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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Assessing Dominant-Submissive Behavior in Adult Rats Following Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: December 16, 2022
Self-control and the preference for delayed reinforcement an example in brain injury
Mark R Dixon1, Mollie J Horner, John Guercio
1Behavior Analysis and Therapy Program, Rehabilitation Institute, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale 62901, USA. mdixon@siu.edu
Abstract:
We investigated the effects of a concurrent physical therapy activity (keeping the hand open) during delays to reinforcement in an adult man with acquired brain injuries. Once a relatively stable level of hand-open behavior was obtained, the participant was asked to choose between a small immediate reinforcer and a larger delayed reinforcer contingent on keeping the hand open at greater-than-baseline duration. Afterwards, the participant was asked to select between a larger delayed reinforcer with no hand-open requirement and the identical larger delayed reinforcer with a progressively increasing hand-open requirement. Results suggest a shift in preference to larger delayed reinforcers and an eventual preference for the hand-open requirement option.
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