Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Verbal reinforcement'

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2003.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 85 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-50).

The study examined the effects of positive verbal reinforcement on intrinsic motivation by determining differential effects over four multidimensions of Ryan's Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). Subjects (N=60) were 30 male and 30 female college students. The subjects were blocked by gender and randomly assigned to a positive verbal reinforcement group or a control group. The subjects received 10 trials on the stabilometer. The results of the study indicated that there were significant group differences for composite intrinsic motivation and for perceived competence; however, there were no significant gender differences found. Furthermore, no group differences were reported for the underlying factors of interest/enjoyment, effort, or pressure/tension.

Important advancements have been made in the identification of reinforcers over the past decade. The use of preference assessments has become a systematic way to identify preferred events that may function as reinforcers for an individual's behavior. Typically, preference assessments require participants to select stimuli through verbal surveys or engagement with stimuli as preferred or non-preferred. Not all studies go on to directly test the effects of the preferred stimuli, and even fewer studies directly test for the effects of the non- preferred stimuli. The present study systematically identified preferred and non-preferred stimuli in adult human subjects by verbal report and then proceeded to test the effects of both verbally reported preferred and non preferred events on single and concurrent schedules of reinforcement. The results are discussed in terms of contemporary concerns regarding preference and reinforcer assessments.

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Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
The present proposal is based on the assumption that verbal responding is operant behavior established and maintained by reinforcement contingencies, and that this behavior can be analysed as a dependent variable. Recent research about say-do correspondence have used the educational context to investigate conditions able to guarantee corresponding reports of errors and correct responses about academical activities. The present study investigated the influence of a history of school failure and task difficulty on self-report of two groups of children about their reading performance, as well the effects of reinforcement schedules on the establishment and maintenance of accurate reports. Four children with history of school failure and four children without such history, all of them attending Fundamental Education, participated. Doing consisted in reading aloud a written word presented on the computer s screen and Saying in reporting if the reading was correct or not. The experiment began with a General Pretest that evaluated the participants reading repertoire, followed by baseline sessions that verified frequency of corresponding reports as a function of increasing probability of errors in a session (10, 25, 50 e 70%). On the next phase, correspondence training sessions, in which corresponding reports were reinforced continuously and later intermittently (variable ratio), were conducted. Finally, a baseline return was conducted to evaluate if the previously trained conditions were sufficient to promote accurate self-report maintenance. Points exchangeable for gifts were used as consequences. There were no pronounced differences on the average of corresponding reports of errors or correct responses between the two groups during the first baseline, along the different error probabilities programmed (except during 50% error probability). On the other hand, most non-corresponding reports of error occurred when the programmed error probability was about 50% for the children with history of school failure and about 25% for those without such history. The correspondence training was effective to produce corresponding reports for all participants. The high correspondence level was maintained during the intermittent reinforcement phase as well during the subsequent extinction condition. Error frequency seemed to be a relevant variable for self-report accuracy for all children on this study, independently of the presence or absence of history of school failure and of the increasing levels of task difficulty. The intermittent reinforcement training was effective to maintain corresponding reports of errors and correct responses during subsequent conditions in which no consequences for responding were programmed.
A presente proposta apóia-se na suposição de que o responder verbal é um comportamento operante estabelecido e mantido por contingências de reforçamento, podendo ser analisado como variável dependente. Pesquisas recentes sobre correspondência fazer-dizer têm utilizado o contexto educacional para investigar condições capazes de garantir relatos correspondentes de acerto e erro em atividades acadêmicas. O presente estudo investigou a influência da história de fracasso escolar e da dificuldade da atividade sobre o auto-relato de dois grupos de crianças sobre seus desempenhos em leitura, bem como o efeito de esquemas de reforço sobre o estabelecimento e a manutenção de relatos acurados. Participaram deste estudo quatro crianças com história de fracasso escolar e quatro crianças sem história de fracasso escolar, todas do Ensino Fundamental. Fazer consistiu em ler em voz alta uma palavra escrita no computador e Dizer em relatar se a leitura foi ou não correta. O experimento foi iniciado com um pré-teste geral que avaliou o repertório de leitura dos participantes, seguido por sessões de linha de base que verificaram a freqüência dos relatos correspondentes em função da probabilidade de erro crescente ao longo das sessões (10, 25, 50 e 70%). Na fase seguinte, foram realizadas sessões de treino de correspondência, em que os relatos correspondentes foram reforçados, primeiramente de forma contínua e, num segundo momento, de forma intermitente (razão variável). Por fim, houve o retorno à linha de base, que avaliou se as condições anteriores de treino foram suficientes para promover a manutenção de auto-relatos acurados. Como conseqüências foram utilizados pontos trocáveis por brindes. Não houve diferenças acentuadas entre as médias de relatos correspondentes de acertos e erros para os dois grupos, durante a linha de base inicial, nas diferentes faixas de probabilidade de erro (apenas na faixa de 50%). No entanto, a maior freqüência de relatos não-correspondentes de erro ocorreu quando a probabilidade de erro programada era de 50% para as crianças com fracasso escolar e de 25% para as crianças sem fracasso escolar. O treino de correspondência produziu relatos correspondentes para todos os participantes. O nível elevado de correspondência foi mantido tanto na fase de reforçamento intermitente quanto na condição subseqüente de extinção. O erro pareceu ser variável relevante para a acurácia do relato de leitura de todas as crianças, independentemente da presença ou ausência de histórico de fracasso escolar e do aumento da dificuldade da tarefa. O treino com reforçamento intermitente mostrou-se eficaz na manutenção de relatos correspondentes de acertos e erros em situações subsequentes, em que nenhuma conseqüência foi programada para o responder.

