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?)
Multiple treatment interference in multielement design can be examined/controlled by…
Including a final best treatment phase.
Multielement designs are unsuitable for individuals that have ____
Problems forming discriminations (Differences between conditions will appear as a function of how easily the conditions can be discriminated).
Multielement: Enhace Discriminability
- IVs are quite different
- Providing and “anchoring” additional stimuli (e.g., therapists, ambient stimuli) to facilitate discrimination
- Reducing the number of conditions
- Instructional control when appropriate
- Reverting to other design options
Multielement design is limited to behavior that is ____.
Behavior that is reversible or at least “pliable.”
Multielement design is less suitable for interventions that ____.
Produce change slowly or require continuous implementation (e.g., weight control intervention)
Multielement design may require considerable care in ____
Doing the necessary counterbalancing.
Design combinations
Inclusion of elements from two or more designs within the same experiment.
Design combinations enhances the certainty of experimental control if
It meets the requirements of multiple design, especially if the conclusion of that planned design are tenuous (e.g., discriminability problems in multielement —> reversal)
Design combination are often ____, but used to ____.
Often not planned, but used to enhance conclusions as the data evolve.
Component analyses/sequential withdrawal
Systematically withdrawing treatment components to see if behavior change is maintained.
Component Analyses/Sequential Withdrawal uses:
- Evaluate the maintenance of treatment effects in the absence of the intervention.
- As a fading process.
Parametric Analysis
The systematic examination of the effects of a range of values of the IV. Not just absence vs. presence of the IV.
Examples: The effects of differing values of a reinforcement schedule (FR1, FR10)
-Comparison of treatments at different “strengths”. Brief time out vs. long time out.
Parametric analysis is used to determine….
Effective parametric values of contingencies, such as:
- Reinforcer duration vs. magnitude
- Reinforcer delay
- Reinforcer quality
- Response effort of the schedule
Parametric analysis is useful for…
Ease of implementation questions and treatment degradation questions.
Probes
Assessment of behavior on occasions when the contingencies arranged in the analysis are NOT in effect.
Probe uses
Evaluate whether treatment effects are evident before treatment occurs. Is further training really needed?
Extraneous variables
Events not related to the IV that may affect the DV. Potential to alter the results if not controlled.
Examples of probes
- Transfer of training
- Multiple probe technique
Confound
An uncontrolled factor known or suspected to exert influence on the DV. Likely to have altered the results.
Most common instances of Confounding design interactions
(Often related).
- Multiple treatment interference
- Sequence effects
- Carry over effects
Multiple treatment interference: If subjects are exposed to multiple treatments…
Conclusions about the outcomes of each may be restricted to that specific context. Treatments may have produced a different effect in isolation.
Sequence effects
The effects on a person’s behavior in one condition can be influenced by the subect’s experience in a prior condition.
Did you get the same effect in C phase of an ABCBC design if instead it had been an ACBCB design?
Carryover effects: Patterns of behavior established in one session…
May inadvertently extend into a second session even if the IVs are very different calling into question the observations in the subsequent session.
Minimizing confounds
- Manipulate only one IV at a time.
- Counterbalance the design (alternate order of conditions within subjects or between subjects)
- Enhance discriminability
When multiple treatments are compared end with ____ to minimize confounds.
A final evaluation in isolation.
Two types of errors involved in the analysis of single-subject designs
Type I Error and Type II Error
Type I Error
Concluding that the IV has produced a change in the DV when in fact the relationship does not exist. False positive.
Type II Error
Concluding that the IV has not produced a change in the DV when in fact is has. False negative.
Minimizing Type I and Type II Errors
- Visual Inspection
- Tests of statistical significance.
Visual inspection minimizes Type ___ Errors, perhaps at the expense of making more Type ___ Errors.
Type I, Type II
Tests of statistical significance minimizes Type ___ Errors, perhaps at the expense of making more Type ___ Errors.
Type II, Type I.
