Time-series analysis in operant research

A time-series method is presented, nontechnically, for analysis of data generated in individual-subject operant studies, and is recommended as a supplement to visual analysis of behavior change in reversal or multiple-baseline experiments. The method can be used to identify three kinds of statistically significant behavior change: (a) changes in score levels from one experimental phase to another, (b) reliable upward or downward trends in scores, and (c) changes in trends between phases. The detection of, and reliance on, serial dependency (autocorrelation among temporally adjacent scores) in individual-subject behavioral scores is emphasized. Examples of published data from the operant literature are used to illustrate the time-series method.     

TEACHING COIN EQUIVALENCE TO THE MENTALLY RETARDED1

A program was designed to teach coin equivalence to mentally retarded adolescents. Coin equivalence was defined as choosing several different combinations of coins to equal specified target values. A pretest-posttest matched-groups design was employed with an experimental group receiving the monetary training, and a no-training control group. A multiple baseline across coin-counting responses was also incorporated in the experimental group. Training was divided into six stages, each teaching one specific method of combining coins to equal 10 target values from 5¢ through 50¢. A three-component response chain was used, requiring (a) naming, (b) selecting and counting, and (c) depositing target monetary values into a coin machine. Experimental subjects improved significantly in coin equivalence performance and maintained their skill on follow up tests; control subjects did not.     

INCREASING EXTENDED CARE FACILITY RESIDENTS' ATTENDANCE AT RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES WITH CONVENIENT LOCATIONS AND PERSONAL INVITATIONS1

Residents of extended care facilities generally exhibit a low level of attendance at recreational and therapeutic activities. Spatial arrangement of rooms, prompting, snacks, and small prizes have been suggested as factors that affect attendance. The present study examined the effects of an extensive system of prompts and the location of activity areas on the attendance of residents at a variety of activities. Twenty-six subjects were randomly selected from the ambulatory population of the facility. The first time each subject entered the activity room during the first 6 min of an activity session their name was recorded. Reliability measures were taken at 10 sessions, with a 95% mean agreement between observers. The variables examined were the amount of individualization of subjects (experimental group I: names announced versus experimental group 2: names not announced), room location (central or peripheral), use of names in announcements (activity only versus activity and group I names), and mode of announcement (PA system only versus PA system and in-person). A counter-balanced group design with repeated measures was used, with a randomly determined order of application of experimental treatments. An analysis of variance split plot 2.222 (Kirk, R. E. Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Science. Belmont, Ca.: Brooks-Cole, 1968.) of the level of subject attendance yielded significant main effects for room location, F(1, 24) = 5.47, p < 0.05, and type of announcement, F(1, 24) = 9.10, p < 0.01, and significant interactions for Individualization × Use of Names in Announcements, F(1, 24) = 5.57, p < 0.05, and Room Location × Mode of Announcement, F(1, 24) = 7.90, p < 0.01. The results indicate that using a centrally located room and announcement of resident names increases attendance at a variety of activities. The increased social and environmental interaction generated by activity attendance has potential therapeutic benefits for the residents involved. Furthermore, the kind of information reported here and by others should be taken into consideration by planners of a variety of group living facilities, ranging from nursing homes to residential treatment cottages.     

Revisiting an Analysis of Threats to Internal Validity in Multiple Baseline Designs

In our previous article on threats to internal validity of multiple baseline design variations (Slocum et al., 2022), we argued that nonconcurrent multiple baseline designs (NCMB) are capable of rigorously demonstrating experimental control and should be considered equivalent to concurrent multiple baselines (CMB) in terms of internal validity. We were fortunate to receive five excellent commentaries on our article from experts in single-subject research design—four of whom endorsed the conclusion that NCMBs should be considered strong experimental designs capable of demonstrating experimental control. In the current article, we address the most salient points made in the five commentaries by further elaborating and clarifying the logic described in our original article. We address arguments related to classic threats including maturation, testing and session experience, and coincidental events (history). We rebut the notion that although NCMBs are strong, CMBs provide an increment of additional control and discuss the application of probability-based analysis of the likelihood of threats to internal validity. We conclude by emphasizing our agreement with many of the commentaries that selection of single-case experimental designs should be based on the myriad subtleties of research priorities and contextual factors rather than on a decontextualized hierarchy of designs.     

