The phosphatase and tensin homolog detected on chromosome 10 (PTEN) gene product modulates activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. The PI3K pathway has been found to be involved in the regulation of the fragile X mental retardation protein, which is important for long-term depression and in the formation of new…

Some individuals with intellectual disabilities do not respond to praise as a reinforcer, which may limit their ability to learn. We evaluated 2 procedures (stimulus pairing and response-stimulus pairing), both of which involved pairing previously neutral praise statements with preferred edible items, to determine their usefulness in establishing…

Brief experimental analysis (BEA) is a useful tool for quickly evaluating intervention strategies for individuals with academic deficits and minor behavior problems. However, there is a lack of research investigating BEA for intervention strategies with individuals who emit severe problem behavior to avoid academic demands. For the current study,…

This study examined how the amount of effort required to produce a reinforcer influenced subsequent preference for, and strength of, that reinforcer in 7 individuals with intellectual disabilities. Preference assessments identified four moderately preferred stimuli for each participant, and progressive-ratio (PR) analyses indexed reinforcer…

Basic research with pigeons on behavioral momentum suggests that differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) can increase the resistance of target behavior to change. This finding suggests that clinical applications of DRA may inadvertently increase the persistence of target behavior even as it decreases its frequency. We conducted…

The purpose of this experiment was to establish discriminative control of responding by an antecedent stimulus using differential punishment because the results of past studies on this topic have been mixed. Three adults with mental retardation who exhibited stereotypy not maintained by social consequences (i.e., automatic reinforcement)…

Based upon an MA thesis submitted to Boston College, and supported in part by grant HD 01798, U.S. Public Health Service.

Research supported in part by OE Project 5-0415.

Derived conditional discrimination was evaluated in 2 men with mental retardation whose language was limited to gestural requests. In each conditional-discrimination task, sample stimuli were arbitrary visual forms and comparison stimuli were black squares presented in 2 of the 4 corners of a computer screen. Subjects learned to select 1 position…

A continuous reinforcement, delayed classical eyelid-conditioning paradigm in combination with the peripheral vasomotor response of digital vasoconstriction was employed to examine the hypothesized attention deficit for 10 15-year-old educable mentally retarded and same-age nonretarded Ss. (Author/MC)

The last installment of a series of three papers on operant techniques. (KW)

Reconciled are the current philosophy of normalization (providing patterns and conditions of everyday life) and the growth of behavior-shaping strategies as the bases of the institutional care and program of the severely mentally handicapped. (KW)