Martha Pelaez

Derived Relational Responding and Performance on Verbal Subtests of the WAIS-III

Twenty-six monolingual and 46 bilingual college students were assigned to 2 groups on the basis of their performance on a complex relational task, an empirical model of instructional control (O’Hora, Barnes-Holmes, Roche, & Smeets, 2004). The subjects were then exposed to the vocabulary, arithmetic, and digit-symbol encoding subtests of the WAIS-ili. Subjects (N = 31) who successfully completed the relational task performed significantly better on the vocabulary and arithmetic subtests than those subjects (N = 44) who failed to do so. No significant differences in relational task performances of these 2 groups were obtained on the digit-symbol encoding subtest. In post-hoc statistical analyses, a low but significant correlation was obtained between the vocabulary and arithmetic scores and the percentage of correct responses emitted in 1 particular training phase of the relational task. Monolingual and bilingual subjects’ performances were not significantly different in either the relational task or the WAIS subtests. These findings support the position that derived relational performances may provide a behavioral approach to human language abilities.

TEMPORAL RELATIONS AND INTELLIGENCE : CORRELATING RELATIONAL PERFORMANCE WITH PERFORMANCE ON THE WAIS-III

Relational frame theory (RFT) explicitly suggests that derived relational responding underlies complex verbally-based cognitive performances. The current study investigated whether the ability to respond in accordance with temporal relations between stimuli was predictive of performance on the four indices of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, third edition (WAIS-III). In line with RFT predictions, for 81 undergraduate students between 18 and 48 years old, successfully completing a temporal relational task predicted better performance on the Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Organization indices but not on the Working Memory or Processing Speed indices. In addition, correlations observed between the percentage of correct temporal relational responses and individual subscales demonstrated strong within-index homogeneity, which highlights the utility of the index factor structure in WAIS-III.

REINFORCEMENT OF VOCALIZATIONS THROUGH CONTINGENT VOCAL IMITATION

Maternal vocal imitation of infant vocalizations is highly prevalent during face-to-face interactions of infants and their caregivers. Although maternal vocal imitation has been associated with later verbal development, its potentially reinforcing effect on infant vocalizations has not been explored experimentally. This study examined the reinforcing effect of maternal vocal imitation of infant vocalizations using a reversal probe BAB design. Eleven 3- to 8-month-old infants at high risk for developmental delays experienced contingent maternal vocal imitation during reinforcement conditions. Differential reinforcement of other behavior served as the control condition. The behavior of 10 infants showed evidence of a reinforcement effect. Results indicated that vocal imitations can serve to reinforce early infant vocalizations.

Contingent and Noncontingent Reinforcement With Maternal Vocal Imitation and Motherese Speech: Effects on Infant Vocalizations

This paper examines the reinforcing effects of two maternal vocal topographies on infant vocalizations. Two groups of 3- to 8-month-old infants underwent a probe multi-element design with noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) as control condition, and two forms of contingent reinforcement (CR) as treatment: contingent maternal vocal imitation for the first group (n = 19), and contingent motherese speech for the second group (n = 16). Condition sequence was comprised of a baseline phase with no programmed consequences followed by CR1-NCR1-CR2-NCR2. Results revealed that both maternal vocal imitation and motherese speech reinforced infant vocalizations. For the imitation group, frequency of infant vocalizations during NCR1 was lower than CR1 in all but 5 participants and infant vocalization during NCR2 was lower than CR2 in all but 7 participants. For the motherese speech group, frequency of infant vocalizations during NCR1 was lower than CR1 in all but 8 participants and infant vocalizations during NCR2 was lower than CR2 in all but 4 participants. Repeated measures ANOVA indicated that infant vocal responding was significantly higher during CR as opposed to NCR in both groups. Effect magnitudes ranged from moderate to high (Cohen’s d = 0.33-0.99). Although maternal vocalization may have an eliciting effect on infant vocalization, the results of this study support the view that specific forms of contingent maternal vocal stimulation can reinforce early infant vocalizations effectively. These findings may provide a basis for early language acquisition programs in infants with and without delays.

Infants at risk of autism and developmental disorders: Establishing early social skills.

In the present paper we discuss early markers of infants and children at risk of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders, and review studies that use operant contingencies to shape critical social skills in both typically and atypically developing infants. We emphasize the use of operant learning models to facilitate the early acquisition of infant social skills including eye contact, joint attention, vocal responding, and social referencing. We discuss research that has shown how specific contingencies of reinforcement can be implemented by caregivers to promote the development of their infants’ social behaviors. The assumption is that by strengthening these early social repertoires, the severity of subsequent developmental problems can be lessened or mitigated in those infants who are identified as at risk.

