I Brage finner du siste tekst-versjon (postprint) av artikkelen. Forlagets versjon finner du pa f... more I Brage finner du siste tekst-versjon (postprint) av artikkelen. Forlagets versjon finner du pa forskning.no
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Nov 18, 2020
Murray Sidman's book, Tactics of Scientific Research: Evaluating Experimental Data in Psychol... more Murray Sidman's book, Tactics of Scientific Research: Evaluating Experimental Data in Psychology, published in 1960, has been called the bible of the experimental analysis of behavior and has been a major influence on basic as well as applied research in behavior analysis. The contents of the early reviews of the book are summarized and the commemoration in The Behavior Analyst at the 30th anniversary of the book is reviewed along with Sidman's comments on updates that he would have made if he were to revise or supplement the book. Included are some later remarks by Sidman regarding specific issues in Tactics. Continuous rates of citations are displayed and show the sustained relevance of the book, and selected themes from the book are discussed. Finally, experiences from using Tactics in lab courses and in graduate-level courses on scientific method are recapitulated, including questions raised by students, and Sidman's answers to those questions. Tactics is a true classic in behavior analysis.
ABSTRACT NORSK SAMMENDRAG: Rapporten presenterer en evaluering av Ansvarlig vertskap i Bergen i p... more ABSTRACT NORSK SAMMENDRAG: Rapporten presenterer en evaluering av Ansvarlig vertskap i Bergen i perioden 2000 til 2003. Tiltaket omfattet en rekke delprosjekter, med vekt på å kurse ansatte på skjenkesteder i lovverk og prinsipper for ansvarlig alkoholservering. Ansvarlig vertskap har som mål å redusere omfanget av voldsepisoder i tilknytning til skjenkestedene. Evalueringen konkluderer med at prosjektet har økt kunnskapen og bevisstheten om ansvarlig alkoholservering. Det er imidlertid lite belegg for å si at tiltaket har ført til mindre vold i tilknytning til skjenkestedene. Dette har bl.a. sammenheng med at kursopplegget i Ansvarlig vertskap bør følges opp med bedre kontrollrutiner fra myndighetenes side for å ha god effekt. Det er lite som tyder på at dette har skjedd her. Rapporten kommer avslutningsvis med en rekke anbefalinger for tilsvarende prosjekter i framtiden.
European journal of behavior analysis, Jun 1, 2013
Behaviorists have often insisted that mental or cognitive explanations are not explanations of be... more Behaviorists have often insisted that mental or cognitive explanations are not explanations of behavior at all, and that “true” explanations lie in the historical contingencies of reinforcement and of survival of the species. Such insistence has occasioned continuing and vivid attacks from more traditionally oriented psychologists and professionals in other behavioral sciences who, from their own perspective, have insisted that behavioral explanations are not explanations at all, because they say nothing about the internal workings of organisms. Conflicting perspectives have been described as based upon different conceptual frameworks or paradigms. An alternative approach may be to recognize that there are different types of explanations – corresponding to different types of Why questions with which we are familiar in colloquial speech. Such a distinction between different types of Why questions and, accordingly, different types of explanations, lead to a recognition of different research areas as separate fields of inquiry. I will argue that the main problem from a behavior-analytic perspective lies, not so much in accepting mentalistic explanations as explanations on their own but, in the confusion of different types of explanations as if they were answers to the same kind of Why question.
The purpose of the present experiment was to evaluate which method, stimulus -stimulus pairing or... more The purpose of the present experiment was to evaluate which method, stimulus -stimulus pairing or operant discrimination training, establishes neutral stimuli as more effective conditioned reinforcers, and to explore ways to maintain effects of the stimuli established as conditioned reinforcers. Four rats were exposed to an operant discrimination training procedure to establish a left-situated light as a conditioned reinforcer and to a stimulusstimulus pairing procedure to establish a right-situated light as a conditioned reinforcer. Acquisition of new responses was then arranged to determine how formerly neutral stimuli could maintain responding when the unconditioned reinforcer (water) was presented intermittently in an experimental design similar to a concurrent-chain procedure. During this acquisition, two levers were concurrently available and presses on the left lever produced an operant discrimination trial (left light -response -water), whereas presses on the right lever produced a stimulus -stimulus pairing trial (right light -water). The results suggest that the operant discrimination training procedure was more effective in establishing a neutral stimulus as a conditioned reinforcer and also maintained a higher rate of responding over time.