职场变革情境下的工作与工余塑造:基于自我认同理论的双路径模型

工作非一成不变。即使组织借助工作设计设定了特定职位的工作内容和工作方式,员工也会出于维护积极自我形象、控制感和与人建立联结的核心需求而开展工作塑造——主动调整对工作的认识、工作任务和人际交往——从而获得自我价值感和意义感。尽管工作塑造的前因后效研究已较充分,但较少研究触及自我认同这一核心。鉴于此,本研究以自我认同理论为主线,探寻当个体面临重大外部挑战时,如何通过自我提升与自我防御两种机制应对环境变革,进而借助工作塑造及工余塑造完成自我认同的重构。通过4个研究探讨消除自我认同威胁作为自我防御机制,把握自我成长机会作为自我提升机制,揭示工作环境重大变革激发个体自我塑造行为的中介机制;基于压力应对的认知评价模型,探讨个体特征在初级评估阶段,组织情境特征在次级评价阶段的调节效应;开展现场干预研究,探讨结合自我建构进行工作塑造的效果。本项目将工作塑造和自我认同重新连结起来,构建了工作环境变革情境下个体自我塑造的双路径模型,以望对两个领域均有贡献。     

拖延行为的干预:计划行为理论和实施意向的影响

本研究以计划行为理论为理论框架,通过实验操纵实施意向,采用日记法进行为期5天的纵向追踪,考察计划行为理论的4个核心变量和实施意向如何影响拖延行为的程度及其动态过程。134名大学生在前一周末共列举了接下来5个工作日内拟完成的668项学习相关任务,随后每天报告当天的任务完成情况。多层线性模型分析结果表明:(1)行为意向中介态度和行为控制感对拖延程度的影响,主观规范影响拖延程度的直接效应显著,但经由行为意向的间接效应不显著;(2)形成实施意向能显著降低拖延程度;(3)行为控制感和实施意向加速任务完成进程,行为控制感越强,或形成实施意向,均显著加快任务完成速度。研究结果对于如何进行拖延行为的干预有一定启示和借鉴。     

个人化设计在临床研究中的应用——从个体角度研究个体差异

本文从有关研究证据的基础上,介绍了个人化设计的理论基础和实验设计,并在此基础上讨论了个人化设计在临床研究领域中的应用价值,总结出一种适合临床病人使用的研究程序。个人化设计允许对个体的个人价值进行分析,并能同时研究不同刺激信息的作用,在个体水平上分析个体差异。通过简化了的实验程序,个人化设计为解决临床研究中的问题提供了一种新的思维方式。文中还对相关研究法的局限进行了讨论。     

Contextual Integration in Multiparty Audience Design

Communicating with multiple addressees poses a problem for speakers: Each addressee necessarily comes to the conversation with a different perspective—different knowledge, different beliefs, and a distinct physical context. Despite the ubiquity of multiparty conversation in everyday life, little is known about the processes by which speakers design language in multiparty conversation. While prior evidence demonstrates that speakers design utterances to accommodate addressee knowledge in multiparty conversation, it is unknown if and how speakers encode and combine different types of perspective information. Here we test whether speakers encode the perspective of multiple addressees, and then simultaneously consider their knowledge and physical context during referential design in a three‐party conversation. Analyses of referential form—expression length, disfluency, and elaboration rate—in an interactive multiparty conversation demonstrate that speakers do take into consideration both addressee knowledge and physical context when designing utterances, consistent with a knowledge‐scene integration view. These findings point to an audience design process that takes as input multiple types of representations about the perspectives of multiple addressees, and that bases the informational content of the to‐be‐designed utterance on a combination of the perspectives of the intended addressees.     

Rare Constructions Are More Often Sentence‐Initial

Main clause phenomena (MCPs) are syntactic constructions that occur predominantly or exclusively in main clauses. I propose a processing explanation for MCPs. Sentence processing is easiest at the beginning of the sentence (requiring less search); this follows naturally from widely held assumptions about sentence processing. Because of this, a wider variety of constructions can be allowed at the beginning of the sentence without overwhelming the sentence‐processing mechanism. Unlike pragmatic and grammatical accounts of MCPs, the processing account predicts avoidance of MCPs in non‐initial main clauses (non‐initial coordinate clauses and premodified clauses). A corpus study supports these predictions, but it is somewhat inconclusive. A further corpus study examines another type of syntactic construction, premodifying adjunct phrases (“openers”); the prediction here is that less common types of opener will be especially avoided in non‐initial contexts. The prediction is confirmed, supporting the processing view of rare constructions.     

Audience Design in Multiparty Conversation

How do speakers design what they say in order to communicate effectively with groups of addressees who vary in their background knowledge of the topic at hand? Prior findings indicate that when a speaker addresses a pair of listeners with discrepant knowledge, that speakers Aim Low, designing their utterances for the least knowledgeable of the two addressees. Here, we test the hypothesis that speakers will depart from an Aim Low approach in order to efficiently communicate with larger groups of interacting partners. Further, we ask whether the cognitive demands of tracking multiple conversational partners' perspectives places limitations on successful audience design. We find that speakers can successfully track information about what up to four of their partners do and do not know in conversation. When addressing groups of 3–4 addressees at once, speakers design language based on the combined knowledge of the group. These findings point to an audience design process that simultaneously represents the perspectives of multiple other individuals and combines these representations in order to design utterances that strike a balance between the different needs of the individuals within the group.