Perspectives on Behavior Science最新文献

Data collection and analysis are central to scientific research, including in applied and basic behavior analysis. A substantial amount of attention has been given to how to rigorously collect and analyze data. Less attention has been paid to storing and maintaining research data, which becomes a critical step in the data analysis pipeline as the complexity and amount of data increase. Relational databases provide an efficient, reliable, and flexible method to store, maintain, and explore behavioral research data. The current article argues for the utility of relational databases in behavioral research, presents a brief introduction to relational databases, and uses some real-world examples to illustrate how relational databases have been used by the author and colleagues. Adopting relational databases to store and maintain research data would improve data integrity, facilitate data sharing between researchers, and contribute to transparency and reproducibility of analyses.

In this article we investigate the teleological properties (functions and goals) of behavioral patterns, with emphasis on operant behaviors, including those associated with creativity and behavioral novelty. We integrate the etiological theory of teleology (as developed by Larry Wright, Ruth G. Millikan, James Garson, and others) with key concepts from behavior analysis. Although the language of functions and goals has traditionally faced resistance within behavior analysis, mainly due to concerns about causal confusion, we argue that such language is conceptually valuable when situated within the framework of selection by consequences. In the first part of the article, we disentangle teleological discourse from common misconceptions, particularly worries about reverse causation and the obstruction of causal explanation, drawing on insights from Larry Wright and others. In doing so, we set out what teleological concepts do not imply, while also identifying their core semantic features, such as the contrast between functions or purposes and mere accidents. In the second part, we develop an etiological interpretation of the teleological properties of behavioral patterns which, besides harmonious with the semantic core of teleological concepts, has theoretical synergies with behavior-analytic understanding of operant behavior, thus avoiding mentalistic aspects of some previous etiological readings of complex action. Our approach integrates Skinner's interpretation of selection processes with recent advancements in behavior analysis, including theories of operant generativity, behavioral variability, and relational frames. Finally, we conclude by setting our approach in contrast with two influential theories of teleology, in a way that brings into view its potential advantages.

Mass shootings affect both local and national communities and prompt extensive efforts to understand and prevent future events. Current approaches typically focus on profiling and typologizing mass shooters. Although these efforts are useful towards prediction of mass shootings, they do not tell us how to directly influence a shooter's behavior. Thus, our understanding of mass shootings remains incomplete. Given that behavior analysis is a systematic natural science approach to understanding all behavior, we believe it is poised to address this issue. This article focuses on fame-seeking shooters, which are a subset of all mass shooters. We first describe important behavior patterns and contextual events that have been associated with this subset. We propose that these behaviors are members of a larger response class which includes a mass shooting. We then provide a conceptualization of the selection process involved in the emergence of mass shooting behavior and its precursors. We close by describing several interventions aimed at disrupting the contingencies identified by the conceptual analysis. The goal of this article is to illustrate how behavior analysis may utilize and extend the currently existing and predominantly non behavior-analytic research (e.g., profiling and typologizing based on the form of behavior) to better enable the prediction and influence of mass shootings.

A recent call has been made for a unified and detailed approach to demographic and methodological reporting in research with young children (Singh et al., Developmental Psychology, 60(2), 211-227, 2024). This need is especially relevant for infant research, because infants experience rapid developmental changes, cannot provide consent, and rely entirely on caregivers to meet their needs. Yet, although reporting practices in behavior-analytic studies have been reviewed more broadly, infant-focused behavioral studies have not been examined systematically. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Page et al., BMJ, 372, n71, 2021). We then used the guidelines described by Singh and colleagues to extract data on participant demographics (e.g., age, sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language exposure, household composition) and methodological variables (e.g., selection criteria, recruitment, incentives, consent, ethics approval) from behavior-analytic studies conducted with infants aged 0-12 months. We found that demographic and methodological reporting varied from 100% (age) to 0% (birthplace). Given that infant-focused research is an expanding subdomain in behavior analysis, this is an appropriate time to establish clear reporting standards. We suggest that standardized reporting is necessary to ensure that infant research is not only representative but also appropriately replicable across relevant populations to provide accurate information for practice.

