Reinforcement Contingencies Research Articles

Translational Assessments of Reward Responsiveness in the Marmoset

BackgroundAnhedonia, the loss of pleasure in previously rewarding activities, is a prominent feature of major depressive disorder and often resistant to first-line antidepressant treatment. A paucity of translatable cross-species tasks to assess subdomains of anhedonia, including reward learning, presents a major obstacle to the development of effective therapeutics. One assay of reward learning characterized by orderly behavioral and pharmacological findings in both humans and rats is the probabilistic reward task. In this computerized task, subjects make discriminations across numerous trials in which correct responses to one alternative are rewarded more often (rich) than correct responses to the other (lean). Healthy control subjects reliably develop a response bias to the rich alternative. However, participants with major depressive disorder as well as rats exposed to chronic stress typically exhibit a blunted response bias.MethodsThe present studies validated a touchscreen-based probabilistic reward task for the marmoset, a small nonhuman primate with considerable translational value. First, probabilistic reinforcement contingencies were parametrically examined. Next, the effects of ketamine (1.0–10.0 mg/kg), a US Food and Drug Administration-approved rapid-acting antidepressant, and phencyclidine (0.01–0.1 mg/kg), a pharmacologically similar N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist with no known antidepressant efficacy, were evaluated.ResultsIncreases in the asymmetry of rich:lean probabilistic contingencies produced orderly increases in response bias. Consistent with their respective clinical profiles, ketamine but not phencyclidine produced dose-related increases in response bias at doses that did not reduce task discriminability.ConclusionsCollectively, these findings confirm task and pharmacological sensitivity in the marmoset, which may be useful in developing medications to counter anhedonia across neuropsychiatric disorders.

Interventions to reduce tobacco use in people experiencing homelessness.

Interventions to reduce tobacco use in people experiencing homelessness.

Instrumental behavior in humans is sensitive to the correlation between response rate and reward rate.

Recent theories of instrumental behavior postulate that the correlation between response and reward rate is a critical factor in instrumental goal-directed performance. However, it is still not clear whether human actions can be sensitive to rate correlation. Using a novel within-subject design, participants were trained under ratio and interval contingencies of reinforcement matching both reward probabilities and reward rates between conditions. The impact of rate correlation on performance was evident in the higher performance observed under ratio contingencies for both types of matching. Moreover, there was no difference in performance between two classes of interval schedules with equivalent correlational properties but different reward probabilities. These results are discussed in terms of a recent dual-system model of instrumental behavior.

Chemogenetics Reveal an Anterior Cingulate-Thalamic Pathway for Attending to Task-Relevant Information.

In a changing environment, organisms need to decide when to select items that resemble previously rewarded stimuli and when it is best to switch to other stimulus types. Here, we used chemogenetic techniques to provide causal evidence that activity in the rodent anterior cingulate cortex and its efferents to the anterior thalamic nuclei modulate the ability to attend to reliable predictors of important outcomes. Rats completed an attentional set-shifting paradigm that first measures the ability to master serial discriminations involving a constant stimulus dimension that reliably predicts reinforcement (intradimensional-shift), followed by the ability to shift attention to a previously irrelevant class of stimuli when reinforcement contingencies change (extradimensional-shift). Chemogenetic disruption of the anterior cingulate cortex (Experiment 1) as well as selective disruption of anterior cingulate efferents to the anterior thalamic nuclei (Experiment 2) impaired intradimensional learning but facilitated 2 sets of extradimensional-shifts. This pattern of results signals the loss of a corticothalamic system for cognitive control that preferentially processes stimuli resembling those previously associated with reward. Previous studies highlight a separate medial prefrontal system that promotes the converse pattern, that is, switching to hitherto inconsistent predictors of reward when contingencies change. Competition between these 2 systems regulates cognitive flexibility and choice.

Video-modelling as an effective solution for coaching carers of autistic adults

PurposeTeaching skills to autistic individuals can increase independence and quality of life. However, staff supporting such individuals often lack the skills needed to teach skills. This study evaluated the use of digital videos (DVDs) to coach three care staff in teaching tooth-brushing skills to three autistic adults with co-occurring intellectual disabilities.Design/methodology/approachPersonalized DVDs provided guidance on key elements of teaching new skills, including graded assistance, contingent reinforcement and environmental configuration. Participants watched their DVD six times over several days. Its impact on their teaching performances was evaluated using a multiple-baseline design. Social validity was investigated by distributing a questionnaire among the participants and family members of autistic adults.FindingsTeaching performances improved substantially following training. The coaching method was rated positively by participants and family members.Originality/valueVideo-modelling technology can be used effectively to provide an efficient, individualized and acceptable method of coaching for care staff.

