Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior最新文献

{"title":"A novel method to assess delay discounting indicates greater ambivalence for delayed rewards","authors":"Esther Kim,&nbsp;Rebecca Kurnellas,&nbsp;Sergej Grunevski,&nbsp;Julia Felton,&nbsp;Richard Yi","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70140","DOIUrl":"10.1002/jeab.70140","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Inspired by Warren K. Bickel, who introduced numerous procedural and conceptual innovations to the study of delay discounting, the present study seeks to further establish the validity of a delay discounting task that is able to assess degree of preference when making a choice. We examine the construct of ambivalence, which may provide methodological and conceptual advancements in the study of delay discounting. In a sample of 105 participants, individuals used a 100-point scale to indicate not only preference between immediate and delayed rewards but also the degree of that preference. Using this approach, both the magnitude effect and the date/delay effect were replicated, further establishing the validity of the task. Following conversion of the degree of preference to an ambivalence score, we examined associations between rate of delay discounting and between-individual levels of ambivalence, finding that lower rates of delay discounting were associated with greater ambivalence. We also compared within-individual ambivalence when the immediate reward versus the delayed reward was preferred, finding greater ambivalence was observed when the delayed reward was preferred. We speculate that the construct of ambivalence may offer some new opportunities in the conceptual understanding of delay discounting and the application of this work to health-relevant behaviors.</p>","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13539278/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148880779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Applying the reinforcer pathology model to alcohol use and suicide risk: An initial test","authors":"Mark J. Rzeszutek,&nbsp;James G. Murphy,&nbsp;Julie Cerel,&nbsp;Christopher T. Franck,&nbsp;Mikhail N. Koffarnus","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70139","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Alcohol use and suicide risk have a well-established relation. In the United States, up to a third of suicide decedents have alcohol in their blood at the time of death and half of those have a blood alcohol level above the legal driving limit (i.e., 0.08% blood alcohol content). Despite the established relation, the mechanisms linking alcohol and suicide risk are unclear. The reinforcer pathology framework of addiction, pioneered by Warren Bickel, can be adapted to make predictions about suicide risk among those who use alcohol. To assess this, we conducted two crowdsourced studies (using Amazon Mechanical Turk and Prolific) that consisted of assessments of demand for alcohol, discounting of delayed monetary gains, and suicide risk (assessed by the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale). Demand for alcohol was generally higher as suicide risk increased, and discounting for delayed gains was higher for recent suicide preparations but not suicidal ideation. Further formalization of reinforcer pathology frameworks will allow for more rigorous control of variables that affect alcohol use and suicide risk both individually and together.</p>","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jeab.70139","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148783905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Human-operant evaluation of synthesized alternative reinforcement and resurgence","authors":"Sean W. Smith,&nbsp;Courtney R. Mauzy IV,&nbsp;Casey Irwin Helvey,&nbsp;Brian D. Greer,&nbsp;William E. Sullivan,&nbsp;Henry S. Roane,&nbsp;Andrew R. Craig","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70134","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Basic research suggests that differential reinforcement with synthesized alternative reinforcement (i.e., delivery of two or more qualitatively different reinforcers contingent on a single alternative response) increases resurgence during disruptions to the contingency. We evaluated whether these findings extended to human participants using a gamified computer task within a three-phase resurgence evaluation across three experimental groups. In Phase 1, target responses produced isolated reinforcement across all groups. In Phase 2, target responses were placed on extinction across all groups but alternative responses produced either synthesized, isolated, or no reinforcement based on group assignment. In Phase 3, target and alternative responses were placed on extinction across all groups. Resurgence occurred for groups experiencing synthesized and isolated alternative reinforcement, and resurgence was greater following synthesized reinforcement. Unlike previous human-operant research, extinction also reliably produced reductions in both target and alternative responding without other programmed contingencies for these responses. These findings may have important implications for clinical practice and future translational and applied research.