ABSTRACT
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.
Subject(s)
Behavior Therapy , Intellectual Disability/drug therapy , Psychotropic Drugs/pharmacology , Research Design/standards , Antipsychotic Agents/pharmacology , Combined Modality Therapy , Humans , Intellectual Disability/rehabilitationSubject(s)
Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/diagnosis , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The random stimulus design, a single case methodology, was described. This design is a variant of the reversal or withdrawal design; however, the same set of items is presented to a subject only a small percentage of the total number of experimental conditions rather than across all conditions. The design is considered most applicable under conditions where numerous presentations are not desired since they may result in boredom, fatigue, or related variables that may adversely affect the evaluation of the dependent variables. Spelling and reading deficits were treated in the present study, but only as a means of illustrating the experimental design.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior Disorders/therapy , Education of Intellectually Disabled , Learning Disabilities/therapy , Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/therapy , Child , Dyslexia/therapy , Education, Special , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
The effects of methylphenidate on the lever-pressing of 12 mentally retarded children maintained under fixed-ratio 5, 10 and 20 schedules of food delivery were examined. For five children, methylphenidate at oral doses of 0.3, 0.7 and 1.0 mg/kg produced generally dose-dependent decreases in response rates, whereas for the other seven children the two lower doses increased response rates while the highest dose decreased responding. The differential effects of methylphenidate across participants could not be attributed to differences in control response rates or demographic factors. However, each child whose rate of fixed-ratio responding was increased by methylphenidate also demonstrated a therapeutic response to the drug.
Subject(s)
Conditioning, Operant/drug effects , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Methylphenidate/pharmacology , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Reinforcement ScheduleABSTRACT
Forty mentally retarded adolescents were divided into two divisions on the basis of prestudy assessments that identified subjects as thioridazine hydrochloride responders or nonresponders. Within each division, the participants were assigned randomly to one of four groups. Members of each group received three administrations of the Leiter international performance scale. Four conditions were examined: testing under standard conditions and testing under reinforcement conditions while receiving and not receiving thioridazine. Condition sequences were random in all four groups. Assessments were double-blind and placebo controlled. The results showed that while both drug responders and nonresponders were receiving thioridazine there were no major differences in test scores obtained under standard and reinforcement conditions. While subjects were not receiving thioridazine there were considerable increases in scores obtained under the reinforcement conditions.
Subject(s)
Aggression/drug effects , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Intelligence Tests , Thioridazine/pharmacology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Double-Blind Method , Female , Humans , Intellectual Disability/drug therapy , Intelligence/drug effects , Male , Placebos , Reinforcement, Psychology , Thioridazine/therapeutic useABSTRACT
The authors conducted a two-part study of the effects of thioridazine and withdrawal dyskinesias on the workshop performance of mentally retarded young adults. In part 1, 80 mentally retarded subjects were divided into five groups of 16 according to administration, discontinuation, or nonadministration of thioridazine. The major finding was that thioridazine can impair the workshop performance of mentally retarded individuals. In part 2, 28 subjects were divided into four matched groups of 7 subjects each whose thioridazine dose was abruptly or gradually discontinued and who did or did not have withdrawal dyskinesias. Workshop performance declined with the onset of the dyskinesias and improved as the dyskinesias subsided.
Subject(s)
Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/psychology , Intellectual Disability/rehabilitation , Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/psychology , Task Performance and Analysis , Thioridazine/adverse effects , Adolescent , Adult , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/etiology , Female , Humans , Intellectual Disability/drug therapy , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Male , Motor Skills/drug effects , Rehabilitation, Vocational , Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/etiology , Thioridazine/administration & dosageSubject(s)
Antipsychotic Agents/adverse effects , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/epidemiology , Intellectual Disability , Adolescent , Adult , Antipsychotic Agents/administration & dosage , Child , Child, Preschool , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/physiopathology , Female , Humans , Male , Michigan , Middle Aged , North Carolina , Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/physiopathologyABSTRACT
A review of the number and type of studies in mental retardation published in six prominent journals was made. Variables examined included whether the study was applied or not and in the latter case, whether the study was an assessment, treatment or epidemiological paper. Other variables evaluated were length of follow-up, frequency of applied studies published in each journal, whether subjects were children or adults, inpatients or outpatients, level of mental retardation and form of treatment employed. Implications of the present studies with regard to future directions of applied research are discussed.
Subject(s)
Education of Intellectually Disabled , Adult , Child , Humans , Intellectual Disability/epidemiology , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Intelligence , Publishing , ResearchABSTRACT
The present study was designed to examine the effects of gradual phenytoin withdrawal on the matching to sample performance of three mentally retarded person. The percentage of correct responses per session served as the dependent variable, and the sample and comparison stimuli were red, green, and blue illuminations of translucent response windows. With two of the subjects, the sensitivity of a workshop assembly task to phenytoin effects was explored retrospectively. The dependent variables were percentage of time on task, number of completions, and number and type of prompts required per session. The results showed that doses of phenytoin considerably lower than the suggested optimum therapeutic level impaired the performance of mentally retarded individuals on both matching to sample and workshop assembly tasks. As doses were reduced for each subject, there were increases in the percentage of correct responding on the matching to sample task with the highest percentage correct being obtained after, and only after, the 0-mg dose was reached. In the workshop setting, the greatest number of assemblies completed and the lowest number of prompts required occurred only after the 0-mg dose was reached. The results are discussed in terms of generality, the tasks being well suited ot the study of drug effects with mentally retarded individuals, and implications for habilitation.
