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Four experiments with rat subjects asked whether a partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE) occurs in taste aversion learning. The question has received little attention in the literature, and to our knowledge no taste aversion experiment has previously demonstrated a PREE. In each of the present experiments, experimental groups received a taste mixed in drinking water for 20 min; such taste exposures were sometimes paired with a lithium chloride (LiCl) injection and sometimes not. Control groups received only taste-LiCl pairings. There was evidence that each reinforced and non-reinforced trial produced increments and decrements in aversion strength (respectively), and trials mattered more than accumulated time during the conditioned stimulus and during the background (as emphasized in time-accumulation models like those of Gallistel and Gibbon, Psychological Review, 107, 289-344, 2000, and Gibbon and Balsam, Autoshaping and conditioning theory, Academic Press, New York, pp. 219-235, 1981). In addition, a partial reinforcement extinction effect was observed when there was a relatively large number of conditioning trials. The results extend our understanding of extinction in taste aversion learning and provide more evidence that aversion learning might follow rules that are qualitatively similar to those of other forms of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Comorbid chronic conditions are common among people with type 2 diabetes. We developed an artificial intelligence algorithm, based on reinforcement learning (RL), for personalized diabetes and multimorbidity management, with strong potential to improve health outcomes relative to current clinical practice. Methods: We modeled glycemia, blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk as health outcomes, using a retrospective cohort of 16,665 patients with type 2 diabetes from New York University Langone Health ambulatory care electronic health records in 2009–2017. We trained an RL prescription algorithm that recommends a treatment regimen optimizing patients' cumulative health outcomes using their individual characteristics and medical history at each encounter. The RL recommendations were evaluated on an independent subset of patients. Results: The single-outcome optimization RL algorithms, RL–glycemia, RL–blood pressure, and RL–CVD, recommended consistent prescriptions as that observed by clinicians in 86.1%, 82.9%, and 98.4% of the encounters, respectively. For patient encounters in which the RL recommendations differed from the clinician prescriptions, significantly fewer encounters showed uncontrolled glycemia (A1c > 8% in 35% of encounters), uncontrolled hypertension (blood pressure > 140 mmHg in 16% of encounters), and high CVD risk (risk > 20% in 25% of encounters) under RL algorithms compared with those observed under clinicians (43%, 27%, and 31% of encounters, respectively; all p < 0.001). Conclusions: A personalized RL prescriptive framework for type 2 diabetes yielded high concordance with clinicians' prescriptions, and substantial improvements in glycemia, blood pressure, and CVD risk outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of presession attention on tacting. Presession intervals of deprivation and satiation of attention were followed by a progressive-ratio assessment in which the number of tacts was measured. For 2 participants, deprivation resulted in increased tacting compared to satiation. The 3rd participant showed no differential responding. These results suggest that antecedent-based interventions could increase the efficiency of tact training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the effects of peer presence on the conditioning of new reinforcers via observation. At the outset, strings and toothpicks did not reinforce maintenance or acquisition responses for 3 preschoolers with and without developmental delays. In the first intervention, the stimuli were placed in a cup in front of an empty chair next to the participant, and the participant was denied access to those stimuli. The second intervention was identical to the first, except that a peer was present. Postintervention tests revealed that only the peer intervention was successful in conditioning neutral stimuli as reinforcers for both maintenance and acquisition responses for all 3 participants. The presence of a peer appears to facilitate the conditioning of reinforcers by observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A treatment program based on harm‐reduction techniques helping family members get their loved ones — especially their children — into treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) is opening up in New York City. Led by Sarah H. Church, Ph.D., executive director of the Division of Substance Abuse at Montefiore Medical Center and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the program is based on the work of Robert Meyers, who developed Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT). Called Elevate360, the program "is designed to help loved ones get into treatment," Church told CABL. "If someone with an addiction has a family member who is concerned, we can treat the family member," she said. "We help them ignore or allow negative things to happen when their loved one is using, and then we can get that person into care." This is not "tough love," stressed Church. "It's the opposite of tough love, because it allows the family to continue to support the person." Instead of kicking them out of the house, for example, the family member gives positive reinforcement for non‐substance‐using behavior. If the husband comes home drunk and passes out on the couch, for example, the wife doesn't bring him a blanket and a pillow but doesn't kick him out, either. And if he comes home not drunk, he gets a huge amount of praise for it. If a teenager or young adult comes home late at night, instead of being angry, the parent can say "I'm glad you're home. I was worried about you." This kind of intervention is 70 percent effective at getting the person into care, said Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore minority adolescents’ perceptions of their diabetes risk, barriers and facilitators to adopting lifestyle changes, and ideas for adapting a youth diabetes prevention model. Methods The study was conducted at collaborating community sites in East Harlem, NY. Trained moderators facilitated focus groups, which were audio taped and transcribed. Participants were 21 Latino and African American adolescents aged 14–18 years with a family history of diabetes and no reported personal history of diabetes. The phenomenon of interest was youth input in adapting a diabetes prevention model. Two researchers independently coded transcripts, identified major themes, compared findings, and resolved differences through discussion and consensus. Results Dominant themes included (1) the impact of diabetes on quality of life within adolescents’ personal networks; (2) conflict between changing diet and activity and their current lifestyle; (3) lifestyle choices being dictated by cost, mood, body image, and environment, not health; and (4) family, social, and environmental pressures reinforcing sedentary behaviors and unhealthy diets. Conclusions and Implications Themes from youth focus groups were framed in the context of an existing youth diabetes prevention conceptual model, with results informing expansion of the model and identification and organization of potential intervention components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]