The use of a concurrently running differential reinforcement of alternative behavior intervention was used to manipulate manding behavior in a small sample of young adults with autism. Three young adults with autism aged 17-21, two males and one female, who had severely limited verbal language and communication devices participated in this study. Differential reinforcement was used to alter the mand topography chosen by each participant during manding sessions. Results indicate that by altering the quantity of highly preferred items individuals with autism can demonstrate flexibility in the topography of their language and respond with the mode of communication that is programmed for more reinforcement without the use of punishment or extinction. This research expands on the functional communication training (FCT) literature and the use of differential reinforcement in the use of mand training and also replicates previous research suggesting that punishment and extinction may not be necessary to reduce less preferred behavior.

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo investigar o efeito de descrições verbais, acompanhadas ou não de operantes autoclíticos, sobre o desempenho de participantes adultos, em uma tarefa de escolha. Para isto, um delineamento de escolhas concorrentes foi planejado, sendo observado o padrão de preferência de cada participante entre alternativas de reforçamento menor e imediato ou maior e atrasado, durante um jogo de computador. Uma vez estabelecida a preferência, descrições verbais foram introduzidas, sendo avaliado se a inclusão de operantes verbais autoclíticos favoreceria ou não o controle pela descrição, verificado a partir da emissão de respostas contrárias ao padrão inicialmente estabelecido. Os resultados apontam que um padrão de preferência por reforçadores maiores e atrasados foi mais facilmente instalado do que a preferência por reforçadores menores e imediatos, quando um reforçador monetário foi utilizado. Para sete dos quinze participantes, a introdução das descrições produziu a reversão do padrão de preferência inicialmente estabelecido, independente da direção em que as escolhas estivessem sendo inicialmente realizadas. Quanto ao efeito produzido pela inclusão dos autoclíticos observa-se que, independente do tipo de autoclíticos apresentado (qualificador positivo X qualificador negativo), descrições acompanhadas por autoclíticos evocaram respostas de escolha dos participantes, particularmente entre aqueles que tivessem demonstraram preferência inicial por reforçamento maior e atrasado. Diante de descrições acompanhadas por operantes verbais autoclíticos o aumento no tempo para emissão da resposta também foi observado, sendo este efeito acentuado na presença dos qualificadores negativos.
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of verbal descriptions with or without autoclitic operants, upon the performance of adult participants in a choice task. To achieve it, a concurrent schedule design was planned, in which it was observed the preference pattern of each participant between the alternative of smaller and immediate reinforcement or large and delayed, during a computer game. Once the preference was established, verbal descriptions were introduced, and it was analyzed if the inclusion of autoclitic verbal operants would promote or not the control of the description, checked by the emission of responses contraries to the patter previously established. The results points to a major facility in the establishment of pattern of preference for larger and delayed reinforcers than smaller and immediate, when a financial reinforcer was used. Seven of the fifteen participants reverted their patter of preference with the inclusion of verbal descriptions, independently of the inicial preference pattern. On the effect produced by the inclusion of autoclitic it is noticed that independently of the type of autoclitic presented (positive qualifier X negative qualifier), descriptions accompanied by autoclitic evoked the choice responses, specially between those participants who demonstrated initial preference for large and delayed reinforcer. Once an autoclitic verbal operant was accompanying the descriptions, it was observed an increase in time for the emission of the response, which was even higher in the presence of negative qualifiers.

Token economies incorporating differential reinforcement of other behavior and response cost have been shown to be effective for decreasing behavior. However, these token economies in the literature have differed in their findings of the effectiveness of and preference for differential reinforcement of other behavior and response cost. They have also differed in the way they implemented token economies including factors such as the immediacy of a consequence and the use of verbal feedback. Therefore, we examined two versions of response cost, one in which the contingency is experienced immediately and one in which it is experienced at end of an interval, with differential reinforcement of other behavior. We also examined these contingencies with the addition of verbal feedback and the participant preference for conditions. Results demonstrated that there was a faster decrease in errors during the response cost immediate conditions when compared to response cost delay and DRO conditions. All conditions resulted in fewer errors than the conditions without verbal feedback and preference was found to be variable. Response cost immediate resulted in the most raffle tickets earned during the no verbal feedback phases and most of the verbal feedback phases.

