An Expectancy Theory Approach to Group Coordination: Expertise,Task Features,and Member Behavior

Working in a group requires coordination. The current paper examines coordination in terms of member‐level behavioral choices. Extending expectancy theory to a collaborative group setting, we interpret past findings on expertise and hypothesize that component features (specifically their difficulty and worth relative to each other) impact member behavior and hence coordination both directly and by moderating the role of expertise. Findings were largely as predicted, suggesting that an expectancy theory perspective may be a useful tool for the study and understanding of coordination. An exploratory examination of recordings of group interaction suggested that although most of our groups discussed coordination strategies, the strategies discussed did not generally map to the behavioral choices observed. Implications for coordination in general and transactive memory specifically are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Behavioral contrast and generalization across settings in the treatment of autistic children

Previous research on the generalization of treatment gains across settings has typically focused on the question of whether generalization occurs or does not occur. However, the experimental literature suggests another possibility: that behavioral contrast may occur in extra-therapy settings if the reinforcement procedures in the therapy setting are highly discriminable from those in other settings. Therefore, this investigation was designed to systematically assess whether: (1) a highly discriminable treatment procedure in one setting would produce a behavioral contrast effect in other unmanipulated settings; and (2) such contrast-like trends could be eliminated if initially different reinforcement procedures in two settings were subsequently made similar. The results for the eight autistic children who participated in this investigation showed that: (1) When very different reinforcement procedures (primary rewards or punishment in therapy settings, and no rewards or punishment in extra-therapy settings) were in effect, the children showed contrast-like behavior changes in the untreated extra-therapy settings; and (2) such trends in responding could be eliminated, resulting in generalization of treatment gains, if the reinforcement procedures were subsequently made relatively similar in the two settings, even if the procedures consisted essentially of noncontingent reinforcement.     

Teacher implementation of precorrection and praise statements in Head Start classrooms as a component of a program-wide system of positive behavior support

Although research has clearly supported the use of school-wide positive behavior support (PBS) in elementary school settings, data-based research has not been conducted to support program-wide PBS in early childhood settings. The purpose of this study was to specifically support teachers’ use of universal features of program-wide PBS and to determine whether increases in the use of positive teacher behaviors, including precorrection and praise, were functionally related to decreases in students’ problem behavior. Using a multiple baseline design, three teachers were introduced to an intervention to increase their use of precorrections and specific behavioral praise statements. A relationship was established between the three teachers’ use of key features of program-wide PBS and the reduction of students’ problem behavior in a small group setting. However, findings should be viewed as tentative and future research should explore the relative influence of each of the intervention components on preschool students’ behavior.     

Intergroup Cooperation in Common Pool Resource Dilemmas

Fundamental problems of environmental sustainability, including climate change and fisheries management, require collective action on a scale that transcends the political and cultural boundaries of the nation-state. Rational, self-interested neoclassical economic theories of human behavior predict tragedy in the absence of third party enforcement of agreements and practical difficulties that prevent privatization. Evolutionary biology offers a theory of cooperation, but more often than not in a context of discrimination against other groups. That is, in-group boundaries are necessarily defined by those excluded as members of out-groups. However, in some settings human’s exhibit behavior that is inconsistent with both rational economic and group driven cooperation of evolutionary biological theory. This paper reports the results of a non-cooperative game-theoretic exercise that models a tragedy of the commons problem in which groups of players may advance their own positions only at the expense of other groups. Students enrolled from multiple universities and assigned to different multi-university identity groups participated in experiments that repeatedly resulted in cooperative outcomes despite intergroup conflicts and expressions of group identity. We offer three possible explanations: (1) students were cooperative because they were in an academic setting; (2) students may have viewed their instructors as the out-group; or (3) the emergence of a small number of influential, ethical leaders is sufficient to ensure cooperation amongst the larger groups. From our data and analysis, we draw out lessons that may help to inform approaches for institutional design and policy negotiations, particularly in climate change management.     

Three applications of functional analysis with group dynamic cognitive behavioral group therapy

Case illustrations from group dynamic cognitive behavioral group therapy are presented to demonstrate three applications of functional analysis and the resulting cognitive behavioral interventions. The principles of group dynamic cognitive behavioral group therapy are explained. A functional analysis is applied first to the problem behavior of an individual group member. A clinical case illustrates how the group members help to change this individual group member's behavior from a learning theory perspective. Next, the circular interactional problem behavior between two group members is reduced to the individual functional analysis of each of the two member's problem behaviors. It is then illustrated how the two group member's problem behaviors, as well as feedback from others, contribute toward helping to change each others behavior. The paper concludes that functional analysis and ensuing behavioral interventions can be also applied to group as a whole behavior.     

