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Behavior analysis takes a natural science approach to human and animal behavior. Some basic tenets are widely agreed in the field but it can be argued that some other assumptions are implicit in our approach and, if unexamined, may impair progress. Since the time of David Hume, there has been a strong Western philosophical tradition of naturalism and realism. Although behavior analysis has from the outset embraced pragmatism, features of naturalism are embedded in the metaphysics of science and thus have been imported into behavior analysis. Many versions of naturalism imply dualism, but this can be avoided without abandoning a naturalist–realist position either by adopting the historicist approach of Rorty, which suggests that apparently a priori truths are often merely conventions of a philosophical tradition, or by accepting Wittgenstein’s view that there are hinge statements that are fundamental to our thinking but are not propositional beliefs and do not entail dualism. As an alternative, we can adopt the metaphysical assumptions of monism, possibly starting from William James’s approach of neutral monism. Revising our metaphysical assumptions while retaining the pragmatism that is central to behavior analysis may enable us to engage more effectively with cognitive psychology, to develop stronger links with ecological psychology and other approaches that reject representationalism, and to move beyond the debate about the status of private events.

Variations in prompt delay procedures are used in discrete-trial training to reduce the occurrence of errors before task mastery. However, the variations are seldom compared systematically. Using an adapted alternating treatments design, the present study compared progressive prompt delay with 2-s or 5-s constant prompt delay, on the acquisition of an expressive labeling task in four participants with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. While all three prompt delay methods led to mastery of the tasks, albeit only when the tasks were simplified for one participant, progressive prompt delay generally proved the most efficient method on several measures, including lower error rates. This is consistent with the nature of the progressive prompt delay procedure which allows less time for errors to occur early in training. It is provisionally concluded that selection of progressive prompt delay is supported as a wise first choice option for clinicians, as a history of high error rates may impair later learning.

Linalool is an enanitomer monoterpene compound identified as the pharmacologically active constituent in a number of essential oils and has been reported to display anxiolytic properties in humans and in animal models and to exert both GABAergic and glutamatergic effects. In Experiment 1 linalool (100, 200, and 300, i.p.) had no significant effects compared with saline in an activity tracker with C57BL/6j mice. Experiment 2 assessed the effects on operant extinction with mice of chlordiazepoxide at a dose (15 mg/kg, i.p.) previously shown to facilitate extinction, and the same doses of linalool, compared with saline. Linalool had a dose-related facilitatory effect on extinction. While the effects of the highest dose of linalool most closely resembled the effects of chlordiazepoxide, the pattern of results suggested that linalool may affect both the acquisition of extinction learning, which is influenced by glutamatergic processes, and the expression of extinction, known to be affected by GABAergic agents such as chlordiazepoxide.

This study compared the efficacy of the Headsprout© Early Reading (HER) program with SENCO-delivered supplementary literacy instruction. Participants were primary school children (aged 6–9) in receipt of free school meals and supplementary literacy instruction. Data were collected within their school setting. The treatment group received HER intervention, while the treatment as usual (TAU) group received SENCO-delivered intervention, inclusive of guided reading, paper-based phonics training and word recognition tasks. It was hypothesized that children in the HER intervention group would significantly outperform those in the TAU group on measures of word/non-word recognition and sentence reading over a 7-month period. Thirty-two pupils with specific literacy difficulty were randomized to either HER (n = 17) or TAU (n = 15). Literacy skills were assessed using the Phonics and Early Reading Assessment pre- and post-intervention. ANOVA and t test analysis found that HER made significantly greater gains on measures of word/non-word recognition [t(30) = 7.55, p

Background: People with intellectual disabilities are more at risk of obesity than the general population. Emerging literature indicates that multicomponent interventions are most effective, however, individual results are variable and little research exists as to why this is the case. Methods: Focus groups were conducted to explore lived experiences between two groups of adults with intellectual disabilities; an overweight group (n= 6) and a group identified as successful in losing weight (n= 6). Similarities and differences were explored across four domains. Transcripts were produced and analysed using Theoretical Thematic Analysis. Results: Similarities included service centre supports, basic food knowledge and issues restricting independence. The successful weight loss group had also internalised health messages, engaged with external reinforcement programmes, responded to positive feedback and demonstrated healthier dietary habits. Conclusion: Weight management interventions would benefit from understanding the influence that internalisation of health messages, effective reinforcement systems and positive feedback can have on supporting the adoption of healthier habits. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by funding from the charity RESPECT and the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no. PCOFUND-GA-2013-608728. Additional funding for PhD research was provided by Department of Education and Learning (DEL). peer-reviewed

Many prompting procedures exist for teaching skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability; however, direct comparisons between variations of prompt delay are rarely made. Here, we compared three variations of prompt delay (2-s or 5-s constant delay and 5-s progressive delay) alongside trial-and-error instruction. Four learners were taught a conditional discrimination task using a match-to-sample arrangement. Performances were compared using effectiveness and efficiency measures in an adapted alternating treatments design. A procedural modification, in the form of differential reinforcement, was applied to the prompt delay procedure for two of the four participants. With or without this procedural modification, results suggest progressive prompt delay may be effective and the most efficient in reducing learner errors during instruction.

