Positive Reinforcement Contingencies Research Articles

Treatment of Food Selectivity in an Adult With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Food selectivity is common among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Left untreated, food selectivity may continue into adulthood, leading to social and nutritional deficits. Although effective treatments have been identified for young children and the school-aged population, these treatments may not be feasible with adults. As such, effective treatments for adults with ASD need to be identified. In this study, the participant was a 26-year-old male with ASD and a history of food selectivity. We compared two treatments that used differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors-one using positive reinforcement and the other negative reinforcement-to increase acceptance of novel fruits and vegetables. Both treatments resulted in increases in the acceptance of grapes and red bell peppers. When given the choice, the participant preferred the positive reinforcement contingency. Additionally, his food acceptance occurred in the presence of novel foods (e.g., carrots and lettuce) and settings. This study represents one of the only studies examining the treatment of food selectivity in adults with ASD.

Further evaluation of contingency modeling to increase consumption of nutritive foods in children with autism and food selectivity

AbstractResearch suggests contingency modeling with differential reinforcement of alternative behavior can increase consumption of nonpreferred foods in some children with feeding problems. The current study further evaluated the effectiveness of this treatment with three children with food selectivity and autism. Participants first observed a positive reinforcement contingency in which the confederate model accessed preferred items and edibles contingent on consuming all of the target foods on their plate. If the participant imitated the model and consumed all of their food, they too received access to the same preferred items and edibles. When this contingency was ineffective for two participants, the confederate and feeder modeled nonremoval of the spoon, which increased consumption for both participants. We conclude with a discussion of potential underlying mechanisms for the effects and future research.

Accumulated and distributed response-reinforcer arrangements during the treatment of escape-maintained problem behavior.

Contingent positive reinforcement has proven more effective in treating escape-maintained problem behavior than contingent negative reinforcement, particularly when problem behavior continues to produce escape. However, this research has overwhelmingly used distributed-reinforcement arrangements, where tasks and reinforcer access are interspersed throughout the work period. An alternative to interspersal involves allowing the individual to accumulate and then receive a larger quantity of reinforcement once work requirements are completed; this is known as an accumulated-reinforcement arrangement. The current study examined the efficacy of, and preference for positive (food) and negative (break) reinforcement contingencies delivered in accumulated and distributed arrangements in the treatment of escape-maintained problem behavior. In Experiment 1, accumulated break was preferred for 4 of 5 participants and accumulated food was preferred for 3 of 5. In Experiment 2, accumulated break was similarly effective to distributed break for 3 of 5 participants and accumulated and distributed food were equally effective for 4 participants.

Kappa‐Opioid Receptors Modulate Innate and Learned Responses to Positive and Negative Reinforcers

There are few effective and approved treatments for Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) but clinical and preclinical research has shown therapeutic potential for Kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) antagonists. The leading theory of the KOR system's role in SUD posits that chronic substance use augments expression and release of the aversive KOR ligand, dynorphin, which produces a dysphoric state. In this model, upregulation of dynorphin/KOR activity drives continued substance use through a negative reinforcement mechanism whereby substances are consumed to alleviate the negative affective state. While systemic KOR antagonists have been shown to reduce drug consumption in several preclinical models, direct effects on positive and negative reinforcement schedules have not been systematically investigated. In the present study we investigate the effects of systemic antagonism of KORs by nor-Binaltorphimine (NorBNI) on acquisition and maintenance of operant responding reinforced by presentation of sucrose (positive reinforcement) or removal of footshock (negative reinforcement). Based on the prevailing theory that KOR activation is aversive and drives negative reinforcement in addiction, we hypothesized that antagonism of the system would result in decreased responding under the negative reinforcement contingency and have no effect on positive reinforcement. Male C57BL/6J mice received 10 mg/kg intraperitoneal injections of the long-acting KOR antagonist NorBNI or 10 ml/kg saline 24 hours prior to their first session. Animals acquired a discriminated operant response for a positive or negative reinforcer (separate cohorts) whereby a cue light above the active nose-poke (presented on a variable time schedule) served as a discriminative stimulus indicating when a nose-poke would result in the receipt of sucrose or the removal of a series of shocks. Contrary to our hypothesis, mice that received NorBNI showed increased performance during acquisition of both positive and negative reinforcement contingencies compared to saline control mice. These results suggest a novel role of the KOR system in learning that is independent of the valence of the stimulus. We also found differential innate responses to sucrose and footshock prior to operant conditioning suggesting a key role of the system in encoding information about stimuli both aversive and non-aversive. These results call for a reevaluation of the role of KOR signaling in behavioral control and how this system influences drug taking behaviors.