As alteracoes na percepcao da passagem do tempo dos seres humanos tem sido investigadas em relacao as caracteristicas de diversos estimulos, condicoes corporais ou determinados tipos de tarefa. Porem, pouco se sabe sobre essas alteracoes como funcao das contingencias reforcadoras ou punitivas que controlam o comportamento. Este estudo visou investigar essa questao experimentalmente atraves do uso de um jogo virtual em computador simulando percursos de um avatar em um labirinto com 36 situacoes de escolha entre esquerda e direita. Pontos poderiam ser ganhos ou perdidos, sendo a pontuacao final convertida em titulos de nobreza hipoteticos dentro de um ranking previamente estabelecido. Tres contingencias foram manipuladas: sob Punicao (P) escolhas erradas entre direita e esquerda produziam perda de pontos; sob Reforcamento (R) escolhas certas produziam ganho de pontos; na condicao Controle (C) nao havia alteracao nos pontos. No Experimento 1 (n=60), tres grupos foram manipulados, cada um exposto a uma dessas contingencias; no Experimento 1A (n=40) novos participantes passaram pelas condicoes P e R, porem com uma alteracao na instrucao explicitando o nao perigo de morte do avatar; no Experimento 2 (n=6), cada participante foi exposto as tres condicoes experimentais, sendo manipulada a ordem de exposicao: C-P-R e C-R-P. Cada participante foi solicitado a estimar o tempo que permaneceu jogando: nos dois primeiros estudos essa solicitacao foi feita apenas apos o termino do jogo (estimativa retrospectiva); no ultimo os participantes foram informados ao inicio da primeira sessao experimental que essa solicitacao lhes seria feita ao final de cada sessao (estimativa prospectiva). Da mesma forma, ao final da sessao no Experimentos 1 e 1A, e ao final de cada sessao no Experimento 2, foi solicitada aos participantes uma avaliacao do jogo, com pontuacoes crescentes proporcionais ao grau de diversao em joga-lo. Os resultados mostraram que no Experimento 1 a condicao P produziu tempo de sessao maior que na condicao C e a condicao R produziu tempo de sessao menor do que na condicao C, sendo que no Experimento 1A as diferencas se reduziram; no Experimento 2 esse tempo foi sendo reduzido na sucessao das contingencias, independente da ordem utilizada. Nos experimentos 1 e 1A os participantes superestimaram a duracao da sessao de jogo na condicao R, e as condicoes C e P produziram estimativas proximas a duracao real. No Experimento 2 a condicao R tambem esteve associada a superestimativas na maioria dos participantes, porem sua relacao com os resultados obtidos em C e P varia entre os participantes. A magnitude da consequencia se mostrou uma variavel relevante no efeito da punicao, que foi menos acentuado no Experimento 1A. A apreciacao do jogo pelos sujeitos foi, no geral, mais positiva para a condicao P. Esses resultados apontam a interacao das contingencias operantes na percepcao temporal, sendo discutida tambem a aparente independencia entre o efeito operante da punicao e o relato verbal sobre a diversao inerente a atividade consequenciada
Alterations in the perception of the passage of time in humans have been investigated in relation to the characteristics of several stimuli, bodily conditions and certain types of task. However, little is known about these alterations as a function of reinforcing or punishing contingencies that control behavior. This study aimed to investigate this question experimentally by using a virtual computer game simulating a maze in which an avatar was faced with 36 choice situations between left and right. Points could be won or lost, the final score being converted into hypothetical titles of nobility within a predetermined ranking. Three contingencies were manipulated: under Punishment (P) \"wrong \" choices between right and left produced loss of points; under Reinforcement (R) \"right\" choices produced gain points; under control condition (C) there was no change in points at all. In Experiment 1 (n=60), three groups were manipulated, each exposed to one of these contingencies, in Experiment 1A (n=40) new participants were exposed to the conditions P and R, but with a statement explaining that there was no chance of avatar\'s death during the game, in Experiment 2 (n=6), each participant was exposed to three experimental conditions, having the sequence of exposure being manipulated: C-P-R for half the participants and C-R-P for the other half. Each participant was asked to estimate the duration spent playing: in the first two studies this request was made just after the end of the game (retrospective estimation), at the last study participants were informed at the beginning of the first experimental session that this request would be made to them end of each session (prospective estimate). Similarly, at the end of the session in Experiments 1 and 1A, and at the end of each session in Experiment 2, participants were requested a review of the game, with scores increasing with the degree of fun playing it. The results showed that in Experiment 1 the condition P produced greater session length than the condition C, and condition R produced lesser session length than condition C, whereas in Experiment 1A differences are reduced; in Experiment 2 session length was being reduced along the succession of contingencies, regardless of the sequence used. In Experiments 1 and 1A participants overestimated the duration of the game session under the condition R, and C and P conditions produced close to the actual duration estimates. In Experiment 2 the R condition was also associated with overestimation in the majority of participants, however its relationship to the results obtained in C and P varies between participants. The magnitude of the result proved to be a relevant variable in the effect of punishment, which was less pronounced in Experiment 1A. The enjoyment of the game by the subjects was generally more positive for condition P. These results indicate the interaction of operant contingencies on time perception, and also discussed the apparent independence between the operant effect of punishment and verbal report about the fun inherent in activity that was punished

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The present study conducted a comparative analysis of three different procedures, Stimulus Equivalence, Automatic Reinforcement and Direct Reinforcement. Its aim was to investigate the efficacy of these procedures for naming acquisition. Six children who were between five and eleven years old with moderate language delay participated. Nine stimuli were selected for each participant, three for each procedure. Findings do not suggest that there is a substantial difference between the participants´performance in the experiments; therefore one can not affirm that a procedure is better than the other. The results indicate that the difference in the children s repertoire is a relevant factor to understand the disparity of results found in this study.
O presente estudo realizou uma análise comparativa de três procedimentos diferentes, a Equivalência de Estímulos, o Reforçamento Automático e o Reforçamento Direto com o intuito de investigar a eficácia dos mesmos para a aquisição do nomear. Seis participantes que tinham entre cinco e onze anos com atraso de linguagem moderado participaram do estudo. Foram selecionados nove estímulos para cada participante, sendo três para cada procedimento. Os resultados deste estudo não sugerem que exista uma diferença substancial entre o desempenho dos participantes nos experimentos, assim não se pode afirmar que um experimento seja melhor que outro. Os resultados indicam que a diferença nos repertórios dos participantes é um fator importante para a disparidade dos resultados encontrados neste estudo.

