Alan Poling

Evolution and Behavior

On June 19, 1987, the United States Supreme Court, by a 7–2 vote, struck down as unconstitutional a Louisiana act requiring its teachers to devote equal time to “creation science” if they discussed evolution in their classes. This case, which was well publicized, is but one in a long series of legal battles over the teaching of evolution in public schools. Those battles are instructive in demonstrating the great reluctance with which scientific fact is accepted when it conflicts with traditional belief. And make no mistake about it, that evolution occurred is a fact. Consistent observations and inferences by the thousands indicate that, as Stephen Jay Gould (1987–1988) affirmed: The earth is billions of years old and its living creatures are linked by ties of evolutionary descent. Scientists stand accused of promoting dogma by so stating, but do we brand people illiberal when they proclaim that the earth is neither flat nor at the center of the universe. Science has taught us some things with confidence! Evolution on an ancient earth is as well established as our planet’s shape and position. Our continuing struggle to understand how evolution happens (the “theory of evolution”) does not cast our documentation of its occurrence—the “fact of evolution”—into doubt, (p. 186)

Fundamentals of behavior analytic research

Science and Analysis of Behavior. Designing Experiments. Conducting and Socially Validating Experiments. Data Collection. Withinsubject Experimental Designs. Betweensubjects Designs and Nonexperimental Methods. Graphic Analysis of Data. Statistics. Disseminating Research Findings. Index.

The Differential Outcomes Effect

The differential outcomes effect refers specifically to the increase in speed of acquisition or terminal accuracy that occurs in discrimination training when each of two or more discriminative stimuli is correlated with a particular outcome (e.g., type of reinforcer). The present review summarizes studies concerned with the differential outcomes effect, provides a behavioral analysis of the phenomenon in terms of operant-respondent interactions, and offers suggestions for future research.

Oligomers of the amyloid-β protein disrupt working memory: Confirmation with two behavioral procedures

Converging lines of evidence suggest that oligomers of amyloid-beta play a role in the cognitive impairment characteristic of Alzheimers disease, but only three studies have provided experimental evidence of such impairment. To provide additional information about the effects of these oligomers on memory, the present study examined the memory of groups of rats exposed to ICV injections of the culture media (CM) of Chinese Hamster Ovary cells that were (7PA2) and were not (CHO-) transfected with a human mutation of amyloid precursor protein that appears to cause early-onset Alzheimers disease. The 7PA2 CM, which contained concentrations of soluble amyloid-beta oligomers physiologically relevant to those found in human brain, significantly disrupted working memory in rats tested in a radial-arm maze. In contrast, CHO- CM, which did not contain such oligomers, had no effect on memory. The disruptive effects of 7PA2-derived amyloid-beta oligomers, evident 2h after exposure, disappeared within a day. These findings are compared to results from 7PA2 CM tested under a complex procedure thought to measure aspects of executive function. The results confirm the disruptive effects of low-n amyloid-beta oligomers and extend them to a well-established rat model of memory.

Differential- Reinforcement-of-Other-Behavior Schedules Therapeutic Applications

General aspects of differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior (DRO) schedules are discussed, and nineteen studies that involved therapeutic applications of such schedules are evaluated along several dimensions. The majority of studies employed retarded children as subjects and successfully reduced some form of aggressive, disruptive, or self-injurious behavior. Tokens and food were the consequences most commonly delivered; these and other stimuli were presented contingent on periods of nonresponding that ranged at maximum across studies from five seconds to eight hours. Nearly half of the rated studies used DRO in conjunction with another response-suppressing operation, while an equal number compared two or more response-deceleration procedures. Only two studies reported data on behaviors other than those actually consequated under the DRO. Overall, the data evaluated indicate that DRO schedules can be a viable technique for reducing undesired behaviors, although the range of conditions under which these schedules have been employed is rather limited, and some confusion apparently exists concerning their operational characteristics.

Looking to the Future: Will Behavior Analysis Survive and Prosper?

Behavior analysis as a discipline currently is doing relatively well. How it will do in the future is unclear and depends on how the field, and the world at large, changes. Five current characteristics of the discipline that appear to reduce the probability that it will survive and prosper are discussed and suggestions for improvement are offered. The areas of concern are (a) the small size and limited power of the discipline, (b) the growing focus of applied behavior analysis on autism spectrum disorders and little else, (c) the esoteric nature of much basic research, (d) the proliferation of “applied” research that really isn’t applied, and (e) the widespread use of imprecise and potentially harmful technical language.

