Assessment and prediction in an ecological system: Application of the general linear model to the response-class concept

This study investigated the extent to which observed frequencies of covarying responses could be utilized in the prediction of classroom behavior. Five behavior categories were observed daily over a 12-week period in the regular classroom settings of four fifth-grade and two fourth-grade male students. For each subject, stepwise regression analyses were conducted to determine which behaviors accounted for the largest proportions of variance in a single response category. The proportions of variance explained in the behavior categories of the subjects ranged from 8.9 to 75.4%. Further, response categories serving as predictor variables, as well as the number of predictor variables entered into the equations, differed across subjects. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for behavioral assessment and treatment application.