A Prospective Sequential Analysis of the Relation Between Physical Aggression and Peer Rejection Acts in a High-Risk Preschool Sample.

Research Findings: In early childhood education, the social ecology of the child is considered critical for healthy behavioral development. There is, however, relatively little information based on directly observing what children do that describes the moment-by-moment (i.e., sequential) relation between physical aggression and peer rejection acts in early childhood contexts. Such information could be useful for policy and practice because it may inform specific intervention targets. In this descriptive study, a real-time direct observation protocol was used to measure the frequency of physically aggressive acts and peer rejection acts. The sequential association between directly observed physical aggression and peer rejection acts was examined for 5 high-risk preschool children (Child Behavior Checklist/Teacher Report Form clinical scores) at the beginning (Time 1 [T1]) and end (Time 2 [T2]) of their preschool year. Descriptive analyses showed that both aggression and peer rejection acts increased over the course of the preschool year. Sequential analyses showed that there was a significant (p < .05) increase in the likelihood of physical aggression followed by peer rejection acts from T1 to T2 as indexed by Yule's Q (a transformed odds ratio that controls for differences in the frequencies of children's target behavior). Similarly, there was a significant (p < .05) increase in the likelihood of peer rejection acts followed by physical aggression from T1 to T2. Practice or Policy: Considering the long-term adversity that aggression and related early conduct problems can introduce into the education and social service system, additional studies using direct observation to study early social dynamics between peer rejection acts and physical aggression in at-risk children seem warranted to improve experts' ability to disrupt this developmental trajectory and improve peer relationships.

A steady-state test of the demand curve analysis of relative reinforcer efficacy.

The demand curve analysis of relative reinforcer efficacy predicts that preference for 1 reinforcer over another may be predicted from relative levels of consumption under single-schedule conditions. Prior experiments with human cigarette smokers have largely confirmed this prediction, but because subjects completed only 1 session under each arrangement, questions remain about the stability of single and concurrent-schedule (choice) performances. In addition, no prior tests of this prediction of the demand curve analysis have used nonhuman subjects, so questions remain about the effects of instructions and demand characteristics. In the present study, the authors examined pigeons' steady-state preferences in a closed economy across a wide range of concurrent fixed-ratio and random-ratio (RR) schedules. On the basis of the pigeons' single-schedule consumption, the demand curve analysis qualitatively predicted indifference at low ratio values and preference for the RR alternative at higher ratio values. These predictions proved correct in 88% of the cases in which the analysis predicted preferences in individual subjects at specific concurrent-schedule values. These findings offer preliminary support for the position that the predictions of the demand curve analysis hold true when steady-state performances are assessed. They also offer preliminary evidence that previous confirmations of the demand curve analysis were not due to the influence of instructions or to demand characteristics of the human laboratory setting. These findings supplement prior questioning of the coherence and utility of traditional measures of relative reinforcer efficacy.

Employment as a health promotion intervention for persons with multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between employment status (no employment, part-time employment, and full-time employment) and functional disability, health-related quality of life, and life satisfaction of people with MS. METHODS: 157 individuals with MS completed a survey packet, including employment status, self-report disability severity, and health-related scales. A series of multivariate analysis of variance was performed to determine the differences between employment groups in health-related outcomes. RESULTS: The unemployed group had the highest levels of incapacity and social impairments among the three groups. They also had the lowest physical health-related quality of life and life satisfaction. The part-time employed group had the lowest levels of depression and higher levels of physical activity participation among the three groups of individuals with MS. CONCLUSIONS: Employment is significantly related to health-related quality of life, and as a result, it should be considered an important public health intervention for people with MS.

Calculating contingencies in natural environments: issues in the application of sequential analysis.

Analysis and interpretation of behavior-environment relations are increasingly being conducted with data that have been derived descriptively. This paper provides an overview of the logic that underlies a sequential analytic approach to the analysis of descriptive data. Several methods for quantifying sequential relations are reviewed along with their strengths and weaknesses. Data from descriptive analyses are used to illustrate key points. Issues germane to contingency analysis in natural environments are discussed briefly. It is concluded that the conceptual distinctions among contiguity, contingency, and dependency are critical if the logic of sequential analysis is to be extended successfully to a behavior-analytic account of reinforcement in natural environments.

Clinical observation of self-injurious behavior correlated with changes in scalp morphology in a child with congenital hydrocephalus.

We report the case of a 12-year-old girl born with cerebral dysgenesis and congenital hydrocephalus first shunted shortly after birth. She had severe tissue-damaging self-injurious behavior, profound mental retardation, quadriparesis, as well as multiple cranial anomalies including turricephaly. After stage 1 cranial remodeling, a bone window was left pending second stage remodeling. Episodic changes in fluctuation of the scalp overlying the bone window were easily observed. During the course of a behavioral assessment for her self-injury, it was observed that the overall frequency of occurrence of self-injury increased significantly (P < .01) when the scalp was protruding and bulging compared with when the scalp was flush with the skull table. Periods of increased scalp protrusion were also associated with higher scores on a pain scale developed for children with communicative impairments associated with severe neurological impairment. After shunt replacement, there was remarkable improvement in functional status and decreased episodic self-injury.

The effects of deprivation, presession exposure, and preferences on teaching manding to children with autism.

The effects of at least 23-hr deprivation, 5-min presession exposure, and individual preference on the acquisition of mands were investigated in these studies. Two boys who were 2.5 years old and diagnosed with autism participated in the studies. Preference assessments were conducted to identify preference levels of various toys. Toys of various preferences were then assigned to either a 23-hr deprivation or 5-min presession exposure condition for mand training. Both deprivation and preference level affected acquisition of mands. Implications for teaching children to mand are discussed.