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- Title
The experimental analysis of human operant behavior following traumatic brain injury.
- Authors
Schlund, Michael W.; Pace, Gary M.
- Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may produce deficits in discriminating and responding appropriately to consequences. Commonly, insensitivity to consequences is attributed to deficits in cognitive processes, particularly executive functioning. The present investigation examined the hypothesis that TBI may reduce control exerted by reinforcers over behavior. Results of basic operant research on reinforcement processes with individuals with TBI may have clinical value for understanding and ultimately remediating deficits associated with TBI. In experiment 1, responding by adults with TBI and non-injured controls was investigated under reinforcement contingencies that differentially reinforced responding and the absence of responding within sessions. Results showed that most TBI subjects obtained lower reinforcement rates than control subjects, especially under contingencies requiring the absence of responding. In experiment 2, results showed that the addition of stimuli correlated with reinforcement improved one subject's performance. These results suggest that TBI may differentially reduce sensitivity to response-reinforcer contingencies and some environmental changes may increase sensitivity. Results also suggest parallels between deficits in executive functioning and deficits in operant behavior. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Subjects
OPERANT behavior; BRAIN injuries; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL tests; COGNITION disorders; BRAIN damage
- Publication
Behavioral Interventions, 2000, Vol 15, Issue 3, p155
- ISSN
1072-0847
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/1099-078X(200007/09)15:3<155::AID-BIN53>3.0.CO;2-F