A comparison of the effects of posted feedback and increased police surveillance on highway speeding

A counterbalanced, reversal design was used to compare the effectiveness of posted feedback and increased police surveillance in reducing speeding on two urban highways. Drivers' speeds were measured using a concealed radar unit. During public posting, a large highway sign, which listed the percentage of drivers not speeding during the preceding week and the best record to date, was erected on each street. Use of the feedback sign alternated with periods of baseline and periods of increased police surveillance and ticketing. During increased police surveillance, highly visible, stationary police radar patrols were established along the highways for either 30 min or 60 min per day, 5 days per week. Results indicated that although public posting was highly effective in reducing the percentage of speeding drivers, increased police surveillance was not. Thus, since the feedback sign required only 30 min per week to maintain, public posting was at least 10 times more efficient in controlling speeding than was police surveillance and ticketing.     

Increasing accuracy and decreasing latency during clean intermittent self-catheterization procedures with young children.

We examined the effects of simulation training on performance of clean intermittent self-catheterization procedures with 2 young girls. Simulation training was conducted, after which independent performance was assessed within a multiple baseline design. The training resulted in increased accuracy and decreased latency for both girls.     

Artifact, bias, and complexity of assessment: the ABCs of reliability

Interobserver agreement (also referred to here as "reliability") is influenced by diverse sources of artifact, bias, and complexity of the assessment procedures. The literature on reliability assessment frequently has focused on the different methods of computing reliability and the circumstances under which these methods are appropriate. Yet, the credence accorded estimates of interobserver agreement, computed by any method, presupposes eliminating sources of bias that can spuriously affect agreement. The present paper reviews evidence pertaining to various sources of artifact and bias, as well as characteristics of assessment that influence interpretation of interobserver agreement. These include reactivity of reliability assessment, observer drift, complexity of response codes and behavioral observations, observer expectancies and feedback, and others. Recommendations are provided for eliminating or minimizing the influence of these factors from interobserver agreement.     

Establishing auditory stimulus control over an eight-member equivalence class via conditional discrimination procedures

Two eight-member equivalence classes of visual stimuli were established during three phases of a training program. In Phase 1, two training arrangements were compared. In one, 3 subjects were taught on different trials to select from a single pair of comparison stimuli (A1, A2) in response to eight sample stimuli that were trained in pairs (B1, B2; C1, C2; D1, D2; E1, E2). In the second arrangement, subjects were taught to select from four pairs of comparisons (B1, B2; C1, C2; D3, D2; E2, E2) in response to two samples (A1, A2). Training with the single pair of comparison stimuli resulted in the development of equivalence relations (B1C1, B2C2, D1B1, D2B2, B1E1, B2E2, C1D1, C2D2, C1E1, C2E2, D1E1, D2E2, and their reciprocals) between the sample stimuli without direct training of these relations. In the other training arrangement, these relations among the comparison stimuli developed in the performance of 1 subject only. In Phase 2, three new pairs of stimuli (F1, F2; G1, G2; H1, H2) were substituted for three of the original pairs (B1, B2; C1, C2; D1, D2) and the training arrangements for the groups were reversed. Following training, the performances that showed equivalence relations on the probes in the first phase also showed equivalence relations in the second phase. If such relations did not develop in the first phase, they did not do so in the second phase. In Phase 3, relations between stimuli across the two previous phases (e.g., B1F1, B2F2, B1G1, B2H2, C1F1, etc.) were investigated. The 4 subjects whose performances showed the development of these relations were taught to select one stimulus from each class (E1 and E2) in response to a verbal label (I1 and I2) and then were tested to see if the verbal label controlled responding to the remaining members of the class (e.g., I1A1, I2A2, I1B1, I2B2, etc.). For 3 subjects, this generalized control occurred; for the 4th, generalization occurred only after verbal training with a second pair of visual stimuli (F1 and F2). In retests several months later, these auditory-visual relations were found to be intact or, if not, were recovered without direct training.     

