Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Behaviorism”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

The propensity for nonregulatory ingestive behavior is related to differences in dopamine systems: behavioral and biochemical evidence.

Previous research has shown that animals predisposed to eat and drink in response to electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus (ESLH) are similarly predisposed to drink excessively when tested for schedule-induced polydipsia. The eating and drinking elicited by both experimental paradigms appears to be unrelated to homeostatic need and has been called nonregulatory ingestive behavior. In this study, the relation between properties of dopaminergic neural systems and the predisposition to exhibit nonregulatory ingestive behavior was investigated. It was found that rats that eat and drink during ESLH show greater behavioral sensitization to a series of amphetamine injections that those that do not exhibit ingestive behavior during ESLH. In addition, footshock stress produced a greater increase in forebrain dopamine utilization in rats that engaged in nonregulatory ingestive behavior. This evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that there are individual differences in the responsiveness of forebrain dopamine systems that are related to the behavioral predisposition to exhibit nonregulatory ingestive behavior.

Animals↗

Childhood body-focused behaviors and social behaviors as risk factors of eating disorders.

BACKGROUND: The risk factors for adolescent eating disorders are poorly understood. It is generally agreed, however, that interactions with one's body and interactions with others are two important features in the development of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Therefore, we assessed a variety of childhood body-focused behaviors and childhood social behaviors in eating-disordered patients as compared to non-eating-disordered subjects. METHOD: We compared 50 female inpatients with eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia nervosa), 50 female inpatients with polysubstance dependence, and 50 nonpatient female control subjects with no history of eating or substance abuse disorders (all defined by DSM-IV criteria), using a semi-structured interview of our own design. We asked questions about (1) childhood body-focused behaviors (e.g. thumb-sucking) and body-focused family experiences (e.g. bodily caresses), and (2) childhood social behaviors (e.g. numbers of close friends) and family social styles (e.g. authoritarian upbringing). RESULTS: Many body-focused measures, such as feeding problems, auto-aggressive behavior, lack of maternal caresses, and family taboos regarding nudity and sexuality, characterized eating-disordered patients as opposed to both comparison groups, as did several social behaviors, such as adjustment problems at school and lack of close friends. However, nail-biting, insecure parental bonding, and childhood physical and sexual abuse were equally elevated in both psychiatric groups. CONCLUSION: It appears that eating-disordered patients, as compared to substance-dependent patients and healthy controls, show a distinct pattern of body-focused and social behaviors during childhood, characterized by self-harm, a rigid and 'body-denying' family climate, and lack of intimacy.

Adolescent↗

Compliance training and behavioral covariation in the treatment of multiple behavior problems.

The present study investigated the use of a compliance-training procedure and its effect on untreated deviant child behaviors. Three children, each generally noncompliant to adult requests and with several additional problems, such as crying, aggression, and self-injurious behavior, were trained in the compliance procedure under a multiple-baseline design across therapists. Compliance was defined as the correct response to prespecified requests. Other classes of deviant child behavior were measured continuously throughout the study but not directly reinforced. The results of the study showed that (a) increases in compliance to requests were directly related to the contingencies employed; (b) decreases in untreated deviant behaviors occurred when compliance increased, even though no direct contingencies had been placed on these behaviors; and (c) the relationship between untreated deviant behaviors and compliance appeared to be maintained by a different set of events in each of the three children. The results are discussed in terms of behavioral covariation and generalization.

Aggression↗

Socializing piglets before weaning: effects on behavior of lactating sows, pre- and postweaning behavior, and performance of piglets.

