shirotova, and Koegelexamine a problem practitioners inschools and home-based therapysettings often encounter when work-ing with young children with autism

Antecedent stimulus control: Using orienting cues to facilitate first-word acquisition for nonresponders with autism

Although considerable progress has been made in improving the acquisition of expressive verbal communication in children with autism, research has documented that a subpopulation of children still fail to acquire speech even with intensive intervention. One variable that might be important in facilitating responding for this nonverbal subgroup of children is the use of antecedent orienting cues. Using a multiple baseline design, this study examined whether individualized orienting cues could be identified, and whether their presentation would result in the production of verbal expressive words. The results showed that this antecedent stimulus control procedure produced improvements in responding to verbal models in all of the children, and subsequent gains in speech for some of the children. Theoretical and applied implications of orienting cues as they relate to antecedent stimulus control for children with autism are discussed.

Associative Learning, Acquired Equivalence, and Flexible Generalization of Knowledge in Mild Alzheimer Disease

Acquired equivalence is a phenomenon in which prior training to treat 2 stimuli as equivalent increases generalization between them. Previous studies demonstrated that the hippocampal complex might play an important role in acquired equivalence associative learning. In this study, we tested the possibility that acquired equivalence learning is a sensitive marker of mild Alzheimer disease (AD). In the associative learning test, antecedent stimuli were cartoon faces and consequent stimuli were different colored cartoon fishes. Each cartoon character had some pet fish and the task was to learn these face-fish associations using feedback provided after each decision. In the transfer phase, knowledge about face-fish pairs had to be generalized to new associations. AD patients exhibited mild impairments in the training phase, whereas they were profoundly impaired on the acquired equivalence test. Associative knowledge could not be transferred to a more flexible retrieval condition. These results suggest that acquired equivalence learning is specifically impaired in early AD, which may indicate the pathology of the hippocampal complex.

TOKEN REINFORCEMENT: A REVIEW AND ANALYSIS

Token reinforcement procedures and concepts are reviewed and discussed in relation to general principles of behavior. The paper is divided into four main parts. Part I reviews and discusses previous research on token systems in relation to common behavioral functions--reinforcement, temporal organization, antecedent stimulus functions, and aversive control--emphasizing both the continuities with other contingencies and the distinctive features of token systems. Part II describes the role of token procedures in the symmetrical law of effect, the view that reinforcers (gains) and punishers (losses) can be measured in conceptually analogous terms. Part III considers the utility of token reinforcement procedures in cross-species analysis of behavior more generally, showing how token procedures can be used to bridge the methodological gulf separating research with humans from that with other animals. Part IV discusses the relevance of token systems to the field of behavioral economics. Token systems have the potential to significantly advance research and theory in behavioral economics, permitting both a more refined analysis of the costs and benefits underlying standard economic models, and a common currency more akin to human monetary systems. Some implications for applied research and for broader theoretical integration across disciplines will also be considered.