Walden Two: Uma sociedade utópica não aversiva?

A ficção Walden Two (Skinner, 1948/1975) retrata uma sociedade cujas práticas sociais são baseadas em princípios científicos da Análise do Comportamento. A proposta envolve basicamente o uso de reforço positivo em contraste, com as sociedades reais, nas quais o controle aversivo seria um traço quase onipresente. Seria Walden Two de fato uma sociedade culturalmente planejada apenas em contingências de reforçamento positivo? O controle aversivo estaria ausente das relações sociais? O presente trabalho teve como objetivo geral investigar sistematicamente a presença ou não de controle aversivo no livro Walden Two. A obra foi examinada identificando-se os trechos que continham palavras-chave relacionadas ao controle aversivo. Observou-se que em três momentos específicos o controle aversivo é prescrito. Discute-se o uso inapropriado de Walden Two como um representante de uma sociedade não coercitiva assim como a necessidade de se reavaliar o papel (científico e ético) do próprio controle aversivo nas relações sociais, planejadas ou não.

L’activation comportementale : un outil simple et efficace dans le traitement de la dépression

IntroductionMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating disorder, and its treatment often requires complex and costly psychological therapies. Behavioral activation (BA) is a simple, effective and affordable psychotherapy recommended in the treatment of MDD. Objectives(i) Explain the theoretical basis of BA and its application in clinical practice. (ii) Review the randomized controlled trials examining BA as a treatment for MDD through a systematic search of the existing literature. MethodsMedline and ClinicalTrials databases were searched with the following keywords: (“behavioral activation” OR “behavioural activation”) AND (“therapy” OR “psychotherapy”). (i) Articles describing BA's theoretical foundations and principles of therapy were selected. (ii) Randomized controlled trials studying BA as a treatment for depression were selected according to the PRISMA criteria. Results(i) BA is a behavioral therapy that helps patients to increase their behaviors towards rewarding and/or pleasant activities, and to decrease avoidant behaviors maintaining negative affects by negative reinforcement. BA also tends to increase behaviors towards life-goals used as positive reinforcement contingencies. BA is a brief and cost effective therapy, which can be evaluated by specific psychometric scales. (ii) BA has a strong therapeutic effect in MDD as evaluated by several randomized controlled trials of good quality. ConclusionBA is a simple, affordable and effective treatment for MDD. Data is insufficient to provide proof for the interest of using commitment to life-goals as reinforcement contingencies. Behavioral inhibition is encountered amongst several psychiatric disorders and more studies should be conducted to discuss its use for other diseases such as schizophrenia or anxiety disorders.

The effects of amphetamine, butorphanol, and their combination on cocaine self-administration

There have been recent calls to examine the efficacy of drug-combination therapies in the treatment of substance use disorders. The purpose of the present study was to examine the ability of a novel stimulant-opioid combination to reduce cocaine self-administration, and to compare these effects to those of each drug administered alone. To this end, male Long-Evans rats were implanted with intravenous catheters and trained to self-administer cocaine under positive reinforcement contingencies. Once self-administration was acquired, rats were divided into four different groups and treated chronically for 20 days with (1) saline, (2) the psychomotor stimulant and monoamine releaser amphetamine, (3) the mu/kappa opioid agonist butorphanol, or (4) a combination of amphetamine and butorphanol. During chronic treatment, cocaine self-administration was examined on both fixed ratio (FR) and progressive ratio (PR) schedules of reinforcement. On the FR schedule, butorphanol significantly decreased cocaine self-administration, but this effect was not enhanced by amphetamine. On the PR schedule, amphetamine and butorphanol non-significantly decreased cocaine self-administration when administered alone but significantly decreased cocaine self-administration when administered in combination. These data suggest that under some conditions (e.g., when the response requirement of cocaine is high), a dual stimulant-opioid pharmacotherapy may be more effective than a single-drug monotherapy.