Formal and informal classroom settings: Effects on hyperactivity

The behavior of hyperactive children was compared to controls in two different classroom settings. One setting (Informal) involved choice and variety of tasks; the other setting (Formal) involved teacher specification of a small number of tasks. As assessed by a composite observational measure of hyperactivity, there were significant differences between the hyperactive and control groups in the Formal but not in the Informal setting. Analyses of five individual categories of hyperactive behavior showed that, with one exception, the hyperactive group tended to display higher frequencies of behavior than did controls in both settings. For two of the categories, the difference between the groups was significantly larger in the Formal than in the Informal setting. Finally, a modified observational code was suggested that differentiated hyperactives from controls equally in the two settings.     

Organizational Commitment in the Sales Force

Abstract

Research concerning the determinants of salesperson performance has emphasized expectancy theory. While results of such studies have added greatly to our understanding of sales force behavior, the expectancy theory approach has been questioned concerning its ability to explain consistency in behavior. A potential alternative explanation for behavioral consistency lies in the concept of organizational commitment. This paper explores organizational commitment in a sales setting, discussing research findings from other disciplines and providing a conceptual framework to help guide future research in sales management.     

Ethical Behavioral Intention in an Academic Setting: Models and Predictors

This study examines the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the multidimensional ethics scale (MES). Variables from both are included to determine which ones significantly correlate with student ethical behavioral intention in an academic setting. Using a survey, responses are collected from undergraduate business students from two southwestern universities in the United States using a scenario-based approach, looking at individual situations and group situations. SmartPLS was used to assess the results for four scenarios. From the theory of planned behavior, attitude was a significant predictor of behavioral intention across all four scenarios while subjective norm was significant in one scenario. From the multidimensional ethics scale, moral equity and relativism were significant in one group scenario while moral equity and utilitarianism were each significant in an individual scenario. The findings indicate support for the use of the TPB and the MES when exploring ethics in an academic setting and for the need to study both individual and group situations. A discussion of the findings and implications is given.     

Efficacy of teacher-implemented good behavior game despite low treatment integrity

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a well-documented group contingency designed to reduce disruptive behavior in classroom settings. However, few studies have evaluated the GBG with students who engage in severe problem behavior in alternative schools, and there are few demonstrations of training teachers in those settings to implement the GBG. In the current study, 3 teachers were trained to implement the GBG in a restrictive setting for students with histories of emotional and behavioral disorders and delinquency. The teachers used the GBG to produce substantial reductions in problem behavior despite low treatment integrity. Clinical implications and future directions for research are discussed.     

A comparison of the effects of child management and planned activities training in five parenting environments

This study compared the effects of two procedures designd to enhance the extratraining effects of behavioral parents training. Twenty parents of oppositianal children were randomly assign to either a child manangment training condition or a combined child management plus planned activity condition. A further 10 nonproblem children and their parents serve as a social validation group. Observation of both parents and children behavior were conducted in each of five home observation setting (breakfirst time, kindy (kindergarten) or school exit, a structured playtime, bathtime, and bedtime). Both training procedures result in change in both child oppositional and parents oversive behaviosr in all observation settings. In addition, desire positive parents behaviour also improve in all setting. Treatment effect were maintained in all setting at 3-month follow up. Composition between oppositional children following treatment and children in the social validation group showed that they each displayed similarly low lavels of oppositional behaviour in all settings. The inplecation of the results for faciliating generalised changes in behavioral parent training are discusssd.This study was supported by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC324 82 579049). We wish to thank all families, therapists, and observers who participated in the project.     

A Dose-Ranging Study of Behavioral and Pharmacological Treatment in Social Settings for Children with ADHD

