Association for Behavior Analysis International

Approximately 30% of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are also diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Mannion et al., 2013). It may be difficult to objectively determine treatment efficacy when pharmacologic treatments are applied to reduce the symptoms of ADHD. Khroyan et al., 2012 found success in using a digital activity tracking system to evaluate the effectiveness of psychotropic medications in lab mice. The current study utilized data from a Fitbit activity tracker to evaluate the efficacy of medications prescribed for the purpose of reducing hyperactivity in children diagnosed with both ASD and ADHD. Steps recorded by the device were divided by the number of wake minutes that the device was worn. Steps recorded during a baseline period were compared to steps recorded while medications were added, reduced, or removed. Results indicated that Fitbit measurement was differentiated across baseline and medication adjustment phases. This data also matched anectdotal reports of medication effectiveness.

Relapse of Crack Cocaine use is attributed by former users to the strong cravings elicited by Conditioned Stimuli associated with drug administration. This study aims to (1) characterize the health of fomer Crack Cocaine users now under the care of a Brazilian Psychosocial Attention Center (PAC) and a Mental Health Institution (MHI) and (2) determine if using biofeedback training to induce relaxed respiration decreases cravings for the drug. Health was assessed using the Addiction Severity Index Scores (ASI-6). Thirteen participants from the PAC and 1 from the MHI completed the ASI-6 instrument, the MHI participant volunteered for the biofeedback training. The biofeedback protocol consisted of repeatedly showing 6 photos related to Crack Cocaine use (Baseline) while monitoring respiration, galvanic skin response (GSR), heart rate (HR) and skin temperature. The respiration training was arranged in repeated 10 min. sessions, where breathing with a rate of 6 cycles/min and having a given amplitude was differentially reinforced (feedback). Initially both visual and auditory feedback were provided. When the participant maintained breathing in the reinforced range for 80% of the time in 5 consecutive sessions, the visual feedback was discontinued and training continued for 5 additional sessions with auditory feedback only. Subsequently, the Baseline protocol was reinstated and she was encouraged to use the respiration technique she had learned. Results: Average ASI-6 scores for each factors were Drugs (0,62 0,14), Alcohol (0,55 0,07), Legal Difficulties (0,52 0,09), Psychiatric Diagnosis (0,58 0,001), Medical Problems (0,38 0,01), Employment Difficulties (0,36 0,05), Family/Child Problems (0,66 0,001), Social Problems (0,42 0,06) and Social Support (0,36 0,07). Biofeedback for respiration produced the criterion performance for the participant after 7 sessions, she maintained this level for the remainder of the sessions. Though with a decreasing trend after withdrawal of the visual feedback. Visual inspection shows GSR was lower in pos-testing. Temperature was qutie stable, but with a slight increasing trend, just the opposite of the trend seen in the initial baseline. Changes in HR were not clear. Taken together, the data reveal that the training was successful in decreasing craving-related measures in a former Crack Cocaine user.

The aim of this study was to determine whether employment-based reinforcement of naltrexone adherence increased opiate abstinence. In three previously-reported randomized clinical trials with unemployed heroin users, employment-based reinforcement increased adherence to oral and extended-release naltrexone. However, effects on opiate abstinence were not significant in those within-study analyses with small per-group Ns ranging from 17 to 35. Here we analyze effects on opiate use with larger Ns by combining data from all three studies. Recently detoxified, heroin-dependent unemployed adults participated in a therapeutic workplace for 26 weeks where they could earn wages and receive job skills training. Participants were randomized to a Prescription (n = 68) or Contingency (n = 72) group. Contingency group participants were required to adhere to naltrexone to gain access to the workplace. Prescription group participants could access the workplace independent of their naltrexone adherence. Naltrexone formulation and dosing varied across trials: 3x/week (oral), 1x/3 weeks (Depotrex injection), or 1x/4 weeks (Vivitrol injection). Adherence was measured as the percentage of doses directly observed to be accepted (injection studies) or by monthly urinalysis for naltrexone (oral study). Analyses showed that Contingency group participants had significantly higher rates of naltrexone adherence than Prescription group participants (78.0% vs. 35.0%) and significantly higher rates of thrice-weekly opiate-negative urine samples (missing-missing: 87.4% vs. 75.6%; missing-positive: 68.9% vs. 55.6%). Employment-based contingencies for adherence to naltrexone are effective and can increase opiate abstinence among unemployed heroin-dependent adults.