This study evaluated how socializing piglets before weaning affects behavior of lactating sows and the pre- and postweaning behavior and performance of piglets. Two farrowing rooms, each with 6 pens, and 1 nursery with 4 pens were used. In total, data were obtained from 24 sows and their litters. In each farrowing room, the solid barriers between 3 farrowing pens were removed on d 12 after farrowing, and the sows remained confined in their crates (experimental group). In the other 3 farrowing pens of each farrowing room, sows and their litters were kept under conventional conditions until weaning (control group). All piglets were weaned 28 d after birth. After weaning, piglets from each group remained together in 1 pen of the nursery. The behavior of sows (lying, standing, sitting, nursing) and piglets (lying, active, suckling) in the farrowing rooms was observed for 24 h before and for 48 h after removal of the barriers between the pens. In addition, behavior (active, lying, feeding, agonistic behavior) of piglets was observed in the nursery during the initial 48-h period after weaning. Each piglet was weighed on d 5, 12, and 28 after birth and thereafter weekly until the fifth week of rearing. In the farrowing room, mixing of litters did not influence behavior of piglets and sows. Preweaning weight gain of the piglets did not differ (P = 0.60) between the treatments. In the initial 48 h after weaning, less agonistic behavior (P < 0.001) was observed in piglets belonging to the experimental group. During 5 wk of rearing, piglets in the experimental group gained more weight compared with the control group (P = 0.05). The advantage shown by the experimental group became especially conspicuous in the first week after weaning (P = 0.05). By socializing unfamiliar piglets before weaning, stress due to mixing could at least be distanced in time from the other burdens of weaning, thereby improving performance.

Agonistic Behavior↗

Effect of discontinuance of type A behavioral counseling on type A behavior and cardiac recurrence rate of post myocardial infarction patients.

Three hundred post infarction participants who had received type A behavioral counseling in the Recurrent Coronary Prevention Project, (RCPP) agreed to be followed for 1 additional year after stopping 4.5 years of continuous type A behavioral counseling. One hundred fourteen participants who had served for 4.5 years as controls in the RCPP Study, thus receiving no type A behavioral counseling, volunteered to receive such counseling for 1 year. Eleven of the 300 previously type A counseled RCPP participants were lost to follow-up at the end of the additional year. The remaining 289 subjects at risk were found to have maintained their previously reduced intensity of type A behavior. Their previously observed relatively low cardiac recurrence rate during the additional year also did not significantly change. Ten of the 114 previous control RCPP participants were lost to follow-up at the end of the additional year. The remaining 104 subjects who had received a year's type A behavioral counseling showed a significantly reduced intensity of type A behavior and a similar significant decrease in both the cardiac mortality and morbidity rate. These results suggest that the decline in the intensity of type A behavior and also in the cardiac recurrence rate previously observed in post infarction subjects exposed to type A behavioral counseling persists for at least 1 year after cessation of such counseling.

Counseling↗

Illness behavior as a predictor of pain and overt behavior patterns in chronic low back pain patients.

This study examined the relationship of self-reports of illness behavior to pain ratings and overt pain behaviors in a group of chronic low back pain patients referred for pain management. Illness behavior was measured using the Pilowsky and Spence Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) and pain behavior was recorded using a standard behavioral observation method. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that scores on the IBQ were highly predictive of a variety of indices of pain and pain behavior. These results were obtained even after controlling for significant demographic and medical status variables. The findings of this study support the utility of the IBQ in the behavioral assessment of chronic pain patients.

Back Pain↗

Coronary disease-prone behavior among Japanese men: job-centered lifestyle and social dominance. Type A Behavior Pattern Conference.

In Japan the type A behavior pattern, particularly its component of hostility, is known to have less value as a risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) than in the United States. We developed a questionnaire (Japanese Coronary-prone Behavior Scale [JCBS]) to investigate the behavioral correlates with CAD among contemporary Japanese persons. The JCBS was administered to 419 Japanese men undergoing coronary angiography; 310 of them had angiographic or clinical evidence or both of CAD, and 109 had no evidence of CAD. The group with CAD had more coronary risk factors than the group without CAD, but the two groups did not differ in type A behavior pattern as assessed with the Jenkins Activity Survey. Stepwise discriminant analysis, in which standard coronary risk factors were forced into the model, revealed that inclusion of nine JCBS items (scale C) in the model resulted in the best discrimination between the two groups. Cross-validation results showed that the error-rate estimates for the discriminant models that consisted only of standard coronary risk factors, only of scale C items, and of their combination were 34.7, 32.4, and 27.0%, respectively. The scale C items represented a job-centered lifestyle, social dominance, and suppressed overt type A behaviors. These results indicate that an independent behavior pattern prone to CAD is discernible among Japanese men and suggest that the behavior pattern may contain characteristics that can be differentiated from those that constitute the type A behavior pattern.

