Evaluation of family intervention through unobtrusive audio recordings: experiences in "bugging" children

Five children referred to a child-family intervention program wore a radio transmitter in the home during pre-intervention and termination assessments. The transmitter broadcast to a receiver-recording apparatus in the home (either activated by an interval timer at predetermined "random" times or by parents at predetermined "picked" times). "Picked" times were parent-selected situations during which problems typically occurred (e.g., bedtime). Parents activated the recorder regularly whether or not problems occurred. Child-deviant, parent-negative, and parent-commanding behaviors were significantly higher at the picked times during pretest than at random times. At posttest, behaviors in all three classes were substantially reduced at picked times, but not at random times. For individual subject data, reductions occurred in at least two of the three dependent variables for three of the five cases during random time assessments. In general, the behavioral outcome data corresponded to parent-attitude reports and parent-collected observation data.     

Decreasing fuel-oil consumption through feedback and social commendation

The energy crisis of the winter of 1973-74 led to severe shortages of fuel oil for home heating and a government request for voluntary conservation by the oil consumer. This experiment tested two methods of facilitating fuel-oil conservation. Home fuel-oil consumers were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: feedback of information on rate of oil use, feedback plus commendation for reduced consumption, or a no-treatment control. The consumption rate for the feedback plus commendation group was significantly lower than that of either the informational feedback group or the control group. The informational feedback group did not differ from the control group. The results suggest that feedback alone may not result in oil conservation, but that feedback combined with commendation can produce socially significant savings.     

Gasoline conservation: a procedure for measuring and reducing the driving of college students

The study sought to motivate college students to reduce the number of miles they drove each day and thus save gasoline. Students in two psychology classes were divided by class into two groups. The experimental group was offered various combinations of prizes such as cash, a tour of a mental-health facility, car servicing, and a university parking sticker for reducing driving. The value of the prize received was scaled in terms of per cent reduction in driving. The contrast group received no inducements. The condition in which the experimental group's mileage reduction was reinforced was counterbalanced by two baseline conditions. Several special recording procedures were used to reduce and detect the possibility of subjects altering their odometers, the source of the driving data. Experimental subjects reduced their average daily mileage by 20% relative to the initial baseline; the contrast group did not change. During the one-month reinforcement condition, the 12 experimental subjects saved some 170 gallons (worth $102) of gasoline.     

A review of the observational data-collection and reliability procedures reported in The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis

The research published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (1968 to 1975) was surveyed for three basic elements: data-collection methods, reliability procedures, and reliability scores. Three-quarters of the studies reported observational data. Most of these studies' observational methods were variations of event recording, trial scoring, interval recording, or time-sample recording. Almost all studies reported assessment of observer reliability, usually total or point-by-point percentage agreement scores. About half the agreement scores were consistently above 90%. Less than one-quarter of the studies reported that reliability was assessed at least once per condition.     

STIMULUS SELECTION AND TRACKING DURING URINATION: AUTOSHAPING DIRECTED BEHAVIOR WITH TOILET TARGETS1

A simple procedure is described for investigating stimuli selected as targets during urination in the commode. Ten normal males preferred a floating target that could be tracked to a series of stationary targets. This technique was used to bring misdirected urinations in a severely retarded male under rapid stimulus control of a floating target in the commode. The float stimulus was also evaluated with nine institutionalized, moderately retarded males and results indicated rapid autoshaping of directed urination without the use of verbal instructions or conventional toilet training. The technique can be applied in training children to control misdirected urinations in institutions for the retarded, in psychiatric wards with regressed populations, and in certain male school dormitories.     