Smokers who are obese have a 6-11 fold increased risk of circulatory disease mortality compared to non-smokers of normal weight (Freedman et al., 2006). Despite exercise being used to aid in some smoking cessation programs, the relationship of physical activity to smoking topography is not well understood. Our study attempts to increase physical activity in smokers by providing money for meeting step goals. Four adult smokers wore a Fitbit accelerometer for 7 weeks. During the first week, baseline stepcounts were measured. During a three week intervention, monetary reinforcers were earned for meeting individualized goals. The final week was a return to baseline condition. Participants texted each time they smoked a cigarette. Smoking topography (e.g., puff count, duration, interpuff interval, flow) was measured several times over the course of the study. Three participants increased their steps by around 2000 steps/day. Smoking topography correlations varied across participants, and will be presented.

In social transmission of food preference a demonstrator rat that has consumed flavored food will increase preference for that flavor in nave observer rats. Studies in behavioral pharmacology have shown that cholinergic antagonists may produce deficits in acquisition and recall in different tasks. It is important to assess the difference between central and peripheral effects with methylscopolamine. Control and saline groups were compared with a group that received a dose of 8 mg/kg methylscopolamine after demonstration; two groups that received a dose of scopolamine each, 4 mg/kg and 8 mg/kg. Twelve observers interacted with a list of three demonstrators that had eaten different flavored foods, position was counterbalanced. Testing was made after 24 hr. Results showed a decrease in primacy and an increase in recency in the 8 mg/kg group. Methylscopolamine group was similar to control and saline groups but preference for the middle item increased. A mixed ANOVA showed a significant effect of group F(1, 55) = 3.385, p = 0.15. A test of within-subjects contrasts revealed a significant quadratic trend for position F(1, 55) = 5.314, p = .025 and medium effect size r = .30. We concluded that central and peripheral effects are different.

The Odor Span Task (OST) is a procedure that is increasingly used to study remembering in rodents. The procedure involves placing the rat in an arena in which odor stimuli can be presented using cups filled with scented materials or covered by a scented lid. An incrementing non-match to sample procedure is used such that selection of each odor produces food reward when first presented, but not on any subsequent presentations. Thus, correct selections depend on the subject remembering which stimuli have already been presented. The present study assessed the effects of two positive allosteric GABA modulators, flunitrazepam and zolpidem, on OST accuracy. Both drugs impaired OST accuracy in a dose-dependent fashion, but the effects of zolpidem were generally non-selective; doses that impaired OST also impaired simple discrimination performance. In contrast, flunitrazepam effects were selective to the OST in most rats; that is, some doses of flunitrazepam impaired OST but not simple discrimination performances.

The Odor Span Task (OST) is a procedure that is increasingly used to study remembering in rodents. The procedure involves placing the rat or mouse in an arena in which odor stimuli can be presented using cups filled with scented materials or covered by a scented lid. An incrementing non-match to sample procedure is used such that selection of each odor produces food reward when first presented, but not on any subsequent presentations. Thus, correct selections depend on the subject remembering which stimuli have already been presented. The use of an arena setting with manual stimulus presentation makes the OST labor-intensive and limits experimental control; thus an automated version of the OST would be of value. The present study used an operant chamber equipped with a 15-channel olfactometer. Rats were trained on successive conditional discrimination procedures (Go-No-Go) under the incrementing non-matching-to-sample contingency and developed high rates of responding to odor stimuli when they were initially presented and relatively lower rates of responding on subsequent presentations of that stimulus. NMDA antagonist MK-801 decreased the discrimination ration in a dose-dependent fashion. These findings support the use of this automated version of the OST to study remembering in non-human subjects

Alcohol dependence specifically and addiction more broadly are often considered to be a problem of overvaluing immediate rewards associated with drug and/or alcohol use while undervaluing delayed rewards associated with abstinence. Contingency management treatments arrange immediate, tangible rewards contingent on abstinence, thereby replacing the immediate reward of alcohol or drug use with an incompatible reinforcer. Delay discounting rate has been shown to predict treatment success and/or change with successful treatment, although the results in this area are somewhat mixed. In the present ongoing experiment, delay discounting rate was collected before and after a remotely delivered contingency management treatment to promote alcohol abstinence. Data thus far show that delay discounting rate at intake significantly predicts treatment outcome (proportion of days of verified abstinence). Additionally, treatment group (contingent versus noncontingent incentives) and abstinence rate during treatment are both significantly associated with a reduction in discount rate at the end of treatment. These results suggest that delay discounting rate in this sample is both a predictor of and consequence of successful treatment.