Rating of perceived effort but relative to what? A comparison between imposed and self-selected anchors

PurposeCollecting reliable and valid rating of perceived effort (RPE) data requires properly anchoring the scales’ upper limits (i.e., the meaning of 10 on a 0–10 scale). Yet, despite their importance, anchoring procedures remain understudied and theoretically underdeveloped. Here we propose a new task-based anchoring procedure that distinguishes between imposed and self-selected anchors. In the former, researchers impose on participants a specific task as the anchor; in the latter, participants choose the most effortful task experienced or imaginable as the anchor. We compared the impact of these conceptually different anchoring procedures on RPE.MethodsTwenty-five resistance-trained participants (13 females) attended a familiarization and two randomized experimental sessions. In both experimental sessions, participants performed non-fatiguing and fatiguing isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) protocols with the squat followed by the gripper or vice versa. After each MVC, participants reported their RPE on a 0–10 scale relative to an imposed anchor of the performed task (e.g., gripper MVCs anchored to a gripper MVC) or to a self-selected anchor.ResultsIn the non-fatiguing condition, imposed anchors yielded greater RPEs than self-selected anchors for both the squat [on average, 9.4 vs. 5.5; Δ(CI_95%) = 3.9 (3.2, 4.5)] and gripper [9.4 vs. 3.9; Δ = 5.5 (4.7, 6.3)]. Similar results were observed in the fatiguing condition for both the squat [9.7 vs. 6.9; Δ = 2.8 (2.1, 3.5)] and gripper [9.7 vs. 4.5; Δ = 5.2 (4.3, 5.9)].ConclusionsWe found large differences in RPE between the two anchors, independent of exercises and fatigue state. These findings provide a basis for further development and refinement of anchoring procedures and highlight the importance of selecting, justifying, and consistently applying the chosen anchors.     

A review of reinforcement control procedures

A demonstration of the effects of reinforcement requires comparison of response rates in the presence of a contingency with those in another condition that controls for the influence of extraneous variables. We describe several control conditions that have been used in evaluating the effects of positive and negative reinforcement. The methodological rigor and practical utility of each type of control condition are discussed, and recommendations for the use of these conditions are presented.     

Causing Students to Choose More Language Arts Work: Enhancing the Validity of the Additive Interspersal Procedure

Research on the additive interspersal procedure was extended by exposing seventh-grade students to curricula-based (e.g., educationally valid) language arts assignments. In Experiment I, each student was given a control language arts assignment containing 20 discrete target items and an experimental assignment containing 24 equivalent target items, plus eight interspersed briefer items. After working on both assignments for 10 minutes, significantly more students chose a new experimental assignment for homework. Individual analysis showed that 85% of the students preferred or chose the assignment associated with higher discrete task completion rates. In Experiment II, students completed both assignments. Results extended previous research by showing that even after expending more effort to complete the 20% more target items plus the additional interspersed items on the experimental assignments, significantly more students chose an experimental assignment for homework. Applied and theoretical implications are discussed along with limitations of the current study and directions for future research.     

Interspersing Additional Brief, Easy Problems to Increase Assignment Preference on Mathematics Reading Problems

We extended previous research on student preference for academic assignments by presenting college students with a control assignment containing eight, two-digit × two-digit + two-digit × two-digit (2 × 2 + 2 × 2) mathematics reading problems and an experimental assignment that contained eight equivalent, 2 × 2 + 2 × 2 problems plus three additional interspersed four-digit + four-digit mathematics reading problems. After spending 9 min 15 s working on each assignment, significantly more students ranked the experimental assignment as being less difficult and requiring less effort to complete. When given a choice between the two assignments for homework, significantly more students chose the experimental assignment. No differences between assignments were found on target problem (i.e., 2 × 2 + 2 × 2) accuracy levels. Results support earlier research that showed how students' preference for assignments could be improved by interspersing additional brief tasks among more time consuming target tasks. In addition to applied implications, theoretical implications related to task completion as a reinforcing event, choice, and relative rates of reinforcement are discussed.