Psychology Commons^™

Discriminative Stimulus Effects Of 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone And 4-Methylmethcathinone, Michael D. Berquist

Dissertations

Recent escalation in the popularity of recreational synthetic cathinone (“bath salts”) use has prompted numerous scientific investigations of the neurochemical and behavioral effects of 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC), two of the more common chemical constituents of these illicit “bath salts”. Previous neurochemical and electrophysiological studies have revealed that MDPV functions as a blocker, and 4-MMC as a substrate, at monoamine transporters, and both produce transient increases in extracellular monoamines. In addition, previous research has demonstrated that MDPV and 4-MMC support self-administration in nonhuman experimental subjects, and their rewarding effects are observed when paired with contextual cues in nonhuman models …

Transitioning Children With Autism From A Discrete Trial Classroom To A Group Classroom, Alexandra Ennis

Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to prepare children diagnosed with autism for the transition to group learning environments by teaching them to sit in their chair and attend while the teacher is at least five feet away. This is a skill that will help kids succeed when they make the transition from an early intervention program to a group learner environment because it allows the teacher to focus more on learning important skills. A proximity procedure was put in place for two children that focused on gradually increasing the distance between the tutor and the student with use of …

Sensor-Enabled Reduction Of Stereotypy, Aaron Brzezinski

Honors Theses

The goal of this study was to create and implement an intervention to reduce stereotypic behavior in a child with Autism. The participant was chosen based on a high occurrence of target behavior and was recruited through his treatment center. The target behaviors were selected based on the subjective evaluation of his treatment provider and parents. The dependent variable in this study was hand-flapping. The independent variable was DRO training that included a buzzer and a chime noise contingent on the presence or absence of stereotypy respectively. A Microsoft Kinect© 2.0 was used to track occurrence of target behavior and …

Increasing Vocalizations In Children With Autism, Nicholette Christodoulou

Honors Theses

This study focuses on increasing vocalizations for students with Autism spectrum disorder. A three-part intervention was used to attempt to establish an echoic repertoire in students who had little to no vocalizations. Both students attended an early intervention classroom with a special education school. Students were selected from their classroom if they showed little to no vocalization or echoic skills. The goal during the first phase was to collect all sounds being made by the student to increase the overall number of vocalizations being made. This was done by continuous reinforcement using edible reinforcers. In phase two, the student’s dominant …

Evaluation Of The Discriminable Stimulus Effects Of 0.3 Mg/Kg 3, 4‑Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (Mdpv) And 1.0 Mg/Kg 4-Methylmethcathinone (4-Mmc) Using A Drug Discrimination Procedure In Male Sprague-Dawley Rats, Michael Berquist

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Experimental investigations into the behavioral and neurochemical effects of illicit β-ketophenethylamines (synthetic cathinones, “bath salts”) has increased in recent years. Two cathinone derivatives in particular, MDPV and mephedrone (4-MMC), have received a considerable amount of research attention given their relative popularity among users at the turn of the 21st century. Researchers investigating MDPV and 4-MMC have devoted much of their attention toward evaluating the drugs’ reinforcing efficacy, rewarding effects, receptor binding profiles, and effects on ambulatory responses.

There exist few published studies that have evaluated the discriminable stimulus effects of MDPV and 4-MMC using rodent drug discrimination procedures. To date, …

Examining The Effectiveness Of A Training Video On The Lmplementation And Lnterpretation Of A Functional Analysis, Alissa Anne Conway

Masters Theses

Functional behavior assessment (FBA), and more specifically functional analysis (FA), refer to structured assessment processes designed to identify the controlling variables for challenging behaviors across children, adolescents, and adults. The results from a functional analysis are used to match therapy techniques to unique causal variables for challenging behaviors and also to select more adaptive replacement behaviors that produce similar functions as the challenging behaviors. As functional analysis techniques, in all variations, have become more commonplace in applied behavior analysis (ABA), attention has turned to how to train practitioners to implement FAs, interpret the results, and use the FAs to inform …

Increasing Vocal Behavior And Establishing Echoic Stimulus Control In Children With Autism, Joseph Shane

Dissertations

Many children with autism fail to demonstrate vocal-verbal behavior, including echoic behavior, as early as their typically developing peers. Some also make very limited vocal sounds in general, remaining mostly mute aside from crying or engaging in stereotypy. Echoic behavior involves auditory discrimination and matching, and functions as a beneficial, if not necessary, prerequisite for many other vocal-verbal skills. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement an echoic training procedure for primarily non-vocal children who did not demonstrate auditory discrimination in baseline. The intervention consisted initially of sessions in which any vocal sounds were reinforced. Then differential …

Session-By-Session Feedback From Psychotherapy Outcome Assessment: An Analysis Of Treatment Utility, Lynn Hallberg Hall

Dissertations

This study sought to examine the effect of providing outcome assessment data to therapists treating a sample of community adults seeking mental health services at two university training clinics. The participants (N = 41) were predominantly unmarried, Caucasian females, 19 to 39 years old, with a wide range of psychological problems. The therapists were trainees from master’s and doctoral programs in counseling and clinical psychology participating in their first clinical practicums. The Outcome Questionnaire 45-2 (OQ), an instrument designed for frequent measurement of client symptom, interpersonal, and social-role distress, served as the dependent measure. The OQ was designed to show …