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
The present research aimed to investigate if different kinds of instructions in a task in which the interruption of aversive stimuli did not depend on the response occurrence interferes with the non-verbal performance. Furthermore, it was investigated whether such exposure interferes on the acquisition of motor responses in a subsequent phase, in which it presented a problem-solving task. College students (80) were equally distributed in four conditions (n=20), named instruction that describes a relationship of dependency (RD), instruction that does not describe a relationship of dependency (NRD), minimal instruction (MIN) and control (C). On phase 1, with the exception of the participants in control condition, the other ones were exposed to aversive stimuli (sound) that lasted no more than 10 seconds, which were interrupted regardless of their responses and received instruction that described a relationship of dependency between the response and the environmental change; the instruction that did not describe a relationship of dependency between the response and the environmental change; requiring that the participant assessed if it was possible to solve the task; and the minimal instruction did not give information about the relationship response /environmental change. On phase 2, all of them, including Control group, did the maze-solving task. On phase 1, the participants that received the NRD instruction were the ones who received a bigger number of responses followed by the ones who received RD instruction. The major part of participants that received the MIN instruction emitted few responses. 38 of 60 participants presented responses pattern classified as superstitious. The 22 participants that did not present the superstitious pattern received, in its major part, MIN instruction. On phase 2, the control participants spent, in general, less time to go through the first maze followed by the participants that received the MIN and NRD instruction. The participants that received the RD instruction were the ones who spent more time to go through the first maze. Those participants who spent less time to go through the maze, most of them showed, on the first phase, low response rate compared to the other participants. The results suggest, on the first phase, a relationship between high/low frequency of responses and the kind of instruction received, and it seems that this frequency can influence on the following phase, because the participants that showed, emitted a smaller number of answers spent less time to go through the first maze
O presente trabalho teve como objetivo investigar se a utilização de diferentes tipos de instruções em uma tarefa em que a interrupção dos estímulos aversivos não dependeu da ocorrência da resposta interfere no desempenho não verbal. Além disso, foi investigado se essa exposição interfere na aquisição de respostas motoras em uma fase subsequente, na qual foi apresentada uma tarefa de resolução de problema. Estudantes universitários (80) foram distribuídos igualmente em quatro condições (n=20), denominadas instrução que descreve uma relação de dependência (RD), instrução que não descreve relação de dependência (NRD), instrução mínima (MIN) e controle (C). Na Fase 1, com exceção dos participantes da condição controle, os demais foram expostos a estímulos aversivos (som), com duração máxima de 10 segundos, que eram interrompidos independentemente de suas respostas e receberam instrução que descreveu uma relação de dependência entre a resposta e a alteração ambiental; a instrução que não descreveu uma relação de dependência entre resposta e alteração ambiental, solicitando que o participante avaliasse se era possível resolver a tarefa; e a instrução mínima não forneceu informação sobre a relação resposta/alteração ambiental. Na Fase 2, todos realizaram uma tarefa de resolução de labirintos. Na Fase 1, os participantes que receberam a instrução NRD foram os participantes que emitiram um maior número de respostas seguido dos que receberam instrução RD. A maior parte dos participantes que receberam instrução MIN emitiu poucas respostas. 38 dos 60 participantes apresentaram padrões de respostas classificadas como supersticiosas. Os 22 participantes que não apresentaram padrão supersticioso receberam em sua maioria instrução MIN. Na Fase 2, os participantes controle levaram, em geral, menos tempo para percorrer o primeiro labirinto seguido dos participantes que receberam a instrução MIN e NRD. Os participantes que receberam a instrução RD foram os participantes que levaram mais tempo para percorrer o primeiro labirinto. Dos participantes que levaram menos tempo para percorrer o labirinto, a maioria deles emitiu, na primeira fase, frequência baixa de respostas em comparação com os outros participantes. Os resultados sugerem, na primeira fase, uma relação entre alta/baixa frequência de respostas e o tipo de instrução recebida, e parece que essa frequência pode influenciar na fase subsequente, pois participantes que emitiram um número menor de respostas levaram menos tempo para percorrer o primeiro labirinto

Studies have shown that increasing eye contact can be accomplished by using reinforcement, prompting, shaping, functional movement training, punishment, and self-monitoring. However, there is a lack of research that evaluates the use of technology as a way to increase eye contact. This study tested the effectiveness of a tablet application at increasing eye contact in children diagnosed with autism. The application requires the child to look at a picture of a person's face and identify the number displayed in the person's eyes in order to receive reinforcement. Data was collected immediately after training, one hour after training, and in the natural environment. The tablet application was not effective at increasing eye contact for any of the three participants. Once the tablet application was shown to be ineffective, the researcher used differential reinforcement to increase eye contact. All three participants showed an increase in eye contact once the differential reinforcement training was implemented.