Placebo and three doses of methylphenidate (MPH) were crossed with 3 levels of behavioral modification (no behavioral modification, NBM; low-intensity behavioral modification, LBM; and high-intensity behavior modification, HBM) in the context of a summer treatment program (STP). Participants were 48 children with ADHD, aged 5–12. Behavior was examined in a variety of social settings (sports activities, art class, lunch) that are typical of elementary school, neighborhood, and after-school settings. Children received each behavioral condition for 3 weeks, order counterbalanced across groups. Children concurrently received in random order placebo, 0.15 mg/kg/dose, 0.3 mg/kg/dose, or 0.6 mg/kg/dose MPH, 3 times daily with dose manipulated on a daily basis in random order for each child. Both behavioral and medication treatments produced highly significant and positive effects on children’s behavior. The treatment modalities also interacted significantly. Whereas there was a linear dose–response curve for medication in NBM, the dose–response curves flattened considerably in LBM and HBM. Behavior modification produced effects as large as moderate doses, and on some measures, high doses of medication. These results replicate and extend to social-recreational settings previously reported results in a classroom setting from the same sample (Fabiano et al., School Psychology Review, 36, 195–216, 2007). Results illustrate the importance of taking dosage/intensity into account when evaluating combined treatments; there were no benefits of combined treatments when the dosage of either treatment was high but combination of the low-dose treatments produced substantial incremental improvement over unimodal treatment.     

Eclecticism revisited

Eclecticism as a counseling point of view has experienced a history of contempt and skepticism mixed with sporadic enthusiasm. A viewpoint described here as emerging eclecticism has promise as a counseling position for the practitioner faced with the needs to be comprehensive, flexible, and open in his theory and method. The emerging eclectic is a skilled observer in the scientific behavioral tradition; he knows the history of counseling theory and contemporary views; he is aware of his unique style and counseling setting. From these he forges his own comprehensive evolving view of behavior change.     

Exploring numerical proportions in a unique context: The group support systems meeting environment

This paper reports the results of a study examining issues of group gender composition in a meeting setting employing group support systems (GSS). Research examining the effects of numerical proportions on group behavior has traditionally been conducted in settings where use of technology by groups is minimal. This research, however, examines the impact of varying group gender composition on brainstorming, social interaction patterns, and attitudes when technology is employed to facilitate and structure group process. In this setting, we find no gender-related differences in computer-based brainstorming. In the accompanying oral discussions, however, males display a higher proportion of task-related answers than females and uniform groups express more maintenance behavior than groups consisting of mixed genders. Our findings also show that uniform gender groups perceive greater participation in the decision process than skewed groups. Despite these gender-related differences, we found relatively little support for Kanter's Numerical Proportions Model in a GSS setting, given the range of measures explored in this study.     

SOME STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF DEVIANT CHILD BEHAVIOR1

Covariation within behavior repertoires of problem children were examined. Two boys, referred for psychological help, were observed both at school and at home for about 3 yr. A coded observation system permitted scoring of 19 child-behavior categories and six social-environment categories. After a two-month baseline, behavior categories were intercorrelated, demonstrating that each child showed a group of behaviors that covaried. These groupings were specific to the home and school settings. Contingency management procedures were then applied to each child's problem behaviors in one setting. Next, a reversal phase was instituted, followed by resumption of the initial contingency management phase. These three phases lasted seven months, until the end of the children's public school terms. Results showed that the baseline group of covarying behaviors continued to covary over the three experimental phases. The children then entered a remedial education setting for three summer months, and then returned to schools and were observed in follow-up for 2 yr. The baseline group of behaviors continued to covary during both phases. The behavior covariations could not be accounted for on the basis of temporal relationships between the behaviors and social environment categories. Although no behavior covariations extended across either child's home and school settings, contingency management procedures produced across-setting effects.     

Person,setting, and interaction contributions to nursery school social behavior patterns1

Within a nursery school environment, 8,930 behavioral observations were taken on 17 preschool children in six settings over a two-month period. Two different data analysis techniques were used. The aggregate analysis showed that person, setting, and interaction all contributed significantly to behavior patterns. The setting was significantly stronger than person. The individual analysis found that subjects' median Person Pattern values were correlated significantly and negatively with IQ and age, suggesting that younger children and those with lower IQ's had more consistent behavior across different settings. This was also true of children who had been at the school more than one year. Implications for predicting behavior were discussed, noting the need to study person and setting relative to one another for particular behaviors in different categories of environments.     

