Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis

Dissociative Identity Disorder: An analysis of the behaviors and contingencies

2025-05-29T18:49:54-05:00

This manuscript argues that dissociative identity disorder (DID) can be thought of as a label for specific behavior changes, and behaviors of this disorder are likely controlled by social contingencies of positive and negative reinforcement. The evolution of the relevant concept of multiple personality disorder, now referred to as dissociative identity disorder, through various editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM) is reviewed. This manuscript proposes that DID primarily consists of changes in the verbal behaviors of tacting, intraverbals, and the prosody of speech, which resembles a descriptive autoclitic. In addition, this paper reviews the two competing models of the behaviors given the diagnostic label of dissociative identity disorder, the Post-Trauma Model (PTM) and the Social-Cognitive Model (SCM). A review of published treatments that employed behavioral methods is discussed, as well as recommendations for the means to conceptualize disorders such as DID better.

Editorial

2025-05-29T03:13:54-05:00

Este primer número del volumen 51 de la Revista Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta (RMAC) está revestido con un carácter especial, pues incluye un conjunto de manuscritos en honor del profesor Kennon Andy Lattal, analista experimental y aplicado de la conducta de larga trayectoria y significativas aportaciones, siempre con el mayor apego a los planteamientos teóricos y metodológicos que definen ambas vertientes de la propuesta conceptual de B. F. Skinner. La sección especial en honor del Dr. Lattal se planteó como un complemento al premio que le entregó la Sociedad Mexicana de Análisis de la Conducta en 2021, por su labor como editor en lengua inglesa de la RMAC. La tarea de reunir y editar los manuscritos estuvo a cargo de los colegas y amigos de Andy, los doctores Laura Acuña y Carlos A. Bruner (q.e.p.d.).

Introduction to the special section in honor of Dr. Kennon Andy Lattal

2025-05-29T04:10:48-05:00

The present special section of the Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis (RMAC, by its acronym in Spanish) is dedicated to the achievements of Dr. Kennon Andy Lattal in the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Mario Serrano, the current editor of RMAC, decided to honor Dr. Lattal’s distinguished career, his extensive collaboration with our journal and his contributions to behavior analysis (BA) in Mexico. Mario asked the first author of this paper to serve as guest editor of this special section given his close friendship with Dr. Lattal (Andy as called by his friends). All the articles included in this issue are written by behavior analysts who have had close contact with him or by former students from Mexico or from other countries. The topics of the articles are related to at least one of Dr. Lattal’s many research interests.

Jiminy Cricket, the prepared mind, chance encounters, and behavior-analytic research

2025-05-29T04:26:24-05:00

This review is a research autobiography of the author. It is organized around the inductive method of research modeled by B. F. Skinner and described in his 1956 article, A case history in scientific method. Starting with an experiment on punishment effects on behavioral interactions in a multiple schedule of reinforcement, following the results of successive experiments illustrates how the inductive method spawns new research areas and embellishes extant ones. As the research program expands, some areas fade into the background, disappear, reappear, and morph into other areas, but their influence on contemporary research remains. Along the way, incidents and people that affected the course of the research are discussed. The research areas reviewed and connected are response-reinforcer relations, the role of dependency and contiguity in establishing and maintaining operant responding, delay of reinforcement, behavioral history, operant response resurgence, and extinction. The final section considers some general issues related to the inductive method, notably the interplay between objective and subjective assessments of research. The role of aesthetics in behavioral research and its impact on both the consumer and producer of the research also is discussed.

The effect of reinforcement magnitude on response acquisition with delayed reinforcement

2025-05-29T15:00:33-05:00

In behavior analysis it is usually believed that the temporal contiguity between a response and its reinforcer is fundamental for conditioning. Nevertheless, the acquisition of a new response with delayed reinforcement is possible. Although this phenomenon is reliable, little is known about the systematic effects of magnitude of reinforcement on the acquisition of a new response. The present study explored the effects of magnitude of reinforcement on the acquisition and maintenance of lever-pressing by rats with delayed reinforcement. A 5 (magnitude: 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 food-pellets) x 4 (delay: 3, 6, 12 or 24 s) factorial design was used, with three rats in each combination. Results showed that the acquisition of lever-pressing was faster and frequency of responding higher as a function of increasing the magnitude of reinforcement. However, the effects of magnitude of reinforcement did not vary orderly according to the number of food-pellets, nor with each delay combination. Results replicated the findings of acquisition and maintenance of lever-pressing with delayed reinforcement and of the decreasing delay-gradient. The possibility that acquisition of a new response with delayed reinforcement is a phenomenon of a motivational or superstitious nature is offered.

Being a good scientist, a good mentor and a good person: How to run a laboratory the Lattal way

2025-05-29T15:17:50-05:00

The Andy Lattal Operant Conditioning Laboratory at West Virginia University is a carefully designed learning environment where students become behavior analysts. Andy has applied his deep knowledge of behavioral principles to establish and maintain the expected behavior of good scientists within a harmonious environment, achieved through his masterful use of positive reinforcement and his reluctance to use punishment or coercion. These practices align with those used in organizational behavior management and can serve as a model for other laboratories. This paper extracts some principles that Andy uses in his laboratory and provides examples aimed at inspiring laboratory leaders seeking to eliminate aversive contingencies and foster harmonious and collaborative learning environments. The paper includes an analysis of Skinner’s views on what constitutes “good” to clarify the behavior of a good scientist, a good mentor, and a good person.

