Applied Behavioral Sciences 09 03 2013 Class 4 00 to 5 15 T TH Lab Dole 4036 12 1 M 5 6 W EXTRA CREDIT DUE DEC 13th 5 page paper on AC4P 2 pages of summary 2 pages of how the concepts in the book relate to concepts in the textbook 1 page of reflection about how you want to see this in your everyday life ABSC Lesson 1 09 03 2013 When faced with a life or death problem the early human would Fight Flight Pray Bacon s contribution to behavioral analysis The science of behavior should result in practical technologies that better the human conditions The science of behavior should be experimental not philosophical Summary Bacon Behavioral analytic discovers are practical they better the human condition Spinoza Behavioral analysts reject dualism and accept determinism Darwin 1 Behavioral analysts believe human behavior can be studied scientifically 2 Behavioral analysts study animal s behavior because it tells us something about human behavior Other Early Influences Ivan Pavlou o Classic Conditioning dogs salivate at sound of bell E L Thorndike o Operant Conditioning learning through consequences John o o o o B F Skinner o Father of behaviorally analysis o Discovered how the world around us controls our behavior Watson First to call himself a behavior analysis Known for Little Albert Studied Human emotions Got public interested in topic with his theories ABSC Lesson 2 Why define behavior 09 03 2013 We develop behavioral definitions so we can measure behavior objectively Why measure behavior objectively to determine if there is a problem to obtain a baseline from which treatment effects may be observed to develop some initial hypotheses about what causes the behavioral problems to measure the efficiency or lack of of a treatment Behavior any activity of an organism occurring inside or outside the skin which may be affected by external or internal stimulation Thinking Behavior Monism A monist hold that your mind is matter Two causes of behavior o 1 Your Physiology how your body is made Studied by neuroscientists o 2 Current and pas environment Current happening right now setting and context Past experience Studied by behavioral analysts Summary Heuristics help us make quick predictions o Recalling every instance of behavior that supports the heuristic is unwieldy Quick predictions help us survive o Genes responsible for this ability are transmitted to offspring Heuristics are little rules that help you predict future behavior but they are not a good way to view the world because they are not scientific enough Reification When we mistake a description for a cause o Reification is a problem because it fools us into thinking we ve explained behavior when we have only renamed it o Reification does not help us to change behavior Measuring Behavior Behavioral Definitions o specifies the behavior of interest so that it can be measured o must include a VERB Behavior is an activity o Should describe the topography of the response o Should be countable Clicker Quiz The first tactic is using the behavioral strategy is to develop a behavioral DEFINITION What is the word we use to define the activity in which humans mistake a description of a behavior as a cause REIFICATION ABSC Lesson 3 09 03 2013 ON LESSON QUIZ it will ask what kind of recording was used optional answers would be event outcome interval time sample TYPES OF RECORDING 1 Event Recording o Observe and record every instance of the behavior o Duration of response needs to be about the same time o Need to be able to see the onset and offset of behavior If the behavior occurs quickly and repeatedly you probably can not use event recording 2 Outcome Recording o Some behavior change the environment in a way that we can record o Count the product of the behavior NOT the behavior itself 3 Interval Recording o Divide the observation period into equal and contiguous intervals of time o Record whether the behavior occurred once during the interval o What do you to if the behavior happened more than once in the interval You still use a one interval recording is not asking how often the behavior happened but if it happened o What do you do if a behavior started in one interval and continued to another You would mark both intervals because the behavior was taking place at that time 4 Time Sample Recording o Divide the observation period into intervals Must be standard duration intervals Might be irregular intervals o Observe the behavior only at the end of the interval o Intervals can be random can be used to observe multiple people or multiple behaviors Why recording style should you use 1 You hired a dog sitter that you do not trust completely and you want to observe a dog sitter watching your dog Use Time sample recording call every 60 hour or so 2 Janice wants measure how often her boyfriend brushes his teeth Use Outcome recording 3 Someone is scratching his skin a lot randomly throughout the day for random lengths of time Use Interval Recording How do you pick the right Direct Observation Technique Outcome recording is always preferred because it is easier and just as accurate as event recording One draw back is that you do not know who produced the outcome If outcome isn t possible then you go with event recording it is most accurate Interval is not as accurate so it should be used only if the behavior is not a uniform duration Time sample is the least accurate so it should be used only when observing multiple behaviors or multiple people at one time Behavioral definitions should be written down so they may be referred to in the future Observer drift counting slaps and kicks instead of just counting punches Lesson 4 Reliability and Validity 09 03 2013 Reliability Quantifying the degree to which you and your partner s observations agreed Why How Often Do You Assess Reliability Before the study starts assess reliability every time 100 check for reliability o Once reliability is at an acceptable level you can start the study Once the study is underway you need to assess reliability only periodically 30 of the time seems to be the industry standard Reliability Agreements Agreements disagreements R A A D Miller suggests 80 is acceptable if it s a new behavioral definition He suggests 90 is acceptable is the definition is established Best to shoot for 90 Trial Reliability The method of calculating reliability that we just used Used whenever you select Interval or Time Sample Recording methods Frequency Reliability Used whenever you select Outcome