Observer reliability as a function of circumstances of assessment

THREE FACTORS CHARACTERISTIC OF EXPERIMENTAL SETTINGS WERE HYPOTHESIZED TO INFLATE ARTIFACTUALLY THE RELIABILITY OF OBSERVATIONAL RECORDINGS: (a) knowledge by observers of when and by whom their reliability is being assessed, (b) the absence of the experimenter or a monitor to prevent cheating, and (c) computation of reliability within- (versus between-) observer group. Three groups of four observers used a standard nine-category observational code for disruptive behavior in recording from videotapes of a classroom for 22 days. Analyses revealed considerable increases in average occurrence reliability as a function of the main effects of each of the experimental factors. The specific increases in reliability associated with each of the 12 combinations of the experimental factors are presented for each category of behavior. The possible role of observer-training procedures and behavioral definitions as determiners of nonartifactual reliability is discussed.     

UNITS OF ANALYSIS IN TASK-ANALYTIC RESEARCH

We develop and discuss four criteria for evaluating the appropriateness of units of analysis for task-analytic research and suggest potential alternatives to the units of analysis currently used. Of the six solutions discussed, the most commonly used unit of analysis in current behavior analytic work, percentage correct, meets only one of the four criteria. Five alternative units of analysis are presented and evaluated: (a) percentage of opportunities to perform meeting criterion, (b) trials to criteria, (c) cumulative competent performances, (d) percentage correct with competent performance coded, and (e) percentage correct with competent performance coded and a grid showing performance on individual steps of the task analysis. Of the solutions evaluated, only one—percentage correct with competent performance coded and a task analysis grid—met all four criteria.     

Methods of time sampling: A reappraisal of momentary time sampling and partial interval recording

We compared the accuracy of momentary time sampling (MTS) and partial interval recording (PIR) in estimating both absolute behavioral levels and relative change. A computer randomly generated runs of pseudobehavior varying in duration and rate and simulated MTS and PIR of each run. Results indicated that when estimating absolute behavioral levels, duration rather than rate should be used as the dependent measure, and MTS is more accurate than PIR. In contrast, PIR is the more sensitive method for detecting relative changes in behavioral levels, although, at high rates, PIR tends to underestimate the degree of change.     

BEHAVIORAL CONTROL OF MEDICINE COMPLIANCE

This study examined the effectiveness of several behavioral techniques on compliance of college students taking vitamin C on q.i.d. regimen. Compliance was assessed by a new technique using a variation of the urine tracer procedure designed specifically for this study. Subjects were provided vitamin C tablets, with three tablets per week containing phenazopyridine, a drug that produces a bright red-orange urine discoloration. Subjects were requested to indicate when urine discolorations occurred, and compliance was assessed by comparing the time of their report to the time predicted on the basis of the scheduled sequence of vitamin C and phenazopyridine tablets. Baseline compliance was assessed for 72 subjects over a three-week period, with the 40 most noncompliant subjects randomly assigned to four groups for Treatment I. The groups were: self-monitoring, taste, taste and self-monitoring, and a no-treatment control group. The self-monitoring procedure involved recording the time medicine was taken; the taste procedure involved providing the subjects with flavored tablets to increase the saliency of tablet taking; and the self-monitoring and taste procedure involved providing subjects with flavored tablets and asking them to record the flavor of each tablet they ingested. At the end of six weeks, half the subjects in each of these groups participated in response-cost procedures while the remaining subjects continued with their previous procedures. Response-cost procedures were implemented by returning a portion of the subjects' deposit only if a preset compliance criterion was met. Treatment II procedures were implemented for an additional three weeks. Results indicated the self-monitoring and taste plus self-monitoring procedures were superior during Treatment I. The implementation of response cost during Treatment II was associated with a marked improvement in compliance, independent of the history of noncompliance. The effects of the taste plus self-monitoring procedure were maintained during Treatment II and results obtained by this procedure were not significantly different from effects of response cost.     

Training student teachers to reposition infants frequently

We evaluated the effects of an intervention designed to increase the variety of positions experienced by infants in a child-care setting. Six student teachers were trained, using a multicomponent intervention, to reposition infants according to a chart. The intervention was successful in increasing the mean percentage of correct position changes made by all 6 student teachers, and performance gains by 3 student teachers persisted when supervisor feedback was briefly removed.