Buscou-se investigar se a aprendizagem social pode facilitar a ocorrência de respostas supersticiosas, selecionadas pela relação acidental com eventos ambientais contíguos ao responder. Em uma atividade de computador, participantes podiam clicar em um mouse e havia um galão de água na tela que poderia encher-se de acordo com o esquema de reforçamento programado. O Experimento 1, realizado com oito estudantes universitários, foi composto por três sessões (delineamento ABA), alternando entre condições nas quais o participante atuou sozinho ou na presença de outro participante que também realizou a tarefa no mesmo momento. O segundo participante, porém, era um participante confederado com a experimentadora e respondeu à tarefa de forma previamente treinada. Os participantes foram expostos, em cada sessão, a esquemas de tempo variável de 15s (VT15s) e extinção (EXT) que foram alternados entre si a cada dois minutos. O participante confederado foi exposto aos esquemas de intervalo variável (VI15s) e EXT, e respondeu de forma constante em ambos os esquemas. Manipulou-se duas variáveis: o esquema de contiguidade e a exposição a outro indivíduo comportando-se na tarefa. Efeitos sobre as taxas de respostas dos participantes foram medidos. Não houve diferenciação do responder em função da mudança do esquema, porém houve diferença significativa entre as médias de respostas nas sessões individuais e conjuntas, permitindo a conclusão de que a manipulação da variável social produziu um efeito sobre as respostas. O Experimento 2 manipulou apenas a variável social. O esquema de reforçamento foi mantido em VT15s durante a sessão inteira em todo o experimento. Trabalhou-se com dois grupos de participantes, um no qual os participantes realizavam a sessão individualmente e outro grupo no qual outros participantes trabalhavam na sessão juntamente com um segundo participante, que, tal como no primeiro estudo, era um confederado que respondia de forma constante e previamente treinada, sendo exposto ao esquema de VI15s durante a sessão inteira. Observou-se uma diferença significativa entre as médias de respostas entre os dois grupos, o que mostra o efeito da variável manipulada. Além disso, observou-se uma variância significativamente maior das taxas de respostas dos participantes no grupo sem confederado em comparação com as dos participantes do grupo com confederado, que mostra um efeito de interação entre a variável social e o esquema de VT. O presente trabalho acrescenta dados novos tanto para a literatura de aprendizagem social quanto para a literatura de comportamento supersticioso, ao constatar que a variável social foi responsável por diminuir a variação das taxas de respostas de participantes expostos a um esquema independente, que, além disso foi independente desde o início da tarefa. Ademais confirmou-se achados sobre efeitos de facilitação social, sobretudo em uma situação de esquema não-contingente
The purpose of the present work was to investigate if social learning may facilitate occurrence of superstitious responses, selected by accidental relation with contiguous environmental events. In a computer activity, participants could click with a mouse and there was a water gallon on the screen that could fill itself according to reinforcement schedule programmed. The First Experiment was done with eight college students. It was composed by three sessions (ABA design), alternating between conditions in which the participant acted alone or in the presence of another participant, who also performed the task at the same moment. The second participant, however, was confederate with the experimenter and responded to the task in a previously trained manner. Participants were exposed, in each session, to 15s variable time schedules (VT15s) and extinction (EXT) which were alternated between each other every two minutes. The confederate participant was exposed to variable interval (VI15s) and exctinction (EXT) schedules and responded steadily in both schedules. Two variables were manipulated: the contiguity schedule and the exposure to another individual behaving on the task. Effects on participants rates of responding were measured. There was no differentiation in responding due to schedule change, however there was significant difference between mean rates of responses in individual sessions and in joint sessions, allowing the conclusion that the social variable manipulation had an effect on responses. The Second Experiment manipulated only the social variable. The schedule of reinforcement was maintained VT15s during the whole session in all the experiment. There were two groups of participants, one in which participants performed the session individually and another in which other participants performed in a session together with another participant. This participant, as in the First Experiment, was a confederate that responded steadily and in a previously trained manner, and was exposed to a VI15s schedule It was observed a significant difference between means of response of each group, which shows the effect of the manipulated variable. Moreover there was a significant higher variance in response rates of the individual group participants in comparison with response rate of the group with a confederate, which shows an effect of interaction between the social variable and the VT schedule. The present work adds new data to social learning literature as much as to superstitious behavior literature, upon verifying that the social variable was responsible for diminishing variation in response rates of participants exposed to an independent schedule, which beyond that, was independent since the beginning of the task. Furthermore it confirmed some findings of social facilitation effects, especially in a situation of non-contingent schedule

