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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Preliminary Psychometrics For The Executive Function Challenge Task: A Novel, “Hot” Flexibility, And Planning Task For Youth, Lauren Kenworthy, Andrew Freeman, Allison Ratto, Katerina Dudley, Kelly K. Powell, Cara E. Pugliese, John F. Strang, Alyssa Verbalis, Laura G. Anthony Mar 2020

Preliminary Psychometrics For The Executive Function Challenge Task: A Novel, “Hot” Flexibility, And Planning Task For Youth, Lauren Kenworthy, Andrew Freeman, Allison Ratto, Katerina Dudley, Kelly K. Powell, Cara E. Pugliese, John F. Strang, Alyssa Verbalis, Laura G. Anthony

Psychology Faculty Research

Objective: Executive functions (EF) drive health and educational outcomes and therefore are increasingly common treatment targets. Most treatment trials rely on questionnaires to capture meaningful change because ecologically valid, pediatric performance-based EF tasks are lacking. The Executive Function Challenge Task (EFCT) is a standardized, treatment-sensitive, objective measure which assesses flexibility and planning in the context of provocative social interactions, making it a “hot” EF task. Method: We investigate the structure, reliability, and validity of the EFCT in youth with autism (Autism Spectrum Disorder; n = 129), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with flexibility problems (n = 93), and typically developing …


Negative Punishment During Alternative Reinforcement Does Not Reduce Subsequent Resurgence, Alexander Houchins, Catherine L. Williams, Claire C. St. Peter Jan 2020

Negative Punishment During Alternative Reinforcement Does Not Reduce Subsequent Resurgence, Alexander Houchins, Catherine L. Williams, Claire C. St. Peter

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Resurgence of previously suppressed behavior can occur when differential reinforcement is discontinued. Recent research has investigated strategies to mitigate resurgence, such as punishing the target response during alternative reinforcement. Loss of reinforcers contingent on the target response (response cost) does not appear to attenuate resurgence, but these effects had not been replicated with other negative-punishment procedures, such as timeout. This study investigated effects of timeout on subsequent resurgence when adults responded to earn points during a computer task. Timeout did not affect subsequent resurgence. These findings, in combination with previous research, suggest that negative punishment may not reduce the likelihood …