Applied Behavior Analysis Commons^™

The Effects Of Pyramidal Training On Staff Acquisition Of Five Behavior Analytic Procedures, Lindsay M. Maffei-Almodovar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Direct care staff members serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often required to implement several behavior analytic procedures with only limited training soon after being hired. Pyramidal training is an effective model for disseminating applied behavior analytic skills to employees that treat individuals with developmental disabilities. This study used a multiple probes design across teachers and a delayed multiple baseline design across teaching assistants to evaluate the effects of video models, role play and feedback on teachers’ accuracy in implementing behavioral skills training and on teaching assistants’ accuracy in implementing five applied behavior analytic procedures (i.e. stimulus-stimulus pairing, …

A Comparison Of Quiz Grading Criteria, Exam Question Type And Novelty, And Their Effects On Exam Scores, Samantha Dalfen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Students in higher education perform better on exams when they complete frequent quizzes on the assigned reading material; but little research has investigated the different ways quizzes can be administered and how these variations affect quiz and exam performance. One variable that influences how quizzes are administered is the grading criterion. The standard practice grading criterion consists of receiving a score for the quiz based on the number of correctly answered questions. A passing criterion consists of requiring a student to obtain a certain score to earn full credit for the quiz. Previous research has found that students, particularly those …

Educational Relevance As A Motivating Operation For Equivalence Class Formation: Implications For Application, Julia Brodsky

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Equivalence-Based Instruction (EBI) is a method of teaching sets of physically disparate stimuli that uses stimulus equivalence principles (Critchfield & Fienup, 2008). The basic stimulus equivalence literature informs which procedural variants are used in research and clinical practice, but application of these findings requires determining the effect of educational relevance on equivalence class formation. In the current study, Experiment 1 compared the relative difficulty of the stimulus sets to be used in the educationally relevant conditions of Experiment 2, while Experiment 2 examined the effects of stimulus meaningfulness and educational relevance. The Arbitrary group learned nonsense symbols from Steele and …

Dancing, Mindfulness, And Our Emotions: Embracing The Mind, Body, And Sole, Alisha M. Collins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project examines dance, as an intervention and mindfulness practice that assists with managing our emotions. There is a need for dance therapy in social institutions such as, healthcare facilities, schools, and community centers. Dance therapy has the potential to reduce negative emotions, create mindfulness, improve self-expression, and promote a healthy well-being. I am proposing that dance therapy is applied as a regular practice in social institutions to develop mindfulness and promote emotional stability.

In this study, I argue that dance therapy can contribute to our well-being long term. In addition to this written thesis, a visual component of …

The Effect Of An Extinction Procedure On Level Of Responding To Visual Stimuli In An Evaluative Conditioning Procedure, Allison Hirsch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Evaluative conditioning is a type of learning that results in the acquisition of likes and dislikes in humans. The procedure that produces evaluative learning is similar to that of Pavlovian conditioning. A consistent observation is that evaluative conditioned responses are less sensitive to extinction procedures than would be expected given the Pavlovian-type conditioning procedure used for acquisition. The present study sought to determine what the effect of an extinction condition was on the level of responding to visual conditioned stimuli in a visual-gustatory evaluative conditioning paradigm. Two dependent measures were used: an explicit measure, and a choice-based preference measure. The …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Various Feedback Presentations On Typing Accuracy And Speed, Julieanne Guadalupe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In organizational behavior management, performance feedback is often described as information that is presented to a performer that enables a change in his or her future performance. Performance feedback is frequently used in combination with other procedures in applied settings. Despite its popularity, it is unclear whether performance feedback is more effective alone or in combination with procedures identified as behavioral consequences or antecedents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine which combination of performance feedback was most effective to improve typing accuracy and speed. Participants were assigned to one of four groups: (1) no feedback group, (2) …

Do Flashbulb Memories Transmit Across Generations? 9/11 As A Case Study, Shanique Meyler

Student Theses

Psychologists have only recently begun to examine the extent to which personal memories transmit across generations. When they have, they typically focus on family stories (see Merrill & Fivush, 2016) or memories of historical events (Svob & Brown, 2012). The present study extends this line of research to flashbulb memories, or memories of an individual’s circumstances when first learning about a consequential, historical event (Brown & Kulik, 1977). To this end, the present study examines the extent to which flashbulb memories surrounding the events of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 transmit to the next generation. The results suggest that flashbulb …

The Effects Of Presession Attention On The Acquisition Of Tacts And Intraverbals, Mirela Cengher