A survey conducted in Mexico in 2011 found out that 58.4% of current smokers have attempted to quit smoking during the last year. Several studies have found that relapses are common in smokers and have been associated with the perceived intensity of the withdrawal symptoms. This study aims to identify whether there is a relationship between the presence and lavel of intensity of the withdrawal symptoms and relapse in smoking behavior. A checklist with 16 items was applied to 30 current smokers and 30 ex smokers. Significant differences between groups were found in 10 of the 15 symptoms investigated (p between .001 and .028), in the perception of the intensity of whether the withdrawal symptoms difficult the maintenance of abstinence (p = .000), and in the total score (p = .000). These results may contribute to the development and improvement of current treatments for smoking cessation for the Mexican population.

Nicotine dependence causes smoking behavior to become repetitive, hindering the abandonment of tobacco withdrawal symptoms, can be reason to return to consume, without success for the maintenance of abstinence, even in those people who have been attending treatment for smoking cessation. However there is little information concerning the level of nicotine dependence and the discontinuation of treatment that intends to identify if the level of dependency affects the treatment and abandoned. Took place the application an initial interview and was identified as a main substance for treating tobacco, was evaluated the level of dependency through the scale of Fagerstrm (FTND, Fagerstrm Test for Nicotine Dependence;) Heatherton, Kozlowski, Frecker and Fagerstrm, 1991), this began with sessions of treatment. Found that the group with a very high level of dependence was significantly greater (p =. 012) to cessation treatment, levels low and medium.

RATIONALE: In animal models, nicotine enhances responding maintained by non-pharmacological reinforcers, and discontinuation of nicotine devalues those same reinforcers. OBJECTIVE: The intention of this study was to assess the interaction of nicotine and opioid receptors and to evaluate the degree to which nicotine enhancement and nicotine-induced reward devaluation are interrelated behavioral phenomenon. METHODS: Nicotine (0.4 mg/kg) or 0.4 mg/kg nicotine plus naloxone (0.3 or 3.0 mg/kg) were delivered to rats prior to progressive ratio (PR) schedule sessions in which sucrose was used as a reinforcer for 10 consecutive days/sessions. Nicotine-induced reward devaluation was then assessed for three sessions after nicotine dosing was discontinued. Control groups for this investigation included a saline-only condition, and naloxone-only (0.3 or 3.0 mg/kg) conditions. RESULTS: Nicotine produced discernible and significant increases in responses for sucrose. When administered in conjunction with nicotine, the 0.3 mg/kg naloxone dose prevented nicotine enhancement of the sucrose reinforcer. The combination of the larger dose of naloxone (3.0 mg/kg) with nicotine produced significant impairments in sucrose reinforced responding. When administered alone, neither dose of naloxone (0.3 & 3.0 mg/kg) significantly altered responding in comparison to saline. Furthermore, when nicotine dosing was terminated after 10 once-daily doses, all nicotine groups (nicotine and nicotine/naloxone combination) demonstrated significant decreases in responding for sucrose compared to the saline control group. CONCLUSIONS: Reinforcement enhancement by nicotine may be due, in part, to its action on opioid receptors. However, withdrawal-related reward devaluation seems unrelated to the opioid action of nicotine; therefore, reinforcement enhancement and devaluation may not be interrelated.

Neurophysiological research has traditionally focused on understanding the brain mechanisms of reward or threat processes independently. This has left a substantial gap in our understanding of how identified brain mechanisms respond under conditions where reward and threat compete for behavior. In this investigation, we used functional MRI (fMRI) to track dorsal and ventral frontal activation while appetitive and aversive contingencies competed for human choice (N=23). A novel approach-avoidance choice task was used in which a monetary reward appeared alongside a conditioned aversive stimulus (CS threat) that signaled increasing probability of money loss. Across trials, reward was fixed while CS threat level varied unpredictably. On each trial, choosing to approach produced the reward or probabilistic loss, while choosing to avoid prevented US delivery. Increasing the CS threat level produced a switch from approach to avoidance. Importantly, inverted U-shaped changes in activation were found in dorsal frontal regions while U-shaped changes in activation were observed in ventral frontal regions. These new findings show parallel dorsal-ventral frontal circuits support gating of human approach-avoidance behavior where dorsal signals inversely correlate with value differences between contingencies while ventral frontal signals correlate with response-outcome predictability. Such results also highlight operant behavior is supported by multiple parallel brain circuits.

