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We combined several single-subject designs to assess the effects of contingent and noncontingent token reinforcement on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) exhibited by 4 preschool-aged children. Higher overall levels and longer bouts of MVPA reliably occurred when tokens were delivered contingent on MVPA for 3 of the 4 children when compared to baseline (no token) and for 2 of the 4 children when compared to noncontingent-token conditions. The present study demonstrated that the delivery of tokens contingent on MVPA can increase and maintain MVPA exhibited by preschool-aged children, resulting in more MVPA than in baseline conditions and conditions in which tokens are awarded without respect to MVPA. These results demonstrate that token economies can be used to increase MVPA and they add to the evidence base supporting the use of token economies to address a range of behavior problems.

Kleptomania is a serious disorder that affects a small percent of the general population and a larger percent of the clinical population. It is frequently accompanied by other co-occurring problems, including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse. Currently, little research on effective treatments exists; although behavioral and cognitive-behavioral treatments show great promise. Methods of behavioral assessments and intervention, as well as future direction for research, are discussed.

We examined the correspondence between college students' (N = 192, 71% women) definitions of free-pours and their free-poured volumes of beer, wine, and liquor. Participants' mean beer definitions and free-pours were positively correlated; participants' mean wine and liquor definitions were larger than their free-pours, which were fairly accurate. Contrary to what the aggregate mean values indicated, fewer than half of the participants accurately free-poured a standard volume of beer, wine, or liquor (37.4%, 35.1%, and 22.2%, respectively) or provided an accurate definition of beer (45.8%); similar to the aggregate data, few participants provided accurate definitions of standard serving of wine (12.2%) or liquor (12.8%) Instead, a majority of participants' definitions and free-pours were well over or under a standard serving. For all three types of alcohol, there was little correspondence between each individual participant's definitions and his or her free-poured volumes. These data suggest analyses of individual data points may provide information important for data collection, prevention, and intervention strategies.

We conducted functional analyses of pica for three individuals with varying levels of intellectual disabilities. In addition, two indirect assessment instruments (the "Motivational Assessment Scale [MAS]", and the "Questions About Behavioral Function [QABF]") were also administered to both the parent and teacher of the child participants. Results of the functional analyses indicated that pica was sensitive to automatic reinforcement. Further, results of both the MAS and QABF also suggested behavioral sensitivity to automatic reinforcement.

Research suggests that extreme relationship standards are both positively and negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. This study tested the hypothesis that the association between relationship satisfaction and extreme standards is moderated by the status of the couple (i.e., discordant versus nondiscordant). Sixty-two couples completed a thought-listing task designed to assess relationship standards. Regression analyses supported the study hypothesis. Extreme standards were associated with higher levels of relationship satisfaction among nondiscordant wives but with lower levels of relationship satisfaction among discordant husbands and discordant wives. This study helps clarify the role of extreme standards in relationship functioning, and their potential contributions to both theoretical constructs of relationships as well as the increased efficacy of couples therapy.

Prevalence of domestic violence (DV) in lesbian and heterosexual relationships appears to be similar. Despite this, few studies have examined factors associated with DV in lesbian relationships, and even fewer have examined characteristics of lesbian batterers. Demographic and psychosocial characteristics and personality traits were examined in 100 lesbians in current relationships (33 Batterers and 67 Nonbatterers). Results indicated that Batterers were more likely to report childhood physical and sexual abuse and higher rates of alcohol problems. Results from the MCMI-III indicated that, after controlling for Debasement and Desirability indices, Batterers were more likely to report aggressive, antisocial, borderline, and paranoid personality traits, and higher alcohol-dependent, drug-dependent, and delusional clinical symptoms compared to Nonbatterers. These results provide support for social learning and psychopathology theoretical models of DV and clinical observations of lesbian batterers, and expand our current DV paradigms to include information about same-sex DV.

We evaluated the extent to which staff at a university career center (a) already used, (b) could be taught to use, and (c) might continue to use behavioral skills training (BST) when teaching interview answers to college students. We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across three staff‐student dyads to assess the extent to which staff implemented BST and students provided appropriate answers before and after training. Results showed that interview training at the career center typically consisted of few BST steps, but staff could be taught on how to implement BST. All staff rated BST as an acceptable and effective form of interview training, but only one indicated that he or she was likely to adopt BST at the career center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive alcohol consumption among college students is a serious problem. Alcohol education courses, during which students are taught to free‐pour accurate servings of alcohol, have been proposed as one strategy to reduce this problem. However, few studies have evaluated the effects of peer models on free‐pour skill maintenance. We used a nonconcurrent multiple‐baseline across subjects design to assess the effects of peer modeling on maintenance of college students' (N = 19) pouring skills of a standard serving of beer immediately following Behavioral Skills Training (BST). Results indicated participants who inaccurately poured a standard serving of beer at baseline (n = 17) accurately poured following receipt of BST, and all participants (N = 19) maintained accurate pouring in the presence of peer confederate models who poured inaccurately or accurately. Results suggest BST is an efficient (i.e., low to no‐cost, requires no sophisticated laboratory space or software, and makes use of available and affordable materials) and effective tool for teaching college students to pour standard servings of beer and that the immediate introduction of inaccurately pouring peer models has little or no effect on skill maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of electricity is a significant contributor to climate change. Results from several studies have demonstrated short ‐ term success but long ‐ term success is rarely assessed, and weather is rarely measured despite its effects on energy use. We evaluated the long ‐ term effects of a multi ‐ element intervention package including visual prompts, feedback, and incentives on energy usage in two sorority houses over two years (four semesters) using a multiple baseline with reversal design while also accounting for weather fluctuations over that time period. Although daily graphs suggested intervention houses reduced their relative energy use compared to baseline, functional control over behavior was not established because reductions in energy consumption were observed approximately halfway through baseline, due possibly to reactivity; control houses showed no such pattern. Moreover, bubble graphs accounting for weather suggested an increase in energy use for the intervention house during Semester 1. We discuss the limitations of this study, suggestions for future research, and use of innovative methods of graphing energy use to better understand usage patterns and account for weather fluctuations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]