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| Social and Novel Behavior: Conceptual and Empirical Studies |
| Tuesday, October 8, 2013 |
| 8:30 AM–9:50 AM |
| Izamal (Fiesta Americana) |
| Area: TPC |
| Chair: Marcelo Frota Benvenuti (USP) |
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| Research on Social Skills in Interlocking Behavioral Contingencies: The Case of Young Offenders' Families |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| FABIANE FERRAZ SILVEIRA FOGACA (UFSCar), Marcelo Benvenuti Frota (USP), Almir Del Prette (UFSCar), Zilda Del Prette Pereira (UFSCar) |
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| Abstract: The presence of multiple aversive conditions, which affect the presentation of social skills and social educational skills, implies the consideration that the families of young offender may represent a vulnerable population. It should be considered that these families are facing the challenging task of promoting socially competente repertoire, which is in the opposite direction to disregard the rights of others and search for immediate gratification. Interventions in individual contingencies may not produce the desired effects when there is participation of such contingencies in a system of interlocking. Therefore, analysis of individual contingencies can be complemented by a review of interlocking in which they participate. The term interlocking behavioral contingencies has been used to delimit the unit of analysis of social behavior in which the behavior of each individual performs a double role-the role of action and the role of behavioral environment for the action of another individual. The study aims at the analysis of interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBCs), that indicates deficits and reserves of social skills and social educational skills in young offender's families.The subjects were five families consisting of a young offender, a brother of the youn' offender and mother. Instruments applied: IHSA, IHS, Indicadores de Habilidades Sociais Educativas e uma Entrevista Semi-Estruturada. Main results: a) the general repertoire of social skills of young offender is lower than that of his brother; b) IBCs were identified in five families, especially between mother and young offender. The IBCs consisted of episodes of interactions - related to drug use and living with adolescents who practice violations-that signal propagation patterns of interpersonal relationships between mothers and sons, indicating deficits, especially in the skills of self-control, empathy and conversation. We discuss about the promotion of the quality of social interactions within the family, as a considerable portion of the contingencies that young people will be exposed during life. |
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| Social Behavior and the Analysis of Psychological Phenomena |
| Domain: Theory |
| MARCELO FROTA BENVENUTI (Universidade de São Paulo) |
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| Abstract: The presentation discuss the potential of experimental and conceptual investigations on social behavior to account traditional psychological phenomena. The investigations about social behavior help to see the basic principles of variation, selections and retention in phenomena especially identified with mentalistic explanations in psychology. In the analysis of social behavior, the relevant environment is also a behaving organism: selection of behavior depends on behavior variables that affect not only person who behaves, but also the selective environment. Some psychological phenomena are hard to be seen by behavior principles because there is not an extensive analysis about how behavior works as an environment for others. The analysis of superstitious behavior illustrates this point. In a nonsocial environment, superstitious behavior tends to be transient. In social context, superstitious behavior depends not only on the contiguity with reinforcement, but also on a dynamic environment (social) that can prevent the necessary variability to superstitious behavior decreases in probability. Also, in social environment superstitious behavior can be very persistent and stereotyped (not idiosyncratic). This can be demonstrated when participants who are exposed to a noncontingent task need to teach others how to behave in the situation, or when new participants learn by observation with the ones who was behaving superstitiously. Similar aspect can also be viewed in the analysis of empathy, the disposition to collaborate with others even when this can not result in individual gains. In experimental context, we can produce this "disposition" by building a behavior history of cooperation on absence of cooperation when it was possible. All this examples illustrate the need to investigate social behavior to account psychological phenomena especially related to causal learning, illusion of control and empathy |
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| Creativity:A No Man's Land |
| Domain: Theory |
| MARIA ISABEL MUNOZ BLANCO (University of Nevada), Linda J. Parrott Hayes (University of Nevada, Reno) |
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| Abstract: Psychology has historically been considered to be responsible for explaining a number of concepts frequently used to describe ordinary behavior. Nevertheless, these concepts were born under different circumstances that may involve religion and other socio-economical events related to them. As a result, scientists are pressured to provide an explanation for these concepts although many remain insufficiently defined. This is the case for creativity. People are inclined to identify that which is not considered to be "creative", yet few have attempted to define what the phenomena of creativity actually is and how it occurs. So far, this concept has been treated with little success, confusing it with other concepts such as problem solving and intelligence. In this presentation, this concept is going to be analyzed. It will start by analyzing how the term creative and any of its derivates have been used in everyday language. This will open the discussion on what are the problems that a naturalistic approach has to explain this behavior. Finally, different approaches within behavior analysis and interbehaviorism would be explored and compared to the characteristics observed in societies' definitions. Weaknesses and strengths of current theories will be evaluated and future directions on the study of this concept will be considered. |
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