Pediatric anxiety disorders are characterized by increased brain activation in limbic brain structures, such as the amygdala. However, findings are routinely obtained using tasks that present threatening faces or provocative words, which may limit the search for biomarkers of anxiety. New approaches are especially needed for assessing regions farther downstream from the amygdala which support behavioral regulation. This investigation used functional MRI (fMRI) to examine dorsal and ventral frontal lobe reactivity in children diagnosed with (N=30) and without (N=18) an anxiety disorder. Using a discrete trial procedure, we measured activation to a threat cue that prompted avoidance maintained by negative reinforcement and a reward cue that prompted approach maintained by positive reinforcement. Critically, a conflict cue was also presented in which both threat and reward cues were presented, creating a competition for behavior. Anxious children compared to controls exhibited hyperactivation in dorsal and hypoactivation in ventral frontal regions to the conflict cue, even though group performances were similar. Our findings suggest pediatric anxiety is associated with altered dorsal and ventral frontal lobe processes and illustrates how responses to contingencies can contribute to anxiety research.

In the care of elderly people with dementia is one of the main schalenges how to treat problem behaviour. The medical model dominates the treatment of people with dementia who exhibit different types of problem behaviour. Use of psychotropic medication is often the main solution, despite there is growing evidence that this type of medication are contraindicated in many cases. Possibilities for dangerous side effects and increase in the mortality is high with increased dosages to prevent problem behaviour (Weiner, 2009). One of the reason for abundant use of medication is that doctors often regulate type of medicament and the dosage from verbal feedback from caretakers or relatives. Disturbing behaviours, ana specially attacks on staff or fellow patients increase demand for drug treatment. This poster is presenting how to use an easy administered scatterplot in a ward for people with dementia and problem behaviour to track changes in behaviour during a 20 weeks discounting of sobril� and risperdal�, for one patient. The result show that this method is useful and easy to administrate in the wards without increased workload to the staff, and methods like these, can support the verbal reports in the medical treatment of people with dementia and difficult manageable problem behaviour.

Psychotropic medications are frequently utilized in the treatment of challenging behavior in children diagnosed with autism (Weeden, Ehrhardt, & Poling, 2010). In combination with the potential for adverse side effects (Matson & Dempsey, 2008) and a lack of consistency in evaluating medication effectiveness on behavioral progress (Matson & Neal, 2009) demonstrates a need for additional research on medication effects in combination with behavioral treatment. The current review utilizes number of psychotropic medications and percent reduction in target behaviors at discharge for children with developmental and intellectual disabilities residing in a facility for the treatment of severe problem behaviors. Preliminary results demonstrate that the majority of participants had decreased psychotropic medications at discharge. Additionally, greater reductions in target behaviors were associated with fewer psychotropic medications at the time of discharge for the majority of participants.Medication effects will be discussed in terms of both number and classification of medications from admission to discharge, as well as differentiated terms of behavioral function (i.e., social or automatic).

Alcohol consumption has been linked to heightened risk-taking and aggression, and alcohol-related accidents, violence, and crime continue to be considerable public health problems. Understanding why alcohol increases problem behavior is an important step towards preventing harmful outcomes that can occur when people consume alcohol. Many studies have investigated alcohols effects on response inhibition in go-stop and go/no-go tasks in which participants must inhibit a pre-potent response. Alcohol typically increases this type of inhibited responding. There has been very little research with humans investigating alcohols effects on punished responding. Studying the effects of alcohol on punished behavior is important for understanding why alcohol increases problem behavior in situations in which responding produces rewards but also potentially dire consequences (e.g., driving while intoxicated, engaging in risky sexual behavior). This project will investigate the effects of alcohol on responding during a conflict (punishment) task. Performance will be measured concurrently on a response inhibition task (i.e.,a stop-signal task) to determine whether alcohol affects performance on the two task types similarly. This comparison will indicate whether response inhibition should be conceptualized as a unitary construct. Four adults have completed the study so far. On the punishment task participants pressed buttons on a multiple schedule of money gain and money gain plus losses (reinforcement only or reinforcement plus punishment). On the stop-signal task, participants were instructed to respond to target stimuli to earn money, but to withhold the response when a stop signal (tone) was presented. Performance was compared across placebo and alcohol conditions (0.45 g/kg). Three of the participants showed increases in punished responding under alcohol. Only one showed an increase in stop-signal reaction times (greater disinhibition); thus the measures did not appear to be well correlated. Although preliminary, these data suggest that punished behavior and response inhibition may not be similarly affected by alcohol.