The neural computations of decision-making during arbitrary visuomotor learning

Event Abstract Back to Event The neural computations of decision-making during arbitrary visuomotor learning Andrea Brovelli1* and Driss Boussaoud1 1 CNRS -Universite Aix-Marseille, INCM, France Learning the consequences of our actions in their context is a fundamental cognitive ability, because it allows us and other animals to anticipate relevant events and to adapt to varying environments. If the relation between the visual stimulus, or context, the action, and its outcome is arbitrary and causal, we refer to as arbitrary visuomotor learning (Wise and Murray 2000). Associative theory (Dickinson 1980) postulates that learning the consequences of our actions is represented as stimulus-response-outcome associations that evolve according to prediction error signals (the discrepancy between the observed and predicted outcome). With further training, goal-directed behaviors are transformed into habitual responses that gradually become elicited by the antecedent stimuli (Yin and Knowlton, 2006). The aim of our work is to test these theories on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired from human participants and to provide quantitative descriptions of the neural computation mediating the acquisition of instrumental behaviors. Consistent with the Rescorla-Wagner model, prediction-error signals are computed in the human brain and selectively engage the ventral striatum. In addition, we found evidence of computations not formally predicted by the Rescorla-Wagner model. The dorsal frontoparietal network, the dorsal striatum, and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex are activated both on the incorrect and first correct trials and may reflect the processing of relevant visuomotor mappings during the early phases of learning. The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is selectively activated on the first correct outcome (Brovelli et al., 2008).Decision-related brain responses: We tested the hypothesis that the selection of action during the different phases of instrumental leaning is mediated by complementary frontostriatal loops (the associative and sensorimotor newtorks) transforming goal-directed actions into stimulus-driven habits (Yin and Knowlton, 2006). Preliminary results showed that the fMRI activity in the dorsal caudate nucleus increases during the exploratory phase and it correlates with the learning curve. In parallel, the activaty in the putamen increases slower during learning and it correlates with the probability that the stimulus is a good predictor of the correct action. To conclude, the results provide quantitative evidence of the neural computations mediating arbitrary visuomotor learning and suggest new directions for future computational models. Conference: 3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience , Alexandria, Egypt, 13 Dec - 16 Dec, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Symposium 01 – Neural dynamics, learning and functional recovery Citation: Brovelli A and Boussaoud D (2009). The neural computations of decision-making during arbitrary visuomotor learning. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience . doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.01.2009.16.003 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 18 Nov 2009; Published Online: 18 Nov 2009. * Correspondence: Andrea Brovelli, CNRS -Universite Aix-Marseille, INCM, 13331 Marseille, France, andrea.brovelli@univ-amu.fr Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Andrea Brovelli Driss Boussaoud Google Andrea Brovelli Driss Boussaoud Google Scholar Andrea Brovelli Driss Boussaoud PubMed Andrea Brovelli Driss Boussaoud Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

The effects of playful physical contact as an establishing operation on correct academic responding of three preschool students.

Motivating individuals with developmental disabilities can be challenging to educators (Egel, 1981, Greer, 2002). In an effort to motivate them, the effects of variation of reinforcer stimuli on correct responding and on-task behavior of individuals with disabilities have been tested (Egel, 1981) and those of variation of antecedent stimuli during discrimination tasks have been evaluated (Dunlap & Koegel, 1980). The influence of antecedent and consequent variables on problematic behaviors were also tested (Carr, Yarbrough, & Langdon, (1997); Mace & Lalli, 1991); and Repp, Felce, & Barton, 1988) in relation to the motivational variables. The results of these studies demonstrated that arrangement of antecedent stimuli or consequent stimuli affected behaviors of individuals with developmental disabilities. However, there were other variables in addition to the core components of the three-term contingencies that affected behaviors of individuals with disabilities (Berg, Peck, Wacker, Harding, McComas, Richman, & Brown, 2000). Several studies identified instructional history as one of variables that affect children's acquisition of verbal operants (Greer, Nirgudkar, & Park, 2003; Greer, Stolfi, Chavez-Brown, & Rivera-Valdez, 2005; Lee Park, 2005). For example, in Greer et al.'s study (2005), young children with developmental disabilities who did not exhibit Naming prior to the study acquired Naming as a higher order operant after they had instructional history of Naming through multiple exemplar instruction. Another variable that affects acquisition of new operants is establishing operations (EOs). William and Greer (1993) created EOs by placing children under deprivation for specific items in order to create a motivational context, which is necessary in the acquisition of a verbal operant: the mand. Other studies also demonstrated EOs as necessary components of children's learning of new verbal operants (Hall & Sundberg, 1987; Ross, Nuzzolo, Stolfi, Natarelli, & Greer, 2006; Reilly-Lawson & Greer, 2006). As we mentioned above, the three-term contingencies were affected by establishing operations (EOs) as the contexts of the contingencies that preceded the antecedent stimuli (Greer, 2002). EOs as motivational events alter the value of reinforcers that follow responses and thus affect the probability of the responses (Greer, 2002; Greer & Ross, 2008; Michael, 1982). For example, after parents arrange deprivation of playing a computer game by not allowing a child to play the game for a period of time, the child is more likely to finish his/her homework in order to gain the assess to the computer game. In this case, deprivation of playing the computer game is establishing operation and this increases the reinforcement effects of the games and the probability of finishing his/her homework. In O'Reilly's (1999) study, four analogue analysis conditions (i.e., attention, demand, leisure, and play) were randomly conducted in order to test the effects of pre-session attention on the occurrence of attention-maintained yelling and head hitting. Levels of attention (no attention versus high attention) were manipulated prior to the analogue analysis condition to test the influence of pre-session attention on the problem behavior during the attention analogue condition. The results showed that higher levels of yelling and head hitting occurred when the participant was deprived of attention prior to the attention analogue condition. McComas, Thompson, and Johnson (2003) tested the effects of pre-session attention on the subsequent occurrences of problem behavior with elementary school students with disabilities. In their study, variation of continuous attention conditions was followed by ignoring conditions on attention-maintained or escape-maintained problem behaviors. The results showed that the pre-session exposure to attention decreased attention-maintained problem behaviors, whereas it did not affect escape-maintained problem behaviors. …

