Barton E M, Baltes M M, Orzech M J
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1980 Mar;38(3):423-31. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.38.3.423.
Previous findings indicate that elderly nursing home residents' dependent and independent behavior are modifiable and thus partly a function of reinforcing environmental events. The present study was an attempt to explicate such functional relationships in terms of naturally occurring resident--staff interactions. An observational-operant design was implemented with a sample of 17 staff members and 36 elderly nursing home residents. Sequential observations of resident--staff interactions were recorded daily during morning care over a 23-day period. Frequency analysis of each behavior recorded revealed that of the 1,428 observed behaviors in the presence of staff, resident behaviors constituted 563 and staff behavior 865 of the total. Residents performed independent behaviors most frequently, whereas dependence-supportive behavior was the most frequent staff behavior. As to resident--staff interactions, sequential analyses showed that independent behavior by the elderly was followed more often by dependence-supportive than by independence-supportive behavior by the staff. Staff dependence-supportive behavior was the most frequent consequence for dependent behavior by the elderly. The sequential data, with regard to resident--staff interactions in morning-care situations, allow the inference that independent behavior in self-maintenance care is not maintained by staff behavior but perhaps by intrinsic reinforcers or reinforcing agents other than staff, whereas dependent behavior is directly maintained by staff reinforcement.
先前的研究结果表明，老年疗养院居民的依赖和独立行为是可以改变的，因此部分是强化环境事件的作用。本研究试图根据自然发生的居民与工作人员的互动来阐明这种功能关系。对17名工作人员和36名老年疗养院居民进行了观察-操作设计。在为期23天的晨间护理期间，每天记录居民与工作人员互动的顺序观察情况。对记录的每种行为的频率分析显示，在工作人员在场的情况下观察到的1428种行为中，居民行为占563种，工作人员行为占865种。居民最常表现出独立行为，而依赖支持行为是工作人员最常表现出的行为。关于居民与工作人员的互动，顺序分析表明，老年人的独立行为之后，工作人员的依赖支持行为比独立支持行为更常见。工作人员的依赖支持行为是老年人依赖行为最常见的结果。关于晨间护理情况下居民与工作人员互动的顺序数据表明，自我维护护理中的独立行为不是由工作人员行为维持的，而是可能由工作人员以外的内在强化物或强化因素维持的，而依赖行为则直接由工作人员的强化维持。