Although researchers have evaluated the application of equivalence-based instruction (EBI) to naturalistic teaching settings, few have examined individualized educational programs of application. The current study therefore employed an EBI procedure to teach individual categorization lessons to pre-school age children (n = 5). A category sort test was used to identify stimuli for each child which were incorrectly categorized pre-intervention. These stimuli consisted of real-world stimuli from non-overlapping categories (e.g., toys, clothing, and fruit). Participants were trained in six conditional discriminations tested for the emergence of three three-member classes (A1, B1, C1; A2, B2, C2; A3, B3, C3) using a computerized touchscreen matching to sample (MTS) procedure. Participants subsequently were trained to identify receptively the category label for the C stimulus in each class. Following training and testing, the category sort test was re-administered. All participants demonstrated categorization of the directly trained class members and further generalization to addition unknown stimuli. The results show that little training was required in the use of touchscreen responding indicating that the use of such devices may provide a simple means of computerized teaching in young populations.

Motivation for food reinforcers in mouse models of type 2 diabetes was examined in three experiments. In all experiments, physiological measures indicated the presence of type 2 diabetes. In Experiment 1, high-fat fed Swiss TO mice and lean controls showed a preference for high-fat corn oil reinforcers over high-sugar syrup reinforcers in a T-Maze task, but there were no differences between the two groups. In Experiment 2, high-fat fed Swiss TO mice and lean controls responded for corn oil or food pellet reinforcers on progressive ratio schedules. While break point numbers were higher for corn oil than food pellets, and satiation or extinction reduced break points, there were no differences between the groups. In Experiment 3, streptozotocin treatment was used to induce type 2 diabetes in C57Bl/6 j mice that were compared with controls while responding for corn oil or food pellet reinforcers on progressive ratio schedules. While break point numbers were higher for corn oil than food pellets before and after streptozotocin treatment, and satiation or extinction reduced break points, there were no differences between the groups. Parameters for a more complex method of assessment of progressive ratio behaviour derived from Killeen’s Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement were also computed. While the parameter associated with incentive value was higher for corn oil than for food pellets, parameters were not significantly affected by streptozotocin treatment. Overall, a range of behavioural measures of food motivation failed to reveal effects of changes relative to controls in mice that showed physiological evidence of type 2 diabetes.

Recent developments in neuroscience have greatly increased interest in the study of consciousness, without solving the puzzles about its nature and function. This paper reviews the problem of introspection, the current approach within cognitive psychology, some neuroscientific data on brain activity and the possible neural correlates of consciousness, current philosophical accounts that emphasize the role of qualia, and alternative behavioural account of consciousness. Experimental and conceptual analysis shows that there are flaws both in the traditional view that consciousness is a private event that is causally related to action, and in the cognitive psychological assumptions that consciousness must be an element in a mediating cognitive system that will be shown to be identical with a specific brain location or process. Alternatively, behaviour analysis treats consciousness as verbal behaviour and is developing an account of it through applying and extending the explanatory principles used to ...

Obesity is a significant health challenge. People with Intellectual Disability (ID) are particularly vulnerable to developing obesity. Mobile technology has been developed to support the management of weight and obesity in the form of apps, although not with people with an ID in mind. As a result existing off-the-shelf weight management apps currently available may not be functional in supporting weight reduction within this population. This paper presents the results of consultations with people with ID regarding weight management, comfort with mobile technology and desired characteristics in apps designed for people with ID that target weight management.

This study investigated whether Headsprout©, an internet-based phonics program designed on behavioral principles, is an effective supplementary tool to improve literacy skills of children who have spent time in care and are at risk of reading failure. Participants were 8 children (aged 5 to 10) who had spent over 3 years in care and were fully adopted at the time of the study. Participants' literacy skills were assessed prior to intervention using 2 standardized reading attainment tests. Participants were then randomly assigned to either treatment or a waiting list comparison group. There were 2 Headsprout© treatments, but all participants in the treatment group completed 1 HeadsproutStartCopTextStartCopText© lesson 4 times per week, under the supervision of the first author, while participants in the comparison group interacted with the first author 4 times per week engaging in nonliteracy-based computer activities. Results from 2 standardized reading attainment tests showed an improvement in word recognition age and oral reading fluency for the HeadsproutStartCopTextStartCopText© learners but scores either remained the same or decreased over a 4-month period for participants in the comparison group. The findings support the wider use of HeadsproutStartCopTextStartCopText© with at-risk children though more research is clearly warranted at this time.

