Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The major purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of practice and reinforcement on letter string problem solving. College students were exposed to printed letter string problems. In the first experiment correct answers could be reinforced, punished, ignored, randomly reinforced or presented without a previous example. Data showed punishment significantly decreased the number of correct answers produced by the subjects; additionally practice significantly increased the number of correct answers in one reinforced condition and lowered the number of correct answers in the punishment group. A second experiment assessed behavioral momentum theory in the solution of letter string problems. Subjects were reinforced for producing a determined answer during 12 consecutive problems; subsequently the answer selected for reinforcement changed. Results showed the probability of producing a correct answer significantly decreased when reinforcement contingencies changed. Data from both experiments suggest that approaching letter string problem solving from an operant, rather than cognitive perspective, could allow a better understanding and control of the phenomenon.

The objective of the present study was to compare two forms of maternal asynchrony: authoritarian and permissive between dyads with history of physical abuse and control dyads. Participated 17 mother-infant dyads with a history of physical abuse and 17 dyads without a history of abuse. The children's ages ranged between four and nine years with a mean age of 6.8 years. Both groups of dyads were observed in 3 sessions of 30 minutes in an academic condition. The discussion focuses on the types of maternal asynchrony and differences between the characteristics of both groups that may account for the parenting styles of each type of sample.

The main objective of this work is to make a distinction between the conceptual uses that behavior analysis has made of the concept history of reinforcement. Within behavior analysis this concept is often employed to refer to the effects that the exposition to past contingencies has on the behavior elicited by current reinforcement contingencies. Nonetheless, if reinforcement history is proposed as an explicative variable of the current behavior, this concept has no applicability given that, by definition, this variable does not operate on current contingencies. Now, if reinforcement history is understood as a specific kind of relation between behavior and environment, a relation that has been established in a particular moment and that continues or integrates as an effective way of behavior within the present contingencies, the concept would be given a molar explanation status, which is acceptable. By not making this distinction is to commit what Ryle (1949) considers a categorical mistake, with grave implications for experimental practices as well as for the applied fields.

The contingency language developed by Mechner (2008) is proposed for examining variables responsible for production and maintenance of addictive behavior for work. Three associated terms are examined: workaholism, burnout and passion for work from specialized literature in the field of Health and Organization Psychology. A diagram with symbolic elements is presented to facilitate visual detection of iterative relationships that maintain these tendencies at different stages, the first where the employee exhibits an intense rhythm of work in the absence of stimulus control that prevents detachment from work, even outside working hours. Positive and negative consequences at different scenarios are depicted, as a result of this life style, to be followed by a major health crisis that leads to rehabilitation. As a conclusion the use of contingency diagrams is proposed for the interdisciplinary study of workaholic behavior, that will aid in the prevention of this health problem.

The purpose of the present paper was to present a behavior analytic model that may be used as a guideline to orient historic research. The behavioral momentum model suggests that reinforcement of a particular behavior makes it more persistent in the subject’s repertoire. The model is used in this paper to analyze the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of France. Specifically the reinforcement histories of Admiral Bill Halsey and General Maurice Gamelin are analyzed, and their putative effects on the eventual outcomes of the aforementioned battles discussed. In general, the analysis suggests that the model adequately explains the relationships between reinforcement histories and military outcomes.

The design of a low-cost interface is described that uses the parallel port of a PC to control experiments that require from 1 to 8 outputs in combination with 1 to 4 inputs using the programming language Visual Basic® 2008 Express Edition that is freely distributed. This interface allows for controlling response-input consoles and experimental chambers that can be used in experiments with humans and nonhuman animals using only a computer. To facilitate the application of the interface in experiments on behavior analysis, the use of micro switches and photobeam sensors for recording responses as well as the use of devices controlled via micro relays is described.