Establishment of praise as a conditioned reinforcer in socially unresponsive psychiatric patients.

Studied the establishment of social praise as a reinforcer for clinically relevant behaviors in 3 socially unresponsive Ss: a 46-yr-old male catatonic schizophrenic, a 17-yr-old male obsessive-compulsive neurotic, and a male catatonic schizophrenic hospitalized for 19 yrs. A within-S multiple baseline design was employed. During an initial baseline period, praise was not effective in modifying the behavior of any S. The contiguous association of social praise with token reinforcement served to enhance the reinforcing properties of praise, establishing praise as an effective modifier of the target behaviors. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive-behavioral therapy with and without exposure plus response prevention in treatment of bulimia nervosa: Comment on Agras, Schneider, Arnow, Raeburn, and Telch.

The conclusions reached in the W. S. Agras et al (see record 1989-26754-001) study of cognitive-behavioral and response-prevention treatments for bulimia nervosa are criticized. Procedural differences and contradictory evidence from prior research are highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sampling of empirically supported psychological treatments from health psychology: Smoking, chronic pain, cancer, and bulimia nervosa.

Interventions in health psychology and behavioral medicine represent an integral area of research for the development of psychological therapies to enhance health behaviors, manage symptoms and sequelae of disease, treat psychological symptoms and disorders, prolong survival in the face of a life-threatening illness, and improve quality of life. A sampling of interventions in health psychology and behavioral medicine is offered that meet the criteria for empirically supported treatments for smoking cessation, chronic pain, cancer, and bulimia nervosa. Evidence for empirically supported treatments is identified, along with promising interventions that do not yet meet the criteria as outlined by D. L. Chambless and S. D. Hollon (1998). Evidence for the effectiveness and clinical significance of these interventions is reviewed, and issues in this area of research are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of the Eating Attitudes Test and the Eating Disorders Inventory in bulimia nervosa.

Assessed criterion and concurrent validity of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) in 82 women (mean age 24.3 yrs) with bulimia nervosa. Both tests demonstrated criterion validity by discriminating bulimia nervosa Ss from normal Ss. However, only weak support was found for the concurrent validity within bulimia Ss. Generally there was little association between the EAT or the EDI and behavioral measures, including vomiting frequency, duration of disorder, eating during test meals, thoughts while eating, and body-size distortion. It is suggested that self-report questionnaires in conjunction with direct behavioral-measures of eating and vomiting would provide the most complete assessment for bulimia nervosa. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

CD4 regulation of TCR signaling and T cell differentiation following stimulation with peptides of different affinities for the TCR

To define the role of CD4 in modulating T cell signaling pathways and regulating Th1 and Th2 differentiation, we have examined the activation and differentiation characteristics of naive T cells from CD4 mutant mice. Using peptides with differing affinities for the moth cytochrome c-specific TCR, we test the hypothesis that differences in coreceptor recruitment and signaling explain the qualitatively distinct signaling pathways seen in CD4 T cells following high affinity agonist and low affinity altered peptide ligand (APL) ligation. We find that the absence of CD4 signaling during stimulation with a strong agonist peptide does not qualitatively change the pattern of early TCR-mediated biochemical signaling events into a pattern resembling the response of CD4+ T cells to APLs. In contrast, the response to APL stimulation, by T cells bearing the same TCR, does require a component of CD4 signaling. The proliferative response and calcium signals normally seen following APL stimulation are markedly diminished in the absence of CD4. In addition, we find that naive T cell differentiation into Th2 effector cells is impaired in the absence of CD4. These data suggest that the altered pattern of biochemical signals generated by APLs require CD4 coreceptor function and that some of these signals may be required to initiate Th2 differentiation.     

Reinforced alternative behavior during punishment and extinction with rats.

Evaluated the suppressive effect of a reinforced alternative response during extinction and during punishment plus extinction in a discrimination learning paradigm with 36 male hooded rats. Although reinforcement of the alternative response did augment the suppression produced by extinction and by punishment plus extinction, the recovery which resulted when reinforcement for alternative behavior was discontinued eliminated any net reduction in extinction responses. Therefore, under the particular conditions of this study, no significant overall savings in regular extinction or in punished extinction resulted from the temporary reinforcement of alternative behavior. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contribution of selective positive reinforcement and therapeutic instructions to systematic desensitization therapy.

Ss were 30 female undergraduates with severe fear of snakes. Following treatment, the increase in approach behavior was significantly greater for Group 1 (graded hierarchy, relaxation, reinforcement, and therapeutic instructions) than for Group 2 (graded hierarchy and relaxation only). Group 2 did not differ significantly from a no-treatment control group. Results pose certain problems for reciprocal inhibition conceptions, and suggest that the effects of systematic desensitization cannot be attributed solely to the variables of a graded hierarchy plus relaxation. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resolution of the Korean War biological warfare allegations

Recently acquired documents from the former Soviet Union prove that the accusations of United States use of biological weapons during the Korean conflict were fraudulent. The article discusses the history of the allegations of biological weapons use by the United States during the Korean conflict. It also considers the basis for making false allegations of biological weapons utilization.     

Extinction and reinforcement of alternative behavior.

Examined the course of extinction of 1 behavior as a function of the presence and subsequent absence of reinforcement for alternative behavior. 4 experiments were conducted, using a total of 102 male hooded rats in 3 experiments and 30 adult White Carneaux pigeons in the 4th. Major findings are: (a) Topography and reinforcement schedule for alternative behavior had little differential effect. (b) High-frequency reinforcement of alternative behavior increased suppressive effects of extinction, and low-frequency reinforcement did not. (c) Reinforced alternative behavior maintained for a relatively long period decreased subsequent recovery of the original response programed for extinction, resulting in a substantial saving in total number of extinction responses. (d) Temporary reinforcement of alternative behavior produced more permanent suppression in the context of simple extinction than in the context of SD (change in stimulus) periods in discrimination learning. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of single-case methodology in psychotherapy research.

Discusses a new psychotherapy research strategy, the experimental analysis of single cases, which is being increasingly employed in behavior modification studies. The major single-case experimental designs used in these studies include the reversal design, withdrawal design, multiple schedule design, and multiple baseline design. Examples of these designs are presented, and the advantages and disadvantages of each design are critically discussed. Possible merits and limitations of applying controlled single-case methodology to the general area of psychotherapy research are also explored. It is concluded that in spite of limited purposes, single-case experimentation has proved to be a vital source of strength in the development and evaluation of behavior modification, and that it might be equally useful in the experimental study of other psychotherapy approaches. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)