Adam T. Brewer

A TUTORIAL ON THE USE OF EXCEL 2010 AND EXCEL FOR MAC 2011 FOR CONDUCTING DELAY-DISCOUNTING ANALYSES

In recent years, researchers and practitioners in the behavioral sciences have profited from a growing literature on delay discounting. The purpose of this article is to provide readers with a brief tutorial on how to use Microsoft Office Excel 2010 and Excel for Mac 2011 to analyze discounting data to yield parameters for both the hyperbolic discounting model and area under the curve. This tutorial is intended to encourage the quantitative analysis of behavior in both research and applied settings by readers with relatively little formal training in nonlinear regression.

DELAY DISCOUNTING IN LEWIS AND FISCHER 344 RATS: STEADY‐STATE AND RAPID‐DETERMINATION ADJUSTING‐AMOUNT PROCEDURES

Lewis rats have been shown to make more impulsive choices than Fischer 344 rats in discrete-trial choice procedures that arrange fixed (i.e., nontitrating) reinforcement parameters. However, nontitrating procedures yield only gross estimates of preference, as choice measures in animal subjects are rarely graded at the level of the individual subject. The present study was designed to examine potential strain differences in delay discounting using an adjusting-amount procedure, in which distributed (rather than exclusive) choice is observed due to dynamic titration of reinforcer magnitude across trials. Using a steady-state version of the adjusting-amount procedure in which delay was manipulated between experimental conditions, steeper delay discounting was observed in Lewis rats compared to Fischer 344 rats; further, delay discounting in both strains was well described by the traditional hyperbolic discounting model. However, upon partial completion of the present study, a study published elsewhere (Wilhelm & Mitchell, 2009) demonstrated no difference in delay discounting between these strains with the use of a more rapid version of the adjusting-amount procedure (i.e., in which delay is manipulated daily). Thus, following completion of the steady-state assessment in the present study, all surviving Lewis and Fischer 344 rats completed an approximation of this rapid-determination procedure in which no strain difference in delay discounting was observed.

The tipping point: Value differences and parallel dorsal-ventral frontal circuits gating human approach-avoidance behavior

Excessive avoidance and diminished approach behavior are both prominent features of anxiety, trauma and stress related disorders. Despite this, little is known about the neuronal mechanisms supporting gating of human approach-avoidance behavior. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to track dorsal anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal (dACC/dmPFC) activation along an approach-avoidance continuum to assess sensitivity to competing appetitive and aversive contingencies and correspondence with behavior change. Behavioral and fMRI experiments were conducted using a novel approach-avoidance task where a monetary reward appeared in the presence of a conditioned stimulus (CS), or threat, that signaled increasing probability of unconditioned stimulus (US) delivery. Approach produced the reward or probabilistic US, while avoidance prevented US delivery, and across trials, reward remained fixed while the CS threat level varied unpredictably. Increasing the CS threat level (i.e., US probability) produced the desired approach-avoidance transition and inverted U-shaped changes in decision times, electrodermal activity and activation in pregenual ACC, dACC/dmPFC, striatum, anterior insula and inferior frontal regions. Conversely, U-shaped changes in activation were observed in dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex and bimodal changes in the orbitofrontal and ventral hippocampus. These new results show parallel dorsal-ventral frontal circuits support gating of human approach-avoidance behavior where dACC/dmPFC signals inversely correlate with value differences between approach and avoidance contingencies while ventral frontal signals correlate with the value of predictable outcomes. Our findings provide an important bridge between basic research on brain mechanisms of value-guided decision-making and value-focused clinical theories of anxiety and related interventions.

The sensitivity and specificity of the social communication questionnaire for autism spectrum with respect to age

The age neutrality of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was examined as a common screener for ASD. Mixed findings have been reported regarding the recommended cutoff scores ability to accurately classify an individual as at‐risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (sensitivity) versus accurately classifying an individual as not at‐risk for ASD (specificity). With a sample from the National Database for Autism Research, this study examined the SCQs sensitivity versus specificity. Analyses indicated that the actual sensitivity and specificity scores were lower than initially reported by the creators of the SCQ. Autism Res 2016, 9: 838–845.

Not so bad: avoidance and aversive discounting modulate threat appraisal in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex

The dorsal anterior cingulate (adACC) and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) play a central role in the discrimination and appraisal of threatening stimuli. Yet, little is known about what specific features of threatening situations recruit these regions and how avoidance may modulate appraisal and activation through prevention of aversive events. In this investigation, 30 healthy adults underwent functional neuroimaging while completing an avoidance task in which responses to an Avoidable CS+ threat prevented delivery of an aversive stimulus, but not to an Unavoidable CS+ threat. Extinction testing was also completed where CSs were presented without aversive stimulus delivery and an opportunity to avoid. The Avoidable CS+ relative to the Unavoidable CS+ was associated with reductions in ratings of negative valence, fear, and US expectancy and activation. Greater regional activation was consistently observed to the Unavoidable CS+ during avoidance, which declined during extinction. Individuals exhibiting greater aversive discounting—that is, those more avoidant of immediate monetary loss compared to a larger delayed loss—also displayed greater activation to the Unavoidable CS+, highlighting aversive discounting as a significant individual difference variable. These are the first results linking adACC/dmPFC reactivity to avoidance-based reductions of aversive events and modulation of activation by individual differences in aversive discounting.

