Frode Svartdal

Sensitivity to nonverbal operant contingencies: Do limited processing resources affect operant conditioning in humans?

Abstract Two experiments tested whether invoked strain of cognitive resources reduced or prevented sensitivity of human behavior to nonverbal operant contingencies. If processing of a nonverbal operant contingency requires use of a limited-capacity central-processing mechanism, sensitivity to that contingency should be negatively affected by limitation of processing resources. In Experiment 1, availability of processing resources was manipulated by arranging two discrimination tasks, one easy and one difficult. The operant contingency was superimposed on the instructed discrimination task. Unknown to the subjects, outcomes (i.e., reinforcers) depended on the force of pressing and not on the discrimination performance. Reliable adaptation to the operant contingency was observed under the difficult discrimination condition only, indicating that availability of cognitive processing resources is not critical for the processing of an operant contingency. Experiment 2 exposed subjects to the operant contingency superimposed on a very difficult discrimination task. Again, behavior adapted to the operant contingency. Postexperimental interviews and questionnaires revealed no indication of verbalization or awareness of the operant contingency. Taken together, the present data show that processing of nonsalient contigencies is not prevented when verbal and attentional control are diverted from the critical contingency. In addition, an assumption that allocation of conscious processing resources is necessary for adaptation to nonverbal operant contingencies in humans is not supported.

Does Color Synesthesia Pose a Paradox for Early-Selection Theories of Attention?

P.M. is a synesthete who experiences colors when viewing alphanumeric symbols. Her search for a target differing from distractors by a synesthetic color feature takes the form of a pop-out search. Thus, it would seem that synesthesia can occur preattentively. However, discrepancies between the regression functions of response times observed in target-present trials and target-absent trials, and the fact that fast response times occur only when the target is within a few degrees of visual angle from fixation, indicate that P.M.s synesthesia does not occur preattentively, but rather is within the focus of attention. We conclude that synesthesia is a genuine perceptual phenomenon that can have substantial influence on visual processing.

Aggression Replacement Training in Norway: Outcome evaluation of 11 Norwegian student projects

Eleven groups of students performed a 24‐session intervention based on Aggression Replacement Training (ART) as part of their further education programme. Subjects were 65 children and young people with varying degrees of behavioural problems. Forty‐seven subjects received the ART programme. Eighteen received standard social and educational services and served as comparison subjects. Social problems and skills were assessed before and after the ART intervention using multi‐informant instruments (SSRS, CADBI, HIT, CBCL). Informants in the ART group indicated significant improvement following the intervention, both in terms of increased social skills and reduced behavioural problems; in contrast, informants in the comparison group did not generally indicate improvement.

Working harder for less: effect of incentive value on force of instrumental response in humans.

The present article reports evidence from human subjects that high payoff for instrumental performance may cause reduced vigour of response compared to the vigour observed for lower payoffs. Vigour of response, as measured by force of pressing (Experiment 1) and number of fortune wheel turns (Experiment 2), was inversely related to payoffs, with higher vigour in the low payoff conditions. Experiment 2 further demonstrated this effect, regardless of whether or not payoff depended on performance. These findings are related to parallel animal data, and an analysis in terms of a learned incentive-effort hypothesis is offered. Experiment 3 presented support for this hypothesis. The results are argued to be of importance to the understanding of how reinforcers affect human instrumental performance.

Effects of reinforcer value on sensitivity to non-verbal operant contingencies in humans

The present experiment investigated effects of reinforcer value on sensitivity to operant force contingencies in humans. Subjects were exposed to non-salient, non-verbal operant contingencies with feedback stimuli of either low or high motivational value. Subjects who received feedback stimuli with back-up reinforcers of high motivational value demonstrated reliable adjustment to the arranged force contingencies, whereas force changes in subjects receiving low motivational feedback stimuli were unreliable. In accordance with standard animal findings, these results indicate that reinforcer value may affect operant conditioning in humans, but its effects are hypothesized to be confined to conditioning that is not mediated verbally.

