Operant conditioning of verbal behavior of dysthymics and hysterics.

Previous findings (Eysenck, 1955; Franks, 1956) indicated that neurotics of the dysthymic type react differentially to conditioning procedures than hysterics, and that conditionability is related to extraversion-introversion. The present study investigates the validity of these findings using verbal conditioning techniques. The results did not confirm the hypothesis; the Ss were not distinguished by ease of conditionability, measures of extraversion and anxiety, but were by Edwards (1957) Social Desirability scale. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HI88G. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement of stimulus control during discriminative operant conditioning.

Procedures in common use in discriminative operant conditioning are examined. It is concluded that they do not provide useful measures of stimulus control during acquisition because they confound the discriminative stimuli with antecedent reinforcement-nonreinforcement. Procedures which avoid confounding and provide measures of stimulus control during an uninterrupted acquisition process are described. 1 such procedure is applied in an experiment on sequential effects in discrimination learning. Substantial effects of antecedent reinforcement-nonreinforcement on generalized response probability and on the difference in probability of response to the discriminative stimuli are shown. The existence of effects of this type indicates that confounding can introduce serious biases into the measures of stimulus control in discriminative operant conditioning. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The retention and generalization of operant conditioning effects in an interview situation.

In a study of the conditioning of complex verbal habits, each of 30 female Ss had her established verbal habits assessed in 2 sessions by being asked to talk about herself. In subsequent sessions, the Ss in the experimental groups were positively reinforced (by a head nod and an "mm-hm") for either independence or affection statements, whereas control groups Ss were reinforced every 30 sec. regardless of the content of their speech. The results showed that: conditioning occurred, i.e., the experimental Ss increased in their use of the reinforced category; retention also occurred, i.e., the conditioning effects were stable over a 24-hr. period; and generalization did not occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypotheses and habits in verbal "operant conditioning.'

The traditional explanation of experiments related to conditioning of verbal behavior in terms of operant conditioning, i.e., learning without awareness, was questioned. It was hypothesized that such conditioning to cues given by E might be based on S's awareness of the cue and assumed meaning of such a stimulus. 2 experiments were performed, 1 where plural nouns were reinforced, and a 2nd to test the generalization of this acquired pattern on a word association test. The usual findings re: conditioning of plural nouns was replicated and there seemed to be a carry-over of the set to the word association test. However, some Ss seemed to be aware of the meaning of such a reinforcer as "um-hm." Moreover, response set was also seen to affect conditionability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some clinical correlates of operant behavior.

"22 chronic psychotic patients, Ss in an operant conditioning study, were given psychological tests and rated as to their ward behavior. Ratings of ward behavior and rates of operant response were directly related. Those patients who were testable by at least one clinical test were those who were high operant responders. These findings were discussed in terms of a notion of adaptability to the demands of the hospital environment. Clinical and operant data on 6 normal Ss were also presented." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of the schedule of reinforcement on operant conditioning of a verbal response in the autokinetic situation.

The autokinetic effect was employed to compare the effect of 2 different schedules of reinforcement on verbal behavior. One group of Ss was given 20 reinforcements of "Right" under a regular reinforcement schedule for emitting verbally the estimate designated as the response. A second group was given similar reinforcement under a variable interval schedule. The regular reinforcement group reached the criterion of extinction in 10 to 35 verbal emissions while no S in the variable interval group extinguished within 10 to 80 verbal emissions. 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The misbehavior of organisms.

"In our attempt to extend a behavioristically oriented approach to the engineering control of animal behavior by operant conditioning techniques, we have fought a running battle with the seditious notion of instinct." Several instances of persistent nonreinforced behavior which interfere with learning "represent a clear and utter failure of conditioning theory." Persistent "behaviors to which… animals drift are clear-cut examples of instinctive behaviors… . It seems obvious that these animals are trapped by strong instinctive behaviors, and clearly we have here a demonstration of the prepotency of such behavior patterns over those which have been conditioned." In recent years "ethological facts and attitudes… have done more to advance our practical control of animal behavior than recent reports from American 'learning labs." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of operant level, interview with experimenter, and awareness upon verbal conditioning of chronic schizophrenics.

