A comparison of students studying-behavior produced by daily, weekly, and three-week testing schedules

Time spent in contact with academic course materials as a function of two testing schedules was measured using college undergraduates in an introductory educational psychology course. A within-subject (ABAB) design was employed with all subjects to allow for both individual and group analyses. A study room equipped with an adjacent observation room enabled visual and auditory monitoring of student study behavior. Academic materials were exclusively available to students in the study room and records of durations and distribution of student study time were made by an observer behind a one-way mirror. Daily testing produced consistent duration of study behavior with regular attendance at the study room; weekly and three-week testing produced sporadic bursts of study behavior and frequent instances of non-attendance. The amount of study behavior occurring in weekly and three-week testing conditions increased as the test time drew near (scalloping). Results suggest that daily testing supports more consistent study patterns than do the two larger intertest intervals investigated.     

Improving telemarketers' performance in the short-run using operant concepts

Telemarketers working a day (N=7) and evening shift (N=7) failed to achieve required rates of calls completed when they worked under a numerical quota system (pre-intervention baseline period). The existing system was analyzed using operant terms and concepts. Then, an operant-based system of individual rewards contingent on meeting a group quota (intervention or treatment system) of one week duration was operationalized during weeks four and five respectively for the day and evening shifts in multiple baseline fashion across the two groups. The operant- based incentive system produced practically and statistically reliable performance increases among day and evening shift telemarketers. Results are discussed in terms of operant schedules of reinforcement, their feedback functions, short term effects of the operant-based incentive system, and the validity and generality of the operant-based incentive system.These data, in various degrees of completeness were presented at the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology Meetings, April 1990, Miami Beach, FL and Association for Behavior Analysis meetings May 1990, Nashville, TN.