Dimensions of Rules and Their Correspondence to Rule-Governed Behavior

I present an account of different types of rules in terms of form and function, their dimensions, and their correspondence to rule-following behavior. I identify five dimensions of rules (as verbal stimuli) and relate them the listener’s behavior (rule-following) and the listener’s history of contingencies. This classification is according to rule: (a) explicitness (or implicitness), (b) accuracy (congruence or correspondence), (c) complexity (first order, second order conditional discriminations), (d) source (given by others or self), and (e) time (immediate, delayed, or remote). The main premise is that the probability that the listener will behave according to the contingencies specified on a given rule would depend on these dimensions, the context in which the rule is provided, and the listener’s history with the rule or similar rules. Even though experimental manipulations of different types of rules (e.g., instructions) have been conducted in studies of stimulus equivalence, rule-following, say-do correspondence, relational frames, and derived stimulus relations, I emphasize here the need for updating the concept and for a systematic analysis of the differential effects of the dimensions of rules on rule following.

Operant conditioning methodologies to investigate infant learning

ABSTRACT This article describes operant conditioning methodologies that have been essential to furthering our understanding of infant learning processes. We discuss diverse procedures and assessments that have yielded useful information about prenatal, postnatal, neonatal, and infant learning, as well as preferences for various auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile stimulation. In addition, the applicability of contingency-based operant procedures such as high-amplitude nonnutritive sucking, synchronized face-to-face reinforcement, conjugate reinforcement and discrimination training procedures for studying infant perception, memory, vocal conditioning, social referencing, attachment, and fears is presented. Also, methodologies such as yoked-control procedures that distinguish between the reinforcement contingencies effects and the eliciting effects of social stimuli like Motherese speech and adult vocal imitation are described as ways to further refine functional analyses of infant learning. Overall, we provide a framework toward establishing operant conditioning methodologies as essential research tools for understanding infant learning phenomena.

“Hidden” Skills and Deficits in the Emergence of Autism

Autism encompasses a set of pluralistic developmental behavioral interactions that are organized into patterns that are both characteristic of the autism diagnosis and unique to the individual. We discuss three aspects underlying the development of autism: nonlinearity, cusps, and the notion of “hidden” skills and deficits. Autistic characteristics may suddenly emerge from skills previously undetected. Because these skills are necessary but not sufficient for the development of other behaviors, they can be identified as behavioral cusps. Because these skills are “hidden” (not readily observed), identifying and assessing them is a challenge to researchers and clinicians. In this paper we discuss some typical hidden skills and deficits that may contribute to the development of autistic behavior and provide examples of how they function developmentally in autism. Early detections of these skills and deficits are crucial for establishing the behavioral developmental cusps for typical development and avoiding the cusps for the development of autism.

Infant vocalizations and imitation as a result of adult contingent imitation.

Previous studies have shown that vocal imitation is critical in the development of early language acquisition; however, few studies have evaluated the use of socially mediated reinforcement to increase infant vocal imitation. This brief report contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating the impact that adult vocal imitation may have on the frequency of infant vocalizations. Specifically, the present study compared the use of contingent and noncontingent adult responses following infant vocalizations and infant vocal imitation of 3 infants of typical development ranging from 3 to 14 months of age. By implementing an alternating treatment design, results suggested that adult contingent vocal imitation produces the highest frequency of infant vocalization and infant vocal imitation.

Rules, Rule-Governed Behavior, and Organizational Change in a Large Metropolitan Research University.

We examine the use of rules to influence organizational change in a large metropolitan research university. The macrobehaviors of interest involved student success metrics (such as on-time graduation) that are part of the performance metrics favored by the university system’s selecting environments, such as the Florida State University System’s Board of Governors, federal funding programs, and national philanthropic organizations. Five dimensions of a recently revised taxonomy of rules and rule-governed behavior (Pelaez, 2013) are used to analyze rules that have been introduced to effect the desired behavioral change in students. The context is Florida International University (Miami), and the change effort is its national award-winning Graduation Success Initiative (GSI; 2011–2015). The interrelated GSI interventions are large and complex. Therefore, isolating and evaluating each individual intervention has not been possible. However, the GSI’s cumulative effect appears to have been to help to increase on-time graduation by 16 points in 4 years. The manipulation of rules specifying contingencies seems to have played an important role in that success and is the subject of this discussion.