Telehealth mask wearing training for children with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SARS‐CoV‐2 is the virus causing COVID‐19 and is spread through close person‐to‐person contact. The use of face masks has been described as an important strategy to slow its transmission. We evaluated the effects of coaching caregivers via telehealth technologies to teach face mask wearing to children with autism spectrum disorder. Six participants with a history of challenging behavior associated with mask wearing were recruited from different parts of the world, and trained using graduated exposure, shaping, and contingent reinforcement. By the end of the intervention, all participants wore a face mask for a period of 10 min without exhibiting challenging behavior. The skills generalized to a novel mask or a community setting. Mask wearing did not affect the percentage of oxyhemoglobin saturation of participants, and caregivers found the intervention useful. The findings support previous tolerance training treatment evaluations in children with developmental disorders exhibiting resistance to healthcare routines.

Systemic Racism and Cultural Selection: A Preliminary Analysis of Metacontingencies

Racism is a pervasive social justice issue that has been addressed by a variety of fields, including psychology, neuroscience, and sociology. Behavior-analytic accounts of racism have primarily focused on individual and interpersonal acts of prejudice or bias and have used operant contingencies of reinforcement as a unit of analysis for conceptualizing the development of racism. However, the absence of behavior-analytic theories of systemic racism, which includes cultural practices that are discriminatory in nature, is apparent. In the present discussion, we provide a preliminary analysis of systemic racism through the lens of cultural selection and metacontingencies as units of analysis. We provide a learning-theory perspective on systems of racism, offer solutions to systemic racism based on metacontingencies as a conceptual tool, and describe barriers to those solutions by evaluating correlations between metacontingencies and individual operant contingencies.

On the validity of data produced by isolated and synthesized contingencies during the functional analysis of problem behavior.

Functional analyses are intended to identify the reinforcers maintaining problem behavior in order to inform clinicians' selection of interventions. Traditionally, these analyses have exposed problem behavior to multiple, isolated reinforcement contingencies and in doing so, have ruled in and ruled out potential sources of reinforcement. Recently, some functional analysis models have forgone testing individual reinforcement contingencies and instead exposed problem behavior to 2 or more reinforcers simultaneously in a single, synthesized reinforcement contingency. The current review applies assessment analytics to these approaches to consider their relative sensitivity, specificity, discriminant validity, and predictive validity to yield practice recommendations and to nominate areas of future research.

Perception of saccadic reaction time

That saccadic reaction times (SRTs) may depend on reinforcement contingencies has been repeatedly demonstrated. It follows that one must be able to discriminate one’s latencies to adequately assign credit to one’s actions, which is to connect behaviour to its consequence. To quantify the ability to perceive one’s SRT, we used an adaptive procedure to train sixteen participants in a stepping visual target saccade paradigm. Subsequently, we measured their RTs perceptual threshold at 75% in a conventional constant stimuli procedure. For each trial, observers had to saccade to a stepping target. Then, in a 2-AFC task, they had to choose one value representing the actual SRT, while the other value proportionally differed from the actual SRT. The relative difference between the two alternatives was computed by either adding or subtracting from the actual SRT a percent-difference value randomly chosen among a fixed set. Feedback signalling the correct choice was provided after each response. Overall, our results showed that the 75% SRT perceptual threshold averaged 23% (about 40 ms). The ability to discriminate small SRT differences provides support for the possibility that the credit assignment problem may be solved even for short reaction times.

Does teaching an omnibus mand preclude the development of specifying mands?

When problem behavior is controlled by a synthesized reinforcement contingency, a simple omnibus mand that yields access to all reinforcers simultaneously has been shown to effectively replace problem behavior. The question arises as to whether teaching an omnibus mand will preclude the acquisition of specifying mands for each of the combined reinforcers. In this study, after 3 students diagnosed with autism acquired an omnibus mand ("My way, please") that yielded all identified reinforcers simultaneously, specifying mands (e.g., "All done," "May I have my toys?" "Play with me") were taught to yield each individual reinforcer (e.g., escape, tangibles, attention). Problem behavior was immediately eliminated for all children, and the omnibus mand was acquired quickly. Teaching an omnibus mand did not preclude acquisition of specifying mands for any learner and instead allowed for the acquisition of specifying mands once problem behavior had been effectively reduced.

