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AbstractCaregiver adherence to treatment plans is likely maintained by negative reinforcement and can contact extinction when child responding relapses. When caregiver adherence contacts extinction, caregiver nonadherence, such as reinforcing their child's challenging behavior, relapses, threatening treatment efficacy. Previous laboratory models demonstrating the relapse of caregiver nonadherence only evaluated treatment for behavior maintained by social‐positive reinforcement, not that maintained by social‐negative reinforcement. These models only measured caregiver nonadherence as discrete events, which cannot capture the magnitude of each error. The present study was an evaluation of the relapse of caregiver nonadherence during simulated treatments for escape‐maintained challenging behavior. First, caregivers placed demands in a home‐like setting and a research confederate responded to these demands in a manner mimicking clinical clients. Next, caregivers were taught to implement treatment in a clinical setting and the confederate's behavior gradually improved. Last, caregivers returned to the home‐like setting and confederate challenging behavior relapsed. Nonadherence relapsed for all caregivers, demonstrating the need for additional research on methods for mitigating caregiver relapse during treatment of children's challenging behavior and the usefulness of the proposed measurement system for future research.

AbstractWe examine whether cigarettes serve as substitutes for electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) among ENDS users and demonstrate methodological extensions of data from a cross‐price purchase task to inform policies and interventions. During a clinical laboratory study, n = 19 exclusive ENDS users and n = 17 dual cigarette/ENDS users completed a cross‐price purchase task with cigarettes available at a fixed price while prices of own‐brand ENDS increased. We estimated cross‐price elasticity using linear models to examine substitutability. We defined five additional outcomes: nonzero cross‐price intensity (purchasing cigarettes if ENDS were free), constant null demand (not purchasing cigarettes at any ENDS price), cross‐product crossover point (first price where participants purchased more cigarettes than ENDS), dual‐demand score (percentage of prices where both products were purchased), and dual‐use break point (minimum relative price to force complete substitution). The cross‐price elasticity results indicated that cigarettes could serve as substitutes for ENDS among ENDS users on average, but this average effect masked substantial heterogeneity in profiles of demand (here, a measure of the drug's reinforcement potential). Policies and regulations that increase ENDS prices appear unlikely to steer most exclusive ENDS users toward cigarette use, as most would not purchase cigarettes at any ENDS price, but they could prompt some dual users to substitute cigarettes completely while others remain dual users. This heterogeneity in consumer responses suggests additional indices of cross‐product demand are useful to characterize the anticipated and unanticipated effects of tobacco price policies more fully.

AbstractMetacontingencies describe a functional relationship between interlocking behavioral contingencies that produce an aggregate product and a selecting environment. Various metacontingency procedures employ operant contingencies and metacontingencies concurrently to investigate participant’s choices to engage in a behavior as a function of either the magnitude or frequency of consequences. However, little research attention has been given to evaluate macrocontingencies to metacontingencies in the context of between-group competition. The present study compared the results of three experimental groups. In experimental group 1, participants responded to the task together and were allowed to use vocal communication. In experimental group 2, participants responded to the task individually. In experimental group 3, participants responded to the task together but were not allowed to use vocal communication. The results showed that some participants in group 2 reached a high percentage of correct responses, but the sum of their performance (macrocontingency) was not significantly better than chance. The performance of participants who cooperated (groups 1 and 3) was significantly better than chance. We discuss the role of between-group selection, within-group variability and social contingencies in the adaptive value of cooperation.

AbstractOver the last 3 decades, the use and popularity of canid models for basic and applied behavioral research has grown dramatically, and for good reasons. Dogs are uniquely among the human world, living and working in our homes and places of employment while an even greater population lives on the outskirts of human life, scavenging and navigating the city life. This provides a rich continuum of environmental contexts for the canine experience, leading to some unique and even human‐like behaviors in animals. The articles in this special issue provide additional insight into factors that influence canine welfare, methods for evaluating dogs' preferences and the reinforcing effectiveness of stimuli, trick learning and retention, concept learning, and scent detection performance under sparse reinforcement conditions. Here we provide an overview of these articles and their contribution to our understanding of canine behavior.

AbstractInappropriate prosodic production, or features of speech, is an often observed but rarely treated communication skill deficit in individuals with autism. Expanding on previous literature, we conducted a functional analysis (FA) on the voice volume responses (VVRs) of two children with autism spectrum disorder utilizing similar procedures to those of Edgerton and Wine. Then, we evaluated the efficacy of visual feedback from an app and a function‐based treatment to decrease loud VVRs and increase appropriate VVRs. Results of the FA indicated loud VVRs were maintained by social negative reinforcement for one participant and by both social negative and automatic reinforcement for another. For one participant, the intervention decreased the use of loud VVRs and increased appropriate VVRs. For the other participant, the results of the intervention were inconclusive. Implications of conducting functional analyses and behavioral interventions to treat inappropriate voice volume are discussed.

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