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Biomedical subjects

T Ayllon

Publications and source records attributed to T Ayllon.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Improving adherence to fluid restrictions in male hemodialysis patients: a comparison of cognitive and behavioral approaches.

A cognitive intervention and a behavioral intervention were compared to determine their relative effectiveness in reducing interdialytic weight gain (IWG) among eight adult male hemodialysis patients. The behavioral model consisted of positive reinforcement, shaping, and self-monitoring. The cognitive model consisted of a counseling intervention designed to modify health beliefs. Three small-sample experimental studies showed that both interventions produced immediate reductions in IWG. However, the behavioral intervention was superior to the cognitive intervention in producing maintenance of reduced weight gain. Combining the interventions resulted in no improvement over the behavioral intervention alone. Continuation of self-monitoring procedures produced maintenance of improvements up to 2 months posttreatment. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed changes for only the "barriers" dimension of the health belief model (Hartman & Becker, 1978) (p < .001), and this occurred only following or concurrent with adherence behavior change. Suggestions for treatment and future research are offered.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy↗
PubMed1990

The effects of contingent music and differential reinforcement on infantile colic.

Infantile Colic is a behavioral syndrome characterized by paroxysms of excessive crying and increased motor activity, hypertonicity of the musculature, excessive flatus and erratic sleeping and feeding patterns. Ten to 40% of all infants are diagnosed as having Colic. The medical evidence to date does not justify any conclusions regarding the etiology or treatment of Colic. Typically, parents are advised to simply wait until Colic has run its course which is often 3-4 months. The behavioral program reported here was designed to increase behavior that competed with crying by reinforcing quiet alertness with music and parental attention. Concurrently, it attempted to inhibit excessive crying by a brief time-out procedure. A group of 8 infants diagnosed as Infant Colic were included in this study. The dependent variable, crying, was measured through direct observations based on hourly samples involving 30 observations of 2-min intervals. The independent variable consisted of a behavioral treatment package. A within-S reversal design was used to assess the functional properties of the treatment. The results show that across all 8 infants the introduction of the treatment package led to a substantial decrease in excessive crying of about 75% of the initial baseline. Further, a functional relationship was identified between the treatment and excessive crying behavior: crying decreased when the treatment was initially introduced, it resumed when the treatment was withdrawn and decreased again when the treatment was reinstated.

Attention↗
PubMed1987

Positive practice routines in overcoming resistance to the treatment of school phobia: a case study with follow-up.

The treatment is described of a 6-year-old first grade girl who refused to attend her classroom without adult accompaniment. For eight weeks an attempt was made, using different adult escorts, to prompt/shape classroom attendence through classroom exposure. However, the outcome was the development of an unwavering preference to remain in the principal's office after the child would not tolerate separation from these adults. Rather then continue to take her to the classroom, an intervention was initiated designed to structure her daily experiences and provide instruction. In this she was expected to practice several educational activities at designated times in the principal's office. This intervention resulted in a complete elimination of the child's classroom avoidance within five weeks and concomitant improvements in both social and academic functioning. Although the child's mother suddenly died during intervention, follow-up at one and 12 months in a different school indicated the maintenance of all therapeutic gains. Unique aspects of the procedures pertaining to refractory problems and some tentative behavioral guidelines to overcoming resistance to treatment are discussed.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1977

Behavioral treatment of childhood neurosis.

The present study attempted to use behavioral treatment to eliminate the neurotic symptoms of a 5-year-old child. The child's symptoms were assessed on a pre- and post-treatment basis, and in addition, on going observations of the child's symptoms allowed daily evaluation of the treatment program. Behavior therapy focused on altering the current symptom-environment relationships experienced by the child. Follow-ups on the resolution of the child's problems were conducted two months and two years after behavior therapy and indicated that the child was systom free. Therapeutic attempts to resolve the historical conflicts of early childhood and to resolve the contemporary corflicts of current social interaction are discussed as viable but not mutually exclusive therapeutic strategies.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1976

Reducing time limits: a means to increase behavior of retardates.

