Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-24T16:54:52.648Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Operant Conditioning with Subjects Suffering From Dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Ian S. Burgess ,
John H. Wearden ,
Tristram Cox  and
Mark Rae
Ian S. Burgess
Affiliation:
Prestwich Hospital, Manchester
John H. Wearden
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Tristram Cox
Affiliation:
Manchester Polytechnic
Mark Rae
Affiliation:
Manchester Polytechnic
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Two experiments are reported in which patients who resided on continuing care psychogeriatric wards were exposed to an operant conditioning procedure. In the first experiment, the subjects were three female patients, all of whom were suffering from severe dementia. For two of the subjects, extended acquisition training was required before evidence of learning was found. Responding under fixed interval (FI) schedules of three different durations was well maintained by the third subject. Evidence of temporal control was found. The second experiment was a partial replication of the first. The subjects were two male patients who were suffering from mild to moderate degrees of dementia. They were exposed to FI schedules of three different durations. Responding was maintained for the 16 sessions of the study. Procedural modifications as well as some broader implications of these results are noted.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , July 1992 , pp. 219 - 237
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albert, M. S. (1988). Acute confusional states. In Albert, M. S. and Moss, M. B. (Eds). Geriatric Neuropsychology. London: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (third edn. revised DSM-III-R.) Washington: APA.Google Scholar
Ankus, M. and Quarrington, B. (1972). Operant behaviour in the memory-disordered. Journal of Gerontology 27, 500–510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ashford, J. W., Kolm, P., Colliver, J. A., Bekian, C. and Hsu, L. (1989). Alzheimer patient evaluation and the mini-mental state: item characteristic curve analysis. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences 44, 139–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayles, K. A. and Kaszniak, A. W. (1987). Communication and Cognition in Normal Aging and Dementia. London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Bayles, K. A., Tomoeda, C. K., Kaszniak, A. W., Stern, L. Z. and Eagens, K. K. (1985). Verbal perseveration of dementia patients. Brain and Language 25, 102–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayles, K. A., Tomoeda, C. K. and Trosset, M. W. (1990). Naming and categorical knowledge in Alzheimer's Disease: the process of semantic memory deterioration. Brain and Language 39, 498–510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bentall, R. P., Lowe, C. F. and Beasty, A. (1985). The role of verbal behavior in human learning: II Developmental differences. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 43, 165–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blennow, K., Wallin, A. and Gottfries, C. (1991). Presence of parieto-temporal symptomatology distinguishes early and late onset Alzheimer's Disease. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 6, 147–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowles, N. L., Obler, L. K. and Albert, M. L. (1987). Naming errors in healthy aging and dementia of the Alzheimer type. Cortex 23, 519–524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brayne, C. and Calloway, P. (1990). The case identification of dementia in the community: a comparison of methods. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 5, 309–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, I. S. and Wearden, J. H. (1986). Superimposition of response-independent reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 45, 75–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burgio, L. D. and Burgio, K. L. (1986). Behavioral gerontology: application of behavioral methods to the problems of older adults. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 19, 321–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carstensen, L. (1988). The emerging field of behavioral gerontology. Behavior Therapy 19, 259–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dulany, D. E. (1968). Awareness, rules and propositional control: a confrontation with S-R behavior therapy. In Dixon, T. R. and Horton, D. L. (Eds). Verbal Behavior and General Behavior Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Flicker, C., Ferris, S. H., Crook, T. and Bartus, R. T. (1987). Implications of memory and language dysfunction in the naming deficit of senile dementia. Brain and Language 31, 187–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. and McHugh, P. R. (1975). Mini-Mental State. A practical method for grading the cognitive stage of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatry Research 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freed, D. M., Corkin, S., Growdon, J. H. and Nissen, M. J. (1989). Selective attention in Alzheimer's Disease: characterizing cognitive subgroups of patients. Neuropsychologia 27, 325–339.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartman, M. (1991). The use of semantic knowledge in Alzheimer's Disease: evidence for impairments of attention. Neuropsychologia 29, 213–228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huppert, F. A. and Tym, E. (1986). Clinical and neuropsychological assessment of dementia. British Medical Bulletin 42, 11–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jorm, A. F. (1990). The Epidemiology of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders. London: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Karlsson, T., Backman, L., Herlitz, A., Nilsson, L., Winblad, B. and Osterlind, P. (1989). Memory improvement at different stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Neuropsychologia 27, 737–742.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kopelman, M. D. (1986). The cholinergic neurotransmitter system in human memory and dementia: a review. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 38A, 535–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kopelman, M. D. (1989). Remote and autobiographical memory, temporal context memory and frontal atrophy in Korsakoff and Alzheimer patients. Neuropsychologia 27, 437–460.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lishman, W. A. (1987). Organic Psychiatry. The Psychological Consequences of Cerebral Disorder. Second edn.Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Lowe, C. F. (1979). Determinants of human operant behaviour. In Zeiler, M. D. and Harzem, P. (Eds). Advances in Analysis of Behaviour. Volume 1. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Lowe, C. F., Harzem, P. and Hughes, S. (1978). Determinants of operant behaviour in humans: some differences from animals. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 30, 373–386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDowell, J. J. (1982). The importance of Herrnstein's mathematical statement of the law of effect for behavior therapy. American Psychologist 37, 771–779.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McEvoy, C. L. and Patterson, R. L. (1986). Behavioural treatment of deficit skills in dementia patients. The Gerontologist 26, 475–479.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morris, R. G. and Kopelman, M. D. (1986). The memory deficits in Alzheimer-type dementia: a review. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 38A, 575–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, R. G., Morris, L. W. and Britton, P. G. (1988). Factors affecting the emotional wellbeing of the caregivers of dementia suffers. British Journal of Psychiatry 153, 147–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moscovitch, M., Winocur, G. and McLachlin, D. (1986). Memory as assessed by recognition and reading time in normal and memory-impaired people with Alzheimer's Disease and other neurological disorders. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 115, 331–347.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myerson, J. and Hale, B. (1984). Practical implications of the matching law. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 17, 367–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nebes, R. D. (1989). Semantic memory in Alzheimer's Disease. Psychological Bulletin 106, 377–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pelletier, F. L., Hopkins, R. W. and Hamilton, P. F. (1991). The Kingston dementia rating scale. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 6, 227–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinkston, E. M. and Linsk, N. L. (1984). Care of the Elderly. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Pruchno, R. A., Michaels, J. E. and Potashnik, S. L. (1990). Predictors of institutionalization among Alzheimer's Disease victims with care-giving spouses. Journal of Gerontology 45, S259–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rescorla, R. A. and Cunningham, C. L. (1979). Spatial continguity facilitates Pavlovian second-order conditioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 5, 152–161.Google Scholar
Roth, M., Tym, E., Mountjoy, C. Q., Huppert, F. A., Hendrie, H., Verma, S. and Goddard, R. (1986). CAMDEX: A standardized instrument for the diagnosis of mental disorder in the elderly with special reference to the early detection of dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry 149, 698–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shimoff, E., Matthews, B. A. and Catania, A. C. (1986). Human operant performance: sensitivity and pseudosensitivity to contingencies. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 46, 149–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sommers, L. M. and Pierce, R. S. (1990). Naming and semantic judgements in dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Aphasiology 4, 573–586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wattis, J. and Church, M. (1986). Practical Psychiatry of Old Age. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Wisocki, P. A. (1984). Behavioral approaches to gerontology. In Hersen, M., Eisler, R. M. and Miller, R. M. (Eds). Progress in Behavior Modification, Volume 16. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1988). ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.