K. A. Lattal: Collector, curator, and historian of Behavior Analysis

2025-05-29T15:35:27-05:00

A literature review was conducted focusing on the history of behavior analysis by Lattal and his colleagues. Three intertwined themes on the history of apparatus, biographical research, and an underlying pedagogical aim were identified. Within these themes, it was evident that the scholarship of Lattal within the history of behavior analysis has contributed to the internationalization of the field. The literature review was complemented with a semi-structured interview with Lattal. Overall, the breadth of topics within the history of behavior analysis by Lattal and colleagues spans 11 categories described by Guimarães and de Mello (2023) that may be unified with by their pedagogical purpose. It is concluded that Lattal’s approach to research and teaching consistently integrates historical content and context.

Echoes from Morgantown: Memories of learning with Andy

2025-05-29T15:52:59-05:00

To honor Andy's role as a teacher and mentor, I have curated a series of memories from my history as a graduate student in the Behavior Analysis graduate program at West Virginia University (WVU) from 2003–2008. This sort of epilogue aims to highlight the broad, general, and flexible nature of conducting research and learning with Andy at WVU.

Aubrey Clise Daniels Ph. D, Pioneer in applying behavior in the workplace

2025-05-29T16:13:47-05:00

Aubrey C. Daniels died on March 1, 2025, at age 89. While his passing was not unexpected, I was struck by how dim the morning light appeared out my window. Another giant of our field was gone. He was my colleague, a professional partner, and a friend. He wanted the world to see what could come from the science of behavior that he loved.

Evaluating functional class formation through simultaneous simple discrimination tasks in dogs

2025-05-29T17:34:10-05:00

The present study aimed to investigate functional class formation in dogs. For this purpose, an automatic device was used to present visual stimuli and record the subjects' responses in simultaneous simple discrimination tasks. The operant response consisted of touching (with the nose) visual stimuli presented on a touchscreen. Three pairs of stimuli were used (i.e., A1/A2; B1/B2; C1/C2) in five experimental phases. Namely, training and reversals with pair A were carried out in Phase I; training and reversals with pair B in Phase II; training and reversals with pairs A and B presented in the same session in Phase III; training and reversals with pair C in Phase IV; and training and reversals with pairs A, B, and C in Phase V. After the acquisition of discrimination (e.g., A1/S+ and A2/S-), the discriminative functions of the stimuli were reversed. It was evaluated whether, from the reversal of the first pair of stimuli, the subjects would change their pattern of responses to the remaining pair of stimuli before direct exposure to the new contingencies. The results show that the designed procedure established a complex and flexible discriminative repertoire in dogs; however, it was insufficient to demonstrate relational responding in the probes.

Observational learning mediated by the mother of two adolescents with down syndrome: An exploratory study

2025-05-29T17:53:31-05:00

Observational learning is defined as the acquisition of a new response based on observing others come into contact with different contingencies of reinforcement. Previous studies demonstrated that children with neurodevelopmental disorders acquire verbal behaviors through observational learning. The purpose of the study was to explore the effect of an observational learning procedure on the acquisition of tacts and pointing responses to pictures mediated by the mother of two adolescents with Down syndrome. During baseline session pictures were presented to each participant and the responses were not followed by specific consequences. The mother was trained to conduct the instructional sessions for one of the participants while the other observed. The percentage of correct responses increased compared to baseline for both participants after the instructional sessions. The percentage of correct responses was higher for the participant exposed to direct training than for the observer participant. The results of the present study extend the results of previous research in which observational acquisition of verbal operants were demonstrated.

A comparison of rate and latency during the Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA)

2025-05-29T18:34:57-05:00

This study reanalyzes the Latency-Based Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA) as a more efficient alternative to the traditional Rate-Based IISCA for assessing challenging behaviors in neurodivergent populations. Functional analysis is a gold standard in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), yet conventional rate-based methods often require repeated exposures to challenging behavior, raising ethical concerns regarding safety and trauma. Latency-based IISCA offers a solution by focusing on the time to the first response rather than the response rate, thereby reducing exposure to evocative situations. This research builds upon prior findings with Brazilian participants, extending the approach to a U.S. cohort with autism and other developmental disabilities. Results demonstrated consistent functional control across both groups, with latency-based IISCA strongly aligning with rate-based outcomes, reducing analysis duration by 51% and behavioral occurrences by 86%. Evaluations by expert researchers indicated that the latency-based IISCA was safe, effective, and socially valid, with high ratings for acceptability and efficiency. These findings highlight the generalizability of latency-based IISCA, supporting its adoption as a potentially more compassionate assessment method that prioritizes client well-being while maintaining analytic rigor.