A field experiment explored the effect of feedback and goal-setting interventions on residential electricity use in households in Northern Ireland. Alternating orders of presentation of feedback and no feedback conditions were used to explore the longer-term effect of feedback on conservation performance. Group 1 received 5 months of feedback followed by 5 months of no feedback, Group 2 underwent 5 months of no feedback followed by 5 months of feedback, and Group 3 experienced alternating 2-month periods of feedback and no feedback over 10 months, using a reversal design. Group 1 saved a mean 9.54% of electricity during the feedback condition, but Group 2 increased their use by a mean 14.24%. Group 3 showed a pattern of cumulative reductions over successive feedback periods, with a mean reduction in electricity use of 33%. Participants in Group 3 did not show a return to baseline levels of electricity use during the no feedback condition. The importance of exploring different reactions to feedback is discussed.

Order judgements are slower and less accurate when reversed. That is, when participants see two events in a sequence (e.g., circle …square), they are quicker to report ‘Before’ statements (e.g., “Circle before Square”) than ‘After’ statements (“Square after Circle”). The current study sought to determine whether a reversal effect will also occur when participants are instructed to produce a sequence of responses. Twenty participants were trained to criterion on simple ‘Before’ and ‘After’ instructions that specified sequences of two responses (e.g., “Circle before Square”). In a subsequent test, participants produced instructed sequences (e.g., circle … square) more quickly and more reliably when instructed to choose one stimulus before another than when they were requested to choose one stimulus after another. The implications of these findings for current theories of relational responding are considered.

The first three European meetings for the experimental analysis of behaviour were held in 1983 and 1988 at Liege, Belgium and in 1997 at Dublin, Ireland. These resulted in edited books consisting of chapters based primarily on invited addresses (and published in 1985, 1990, and 2000 respectively). The continuing impact of these books is assessed, based both on citation data and more personal judgements. It is concluded that these volumes contain some chapters of long-term significance. There are distinct themes running through them including the account of human operant behaviour and its relation to verbal behaviour, the relationship between experimental and applied behaviour analysis, and the widening arena in which behaviour analysis research occurs. It is also clear that opportunities to contribute to an edited volume often led to leaders in the field contributing papers that summarised and developed their theoretical accounts, and that this has been valuable to subsequent researchers and practitioners.

Behaviour analysis became part of academic psychology on the island of Ireland from the late 1970s with the establishment of the Behaviour Analysis in Ireland (BAI) group. Teaching and researching in the science of behaviour analysis have continued and developed in the universities since that time, with researchers based in Ireland contributing substantially to internationally recognised research. In recent years, there was a growth in schools based on applied behaviour analysis (ABA) for children with autism, and also in the use of positive behaviour support in intellectual disability services. Over the period that behaviour analysis has developed in Ireland and the discipline has become much more widespread internationally. The growth has been largely driven by demand for schools based on ABA and has also resulted in many new national organisations to support the science and profession of behaviour analysis, particularly in Europe. Influenced by these changes and with the aim of supporting professional ...

The current study investigated the relative effects of Before and After relational cues on temporal order judgments. In Experiment 1, participants (n= 20) were exposed to a 5-phase temporal relational responding task. Participants observed a sequence of 2 familiar shapes and then completed either a Before or an After statement to describe the sequence. Response speeds were significantly faster for Before statements than for After statements. Experiment 2 (N = 24) extended Experiment 1, using abstract rather than familiar stimuli, and replicated the findings. The current data extend previous research, which employed temporal relational responding tasks as a measure of cognitive abilities such as intelligence, by focusing on differences in speed between responding in the presence of relational cues used in such tasks. The differences in response speeds observed between Before and After cues suggest that more work is needed to understand the specific processes that underpin such responding.

Persistent, high-intensity noise is an environmental pollutant that plays a destructive role in daily life, especially in industrialized communities. Its effects may be reduced by Vitamin C supplementation. This study examined the possibility that pretreatment with vitamin C (100 mg or 200 mg/kg) could attenuate behavioural and anxiogenic effects of prolonged exposure to noise (100 dB for 2 months, 5 days/week, 4 h daily) on male laboratory mice, by using open-field and plus maze tests of emotionality, and by measuring the neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio, a physiological stress measure. The effects seen on behaviour in the open field and plus maze were consistent with the hypothesis that noise could be considered as a stressor as it significantly affected six measures of behaviour in the predicted directions. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was also increased as a result of noise exposure. Furthermore, there was good evidence from all three procedures that vitamin C supplementation can attenuate the effects of noise. We conclude that vitamin C supplementation can attenuate or prevent the psychological and physiological damage induced by prolonged noise exposure in mice.

