CHAPTER 7 Flashcards
What is a defining characteristic of behavior analysis?
Functional relations between behavior and it’s controlling variables
What is the independent variable in experiments?
The variable being manipulated or controlled by the experimenter (treatment)
What is the dependent variable in experiments?
The target behavior, precisely a measurable dimensional quantity of that behavior( example: rate,duration)
What must one have to gain experimental control?
The experimenter must control the IV
Repeated measures of the subject’s behavior
important for assessing whether unplanned environmental changes are of concern
Fundamental rule of experimentation
Means changing only ONE VARIABLE AT A TIME
Applied research is conducted in which type of settings?
where socially important behaviors naturally occur (example: at school, home)
What is an Experimental Design?
arrangement of conditions in a study so that meaningful comparisons of the effects of presence, absence, or different values of the IV can be made
Parametric Analysis ?
USED TO MEASURE THE RANGE OF VALUES IN THE IV
(reinforcer magnitude, delays,rates,etc)
What type of baseline is the most desirable basis to look for the effects of an IV?
Stable baseline
Functional relations are demonstrated when?
Observed variations in behavior can be attributed to manipulations of the independent variable (treatment plan)
What does it mean to have high Internal Validity?
When an experiment shows that changes in behavior are a function of the independent variable and not the result of unknown variables
True or False: Single-subject research designs always involve only a single participant
FALSE
True or False: Single-case experiments in ABA will always yield a functional relation
FALSE
Behavior analysts assume that behavioral variability is _____ to the organism
Extrinsic
What is Determinism?
The universe is a lawful and orderly place and that natural phenomenon occur in relation to other natural events
Steady State Strategy
Exposing a subject to a given condition while trying to eliminate/control any extraneous influences on the behavior and obtaining a stable pattern of responding before introducing the next condition
Baseline logic entails 3 elements: what are they?
Prediction, verification, and replication
Dependent or Independent variable: The effects of study cards on the rate of homework completion
Dependent
Dependent or Independent variable: Number of words spelled correctly following a spelling quiz review
Dependent
Dependent or Independent variable: The effect of a token reinforcement plus praise treatment package on student hand raising
Independent
Baseline logic: Replication
Repeating experiments to determine the reliability of the findings
What is a major threat to internal validity?
Confounding variables: uncontrolled variables suspected to exert an influence on the target behavior(dependent variable)
What is external validity?
The degree to which a study’s results are generalizable to other settings, subjects, and/or behaviors
Hallmark of ABA is…..
Systematically repeated measurements of behavior
the baseline serves as the….
control condition
Steady/stable state responding
Provides the basis for a powerful form of experimental reasoning used in behavior analysis, called baseline logic
Ascending or Descending baselines
represents deteriorating performance signals an immediate application of the independent variable
baseline logic: prediction
if no changes were made, continued measurement would be shown on a graph with OPEN-CIRCLE data points within the boxed area
baseline logic: verification
Prior level of responding would have remained unchanged had the independent variable not been introduced (shown as solid points within the shaded box on the graph)
baseline logic: replication
repeating independent variable manipulations conducted previously in the study to obtain similar outcomes ( solid data points within cross-hatched box on graphs)
Replication reduces….??
the probability that a variable other than the independent variable was responsible for the behavior change