Advance Notice for Transition-Related Problem Behavior: Practice Guidelines

Transitions between daily activities can occasion or elicit problem behavior in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Providing advance notice to signal an upcoming transition is a common practice in early and special education settings (e.g., Riffel 2010; Sandall et al. 2005). While the literature contains many demonstrations of the efficacy of various advance notice procedures, other studies have shown negative results. Practitioners are faced with the challenge of deciding whether advance notice is a viable treatment option for transition-related problem behavior in light of these contradictory findings. To assist the practitioner in this decision-making process, we provide a brief review of the advance notice literature, concentrating on the studies reporting that advance notice is ineffective at reducing transition-related problems. The goal is to provide practitioners with a better understanding of the environmental conditions under which advance notice is likely to be ineffective at decreasing problem behavior as well as the conditions under which it can be effective at reducing transition-related problem behavior. Discriminating these conditions may yield a useful set of practice guidelines for deciding when advance notice is a viable treatment option for decreasing transition-related problem behavior.

Aversive properties of negative incentive shifts in Fischer 344 and Lewis rats

&NA; Research on incentive contrast highlights that reward value is not absolute but rather is based upon comparisons we make to rewards we have received and expect to receive. Both human and nonhuman studies on incentive contrast show that shifting from a larger more‐valued reward to a smaller less‐valued reward is associated with long periods of nonresponding – a negative contrast effect. In this investigation, we used two different genetic rat strains, Fischer 344 and Lewis rats that putatively differ in their sensitivity to aversive stimulation, to assess the aversive properties of large‐to‐small reward shifts (negative incentive shifts). Additionally, we examined the extent to which increasing cost (fixed‐ratio requirements) modulates negative contrast effects. In the presence of a cue that signaled the upcoming reward magnitude, lever pressing was reinforced with one of two different magnitudes of food (large or small). This design created two contrast shifts (small‐to‐large, large‐to‐small) and two shifts used as control conditions (small‐to‐small, large‐to‐large). Results showed a significant interaction between rat strain and cost requirements only during the negative incentive shift with the emotionally reactive Fischer 344 rats exhibiting significantly longer response latencies with increasing cost, highlighting greater negative contrast. These findings are more consistent with emotionality accounts of negative contrast and results of neurophysiological research that suggests shifting from a large to a small reward is aversive. Findings also highlight how subjective reward value and motivation is a product of gene‐environment interactions. HIGHLIGHTSNegative incentive contrast is characterized by increased response latencies for an upcoming small reward when preceded by a larger reward.We evaluated the aversive properties of negative incentive contrast using an operant, simultaneous contrast paradigm.Fischer 344 and Lewis rats were exposed to incentive shifts across a range of fixed‐ratios (costs).Fischer 344 rats showed greater negative incentive contrast than Lewis rats and cost‐modulated effects.Negative incentive shifts may elicit negative affective responses in line with emotionality accounts of negative incentive contrast.

Evaluating the Ability of the PBS Children’s Show Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood to Teach Skills to Two Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is a children’s television show incorporating many elements of video modeling, an intervention that can teach skills to children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study evaluated the impact of watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood episodes on the accurate performance of trying new foods and stopping play politely with two five-year-old children with ASD. Both children showed improved performance of skills only following exposure to episodes of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, suggesting that watching episodes can help children with ASD learn specific skills.

Telehealth and in-person training outcomes for novice discrete trial training therapists: TELEHEALTH AND IN-PERSON TRAINING

The efficacy and efficiency of telehealth and in-person training were compared while teaching seven undergraduate students to implement components of discrete trial training. A multiple-baseline design across skills with elements of multiple probe and delayed multiple baseline combined with an alternating-treatments design was used to evaluate the effects of behavioral skills training (BST) on (a) implementing a multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment, (b) setting up an instructional context, (c) delivering antecedent prompts, and (d) delivering consequences for accurate and inaccurate responding. Two skills were trained via telehealth and two skills were trained in-person using BST procedures with a mock student. All participants provided high acceptability ratings for both training procedures. Results also showed that telehealth training was as efficacious and efficient as in-person training for all skills across all participants. Five of six participants showed high levels of maintenance of the newly acquired skills; these five also exhibited the skills during a novel instructional task.

Toward a better basic understanding of operant-respondent interactions: Translational research on phobias.

A promising area of study that emerged from the early days of the experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) was the study of aversive control. However, research on this topic has declined and has largely been neglected in contemporary experimental psychopathology. To address the challenge of promoting growth in this area, this paper proposes a revival of basic research by incorporating the examination of complex human problems such as anxiety disorders (e.g., phobias) to increase our understanding of basic behavioral processes and improve the efficacy of our applied treatments by first considering fundamental operant-respondent interactions underlying phobias. Past and future work involving operant-respondent interactions are discussed as well as opportunities for cross-pollination with other disciplines.