In behavior analysis, we seek ____, that produce ____.
Robust variables that produce large effects.
The criteria for concluding an effect using ___ are very ____, to the point where….
The criteria for concluding an effect using visual inspection are very stringent to the point where visual inspections may disregard actual differences or changes when they are real, but small.
Advantages of Visual Inspection
- More likely to identify IVs that produce robust effects
- Social significance is of primary importance.
- Encourages the examination of variability rather than just overall effects
Six factors/considerations involved in the visual analysis of Single-Subject Designs
V-CRIMP
- Variability and overlap
- Consistency of the effect in replication
- Role of the trend
- Importance of latency to change
- Mean Shift
- Phase duration
Visual Data Analysis: Mean Shift
Changes in the average level of performance within a phase or condition. The greater the mean shift relative to the comparison, the more convincing the effects.
Visual Data Analysis: Trend
Changes in the tendency for data to increase or decrease overtime.
- Does the data in the preceding phase PREDICT something different than what occurred in the test phase?
- Was the trend in the preceding phase consistent with the conclusion made about the test phase?
Visual Data Analysis: Latency to change
How quickly does the behavior change once the IV is manipulated?
- Shorter latency = More convincing
- Longer latency = Suspicious
Visual Data Analysis: Variability and Overlap
How much do the data points during intervention overlap with the data points in baseline?
Visual Data Analysis: Phase duration
Was the change in intervention demonstrated long enough to convincingly show it was different from baseline?
Visual Data Analysis: Consistency of the effect in replication
Does the level revert to similar levels if you return to the intervention phase a second time?
Procedural Integrity
The extent to which the IVs are implemented as dictated by the research of the treatment plan.
Procedural integrity can be a major source of ____.
Confounding variables. Inconsistencies among therapists can influence data. Procedural drift over time may change behavior in the absence of a planned change in the IV.
Procedural integrity measurement
Measures the extent to which the application of the IV over the course of analysis matches the planned description. E.g., the reinforcer was delivered within 5s on 98% of the occasions for which it was scheduled.
Procedural integrity measurement provides the experimenter with data regarding….
Whether calibration of the treatment agents is needed.
Reducing procedural integrity threats
D.P.P.
- Direct contingencies on treatment fidelity (not just measurement, but intervention)
- Provide adequate training and practice to those implementing treatment (curtail procedural drift)
- Place a high priority on IV simplification (Eliminate complexity and ambiguity)
Be a ____ consumer of research; approach _____.
Be a critical consumer of research; approach methods, conclusions skeptically.
Be a consumer of ____ sorts of research.
Be a consumer of broad sorts of research.
Social Validity Assessment
Examination of the acceptability or viability of a programmed intervention. I.e., are the changes in behavior of clinical or applied importance.
Social significance of goals or target behavior
- Represents a deficit in functioning as society views it. E.g., Lack of appropriate social skills.
- Will an increase or decrease in a dimension of behavior improve the person’s life?
Social Validity of Procedures
- One that produces minimal adverse effects (medication decreases bx w/o gross sedation)
- One that can be practically administered (Complexity, practicability, cost)
Social validity of results
- Enhances subjects functioning in their environment
- Ultimately, is the person better off now that the behavior has changes? (Will it result in increased opportunity for reinforcement?)
Social validity: subjective evaluation
The individual, those important in their life, and sometimes experts in a given area evaluate whether distinct improvements have been achieved and whether the change is worth the cost and effort.
Subjective evaluation is often achieved through
Rating scales.
Consumer evaluation may be….
Inconsistent with actual changes in the behavior. High levels of satisfaction do not necessarily indicate there has been an important change.
Social validity: social comparison
Is the behavior after treatment comparable to unaffected or typical peers?
Under some circumstances the most ___ test of social validity can be accomplished by…
Direct; Permitting the person to select directly from treatment options (Assuming that all interventions are equally effective and can be used even if limited expressive language).