</p>","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148784179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In Memoriam: William H. Morse (1928–2026)","authors":"Jonathan L. Katz,&nbsp;James W. McKearney,&nbsp;James E. Barrett,&nbsp;Jack Bergman,&nbsp;A. Charles Catania,&nbsp;Charles P. France,&nbsp;Lewis R. Gollub,&nbsp;Leonard L. Howell,&nbsp;M. Jackson Marr,&nbsp;Roger D. Spealman,&nbsp;Galen R. Wenger","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70124","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148783746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differential reinforcement using matched examples and nonexamples expedites the practice needed to learn concepts","authors":"Catherine L. Williams,&nbsp;Rebecca E. Woodard,&nbsp;Mackenzie R. Fowler,&nbsp;Brooke A. Franks-Jacobucci","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70130","DOIUrl":"10.1002/jeab.70130","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Conceptual learning refers to correctly identifying novel examples and nonexamples of a concept. Concepts can be taught by presenting stimuli and differentially reinforcing responses to examples but not nonexamples. However, it is unclear which stimuli should be used and whether specifically designed stimuli can result in correct responding even in the absence of differential reinforcement. Stimulus selection can be informed by identifying features that a stimulus <i>must have</i> to be an example and <i>can have</i> without altering whether the stimulus is an example or a nonexample. Previous research suggests that using <i>matched</i> examples and nonexamples (the same can-have features present) may expedite this learning. Experiment 1 compared acquisition and conceptual learning following practice with matched and unmatched examples and nonexamples lacking exactly one must-have feature. Participants made fewer errors and completed practice faster with matched examples and nonexamples. Both practice conditions produced similar conceptual learning. Some participants also responded accurately during baseline. To evaluate whether the testing stimuli would produce conceptual learning in the absence of differential reinforcement, Experiment 2 compared conceptual learning without any practice. No conceptual learning was observed. The results support using matched examples and nonexamples for additional research on conceptual learning in classroom and laboratory settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jeab.70130","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148707037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Personal Reflection and Tribute to Peter Killeen","authors":"Darlene E. Crone-Todd","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70137","DOIUrl":"10.1002/jeab.70137","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148679148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating the influence of C/t on sensitivity to relative S+ production rate","authors":"Edward T. Blakemore,&nbsp;Samuel L. Morris","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70135","DOIUrl":"10.1002/jeab.70135","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Humans and nonhumans tend to display undermatching for stimuli positively correlated with reinforcement (i.e., S+s). <i>C</i>/<i>t</i> ratios are a method of quantifying the temporal informativeness of S+s, which may help account for varied levels of sensitivity to relative S+ production rate. However, researchers have yet to investigate the effects of <i>C</i>/<i>t</i> on choice in this context. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the influence of <i>C</i>/<i>t</i> on sensitivity to relative S+ production rate in a concurrent observing-response procedure with human participants. Each participant experienced eight conditions in which <i>C</i>/<i>t</i> and relative S+ production rate varied. Specifically, four relative S+ production rates were programmed with either low or high <i>C</i>/<i>t</i>. We evaluated differences in sensitivity by comparing multilevel regression models with and without <i>C</i>/<i>t</i> as a fixed-effect parameter and by comparing fits of the generalized matching equation across each participant's low- and high-<i>C</i>/<i>t</i> conditions. Our results suggest that participants' behavior was sensitive to relative S+ production rate. Surprisingly, participants' behavior tended to be more sensitive in their low-<i>C</i>/<i>t</i> conditions relative to their high-<i>C</i>/<i>t</i> conditions, but the magnitude of differences varied across participants.</p>","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148679184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A behavioral measure for spite","authors":"Paul Romanowich,&nbsp;Nathan A. Wilson,&nbsp;Amara M. Wentz,&nbsp;Giuliana Espinoza Paz,&nbsp;Isabella Sallee","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70131","DOIUrl":"10.1002/jeab.70131","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Spite occurs when someone harms another individual at a personal cost to themselves. Spite is studied by evolutionary biologists and personality psychologists, but little behavioral spite research exists. A social discounting task was modified to determine whether repeated choices to spite a disliked person would decrease with social distance and/or increase as loss amount for the other disliked person increased. In Experiment 1, more than 50% of participants made at least one spiteful choice, resulting in less hypothetical rewards for themselves. Spite rates generally decreased hyperbolically as social distance increased but did not increase as loss amount for the other person increased. Experiment 2 enrolled older participants and showed that participants increased spiteful choices as the loss amount for the other person increased, although not for pairwise comparisons or in a hyperbolic manner. However, spiteful choices were significantly related to self-reported Spitefulness Scale and Machiavellianism scores, showing concurrent validity. Perceived social distance ratings for both liked and disliked individuals showed significant asymmetry, with disliked individuals perceived at larger social distances. Cumulatively, these results demonstrate that