Cooperative responding in rats: II. Performance on fixed-ratio schedules of mutual reinforcement.

Coordinated responses of 5 dyads of rats were investigated under fixed-ratio (FR) schedules of mutual water reinforcement. Coordinated responding was defined as 2 consecutive lever-presses, 1 from each of 2 rats, occurring <.5 s apart. In the FR schedules, each coordinated episode was defined as 1 response in the FR sequence. The size of FR schedules was parametrically manipulated assuming the values of FR 1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 50, and 9, in this order. Each FR remained in effect until responding reached stability. Under all conditions, pairs of rats received access to water simultaneously (mutual reinforcement). Rates and proportions of coordinated responding showed a bitonic inverted U-shaped function of ratio size. Postreinforcement pauses increased systematically as the interreinforcement interval increased. Local rates and proportions increased as a function of response location within ratios. Results of a control condition with relaxed temporal constraints for mutual reinforcement showed decreases in rates and proportion of coordinated responses, suggesting that the coordinated responses were controlled by the mutual reinforcement contingencies. The present experiment showed that coordinated responding is quantitatively affected by 3 properties of FR schedules: response requirement, reinforcement rates, and proximity to reinforcement.

Behavioral Analysis of Law: An Operant Interpretation of Legal Systems

&#x0D; Law is interpreted as a functionally specialized social system, selected by its consequences, whose main function is to control politically defined socially undesirable behavior. Such control derives from legal norms, which are interlocked behavioral patterns, controlled by changes in the probability of application of sanctions, that establish social contingencies of reinforcement to the behavior of group members. These behavioral patterns form a legal behavioral network, in each node of which one response emitted by one person produces discriminative stimuli to the response of a second person, which, in turn, reinforces the occurrence of the first response and generates discriminative stimuli for the behavior of other individuals that take part in subsequent nodes. A great part of behavioral patterns that form legal norms consist of rule uttering responses, occurring in problem-solving contexts, which are verbal responses reinforced by changes in the repertoire of other individuals related to the probability of application of sanctions. Legal rules are composed of three elements: relevant factual assumptions, social goal and legal contingency. This behavior-analytic interpretation of legal systems, which proposes a novel naturalistic legal theory, encourages new areas of empirical research and applications.

Um diálogo entre I. Berlin e B. F. Skinner a respeito do conceito de liberdade

&#x0D; O comportamentalismo radical defende a tese que o comportamento humano é controlado. Por essa razão, essa filosofia é recorrentemente acusada de negar a liberdade humana. Entretanto, a filosofia de Skinner não pretende acabar com a liberdade do ser humano e transformá-lo em uma máquina. Para esclarecer o conceito de liberdade proposto pelo comportamentalismo radical de modo conciliatório com a tese do controle do comportamento, buscou-se estabelecer um diálogo entre B. F. Skinner e Isaiah Berlin, o qual foi escolhido por discutir sistematicamente a visão tradicional de liberdade individual. Assim sendo, o objetivo deste artigo foi delinear relações entre Berlin e Skinner a respeito do conceito de liberdade. Com base nas análises feitas, foi possível concluir que o comportamentalismo radical não nega a liberdade humana, como é frequentemente acusado de fazer. Skinner rompe com a prática tradicional de discutir a liberdade em termos de sentimentos e subverte a sua análise para as contingências de reforçamento e consequências imediatas e futuras do comportamento, as quais são responsáveis por circunscrever as possibilidades de escolha dos indivíduos. O comportamentalismo radical vai além da liberdade e, com isso, demonstrou ser capaz de contribuir para ampliação da liberdade individual, no seu sentido negativo e positivo.

