Chapter 7

Concepts & Assumptions Underlying the Analysis of Behavior

  • D______
  • Empiricism
  • Experimentation
  • P______
  • Philosophic doubt

“The overall goal of science is to achieve an understanding of

the phenomena under study.”

  • In applied behavior analysis, the phenomena of interest is ______behavior
  • Science enables various degrees of understanding at three levels
  • D______
  • P______
  • Control

Experimental Control: The Path to and Goal of Behavior Analysis

  • Experimental control (defined)
  • A ______change in behavior (dependent variable) can be reliably produced by the ______of some aspect of the person’s environment (independent variable)
  • Experimental analysis (defined)
  • Experimentally determining the effects of ______manipulation on ______and demonstrating that those effects can be ______produced
  • Can be achieved when
  • A reliable ______between behavior and some specified aspect of the environment has been demonstrated convincingly
  • Internal validity
  • The extent to which an experiment shows convincingly that changes in ______are a ______of the independent variable and not the result of ______or unknown variables
  • Studies without high a high degree of internal validity
  • Yield no meaningful statements about ______relations
  • Lack ______
  • Confounding variables are those variables known or suspected to exert an ______on the dependent variable
  • The effects of confounding variables must be ______and ______to demonstrate experimental control

“The goal of experimental design is to eliminate as many uncontrolled variables as possible and to hold constant the influence of all other variables except the independent variable, which is purposefully manipulated to determine its effects.”

Behavior: Defining Features and Assumptions That Guide Its Analysis

Defining features

  • Behavior is an ______phenomenon
  • Behavior is a ______phenomenon

Assumptions

  • Behavior is ______
  • Behavioral variability is ______to the organism

Behavior is an individual phenomenon

  • Behavior: a person’s ______
  • Groups of people do not behave
  • Experimental strategy of ABA is based on ______(______) methods of analysis

Behavior is a dynamic, continuous phenomenon

  • Changes over time
  • Requires ______measurement over time
  • Complete ______of behavior as it occurs in context
  • Systematic ______measurement is the “hallmark” of ABA

Behavior is determined

  • The occurrence of any event is determined by the ______it holds to other events
  • Behavior is a ______phenomenon

Behavioral variability is extrinsic to the organism

  • Variability is the result of ______influence, such as
  • The independent variable under investigation
  • Some ______aspect of the experiment
  • Uncontrolled or unknown factor ______of the experiment

Behavioral Variability

Most commonly held assumptions in psychology and other social/behavioral sciences

  • The assumption of ______variability
  • An intrinsic characteristic of the ______
  • Distributed ______among individuals in any given population
  • Methodological implications
  • Attempting to ______or investigate variability is a waste of time
  • By ______the performance of individual subjects within large groups, the random nature of variability can be statistically controlled or ______out

Behavioral Variability
Assumptions of Behavior Analysts

  • Behavioral variability is the result of an ______influence
  • Methodological implications
  • Experimental ______of the factors suspected of causing variability
  • Search for ______factors
  • In practice
  • Applied behavior analysts seek treatment variables ______enough to overcome variability

Components of Experiments in ABA

At least one

  • Subject or participant
  • ______(dependent variable)
  • Setting
  • Treatment or intervention condition (______variable)
  • A system for ______the behavior and ongoing ______of the data
  • Manipulations of the independent variable so that its effects on the dependent variable, if any, can be detected

Experimental Design

Research question

  • “a brief but specific statement of what the researcher wants to ______from conducting the experiment”(Johnston & Pennypacker, 1993b, p.366)
  • What are the effects of the______variable on the ______variable and for what ______& in what setting?

Subject(s)

  • In single-subject research the subject is employed as his or her own ______
  • Measures of the subject’s behavior during each phase of the study provide the basis for comparing experimental variables as they are ______or ______in subsequent conditions

Behavior(s)

  • Dependent variable(s)
  • Reasons for multiple dependent measures
  • Provide data patterns that can serve as controls for ______& ______the effects of an independent variable
  • Assess the presence and the extent of the independent variable’s effects on behaviors other than the response class to which it was directly applied
  • Determine whether changes in the behavior of a person other than the subject occur during the course of an experiment & if such changes can explain ______in the subject’s behavior

Setting

“Control the environment and you will see order in behavior.”