An Experimental Test of Whether Informants can Report About Child and Family Behavior Based on Settings of Behavioral Expression

Researchers and practitioners conduct multi-informant assessments of child and family behavior under the assumption that informants have unique perspectives on these behaviors. These unique perspectives stem, in part, from differences among informants in the settings in which they observe behaviors (e.g., home, school, peer interactions). These differences are assumed to contribute to the discrepancies commonly observed in the outcomes of multi-informant assessments. Although assessments often prompt informants to think about setting-specific behaviors when providing reports about child and family behavior, the notion that differences in setting-based behavioral observations contribute to discrepant reports has yet to be experimentally tested. We trained informants to use setting information as the basis for providing behavioral reports, with a focus on parental knowledge of children’s whereabouts and activities. Using a within-subjects controlled design, we randomly assigned 16 mothers and adolescents to the order in which they received a program that trains informants to use setting information when providing parental knowledge reports (Setting-Sensitive Assessment), and a control program involving no training on how to provide reports. Relative to the control program, the Setting-Sensitive Assessment training increased the differences between mother and adolescent reports of parental knowledge, suggesting that mothers and adolescents observe parental knowledge behaviors in different settings. This study provides the first experimental evidence to support the assumption that discrepancies arise because informants incorporate unique setting information into their reports.     

Aggression in African-American boys: a discriminant analysis.

The main purposes of this study were to determine whether familial variables found to be related to the development of aggressive behavior in Caucasian boys may also be related to similar aggressive patterns in inner-city African-American boys and to assess the relative importance of these variables for classifying the subject population into aggressive and nonaggressive groups. Discriminant analyses were performed using 83 African-American boys, with a mean age of 13.9 years, who were classified as institutionalized aggressive, noninstitutionalized aggressive, and noninstitutionalized nonaggressive subjects. Although the same father and mother variables were used in the analyses, the father variables were not related to group membership. Furthermore, the results showed that both groups of aggressive boys reported more aggression within as well as outside their family home settings than their nonaggressive counterparts. Socioeconomic-related factors such as employment status of parent(s), size of family, and number of parents in the household were not useful predictors of aggressive and nonaggressive group membership.     

A comparison of behavioral and attentional functioning in children diagnosed as hyperactive or learning-disabled

The attentional and behavioral functioning of children diagnosed as hyperactive (ADHD), learning-disabled (LD), and hyperactive/learning-disabled were compared, using standardized behavior rating scales across raters and settings, and results from a battery of standardized neuropsychological tests. The ADHD and LD groups were "pure" samples with respect to comorbidity. Multiple discriminant-function analyses on the behavioral and neuropsychological data showed that one variate made clear-cut discriminations among and between each of the three groups. The constructs self-regulation, task accuracy/planning/speed, and aggression differentiated the three groups, while sustained attention did not. The results lend strong support to the validity of ADHD as a diagnostic entity apart from LD, and suggest that poor self-regulation and inhibition of behavior may be the hallmark of ADHD.     

Predicting Child Restraint Device Use: A Comparison of Two Models1

This study's first objective was to apply Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB) in the context of automobile child restraint device use to identify determinants of that behavior. A second objective was to test two specific hypotheses regarding the predictive role of perceived behavioral control: (a) Its inclusion should increase the proportion of variance already explained in intention by the attitudinal and normative components included in the theory of reasoned action; and (b) given the behavior under study, a model in which perception of behavioral control's influence on behavior is entirely mediated by intention, should fit the data. Subjects (N= 590) were parents driving with their 3- to 5-year-old children intercepted while entering or leaving parking lots of different public settings. The behavior of interest, child restraint device use, was rated by two independent observers. A self-report questionnaire assessing all constructs of Ajzen's model was given to the parent, who was instructed to return it by mail. Data were analyzed using LISREL VII. Results showed that perceived behavioral control and, to a lesser extent, attitude, emerged as the main determinants of behavioral intention which was itself predictive of child restraint device use. In addition, both hypotheses regarding the relation between perceived behavioral control on the one hand and intention and behavior, on the other, were supported. Discussion centered first on the mechanism through which perceived behavioral control exerts its influence, and second on the implications of the present results for the theory of reasoned action as well as for the theory of planned behavior.     

Use of normative peer data as a standard for evaluating classroom treatment effects

This study illustrated the use of normative behavioral observation data as a standard for evaluating the practicality of treatment effects produced in other settings. Three groups of eight subjects each, displaying relatively low proportions of appropriate classroom behavior when compared with regular classroom peers, were selected for treatment within an experimental classroom setting. The three groups were exposed to intervention procedures designed to reinforce either direct academic performance and/or facilitative nonacademic classroom responses. The treatment was effective in changing levels of appropriate behavior (1) above baseline levels in the experimental classroom, and (2) to within normal peer-defined limits when reintegrated into the regular classroom. Further, the data reflect successful maintenance of these effects for a seven- to 12-week follow-up period. Several applications of a normative model for evaluating treatment, generalization, and maintenance effects were presented and discussed.