Unit 6 Flashcards
Changing Criterion Design is based on _____, but the treatment phase is _____.
Changing criterion design is based on an A-B design, but the treatment phase is divided into subphases.
Each subphase in changing criterion design involves _____.`
A different behavioral criterion (i.e., a different value of the IV)
Criterion in each suphase of Changing Criterion Design more closely resembles what?
The terminal behavioral goal.
in Changing Criterion Design, which two things do each subphase provide?
1 - A means to gauge the effects of changing the IV value from the previous phase (replicates the effects of changing the IV value).
2 - A “baseline” for the following phase (prediction if no further change in the IV is made).
Changing Criterion Design: Control
Is demonstrated when performance closely matches the specified criteria.
Why is it unlikely that an extraneous variable produced the change across conditions if…
The behavior changes when and only when a new criterion is introduced. Unlikely that the extraneous produced the changes that conform closely to the specified IV value.
Do you need perfect correspondence with criteria to show experimental control?
No. Examine mean shift to determine if it shows step-wise change. Examine percentage to points that met criteria.
Implement bi-directional changes to….
Bolster demonstration of experimental control.
Bi-Directional criteria
Changing criteria to a previous subphase value and observing that behavior reverts to that criterion.
What does bi-directional criteria rule out?
Threats, such as maturation and practice effects.
Number of criterion changes:
At minimum two, otherwise an AB design.
To many criterion changes, too rapidly, may
Obscure orderly effects.
Changing Criterion: Phase Length
As always, determined by stability (again, each subphase acts as baseline for the next phase).
Phases can be ___ if behavior can ____.
Be shorter if behavior can change rapidly.
Length of phases should ____ - an additional demonstration of ____.
Vary, an additional demonstration of control: You change or keep behavior at a given level for as long or as briefly as you plan.
Small initial criterion changes ______.
Maximize the probability of success.
If criterion changes are too small _____. If criterion changes are too long ___.
Too small - May not be able to detect changes in behavior.
Too large - may be difficult for the subject to meet criteria.
Rule of thumb for degree of change: Small changes for ___ behavior, larger changes for ___ behavior.
Small changes for very stable behavior, larger changes for variable behaviors.
Changing Criterion: Advantages
- Treatments do not have to be withdrawn.
- Does not require multiple behaviors, subjects, or settings.
- All subjects can receive the treatment after the same length of baseline.
Changing Criterion: Limitations
Requires considerable time and effort in planning (phase length, degree of change, phase number should be planned in advance).
-Difficult to interpret when behavior does not closely match the criteria (What if behavior drops to zero during first criterion change? Where is the experimental control?)
When to use changing criterion design.
When it is meaningful to measure behavior in stepwise increments (E.g., number of products [cigarettes smoked, math problems completed], connecting links in a behavior change).
-Use to demonstrate experimental control during fading and shaping procedures.
What is Alternating Treatment Designs also known as?
- Simultaneous Treatment design (but not really “simultaneous”)
- Concurrent schedule design (but unlike a concurrent schedule of reinforcement)
- Multiple Schedule Design (but not necessarily like a multiple schedule)
- Multielement design
Multielement description
- Rapid alternation of two or more IV’s or levels of the IV (each session may be a different condition.
- Repeated measures of behavior while the conditions alternate rapidly.
- IVs continue alternating independent of the level of responding (no waiting for steady state)
Multielement shares logical properties with ____.
The reversal design (akin to a reversal design with very brief phases)
Each data point in multielement design does what three times?
- Predicts future behavior in the same condition.
- Serves to verify previous predictions
- Permits comparison against the predictions made by data in the other conditions
Experimental control in multielement design is demonstrated ______.
When behavior is appreciably and consistently different in one condition relative to others.
Common variations of multielement deisgn
- Multielement and pretreatment baseline.
- Multielement with no baseline
- Multielement with baseline, plus a final treatment phase
Multielement and pretreatment BL is
Preferable unless clinically contradicted.
Multielement with no BL often includes ____.
A baseline or control as one of the alternating conditions. If so, may differ from a pre-treatment baseline due to multiple treatment interference.
Multielement with baseline plus a final treatment phase is…
Clinically prudent in applied research. Permits detection of possible multiple treatment interference.
The utility of a multielement design relies on _____.
Stimulus discrimination. Best if each condition associated with a distinct set of stimuli to promote discriminability.
Multielement: Counterbalancing
Conditions are counterbalanced across experimental contexts (e.g., time of day, therapist) to neutralize confounding variables.
(For example if treatment A is always in the morning and treatment B is always in the afternoon and changes emerge, you don’t know if the effects are attributed to the treatments or the time of day).
Strict alternation is ____, as it ______.
Strict alternation is not recommended, as it does not neutralize sequence effects. Randomization, but with restrictions (e.g., no more than 2 of the same condition in a row).
Multielement common uses
- Rapid comparison of treatment to baseline.
- Comparison of two or more treatments.
- Comparison of two or more assessment conditions (e.g., functional analyses of behavior
- “Yoked” elements - rapid alternation makes yoking more meaningful
Yoking
Elements from one condition are linked to elements of a second condition.
Mulielement minimizes sequence effects through…
Random alternation and short periods in which each IV is in effect.
Multielement advantages
- Compare treatments while minimizing sequence effects.
- Useful for highly variable behavior that fluctuates as a function of non-experimental variables.
- Can be more efficient in terms of number of sessions than other designs.
Multielement designs are subject to _____.
Multi treatment interference. (Would the effects of any one treatment be different if it wasn’t being simultaneously compared with another?)