Longitudinal investigation on learned helplessness tested under negative and positive reinforcement involving stimulus control

In this study, we investigated whether (a) animals demonstrating the learned helplessness effect during an escape contingency also show learning deficits under positive reinforcement contingencies involving stimulus control and (b) the exposure to positive reinforcement contingencies eliminates the learned helplessness effect under an escape contingency. Rats were initially exposed to controllable (C), uncontrollable (U) or no (N) shocks. After 24h, they were exposed to 60 escapable shocks delivered in a shuttlebox. In the following phase, we selected from each group the four subjects that presented the most typical group pattern: no escape learning (learned helplessness effect) in Group U and escape learning in Groups C and N. All subjects were then exposed to two phases, the (1) positive reinforcement for lever pressing under a multiple FR/Extinction schedule and (2) a re-test under negative reinforcement (escape). A fourth group (n=4) was exposed only to the positive reinforcement sessions. All subjects showed discrimination learning under multiple schedule. In the escape re-test, the learned helplessness effect was maintained for three of the animals in Group U. These results suggest that the learned helplessness effect did not extend to discriminative behavior that is positively reinforced and that the learned helplessness effect did not revert for most subjects after exposure to positive reinforcement. We discuss some theoretical implications as related to learned helplessness as an effect restricted to aversive contingencies and to the absence of reversion after positive reinforcement.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: insert SI title.

Evaluating Competing Reinforcement Contingencies on Off-Task Behavior in a Preschooler with Intellectual Disability: A Data-Based Case Study

Off-task behaviors are often maintained by escape from instructional activities. However, attention is typically inseparable from escape-related consequences imposed by teachers. Testing consequent conditions separately in a typical functional analysis in these instances could lead to inconclusive results. Therefore, it may be important to manipulate both positive and negative reinforcement contingencies simultaneously to parse out possible attention versus escape functions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an escape condition combined with two contingent attention conditions for off-task behavior in a 4-year-old preschool girl. Data from the escape and the escape + directives conditions did not conclusively demonstrate attention was a maintaining variable for off-task behavior. However, there was a differentiated effect of providing escape + differential attention + engagement stimuli when compared to the escape + physical proximity during the academic demand. Thus, academic demand may have served as a setting event for off-task behavior, but the behavior occurred more frequently when escape + physical proximity was provided during the activity. Contrastingly, adding escape + differential attention + engagement stimuli during the academic demand appeared to compete with the value of escape for off-task behavior. Implications for assessing multiple functions of problem behavior and designing effective treatment packages by practitioners are discussed.

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF INAPPROPRIATE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN STUDENTS WITH ASPERGER'S SYNDROME

We analyzed the inappropriate social interactions of 3 students with Asperger's syndrome whose behavior was maintained by social positive reinforcement. We tested whether inappropriate social behavior was sensitive to social positive reinforcement contingencies and whether such contingencies could be reversed to increase the probability of socially appropriate responding. Our results show that social positive reinforcers can be identified for inappropriate social interactions and that appropriate social behaviors can be sensitive to reinforcement contingency reversals.

Wheel running decreases the positive reinforcing effects of heroin

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of voluntary wheel running on the positive reinforcing effects of heroin in rats with an established history of drug self-administration. MethodsRats were assigned to sedentary (no wheel) and exercise (wheel) conditions and trained to self-administer cocaine under positive reinforcement contingencies. Rats acquiring cocaine self-administration were then tested with various doses of heroin during daily test sessions. ResultsSedentary rats self-administered more heroin than exercising rats, and this effect was greatest at low and moderate doses of heroin. ConclusionThese data suggest that voluntary wheel running decreases the positive reinforcing effects of heroin.