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
The present study examined the effectiveness of social reinforcement in improving the accuracy and changing the topography of verbal self-reports about current behavior (“on-task self-report”) and past behavior (“immediate post-task self-report”) in an amnesiac outpatient. It also examined whether reinforcing accurate self-reports about current and previous behavior would result in generalization for self-reporting 30 s, 60s, 120 s and 240 s after the completion of a task. This study was conducted with a 45 year-old outpatient whose memory was impaired after suffering a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) thirteen years ago. The participant was instructed to carry out four different tasks (Reading, Assembling Lego, Looking for Shapes, Exercising) for every session (one per trial) and describe his behavior during and right after the completion of the task. After some probe sessions to determine the patient’s behavior of reporting about those four activities prior to the intervention in a multiple baseline design, a training session was introduced, in which praise was contingent to accurate self-reports about one of the four tasks. Later on, tests were undertaken to assess the acquisition and the maintenance of the trained self-reports and the effect of training on the other untrained tasks’ self-reports. There were training sessions for all tasks, except for Reading. Afterwards, tests were also undertaken in which instructions and the queries were manipulated in order to identify their effects on reporting. The results showed that, following training sessions, 1) there were fewer inaccurate immediate post-task reports; 2) the task Reading was no longer mentioned on on-task and immediate post-task reports; 3) self-edition no longer occurred; 4) the task Assembling Lego was mentioned for the first time on a inaccurate self-report; 5) for the task Exercising there were no more inaccurate on-task self-reports; 6) in post-tests following the training sessions of the reports of Looking for Shapes and Exercising, all inaccurate self-reports mentioned the task whose reports had just been trained. As for the participant’s performance after the Manipulation Tests, results indicated that 1) the topography of self-reports that mentioned one of the four tasks changed; 2) imprecise self-reports such as “I don’t know” and “I don’t remember” reemerged. In follow-up sessions, which took place 45 days after the experiment had finished, the participant emitted only correct post-task self-reports. Results indicated that, in spite of an unstable performance before and after the introduction of training sessions, social reinforcement as applied in the present study might have influenced the accuracy and the topography of verbal self-reports. Furthermore, results also indicated that both the instruction given at the beginning of every trial and the queries that requested self-reports controlled the accuracy and the topography of self-reports and that the presence of reinforcement during the tasks might render the occurrence of reports about those tasks more likely
O presente estudo buscou investigar o efeito do reforçamento social sobre a acurácia e a topografia das respostas de descrever o próprio comportamento durante a realização de uma atividade (relato intermediário) e imediatamente após a realização dessa atividade (relato final imediato) em um paciente amnésico. Buscou-se também averiguar se os eventuais efeitos desse reforçamento dos relatos correspondentes de descrição do próprio comportamento se generalizariam para os relatos que ocorressem 30 s, 60 s, 120 s e 240 s após o fim da atividade a ser relatada. A pesquisa foi realizada com um participante de 45 anos que sofreu um acidente vascular hemorrágico há treze anos e que, desde então, apresenta uma série de comportamentos descritos como déficits de memória. Foram designadas ao participante quatro tarefas distintas (Lendo, Montando Lego, Procurando Formas e Fazendo Exercício) e, a cada sessão, essas quatro atividades eram realizadas pelo participante e os relatos intermediário e final eram-lhe solicitados. Após algumas sessões de testes para verificar o comportamento de relatar essas atividades antes da intervenção em um delineamento de linha de base múltipla, ocorria uma sessão de ensino, na qual apenas uma das atividades era designada ao participante e contingentemente aos relatos intermediário e final correspondentes dessa atividade eram apresentados elogios. Em seguida, testes eram realizados para verificar a aquisição e manutenção dessas respostas ensinadas e o efeito do ensino sobre os relatos das demais atividades. Todos as atividades tiveram seus relatos ensinados, à exceção da atividade Lendo. Posteriormente, também foram realizados testes nos quais as instruções e as perguntas que solicitavam os relatos do experimento foram manipuladas a fim de identificar-lhes o efeito sobre o comportamento de relatar. A análise dos resultados indicou que, para aquelas atividades cujos relatos foram ensinados, após o ensino 1) houve proporcionalmente menos relatos finais imediatos errados; 2) a atividade Lendo deixou de ser mencionada nos relatos intermediários e finais imediatos errados de Procurando Formas e Montando Lego; 3) a presença de auto-edições nos relatos deixou de ocorrer; 4) pela primeira vez a atividade Montando Lego foi mencionada em um relato errado; 5) não houve mais relatos intermediários errados para a atividade Fazendo Exercício e 6) nos pós-testes após o ensino dos relatos de Procurando Formas e Fazendo Exercícios, todos os relatos errados mencionaram a atividade cujo relato havia sido ensinado na sessão de ensino anterior. Já para as contingências dos testes de manipulação, constatou-se que 1) a partir deles, a topografia dos relatos do participante que mencionavam as atividades especiais se alterou; 2) relatos imprecisos como “não me lembro” e “não sei” ressurgiram. Nas sessões de Follow-up imediato e Follow-up com atraso, realizadas cerca de quarenta e cinco dias após o experimento, a participante acertou todos os relatos finais. Os resultados sugerem que, apesar do desempenho instável tanto antes quantos depois do ensino, o reforçamento social tal como aplicado no experimento pode ter influenciado a acurácia e a topografia dos relatos. Além disso, os resultados indicam que as instruções dadas ao início de cada tentativa e as perguntas que solicitavam os relatos controlaram a acurácia e a topografia dos relatos e que a presença de reforçamento durante a realização de uma atividade pode tornar a ocorrência dos relatos dessa atividade mais prováveis

Four elementary school children were tested on 120 words containing the short e (e.g., ten, pen) and short a (e.g., tan, pan) sounds. Words were tested in the hear-write (H/W) and see-say (S/S) channels. No programmed consequences were scheduled during baseline (BL) tests 1-3. After BL, an error analysis categorized words based on channel error and topography of error. Praise was delivered during tests 4-6 for correct responses. Children's responses were variable within channel and across channels for a majority of words. By the end of the praise phase, there was a decrease in the number of words with errors, for all children in their error word group. Error topographies began to stabilize for some words during praise.

