Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis

Social foraging and time of access to patch zones in rats

2024-05-18T22:27:02-05:00

In social foraging situations, some group members tend to search their food sources (producers), while others tend to join a previously discovered food source (scroungers). Rate maximization model and agent-based models predict that the proportion of scroungers within the group should increase as the finder share decreases. We propose a novel experimental preparation to study the effects of the finder share on the proportion of scroungers in a social foraging situation by controlling the access time to the patch zones. As the access time to discovered patch zones decreased, the opportunity to join patch zones decreased too, and the finder share increased. Our results matched the models’ prediction in the sense that the proportion of producer responses decreased, and the number of scroungers increased as the access time to the patch zones increased.

The effect of periodicity of reinforcement on food accumulation

2024-05-19T11:04:54-05:00

Recent studies on food accumulation have shown that the rate of food-procuring responses increases by delaying the delivery of food (i.e., an increasing delay gradient). However, these studies have only delivered the food periodically, which could lead to the establishment of a behavior sequence between successive food deliveries. Therefore, the increasing delay gradient could be due to the establishment of different behavior sequences, composed of more food-procuring responses as the delay of reinforcement is lengthened. The present study investigated whether the increasing delay gradient occurs when the establishment of a behavior sequence is hindered by eliminating the periodicity of reinforcement from a situation of food accumulation. The periodicity of reinforcement was eliminated by using a variable delay in Experiment 1 and a variable inter-trial interval in Experiment 2. It was found that the increasing delay gradient occurred both with periodic and aperiodic reinforcement, which may imply that it does not depend on the establishment of a behavior sequence. In contrast, the increasing delay gradient was attributed to the temporal distribution of the food-procuring period within the inter-reinforcement time.

A systematic review of student outcomes as a function of behavioral skills training of teachers

2024-05-19T12:52:57-05:00

Problem behavior of students in school settings have negative effects on several areas of functioning in children. Empirical research has provided conclusive evidence regarding lifetime repercussions when problematic behavior is not treated. Despite evidence of the effectiveness of applied behavior analysis interventions to improve student’s behavior, access to these services remains a major challenge. Training teachers and staff in these procedures has been shown to be an effective alternative to achieve a greater reach; however, little attention has been paid to the effect of teacher training on student’s outcomes. The current systematic review aims to provide a synthesis of the evidence of teacher’s behavioral skills training intended to modify student’s behavior. Fifty-three empirical studies were collected from eight databases and eight specialized journals. Overall, we found the studies provide evidence of the effectiveness of teacher training on student’s outcomes. We also describe the main characteristics of the study interventions and discuss potential considerations related to training components that can be used to provide more effective training, especially for diverse contexts and communities with fewer resources. Needs for future research are discussed.

Ratsketball: Using low-cost 3D printed operant chambers to probe for generative learning

2024-05-19T13:41:17-05:00

The cost of operant chambers used to teach students basic concepts and principles of behavior analysis and learning has increased across time, adding a barrier for instructors who wish to incorporate animal models within their laboratory courses, instead using virtual and analog models. Researchers have begun to investigate the use of 3D-printed operant chambers in laboratory classes as a low-cost alternative to traditional operant chambers. The current paper extends the literature on low-cost alternatives and provides an overview of the methodology to create and use 3D-printed operant chambers designed to function as basketball courts. In addition to specific instructions to assemble these boxes, we present a rationale as to how instructors can use these chambers in assignments designed to teach concepts and principles of operant conditioning, while establishing novel topographies of behavior not commonly seen in rats (i.e., placing basketball in hoop). We present sample data from the course assignment to highlight the utility of these chambers. It is our hope that researchers and instructors can use these methods to replicate this novel extension of traditional operant conditioning procedures to behaviors not commonly established in operant conditioning laboratories.

A point contingency increased webcam usage in a university classroom

2024-05-19T22:23:11-05:00

The use of online instruction has increased substantially in the last few years. An important aspect of remote instruction that has received some attention via survey-based research is student webcam usage. There are few empirical strategies to increase students’ webcam usage. In the present study, we replicated a prior study by providing students with points contingent on webcam usage during remote college instruction. An alternating treatments design was used to assess the influence of the contingent point delivery on webcam usage. Twenty-four undergraduate students in a psychology course participated. The contingency enhanced webcam usage and the points served as effective reinforcers. A simple reinforcement contingency can improve webcam usage in a college classroom, but outcomes can likely be enhanced by including additional antecedent operations.

Participative leadership in small businesses

2024-05-19T22:52:54-05:00

This paper presents some ideas on the concept of participative leadership as a behavioral interpretative framework to understand the specificity of small businesses owner’s organizational role. To that point the paper begins with a review of the general characteristics of Organizational Behavior Management and its analysis and intervention tools. From there, the paper presents an analysis of the way in which the concept of participative leadership can create a conceptual connection to such tools and bring about an understanding of the specificity of leadership in such business. The empirical functions proposed to understand such specificity are: a) innovation actions; b) feedback conditions; and c) operation exemplar. The paper concludes with an emphasis on an equal recognition of such functions and suggests the development of a formula for the quantitative measurement of each function´s weight on a general parameter of participative leadership viewed as a competence.

Editorial

2024-05-19T23:06:26-05:00

It is an honor for me to present the first issue of volume 50 of the Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis (MJBA) and its new editorial team. Linda Hayes, from University of Nevada at Reno, and Mitch Fryling, from California State University at Los Angeles, both will serve as the new English language editors. Víctor Alcaraz, from Universidad Veracruzana (UV), and Sara Cruz, from Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), will serve as associate editors in the areas of Biological bases of behavior and Behavioral pharmacology, respectively. Carlos Flores, from Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones en Comportamiento (CEIC) at Universidad de Guadalajara (UDG), and Daniel Gómez Fuentes, from Instituto de Psicología y Educación at UV, will do the same in the areas of Experimental analysis of animal behavior and Experimental analysis of human behavior, respectively. Nora Rangel, from CEIC at UDG, will be the associate editor for Experimental analysis of social behavior, while Alicia Roca, from Facultad de Psicología at UNAM, will be for Applied behavior analysis.