Aged↗

Cognition, behavior, and the experimental analysis of behavior.

A case history illustrates how one research program in the experimental analysis of behavior evolved somewhat differently from the modal research program represented in this journal. A chief issue that seems to be responsible for this difference is the role attributed to theory in behavioral research: Skinner's views on the nature and function of theory and on the nature of observation combine to produce a certain kind of picture of behavior. The classic conception of reinforcement contingencies is tied to this particular picture. But this picture may be incompatible with, and certainly is different from, other possible pictures. Reinforcement contingencies that place greater emphasis on the local temporal patterning of behavior seem tied to some of these alternative pictures of what behavior is. These other pictures encourage a wide range of theoretical approaches, including cognitive ones, various kinds of mathematical analyses, and computer-simulation methods to characterize entire behavior streams. In the future, perhaps the experimental analysis of behavior will accept a somewhat different range of views on the nature and function of theory, a correspondingly different set of experimental methods, and alternative ways of talking about behavior.

Journal Article↗

[Conditioning of emotional behavior caused by hypothalamic stimulation (4). Effects of drugs on conditioned avoidance and escape behavior].

In the present study, effects of psychotropic drugs were analyzed by observing avoidance and escape behavior or rabbits under hypothalamic electrical stimulation. In avoidance behavior, chlorpromazine (CPZ) and diazepam (DZP) depressed avoidance response and extended avoidance response latency and head movement latency. Autonomic behavior such as opening of palpebral fissure and pupil size were also delayed. The locus of movement and count of head movement were depressed by the administration of each drug. On the other hand, unlike CPZ, DZP extended escape response latency. On escape behavior, effects of CPZ and DZP were apparently different. Unlike CPZ, DZP induced avoidance behavior and increased locus of movement. With methamphetamine, no avoidance behavior was observed, but under conditional stimulation, the behavior and the escape response latency were decreased. Chlordiazepoxide induced avoidance behavior.

Animals↗

The relationship of attitude, subjective norm, and behavioral intent to the documentation behavior of nurses.

Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action was used to assess the relationship of nurses' attitude, subjective norm, and behavioral intention to their documentation behavior. Attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral intentions toward documentation were elicited from 108 staff nurses. Documentation behavior was based on what should be documented in any hospitalized patient's chart during a shift. This exploratory model was analyzed with LISREL VI. The overall fit of the final model to the data was good, as judged by a chi-square (df = 7, p = .845). The total coefficient of determination for the structural equation was .461. Attitude toward documentation did not relate significantly to intention to document optimally. Subjective norm did have a significant effect on behavioral intent. Attitude and subjective norm accounted for 46.1% of the variance in behavioral intent. Behavioral intent had a significant effect on documentation behavior, accounting for 15.2% of the variance. It appears that subjective norm, which is the influence of others, is what directs the intention to document and thus relates to subsequent documentation. Recommendations for practice include the communication of high ideals and expectations of important others to the staff nurse in order to improve the quality of documentation.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Comparing the emotional reactions and behavioral intentions of violent and nonviolent husbands to aggressive, distressed, and other wife behaviors.

The present study was designed to compare the self-reported emotional reactions and behavioral intentions of violent and nonviolent husbands to a variety of wife behaviors depicted with standardized stimuli. We recruited four subject groups, including 25 men beginning domestic violence treatment programs and three groups from the community-21 maritally violent and maritally distressed men, 23 nonviolent/distressed men, and 28 nonviolent/nondistressed men. Using stimuli and measures derived from Biglan, Rothlind, Hops, and Sherman (1989), along with stimuli designed for this study, subjects read written descriptions and examples of various wife statements (e.g., aggressive, distressed, and facilitative) and viewed videotaped depictions of wife behaviors varying in verbal content and nonverbal affect (i.e., aggressive/irritated, aggressive/dysphoric, distressed/irritated, and distressed/dysphoric). In response to each wife behavior, subjects rated what their emotional reactions (e.g., sympathetic, caring, supportive, sad, anxious, irritated, angry) and their behavioral responses (e.g., try to comfort, say something supportive, discuss the subject, not say anything, say something hostile, argue) would be. As predicted, in response to a wide range of wife behaviors, and relative to nonviolent men, violent men were less likely to report sympathetic/positive emotions and more likely to experience anger and irritation, but not other negative (i.e., sad or anxious) emotions. They were also more likely to report negative behavioral intentions and less likely to report positive behavioral intentions. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Adult↗

Development, reliability, and validity testing of the Ethical Behavior Test: a measure for nurses' ethical behavior.