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined the effects of presession attention on the acquisition of tacts (Experiment 1) and intraverbals (Experiment 2) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. There were 3 conditions in each experiment. In the first 2 conditions, the experimenter first exposed the participants to a 15-min interval of either presession attention (PA) or no presession attention (NPA), then immediately conducted a teaching session. The third condition was a control condition, which involved no pressession interval or teaching procedures. The consequence for emitting tacts and intraverbals consisted of different forms of attention (e.g., praise and clapping). Across experiments, all participants acquired …

Maternal Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response To Foraging Uncertainty: A Model Of Individual Vs. Social Allostasis And The "Superorganism Hypothesis", Jeremy D. Coplan, Nishant K. Gupta, Asif Karim, Anna Rozenboym, Eric L.P. Smith, John G. Kral, Leonard A. Rosenblum

Publications and Research

Introduction: Food insecurity is a major global contributor to developmental origins of adult disease. The allostatic load of maternal food uncertainty from variable foraging demand (VFD) activates corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) without eliciting hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activation measured on a group level. Individual homeostatic adaptations of the HPA axis may subserve second-order homeostasis, a process we provisionally term “social allostasis.” We postulate that maternal food insecurity induces a “superorganism” state through coordination of individual HPA axis response.

Methods: Twenty-four socially-housed bonnet macaque maternal-infant dyads were exposed to 16 weeks of alternating two-week epochs of low or high foraging demand shown to compromise …

The Effects Of Parametrically Manipulating The Ratio Of Complimentary To Constructive Feedback Statements On Performance, Amanda Mentzer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Performance feedback is frequently discussed and implemented. Although shown to be quite effective, the characteristics of feedback have yet to be fully explored. Feedback ratio was explored in this study. While participants evaluated the postural safety of body positions presented on a computer screen, researchers measured the (a) number of s that it took participants to evaluate body positions (i.e., response time), (b) percent of correctly evaluated body positions (i.e., percent correct), and (c) extent to which participants appreciated the statements they received after responding (i.e., rating). Using a mixed-factorial design, researchers manipulated feedback within groups and feedback ratio between …

The Effects Of Descriptions And Images Of Antecedent Stimuli And Outcomes To Correct Responses In Task Analysis Instruction, Bryan C. Tyner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Task analysis (TA) instruction is commonly used for teaching behavior chains; however, little research informs best practices for TA instruction. Data regarding the effects of instructional variables on responding may enhance TA efficacy and learner performance. Linking TA instruction to the three-term contingency may facilitate the development of control by stimuli that are naturally present while completing complex tasks; therefore, this study employed a two-by-two factorial design to analyze the relative effects of supplementing TA instruction with descriptions and images of: (factor A) antecedent stimuli relevant to each instructed discrete response and (factor B) the outcomes of accurately completing instructed …

A Behavior Analytic Intervention To Teach Exploratory Motor Behavior To Infants With Down Syndrome, Sara M. Bauer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Exploratory Motor (EM) behavior refers to manipulating a toy in the hand(s). Infants with Down syndrome demonstrate significant impairments in the duration and frequency of EM behavior compared to their typically developing counterparts. A behavior analytic intervention involving multiple opportunities, prompting, and social reinforcement was used to teach three infants with Down syndrome between 4-9 months of age to emit EM behavior. Results indicate that all three infants with Down syndrome emitted the three EM target behaviors to mastery and demonstrated generalized responding across stimuli and other EM behaviors. The importance of these findings in addressing impairments in infants with …

The Effect Of The Long Anchor Duration On Performance In The Temporal Bisection Procedure, Sho Araiba

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study investigated the determinants of the location of the bisection point (BP) in the temporal bisection procedure. Interest in the study of temporal perception emerged from the finding of the scalar property such as Weber’s law for time and the ratio rule in behavior under Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. One method to investigate temporal perception in both non-human animals and humans is the temporal bisection procedure. The primary dependent variable of this procedure is the BP, which has been taken as the subjective midpoint between two durations. The ratio similarity rule (Gibbon, 1981) hypothesizes that the location of …

Targeting Efficiency: The Effects Of Video Modeling And Feedback On Instructors’ Acquisition And Generalization Of Behavior Analytic Skills, Maya S. Madzharova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a highly effective, evidence-based treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Low treatment integrity could greatly compromise the delivery of effective ABA interventions, but instructors who hold no formal training make up the larger portion of employees within the special education field. Designing efficient and effective training for these employees is important because schools have limited resources for caregiver training. This study used a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across three novice ABA instructors to evaluate the effects of a training protocol consisting of video and in-vivo modeling and feedback, a training algorithm, and multiple exemplars …