Researchers and practitioners have been urged to embrace cultural responsiveness to better design, implement, and evaluate treatment. We conducted a scoping review of the inclusion of cultural variables in the context of contingency management (CM) for the treatment of substance use disorder (SUD). We included articles that contained a discussion of at least one cultural variable in the context of CM related to SUD (e.g., race, ethnicity, age, generation, education, socioeconomic status, religion or spiritual beliefs, language, nationality, geographic location, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation). Results suggest that CM may be equally efficacious across sociodemographic categories, and racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities. However, few studies have examined other outcomes as a function of cultural variables, such as uptake, acceptability, adherence, and retention. Few studies have explicitly tailored CM based on cultural variables or compared tailored and nontailored versions of CM. Thus, more work is needed to understand whether and how cultural variables should be considered in contingency management for substance use disorder.

Various theoretical frameworks explain the behavioral mechanisms underlying resurgence, each offering distinct predictions about the conditions that may either promote or mitigate its occurrence. One framework centers on a contextual account of resurgence, which posits the discriminative properties of reinforcers modulate relapse based on their prior association with response establishment and elimination contingencies. A growing body of basic and translational research supports this contextual account. In this review, we systematically examined the resurgence literature involving studies in which authors employed a three-phase arrangement: an initial reinforcement phase with one set of reinforcers was introduced for the target response, a second phase in which a different set of reinforcers was introduced for an alternative response, and a final phase where both reinforcers were delivered on a response-independent schedule. Six studies spanning seven highly technical experiments with human and non-human participants were included and summarized with respect to participant and setting characteristics, experimental designs, reinforcement schedules, and the effect of reinforcer type on relapse outcomes. Findings offer preliminary evidence that the discriminative properties of reinforcers modulate resurgence. We provide several recommendations for future basic and translational research on the contextual account of resurgence, with a particular emphasis on incentivized choice paradigms, the discriminatory properties and effects of digital versus physical reinforcers, and applications to function-informed interventions.

Explicit memory dysfunction, such as in Alzheimer's dementia, impairs learning and daily functioning, requiring effective rehabilitation strategies to promote functional independence. Relational learning paradigms such as stimulus equivalence learning (SEL) imply the formation of networks of relations in which trained relations give rise to emergent relations, potentially providing a novel approach to addressing deficits in remembering and stimulus control. We evaluated the scope and nature of research on the application of relational learning paradigms for memory rehabilitation. In particular, we outline the evidence for the efficacy of identity matching and SEL in specific disorders, the associated effective strategies, and challenges to guide future research. A systematic search following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines identified 23 reports categorized into identity matching, arbitrary matching, and differential outcome procedure (DOP) paradigms. Findings were mixed regarding the success of training procedures. Studies indicate particularly positive outcomes under the DOP and overall efficacy seemed to depend on impairment severity. However, current evidence on the efficacy of relational learning paradigms in individuals with explicit memory dysfunction remains inconclusive due to uncontrolled designs and methodological weaknesses in statistical analysis and patient reporting. Nevertheless, insights from the reviewed studies can inform more rigorous future research. The focus should be on identifying the necessary and sufficient conditions for training stimulus equivalence relations in this population, within meaningful and well-controlled experimental designs to validate the preliminary findings and assess SEL's potential as a cognitive intervention.

The stimulus equivalence (SE) paradigm has become a central explanatory framework for language and complex symbolic behavior within behavior analysis. Its explanatory power rests on three core assumptions: (1) human symbolic behavior is grounded in the semantic relation between words and their referents; (2) this relation is one of equivalence; and in consequence (3) there is a transfer of stimulus functions between words and their referents. These assumptions are also endorsed by relational frame theory (RFT), although considering equivalence as a consequence of a relation of sameness within a relational frame of coordination. However, this article shows that the referential relation is neither reflexive, symmetrical, nor transitive, and therefore cannot be characterized as one of equivalence or sameness, invalidating (2) and (3). It is also shown that other attempts to support (2) or (3), based on the Fields-Place principle or contextual control, fail to achieve their aim. It is argued that between the behavior of the speaker and the listener, there is a functional asymmetry that grounds the asymmetry of the referential relation, and typical SE and RFT experimental paradigms cannot capture it. Finally, some consequences for the study of the SE phenomenon and the study of symbolic behavior from the perspective of behavior analysis are discussed.

Client well-being remains a central goal of research on the assessment and treatment of problem behavior. Although methodologies have evolved over the decades, the use of isolated- and synthesized-contingency functional analyses as a starting point remains debated. This article explores several factors potentially inhibiting consensus, the harm caused by division, and ways to shift the discourse regarding isolation and synthesis toward collaboration.