Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F C Mace

Publications and source records attributed to F C Mace.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Effects of problem difficulty and reinforcer quality on time allocated to concurrent arithmetic problems.

Students with learning difficulties participated in two studies that analyzed the effects of problem difficulty and reinforcer quality upon time allocated to two sets of arithmetic problems reinforced according to a concurrent variable-interval 30-s variable-interval 120-s schedule. In Study 1, high- and low-difficulty arithmetic problems were systematically combined with rich and lean concurrent schedules (nickels used as reinforcers) across conditions using a single-subject design. The pairing of the high-difficulty problems with the richer schedule failed to offset time allocated to that alternative. Study 2 investigated the interactive effects of problem difficulty and reinforcer quality (nickels vs. program money) upon time allocation to arithmetic problems maintained by the concurrent schedules of reinforcement. Unlike problem difficulty, the pairing of the lesser quality reinforcer (program money) with the richer schedule reduced the time allocated to that alternative. The magnitude of this effect was greatest when combined with the low-difficulty problems. These studies have important implications for a matching law analysis of asymmetrical reinforcement variables that influence time allocation.

Achievement↗
PubMed1996

Differences in the effect of Pavlovian contingencies upon behavioral momentum using auditory versus visual stimuli.

We examined the role of Pavlovian and operant relations in behavioral momentum by arranging response-contingent alternative reinforcement in one component of a three-component multiple concurrent schedule with rats. This permitted the simultaneous arranging of different response-reinforcer (operant) and stimulus-reinforcer (Pavlovian) contingencies during three baseline conditions. Auditory or visual stimuli were used as discriminative stimuli within the multiple concurrent schedules. Resistance to change of a target response was assessed during a single session of extinction following each baseline condition. The rate of the target response during baseline varied inversely with the rate of response-contingent reinforcement derived from a concurrent source, regardless of whether the discriminative stimuli were auditory or visual. Resistance to change of the target response, however, did depend on the discriminative-stimulus modality. Resistance to change in the presence of visual stimuli was a positive function of the Pavlovian contingencies, whereas resistance to change was unrelated to either the operant or Pavlovian contingencies when the discriminative stimuli were auditory. Stimulus salience may be a factor in determining the differences in resistance to change across sensory modalities.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Functional analysis and intervention for breath holding.

We conducted a functional analysis of breath-holding episodes in a 7-year-old girl with severe mental retardation and Cornelia-de-Lange syndrome. The results showed that breath holding served an operant function, primarily to gain access to attention. The intervention, consisting of extinction, scheduled attention, and use of a picture card communication system, resulted in decreased breath holding.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1995

Improving the peer interactions of students with emotional and behavioral disorders through self-evaluation procedures: a component analysis and group application.

We conducted two experiments examining the effects of a self-evaluation package on the peer interactions of students described as emotionally or behaviorally disordered. Experiment 1 assessed the additive effects of various components of a self-evaluation package on the frequency of inappropriate and appropriate peer interactions. The components assessed were rewards alone, rewards plus discussion, and self-evaluation plus rewards. Results showed limited effectiveness when rewards alone and rewards plus discussion were implemented. However, substantial improvements in peer interactions were observed when the self-evaluation component was added. Experiment 2 examined the efficacy and feasibility of the procedures when implemented in a group setting. Students in three classrooms served as participants. Direct observation data collected for 8 of the participants showed the procedures to be effective in improving peer interactions when implemented in a group context.

Affective Symptoms↗
PubMed1993

Teacher use of descriptive analysis data to implement interventions to decrease students' problem behaviors.

We conducted two field studies using a behavioral consultation approach to reduce children's problem behaviors in public school settings. The first study consisted of a descriptive analysis in which the students and their teachers were observed during naturally occurring classroom activities. The results of the descriptive analysis provided hypotheses regarding the operant function of the students' problem behaviors. The hypotheses were tested in the second experiment directly through a modified experimental analysis and indirectly through an evaluation of the treatment effects. The interventions were designed to disrupt the inappropriate response-reinforcer relation by discontinuing contingent reinforcement (i.e., extinction), providing the reinforcer contingent on appropriate play behaviors, and teaching the students verbal skills functionally equivalent to the inappropriate response. The classroom teachers were trained to implement the interventions and conduct the experimental analyses during classroom activities in which the problem behaviors occurred most frequently. The interventions were effective in decreasing the students' problem behaviors while concurrently increasing their appropriate verbal skills.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Impulsivity in students with serious emotional disturbance: the interactive effects of reinforcer rate, delay, and quality.