Quando o amor não é suficiente

A Psicoterapia Analítica Funcional (FAP) é uma abordagem terapêutica que promove as mudanças comportamentais dos clientes por meio da modificação das contingências de reforçamento, com a função de aumentar a probabilidade de acesso a metas valorosas dos clientes. Isso é feito por reforçamento diferencial de comportamentos dos clientes e treino de discriminação, no qual as melhorias comportamentais são modeladas e naturalmente reforçadas pelo terapeuta. À medida que as terapias evoluem e começam a ser disseminadas, geralmente seus princípios podem ser simplificados e a linguagem tornada mais atraente para aqueles que adotam as novas técnicas. Este artigo levanta duas questões de interesse que ocorreram quando a disseminação da FAP ganhou mais impulso. Embora noções de ciência básica por trás da FAP incluam conceitos como discriminação de estímulo, responder e reforçamento diferencial, estes termos elementares foram reformulados como consciência, coragem e amor. Este artigo foca em dois problemas que podem resultar do uso do termo “amor” como representante para o reforçamento diferencial e positivo. Primeiro, o “amor” é problemático porque o uso do termo traz consigo uma história cultural que pode ser confusa para terapeutas e clientes, criando riscos éticos. Segundo, “amor” como um termo representante para o reforço é inadequado porque não implica as complexidades de reforço diferencial, da modelagem, e da punição com reforçamento diferencial de outras respostas no contexto do ambiente clínico.

Auditory cortex reflects goal-directed movement but is not necessary for behavioral adaptation in sound-cued reward tracking.

Mounting evidence suggests that the role of sensory cortices in perceptual decision making goes beyond the mere representation of the discriminative stimuli and additionally involves the representation of nonsensory variables such as reward expectation. However, the relevance of these representations for behavior is not clear. To address this issue, we trained rats to discriminate sounds in a single-interval forced-choice task and then confronted the animals with unsignaled blockwise changes of reward probabilities. We found that unequal reward probabilities for the two choice options led to substantial shifts in response bias without concomitant reduction in stimulus discrimination. Although decisional biases were on average less extreme than required to maximize overall reinforcement, a model-based analysis revealed that rats managed to harvest >97% of rewards. Neurons in auditory cortex recorded during task performance weakly differentiated the discriminative stimuli but more strongly the subsequent goal-directed movement. Although 10-20% of units exhibited significantly different firing rates between task epochs with different response biases, control experiments showed this to result from inflated false positive rates due to unspecific temporal correlations of spiking activity rather than changing reinforcement contingencies. Transient pharmacological inactivation of auditory cortex reduced sound discriminability without affecting other measures of performance, whereas inactivation of medial prefrontal cortex affected both discriminability and bias. Together, these results suggest that auditory cortex activity only weakly reflects decisional variables during flexible updating of stimulus-response-outcome contingencies and does not play a crucial role in sound-cued adaptive behavior, beyond the representation of the discriminative stimuli.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Recent evidence suggests that sensory cortex represents nonsensory variables such as reward expectation, but the relevance of these representations for behavior is not well understood. We show that rat auditory cortex (AC) is modulated during movement and reward anticipation in a sound-cued reward tracking task, whereas AC inactivation only impaired discrimination without affecting reward tracking, consistent with a predominantly sensory role of AC.

A Comparison of Teacher and Student Ratings in a Self-Monitoring Intervention

Self-monitoring interventions for students with challenging behavior are often teacher-managed rather than self-managed. Teachers direct these interventions by completing parallel monitoring procedures, providing feedback, and delivering contingent reinforcement to students when they monitor accurately. However, within self-monitoring interventions, the degree to which teachers and students agree in their assessment of students’ behavior is unknown. In this study, a self-monitoring intervention in which both teachers and students rated the students’ behavior, we analyzed 249 fixed interval ratings of behavior from 19 student/teacher pairs to determine the relationship between ratings within and across teacher/student pairs. We found a strong correlation overall ( r =.91), although variability existed within individual pairs and student ratings tended to be higher than teacher ratings. We discuss implications for practice, limitations, and future directions.

Exploring the impact of coherence (through the presence versus absence of feedback) and levels of derivation on persistent rule-following.

Recent developments in relational frame theory (RFT) have outlined a number of key variables of potential importance when analyzing the dynamics involved in derived relational responding. Recent research has begun to explore the impact of a number of these variables on persistent rule-following, namely, levels of derivation and coherence. However, no research to date has systematically examined the impact of coherence on persistent rule-following at varying levels of derivation. Across two experiments, the impact of coherence (manipulated through the systematic use of performance feedback) was explored on persistent rule-following when derivation was relatively low (Exp. 1) and high (Exp. 2). A training protocol based on the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP) was used to establish novel combinatorially entailed relations that manipulated the feedback provided on the untrained, derived relations (A-C) for five blocks of trials in Experiment 1 and one block of trials in Experiment 2. One of these relations was then inserted into the rule for responding on a subsequent contingency-switching match-to-sample task to assess rule persistence. While no significant differences were found in Experiment 1, the provision or non-provision of feedback had a significant differential impact on rule persistence in Experiment 2. These differences, and the subtle complexities that appear to be involved in persistent rule-following in the face of reversed reinforcement contingencies, are discussed.