Lavender oil has a long history of use for treating anxiety, but only recent research has examined its effects using standard behavioural methods used to test novel drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of inhaled lavender oil on anxiety related behaviour of rats in the open field and to compare them with the effects of chlordiazepoxide (CDP), a typical anxiolytic drug. Additionally c-fos immunochemistry was used to investigate whether lavender oil produced the same pattern of c-fos expression as CDP in eight different brain areas associated with anxiety. As previously found, lavender oil showed anxiolytic properties in the open field similar to but not as extensive as those of CDP. Immunochemistry results indicated that exposure to the open field increased c-fos expression, while CDP reversed the effects of this behavioural stressor on c-fos expression in all brain regions examined except the central nucleus of the amygdala, where c-fos expression increased. Lavender oil had similar effects to CDP on the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus and the central nucleus of the amygdala. These results strengthen the suggestion that inhaling lavender oil has anxiolytic behavioural effects, but they are weaker than the effects of benzodiazepines, and there is limited evidence that they are mediated by the same neural processes.

The use of animal models of human psychiatric disorders can be justified in terms of the evolutionary history of species, and such models are extensively employed in research for a variety of ethical and scientific reasons. They should have: face validity, in that the animal behaviour studied resembles the human behaviour in question; construct validity, meaning that similar biological mechanisms are involved as in the human disorder; and predictive validity in that treatments that are effective in the human disorder also affect the animal model. Two models involving operant conditioning are reviewed: conditioned suppression, which is well established as a model for clinical anxiety, and operant extinction which is being developed as a model of aspects of Alzheimer’s disease. The validity of these models is assessed, and their core features related to key concepts in behaviour analysis. It is concluded that behaviour analysis has much to offer in this field: as well as providing robust behavioural phenome...

Preface. Acknowledgements. A Scientific Approach to Behavior. Operant Behavior and Operant Conditioning. Extinction and Intermittent Reinforcement. Stimulus Control. Aversive Contingencies. Complex Behavior: Concept Acquisition, Modeling, and Verbal Behavior. Assessing Behavior in Applied Settings. Single-case Experimental Designs. Increasing Adaptive Behavior in Applied Settings. Decreasing Maladaptive Behavior in Applied Settings. Behavior Analysis: Current Status and Future Directions. References. Index.

Relatively little is known about the neural basis of operant extinction, although both glutamatergic and GABAergic processes have been shown to be involved in extinction following aversive Pavlovian conditioning. Following training of lever pressing by mice on a discrete-trial fixed-ratio food reinforcement schedule, chlordiazepoxide (CDP) and other GABAergic drugs facilitate extinction, but only after a number of brief extinction sessions have occurred. In the present experiment, the effects of chlordiazepoxide were assessed when administered prior to or after brief extinction sessions, or prior to longer “massed trial” extinction sessions (with 60 or 96 trials rather than the six used previously).With short extinction sessions, CDP facilitated extinction after a delay when administered prior to extinction sessions but not when administered afterwards. With long extinction sessions, facilitation by CDP occurred rapidly, indicating that this effect is determined primarily by the number of extinction trial...

A tandem mass spectrometric investigation of the collision-induced dissociation of five commonly prescribed psychoactive pharmaceuticals, risperidone, sertraline, paroxetine, trimipramine, and mirtazapine, and their metabolites has been carried out. Quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry was employed to generate tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) data of the compounds under investigation and structural assignments of product ions were supported by quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. These fragmentation studies were then utilised in the development of a liquid chromatographic method to identify the drugs and their metabolites in human hair and saliva samples, thus providing relevant profiling information.

Over the 30 years of conflict, Northern Ireland escaped the worst excesses of illegal drug trafficking and usage. This was in large part due to the 'policing' of local community crime by paramilitaries. However, since the first 'cease-fire' in 1994 the province has witnessed a dramatic and unprecedented rise in the availability of illicit drugs. This increased availability reflects rising consumption of these drugs in the province. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions that a sample of health and social care professionals' hold of illicit drug users in Northern Ireland. A survey methodology was used. Community settings across Northern Ireland were accessed. Focus groups and face-to-face interviews were used as data collection methods. Thirty-five health and social care professionals took part in this study. Thirty-two took part in six focus groups; three respondents underwent one-to-one interview. The participating professionals reported to have little or no education or training in the care and treatment of illicit drug users. Some stated that they would reject the offer of education and training in this area to prevent contact with illicit drug users. Many displayed strongly negative views of this client group, often expressing a preference not to care for or treat these people, preferring all their care to be given by specialists in illicit drug treatment. These findings indicate that most of the health and social care professionals who took part in this study appear unprepared and unwilling to meet the challenge of caring for illicit drug users. The findings will be of interest to service providers within and outside the UK.