spite can be measured using a social discounting task and that generosity and spite may be governed by different processes. This opens new research pathways to quantify causal variables for spiteful behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148673915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Knowing Peter Killeen","authors":"Simon Grondin","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70136","DOIUrl":"10.1002/jeab.70136","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;I completed a PhD thesis early in 1988. This thesis was about the discrimination of brief empty time intervals. In this thesis, findings were explained in terms of the properties of an internal clock (pacemaker-accumulator system), with the help of some cognitive interpretations. There was no reference to Peter R. Killeen's work in this thesis. Circulation of knowledge was not as easy as it is nowadays! And when you begin to review the existing literature on time perception in the mid 80s, you already have a century of publications on the subject to catch up on, starting with a review by Fraisse (&lt;span&gt;1984&lt;/span&gt;) and the edited book by Gibbon and Allan (&lt;span&gt;1984&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;During the summer of 1989, having to prepare a first grant proposal for a Canadian agency, I had to refresh and upgrade my knowledge about time perception. My search led me to Killeen and Weiss (&lt;span&gt;1987&lt;/span&gt;), a remarkable and comprehensive article, and I was almost tempted to quit the field because the standard of excellence was suddenly set too high! Obviously, I didn't quit but had to work for a while with the impression that I would never be able to contribute, even modestly, to this research field. That 1987 article was such a fine theoretical integration of the main pieces of information in the field of temporal discrimination, providing an integrative view that would indeed apply to any neural counting mechanism. For those needing additional explanations, after Killeen and Weiss, about the models that could be derived from a pacemaker-accumulator system, it was possible to refer to the appendix of another &lt;i&gt;Psychological Review&lt;/i&gt; article (Killeen &amp; Fetterman, &lt;span&gt;1988&lt;/span&gt;) where a timing theory, based on animal behaviors (rate of reinforcement), could also be applied to duration discrimination and other tasks or phenomena. And for those who had not yet realized that errors in temporal tasks may not only be caused by the properties of the pacemaker but also by the fallibility of the counter, an even more comprehensive description of its role, also published in &lt;i&gt;Psychological Review&lt;/i&gt;, was soon to follow (Killeen &amp; Taylor, &lt;span&gt;2000&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So far, so good. I prepared the grant proposal and talked with a colleague on the English side of the department that was also preparing a grant proposal for the same agency. We discussed, and, although we were not at all in the same research field (his training was on eating-related behavior of … pigeons maybe), I noted that among the few references in our proposals, we referred to a likely common author, but his references were from the 70s.1 Could there be more than one Killeen in experimental psychology? Maybe a common name; after all, there is more than one person who crossed the Atlantic from Ireland. But several P. R. Killeen in experimental psychology? No! Thinking back on it, it makes sense that this was the same person, given the content of Killeen and Fetterman and given convergence","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13439157/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148673909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Divided stimulus control depends on global, but not local, reinforcement contingencies","authors":"Stephanie Gomes-Ng,&nbsp;Douglas Elliffe,&nbsp;Sarah Cowie","doi":"10.1002/jeab.70127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70127","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Research suggests that divided stimulus control is graded according to the relative reinforcer probabilities associated with each stimulus, much like choice depends on reinforcer ratios. This experiment investigated whether parallels between divided stimulus control and choice extend to local levels of analysis. Six pigeons responded in a matching-to-sample procedure in which sample stimuli were composed of a color (blue or white) and frequency of color alternation (fast or slow) and subjects reported the identity of one dimension in each trial. In some conditions, the dimension to report in a trial signaled the dimension likely to be reinforced or to be reported in the following trial. Unlike choice—which favors the likely next-reinforcer location as signaled by last-reinforcer location—local probabilities had little effect on divided stimulus control. Instead, divided control depended on overall reinforcer probabilities associated with each stimulus dimension. Such global reinforcer effects were weaker when one dimension was less discriminable and were well described by a model asserting that divided control depends on differential and nondifferential reinforcement. These findings highlight the importance of the discriminated reinforcer differential in divided stimulus control and suggest that parallels between divided control and choice may not extend to local levels.</p>","PeriodicalId":17411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior","volume":"126 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jeab.70127","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148617358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}