The Use of Instructive Feedback to Promote Emergent Tact and Intraverbal Control: A Replication

Instructive feedback (IF) involves incorporating additional acquisition targets into skill-acquisition programs. A recent study by Frampton and Shillingsburg (2020) found that IF led to emergent verbal operants with two elementary-aged children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study replicated Frampton and Shillingsburg with two children with ASD. Therapists conducted sessions of mastered listener-by-name trials (e.g., “Show me otter,” with pictures of otter, dog, and elephant) with IF statements for features of the target stimuli (e.g., “It lives in rivers.”) embedded during the consequence portion of the trial. We evaluated the acquisition of secondary targets and emergent responses using a concurrent multiple baseline across sets design. We observed increased correct responding for secondary targets and emergent responses for all three sets of stimuli with one participant. The other participant emitted correct responses for secondary targets and emergent operants with the first set but not with the other two sets of stimuli. Results suggested that IF can lead to emergent verbal operants, but the extent of emergence may be idiosyncratic.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40616-022-00171-y.     

RETAIL INVENTORY CONTROL WITH LOST SALES,SERVICE CONSTRAINTS,AND FRACTIONAL LEAD TIMES

This paper describes a periodic review, fixed lead time, single-product, single-facility model with random demand, lost sales and service constraints that was developed for potential application at a Western Canadian retailer. The objective of this study was to determine optimal (s, S) policies for a large number of products and locations. To this end, we evaluate the long run average cost and service level for a fixed (s, S) policy and then used a search procedure to locate an optimal policy. The search procedure is based on an efficient updating scheme for the transition probability matrix of the underlying Markov chain, bounds on S and monotonicity assumptions on the cost and service level functions. A distinguishing feature of this model is that lead times are shorter than review periods so that the stationary analysis underlying computation of costs and service levels requires subtle analyses. We compared the computed policies to those currently in use on a test bed of 420 products and found that stores currently hold inventories that are 40% to 50% higher than those recommended by our model and estimate that implementing the proposed policies for the entire system would result in significant cost savings.     

How do you measure trust in social institutions and health professionals? A systematic review of the literature (2012–2021)

The importance of measuring trust in health systems has been accentuated due to its correlation with important health outcomes aimed at reducing COVID-19 transmission. A systematic review published almost a decade ago identified gaps in measures including the lack of focus on trust in systems, inconsistency regarding the dimensionality of trust and need for research to strengthen the validity of measures. Given developments in our understandings of trust since its publication, we sought to identify new scales developed, existing ones adapted in response to identified gaps, and agendas for future research. Using the PRISMA approach for systematic reviews, we conducted a search in four databases. A total of 26 articles were assessed. Twelve new scales were identified, while 14 were adapted for different settings and populations. Literature continues to focus on measuring trust in health professionals rather than systems. Various shortcomings were identified, including some articles not mentioning the dimensions included in the scale and suboptimal use of validity and reliability testing and/or reporting. Moreover, a variety of terms were used for dimensions. Future research is needed to address these gaps and consequently, to understand their correlation with health behaviors and outcomes more accurately.