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The objective of this research was to study the behavior of those who get depressed in a therapeutic context, where behavior approach was used starting from the presumption of the Applied Analysis of the Behavior, with emphasis on the Psychological Behaviorism by Arthur Wilbur Staats among others. Two people from the feminine gender with diagnoses of depression took part in this study and both of them were selected following pre-established criteria by the researcher between May 16th and September 08th, 2003, with a break of thirty days between the INT-II and INT-III. These sessions took place in an office at a private clinic of psychological treatment in Goiânia. Besides the video camera, which had a photographic camera and video, VHS tape, color TV, computer (PC) and printer, were also used and authorization signed by both participants on the procedures adopted in each session, Questionnaire of Vital History (Lázarus, 1980), sheet of auto evaluation of the emotional state, which used to be filled in through verbal answer of the participants at the beginning and at the end of each session, Depression Inventory Beck (BDI), which specifically measures the intensity of depression, with written answers of the participants and the behavior changes record, applied in two phases of the outline (LB-I e INT-III), by a member of the family, with the objective of recording the behavior changes shown by the participants, during and after the intervention. For the development of the adopted procedure, the Outline of Reversion in the format ABAB-B was used, considering that in interventions I, II and III the Generalized Conditional Reinforcement was used when the researcher was reinforcing the positive verbal account with an Approval Sing contingent upon positive verbalized ideas and a Disapproval Sign contingent upon negative verbalized ideas of each participant for all emotional positive and negative speech in each session. The procedure for the typescripts of the shot sessions consisted in the observation and record of all positive speech of the participants during the forty eight sessions, being twenty four of each participant. In the same way was proceeded the enumeration of the negative speech. At the end of the research, according to the graphics and tables it is possible to note that there was a reduction on the intensity of negative verbal emotional repertoire, common in depressed people, having as a primordial element the use of Generalized Conditional Reinforcement in the depressive behavior change in a clinic context.
O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi o estudo do comportamento de deprimirse no contexto terapêutico, onde foi utilizada a abordagem Comportamental a partir dos pressupostos da Análise Aplicada do Comportamento, com ênfase no Behaviorismo Psicológico de Arthur Wilbur Staats entre outros. Participaram desse estudo duas pessoas do sexo feminino com o diagnóstico de depressão, sendo que as mesmas foram selecionadas, segundo os critérios: a) ser diagnosticadas por psiquiatra como tendo sintomas depressivos; b) disponibilidade de horário compatível com o andamento da pesquisa; c) apresentar um repertório verbalemocional negativo; d) concordar em comparecer ao consultório duas vezes por semana durante o período selecionado para a coleta de dados; e) não estar fazendo uso de medicamentos por pelo menos 90 dias. As sessões terapêuticas e procedimentos foram realizados pela mestranda/pesquisadora, entre o período de 16 de maio a 08 de setembro do ano de 2003, com um intervalo de 30 dias entre a Intervenção-II (INT-I) e Intervenção-III (INT-III). Estas sessões foram realizadas em consultório de uma clínica particular de atendimento psicológico em Goiânia. Além de câmera de vídeo com tripé para máquina fotográfica e vídeo, fita de VHS, aparelho receptor de televisão em cores, computador (PC) e impressora, foram também utilizadas uma autorização assinada pelas participantes para o procedimento das sessões de atendimento psicológico, ficha controle de procedimentos adotados em cada sessão, Questionário de História Vital (Lázarus, 1980), folha de auto-avaliação do estado emocional, a qual era preenchida mediante resposta verbal das participantes no início e final de cada sessão, Inventário de Depressão Beck (BDI), que mede especificamente a intensidade da depressão, mediante resposta escrita pelas participantes e o Registro de Mudanças Comportamentais, aplicado em duas fases do delineamento Linha de Base I(LB-I) e Intervenção (INT-III), por um membro da família, visando registrar as mudanças comportamentais manifestas das participantes, durante e após a intervenção. Para o desenvolvimento do procedimento adotado, foi utilizado o Delineamento de Reversão no formato ABAB-B, sendo que nas Intervenções-I, II e III foi utilizado o reforço condicionado generalizado quando então a mestranda/pesquisadora reforçava os relatos verbais positivos com um Sinal de Aprovação contingente as verbalizações positivas e um Sinal de Desaprovação contingente as verbalizações negativas de cada participante para todas as falas emocionais positivas e negativas em cada sessão. O procedimento para transcrição das sessões filmadas consistiu na observação e registros de todas as falas positivas das participantes nas quarenta e oito sessões, sendo vinte e quatro de cada participante. Do mesmo modo procedeu-se a enumeração seqüencial das falas negativas. Ao final da pesquisa, de acordo com os gráficos e tabelas pode-se observar que houve uma redução na intensidade do repertório verbal-emocional negativo, comum em pessoas depressivas, tendo como elemento primordial a utilização dos reforçadores condicionados generalizados na mudança de comportamento depressivo em contexto clínico.

The main goal of these studies were evaluate the mechanical behavior of structural masonry lintels built with hollow clay blocks. The compressive strength and failure mode of lintels under bending were determine using three different types of lintels: grouted and reinforced lintels made with U section blocks, structural blocks with horizontal prefabricated bedding joint reinforcements and horizontal and vertical joint reinforcements with MURFOR® steel reinforcement and stirrups. The test results indicated that the failures occur by shear strength. The use of lintels with grout demonstrated high levels of loading resistance, when compared with the others models. The use of horizontal and vertical reinforcement (MURFOR®), support higher level of loading, when it was compared with only horizontal joint reinforce.
O presente trabalho trata da análise experimental de vergas em paredes de alvenaria estrutural, executadas com blocos cerâmicos vazados, cujo objetivo principal é avaliar o comportamento mecânico e modos de ruptura, após aplicação de forças concentradas no terço médio do elemento. O programa experimental consistiu na confecção de vergas grauteadas e com armadura para flexão, utilizando-se blocos do tipo canaleta em U , e de vergas formadas por blocos estruturais e juntas de argamassa armadas, mediante o uso de treliças planas tipo MURFOR® e de estribos. Os resultados dos ensaios indicaram que as rupturas ocorreram pela ação de força cortante, verificando-se, pelo modo de ruptura, esmagamento localizado na parte superior de alguns blocos. Os modelos grauteados resistiram a níveis de cargas aplicadas maiores, comparados aos demais testados. Os modelos constituídos por blocos e armados nas juntas verticais e horizontais de argamassa, suportaram intensidades maiores de força que os modelos reforçados somente nas juntas horizontais, comprovando o aumento na resistência à força cortante dos elementos testados.