The Journal of Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention, 2005
Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing ... more Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing focus of research in cognitive developmental psychology. Research in this area has progressed mainly outside of behavior analysis, and behavior-analytic research and theory has tended to ignore the work on joint attention. It is argued here, on the one hand, that behavior-analytic work on verbal behavior with children with autism needs to integrate the research body on joint attention. On the other hand, research on joint attention should integrate behavior-analytic principles to produce more effective analyses of basic processes involved. An operant analysis of phenomena typically considered under the heading of joint attention is followed by examples of training protocols aimed at teaching joint attention skills, such as social referencing, monitoring, gaze following, and such skills interwoven with mands and with tacts. Finally, certain research questions are pointed out.
European journal of behavior analysis, Apr 10, 2017
This experiment examined resistance to change of the different response positions of three-respon... more This experiment examined resistance to change of the different response positions of three-response sequences (left/middle/right button presses) exhibited by a group of children when contingencies were shifted from continuous reinforcement to a lag or yoked reinforcement schedule. A backward progression of extinction for the three-response sequences was observed for all subjects under the lag schedule, suggesting that the role of extinction should be reconsidered as an explanation for increased variability observed under lag schedules. We suggest that variability may be, at least partly, explained by the documented effects of responses undergoing extinction rather than characterize variability as an operant dimension that can be reinforced per se.
Stimulus equivalence, defined as C-A matching, was tested in 80 adults following training in a ma... more Stimulus equivalence, defined as C-A matching, was tested in 80 adults following training in a matching-to-sample task involving arbitrary A-B and B-C matching. In Experiment 1, 50 subjects, successively assigned to one of five groups, were exposed to specific stimulus material. The stimuli for subjects in the first group were Greek letters only. In the remaining groups, pictures were incorporated as A-, B-, and/or C-stimuli. The probability of equivalence was low when the stimulus material consisted only of Greek letters. For the remaining groups, the probability of equivalence varied considerably depending upon whether the A-, B-, and/or C-stimuli were pictures. The results indicate that seemingly minimal procedural variations can yield markedly differential outcomes not predicted by any existing model. The results also showed that responding gradually may become consistent with a pattern other than the predicted equivalence pattern. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1 showing (a) differential probabilities of equivalence in individual subjects, depending upon the configuration of Greek letters and pictures during training/testing, (b) consistent patterns of responding even when the responding was not in accord with equivalence, and (c) higher reaction times to comparison stimuli initially during testing. Probabilities of equivalence increased in a second exposure to the tasks involving only Greek letters, whether or not the subjects were exposed to a task with pictures prior to the second Greek-letter task. Higher reaction times initially during testing may indicate precurrent problem solving behavior prior to the selection of a comparison stimulus. The finding of delayed emergence of consistent responding suggests that even the slightest tendency toward responding that partitions the stimuli into the experimenter-planned equivalence classes may evolve into consistent responding in accord with those classes. The authors gratefully acknowledge Charles Catania for his comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.
European journal of behavior analysis, Dec 1, 2010
One of the most outstanding contributors to modern behavior analysis answers questions regarding ... more One of the most outstanding contributors to modern behavior analysis answers questions regarding the history of behavior analysis, behavior analysis and psychology, tactics of scientific research, philosophy of science, behavior analysis and important social issues, research on coercion, and education. He also reflects upon the usefulness of randomized controlled studies, his reservations against relational frame theory, and on the future of behavior analysis.
Two different definitions of punishment figure in the behavior-analytic literature. In a widespre... more Two different definitions of punishment figure in the behavior-analytic literature. In a widespread definition, advocated by Azrin and Holz (1966), punishment is defined as a procedure in which (1) certain responses have consequences, (2) those responses decrease in frequency, and (3) the decrease in frequency occurs because of the response-consequence relation, and not for some other reason.
European journal of behavior analysis, Jun 1, 2007
Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing ... more Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing focus of research in cognitive developmental psychology. Research in this area has progressed mainly outside of behavior analysis, and behavior-analytic research and theory has tended to ignore the work on joint attention. It is argued here, on the one hand, that behavior-analytic work on verbal behavior with children with autism needs to integrate the research body on joint attention. On the other hand, research on joint attention should integrate behavior-analytic principles to produce more effective analyses of basic processes involved. An operant analysis of phenomena typically considered under the heading of joint attention is followed by examples of training protocols aimed at teaching joint attention skills, such as social referencing, monitoring, gaze following, and such skills interwoven with mands and with tacts. Finally, certain research questions are pointed out.