Developing stimulus control for occurrences of stereotypy exhibited by a child with autism.

Stereotypy is a relatively common behavior exhibited by children with autism, and teachers report that stereotypy often interferes with teaching children functional and adaptive skills (Wehmeyer, 1991). Stereotypy is defined as repetitive behavior that does not serve an adaptive function (Baumeister & Forehand, 1973). Potential ramifications of high frequency stereotypy are social isolation, restrictive treatments, limited educational opportunities, and decreased educational programming due to increased emphasis on reduction of stereotypy (Dunlap, Dyer, & Koegel, 1983; Koegel & Covert, 1972). Many, but not all, cases of stereotypy are maintained by automatic reinforcement, and responses maintained by automatic reinforcement are difficult to treat because the reinforcer is directly produced by engaging in the behavior. This direct production of the reinforcer does not allow teachers or caregivers to systematically control and deliver the reinforcer for an appropriate alternative behavior. Although research on enriched environments, blocking stereotypy, and providing individuals with matched or competing stimuli have resulted in decreased occurrences of automatically maintained stereotypy, these treatments are often labor-intensive and difficult to maintain over long periods of time (Goh et al., 1995; Lalli et al., 1996; Piazza, Adelinis, Hanley, Goh & Delia, 2000; Shore Iwata, DeLeon, Kahng, & Smith 1997). One alternative to attempting to reduce or eliminate automatically maintained repetitive behavior is to teach individuals when and where engaging in stereotypic behavior is appropriate (e.g., free choice times). The concept of using environmental manipulations to evoke certain behaviors correlated with specific antecedent stimuli is an important aim of nearly every type of instructional program (Green, 2001). Additionally, Charlop, Kurtz, and Casey (1990) demonstrated that one useful intervention for decreasing stereotypy is to use it as a reinforcer for the absence of stereotypy while students engaged in skill acquisition programming. That is, one potentially useful strategy is to teach children that they can engage in stereotypic behavior during specific environmental situations after they have refrained from engaging in stereotypic behavior and allocated responses to developing adaptive behavior. As such, it is important to provide instructional environments that decrease stereotypic behavior following specific antecedents and to allow stereotypy during different antecedent stimuli. This type of stimulus control intervention has previously been shown to be useful for controlling occurrences of mands in children with developmental disabilities (Fisher, Kuhn & Thompson, 1998) and occurrences of stereotypy (Conroy, Asmus, Sellers & Ladwig, 2005; Doughty, Anderson, Doughty, Williams & Saunders, 2007; Mckenzie, Smith, Simmons, & Soderlund, 2008; Piazza, Hanley, & Fisher, 1996; Richman, Lindauer, Crosland, Mckercher, & Morse, 2001; Rollings & Baumister, 1981; Woods, 1983). Most recently, Doughty et al. (2007) showed that stimulus control of stereotypy could be achieved via pairing one stimulus with free access to stereotypy while pairing a different stimulus with a response reduction procedure (i.e., hands down) delivered contingent on occurrences of stereotypy exhibited by three participants with severe-to-profound mental retardation. Similarly, Conroy et al. (2005) demonstrated the effectiveness of this type of stimulus control intervention in a general education classroom for a child with average intelligence and an autism spectrum disorder. In the present study, we replicated Doughty et al. and Conroy et al. by establishing stimulus control over stereotypy exhibited by a child with autism by pairing a green card with free access to engage in stereotypy and a red card with vocal redirection and blocking stereotypy. …

