In Experiment I, rats were allowed to acquire either schedule-induced drinking or scheduleinduced wood-chewing behavior under a fixed-interval (FI) 60-sec schedule of food reinforcement, following which food was omitted from 20% and then 50% of interreinforcement intervals. Omission of food severely disrupted induced drinking but had relatively little effect on induced wood-chewing. Experiment 2 investigated wood-chewing as a function of reinforcement rate, using a range of FI schedules from 5 to 180 sec in duration. Both the amount of chewing per session and the relative time spent chewing were bitonica1ly related to reinforcement rate. In Experiment 3, schedule-induced chewing that had been acquired under a response-dependent schedule was found to persist under a response-independent schedule. Induced wood-chewing resembles other induced behaviors in important respects, but quantitative differences are also apparent.Falk (1961) showed that when rats were allowed to earn food pellets intermittently, in the presence of a water source, they developed the habit of drinking a small amount of water within each interpellet interval. Because it dramatically enhances the rat's water intake, this type of drinking has become known as "schedule-induced polydipsia," or SIP. Two decades of research have revealed SIP to be an extraordinarily reliable effect, by behavioral standards, and have produced a wealth of experimental results and of conflicting theoretical accounts (see reviews by Falk, 1971, and Staddon, 1977. Nevertheless, no satisfactory explanation of the rat's enhanced drinking under intermittent schedules of food availability has yet emerged.We have chosen to address the problem of SIP obliquely, by asking whether the phenomenon of schedule induction extends to activities other than drinking, to reinforcers other than food, and to species other than the rat. In this way, we hope to determine the extent to which SIP depends on special characteristics of the relationship between eating and drinking in the rat, as opposed to reflecting the operation of more general principles. We have recently confirmed that wood-chewing can occur as a schedule-induced behavior in rats when food is intermittently available, and have shown that induced wood-chewing (like SIP) is inversely related to level of food deprivation (Roper & Crossland, 1982). This finding supports the idea that schedule indueWe thank the SRC for financial support. Reprints may be obtained from: T. J. Roper, School of Biology, University of Sussex, Brighton BNI 900, England. 35 tion is a general phenomenon (for a critical review of other relevant evidence, see Roper, 1981). On the other hand, schedule-induced wood-chewing has so far proved relatively variable in its rate and probability of acquisition, and it differs from SIP in the precise temporal location of the behavior within the interfood interval (Roper & Crossland, 1981). Thus, induced activities other than drinking may not resemble SIP in all respects.In this paper, we pursue the analogy between...

BackgroundChildren with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been reported to experience low self-esteem. Magic, a performing art, when used therapeutically, has been shown to enhance self-esteem in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. However, there is a paucity of evaluation studies using this intervention applied to children with ADHD. PurposeThis single-group study aims to describe the effectiveness of a virtual summer magic camp program to enhance self-esteem in children and adolescents with ADHD. MethodSix children with ADHD, age 8.6-14.3 years, who participated in a virtual magic camp program for children with disabilities, were included in this study. The camp met 3 days a week, about 45 min to an hour each session, over four consecutive weeks for a total of 9 to 12 hours. Participants completed the assessments before the beginning of the camp and post-camp. In addition, participants and their parents were individually interviewed to explore their camp experience at the post-camp data point. ResultsA Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that the median ranks of the self-esteem scores at post-magic camp, median=21.5, were significantly higher than the median ranks of the self-esteem scores at baseline, median=19.5, with z=2.23, p=.026. The effect size of the virtual magic camp on self-esteem was .64, which is considered moderate. Findings were validated by the participants describing gains in self-esteem after participation in the magic camp and by the parents' statements regarding the positive impact on their child's psychological well-being. DiscussionThis study supported the hypothesis that children with ADHD who participated in a four-week virtual magic camp experienced enhanced self-esteem. Future studies should investigate the holistic impact of magic camps on children and adolescents with ADHD and include measures that tap into other psychosocial attributes such as social functioning, social skills, and self-efficacy.

Importance: Low social competence is one of the most complex and resistant challenges faced by adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Occupational therapy practitioners have recognized the potential benefits of using the arts, including training in magic tricks, as a therapeutic medium to improve and enhance clients’ psychosocial well-being. Objective: To describe the efficacy of a virtual magic trick training program (MTTP) to enhance social skills and self-esteem in adolescents with ASD. Design: Pragmatic, nonrandomized, wait-list controlled trial with 1-mo follow-up. Setting: Participants’ homes. Participants: Seventeen adolescents (ages 9−15 yr) with ASD participated in the MTTP, 9 in the first cohort and 8 in the second (wait-list control) cohort. Intervention: Participants received magic trick training from occupational therapy students in pairs via videoconferencing in 45-min sessions, 3 days/wk, for 3 wk. Outcomes and Measures: Participants completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Social Skills Improvement System before and after participating in the program. Results: Between-cohort effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were 0.58 for social skills and 0.66 for self-esteem, considered moderate effects. Combining the two cohorts revealed significant improvements in social skills and self-esteem, with gains maintained at 1-mo follow-up. Conclusions and Relevance: The results of this study support our hypothesis that adolescents with ASD who participate in the 3-wk virtual MTTP can experience enhanced social skills and self-esteem. What This Article Adds: Learning magic tricks through individual coaching from occupational therapy students in a virtual environment can enhance the social skills and self-esteem of adolescents with ASD.

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