In 2 studies, I tested the effects of an observational conditioning-by-denial intervention on the demonstration of conditioned reinforcement by observation, observational performance, and observational acquisition of new operants. In Experiment 1, I selected 6 children educationally classified with autism spectrum disorder and multiple disabilities. The participants were 2 females and 4 males who ranged from 5.5-8.2 years old. Participants were selected from one school that implemented a Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS®) approach. I conducted a series of pre-intervention reinforcer assessments that tested 1) the conditioned reinforcement effects of known reinforcing stimuli (edibles) and non-preferred stimuli (binder clips) on a mastered task, and 2) the reinforcement effects of non-preferred stimuli (binder clips) on 3 learning tasks across each participant. These reinforcer assessment probes showed all participants’ rates increased when a known reinforcer (edibles) was delivered compared to non-reinforcing stimuli (binder clips) on the mastered task. Participants did not demonstrate learning when delivered non-preferred stimuli (binder clips) for correct responses on learning tasks. Following the pre-intervention reinforcer assessments I conducted probes for a) conditioned reinforcement by observation b) observational performance and c) observational acquisition of new operants. Pre-intervention probes showed all participants did not demonstrate conditioned reinforcement by observation, or observational acquisition of new operants and 5 out of 6 participants did not demonstrate observational performance. The independent variable was an observational conditioning-by-denial intervention. During the intervention the participant was paired with a known peer, and both children were separated by a partition but were able to see and hear the researcher but not each other. The only thing both the participant and peer could see were each other’s transparent cups, which were attached with Velcro® to each child’s desk. Both participants were given a mastered task. Each time the peer emitted a response the experimenter delivered neutral stimuli (binder clips) into his/her transparent cup, in view of the participant. The intervention continued until the target participant vocally manded/requested for the neutral stimuli and/or made a physical attempt to gain access to the stimuli one or more times across two consecutive sessions. Post-intervention data suggest that neutral stimuli (binder clips) became conditioned reinforcers for mastered and learning tasks as function of the intervention for all 6 participants. Responses to denial of non-preferred stimuli delivered to a peer (conditioned reinforcement by observation), observational performance, and observational acquisition of new operant responses increased in 4 out of 6 participants who did not respond during pre-intervention probes. In Experiment 2, I sought to determine if conditioned reinforcement by observation is a verbal behavior developmental cusp. Experiment 2 was a replication of Experiment 1, with two different reinforcer assessments that tested: 1) the conditioned reinforcer effects of neutral stimuli when the participant was alone and 2) the conditioned reinforcer effects of neutral stimuli when the participant observed a peer play with neutral stimuli. Four males educationally classified with autism spectrum disorder and speech and language impairments participated in Experiment 2. Post-intervention data suggest that neutral stimuli (metal washers, s-hooks, spoon shelf supports) became conditioned reinforcers during the individual and peer reinforcer assessments as a function of the intervention for all 4 participants. Responses to denial of non-preferred stimuli delivered to a peer (conditioned reinforcement by observation), observational performance, and observational acquisition of new operant responses increased across all 4 participants who did not respond during pre-intervention probes. The results of both experiments suggest that a single intervention can establish all three types of observational learning. The results from Experiment 2 confirm that conditioned reinforcement by observation is a verbal behavior developmental cusp.

Seventy-two children were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions (i.e., verbal praise, token reinforcement, and standard administration groups) to study the effects of different incentive conditions on the CTONI-2 performance of 6 -7 year old children. The participants in the token reinforcement condition were rewarded with tokens that were exchanged for reinforcers for providing CTONI-2 responses. The participants in the other conditions were verbally praised for their effort or received neutral comments following the same schedule. Mean scores for each group on the CTONI-2 Pictorial Scale, Geometric Scale, and Full Scale composite scores were compared using MANOVA and ANOVA procedures, respectively, and no significant differences were observed. The results were generally inconsistent with the literature that supports the hypothesis that young children perform better on an individually administered nonverbal intelligence test when given token reinforcement and/or verbal praise in comparison to groups who receive standard administration. However, analyses revealed potential interactions among demographic and condition variables that may inform future directions in the research of standardized testing.

I conducted a study comparing the effects of a Social Listener Reinforcement protocol and a video modeling protocol on the number of social verbal operants emitted by preschoolers diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and speech and language delays. The purpose of this study was to examine whether teaching the verbal operants directly would produce different outcomes than conditioning the reinforcers for social verbal exchanges. A combined experimental-control group design with two "nested" non-concurrent multiple probes across participants was used to provide two within-group single case designs simultaneously with the experimental-control group design. The dependent variables were the number of social verbal operants emitted during non-instructional sessions and the number of missed social verbal opportunities. The social verbal operants measured were vocal and non-vocal: (a) sequelics, (b) conversational units, and c) tacts. The independent variables were a Social Listener Reinforcement protocol and a video modeling protocol. Twelve participants, 5 females and 7 males, between the ages of 3-4 were selected to participate in the study. Participants were placed in matched pairs based on their verbal behavior repertoires and pre-experimental probe data. One participant from each pair was assigned to the Social Listener Reinforcement condition and one to the video modeling condition. Results are reported across both individuals and groups. Results showed that participants in both conditions increased the number of social verbal operants they emitted with peers in non-instructional settings. Participants in the Social Listener Reinforcement condition had greater gains in the total number of social verbal operants they emitted and the number of conversational units and sequelics they initiated in non-instructional settings. However, participants in the video modeling condition emitted higher rates of social verbal operants prior to the intervention procedure than participants did in the Social Listener Reinforcement condition. Results are discussed in terms of differences in potential conditioned reinforcers that result from the two social learning procedures.

This diploma thesis deals with the developement of communication skills in children with autistic spectrum disorder. The aim of this work is to explain the development of these skills by Verbal Behavior of Applied Behavioral Analysis (VB ABA), specifically in the field of children's request (manding). The thesis contains a theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part is focused on the description of the basic principles of the Applied Behavioral Analysis as well as the approach Applied Behavioral Analysis - Verbal Behavior which is based on this science. In more detail, the thesis explains the manding technique and the principles of motivation, whose understanding is essential for this technique and for all VB ABA intervention. Author's research follows the progress in the manding of two children with autistic spectrum disorder during the eight-month VB ABA intervention. Also the thesis analyzes the factors that could have influenced the teaching of mands, in particular the role the child's motivation in the effective development of manding skills. A certain section of the practical part of the thesis is extracted into the annexes as a non- public part of the work in order to preserve children's anonymity. The extraction of sensitive data into the worksheets is made possible by the Dean's...