Discriminative stimulus properties of phencyclidine

Abstract Rats were trained to discriminate intraperitoneal injections of phencyclidine (4.0 mg/kg) from saline in a two-lever drug discrimination task. After reliable discrimination was established and a dose-response curve was obtained, two doses of each of a variety of agents were tested to determine whether they evoked responding on the phencyclidine-appropriate lever. All doses of the indirect dopamine agonist d -amphetamine (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg) and the direct dopamine agonist apomorphine (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg), the direct serotonin agonists LSD (0.08 and 0.16 mg/kg) and quipazine (1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg), and the anticholinergic drugs atropine (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg) and ditran (3.0 and 6.0 mg/kg) failed to produce phencyclidine-like discriminative effects, as did diazepam (8.0 and 16.0 mg/kg) and a 7.5 mg/kg dose of ketamine. A 15.0 mg/kg dose of ketamine, a compound structurally and pharmacologically similar to phencyclidine, did produce phencyclidine-like discriminative effects. The dopamine blocker haloperidol (0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg), the serotonin blocker cyproheptadine (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg), the cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine (1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg), and the nicotinic blocking agent mecamylamine (1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg) when given prior to the 4.0 mg/kg dose of phencyclidine failed to affect discrimination significantly. These compounds also failed to produce phencyclidine-like discriminative effects when given alone. Overall, these results parallel previous findings with other procedures in suggesting that the effects of phencyclidine are unique, and may reflect the wide variety of neurochemical actions produced by the drug.

Drug Abuse in Persons with Mental Retardation: A Review.

The literature on drug abuse by people with mental retardation, a real, but largely ignored problem, was reviewed. Topics addressed were (a) the prevalence of drug use, (b) the drug-related problems characteristically encountered by this population, (c) the special vulnerabilities of people with mental retardation, (d) the treatment programs used with (and appropriate for) people with mental retardation, and (e) the status of drug abuse prevention and drug education for this population. Controlled research dealing with the genesis, treatment, and prevention of drug abuse among people with mental retardation is essentially nonexistent, but badly needed.

The Schism Between Experimental and Applied Behavior Analysis: Is It Real and Who Cares?

This paper addresses the relationship between the experimental analysis of behavior and applied behavior analysis. Citation data indicate that across time the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and other experimental sources, have been referenced increasingly infrequently in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Therapy, and Behavior Research and Therapy. Such sources are now rarely cited in these journals, and never have been regularly referenced in Behavior Modification. Although their proper interpretation is far from certain, these data partially support recent suggestions that the experimental analysis of behavior and applied behavior analysis are largely separate, insular fields. A questionnaire, mailed to the editorial staffs of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, was intended to gather further information about the alleged schism between the fields. Few respondents regularly read both journals, publish in both journals, or find both journals useful in their current research efforts. The majority of editors of both journals indicated that the fields were growing apart, although there was no consensus that this is harmful for behavior analysis. Most editors of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis reported that research published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior has decreased in value to applied researchers across time; most editors of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior indicated that research published there has not changed in applied value. Several respondents commented at length concerning the relationship of experimental and applied behavior analysis. These comments, many of which appear in the article, reveal a marked plurality of views.

MDMA and learning: effects of acute and neurotoxic exposure in the rat.

In two experiments, the effects of MDMA on the acquisition of lever-press responding of rats were examined under procedures in which water delivery was delayed by 0, 10, or 20 s relative to the response that produced it. In the first study, experimentally naive, water-deprived rats received an intraperitoneal injection of MDMA (0, 1.0, 3.2, or 5.6 mg/kg) prior to one 8-h experimental session. Response acquisition was observed under all conditions at all drug doses. MDMA increased the total number of responses emitted and the total number of water deliveries earned in dose-dependent fashion, but only when reinforcement was immediate. Under conditions of delay, MDMA had no effect on either measure. Under all reinforcement conditions, higher doses of MDMA typically produced an initial reduction in lever pressing, and in that sense interfered with learning. In the second study, rats received an MDMA injection regimen previously shown to be neurotoxic. Control rats received saline solution according to the same injection schedule. Two weeks after completing the regimen, rats were water deprived and exposed to behavioral procedures as described for the first experiment. Although MDMA significantly reduced 5-HT and 5-HIAA levels in the striatum and prefrontal cortex, mean performance of rats exposed to MDMA did not differ from that of rats exposed to vehicle. Twenty-five percent of the rats exposed to MDMA and delayed reinforcement did fail to acquire responding, which suggests that further study of the effects of neurotoxic doses of MDMA on initial response acquisition is warranted.