The electrospray ionisation ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(n)) of selected antidepressant drugs, i.e., citalopram, fluoxetine, mirtazapine, paroxetine, sertraline, and venlafaxine, has been investigated. Sequential product ion fragmentation experiments (MS(n)) have been performed in order to elucidate the degradation pathways for the [M+H](+) ions and their predominant product ions. These MS(n) experiments show certain characteristic fragmentations in that functional groups are generally cleaved from the ring systems as molecules such as H(2)O, amines and phenols. When an aromatic entity is present in a drug molecule together with a nitrogen-containing saturated ring structure as with mirtazapine, fragmentation initially occurs at the latter ring with the former being predictably resistant to fragmentation. Also, when an amine-containing drug molecule such as fluoxetine also contains a functional group, which liberates a phenol with a significantly lower DeltaH(f) (0) value than that of the corresponding amine, the phenol is preferentially liberated. The structures of product ions proposed for ESI-MS(n) can be supported by electrospray ionisation quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-QToF-MS/MS). These molecules can be identified and determined in mixtures at low ng/mL concentrations by the application of high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS(2)), which can also be used for their analysis in hair samples.

Learning and memory are central topics in behavioral neuroscience, and inbred mice strains are widely investigated. However, operant conditioning techniques are not as extensively used in this field as they should be, given the effectiveness of the methodology of the experimental analysis of behavior. In the present study, male C57Bl/6 mice, widely used as background for transgenic studies, were trained to lever press on discrete-trial fixed-ratio 5 or fixed-interval (11 s or 31 s) schedules of food reinforcement and then exposed to 15 extinction sessions following vehicle or chlordiazepoxide injections (15 mg/kg i.p., administered either prior to all extinction sessions, or prior to the final 10 extinction sessions). Extinction of operant behavior was facilitated by drug administration following training on either schedule, but this facilitation only occurred once a number of extinction sessions had taken place. The extinction process proceeded more rapidly following fixed-interval training. Resistance to extinction was equally high following training with either schedule type, and was reduced by drug administration in both cases. These phenomena were evident in individual cumulative records and in analyses of group data. Results are interpreted in terms of phenomena of operant extinction identified in Skinner's (1938) Behavior of Organisms, and by behavioral momentum theory. These procedures could be used to extend the contribution of operant conditioning to contemporary behavioral neuroscience.

There is evidence that oxidative stress may play a role in the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study used an aggregated beta-amyloid (Abeta) injection model of AD in the rat, and a recycling conjunctive schedule of food reinforcement to examine the effects of bilateral intrahippocampal injections of aggregated Abeta(1-42) (5.0 microl/side) on temporal discrimination, and the efficacy of the antioxidant alpha-tocopherol (150 mg/kg daily p.o.) in alleviating these effects. The results indicated that bilateral intrahippocampal injections of aggregated Abeta(1-42) detrimentally affected temporal discrimination from five-day block 31-35 post-injections until the end of the study (90 days post-injections). Daily treatment with alpha-tocopherol improved temporal discrimination under the recycling conjunctive schedule following aggregated Abeta(1-42) injections from the five-day block 61-65 days until the end of the study.

Extinction following positively reinforced operant conditioning reduces response frequency, at least in part through the aversive or frustrative effects of non-reinforcement. According to J.A. Gray's theory, non-reinforcement activates the behavioural inhibition system which in turn causes anxiety. As predicted, anxiolytic drugs including benzodiazepines affect the operant extinction process. Recent studies have shown that reducing GABA-mediated neurotransmission retards extinction of aversive conditioning. We have shown in a series of studies that anxiolytic compounds that potentiate GABA facilitate extinction of positively reinforced fixed-ratio operant behaviour in C57B1/6 male mice. This effect does not occur in the early stages of extinction, nor is it dependent on cumulative effects of the compound administered. Potentiation of GABA at later stages has the effect of increasing sensitivity to the extinction contingency and facilitates the inhibition of the behaviour that is no longer required. The GABAergic hypnotic, zolpidem, has the same selective effects on operant extinction in this procedure. The effects of zolpidem are not due to sedative action. There is evidence across our series of experiments that different GABA-A subtype receptors are involved in extinction facilitation and anxiolysis. Consequently, this procedure may not be an appropriate model for anxiolytic drug action, but it may be a useful technique for analysing the neural bases of extinction and designing therapeutic interventions in humans where failure to extinguish inappropriate behaviours can lead to pathological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Relatively little is known about the role of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in extinction of appetitively motivated tasks. The benzodiazepine (BZ) chlordiazepoxide (CDP) was administered during extinction and re-acquisition of lever pressing by mice following food reinforced discrete-trial fixed-ratio 5 (FR-5) training. Typical FR behaviour was established during baseline training and persisted for several extinction sessions. There were 15 extinction sessions in all, followed by six re-acquisition sessions where food reinforcement was re-introduced. In a 2x2x2 between-group design, CDP (15 mg/kg) or vehicle injections were given prior to either the last two food reinforcement sessions and the first 10 extinction sessions, or the final five extinction sessions, or the six re-acquisition sessions. Initially CDP had no effect on the rate of extinction, but after several extinction sessions it significantly facilitated it. Surprisingly, if CDP was administered only after several sessions of extinction, it immediately produced facilitation. Thus the delayed effects of CDP are not due to drug accumulation. These data suggest that some neural change must occur before CDP can affect extinction processes. In re-acquisition sessions, CDP facilitated the reinstatement of food-reinforced lever pressing. Implications for neural and behavioural accounts of operant extinction are discussed.

