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The present research determined if articles describing attempts to improve the behavior of people with autism reported whether or not participants were receiving medication and, if so, whether an interaction between the intervention and the medication was mentioned. Fifty-one articles published from 2004 through 2008 were examined. Information regarding medication was provided in 18% of these articles, none of which mentioned an interaction. Very little is known regarding interactions between nonpharmacological interventions and psychotropic (or other) medications, but some studies demonstrate that interactions can occur. Given this possibility, and the fact that information regarding medications received by participants is easy to obtain and report, it appears worthwhile to include this information in published articles.

This study examined the methods reportedly used to identify reinforcers in 97 skill acquisition studies involving people with autism published from 2005 through 2009. Results indicated that 32 of the 97 studies (33%) provided such information. Interviews with persons familiar with participants (e.g., parents, teachers) were the most-used techniques, followed in order by asking participants what they preferred, observing participants in their natural environment, and conducting formal preference assessments. Although effective reinforcers appear to have been used in each of the studies, the failure of many articles to describe how those stimuli were identified may make it difficult for practitioners and researchers to replicate the interventions. Future publications would benefit from the inclusion of clear and detailed specifications of the procedures used to isolate reinforcers.

Both risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic drug, and function-based behavior-analytic interventions are popular and empirically validated treatments for reducing challenging behavior in children with autism. The kind of research that supports their effectiveness differs, however, and no published study has directly compared their effects or examined the two in combination. The research methods characteristic of applied behavior analysis may provide a useful basis for comparing the effects of risperidone and behavior-analytic treatments, alone and in combination, and researchers are encouraged to pursue this line of investigation.

This study determined the involvement of women as first authors and other authors for every article published in Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, and Psychopharmacology in 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006. Their involvement as editors also was determined. Women's participation as authors, but not as editors, slightly increased over time. In 2006, 43% of first authors, 38% of other authors, and 24% of editors were women. The gender of subjects was examined for the same years and journals, but could not be determined for 6% and 9% of articles employing nonhuman and human subjects, respectively. In 2006, when subjects' gender could be determined, 77% of articles involving nonhuman subjects used only males, 9% only females, and 14% both males and females. In articles using human subjects in that same year, 17% involved only males, 6% only females, and 77% both males and females. Women researchers clearly make substantial contributions to the psychopharmacology literature, but are nonetheless underrepresented as editors. Findings regarding subjects indicate that there is growing recognition of the importance of gender as a determinant of drug effects, although the vast majority of nonhuman studies continue to involve only male subjects.