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Biomedical subjects

C R Crowell

Publications and source records attributed to C R Crowell.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

Task clarification, performance feedback, and social praise: Procedures for improving the customer service of bank tellers.

Customer service for bank tellers was defined in terms of 11 verbal behavior categories. An audio-recording system was used to track the occurrence of behaviors in these categories for six retail banking tellers. Three behavior management interventions (task clarification, performance feedback, and social praise), applied in sequence, were designed to improve overall teller performance with regard to the behavioral categories targeted. Clarification was accomplished by providing clear delineation of the various target categories, with specific examples of the behaviors in each. Feedback entailed presentation of ongoing verbal and visual information regarding teller performance. Praise consisted of verbal recognition of teller performance by branch managers. Results showed that clarification effects emerged quickly, producing an overall increase in desired behaviors of 12% over baseline. Feedback and praise effects occurred more gradually, resulting in overall increases of 6% and 7%, respectively. A suspension of all procedures led to a decline in overall performance, whereas reinstatement of feedback and praise was again accompanied by performance improvement. These findings extend the generality of behavior management applications and help to distinguish between possible antecedent and consequent effects of performance feedback.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1985

The use of response deprivation to increase the academic performance of EMR students.

This research was designed to evaluate the proposed advantages of response deprivation as the basis for establishing reinforcement schedules in applied settings. In Experiment 1, response deprivation was used to improve the cursive writing of six EMR children, using math as the contingent response. The results suggested that writing improved in schedules that produced response deprivation and when the children were given corrective feedback on their performances. In Experiment 2, reversibility of reinforcement was investigated in four EMR children working on math and writing tasks. The students were sequentially presented two reinforcement schedules that produced response deprivation; however, the instrumental and contingent responses were reversed from the first to the second. Consistent with the response deprivation view, the results indicated an increase in instrumental responding in both schedules, which suggests that reversibility of reinforcement can be achieved simply by changes in schedule requirements. In summary, the results of both experiments offered support for response deprivation as an alternative method of producing reinforcement in educational settings.

Achievement↗
PubMed1981

The role of conditional drug responses in tolerance to the hypothermic effects of ethanol.

The role of predrug cues in tolerance to ethanol-induced hypothermia was investigated in two experiments. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that tolerance was displayed only when the drug was administered in conjunction with environmental stimuli that had, in the past, accompanied ethanol administration. A conditional hyperthermic response was elicited when a placebo, instead of ethanol, was administered in conjunction with the usual ethanol cues. Results of Experiment 2 suggested that tolerance to ethanol-induced hypothermia can be extinguished by repeated placebo injections. These results indicate that associative processes, previously demonstrated to modulate opiate tolerance, also modulate ethanol tolerance.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Response deprivation and reinforcement in applied settings: A preliminary analysis.

First-grade children engaged in seatwork behaviors under reinforcement schedules established according to the Premack Principle and the Response Deprivation Hypothesis. Across two experiments, schedules were presented to the children in a counter-balanced fashion which fulfilled the conditions of one, both, or neither of the hypotheses. Duration of on-task math and coloring in Experiment 1 and on-task math and reading in Experiment 2 were the dependent variables. A modified ABA-type withdrawal design, including a condition to control for the noncontingent effects of a schedule, indicated an increase of on-task instrumental responding only in those schedules where the condition of response deprivation was present but not where it was absent, regardless of the probability differential between the instrumental and contingent responses. These results were consistent with laboratory findings supporting the necessity of response deprivation for producing the reinforcement effect in single response, instrumental schedules. However, the results of the control procedure were equivocal so the contribution of the contingent relationship between the responses to the increases in instrumental behavior could not be determined. Nevertheless, these results provided tentative support for the Response Deprivation Hypothesis as a new approach to establishing reinforcement schedules while indicating the need for further research in this area. The possible advantages of this technique for applied use were identified and discussed.

Journal Article↗