Due to its efficacy shown in early research with children, imagined contact has often been proposed as a school prejudice-reduction intervention. Nevertheless, some of the more recent studies have not been able to replicate the expected effects. This review presents the first systematic examination of the effect of imagined contact interventions…

Understanding how learning changes during human development has been one of the long-standing objectives of developmental science. Recently, advances in computational biology have demonstrated that humans display a bias when learning to navigate novel environments through rewards and punishments: they learn more from outcomes that confirm their…

Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) is a commonly used reinforcement-based system for reducing problem behavior. DRO systems are particularly useful in that they are effective for the treatment of maladaptive behavior and can be individualized based on the needs of the learner. One possible way to enhance the effectiveness of DRO…

The current study examined whether bystander behaviours in class were associated with being perpetrators of ethnic victimization and whether they moderated the association between disengagement from morality and perpetrating ethnic-based victimization. The sample included 1065 adolescents residing in Sweden (M[subscript age] = 13.12, SD=.42; 55%…

Optimal integration of positive and negative outcomes during learning varies depending on an environment's reward statistics. The present study investigated the extent to which children, adolescents, and adults (N = 142 8-25 year-olds, 55% female, 42% White, 31% Asian, 17% mixed race, and 8% Black; data collected in 2021) adapt their weighting of…

Individuals with developmental disabilities demonstrate deficits in intellectual and adaptive functioning that can include difficulty describing past events; accurate recall may be improved by learning to engage in precurrent, or problem solving, behavior. Visual imagining is a problem-solving strategy that involves seeing in the absence of the…

Bystanders play a key role in understanding the phenomenon of cyberbullying (CB). The main aim of this study is to explore longitudinal bidirectional relationships among cyberbystanders' reaction, CB perpetration, and CB justification. Participants were 1,105 adolescents (56.7% girls; M[subscript age] = 13.56, SD = 1.21) who answered self-reported…

Non-compliance is a challenge for practitioners serving children with and without disabilities. Many interventions have been developed to increase compliance. High-probability request sequences (HPRS), an antecedent-based intervention that is based on behavioral momentum theory, is one way to increase compliant behavior. HPRS includes the…

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have increased risk for developing challenging behavior. One particularly dangerous topography of challenging behavior is rapid eating. Rapid eating can lead to increased risk for choking and obesity as well as negatively impact social interactions during mealtimes (Anglesea et al.,…

Introduction: The aim of this research was to contrast the results of two study groups when applying a model that uses training to reinforce emotional intelligence. Method: The study is based on a quantitative, quasi-experimental, exploratory approach, using control and experimental groups. A total of 297 adolescent participants, ages 12 to 16,…

Beliefs about the controllability of positive or negative events in the environment can shape learning throughout the lifespan. Previous research has shown that adults' learning is modulated by beliefs about the causal structure of the environment such that they update their value estimates to a lesser extent when the outcomes can be attributed to…

This study focuses on the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and aggression according to the combination of forms and functions of aggression (i.e. proactive overt, proactive relational, reactive overt and reactive relational), and on the moderating role of gender in this relationship. The survey included 656 adolescents (55.33% male)…

The present study evaluated a systematic instructional package including the system of least prompts (SLP) to teach differentiation and selection of tangible symbols to continue activities for two children with complex support needs and deafblindness (DB). A multiple probe design across three symbols was used to evaluate the intervention package…

Members (behaviors) of a response class are equivalent in that they produce the same functional reinforcer. Oftentimes, some members of a response class occur at higher rates than others. This can be problematic when the members that occur at high rates are socially inappropriate (e.g., self-injury, aggression, or disruption). The participant in…

The use of mindfulness as a tool to improve mental health has received increased attention. Schools provide ideal environments for short-term prevention and skill development for mental health. Further, teachers can promote and reinforce students' daily use of mindfulness. This study explored the effects of a short-term group mindfulness-based…