I Brage finner du siste tekst-versjon (postprint) av artikkelen. Forlagets versjon finner du pa f... more I Brage finner du siste tekst-versjon (postprint) av artikkelen. Forlagets versjon finner du pa forskning.no
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Nov 18, 2020
Murray Sidman's book, Tactics of Scientific Research: Evaluating Experimental Data in Psychol... more Murray Sidman's book, Tactics of Scientific Research: Evaluating Experimental Data in Psychology, published in 1960, has been called the bible of the experimental analysis of behavior and has been a major influence on basic as well as applied research in behavior analysis. The contents of the early reviews of the book are summarized and the commemoration in The Behavior Analyst at the 30th anniversary of the book is reviewed along with Sidman's comments on updates that he would have made if he were to revise or supplement the book. Included are some later remarks by Sidman regarding specific issues in Tactics. Continuous rates of citations are displayed and show the sustained relevance of the book, and selected themes from the book are discussed. Finally, experiences from using Tactics in lab courses and in graduate-level courses on scientific method are recapitulated, including questions raised by students, and Sidman's answers to those questions. Tactics is a true classic in behavior analysis.
ABSTRACT NORSK SAMMENDRAG: Rapporten presenterer en evaluering av Ansvarlig vertskap i Bergen i p... more ABSTRACT NORSK SAMMENDRAG: Rapporten presenterer en evaluering av Ansvarlig vertskap i Bergen i perioden 2000 til 2003. Tiltaket omfattet en rekke delprosjekter, med vekt på å kurse ansatte på skjenkesteder i lovverk og prinsipper for ansvarlig alkoholservering. Ansvarlig vertskap har som mål å redusere omfanget av voldsepisoder i tilknytning til skjenkestedene. Evalueringen konkluderer med at prosjektet har økt kunnskapen og bevisstheten om ansvarlig alkoholservering. Det er imidlertid lite belegg for å si at tiltaket har ført til mindre vold i tilknytning til skjenkestedene. Dette har bl.a. sammenheng med at kursopplegget i Ansvarlig vertskap bør følges opp med bedre kontrollrutiner fra myndighetenes side for å ha god effekt. Det er lite som tyder på at dette har skjedd her. Rapporten kommer avslutningsvis med en rekke anbefalinger for tilsvarende prosjekter i framtiden.
European journal of behavior analysis, Jun 1, 2013
Behaviorists have often insisted that mental or cognitive explanations are not explanations of be... more Behaviorists have often insisted that mental or cognitive explanations are not explanations of behavior at all, and that “true” explanations lie in the historical contingencies of reinforcement and of survival of the species. Such insistence has occasioned continuing and vivid attacks from more traditionally oriented psychologists and professionals in other behavioral sciences who, from their own perspective, have insisted that behavioral explanations are not explanations at all, because they say nothing about the internal workings of organisms. Conflicting perspectives have been described as based upon different conceptual frameworks or paradigms. An alternative approach may be to recognize that there are different types of explanations – corresponding to different types of Why questions with which we are familiar in colloquial speech. Such a distinction between different types of Why questions and, accordingly, different types of explanations, lead to a recognition of different research areas as separate fields of inquiry. I will argue that the main problem from a behavior-analytic perspective lies, not so much in accepting mentalistic explanations as explanations on their own but, in the confusion of different types of explanations as if they were answers to the same kind of Why question.
The purpose of the present experiment was to evaluate which method, stimulus -stimulus pairing or... more The purpose of the present experiment was to evaluate which method, stimulus -stimulus pairing or operant discrimination training, establishes neutral stimuli as more effective conditioned reinforcers, and to explore ways to maintain effects of the stimuli established as conditioned reinforcers. Four rats were exposed to an operant discrimination training procedure to establish a left-situated light as a conditioned reinforcer and to a stimulusstimulus pairing procedure to establish a right-situated light as a conditioned reinforcer. Acquisition of new responses was then arranged to determine how formerly neutral stimuli could maintain responding when the unconditioned reinforcer (water) was presented intermittently in an experimental design similar to a concurrent-chain procedure. During this acquisition, two levers were concurrently available and presses on the left lever produced an operant discrimination trial (left light -response -water), whereas presses on the right lever produced a stimulus -stimulus pairing trial (right light -water). The results suggest that the operant discrimination training procedure was more effective in establishing a neutral stimulus as a conditioned reinforcer and also maintained a higher rate of responding over time.
