Part I: The Basic Account. 1. Language and Cognition: Constructing an Alternative Approach Within the Behavioral Tradition S.C. Hayes, et al. 2. Derived Relational Responding as Learned Behavior S.C. Hayes, et al. 3. Multiple Stimulus Relations and the Transformation of Stimulus Functions D. Barnes-Holmes, et al. 4. Relations Among Relations: Analogies, Metaphors, and Stories I. Stewart, et al. 5. Thinking, Problem-Solving, and Pragmatic Verbal Analysis S.C. Hayes, et al. 6. Understanding and Verbal Regulation D. Barnes-Holmes, et al. 7. Self and Self-Directed Rules D. Barnes-Holmes, et al. 8. Relational Frame Theory: A Precis S.C. Hayes, et al. Part II: Extensions and Applications. 9. Psychological Development Y. Barnes-Holmes, et al. 10. Education Y. Barnes-Holmes, et al. 11. Social Processes B. Roche, et al. 12. Psychopathology and Psychotherapy K.G. Wilson, et al. 13. Religion, Spirituality, and Transcendence D. Barnes-Holmes, et al. Epilogue. References. Index.

Relational Frame Theory: A Post-Skinnerian Account Of Human Language And Cognition

The tendency to choose a larger, more delayed reinforcer over a smaller, less delayed one has frequently been termed “selfcontrol.” Three very different research traditions – two models emphasizing the control of local contingencies of reinforcement (Mischel's social learning theory and Herrnstein's matching law) and molar maximization models (specifically optimal foraging theory) – have all investigated behavior within the self-control paradigm. A framework is proposed to integrate research from all three research areas. This framework consists of three parts: a procedural analysis, a causal analysis, and a theoretical analysis. The procedural analysis provides a common procedural terminology for all three areas. The causal analysis establishes that, in all three research traditions, self-control varies directly with the current physical values of the reinforcers; that is, choices increase with reinforcer amount and decrease with reinforcer delay. But self-control also varies according to past events to which a subject has been exposed, and according to current factors other than the reinforcers. Each of the three models has therefore incorporated these indirect effects on self-control by postulating unobservable mechanisms. In all three cases, these mechanisms represent a subject's behavior as a function of a perceived environment. The theoretical analysis demonstrates that evolutionary theory can encompass the research from all three areas by considering differences in the adaptiveness of self-control in different situations. This integration provides a better and more predictive description of self-control.

Research on self-control: An integrating framework

Humans were presented with a task that required moving a light through a matrix. Button presses could produce light movements according to a multiple fixed-ratio 18/differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate 6-s schedule, with components alternating every 2 min. Moving the light through the maze earned points worth chances on money prizes. In Experiment 1 four conditions were assessed through between-subject comparisons: minimal instructions, instructions to press rapidly, instructions to press slowly, and instructions that sometimes rapid responding would work while at other times a slow rate would work best. Subjects responded in three successive sessions of 32 min each. The results suggested that instructions affected the nature of the contact made with the programmed consequences and thus subsequent performance. In some cases, responding seemed to result from added contingencies introduced by stating rules. In Experiment 2 the relative contribution of these two effects was assessed by presenting and then withdrawing two lights that had been paired with two specific instructions: “Go Fast” or “Go Slow.” There were three conditions. In one condition, only the Go Fast light was on; in a second, only the Go Slow light was on; and in a third, the lights alternated each minute. In each condition, half the subjects had all instruction lights turned off after the first session. The results once again showed an effect of instructions on contact with the programmed consequences. However, responding sometimes continued in a manner consistent with added contingencies for rule-following even when the programmed consequences had been contacted and would have controlled a different type of responding in the absence of instructions. The relevance of added contingencies for rule-following in determining the effects of explicitly programmed consequences is emphasized.

/pdf/rule-governed-behavior-and-sensitivity-to-changing-1sfxq8nxmf.pdf

Rule-governed behavior and sensitivity to changing consequences of responding.

Instructions can override the influence of programmed schedules of reinforcement. Although this finding has been interpreted as a limitation of reinforcement schedule control in humans, an alternative approach considers instructional control, itself, as a phenomenon determined by subjects' reinforcement histories. This approach was supported in a series of experiments that studied instructional and schedule control when instructions either did or did not accord with the schedule of reinforcement. Experiment I demonstrated that accurate instructions control discriminative performances on multiple avoidance schedules, and that such control persists in a novel discrimination. Experiments II and III showed that elimination of instruction-following occurs when inaccurate instructions cause subjects to contact a monetary loss contingency. Experiment IV demonstrated the reinforcing properties of accurate instructions. Skinner's view of rule-governed behavior is consistent with these findings, and can be extended to account for many aspects of instructional control of human operant behavior.

Contingency-shaped and rule-governed behavior: instructional control of human loss avoidance.

This research explored the possibility that a metacognitive control process (namely, the allocation of self-paced study time) might be affected by the output from metacognitive monitoring processes (i.e., ease-of-learning and/or feeling-of-knowing judgments). In three experiments, university undergraduates received instructions that emphasized either accuracy of learning or speed of learning. The major findings were: (a) ease-of-learning judgments and feeling-of-knowing judgments are reliably related to study-time allocation, with more self-paced study time being allocated to the supposedly more difficult items; (b) even when instructed to master every item and when allowed unlimited study time to do so, people terminate study before learning is completed; and (c) large increases in self-paced study time can yield little or no increase in the subsequent likelihood of recall (the "labor-in-vain effect"). Implications are drawn for a model of the interplay between metacognitive monitoring processes and metacognitive control processes.

/pdf/allocation-of-self-paced-study-time-and-the-labor-in-vain-4wx6lsbq76.pdf

Allocation of self-paced study time and the "labor-in-vain effect".

Sixteen female Ss earned a total of 50 reinforcements on a FI 20 sec reinforcement schedule. The reinforcers used were points on a counter. The Ss were instructed that the reinforcement contingency involved either the number of responses, or an interval of time, or Ss were given no information about the schedule. The Ss’ performance was related not only to instructions, but also to Ss’ verbalizations of the reinforcement contingency.

/pdf/fixed-interval-performance-as-related-to-instructions-and-to-o5l7uf4ken.pdf

Fixed interval performance as related to instructions and to subjects’ verbalizations of the contingency

80 female Ss earned points on a counter for button pressing on a FI 20, 40, 60 and 80 sec. schedule of reinforcement. The Ss were uninformed of the reinforcement schedule. The Ss’ final performance and verbalization of the reinforcement contingency were related to initial rate of responding and presence of a shift in rate during training, but unrelated to interval duration.

Fixed Interval Performance as Related to Subjects’ Verbalizations of the Reinforcement Contingency

Exploration and activity in the gerbil and rat.

Passive-avoidance learning in gerbils and rats.

Two groups of Ss ranked 20 CVC trigrams, which represented the full range of meaningfulness values according to established norms, for either pronunciability or ease of learning, and then recalled the trigrams incidentally. Two additional groups learned the trigrams by free learning and then ranked the trigrams for either pronunciability or ease of learning. Correlations between mean ranks, group learning measures, and meaningfulness were fairly high (median r =.75), in keeping with recently reported findings.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03331302.pdf

Louis G. Lippman

Papers

Fixed interval performance as related to instructions and to subjects’ verbalizations of the contingency

Fixed Interval Performance as Related to Subjects’ Verbalizations of the Reinforcement Contingency

Exploration and activity in the gerbil and rat.

Passive-avoidance learning in gerbils and rats.

Group predictions of item differences of CVC trigrams