Testing the Construct Validity of the Gambling Functional Assessment–Revised

An attempt was made to modify the Gambling Functional Assessment (GFA), which was proposed to identify four possible contingencies maintaining the respondent's gambling behavior. However, previous research found that it only identified two contingencies (i.e., positive vs. negative reinforcement), with some items cross-loading on both contingencies and one not loading at all. A total of 1,060 undergraduate students completed a revised version of the GFA containing 22 items. Exploratory factor analyses conducted on a random selection of half of the participants led to a two-factor solution (positive and negative reinforcement) for 16 of the items that strongly loaded on the two factors. Confirmatory factor analyses conducted using structural equation modeling on the data from the other half of the sample confirmed the two-factor model. The GFA-Revised consists of 16 items, 8 each measuring positive and negative reinforcement contingencies. Although this revised measure cleanly parses the two contingencies, the data indicate that gambling maintained by positive reinforcement is more frequent than gambling maintained by negative reinforcement. This outcome will make directly comparing the two contingencies difficult, especially given that evidence suggests that gambling maintained by negative reinforcement is more strongly associated with pathology than gambling maintained by positive reinforcement.

The effects of aerobic exercise on cocaine self-administration in male and female rats

In drug self-administration procedures, extended-access test sessions allow researchers to model maladaptive patterns of excessive and escalating drug intake that are characteristic of human substance-abusing populations. The purpose of the present study was to examine the ability of aerobic exercise to decrease excessive and escalating patterns of drug intake in male and female rats responding under extended-access conditions. Male and female Long-Evans rats were obtained at weaning and divided into sedentary (no running wheel) and exercising (running wheel) groups immediately upon arrival. After 6 weeks, rats were surgically implanted with intravenous catheters and allowed to self-administer cocaine under positive reinforcement contingencies. In experiment 1, cocaine self-administration was examined during 23-h test sessions that occurred every 4 days. In experiment 2, the escalation of cocaine intake was examined during daily 6-h test sessions over 14 consecutive days. In experiment 1, sedentary rats self-administered significantly more cocaine than exercising rats during uninterrupted 23-h test sessions, and this effect was apparent in both males and females. In experiment 2, sedentary rats escalated their cocaine intake to a significantly greater degree than exercising rats over the 14 days of testing. Although females escalated their cocaine intake to a greater extent than males, exercise effectively attenuated the escalation of cocaine intake in both sexes. These data indicate that aerobic exercise decreases maladaptive patterns of excessive and escalating cocaine intake under extended-access conditions.

Parental educational practices in relation to children's anxiety disorder-related behavior

Schoolchildren reported their parents’ use of aversive control and positive reinforcement contingencies in their educational interventions, as well as parental non-responsiveness to their requests for educational assistance. They also reported their own levels of six dimensions of anxiety disorder-related phenomena. Both parental use of aversive control and non-responsiveness were directly related to overall levels of child anxiety disorder-related behavior; these correlations were more robust than those observed in previous investigations of more diffuse dimensions of parenting style and trait anxiety. Panic disorder/agoraphobia and Generalized anxiety disorder were the dimensions most strongly correlated with both parental aversive control and non-responsiveness, while Compulsive behavior was uniquely uncorrelated with parental non-responsiveness and uniquely correlated with parental use of positive reinforcement contingencies. Differences in the magnitudes of correlations between anxiety disorder-related dimensions and parental educational practices are interpreted in terms of the probable differential effectiveness of their constituent behaviors in terminating parent-mediated negative reinforcers.