The Journal of Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention, 2005
Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing ... more Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing focus of research in cognitive developmental psychology. Research in this area has progressed mainly outside of behavior analysis, and behavior-analytic research and theory has tended to ignore the work on joint attention. It is argued here, on the one hand, that behavior-analytic work on verbal behavior with children with autism needs to integrate the research body on joint attention. On the other hand, research on joint attention should integrate behavior-analytic principles to produce more effective analyses of basic processes involved. An operant analysis of phenomena typically considered under the heading of joint attention is followed by examples of training protocols aimed at teaching joint attention skills, such as social referencing, monitoring, gaze following, and such skills interwoven with mands and with tacts. Finally, certain research questions are pointed out.
European journal of behavior analysis, Apr 10, 2017
This experiment examined resistance to change of the different response positions of three-respon... more This experiment examined resistance to change of the different response positions of three-response sequences (left/middle/right button presses) exhibited by a group of children when contingencies were shifted from continuous reinforcement to a lag or yoked reinforcement schedule. A backward progression of extinction for the three-response sequences was observed for all subjects under the lag schedule, suggesting that the role of extinction should be reconsidered as an explanation for increased variability observed under lag schedules. We suggest that variability may be, at least partly, explained by the documented effects of responses undergoing extinction rather than characterize variability as an operant dimension that can be reinforced per se.
Stimulus equivalence, defined as C-A matching, was tested in 80 adults following training in a ma... more Stimulus equivalence, defined as C-A matching, was tested in 80 adults following training in a matching-to-sample task involving arbitrary A-B and B-C matching. In Experiment 1, 50 subjects, successively assigned to one of five groups, were exposed to specific stimulus material. The stimuli for subjects in the first group were Greek letters only. In the remaining groups, pictures were incorporated as A-, B-, and/or C-stimuli. The probability of equivalence was low when the stimulus material consisted only of Greek letters. For the remaining groups, the probability of equivalence varied considerably depending upon whether the A-, B-, and/or C-stimuli were pictures. The results indicate that seemingly minimal procedural variations can yield markedly differential outcomes not predicted by any existing model. The results also showed that responding gradually may become consistent with a pattern other than the predicted equivalence pattern. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1 showing (a) differential probabilities of equivalence in individual subjects, depending upon the configuration of Greek letters and pictures during training/testing, (b) consistent patterns of responding even when the responding was not in accord with equivalence, and (c) higher reaction times to comparison stimuli initially during testing. Probabilities of equivalence increased in a second exposure to the tasks involving only Greek letters, whether or not the subjects were exposed to a task with pictures prior to the second Greek-letter task. Higher reaction times initially during testing may indicate precurrent problem solving behavior prior to the selection of a comparison stimulus. The finding of delayed emergence of consistent responding suggests that even the slightest tendency toward responding that partitions the stimuli into the experimenter-planned equivalence classes may evolve into consistent responding in accord with those classes. The authors gratefully acknowledge Charles Catania for his comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.
European journal of behavior analysis, Dec 1, 2010
One of the most outstanding contributors to modern behavior analysis answers questions regarding ... more One of the most outstanding contributors to modern behavior analysis answers questions regarding the history of behavior analysis, behavior analysis and psychology, tactics of scientific research, philosophy of science, behavior analysis and important social issues, research on coercion, and education. He also reflects upon the usefulness of randomized controlled studies, his reservations against relational frame theory, and on the future of behavior analysis.
Two different definitions of punishment figure in the behavior-analytic literature. In a widespre... more Two different definitions of punishment figure in the behavior-analytic literature. In a widespread definition, advocated by Azrin and Holz (1966), punishment is defined as a procedure in which (1) certain responses have consequences, (2) those responses decrease in frequency, and (3) the decrease in frequency occurs because of the response-consequence relation, and not for some other reason.
European journal of behavior analysis, Jun 1, 2007
Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing ... more Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing focus of research in cognitive developmental psychology. Research in this area has progressed mainly outside of behavior analysis, and behavior-analytic research and theory has tended to ignore the work on joint attention. It is argued here, on the one hand, that behavior-analytic work on verbal behavior with children with autism needs to integrate the research body on joint attention. On the other hand, research on joint attention should integrate behavior-analytic principles to produce more effective analyses of basic processes involved. An operant analysis of phenomena typically considered under the heading of joint attention is followed by examples of training protocols aimed at teaching joint attention skills, such as social referencing, monitoring, gaze following, and such skills interwoven with mands and with tacts. Finally, certain research questions are pointed out.
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