Operant behavior maintained by schedules of intermittent reinforcement has been extensively used for the investigation of the behavioral effects of drugs that affect the central nervous system. While the primary purpose of such research has been the screening of novel compounds in the search for clinically effective drugs, much else has been discovered about drug action and behavioral processes. Current research focuses on problems of social and clinical importance, such as cocaine abuse, and involves the development of novel and modified reinforcement schedules to address problems thrown up by research involving drugs. There are also new challenges posed in studying the behavior of transgenic knock-out mice. After more than 40 years, reinforcement schedules continue to be significant research techniques in behavior pharmacology. It is important that researchers are fully trained in behavior analysis in order to contribute to this rapidly developing area of behavioral neuroscience. ********** In parallel with the development of scientific approaches to psychology, there were massive developments in our knowledge and understanding of the brain and central nervous system in the twentieth century and this progress has accelerated in recent years. Practitioners of both disciplines are aware that each discipline needs the other to provide a more complete account of human psychology and behavior. However, there is a tendency to regard brain processes as more "basic" in some sense, and to expect that psychological or behavioral processes will, in the end, be explained by brain processes. Whether or not one accepts this "reductionist" philosophical position, scientific and practical considerations show that it is necessary to investigate both behavioral processes and brain processes, and the interaction between the two. From a scientific perspective, behavioral processes are interesting in their own right, and knowledge of them and their applications can be developed without necessarily knowing about the correlated brain processes. However, scientific curiosity would lead us to investigate, where possible, the brain processes that go in parallel with behavioral or psychological phenomena. From the perspective of neuroscience the argument is even more compelling: we hardly ever investigate a process in the brain or central nervous without a parallel interest in its relationship to psychological functioning. As soon as we ask, "How does this brain process affect behavior?" we require an adequate account of behavioral processes to which we can relate our study of brain function. In broad terms, behavioral neuroscience is the interdisciplinary field of study that seeks to use behavioral techniques to understand brain function, and to use techniques of neuroscience to elucidate behavioral processes. Psychology and neuroscience come together in various areas of this interdisciplinary field, and to date behavior pharmacology has been one of the most productive of these areas. The last 50 years have seen the development of the modem pharmaceutical industry, which has the capacity to synthesize new chemical compounds that may be useful in treating human diseases and ameliorating psychological distress of one kind or another. A major section of the industry is concerned with agents that may alter the functioning of the human central nervous system. In the development of a new drug that affects the human central nervous system many practical, legal and scientific issues must be addressed. As well as safety issues (the drug may be toxic to many species, or especially to humans, or it may damage certain types of tissues or impair certain physiological functions, etc.), the drug must pass various positive tests as well. Even if it is chemically similar to a compound already in use for the treatment of anxiety, for example, it may not itself be effective. If it is effective, how should it be administered, and on what type of dosing regime? …

Applied psychology can be defined as a set of core skills of psychologists. Of these, it is argued, evaluating the efficacy of intervention strategies should be given central importance. It is it also a key feature of evidence-based practice, a popular approach to the whole of health care. From this perspective, applied behaviour analysis can provide an effective approach to the whole field of applied psychology and it has an excellent track record of success in those areas where applications have been developed. However, it is currently limited to certain areas of application, and there is a focus on work with people with developmental delay. A range of obstacles to the wider use of applied behaviour analysis in applied psychology, arising in undergraduate education curricula, dissemination of behavioural principles and findings to professional groups, and organisational cultures, are identified and some potential solutions are suggested. In dealing with consumers outside of psychology, it is important to promote those approaches which have been found to be effective, and applied behaviour analysis is prominent among these.

A number of social factors are combining to raise the profile of ethical issues for behavior analysts and behavior-modification professionals, as for all psychologists. Some popular misconceptions have led to behavior modification being seen as coercive. These misconceptions are rebutted, and the ethical basis of behavior modification in behavioral analysis is examined. The key features of contemporary behavioral analysis and behavior modification are the public specification of objectives and methods, and the use of functional analysis. However, current problems with functional analysis may make the use of higher order principles such as professional codes of ethics appropriate. Ethical concerns raised by the particular examples of social validity measures and parent training programs are reviewed. These emphasize the importance of putting behavior modification into its social context and thus ensuring that the values of the wider community are acknowledged.