Experience-dependent changes in human brain activation during contingency learning

Successful adaption requires learning to respond appropriately to cues associated with response-reinforcer contingencies. In this investigation, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize changes in frontal and limbic activation associated with learning under a positive reinforcement contingency. Imaging analyses identified linear and nonlinear changes in brain activation across nine reinforcement trials when response accuracy and reaction times were stable. The development of contingency control was generally associated with linear increases or inverted-U shaped changes in activation in superior, medial and orbitofrontal (OFC) regions, amygdala, insula and the medial temporal lobe. Linear decreases and U-shaped changes in activation were generally observed in parietal, occipital and cerebellar regions. Results highlighting linear increases in activation in superior, medial and OFC regions suggest involvement in the development of contingency control, even when behavior is stable. Results also highlighted a positive correlation between changes in OFC activation and amygdala activation. However, inspection of the correspondence between group changes and individual subject changes in OFC, amygdala and insula activation revealed that approximately half of subjects exhibited changes resembling group changes and the strength of the OFC-amygdala relationship varied markedly between subjects. Such disparities highlight a unique opportunity for exploring individual differences in regional sensitivity to contingency as well as improving experimental preparations to better highlight and control the effects of extraneous variables.

Parental educational involvement conceived as the arrangement of contingency operations

This study explored the utility of a conception of parental educational involvement as the arrangement of contingency operations that normatively change: the frequency of children’s school‐related behaviour, the reinforcing potency of stimuli produced by studying, and children’s tendencies to request parental intervention. A child‐report measure of parental contingency use was developed and administered to 1520 schoolchildren (Grades Four to Six). An exploratory factor analysis revealed three internally consistent dimensions of parental practices: use of punishment and negative reinforcement contingencies; use of positive reinforcement contingencies; and non‐responsiveness to children’s requests for educational intervention. Frequencies of use of punishment/negative reinforcement contingencies and of parental non‐responsiveness were inversely correlated with use of positive reinforcement contingencies and with teacher’s reports of children’s achievement. These scales might therefore identify parents whose current educational practices are likely to be less than optimally effective, so that they might be helped to intervene more beneficially in their children’s academic affairs.

OPIOID ABSTINENCE REINFORCEMENT DELAYS HEROIN LAPSE DURING BUPRENORPHINE DOSE TAPERING

A positive reinforcement contingency increased opioid abstinence during outpatient dose tapering (4, 2, then 0 mg/day during Weeks 1 through 3) in non-treatment-seeking heroin-dependent volunteers who had been maintained on buprenorphine (8 mg/day) during an inpatient research protocol. The control group (n=12) received $4.00 for completing assessments at each thrice-weekly visit during dose tapering; 10 of 12 lapsed to heroin use 1 day after discharge. The abstinence reinforcement group (n=10) received $30.00 for each consecutive opioid-free urine sample; this significantly delayed heroin lapse (median, 15 days).

Varied effects of conventional antiepileptics on responding maintained by negative versus positive reinforcement

We analyzed the effects of four conventional antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) – carbamazepine (CBZ), ethosuximide (ETH), phenytoin (PHT), and valproate (VPA) – on operant behavior maintained by negative or positive reinforcement contingencies. Rats were trained to lever press on a free-operant avoidance schedule or variable-interval (VI) schedule of appetitive reinforcement. Dose-effect functions were separately established on each reinforcement contingency for CBZ (12.5–100 mg/kg), ETH (25–200 mg/kg), PHT (12.5–50 mg/kg), and VPA (50–400 mg/kg). CBZ and PHT reduced responding on free-operant avoidance and VI appetitive reinforcement tasks, with positively reinforced behavior reduced at lower drug dosages than negatively reinforced responding. ETH and VPA reduced responding on the VI appetitive reinforcement task, but did not alter behavior maintained on the free-operant avoidance schedule. Our results suggest that conventional AEDs vary in their effect on operant behavior, depending on the type of reinforcement process maintaining responding.