The present research attempted to (a) cross-validate N. D. Vestre's (1961, 1965) findings that medium-operant-level pronouns can be conditioned by "good" in a chronic schizophrenic population, (b) test whether or not high-operant-level pronouns can be conditioned by "good" in a chronic schizophrenic population, and (c) compare the conditionability of high-operant-level with that of medium-operant-level pronouns. It was hypothesized that schizophrenics would be more conditionable following a brief, friendly, personal interview than in the absence of any preconditioning interview. It was expected that awareness of the response-reinforcement contingency would favor conditioning. Both the operant level and interview with experimenter variables were investigated to see whether or not either differentially affected (a) the number of aware Ss and (b) the performance of aware Ss. "Good" functioned as a reinforcer for about 1/4 of the Ss in this study. The most important factor contributing to performance was awareness of the response-reinforcement contingency. Also, reinforcement tended to be more effective when Ss had no (instead of a S-min) preexperimental interview with E. Medium-operant-level pronouns were conditionable, and results of conditionability comparisons between high- and medium-preference pronouns depended upon how performance was measured. The negligible conditionability of high-preference pronouns was discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety and the conditioning of verbal behavior.

Ninety hospitalized psychiatric patients were administered the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. The S's were then required to make up sentences in response to a stimulus card on which were printed a verb and one of six pronouns. E reinforced any sentence starting with I or WE by saying "good" or flashing a light. Scores on the Taylor scale showed a relationship to the amount of conditioning produced by "good." Light, as applied in this study, does not function as a reinforcer in a verbal situation. Implications for further research are described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of negative verbal cues upon verbal behavior.

Research which investigated the capacity to modify behavior, starting from the framework of Skinner's operant conditioning paradigm and utilizing verbal behavior, was found to have primarily explored the effect of positive secondary reinforcement. The present investigation explored the effect of a negative verbal cue presented under different schedules of reinforcement upon verbal behavior. Ss (male VA psychiatric patients) responded to projective techniques. The E varied the frequency of negative verbal reinforcement defined as "unh unh." The hypothesis that such a negative reinforcement would depress verbal behavior was substantiated, with a periodic schedule of reinforcement being more effective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The conditioning of verbal behavior as a function of the need for social approval.

The hypothesis tested herein is that need for approval will facilitate learning. Need for approval was measured by the M-C Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960); the learning task employed the model of verbal conditioning as used by Greenspoon (1955); the Ss were undergraduate psychology students. The results supported the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gestational methylmercury exposure selectively increases the sensitivity of operant behavior to cocaine.

Developmental methylmercury (MeHg) exposure alters dopamine neurotransmitter systems, but the selectivity of this and the effects of low, environmentally relevant MeHg exposure regimens are poorly understood. In previous reports, some including littermates of animals studied here, chronic, low-level exposures affected performance on reversal tasks and enhanced reinforcer efficacy. Using high- and low-rate operant behavior under a fixed interval (FI) schedule, sensitivity was examined to drugs that target noradrenergic and dopaminergic neurotransmitter systems. Female rats were exposed in utero to 0, 0.5, or 5 ppm of mercury, as MeHg, via maternal drinking water. Selenium (Se) is thought to attenuate MeHg's neurotoxicity, so animals consumed a diet containing 0.06 or 0.6 ppm of Se. At 11 months, they lever-pressed under a FI 120” schedule of sucrose reinforcement. Acute dose-effect curves were generated with cocaine, desipramine, SKF-38393, quinpirole, SCH-23390, and sulpiride. As compared with unexposed animals, those exposed to 5 ppm mercury, regardless of Se exposure, were 2 to 3 times more sensitive to the rate-reducing effects of high doses of cocaine and did not show increased responding earlier in the interval following moderate cocaine doses. Cocaine's effects in the 0.5 ppm Hg groups depended on dietary Se: low Se diet resulted in a rightward shift in the DEC compared to controls, whereas a high Se diet did not. No differential effects of MeHg were seen with the other drugs. Gestational MeHg exposure produces irreversible sensitivity to dopamine, but not norepinephrine, reuptake inhibitors and not to drugs that target D1 or D2 receptors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Studies of the conditioning of verbal behavior.

"Thirty-one articles reporting studies of the conditioning of verbal behavior were reviewed in terms of setting, verbal responses, reinforcement stimuli, populations, controls, length of sessions, relationships to personality variables, results, and awareness. The majority of the studies report positive results with the use of generalized conditioned reinforcers such as good and mmm-hmmm. The studies reviewed demonstrate that general principles of learning can be fruitfully applied to the experimental analysis of verbal behavior." 108-item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Operant behavior.