Emotional and Aesthetic Antecedents and Consequences of Music-Induced Thrills

The significance of music-induced thrills or chills was explored in 3 experiments (N= 223). Specifically, the ability of antecedent (priming) stimuli in different modalities and aesthetic domains (national anthems, stories, architectural objects, paintings) to increase the participants' thrills responsiveness to music by Rachmaninoff and Haydn was examined. In addition, the differential effects of having or not having experienced thrills on the participants' subsequent willingness to donate blood, and on their mood and self-concept, were tested. It was found that while the antecedent stimuli in different modalities could themselves induce thrills in a predictable manner, these priming stimuli, and the thrills they elicited, had relatively weak effects on the thrills subsequently induced by the Rachmaninoff and Haydn pieces. The measures of altruism, self-concept, and mood were not affected by either the antecedent variables or the thrills experience. Thrills may often accompany profound aesthetic experiences and provide their physiological underpinning, yet themselves be of limited psychological significance.

DISCRIMINATIVE CONTROL OF PUNISHED STEREOTYPED BEHAVIOR IN HUMANS

The purpose of this experiment was to establish discriminative control of responding by an antecedent stimulus using differential punishment because the results of past studies on this topic have been mixed. Three adults with mental retardation who exhibited stereotypy not maintained by social consequences (i.e., automatic reinforcement) participated. For each subject, stereotypy occurred frequently in the presence of a stimulus correlated with nonpunishment of stereotypy and rarely, if ever, in the presence of a stimulus correlated with punishment of stereotypy. Latency measures showed that the antecedent stimulus correlated with punishment served as the discriminative stimulus for the suppression of stereotypy. These results are important insofar as they show that discriminative control by an antecedent stimulus develops with punishment, and because it sometimes may be desirable to establish such control of socially inappropriate behavior.

Bidirectional Modulation of Goal-Directed Actions by Prefrontal Cortical Dopamine

Instrumental actions are a vital cognitive asset that endows an organism with sensitivity to the consequences of its behavior. Response-outcome feedback allows responding to be shaped in order to maximize beneficial, and minimize detrimental, outcomes. Lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) result in behavior that is insensitive to changes in outcome value in animals and compulsive behavior in several human psychopathologies. Such insensitivity to changes in outcome value is a defining characteristic of instrumental habits: responses that are controlled by antecedent stimuli rather than goal expectancy. Little is known regarding the neurochemical substrates mediating this sensitivity. The present experiments used sensitivity to posttraining outcome devaluation to index the action-habit status of instrumental responding. Infusions of dopamine into the ventral mPFC (vmPFC), but not dorsal mPFC, restored outcome sensitivity bidirectionally-decreasing responding following outcome devaluation and increasing responding when the outcome was not devalued. This bidirectionality makes the possibility that these infusions nonspecifically dysregulated vmPFC dopamine transmission unlikely. VmPFC dopamine promoted instrumental responding appropriate to outcome value. Reinforcer consumption data indicated that this was not a consequence of altered sensitivity to the reinforcer itself. We suggest that vmPFC dopamine reengages attentional processes underlying goal-directed behavior.