Pesquisando ao ensinar: prática no laboratório didático analisa o comportamento verbal sob contingências de reforçamento positivo e negativo

No contexto de ensino da análise experimental do comportamento, 53 graduandos foram expostos à tarefa informatizada de construir frases. Iniciou-se o experimento com linha de base, na ausência de contingência experimental. A seguir, os participantes, em dois diferentes grupos, podiam ganhar (vs. manter) ou manter (vs. perder) pontos, segundo contingências programadas de reforçamento positivo ou negativo, respectivamente, aplicadas ao uso de um pronome previamente selecionado, "nós" ou "ele(a)". Os resultados revelaram que, durante a linha de base, todos os seis pronomes foram utilizados em freqüências próximas ao acaso. Na condição experimental, houve um aumento acentuado no uso do pronome selecionado para reforçamento. Esse aumento foi gradual e sistemático para os sujeitos de ambos os grupos e, interessantemente, em freqüência média mais elevada sob reforçamento negativo do que positivo. Tais dados sugerem diferentes efeitos dessas duas contingências sobre o comportamento humano, avaliados em situações eticamente aceitáveis e no contexto didático que visa à formação de atitudes científicas.

Behavioral activity and tic disorder.

Previous approaches to functional assessment of tic and habit disorders have centred largely around environmental contingencies or interceptive sensory processes as positive reinforcers. The current article argues rather that ongoing telic behavioral activity is functionally linked to tic onset and so type of behavioral activity and overall action plan at the time of ticcing should also be assessed. Evidence is presented from past studies in support of a link between tic location and type of activity and the way this activity is appraised. It is further proposed that intervention strategies for reversing tic habits should include a more holistic behavioral restructuring of muscle use rather than just an exclusive focus on developing antagonistic muscle actions as competing responses. Keywords: tic disorder, habit disorders, habit reversal, holistic behavioural restructuring, antagonistic muscle actions ********** BEHAVIORAL TREATMENTS FOR TIC DISORDERS Recent studies have shown that behavior therapy (BT) can be successfully applied to the management of Tourette's syndrome (TS), tic and habit disorders (O'Connor, 2005). The results rival those achieved with medication and given the problems of compliance with medication and the perils of neuroleptic use with children (Peterson & Azrin, 1993), behavioural programs could in theory become the treatment of choice for these disorders. But despite small scale studies showing successful outcome in a range of tic subtypes (Peterson & Azrin, 1992), behavioural treatments are far from being accepted in psychiatry as a mainstream intervention. Clinician consensus strongly favours a neurobiological model of treatment with psycho-education and eclectic supportive counselling as an adjunct (Peterson & Cohen, 1998). A contributing reason for the lack of acceptance by clinicians of behavioural analysis and therapy may be the lack of a convincing model of behavioral processes operating in tic aetiology. BEHAVIORAL PRINCIPLES AND BEHAVIORAL PROCESS IN TICS Whereas most BT methods naturally espouse behavioral principles, the techniques appeal to a number of diverse behavioral mechanisms, some in apparent contradiction to one another. For example, the technique of massed practice which has shown some early success (Feldman & Werry, 1966), attempts to negatively reinforce ticcing through building up reciprocal inhibition, whilst techniques of relaxation emphasize lowering tension rather than increasing it, also with apparent success (Bergin, Waranch, Brown, Carson, & Singer, 1998). Conversely, exposure and response prevention would encourage tolerating the urge to tic without either tensing or relaxing the tic affected muscle group (Verdellen, Keijsers, Cath, & Hoogduin, 2004). Other behavioral intervention strategies have relied more or less exclusively on different aspects of contingency management to control tics. But even here the contingencies vary considerably and can include environmental, social or attentional task demand (Miltenberger, Fuqua, & Woods, 1998). Hence the theoretical considerations driving functional analysis in BT may often be in conflict, and may hamper development of a standard model of managing behavioural processes in tics. Although there is consensus that tics and habit disorders are auto-reinforced, there is disagreement as to the role of negative versus positive automatic reinforcement contingencies. For example, some authors report social reinforcement as a key maintaining factor (Watson & Sterling, 1998) whilst others report lack of attentional state as a precursor (Roane, Piazza, Cercone, & Grados, 2002). So, applying time out to negatively reinforce ticcing within a social reinforcement model may conflict with according additional attention to positively reinforce task engagement as a means of reducing tic frequency. As Miltenberger et al. (1998) have noted, the paucity of systematic behavioural and functional analysis of tic behaviour means that little is known about the function of behaviours treated with BT. …