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AbstractMaintenance refers to the persistence of behavior change over time after some or all instruction has been discontinued. The distribution of follow‐up sessions can affect the frequency of practice opportunities in the absence of ongoing instruction and determinations of maintenance based on how often performance is assessed. An adapted alternating‐treatments design was used to evaluate the frequency and schedule of follow‐up session distribution on the maintenance of an arbitrary labeling task taught to nine college‐aged students. Following acquisition, the participants completed virtual follow‐up sessions across at least 30 days. The follow‐up session distributions were equally effective with respect to maintenance for six participants. The progressively increasing distribution was associated with higher maintenance for two participants, and the equal distribution was associated with higher maintenance for one participant. Across all participants, some distribution of opportunities to practice the skill was associated with higher levels of maintenance relative to the control.

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Abstract Using the Experimental Tobacco Marketplace, we examined the effects of e‐liquid freebase nicotine strength (3–24 mg/mL) and e‐liquid price (US$0.25–$1.00/mL) on behavioral economic substitution for cigarettes in dual cigarette/e‐cigarette ( n = 41) and exclusive cigarette ( n = 40) users. Subjective effects of nicotine strength were also examined. All nicotine strengths served as a substitute for combustible cigarettes, with greater substitution observed in dual users. When analyzing e‐liquid volume purchased (mL), nicotine strength did not influence substitution; however, when analyzing e‐liquid nicotine purchased (mg), degree of substitution increased as a function of nicotine strength. Additionally, higher nicotine strengths reduced the volume and probability of e‐liquid purchasing, increased cigarette demand, and produced less favorable subjective effects than lower strengths. Increasing e‐liquid price reduced e‐liquid purchasing and did not influence substitution. We conclude that nicotine strength does not robustly affect the degree to which e‐liquid substitutes for cigarettes, as no effect was observed in analysis of the unit of purchase most relevant to real‐world sales (volume). Instead, high‐strength nicotine potentially reduces the appeal and probability of purchasing e‐liquid. Future work should examine these effects in nicotine salt‐based e‐liquids compared with freebase nicotine (used here) and in choice contexts with concurrent access to different nicotine strengths.

Abstract Previous research has demonstrated several procedural modifications that improve the sensitivity of human behavior to relative rates of conditioned reinforcement or S+ production. Denser rates of reinforcement have proved useful in related human operant research, but the influence of denser rates of S+ production has yet to be evaluated. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate how the absolute S+ production rate influenced sensitivity to relative S+ production rate. Thirty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to three groups for which the absolute rate of S+ production varied but the programmed relative rate of S+ production was held constant across groups. Results similar to those of previous research were obtained with many participants; however, the absolute rate of S+ production exerted no systematic effect on sensitivity or the quality of fits of the generalized matching equation. Exploratory analyses suggest that methods ensuring steady‐state responding and improving the predictive value of S+ are important directions for future research.

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Abstract Behavior is dynamic because it results from the interactions between organisms and their environment. Reinforcement is the primary mechanism for explaining behavior, and it has evolved in various ways, allowing for the explanation of different aspects of behavior acquisition and maintenance. The adequacy of reinforcement in explaining behavior acquisition has mostly been tested on target behaviors. However, a broader understanding of behavior requires accounting not only for target behaviors but for all behaviors in a given situation. This article presents several experiments showcasing schedule-induced behaviors to analyze the variables that determine which behaviors are acquired and how they are organized. First, the effects of both physical and contingency-based constraints on the organization of behavior are examined. Second, the role of competition and collaboration between behaviors in determining their distribution is discussed. Third, a dual effect of reinforcers on behavioral patterns is proposed. It is concluded that behaviors interact with one another and with environmental stimuli, and behavioral patterns are continuously induced, updated, and reinforced. Data in this article highlight the need to focus on the moment-to-moment updating of behavioral patterns to fully understand behavioral dynamics.

A gerontologia comportamental é um campo de estudo que proporciona o entendimento das demandas do envelhecimento com base na interação do organismo longevo com o ambiente. Neste cenário, a Análise do Comportamento (AC) é uma ciência que pode contribuir com intervenções baseadas em resultados consistentes, tanto diretamente com os idosos quanto com o cuidador. Assim, o presente estudo se propôs a avaliar o efeito da utilização do vídeo- automonitoramento com checklist sobre o desempenho dos cuidadores na realização do procedimento de pareamento social, o qual visa o emparelhamento de estímulos preferidos com o cuidador. Participaram deste estudo quatro cuidadoras informais (familiares). Foi utilizado um delineamento de linha de base múltipla para avaliar o efeito da variável independente (VI- vídeo-automonitoramento com checklist) sobre o desempenho das cuidadoras na implementação do pareamento social (variável dependente -VD). O procedimento foi composto pelas fases de linha de base, intervenção, pós-teste, feedbacks e follow-up, sendo que as avaliações foram realizadas por meio de simulação (um confederado fazia o papel do idoso). As quatro participantes atingiram critério de precisão ao final da intervenção. Destas, apenas uma não necessitou de feedback para alcançar o critério. Na etapa de follow-up, três participantes mantiveram alta precisão de desempenho de implementação do pareamento social. Esta pesquisa traz dados consistentes sobre a ampliação da efetividade do checklist com automonitoramento por vídeo e do feedback no treinamento de habilidades comportamentais, bem como amplia a utilização de intervenções em Análise do Comportamento Aplicada ao Envelhecimento. Palavras-Chave: alzheimer, cuidadores, treinamento, gerontologia.

Abstract As early as first grade, some children are more likely than others to perform arithmetic using inefficient or other overt counting strategies. To partially address this problem, the primary investigator developed a skill hierarchy with procedures based on applied behavior analysis. The novel early-intervention program included a combination of instructional videos and live rehearsal to teach children how to decompose and accurately solve complex addition problems using only “mental math.” Six first graders who did not use decomposition strategies at baseline participated in a single-subject, multiple-probe across participants design. Participants first learned component decomposition skills to identify ones and tens place digits, add tens place values, and retrieve simple addition facts. However, despite mastery of these skills, participants did not use the composite decomposition skill spontaneously when presented with complex addition problems. The primary investigator then provided training on how to apply the component skills to the composite skill. Following training, participants immediately used the composite skill to solve random, complex addition problems with sums up to 198. Results suggest that, through explicit instruction informed by skill hierarchies, children who do not use broadly applicable and efficient methods of solving math problems may come to match their peers in more challenging, mathematics-related activities.

To honor Andy's role as a teacher and mentor, I have curated a series of memories from my history as a graduate student in the Behavior Analysis graduate program at West Virginia University (WVU) from 2003–2008. This sort of epilogue aims to highlight the broad, general, and flexible nature of conducting research and learning with Andy at WVU.