The "Reproducibility Crisis:" Might the Methods Used Frequently in Behavior-Analysis Research Help?

Mainstream biomedical and behavioral sciences are facing what has been dubbed "the reproducibility crisis." The crisis is borne out of failures to replicate the results of published research at an average rate of somewhere near 50%. In this paper I make a case that the prime culprit leading to this unsatisfactory state of affairs has been the widespread use of -values from tests of statistical significance as a criterion for publication.

Tolerance to cocaine's effects following chronic administration of a dose without detected effects on response rate or pause.

To observe tolerance to drug effects on operant behavior, the dose that researchers have often selected for chronic administration is one that disrupts, but does not abolish, responding. Some evidence suggests that tolerance may develop after chronic administration of relatively smaller doses. The purpose of the present experiment was to assess systematically effects of chronic administration of a dose without detected effect on responding.

Relations among acute and chronic nicotine administration, short-term memory, and tactics of data analysis.

Emerging evidence suggests that nicotine may enhance short-term memory. Some of this evidence comes from nonhuman primate research using a procedure called delayed matching-to-sample, wherein the monkey is trained to select a comparison stimulus that matches some physical property of a previously presented sample stimulus. Delays between sample stimulus offset and comparison stimuli onset are manipulated and accuracy is measured.

Development of key-pecking, pause, and ambulation during extended exposure to a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement.

Six pigeons key-pecked under a fixed-interval (FI) 3-min schedule of food presentation. Each pigeon was studied for 200 daily sessions with 15 intervals per session (3,000 total food presentations). Analyses included the examination of latency to first peck (pause), mean rate of key pecking, and ambulation.

Effects of acute and chronic cocaine administration on titrating-delay matching-to-sample performance.

The effects of cocaine were examined under a titrating-delay matching-to-sample procedure. In this procedure, the delay between sample stimulus offset and comparison stimuli onset adjusts as a function of the subject's performance. Specifically, matches increase the delay and mismatches decrease the delay.

Tolerance to cocaine's effects on schedule-controlled behavior: role of delay between pause-ending responses and reinforcement.

The schedule of reinforcement under which behavior is maintained is an important contributor to whether tolerance to the behavioral effects of cocaine develops. Schedule parameter value (for example, fixed-ratio size) has been shown to affect the development of tolerance under some schedule types but not others, but the specific procedural variables causing this effect remain to be identified. To date, schedule-parameter-related tolerance has developed when a longer pause after reinforcement does not lead to a shorter delay between the response that ends the pause and reinforcement.

On the development and mechanics of delayed matching-to-sample performance.

Despite its frequent use to assess effects of environmental and pharmacological variables on short-term memory, little is known about the development of delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) performance. This study was designed to examine the dimensions and dynamics of DMTS performance development over a long period of exposure to provide a more secure foundation for assessing stability in future research. Six pigeons were exposed to a DMTS task with variable delays for 300 sessions (i.

Titrating-delay matching-to-sample in the pigeon.

The titrating-delay matching-to-sample (TDMTS) procedure offers researchers an additional behavioral task thought to capture some important features of remembering. In this procedure, the delay between sample offset and comparison onset adjusts as a function of the subject's performance. Specifically, correct matches increase the delay and incorrect matches decrease the delay, and steady-state titrated delays serve as the primary dependent measure.

Acute and chronic effects of cocaine on the spontaneous behavior of pigeons.

The present experiment examined the effects of acute and daily cocaine on spontaneous behavior patterns of pigeons. After determining the acute effects of a range of doses, 9 pigeons were divided into three groups that received one of three doses of cocaine daily, either 1.0, 3.

Response topography in behavioral tolerance to cocaine with rats.

Research conducted with rats has shown tolerance to the behavioral effects of psychomotor stimulants to be contingent on chronic drug administration occurring before the experimental session. Recent experiments with pigeons, however, resulted in tolerance when drug administration followed the experimental session. We hypothesized that the apparent species differences in tolerance may be a function of different operantly conditioned response topographies used in these experiments.

Influences on cocaine tolerance assessed under a multiple conjunctive schedule of reinforcement.

Under multiple schedules of reinforcement, previous research has generally observed tolerance to the rate-decreasing effects of cocaine that has been dependent on schedule-parameter size in the context of fixed-ratio (FR) schedules, but not under the context of fixed-interval (FI) schedules of reinforcement. The current experiment examined the effects of cocaine on key-pecking responses of White Carneau pigeons maintained under a three-component multiple conjunctive FI (10 s, 30 s, & 120 s) FR (5 responses) schedule of food presentation. Dose-effect curves representing the effects of presession cocaine on responding were assessed in the context of (1) acute administration of cocaine (2) chronic administration of cocaine and (3) daily administration of saline.

Environmental and pharmacological factors in the development of noncontingent tolerance to cocaine in pigeons.

