Behavioural Contrast and Peak Shift in Children

Abstract

The phenomena of behavioural contrast and peak shift, previously reported in operant conditioning studies using pigeons and rats, were obtained with school children after training on an angular-orientation discrimination task. Psychol. 58,321-334. 88-94. J . exp. Psychol. 76, 656-663. 537-542. tion training. J. exp. Analysis Behav. 3, 313-322. difference. J. exp. Analysis Behav. 5, 67-71. doctoral dissertation, Indiana University.) Psychol. Bull. 69, 111-125. physiol. PS?JChOZ. 57, 257-266. forcement schedules.

Stimulus Generalization Along a Dimension Based on a Verbal Concept

“…The present study suggests that a conceptual dimension may be functionally equivalent to a physical dimension in that the generalization pattern along the status dimension was similar to that shown along some physical dimensions (Landau, 1968;Nicholson & Gray, 1971). This hypothesis is also supported with pigeon data by Honig (1965).…”

Choosing Staff Members Reduces Time in Mechanical Restraint Due to Self‐Injurious Behaviour and Requesting Restraint

“…There was no obvious evidence of interactions between the two conditions, such as contrast or induction (e.g. Nicholson & Gray 1971; Waite & Osborne 1972), during phase 2.…”

Behavioural Indices of Frustration in Normal and Emotionally Maladjusted Children

“…The apparatus has been fully described elsewhere (Nicholson and Gray, 1971;Nicholson, 1972). Essentially, it consisted of an operant conditioning cabinet from which a lever protruded, the pressing of which sometimes resulted in the delivery of a reinforcement into a tray, and in the middle of which there was a 9 X 9 in.…”

“…The most comprehensive explanation is that offered by Terrace (1966aTerrace ( , 1968, who suggests that behavioural contrast and peak shift arise from the emotional state of frustration, which is engendered during discrimination training by the non-arrival of anticipated reward, and becomes conditioned to S^. In keeping with this view, both behavioural contrast and peak shift appear in species as diverse as goldfish (Ames and Yarczower, 1965) and children (Nicholson and Gray, 1971), which presumably reflects the phylogenetic longevity of the areas of the brain which mediate emotional behaviour (Brodal, 1969). Smith Accepted manuscript received 3 June 1974 (1969) have developed a mathematical model which accounts for a number of phenomena, including peak shift and behavioural contrast, in terms of frustrative nonreward (FNR: Amsel, 1958).…”

“…In addition to this shift of the mode, the shape of the second generalization gradient differs from that of the first. The mean of the gradient about 5^ in the post-discrimination generalization test (post-DGT) is also shifted from 5^ in a direction away from S\ Grusec (1968) has suggested that mean shift may be a more sensitive measure of the processes which underlie peak shift, an important suggestion in view of the finding (Terrace, 1966(Terrace, -1968Nicholson and Gray, 1971) that subjects who fail to display peak shift may nevertheless show mean shift.…”