Published data show strong, but indirect, evidence for the role of psychological factors in fatal road accidents in both parts of Ireland. Males are much more often killed in accidents than females, and this remains the case when only vehicle drivers are considered. In both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, male deaths are strongly linked to age, with those of 18-24 years being most at risk. If drivers only are considered, then the Northern Ireland statistics again show a pronounced peak in the 18-24 years range, but this is less evident in the Republic of Ireland. These data replicate the young driver problem, previously documented in studies in many countries. The second part of this paper presents data from a study conducted by an advertising agency evaluating a film to be used as part of a televised campaign to reduce speeding in Northern Ireland. Participants (17-24 years old) produced second-by-second ratings of films as they watched them. The anti-speeding film was rated as more interesting, but no more relevant to them than comparison films with different content. In post-viewing questionnaires, the anti-speeding film was again rated as more interesting but no more relevant than the other films. Content analysis of other questions showed that participants liked the fact that the film showed the dangers and the consequences of speeding, and participants either disliked nothing about the film or disliked the distressing accident shown in the film. Implications for health promotion strategies and their evaluation are discussed.

There is an apparent conflict between a key precept of scientific method and an apparent requirement of ethical behaviour, all of the standard scientific procedures result in repeated observations. This may be done by sampling from a large population of people or situations, by making many observations from each individual, or by repeating experiments a number of times. On the other hand, provisions of codes of ethical behaviour, such as that adopted by the Psychological Society of ireland, emphasise the importance, for research psychologists, of minimising the number of participants or the number of times an experiment is carried out. In this papar, some of the justifications for both the `'scientific approach'' and the `'ethical approach'' are outlined, and a way of resolving the apparent paradox is outlined. This resolution depends on research issues being set in their social context, rather than being dealt with in the formulaic manner which is generally used, and on the social and scientific value of a research programme being a conspicuous part of the research design.

Changing social attitudes make it increasingly important that psychologists and their professional bodies pay attention to ethical issues. In Ireland, there has been an increasing number of complaints against psychologists, and the Psychological Society of Ireland recently revised its complaints procedures and is in the process of changing its code of ethics. This paper is the introduction to a special issue covering many issues of contemporary concern to psychologists; it reviews two long-standing questions: can psychological therapy be ethically neutral, and who is the client? It is concluded that psychologists should increase the importance of ethical issues in education and training, and that they should ensure that clients, whether individuals or organisations, are aware of the psychologist's professional ethics, have been fully appraised of all the options open to them, and have agreed to the contents of a written contract.

The aim of this study was to consider comprehensively the relationship between a number of religious measures and Eysenckian and Freudian theories of religiosity. The sample comprised 324 (145 males, 179 females) adults from two U.S.A. Southern Baptist town communities. Subjects completed the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the ‘Age Universal’ I-E scale, the abbreviated form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Sandler-Hazari Obsessionality Inventory, and two additional questions concerning the frequency of two religious behaviours. A principal components analysis with oblique rotation of the scales demonstrated that low psychoticism is fundamental to a personal orientation towards religion, whilst obsessionality underpins a public orientation towards religion. This distinction between types of religiosity demonstrates empirical evidence for both Eysenckian theory and Freudian theory. Suggestions are made for future research.

In two experiments, rats trained to lever press for food were maintained under a conditioned suppression procedure and then given an acute regime of drug administration involving pentobarbital (10 mg/kg). In both experiments, pentobarbital reduced conditioned suppression. In the first experiment (4 rats), this effect was increased by the combination of the specific benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil (10 mg/kg) with pentobarbital but unaffected by the combination of picrotoxin (1.5 mg/kg) with pentobarbital. In the second experiment (3 rats), this effect was attenuated when picrotoxin (2.0 mg/kg) or Ro5-3663 (5.0 mg/kg) were also administered. These findings add to the data on the effects of anxiolytics and related compounds on conditioned suppression, they provide more information on the possible nature of the GABA/benzodiazepine receptor complex and suggest that flumazenil can have anxiolytic as well as anxiogenic effects.

The aim was to compare operant extinction with re-extinction following re-acquisition and to investigate neuropharmacological mechanisms through administration of drugs potentiating GABAergic or glutamatergic systems. Groups of C57Bl/6 mice were trained to lever press for food on a fixed ratio schedule, then extinguished with or without pre-session chlordiazepoxide or post-session d -cycloserine administration (15 mg/kg in each case), then retrained to lever press for food, then re-extinguished with or without pre-session chlordiazepoxide or post-session d -cycloserine. Under vehicle injections, extinction and re-extinction curves were indistinguishable, but drug treatments showed that there was less resistance to extinction in the re-extinction phase. Chlordiazepoxide facilitated extinction and re-extinction, with an earlier effect during re-extinction. d -Cycloserine also facilitated extinction and re-extinction, with some evidence of an earlier effect during re-extinction. These results replicate and extend earlier findings with operant extinction, but differ from some previous reports of d -cycloserine on re-extinction of Pavlovian conditioned fear. Implications for accounts of the similarities and differences between neural mechanisms of extinction following either Pavlovian or operant conditioning, and applications of these findings, are discussed.