"Sociocultural Predictors Of Risky Sexual Behaviors: 1 The Role Of Nativity Status, Race, Ethnic Identity And Self-Construal", Elvine B. Andjembe

Dissertations and Theses

Recent national health reports have shown that despite a considerable increase in sexual health knowledge, risky sexual behaviors’ rates among the youth are on the rise. Minorities are disproportionately affected, which translates into strong racial disparities in health outcomes such as STI/STDs, and HIV prevalence. The literature examining ethnic differences in health behaviors has studied ethnic identity (self-identification with and commitment to the values of one’s ethnic group) as a protective factor against an array of maladaptive behaviors. In addition, self-construal, which refers to the extent to which one is individualistic or collectivistic has also been established as a positive …

Hedonia And Eudaimonia: Associations With Academic Success, Wellbeing, And Neuropsychological Functioning, Maria Kryza-Lacombe

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relations between happiness and academic success and wellbeing in a diverse, urban college sample by viewing happiness through the lens of hedonia (seeking pleasure and relaxation) and eudaimonia (seeking meaning), and their neuropsychological correlates. Undergraduate students (n=76; 68.4% female; mean age [SD]=21.17 [3.12]) completed self-report measures of hedonia and eudaimonia, and depression, anxiety, and stress. They also completed objective measures of “cool” executive functioning (WAIS-IV Digit Span, Stroop Color-Word test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, and a Stop Signal task) and “hot” executive functioning (Iowa Gambling Task, Temporal Discounting Task). Semester GPA was collected from school records. …

The Influence Of Running Extreme Obstacle Courses On Positive Affect, Character Strengths, And Well-Being, Ewa Opala

Dissertations and Theses

A large body of research demonstrates the positive benefits of numerous types of physical activity. However, the outcomes of running extreme obstacle courses (EOCs) remain unexamined. The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of running EOCs on positive affect, character strengths and well-being. The study utilized a pre-existing sample of 21 participants who filled out an online survey at two time points (pre-and-post race). The findings showed that participating in an EOC was related to increased positive affect (PA) and psychological well-being. Running an EOC with a team was associated with increased post-race teamwork and the …

"Language Preference And Cognitive Availability Of Sexual Identity In Gay Japanese Bilinguals: An Analysis Of Habitual Use Of Linguistic Categories", Sebastian Cordoba

Dissertations and Theses

Sexuality is a very private matter in Japan. Japan’s cultural mores and concepts of family unity have led to very conservative attitudes toward homosexuality. For instance, gay people generally fear disgracing their families, and this fear might prevent them from revealing their sexual identity to others, and so keeping it secret. Thus, homosexuality in Japan is a highly controversial topic. Being gay in Japan is not as tolerated as it is in some Western cultures (McLelland, 2000). Homosexuality is an issue that is not acknowledged by mainstream Japanese society – it is taboo and not spoken about publicly. The present …

Training A New Trick Using No-Reward Markers: Effects On Dogs’ Performance And Stress Behaviors, Naomi Rotenberg

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored using no-reward markers (NRMs). Dogs were taught a novel trick. In the IG group dogs’ errors were ignored; in the NRM group they elicited a tone. Performance and stress were evaluated. IG dogs reached higher levels of performance, with no difference in the frequency of stress behaviors.

Communication And Common Interest, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Manolo Martínez

Publications and Research

Explaining the maintenance of communicative behavior in the face of incentives to deceive, conceal information, or exaggerate is an important problem in behavioral biology. When the interests of agents diverge, some form of signal cost is often seen as essential to maintaining honesty. Here, novel computational methods are used to investigate the role of common interest between the sender and receiver of messages in maintaining cost-free informative signaling in a signaling game. Two measures of common interest are defined. These quantify the divergence between sender and receiver in their preference orderings over acts the receiver might perform in each state …

Advertisements: Interpreting Images Used To Sell To Young Adults, Alyssa Dana Adomaitis, Kim P. Johnson

Publications and Research

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify images used in advertising directed toward young adults, investigate what young adults thought of these images, and explore how young adults used these images.

Design/methodology/approach – A content analysis of 674 apparel and cosmetic advertisements located in four fashion magazines (Elle Girl, Seventeen, YM, and TeenVogue) resulted in eight categories. Participants (n ¼ 32) viewed advertisements representative of the categories and answered questions related to their thoughts about the model depicted in the advertisement and their use of the images.

Findings – Participants’ used the models as a point of …