We conducted two studies extending basic matching research on self-control and impulsivity to the investigation of choices of students diagnosed as seriously emotionally disturbed. In Study 1 we examined the interaction between unequal rates of reinforcement and equal versus unequal delays to reinforcer access on performance of concurrently available sets of math problems. The results of a reversal design showed that when delays to reinforcer access were the same for both response alternatives, the time allocated to each was approximately proportional to obtained reinforcement. When the delays to reinforcer access differed between the response alternatives, there was a bias toward the response alternative and schedule with the lower delays, suggesting impulsivity (i.e., immediate reinforcer access overrode the effects of rate of reinforcement). In Study 2 we examined the interactive effects of reinforcer rate, quality, and delay. Conditions involving delayed access to the high-quality reinforcers on the rich schedule (with immediate access to low-quality reinforcers earned on the lean schedule) were alternated with immediate access to low-quality reinforcers on the rich schedule (with delayed access to high-quality reinforcers on the lean schedule) using a reversal design. With 1 student, reinforcer quality overrode the effects of both reinforcer rate and delay to reinforcer access. The other student tended to respond exclusively to the alternative associated with immediate access to reinforcers. The studies demonstrate a methodology based on matching theory for determining influential dimensions of reinforcers governing individuals' choices.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Effects of community and center-based settings on the alertness of persons with profound mental retardation.

We studied effects of different settings on the behavior of persons with profound mental retardation. Adaptive (alert) and nonadaptive behaviors were observed in two community settings and a center setting. Results of the descriptive assessment showed that participants engaged in a higher percentage of adaptive behaviors and a lower percentage of nonadaptive behaviors in the "high stimulation" community setting. The results are discussed in light of environmental setting events on persons with profound mental retardation.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Functional analysis and treatment of aberrant behavior.

This article reviewed and discussed various methodologies used for the analysis of variables maintaining aberrant behavior. Previous research had succeeded in identifying a wide variety of environmental events which may contribute to an individual's maladaptive responding. These general classes of variables are summarized and presented with relevant examples. We conclude with suggestions for conducting a comprehensive functional analysis using descriptive and experimental methods leading to the development and evaluation of analysis-derived interventions.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1991

Training interactional behaviors of adults with developmental disabilities: a systematic replication and extension.

This study was a replication and extension of research by Foxx, McMorrow, Bittle, and Ness (1986) that assessed generalization effects of a social skills training program on the interactional behavior of adults with developmental disabilities. Target skills were a verbal action or reaction in six skill areas that specifically addressed the participants' skill deficits. In the present study, we trained 5 adult residents of a group home across these six skill areas using the "Sorry" game format and the scoring criteria described by Foxx et al. We extended the results of Foxx et al. by (a) using pretreatment assessment procedures to identify participants' specific skill deficits, (b) training all residents in the natural environment, (c) training participant-participant interactions, (d) training participants to respond to four of the six skill areas through the use of a role-play procedure, and (e) omitting rewards, criterion levels, and self-monitoring. Additionally, the trainer in the present study modeled correct responses only as an error correction procedure during training. Similar to those of Foxx et al., our results indicated that all participants increased their use of the trained interactional behaviors during the generalization assessments in the presence of other trained peers.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Linking descriptive and experimental analyses in the treatment of bizarre speech.

Descriptive and experimental methods were used to analyze the environmental determinants of an adult's bizarre speech. A descriptive analysis of behavior under natural conditions indicated that bizarre vocalizations occurred most often in the presence of task-related demands and in the absence of adult attention. Further, bizarre speech occurring during tasks was followed frequently by the cessation of task demands by staff or the subject's voluntary disengagement from task-related activities; bizarre speech observed during noninteractional periods (i.e., in the absence of adult attention) was frequently followed by staff attention. The escape and attention hypotheses were tested under analogue conditions. Results of the experimental analysis supported only the attention hypothesis; that is, bizarre speech appeared to function as an attention-producing behavior. The functional analysis data were used to select two different yet functionally equivalent treatments. The first treatment provided the subject with noncontingent scheduled attention. The second intervention taught the subject social language skills in the form of initiation and expansion statements. Both interventions were effective in suppressing maladapted speech. Advantages of linking descriptive and experimental analyses are discussed.

Attention↗
PubMed1990

A collateral effect of reward predicted by matching theory.