A systematic review of the effectiveness of behavioural treatments for pica in youths.

Pica is the persistent consumption of non-nutritive, nonfood substances and is associated with adverse health complications. However, there is limited research on interventions for pica in youth. The objective of this study is to systematically review the empirical evidence for the effectiveness of behavioural interventions for pica in children and adolescents and to generate treatment recommendations. A systematic search yielded 823 articles extracted from five databases: CINALH, Family and Society Studies Worldwide, Medline, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Two reviewers completed initial sorting based on article titles and abstracts. Five reviewers completed sorting based on full article review. Thirty articles were included and double coded for demographic information, co-morbid conditions, and intervention characteristics. These studies were case studies involving behavioural treatments for pica. Seventeen behavioural interventions were categorized into four treatment approaches: reinforcement-based, response interruption, "other" interventions, and punishment-based procedures. Interventions that resulted in near-zero rates of pica were deemed effective. Findings showed support for contingent reinforcement, discrimination training as part of a combination treatment, physical restraint, time out, and contingent aversive stimulus. No evidence supported the effectiveness of response interruption procedures, including response blocking and visual facial screen. Other coded procedures did not appear effective. We recommend that the least restrictive procedures are implemented first, including a combination treatment with contingent reinforcement and discrimination training. As needed, more restrictive procedures can be added to the treatment package. This review will facilitate future empirical work and assist clinicians with treatment options for pica in youth. High-quality trials are needed.

Relational Coherence and Persistent Rule-Following: The Impact of Targeting Coherence in a ‘Non-Critical’ Component of a Relational Network

Rule-governed behavior has long been associated with generating insensitivity to direct contingencies of reinforcement. This insensitivity to environmental changes has also been implicated in human psychological suffering. Recent developments within Relational Frame Theory (RFT) have highlighted the importance of analyzing the dynamics of arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR) with regard to the impact of rules on human behavior. Although previous research has focused on the impact of levels of derivation and coherence at the level of the relational frame, no published research to date has investigated the impact of coherence at the level of the relational network on rule persistence. Participants were first trained on a novel relational network that was either maximally coherent or partially incoherent before being exposed to a contingency switching matching-to-sample (MTS) task. The current research aimed to investigate the impact of challenging the coherence of an aspect of the network that was not necessarily important for deriving the rule for responding on the MTS task. Results showed that coherence significantly affected upon levels of rule resurgence, but no other measure of rule persistence. Correlational analyses indicated that manipulating coherence per se versus a control condition had a significant impact on specific self-report measures such as level of certainty. A post-hoc RFT interpretation of the findings is provided.

Reducing impulsive choice VII: effects of duration of delay-exposure training.

Impulsive choice is related to substance use disorders, obesity, and other behaviors that negatively impact human health. Reducing impulsive choice may prove beneficial in ameliorating these maladaptive behaviors. Preclinical research in rats indicates that one reliable method for producing large and lasting reductions in impulsive choice is delay-exposure (DE) training. In all six of the prior DE-training experiments, rats were given extensive experience (~ 120 training sessions) with a delayed reinforcement contingency. The present experiment evaluated if similar large and lasting reductions in impulsive choice could be achieved with less training. The duration of DE training between groups of male Wistar rats was 0 sessions (training ended after a lever-pressing acquisition criterion was met), 30, 60, or 120 sessions. Comparison groups were given the same durations of training with immediate reinforcement. A post-training assessment of impulsive choice was completed using an increasing-delay procedure. For rats assigned to the 60-session condition, impulsive choice was reassessed at a 120-day follow-up. DE training reduced impulsive choice but, contrary to expectation, reductions in impulsive choice did not increase with DE-training duration (no significant training-duration by group interaction). Importantly, 60 sessions of DE training produced reductions in impulsive choice that were comparable to prior published findings and this effect remained significant at the 120-day follow-up. Procedural elements that may be responsible for the DE-training effect, and how they could be improved in future experiments, are discussed.