A common assumption in special education is that temporal limits for a task should be expanded so that ample time is provided for completing the work. This study describes the opposite strategy of restricting temporal limits to augment academic performance. Three educable retarded children received token reinforcement contingent on the number of correct math problems answered during daily sessions. A reversal design was used to assess the effects of an abrupt reduction in time limits (20-5-20 min) and a graduated sequence of reductions (20-15-10-5-20 min). The graduated sequence resulted in rate increases of correct responding ranging from 125% to 266% and these gains endured when temporal limits were again expanded. In contrast, the abrupt shift produced interfering emotional behaviors and rate decreases in academic performance of 25% to 80%. The findings indicate that systematically restricting temporal limits for an academic task can further enhance the performance of slow learners already maintained by a token system.

Achievement↗
PubMed1975

A behavioral-educational alternative to drug control of hyperactive children.

A behavioral procedure for controlling hyperactivity without inhibiting academic performance is described. Using a time-sample observational method, the hyperactivity displayed by three school children was recorded during math and reading classes. Concurrently, math and reading performances were measured. The study consisted of two baselines, one while the children were on medication and the second while they were off medication. A multiple-baseline design across the two academic subject matters was used to assess the behavioral intervention, which consisted of token reinforcement for correct academic responses in math and subsequently math and reading. Discontinuation of medication resulted in a gross increase in hyperactivity from 20% to about 80%, and a slight increase in math and reading performance. Introduction of a behavioral program for academic performance, during no medication, controlled the children's hyperactivity at a level comparable to that when they were on drugs (about 20%). At the same time, math and reading performance for the group jumped from about 12% during baseline to a level of over 85% correct. Each child performed behaviorally and academically in an optimal manner without medication. Contingency management techniques provided a feasible alternative to medication for controlling hyperactivity in the classroom while enabling the children to grow academically.

Achievement↗
PubMed1974

Eliminating discipline problems by strengthening academic performance.

Behavior modification procedures have typically been used to eliminate discipline problems in the classroom through reinforcement of nondisruptive behavior. This report demonstrates an alternative approach whereby discipline problems are eliminated by reinforcing relevant academic skills. Five fifth-grade boys, identified by their teacher as discipline problems, were observed. The teacher conducted 15-min performance sessions in her reading class during which written academic performance and disruptive behavior were recorded. These measures indicated that the boys' average level of disruption was 34%, while their reading performance was below 50%. When systematic token reinforcement was applied to reading performance only, the rate of disruption fell drastically, and reading performance increased. When the reinforcement procedure was withdrawn, disruption again rose, and reading performance declined. The reinstatement of reinforcement doubled reading performance and eliminated disruption.

Achievement↗
PubMed1966

Punishment as a discriminative stimulus and conditioned reinforcer with humans.

Mental hospital patients were reinforced for responding in a two-response operant situation. When a noise was used to punish one of the responses, all subjects shifted to the unpunished one. When the noise was then paired with positive reinforcement, the subjects responded to produce the noise. Also, a novel response was reinforced by noise in the absence of other reinforcers. This study with humans extends the findings of previous studies with animals in revealing how a punishing stimulus can acquire discriminative or conditioned reinforcing properties.

Conditioning, Operant↗
PubMed1965

The measurement and reinforcement of behavior of psychotics.

An attempt was made to strengthen behaviors of psychotics by applying operant reinforcement principles in a mental hospital ward. The behaviors studied were necessary and/or useful for the patient to function in the hospital environment. Reinforcement consisted of the opportunity to engage in activities that had a high level of occurrence when freely allowed. Tokens were used as conditioned reinforcers to bridge the delay between behavior and reinforcement. Emphasis was placed on objective definition and quantification of the responses and reinforcers and upon programming and recording procedures. Standardizing the objective criteria permitted ward attendants to administer the program. The procedures were found to be effective in maintaining the desired adaptive behaviors for as long as the procedures were in effect. In a series of six experiments, reinforced behaviors were considerably reduced when the reinforcement procedure was discontinued; the adaptive behaviors increased immediately when the reinforcement procedure was re-introduced.

Adult↗