Social Competence as a Mediating Factor in Reduction of Behavioral Problems

The main purpose of the present study was to explore how social competence reduces behavioral problems. Based on previous findings, we assume that increased social competence can be regarded as a mediating factor in reducing behavior problems. All participants (children and adolescents, n = 112) received an intervention intended to increase social competence: Aggresion Replacement Training (ART). Social competence and problem behavior were assessed twice before the ART intervention and then twice afterwards. Both measures improved following the training period, but no changes occurred during the pre-training period. Further, behavioral problems continued to reduce notably in follow-up probes after the training period. More detailed analyses indicate that in youngsters, increased social competence (e.g., improved self-control and cooperation) mediates the effect of ART on behavioral problems, but important moderating factors (e.g., age, individual levels of social competence, and problem behavior) need to be taken into consideration.

Diffusion of treatment interventions: exploration of ‘secondary’ treatment diffusion

Abstract The present report presents outcome results from a randomized controlled effect study on extended Aggression Replacement Training (ART). In a pre–post design, a 30-hour ART intervention was found to significantly reduce behavioral problems and increase social skills. The control group did not demonstrate comparable changes, but still indicated improvement. Such control-group improvement may be caused by improper treatment and control group implementation (diffusion of treatment) and/or ‘secondary’ diffusion caused by participants in the treatment group affecting control group subjects by demonstrating changed behavior. Both mechanisms were explored, and it is concluded that the improvement observed in the control group was due to such ‘secondary diffusion’. Implications of these findings are discussed.

On the Measurement of Procrastination: Comparing Two Scales in Six European Countries

Procrastination is a common problem, but defining and measuring it has been subject to some debate. This paper summarizes results from students and employees (N = 2893) in Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Sweden using the Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS) and the Irrational Procrastination Scale (IPS; Steel, 2010), both assumed to measure unidimensional and closely related constructs. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated inadequate configural fit for the suggested one-factor model for PPS; however, acceptable fit was observed for a three-factor model corresponding to the three different scales the PPS is based on. Testing measurement invariance over countries and students–employees revealed configural but not strong or strict invariance, indicating that both instruments are somewhat sensitive to cultural differences. We conclude that the PPS and IPS are valid measures of procrastination, and that the PPS may be particularly useful in assessing cultural differences in unnecessary delay.

Comparability of the Social Skills Improvement System to the Social Skills Rating System: A Norwegian Study.

The Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales (SSIS-RS) is a multi-informant instrument assessing social skills and problem behavior in children and adolescents. It is a revised version of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS). A Norwegian translation of the SSRS has been validated, but this has not yet been done for the Norwegian translation of the SSIS-RS. This study compared the Norwegian versions of the SSRS and the SSIS-RS administered to samples of children (aged 8–12 and 13–16 years) and their parents and teachers (n = 599). The results indicated moderate to strong relations between the common subscales across all forms of the two instruments and acceptable to excellent internal consistency across all common subscales. We conclude that the SSIS-RS is a good instrument for measuring social skills and problem behavior among children and adolescents in Norway.

Extinction after partial reinforcement: Predicted vs. judged persistence

The partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE) (i.e., increased persistence following partial reward) is one of the most important generalizations from experimental studies of learning. Many theories of PREE assume that it involves cognitive and emotional mechanisms, but investigations of PREE have focused almost exclusively on behavioral measures. Four experiments with human adults investigated whether PREE is also reflected in cognitive measures. Independent groups of subjects learned an instrumental response under CRF vs. PRF contingencies, and then predicted (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) and/or judged (Experiments 3 and 4) their own persistence under extinction conditions. Predictions of persistcnce were unrelated to prior continuous or partial reinforcement contingencies (Experiments 1, 2, and 3), but subsequent judgments of persistence behavior were accurate (Experiments 3 and 4). These results indicate that increased persistence due to occasional reward is not well represented cognitively prior to its behavioral manifestation, but it is well represented after that manifestation. Possible explanations and implications of this apparent behavior cognition dissociation are discussed.