The need for reliable and valid measures for ethical behavior of nurses has encouraged the authors to develop a new instrument to measure students' ethical behavior in daily nursing dilemmas. Characteristic of the instrument presented is the inclusion of two fundamental components of ethical behavior: (1) ethical reasoning (and the resulting decision), and (2) the actual implementation of the ethical decision. As for many instruments, Kohlberg's theory of moral development has been used as the conceptual framework. However, Kohlberg's abstract justice orientation was refined by a care perspective and representative nursing dilemmas were used to make the instrument conceptually more appropriate for measuring nurses' ethical behavior. The analysis of the psychometric properties of the instrument has provided several relevant indications for the reliability and validity of the ethical reasoning and implementation scores. The revealed inconsistencies in the Ethical Behavior Test could be satisfactorily interpreted in terms of Kohlberg's theory and related empirical research findings, supporting the reliability of the ethical behavior scores. The content validity rests upon the careful development of the instrument resulting in an optimal mix of dilemmas, arguments and care situations to reveal nurses' ethical behavior and in a substantial degree of correspondence between the concept and operationalization. The congruency between the patterns of ethical behavior and Kohlberg's theoretical insights about ethical reasoning and practice support the construct validity of the instrument.

Adult↗

Two-year randomized controlled trial and follow-up of dialectical behavior therapy vs therapy by experts for suicidal behaviors and borderline personality disorder.

CONTEXT: Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a treatment for suicidal behavior and borderline personality disorder with well-documented efficacy. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hypothesis that unique aspects of DBT are more efficacious compared with treatment offered by non-behavioral psychotherapy experts. DESIGN: One-year randomized controlled trial, plus 1 year of posttreatment follow-up. SETTING: University outpatient clinic and community practice. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred one clinically referred women with recent suicidal and self-injurious behaviors meeting DSM-IV criteria, matched to condition on age, suicide attempt history, negative prognostic indication, and number of lifetime intentional self-injuries and psychiatric hospitalizations. INTERVENTION: One year of DBT or 1 year of community treatment by experts (developed to maximize internal validity by controlling for therapist sex, availability, expertise, allegiance, training and experience, consultation availability, and institutional prestige). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Trimester assessments of suicidal behaviors, emergency services use, and general psychological functioning. Measures were selected based on previous outcome studies of DBT. Outcome variables were evaluated by blinded assessors. RESULTS: Dialectical behavior therapy was associated with better outcomes in the intent-to-treat analysis than community treatment by experts in most target areas during the 2-year treatment and follow-up period. Subjects receiving DBT were half as likely to make a suicide attempt (hazard ratio, 2.66; P = .005), required less hospitalization for suicide ideation (F(1,92) = 7.3; P = .004), and had lower medical risk (F(1,50) = 3.2; P = .04) across all suicide attempts and self-injurious acts combined. Subjects receiving DBT were less likely to drop out of treatment (hazard ratio, 3.2; P < .001) and had fewer psychiatric hospitalizations (F(1,92) = 6.0; P = .007) and psychiatric emergency department visits (F(1,92) = 2.9; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings replicate those of previous studies of DBT and suggest that the effectiveness of DBT cannot reasonably be attributed to general factors associated with expert psychotherapy. Dialectical behavior therapy appears to be uniquely effective in reducing suicide attempts.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

The effects of a positive behavioral context on the social impact of aggressive behavior.

The hypothesis is experimentally examined that a positive behavioral repertoire can ameliorate the negative social impact of aggressive behavior. Sixty-six fourth- through sixth-grade girls viewed and rated a series of videotaped interactions between two female confederates. The proportion of positive to aggressive behavior viewed by each subject was manipulated across six experimental conditions by varying the number of positive behaviors exhibited by one of the confederates (target) while the number of aggressive behaviors displayed by her remained constant (i.e., 0%, 20%, 43%, 60%, 80%, and 100% positive). Each subject provided sociometric ratings of the target and selected trait descriptors that best described her from a checklist. The results indicated that positive behavior exhibited in high rates (80% or more, compared to aggressive behavior) offset the negative effects of aggression on both sociometric ratings and positive and negative descriptors.