Effects on the extinction of GABAergic drug, chlordiazepoxide (CDP), and glutamatergic drug, d-cycloserine (DCS), in C57BL/6 mice were compared. Following a palatability test (Experiment 1), Experiments 2–6 involved food-reinforced lever press training followed by extinction sessions at 1- or 4-day intervals. The effects of drugs were examined. Experiment 7 involved a two-lever task. CDP did not affect food palatability (Experiment 1), but facilitated extinction when administered prior to extinction sessions via intracerebral (Experiment 2) or peripheral administration at 1-day (Experiments 3–7) or 4-day intervals (Experiment 6). Reducing the amount of training prior to extinction reduced the delay in the effect of CDP typically seen, and CDP had a larger effect in early sessions on mice that had received less training (Experiment 3). There was some evidence that CDP could be blocked by flumazenil (Experiment 4), and CDP withdrawal reversed extinction facilitation (Experiments 5 and 7). With 4-day intervals, DCS administered immediately following extinction sessions, or pre-session CDP, facilitated extinction with 48-trial sessions (experiment 6B). With six-trial sessions, the co-administration of post-session DCS enhanced facilitation produced by pre-session CDP (experiment 6A). Finally, CDP facilitated extinction in a dose-related fashion following training on a two-lever food-reinforced task (Experiment 7). The findings are consistent with the hypotheses that two neurotransmitter systems have different roles in operant extinction and that glutamatergic systems are involved in extinction learning and GABAergic systems involved in the expression of that learning. This parallels findings with extinction following Pavlovian conditioning, which has been more extensively investigated.

An earlier history of partial or continuous reinforcement produces differential behavioural effects during extinction in the runway, with an earlier partial reinforcement (PRF) leading to an increased resistance to extinction. This effect has been attributed to conditioned frustration or generalization-decrement processes. The actions of antianxiety drugs in this procedure are most easily interpreted as for reducing the emotional or aversive effects of nonreinforcement. In this study, C57Bl/6 mice were trained to asymptotic performance with food reinforcement on 50 or 100% of six trials in daily sessions. The anxiolytic benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide (15 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) or saline was administered before subsequent daily extinction sessions. Under saline, earlier PRF produced an increased resistance to extinction. Drug administration increased resistance to extinction, as measured by start, run and goal times, after either continuous or PRF. These findings are consistent with earlier findings of rats, but different from those obtained with chlordiazepoxide during extinction after operant training with either rats or mice. These findings can be interpreted in terms of frustration, anxiety or generalization-decrement theories of PRF.

Fifty women who had suffered first trimester miscarriages were interviewed immediately following hospital treatment, and on up to three subsequent occasions over 6 months. At the first interview, they reported that, although only half the pregnancies were planned, nearly all of them suffered distress at the miscarriage, and that family and friends were generally concerned or supportive. The provision of information regarding miscarriage given to the women while they were in hospital was somewhat variable. State and trait anxiety measures taken across the four interviews over 6 months indicated that this was not a particularly anxious sample of women with respect to trait anxiety, but that state anxiety was raised by the miscarriage and declined in the months thereafter. This study has implications for the professional and informal social support of women who suffer miscarriage.

KRAKEN: a mythical sea-monster of enormous size, said to have been seen at times off the coast of Norway (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 1973).

The metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 8 (mGlu(8)) is presynaptically located and regulates the release of the transmitter. Dysfunctions of this mechanism are involved in the pathophysiology of different psychiatric disorders. mGlu(8) deficient mice have been previously investigated in a range of studies, but the results are contradictory and there are still many open questions. Therefore, we tested mGlu(8)-deficient animals in different behavioral tasks that are commonly used in neuropsychiatric research. Our results show a robust contextual fear deficit in mGlu(8)-deficient mice. Furthermore, novel object recognition, chlordiazepoxide-facilitated extinction of operant conditioning and the acoustic startle response were attenuated by mGlu(8) deficiency. We found no changes in sensory processing, locomotor activity, prepulse inhibition, phencyclidine-induced changes in locomotion or prepulse inhibition, operant conditioning, conditioned fear to a discrete cue or in animal models of innate fear and post-traumatic stress disorder. We conclude that mGlu(8) might be a potential target for disorders with pathophysiological changes in brain areas where mGlu(8) modulates glutamate and gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) transmission. Our data especially point to anxiety disorders involving exaggerated contextual fear, such as generalized anxiety disorders, and to conditions with disturbed declarative memory.