Using a lag schedule to increase variability of verbal responding in an individual with autism

Research has shown that reinforcing novel behaviors can increase the number of different ways that an individual behaves (Goetz & Baer, 1973; Pryor, Haag, & O'Reilly, 1969). However, it was not until more recently that researchers began to consider variability to be a reinforceable operant in and of itself (Neuringer, 2002). More specifically, Neuringer suggested that variability can be taught using a Lag x schedule of reinforcement, in which x refers to the number of previous responses from which the current response must differ in order for reinforcement to occur (Page & Neuringer, 1985). The purpose of the present study was to extend one of the first studies of a Lag x schedule on verbal responses with human subjects (Lee, McComas, & Jawor, 2002), by increasing the lag criteria while attempting to address some of methodological limitations of the study. The participant was a 7-year-old male with autism. A changing criterion design was used and results showed that 3 novel responses were acquired and varied according to the lag schedule of reinforcement.     

Policing “the Risky”: Technology and Surveillance in Everyday Patrol Work

While numerous surveillance and policing scholars argue that the rise of the surveillance society has normalized technological surveillance by police, the lack of empirical research makes it difficult to discern the true impact of risk management, security, and surveillance on police work. The present study uses in‐depth interviews and participant observation with two Canadian police agencies to explore the impact that police technologies have on police‐public interaction. From this analysis, we argue that the organizational shift toward risk‐oriented, intelligence‐led policing is not carried out on the ground. Instead, patrol officers often utilize technologies to legitimize the policing of the “usual suspects.”     

Transient probability functions of finite birth–death processes with catastrophes

A representation of the transient probability functions of finite birth–death processes (with or without catastrophes) as a linear combination of exponential functions is derived using a recursive, Cayley–Hamilton approach. This method of solution allows practitioners to solve for these transient probability functions by reducing the problem to three calculations: determining eigenvalues of the Q$Q$-matrix, raising the Q$Q$-matrix to an integer power and solving a system of linear equations. The approach avoids Laplace transforms and permits solution of a particular transition probability function from state i$i$ to j$j$ without determining all such functions.     

A Comparison of Unconstraining Methods to Improve Revenue Management Systems

Asuccessful revenue management system requires accurate demand forecasts for each customer segment. The forecasts are used to set booking limits for lower value customers to ensure an adequate supply for higher value customers. The very use of booking limits, however, constrains the historical demand data needed for an accurate forecast. Ignoring this interaction leads to substantial penalties in a firm's potential revenues. We review existing unconstraining methods and propose a new method that includes some attractive properties not found in the existing methods. We evaluate several of the common unconstraining methods against our proposed method by testing them on intentionally constrained simulated data. Results indicate our proposed method outperforms other methods in two of three data sets. We also test the revenue impact of our proposed method, expectation maximization (EM), and “no unconstraining” on actual booking data from a hotel/casino. We show that performance varies with the initial starting protection limits and a lack of unconstraining leads to significant revenue losses.     

Gaining Competitive Advantages: Analyzing the Gap between Expectations and Perceptions of Service Quality

Universities have obligations to fulfill the needs of two customers –students and industry. Students must be intellectually prepared to meet the challenges of a highly competitive global environment. One approach in meeting this challenge is to focus on `Service Quality.' The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant research literature and theorize several propositions about SERVQUAL in the higher educational environment. The research considers the gap between expected services and perceived services and how these dimensions of SERVQUAL may be utilized to improve service quality and customer satisfaction.     

Older Motherhood and the Changing Life Course in the Era of Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Midlife, once a focus of particular interest to gerontologists because of its implications for later life, has recently received little attention. But as new reproductive technologies have expanded in the United States, motherhood is occurring at older ages. While older motherhood is not a new social practice, what is unique is that an increasing number of women are becoming pregnant through technological means, often for the first time, at the end of their reproductive cycle. These women can be understood as part of a new middle age, engaging in new life course possibilities that respond to changing social, cultural, physical, and economic realities, and potentially extending much later in the life course. Drawing on interviews with 79 couples, we utilize symbolic interactionist conceptualizations of identity and stigma to consider how women negotiate the shifting social identities associated with older motherhood. We conclude that older motherhood will be one phenomenon contributing to an enduring change in views of what constitutes old age, and that it will be seen as occurring much later in the life course.     

Eating Disorder Risk and Body Dissatisfaction Based on Muscularity and Body Fat in Male University Students

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between risk of eating disorders, body dissatisfaction, and perceptual attractiveness in male university students. Participants: Research was conducted January–April 2012 and involved 339 male and 441 female students. Methods: Eating disorder risk was assessed with the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and body dissatisfaction and perceptual attractiveness determined with the Bodybuilder Image Grid (BIG). Results: There was a positive correlation (r = .16, p < .01) between the EAT and fat dissatisfaction and a negative correlation (r = ?.14, p < .05) for muscle dissatisfaction, 28% of the males had an EAT score indicating that they were at risk for an eating disorder. Males chose a significantly more muscular and leaner body type than what females chose to be attractive. Conclusion: College-aged males may be at risk for eating disorders based on distortions in their perceived ideal body image, both for fat and muscle.     

Concepts of Fairness in Marriage and Divorce

Discourses of fairness are bound up with Western ideals of companionate marriage. They are also central to the ways people talk about their approaches to divorce, especially in relation to the division of property and finances. How fairness is understood within marriage, however, is gendered, with husbands more likely to take equity-based approaches and wives equality-based approaches. In this article I discuss previous research on how fairness is understood within marriage, and compare this with data from a study of people going through divorce proceedings in England and Wales. I suggest that some, but not all, understandings about fairness are carried over from marriage into divorce, and note that in many ways English and Welsh divorce law supports a particular conception of fairness that redresses objectively unfair divisions of labor within the marital relationship.