Subject(s)
Discrimination Learning/drug effects , Intellectual Disability/drug therapy , Phenytoin/adverse effects , Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Color Perception/drug effects , Epilepsy/drug therapy , Epilepsy/psychology , Female , Humans , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Male , Motor Skills , Sheltered WorkshopsABSTRACT
Twenty-four institutionalized mentally retarded persons received intelligence tests under both standard and reinforcement conditions while on and off psychotropic medication. Medications included chlorpromazine (Thorazine), thioridazine (Mellaril), haloperidol (Haldol), mesoridazine (Serentil), and lithium carbonate (Lithane). Results showed that when on medication there were no differences between IQs obtained under standard and reinforcement conditions. When off medication there were significant increases in scores obtained under both standard and reinforcement conditions. The increase in scores under the reinforcement condition was 23 points greater than the increase obtained under the standard condition (increases of 30.2 and 6.9 points, respectively). Results were discussed in terms of the sensitivity--insensitivity of intelligence test scores to medication effects, medications impairing responding to external reinforcement contingencies, and legal implications.
Subject(s)
Intellectual Disability/drug therapy , Psychotropic Drugs/adverse effects , Adult , Chlorpromazine/adverse effects , Female , Haloperidol/adverse effects , Humans , Intellectual Disability/diagnosis , Intelligence Tests , Lithium/adverse effects , Lithium Carbonate , Male , Mesoridazine/adverse effects , Middle Aged , Thioridazine/adverse effectsABSTRACT
The effects of thioridazine on the performance of a titrating delayed matching-to-sample discrimination by four retarded adults was investigated. Trials began with the center of three response panels illuminated by one of three colors. The delay between depression of the center response panel and presentation of the two comparison stimuli on the side response panels varied according to the accuracy of the subjects' performance. The primary dependent variable was the limit of delay, defined as the longest delay at which the subject emitted four consecutive correct responses in a 30-minute session. The subjects' chronic doses of thioridazine were reduced systematically in a multiple baseline across-subjects design. For all of the subjects, the limit of delay increased after, and only after, reductions in the daily thioridazine dose had been implemented. Results indicated that the withdrawal of chronically administered thioridazine resulted in increased accuracy in a delayed matching-to-sample task, suggesting strongly that the drug impairs performance of this discrimination.
Subject(s)
Discrimination Learning/drug effects , Form Perception/drug effects , Intellectual Disability/drug therapy , Pattern Recognition, Visual/drug effects , Thioridazine/therapeutic use , Adult , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Recall/drug effects , Reaction Time/drug effectsSubject(s)
Chlorpromazine/therapeutic use , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/etiology , Haloperidol/therapeutic use , Intellectual Disability/drug therapy , Thioridazine/therapeutic use , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Chlorpromazine/adverse effects , Double-Blind Method , Female , Haloperidol/adverse effects , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Placebos , Statistics as Topic , Thioridazine/adverse effectsSubject(s)
Intellectual Disability/psychology , Intelligence , Reinforcement, Psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Decision Making , Female , Hospitals, Psychiatric , Humans , Intellectual Disability/rehabilitation , Intelligence Tests , Male , Middle Aged , Stanford-Binet Test , Wechsler ScalesSubject(s)
Chlorpromazine/adverse effects , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/etiology , Haloperidol/adverse effects , Intellectual Disability/drug therapy , Thioridazine/adverse effects , Adult , Aged , Double-Blind Method , Drug Evaluation/methods , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/diagnosis , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , PlacebosSubject(s)
Behavior Therapy/methods , Intellectual Disability/therapy , Psychotropic Drugs/therapeutic use , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Chlorpromazine/therapeutic use , Double-Blind Method , Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced/etiology , Female , Humans , Lithium/therapeutic use , Male , Mesoridazine/therapeutic use , Middle Aged , Psychotropic Drugs/adverse effects , Thioridazine/therapeutic useSubject(s)
Child, Exceptional , Education, Special , Teaching , Humans , Personality Disorders , Teaching/methodsABSTRACT
Goldfish were classically conditioned with a light as the CS and shock as the US. The UR was a decrease in respiration. After 15 or 60 conditioning trials the fish were tested with novel stimuli (clicks) during the CS-US interval. High and moderate intensity novel stimuli produced a significant decrease in CRs (external inhibition) for fish with 60 conditioning trials (5.5 or 10.5 sec CS-US interval), but not fish with 15 conditioning trials. Low intensity novel stimuli produced no evidence for disinhibition (an increase in CRs). Control groups (e.g., groups with random presentations of the CS and US) showed that the external inhibition for fish with 60 conditioning trials was inhibition of a true CR.