"Reinforcement may be contingent, not only on the occurrence of a response, but on special features of its topography, on the presence of prior stimuli, and on scheduling systems. Operant techniques are important in defining the behavioral effects of physiological variables—surgical, electrical, and chemical—in specifying what aspects of behavior are to be attributed to hereditary endowment, in tracing features of mature behavior to early environment, and so on. They are important in clarifying the nature of defective, retarded, or psychotic behavior." Within the field of human behavior "the contingencies of reinforcement which define operant behavior are widespread if not ubiquitous. In its very brief history, the study of operant behavior has clarified the nature of the relation between behavior and its consequences and has devised techniques which apply the methods of the natural science to its investigation." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modification of behavior through verbal conditioning: Effects in group therapy.

An hypothesis that seems to be gaining acceptance on the basis of experimental (as opposed to heretofore face) validity, is that the interpersonal relationship in therapy is not only able to modify the patient's behavior, but in a predictable and desirable direction. This hypothesis was cross-validated by using a group of patients in a Veterans Administration hospital, all in group therapy. The experimental condition, the independent variable, involved exposing S to a TAT-like situation outside of therapy. E responded differentially to the emotionally-toned words used by S: (a) by nodding and saying "mm-hm," (b) by communicating to S via a machine that emitted a clicking sound and added on a counter, and (c) a "no reinforcement" group. Change in the patient's behavior, the dependent variable, was assessed by ratings on a scale to measure interpersonal relationships in group therapy. Significant improvement in the measure of interpersonal behavior in the group therapy was noted in Condition A only. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3IG28U. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human tracking behavior.

"Apart from the complexities of closed-loop behavior, which is somewhat more complicated than the open-loop situations used by most psychologists in their studies of human behavior, tracking behavior is beset with the added complications of mediating responses and stimuli which are important variables intervening between the display and the measured motor response… . We appear to be a long way from understanding these factors and, until we do, we are a long way from the beginnings of any kind of theory of tracking." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1CD55A. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Avoidance conditioning of verbal behavior without awareness: A paradigm of repression.

31 male college students responded to a 15-item word association list receiving an electric shock immediately after 5 arbitrarily selected response words. A number of additional trials were given with shock administered every time as S responded with one of the 5 first-trial punished responses. They were then asked to chain-associate to each of the stimulus words with no shock administered. At the conclusion of the experiment Ss could be classified into insight and non-insight groups on the basis of their levels of verbal awareness as to the reasons for the shocks and what they had done to avoid them. Both groups showed a rapid and marked learning of avoidance behavior and a significant decrement in the number of punished responses occurring during chained associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Operant conditioning in a quasi-therapy setting.

In 6 recorded interviews with student volunteers, S was asked to talk about himself. E differentially reinforced ("mm-hm" with a nod) positive or negative self-references, or reinforced not at all. Conditioning occurred re reinforcement of negative statement, not under conditions of reinforcement of positive references or nonreinforcement. No relationship was found between initial level of anxiety or emotional adjustment and conditionability. General, but not statistically significant, trends towards reduction of anxiety or improvement in adjustment were noted. Most Ss were unaware of therapist's manipulation of his verbalizations. Conclusion: a patient's verbalizations can be influenced by therapist's communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of Human Operant Heart Rate Conditioning: A Systematic Investigation of Several Methodological Issues.

Three methodological issues of concern within the literature on human operant heart rate conditioning were assessed utilizing a number of techniques for data reduction. The type of statistical approach largely determined the conclusions to be drawn about 2 issues: (a) differences and similarities between heart rate acceleration and deceleration learning and (b) changes in conditioning over a number of sessions. Three techniques yielded data that confounded between- and within-session shifts in tonic heart rate. A fourth method of data reduction (contrasts between pretrial and trial responding) involved no such difficulty. This method of analysis most accurately represented changes in operant heart rate that occurred within and between conditioning sessions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors in the motor behavior of functional psychotics.

The author presents a continuation of a research project (see 32: 1873) which suggested that reactive inhibition developed to a greater extent in schizophrenics than normals. The initial task (depressing a key in response to the appearance of a light on a panel) was altered to permit the possibility of quicker response rates, and a group of depressives was added for comparison. The results of the follow-up study are shown to continue to support the theory re: reactive inhibition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)