Matching theory describes a process by which organisms distribute their behavior between two or more concurrent schedules of reinforcement (Herrnstein, 1961). In an attempt to determine the generality of matching theory to applied settings, 2 students receiving special education were provided with academic response alternatives. Using a combined simultaneous treatments design and reversal design, unequal ratio schedules of reinforcement were varied across two academic responses. Findings indicated that both subjects allocated higher rates of responses to the richer schedule of reinforcement, although only one responded exclusively to the richer schedule. The present results lend support to a postulation that positive reinforcement may have undesirable collateral effects that are predicted by matching theory (Balsam & Bondy, 1983).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Behavioral momentum in the treatment of escape-motivated stereotypy.

Descriptive and experimental analyses of stereotypy by a woman with severe mental retardation showed that the behavior was maintained by escape from demands. A sequence of high-probability requests issued immediately prior to a task-related request established a momentum of compliance that increased compliance with task-related demands. Increases in compliance were accompanied by collateral reductions in stereotypic behavior. A mechanism of response covariation, called functional incompatibility, and an animal analogue study for testing the validity of this mechanism are proposed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Acquisition and maintenance of exercise skills under normalized conditions by adults with moderate and severe mental retardation.

Three older adults with severe and moderate mental retardation were taught a complete regimen of aerobic-type exercises under conditions that approximated mainstream exercise programs. A treatment package (prompts, contingent praise, and delayed reinforcing activities) was implemented by individual coaches while participants followed the instructions of an exercise leader. Prompts were faded and contingent activities were discontinued following skill acquisition. All participants correctly performed between 63% and 85% of the exercise repetitions during training and between 82% and 95% at a 9-month follow-up. Issues and strategies for achieving integration of persons with mental retardation into mainstream leisure activities were discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Effects of experimenter surveillance on reactive self-monitoring.

Two women with mild and moderate mental retardation self-monitored their work productivity with and without experimenter surveillance. For both subjects, reactive effects of self-monitoring were found without surveillance. However, reactivity was much greater when an observer was present while subjects self-monitored their work output. Reactive effects for one subject did not occur until she experienced surveillance in a previous experimental phase, suggesting that the history of surveillance established the reactivity of self-monitoring. Surveillance is viewed as a setting event that may be an important variable in achieving and maintaining benefits of self-management programs for persons with developmental disabilities.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Comparison of treatments to teach number matching skills to adults with moderate mental retardation.

The effectiveness of the Dial-A-Phone (D-A-P) instructional package plus a least intrusive prompt hierarchy was compared to a least intrusive prompt hierarchy alone for teaching adults with moderate developmental disabilities to match digits of personal phone numbers with digits on a rotary dial telephone. Instructional programs were administered in the context of an alternating treatments design. The dependent variable was the percentage of digits matched independently per session (21 digits per session). Results suggest that although a least intrusive prompt hierarchy alone produced findings similar to the D-A-P plus prompts procedure for one subject, the D-A-P plus prompts package was the most effective in helping both subjects to match digits independently. Strategies for individualizing the D-A-P program were discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1988

Functional analysis and treatment of bizarre speech.

Contingencies maintaining the bizarre speech of a 29-year-old woman with mild mental retardation and schizophrenia were analysed. Bizarre vocalizations occurred most frequently during demand conditions and least frequently during one-to-one interaction with attention contingent upon appropriate vocalizations. Treatment conditions derived from the assessment consisted of guided compliance and ignoring plus contingent attention. Treatment effects generalized to direct-care staff in day and residential settings. Analysis of the variables controlling bizarre speech facilitated development of interventions that were predominantly positive in nature, based on the specific and unique controlling behavior-environment interactions, and that were teachable to the direct-care staff.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Behavioral momentum in the treatment of noncompliance.

Behavioral momentum refers to the tendency for behavior to persist following a change in environmental conditions. The greater the rate of reinforcement, the greater the behavioral momentum. The intervention for noncompliance consisted of issuing a sequence of commands with which the subject was very likely to comply (i.e., high-probability commands) immediately prior to issuing a low-probability command. In each of five experiments, the high-probability command sequence resulted in a "momentum" of compliant responding that persisted when a low-probability request was issued. Results showed the antecedent high-probability command sequence increased compliance and decreased compliance latency and task duration. "Momentum-like" effects were shown to be distinct from experimenter attention and to depend on the contiguity between the high-probability command sequence and the low-probability command.

Adult↗