Previous research has suggested that the availability of high-preference stimuli may override the reinforcing efficacy of concurrently available low-preference stimuli under relatively low schedule requirements (e.g., fixed-ratio 1 schedule). It is unknown if similar effects would be obtained under higher schedule requirements. Thus, the current…

Investigated simultaneous occurrence of emergent stimulus-response relations (functional equivalence) and stimulus-stimulus relations (stimulus equivalence). Trained 4- and 5-year olds to emit specified responses to pairs of stimuli in one setting (original training) and to emit other responses to one member of each pair in another setting…

Children and adults were trained and tested on formation of novel simple discriminations and conditional stimulus relations. Subjects who formed these sets were trained and tested on formation of stimulus equivalence classes. A modest majority of children matched directly paired stimuli; a few matched indirectly paired stimuli. All normal adults…

In this research on motor short-term memory it was hypothesized that subjects making free-selected movements would evidence superior reproduction accuracy over subjects making preselected movements, whose reproduction performance would be superior to subjects making constrained movements. Subjects making free-selected movements were allowed to…

Determines whether subliminal perception can be used as a means for altering cigarette smoking behavior. Smoking behavior was not altered through subliminal perception as carried out in this study. There was evidence that smoking behavior was altered, but it was an unpredicted change. Some subjects decreased smoking patterns. (Author)

A 2x2x2 factorial design was utilized to investigate the effects of race of expressor (black and white), race of perceiver, and sex of perceiver on perception of emotion (POE) in children. Perception of four emotions (anger, happiness, surprise, and pain) was analyzed in terms of three scores as DV's: (1) overall accuracy scores, (2) correct…

Trained preschoolers and adults on three sets of successive discriminations with stimuli labeled A, B, and R. Tested for derived stimulus-response relations and stimulus-stimulus relations. Adults displayed class-consistent B-R and A-B performances over all conditions. Children's display of class-consistent B-R performance varied by training…

The impact of exposure to social models displaying variably tolerant pain behaviour on observers' expressions of pain is examined. Findings indicate substantial effects on verbal reports of pain, avoidance behaviour, psychophysiological indices, power function parameters, and sensory decision theory indices. Discussion centers on how social models…

This response mode study attempts to determine whether different response modes are helpful or not in facilitating the thought process in a given problem solving situation. The Luchins Water Jar Test (WJT) used in this study illustrates the phenomena "Einstelling" (mechanization of response) because it does not require any specialized content…

Observers viewed silent videotapes of elementary school children listening to a lesson. Some of the stimulus children were listening to either a very easy or a very difficult lesson; consequently, their nonverbal behavior occurred naturally and spontaneously. Other stimulus children were instructed to pretend (role play) that they understood or…

This study assessed the differential effectiveness of two types of response delays on correct responding (with communicative gestures) by three individuals with severe mental handicaps to training instructions. Results showed that response delay was effective in increasing the number of correct responses in two of the three individuals. (DB)

Effective instructional strategies used to teach language skills to 24 elementary aged students with autism or moderate mental retardation included the use of choral responding; the use of student-to-student responding; the frequent rotation of materials while teaching 2 to 3 concepts; and the use of random, unpredictable trials for student…

This study explored questions concerning the specificity of facial expression of emotions in infants. A sample of 27 infants (nine each at ages 10, 11, and 12 months) were tested in six experimental and six control conditions. Two of the experimental conditions were designed to elicit fear, two happiness, and two surprise. Videotapes of the…

We examined some conditions under which a response acquired as a tact might facilitate the establishment of a mand. We taught 3 participants with developmental disabilities to tact the items ranked highest and lowest in a preference assessment and subsequently tested to see if the responses occurred as mands. All participants manded for the highly…

The structure of the testing condition is an important variable in measuring young children's language comprehension. This study examined effects of two testing conditions on the language comprehension scores of 24 toddlers, mean age 20.3 months. The methodology was based on the rationale that a test which allows parents to select stimuli which…