Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S C Hayes

Publications and source records attributed to S C Hayes.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Rule-governed behavior and sensitivity to changing consequences of responding.

Humans were presented with a task that required moving a light through a matrix. Button presses could produce light movements according to a multiple fixed-ratio 18/differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate 6-s schedule, with components alternating every 2 min. Moving the light through the maze earned points worth chances on money prizes. In Experiment 1 four conditions were assessed through between-subject comparisons: minimal instructions, instructions to press rapidly, instructions to press slowly, and instructions that sometimes rapid responding would work while at other times a slow rate would work best. Subjects responded in three successive sessions of 32 min each. The results suggested that instructions affected the nature of the contact made with the programmed consequences and thus subsequent performance. In some cases, responding seemed to result from added contingencies introduced by stating rules. In Experiment 2 the relative contribution of these two effects was assessed by presenting and then withdrawing two lights that had been paired with two specific instructions: "Go Fast" or "Go Slow." There were three conditions. In one condition, only the Go Fast light was on; in a second, only the Go Slow light was on; and in a third, the lights alternated each minute. In each condition, half the subjects had all instruction lights turned off after the first session. The results once again showed an effect of instructions on contact with the programmed consequences. However, responding sometimes continued in a manner consistent with added contingencies for rule-following even when the programmed consequences had been contacted and would have controlled a different type of responding in the absence of instructions. The relevance of added contingencies for rule-following in determining the effects of explicitly programmed consequences is emphasized.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

Instructions, multiple schedules, and extinction: Distinguishing rule-governed from schedule-controlled behavior.

Schedule sensitivity has usually been examined either through a multiple schedule or through changes in schedules after steady-state responding has been established. This study compared the effects of these two procedures when various instructions were given. Fifty-five college students responded in two 32-min sessions under a multiple fixed-ratio 18/differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate 6-s schedule, followed by one session of extinction. Some subjects received no instructions regarding the appropriate rates of responding, whereas others received instructions to respond slowly, rapidly, or both. Relative to the schedule in operation, the instructions were minimal, partially inaccurate, or accurate. When there was little schedule sensitivity in the multiple schedule, there was little in extinction. When apparently schedule-sensitive responding occurred in the multiple schedule, however, sensitivity in extinction occurred only if differential responding in the multiple schedule could not be due to rules supplied by the experimenter. This evidence shows that rule-governed behavior that occurs in the form of schedule-sensitive behavior may not in fact become schedule-sensitive even though it makes contact with the scheduled reinforcers.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

Equivalence class formation in language-able and language-disabled children.

Stimulus equivalence seems to have relevance to the study of semantics and of language more generally. If so, there may be a relation between language use and the demonstration of stimulus equivalence. This was examined in three groups of children ranging in chronological age and matched on a conventional measure of mental age: normally developing preschoolers, retarded children who used speech or signs spontaneously and appropriately, and retarded children who did not. All children were taught a series of four related discriminations and were then tested to determine if classes of equivalent stimuli had formed. All of the language-able children (retarded and normal) formed equivalence classes, whereas none of the language-disabled children did so. Although the exact nature of the relation between stimulus equivalence and language remains to be clarified, these results support the view that stimulus equivalence is a phenomenon with relevance to language.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1985

Self-reinforcement effects: An artifact of social standard setting?

Two studies were conducted to identify mechanisms responsible for observed "self-reinforcement" effects. In Experiment 1, using a studying task, self-reinforcement procedures did not work when they were private (i.e., when others are not aware of the goals or contingencies), but did work when they were public. Self-delivery of consequences added nothing to the effectiveness of the procedure. The data suggested that public goal setting was the critical element in the procedure's effectiveness. In Experiment 2, an applied extension, goal setting alone was effective in modifying over a long time period studying behaviors of people with significant studying difficulties, but only when the goals were known to others. Overall, the two experiments make more plausible the view that self-reinforcement procedures work by setting a socially available standard against which performance can be evaluated. The procedure itself functions as a discriminative stimulus for stringent or lenient social contingencies. The application of this mechanism to other problems of applied significance is briefly discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

Sex-related motor behavior: effects on social impressions and social cooperation.

