Deborah Grossett

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.

Participation by women in behavior analysis.

The participation of women in behavior analysis as authors of articles published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), as members of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA), and as contributors to the 1982 ABA convention was examined. Since the inception of JEAB and JABA, men have appeared as authors far more frequently than women, although women have published relatively more frequently in the latter journal than in the former. Across years, there has been an upward trend in the proportion of JEAB authors who are female; this is not the case for all JABA authors, although it does hold for senior authors. In 1980–1981 and 1981–1982, females represented approximately half of ABA’s student and affiliate members but less than a third of its full members. Approximately a third of the contributors to posters and symposia and a seventh of those delivering invited addresses at the 1982 ABA convention were women.

Basic Research Designs in Applied Behavior Analysis

Applied behavior analysis relies on experimentation to assess the efficacy of interventions. Experimentation involves the measurement of one physical event, the dependent variable, under conditions where the value of a second physical event, the independent variable, is manipulated systematically. If the value of the dependent variable covaries lawfully with the value of the independent variable, a functional relation is evident. Functional relations are the basis of scientific laws; such relations allow for the prediction and control, hence the understanding, of phenomena studied as dependent variables. The logical configuring of conditions that allows changes in a dependent variable to be attributed to the actions of an independent variable is termed the experimental design. Although many specific experimental designs are capable of demonstrating functional relations, a limited number of designs are favored by applied behavior analysts. The purpose of this chapter is to describe these designs.

Effects of valproic acid and ethosuximide on the responding of pigeons maintained under a multiple fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedule of food delivery

The effects of valproic acid and ethosuximide were examined in pigeons responding under a multiple Fixed-Ratio 50 Fixed-Interval 90-sec schedule of food delivery. When given acutely 30 min prior to behavioral testing, both valproic acid (40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 mg/kg) and ethosuximide (40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 mg/kg) produced generally dose-dependent decreases in responding under both the Fixed-Ratio and Fixed-Interval components. Detailed analysis of drug effects on the temporal distribution of responding under the Fixed-Interval failed to reveal rate-dependent effects for either drug. Varying the presession injection interval from 15 to 120 min indicated that both valproic acid and ethosuximide reduced responding to the greatest extent when given 30 or 60 min before behavioral testing. These results indicate that the anticonvulsants valproic acid and ethosuximide similarly affect schedule-controlled responding, although previous studies have revealed the drugs to have different effects under other procedures.

Medication regimen: A subject characteristic rarely reported in behavior modification studies

The present study determined whether articles describing attempts to alter behavior in mentally retarded participants through nonpharmacological interventions typically specify whether participants received medication during the experiments. From 1978 through 1982, the vast majority of such articles published in the American Journal of Mental Deficiency, Behavior Modification, Behavior Therapy, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and Mental Retardation failed to specify whether participants were receiving drugs. In addition, very few articles examined pharmacological interventions or attempted to address the interaction of drug and nondrug treatments.

Tripelennamine and pentazocine alone and in combination: Effects on interresponse-time-greater-than-t responding of rats

The effects of tripelennamine (3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 mg/kg) and pentazocine (5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/kg), given alone and in selected combinations, were determined in rats performing under an interresponse-time-greater-than-15-sec schedule of food delivery. Each drug alone produced statistically insignificant increases in response rates and statistically significant decreases in reinforcement rates. Combinations produced effects identical in direction to, and significantly greater than, those predicted by a simple additive model.

Effects of pentazocine and tripelennamine on analgesia.

The analgesic effects of pentazocine and tripelennamine, alone and in combination, were assessed in rats with a hot plate apparatus. In Experiment 1, the combination of tripelennamine with chronic pentazocine produced analgesia at doses which were not analgesic when the drugs were given alone. This combination also reestablished analgesia in subjects made tolerant to pentazocines effects. In Experiment 2, development of tolerance to the analgesic effects of pentazocine was delayed by addition of tripelennamine. These data may contribute to a rationale for the current popularity of combined pentazocine and tripelennamine abuse.

The development of tolerance to morphine under discrete-trial fixed-ratio, automaintenance, and negative automaintenance procedures

The development of tolerance to morphine was examined under discrete-trial procedures in which (1) keypecks produced food delivery (fixed ratio 1), (2) keypecks had no effect on food delivery (automaintenance), and (3) keypecks prevented food delivery (negative auto- maintenance). Morphine at doses of 8 and 16 mg/kg initially decreased pecking under each procedure. Tolerance to morphine rapidly developed in all birds under the fixed-ratio procedure and in three of four birds under the automaintenance procedure. However, under the negative automaintenance procedure, tolerance failed to develop in all birds. These findings generally are in keeping with an analysis of tolerance that emphasizes drug-induced reinforcement loss and gain as determinants of tolerance development.

Negative Automaintenance: Performance of Pigeons under Selective Omission Training Procedures

Pigeons were exposed to autoshaping procedures in which 6-second key illuminations (trials) were occasionally followed by food. In Experiment 1, fewer keypecks occurred during trials in which pecks prevented food delivery with a probability of .33, .67, or 1 than during those in which food was presented equally often but pecking was without programmed consequences, although the difference was statistically significant only when the probability of food omission was 1. In general, less responding occurred during trials where pecks prevented food delivery with a probability of 1 than during trials where pecks prevented food delivery with a probability of .33 or .67. In Experiment 2, responding of master birds typically decreased as the probability of food omission was increased from .33 to 1. Yoked birds, which received food as often as master birds but were never directly exposed to omission dependencies, responded significantly more than master birds when the probability of food omission for the latter was .17, .50, .67, .83, and 1, but not when it was .33. For master birds, the stimulus associated with the lowest probability of food omission evoked the majority of responses in simultaneous choice trials. Yoked subjects behaved similarly during choice trials, but sometimes evidenced a preference for white key illuminations not shown by master birds. These findings suggest that negative responsefood dependencies, even when intermittently imposed, can demonstrably affect auto shaped keypecking.

Effects of tripelennamine and pentazocine alone and in combination on fixed-ratio responding of rats

The effects of tripelennamine (3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 mg/kg) and pentazocine (5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/kg), given alone and in selected combinations, were determined in rats performing under a fixed-ratio 30 schedule of food delivery. Each drug alone produced generally dosedependent decreases in response rates. Combinations typically produced effects identical in direction to, and occasionally greater in magnitude than, those predicted by a simple additive model.