Previous research with rats and monkeys has shown that tolerance to behavioral effects of cocaine developed if the drug was administered before behavioral test sessions but not if it was administered after sessions, a finding known as contingent tolerance. In contrast, a recent experiment using pigeons found that they showed tolerance resulting from postsession drug administration (noncontingent tolerance). The 4 experiments reported in this article were conducted to examine that result more fully.

Tolerance to effects of cocaine on behavior under a response-initiated fixed-interval schedule.

Tolerance to effects of cocaine can be modulated by schedules of reinforcement. With multiple ratio schedules, research has shown an inverse relationship between ratio requirement and amount of tolerance that resulted from daily administration of the drug. In contrast, tolerance to the effects of cocaine on behavior under multiple interval schedules generally has developed regardless of interval value.

Limitations to the generality of cocaine locomotor sensitization.

Repeated exposure to cocaine often leads to tolerance to effects on operant behavior, whereas sensitization often develops to effects on locomotor activity. The purpose of the present set of experiments was to examine if locomotor sensitization to cocaine would develop in the presence or absence of an operant contingency in rats. In Experiment 1, rats lever pressed on an FR schedule of reinforcement, and were administered chronic cocaine.

Empirical validation of a procedure to correct position and stimulus biases in matching-to-sample.

The development of position and stimulus biases often occurs during initial training on matching-to-sample tasks. Furthermore, without intervention, these biases can be maintained via intermittent reinforcement provided by matching-to-sample contingencies. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a correction procedure designed to eliminate both position and stimulus biases.

Differences in the behavioral time course of effects of rate-increasing and rate-decreasing doses of cocaine in pigeons.

Although past research has examined the time course of plasma levels of cocaine in a variety of species, the time course of behavioral effects of cocaine on operant behavior has not been carefully described. The purpose of the present study was to examine the time course of effects of cocaine on operant behavior of pigeons, using a method that allowed comparison of dose-response functions, in individual subjects, within a session. Five pigeons responded under a multiple Fixed Interval 10 min Fixed Ratio 30 (FI 10 min FR 30) schedule of food presentation, with each component presented 10 times per session.

Within-session patterns in variable-interval schedule performance: Variation with deprivation level.

Previous research has shown that patterns in operant responding may change within the course of individual experimental sessions. The proper interpretation of such changes is controversial. At least one source of this controversy may lie in unstated experimental practices across laboratories, as published reports often have failed to detail important particulars of deprivation operations.

Stability of pigeon body weight under free-feeding conditions.

Increases in regulatory oversight of animal research require verification of effects of standard practices. There are no formal guidelines for establishing free-feeding weights in adult pigeons. In the present study, pigeons were obtained from a commercial supplier, weighed upon arrival, and then held in quarantine for 7 days with free access to food.

Roger T. Kelleher, behavior analyst.

Roger T. Kelleher, rightly known as one of the foremost contributors to behavioral pharmacology, also made many important contributions to the experimental analysis of behavior. He participated significantly in the development of the discipline, through both his research and his editorial contributions to thisjournal.

Stability of cocaine dose-response functions at different inter-dose intervals.

Past research has found that daily administration of cocaine can lead to tolerance to its behavioral effects, and that tolerance can develop even when the dose is varied from day to day. The present experiment examined effects of administering varied doses of cocaine at a variety of inter-dose intervals ranging from once per week to everyday. Pigeons pecked on a fixed-ratio 20 schedule of reinforcement.

How research in behavioral pharmacology informs behavioral science.

Behavioral pharmacology is a maturing science that has made significant contributions to the study of drug effects on behavior, especially in the domain of drug-behavior interactions. Less appreciated is that research in behavioral pharmacology can have, and has had, implications for the experimental analysis of behavior, especially its conceptualizations and theory. In this article, I outline three general strategies in behavioral pharmacology research that have been employed to increase understanding of behavioral processes.

Validation of a mechanical apparatus for the measurement of avian walking.

Recent research has demonstrated that avian species may show an enhanced locomotor response to repeated drug exposure, a phenomenon called sensitization. Further research in this domain is warranted as such results not only establish the generality of previous findings, but may lend to a better understanding of sensitization in general. At present, there are no well-studied measurement devices for automating the measurement of bird movement.

Does habituation play a role in drug habit? Comment on McSweeney, Murphy, and Kowal (2005).

Comment on the article, "Regulation of Drug Taking by Sensitization and Habituation," by McSweeney, et al. McSweeney, Murphy, and Kowal offer the intriguing suggestion that the basic behavioral processes of habituation and sensitization play an important role in drug taking, specifically, repeated drug taking. The suggestion is noteworthy because, if correct, it, as the authors point out, could lead to new approaches to prevention and treatment, approaches that involve the use of environmental variables that are relatively accessible.