Adolescent↗

Cumulative sexual intercourse patterns among middle adolescents: problem behavior precursors and concurrent health risk behaviors.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to document associations among problem behaviors in childhood and early adolescence and several health risk behaviors in middle adolescence, including a cumulative index of sexual intercourse risk. METHOD: A nontreatment sample of 1167 10th and 11th grade students was recruited from three homogeneous suburban high schools in western New York. Intercourse activity and number of sexual partners were assessed four times at 6-month intervals over a 2-year period via self-report questionnaires administered in classroom settings. RESULTS: Sexual intercourse activity, once initiated, was found to be relatively persistent, rather than sporadic, for most adolescents. Repeated intercourse experience with multiple partners over the assessed time periods was associated with higher levels of externalizing childhood behavior problems, earlier onset of antisocial behaviors and substance use, and higher concurrent substance use. An avoidant, withdrawn behavioral style in childhood was associated with lower rates of sexual involvement in adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal linkages among childhood precursors and adolescent sexual behaviors were identified as critical to understanding adolescent risk behaviors. These cross-time relationships may identify potential targets for future intervention/prevention efforts among high risk subsamples of children and adolescents.

Adolescent↗

Behavioral phenotyping of mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders: relevant social behavior patterns across the life span.

Social responses are a key element for behavioral phenotyping of mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with social deficits. Here we describe selected behavioral responses that can be measured in developing and adult mice, with special emphasis on ultrasonic vocalizations, a behavioral response not yet systematically characterized in most of the genetic mouse models of social abnormalities. A recently developed task to measure social approach relevant to the first core symptom of autism is highlighted. We also focus on those developmental factors, including litter size, litter composition, and early social milieu, that are often underestimated when measuring adult social behavior in mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders. We present a summary of available data concerning social behavioral responses in mice with targeted gene mutations. We conclude by suggesting that assessment of early behavioral traits, and corresponding relationships with adult behavioral profiles, could be a useful strategy to investigate mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with social deficits.

Animal Communication↗

Maternal behavior modulates X-linked inheritance of behavioral coping in the defensive burying test.

BACKGROUND: Complex behavioral traits such as coping strategies in response to stress are usually formed by genetic and environmental influences. METHODS: By exploiting the phenotypic and genotypic differences between the Wistar Kyoto (WKY) and Fischer 344 (F344) inbred rat strains, we recently identified three X chromosome-linked quantitative trait loci contributing to differences in coping strategies in the defensive burying (DB) paradigm. In this article we study the influence of postnatal maternal environment in these behaviors by characterizing the maternal behavior of these strains and the effect of cross-fostering on DB behavior of male offspring from reciprocal crossing (F1). RESULTS: Maternal behavior of WKY rats can be quantitatively characterized by less contact and more periods of neglect of their F1 pups. In contrast, F344 mothers engaged in more active behaviors such as licking/grooming and arched-back nursing. Cross-fostering male F1 pups at birth did not influence the latency to bury measure in DB; however, duration of burying and prod approaches were influenced by both genotype and maternal environment in an additive manner. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that different measures of behavioral coping in the DB paradigm are influenced by maternal environment to differing degrees and in addition by genetic factors.

Aggression↗

The behavioral function of feeding problems as assessed by the questions about behavioral function (QABF).

Differences in subscale scores on the questions about behavioral function (QABF) were assessed for participants identified with pica, rumination, food stealing, food refusal, and mealtime behavior problems (e.g., aggression, self-injurious behavior). The QABF was administered to informants for 125 individuals identified with problematic feeding behaviors and mental retardation primarily in the severe to profound range. Results of the nonparametric analyses yielded significant differences across the escape, nonsocial, physical, and tangible subscales of the QABF. Behavior functions most commonly associated with problematic feeding behaviors were identified. The results extend upon previous literature describing behavioral function of feeding problems for those with mental retardation.

Adolescent↗