(Skinner, 1967, p. 399)

  • Control two sets of environmental variables to demonstrate ______

Independent variable

  • Presenting, withdrawing, or varying its value

Extraneous variables

  • Prevent ______environmental variation

Measurement System and Ongoing Visual Analysis

  • Observation & recording procedures must be conducted in a ______manner
  • Standardization involves every aspect of the ______system
  • Definition of the target behavior to scheduling of observations
  • Behavior analysts must develop skills in the detection of changes in the ______, ______, and degree of ______in behavioral data

Intervention or Treatment: Independent Variable

Independent variable (defined)

  • The particular aspect of the environment that the experimenter ______to find out whether the it affects the subject’s behavior
  • The researcher controls or manipulates this variable independent of the subject’s behavior or any other event

Experimental Design

Experimental design (defined)

  • The particular arrangement of conditions in a study so that ______of the effects of the presence and absence of the independent variable can be made

Nonparametric study

  • Independent variable is either presented or absent during a time period or phase of the study

Parametric study

  • The ______of the independent variable is manipulated
  • Seeks to discover the differential effects of a range of values

Fundamental Rule
______one ______at a time

  • Experimenter can attribute any measured changes to a ______independent variable
  • If investigating the effects of a “treatment package”
  • Ensure that the ______is presented or withdrawn each time a manipulation occurs

Some Additional Rules

  • Do not get locked into textbook “designs”
  • Often require a priori assumptions about the nature of the functional relations one seeks to investigate
  • May be ______to unanticipated changes in behavior
  • Select & combine ______that best fit the research questions

Steady State Strategy & Baseline Logic

“A pattern of responding that exhibits relatively little variation in its measured dimensional quantities over a period of time”

(Johnston & Pennypacker, 1993a, p. 199)

  • Provides the basis for baseline logic

Steady state strategy

  • ______exposure of a given subject to a given condition while trying to eliminate or control ______influences on behavior & obtaining a ______pattern of responding ______introducing the next condition

Baseline logic

  • P______
  • V______
  • R______

Nature & Function of Baseline Data

  • Serves as a ______condition
  • Does not imply the absence of intervention
  • Absence of a ______independent variable
  • Why?
  • To establish a baseline level of responding to use the subject’s performance in the absence of the independent variable as an ______for detecting change
  • Applied benefits of establishing a baseline level of responding
  • To obtain ______of antecedent-behavior-consequent correlations for the ______of an effective treatment
  • Valuable guidance in setting initial ______for reinforcement
  • Baseline data may reveal the behavior targeted for change does not ______intervention

Types of Baseline Data Patterns

  • Stable baseline
  • See Figure 7-1(A), pg. 168 in text
  • Ascending baseline
  • See Figure 7-1(B & C), pg. 168 in text
  • Variable baseline
  • See Figure 7-1(D), pg. 168 in text

Prediction

“The anticipated outcome of a presently known or future measurement. It is the most elegant use of quantification upon which validation of all scientific and technological activity rests.” (Johnston & Pennypacker, 1980)

  • Prediction
  • See Figure 7-2, pg. 169 in text

Affirmation of the Consequent

  • Affirmation of the consequent
  • ______logic
  • “if the independent variable were not applied, the behavior, as indicated by the baseline data path, would not change”
  • If-A-then-B statement
  • See Figure 7-3, pg. 171 in text

Verification

  • Verification of a previously ______level of baseline responding by termination or withdrawal of the treatment variable
  • See Figure 7-4, pg. 172 in text

Replication

“Replication is the essence of believability.”

(Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968, p. 95)

  • Replication of the experimental effect accomplished by ______the treatment variable
  • See Figure 7-5, pg. 173 in text