Advances have been made recently in the measurement of sex-related motor behaviors (i.e., sex-typed ways of standing, sitting, walking, and gesturing). While these behaviors are an important dependent variable (e.g., as a measure of sex role), they can also be viewed as an independent variable. The present paper reports two experiments on the effect of sex-related motor behaviors. In the first, videotapes of males and females behaving in extremely sex-typed ways (both "masculine" and "feminine") were rated on a number of dimensions (e.g., sexual orientation, likeability). In the second, male and female confederates behaving in extremely sex-typed ways approached people and asked for their cooperation in filling out a long survey. Females showing "masculine" motor behavior were thought to be more masculine and unnatural appearing but also elicited significantly more cooperation than when acting feminine. Males showing "feminine" mannerisms were thought to be feminine, unnatural, unlikeable, unconfident, and probably homosexual, and elicited less actual cooperation than when acting masculine. In general, cross-sex motor behavior had mixed social effects with females and consistently negative social effects with males.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

The effect of coping statements on progress through a desensitization hierarchy.

The effect of "coping statements" on the rapidity of progress through desensitization hierarchies was examined in several cases of clinically significant anxiety-based disorders. Using a series of single-case experimental designs (relying heavily on an alternating treatments element), it was shown that (a) coping statements decrease the reported anxiety shown in desensitization, (b) these statements seem to produce greater behavioral gains outside the treatment sessions per unit of treatment time, (c) the coping statements gradually begin to generalize across stimuli and (d) their effects go beyond those due merely to distraction, competing behaviors, or general expectations. The present methodology may comprise an alternative method, more compatible with ongoing clinical work, for the investigation of cognitive treatments.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1983

Sexual fantasy alternation.

The purpose of this study was (a) to assess the effect of fantasy alternation on sexual arousal, and (b) to assess the means by which fantasy alternation might alter sexual arousal patterns. The rate of alternation of heterosexual and homosexual masturbatory fantasies was manipulated in four adult males with sexual orientation confusion. The results showed that fantasy alternation can change the relative strength of physiologically measured sexual arousal patterns, but the direction and magnitude of the change seems unpredictable. The effect seems to be sensitive to the rapidity of fantasy alternation. Caution in the clinical use of the procedure with actual sexual deviants appears warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Suspected vitamin E-selenium deficiency in two ostriches.

Paresis of the limbs of two 4-month-old ostriches fed a diet predominantly of crushed maize was investigated. Raised levels of serum aspartate transaminase and creatine kinase were demonstrated in both birds. The less severely affected ostrich recovered after a single intramuscular injection of a vitamin E-selenium preparation but the other died despite therapy. An autopsy of the latter revealed focal pale areas in the thigh muscle. Microscopically affected muscle fibres showed degeneration, necrosis and regenerative changes. Fibrinoid degeneration and necrosis of some arterioles was observed as well as varying degrees of interstitial fibrosis. The above findings suggest a diagnosis of vitamin E-selenium deficiency.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Reduction of residential consumption of electricity through simple monthly feedback.

Feedback has been widely used in efforts to control the consumption of electricity. Previous efforts, however, have used forms of feedback that seem economically impractical. The present study examined the effects of a feasible program of monthly feedback. Forty matched nonvolunteer participants were randomly divided into two groups: a no-contact control group and a monthly feedback group. In an A-B-A design, the data showed a clear decrease in electricity consumption for the feedback group during the feedback phase. The effect was maintained during a 4-mo intervention period. Withdrawal of the feedback was associated with a return to higher levels of electricity consumption.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1981

Escape from freedom: Choosing not to choose in pigeons.

Preference for the availability of food-reinforcement alternatives was investigated with Rachlin and Green's (1972) concurrent-chains self-control paradigm. The terminal link of one chain made available a choice between immediate access to food for T seconds and delayed access to food for 4 seconds. The terminal link of the other chain provided only delayed access to food. When T was reduced to .25 seconds, pigeons began to select the delayed-access key in both terminal links. Even so, the pigeons strongly preferred constraint over choice. This effect could not be accounted for by differences in the actual amount of food obtained in the terminal links, by avoidance of the immediate-reinforcement key when not presented as part of a choice, or by avoidance of a multi-key terminal link. Rather, constraint was preferred over freedom. Apparently, the preference for choice is determined by the particular type of choice offered.

Journal Article↗