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Observational learning is defined as the acquisition of a new response based on observing others come into contact with different contingencies of reinforcement. Previous studies demonstrated that children with neurodevelopmental disorders acquire verbal behaviors through observational learning. The purpose of the study was to explore the effect of an observational learning procedure on the acquisition of tacts and pointing responses to pictures mediated by the mother of two adolescents with Down syndrome. During baseline session pictures were presented to each participant and the responses were not followed by specific consequences. The mother was trained to conduct the instructional sessions for one of the participants while the other observed. The percentage of correct responses increased compared to baseline for both participants after the instructional sessions. The percentage of correct responses was higher for the participant exposed to direct training than for the observer participant. The results of the present study extend the results of previous research in which observational acquisition of verbal operants were demonstrated.

Abstract A social contextual analysis is developed for groups and how they shape a large part of our individual behavior. This is done by following behavior analytic approaches and eschewing internalized causal explanations, and by drawing on social science observations to show more concretely how groups function and how this can be observed. The key point is that groups function by pooling both people´s resources and people´s social relationship activities. Most approaches to groups only focus on one of these and then resort to internal explanations to account for the effects of the other. By observing both simultaneously we can integrate much of the social science differences and provide better ways to do social contextual research on group influence. Suggestions are given as to how groups are managed and what effects they have on individuals when all facets are considered. Social contextual research, however, focuses on becoming sensitized to variations in real-life cases of groups rather than trying to find generalizations that will always predict new cases.

Abstract The primary purpose of the present series of experiments, which includes a total of 155 adult participants, was to determine whether participants observing matching-to-sample (MTS) training and testing only sort stimuli according to experimenter-defined classes. Pooling the results of all four experiments, more than 50% of the participants sorted the stimuli according to experimenter-defined classes with no direct contact with the contingencies in the matching-to-sample training and testing. There was no substantial difference in the outcomes between participants who received a full session of MTS training and testing and those who received a 12-min video clip with training and testing (Experiments 1 and 2). However, the sorting performance was influenced by the ratio of correct responses in the observed MTS training (Experiments 3 and 4). Thus, the condition with the highest ratio of correct responses (80% correct and 20% incorrect) in the MTS training had the most participants sort stimuli according to the experimenter-defined classes. In addition, the participants who sorted correctly also formed equivalence classes in the MTS test (Experiments 2 and 3). Finally, participants who only observed the MTS training (not the test) sorted the stimuli correctly (Experiment 4).

Abstract Robots are increasingly used alongside Skinner boxes to train animals in operant conditioning tasks. Similarly, animals are being employed in artificial intelligence research to train various algorithms. However, both types of experiments rely on unidirectional learning, where one partner—the animal or the robot—acts as the teacher and the other as the student. Here, we present a novel animal–robot interaction paradigm that enables bidirectional, or mutual, learning between a Wistar rat and a robot. The two agents interacted with each other to achieve specific goals, dynamically adjusting their actions based on the positive (rewarding) or negative (punishing) signals provided by their partner. The paradigm was tested in silico with two artificial reinforcement learning agents and in vivo with different rat–robot pairs. In the virtual trials, both agents were able to adapt their behavior toward reward maximization, achieving mutual learning. The in vivo experiments revealed that rats rapidly acquired the behaviors necessary to receive the reward and exhibited passive avoidance learning for negative signals when the robot displayed a steep learning curve. The developed paradigm can be used in various animal–machine interactions to test the efficacy of different learning rules and reinforcement schedules.

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ABSTRACT Synthesized contingency assessments often arrange multiple stimulus changes (e.g., terminating instructions and providing interactive toy play) to follow problem behavior and to occur response independently across test and control conditions, respectively. A central premise of this approach to functional behavior assessment is that individual contingencies interact when delivered together, producing a reinforcing effect greater than the sum of its parts (i.e., the reinforcing effects of the individual contingencies programmed). Across three studies, we evaluated how often within‐participant evaluations from the published literature are consistent with this assumption during (Studies 1 and 2) and following (Study 3) the assessment process. Our results suggest that although such interaction can occur, it appears to do so only in a minority of cases. Implications of these findings for practice are discussed.

Study objective: Examining whether online parent training for a mother facilitated the acquisition of requesting verbal behaviors (mands) and naming v …

AbstractBehavioral economics offers a framework for understanding choice making around public health concerns such as drug use and distracted driving. Such a framework could be beneficial to understanding caregiver choices related to arranging an infant sleep environment. Nonadherence to infant sleep safety guidelines provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics increases the risk of sleep‐related infant deaths. The present study adopted a willingness‐to‐accept purchase task procedure, used in previous research to evaluate variables that predict abstaining from consuming alcohol, to evaluate intention to adhere to recommendations for arranging a safe infant sleep environment. This analysis would inform contingency management incentive scales used to measure caregiver adherence following training caregivers to arrange an infant sleep environment and identify variables that might predict treatment engagement. The results identified incentive sizes, condition duration, and participant variables that predict caregiver adherence. The results can be applied to future investigations that train caregivers to arrange an infant sleep environment.

Foi investigado o desconto pelo atraso e a demanda operante em práticas sexuais de risco, em uma condição de risco de contrair uma infecção sexualmente transmissível ou de ter uma gravidez indesejada. O estudo buscou identificar se a apresentação de um relato hipotético de caráter negativo, feito por um amigo, e o grau de atratividade da parceira sexual influenciariam as escolhas hipotéticas no uso de preservativos. Participaram da pesquisa dez estudantes universitários. Utilizou-se um delineamento intrassujeito com duas condições experimentais (IST e gravidez) em que os participantes foram expostos a tarefas para avaliar o desconto pelo atraso (i.e., probabilidade de esperar pelo preservativo em diferentes prazos)e a demanda operante (i.e., probabilidade de comprar o preservativo em diferentes preços) em um cenário de comportamento sexual de risco. Em cada condição, os participantes responderam às tarefas em um cenário neutro e negativo para níveis de atração sexual alto e baixo. Os resultados mostraram: (1) menor impulsividade nos Cenários Negativos do que nos Cenários Neutros nas Condições; (2) maior impulsividade na Condição Gravidez do que na Condição IST para baixa atratividade; (3) o grau de atração afetou a impulsividade apenas na condição IST;(4) no Cenário Neutro, houve uma redução mais rápida no consumo na Condição IST do que Gravidez;(5) o tipo de cenário produziu efeitos opostos na redução no consumo nas diferentes condições, e, (6) houve uma maior redução no consumo para parceiras mais atraentes apenas na Condição IST.A pesquisa é relevante da perspectiva de políticas públicas para reduzir comportamentos sexuais de risco.Palavras-chave: desconto pelo atraso; demanda operante; uso de preservativos; infecção sexualmente transmissível; gravidez indesejada.