Three experiments investigated responding consistent with transitive class containment, a feature of hierarchical classification. Experiment 1 replicated key components of a preliminary attempt to model hierarchical classification (Griffee & Dougher, 2002) and tested for responding consistent with transitive class containment. Only 2 out of 5…

This article highlights a core lesson that has been used in a number of Lincoln Park Zoo educational programs. The lesson teaches students to conduct an ethological, or animal behavior, study on a bird. This study can be implemented in a variety of outdoor settings, including a park, schoolyard, or zoo. Using an ethogram, students will practice…

We reviewed all research articles in 10 recent volumes of the "Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA)": Vol. 28(3), 1995, through Vol. 38(2), 2005. Continuous recording was used in the majority (55%) of the 168 articles reporting data on free-operant human behaviors. Three methods for reporting interobserver agreement (exact agreement,…

This paper takes as its starting point an examination of the current status of some of the concerns that were raised in the mid-1980s about methodological problems faced by educational researchers using the behavioural approach in schools. These concerns included the measurement of agreement between observers, the interpretation of raw data…

Describing the state of the science of ABA, this comprehensive handbook provides detailed information about theory, research, and intervention. The contributors are leading ABA authorities who present current best practices in behavioral assessment and demonstrate evidence-based strategies for supporting positive behaviors and reducing problem…

Qualitative, or ethnographic, inquiry seeks understanding of human behavior from the participants' own frame of reference. Since business education research is designed to investigate and understand the environment of work to prepare people for occupations, qualitative research enables a deeper comprehension of human interactions than the…

Reviews parent-child interaction studies, the major source of information about the socialization process of the child. Deals fully with observation studies--naturalistic observation and experimentally arranged interaction in the laboratory--but also draws on interview and questionnaire methods for comparison. (WY)

Ecological violations, observer problems, and intrusions of real world phenomena are discussed in relation to observations of family interaction in home settings. (Author/SB)

Results indicate that there is no simple relationship between type of observer present and children's aggressive responding following exposure to an aggressive model. (Authors)

This literature review addresses the technical adequacy of time sampling observation systems, which is fundamental to ensuring the generalizability of data obtained from behavioral observation. Investigations comparing partial interval, whole interval, and momentary time sampling have yielded consistent results. These suggest that duration of…

"Five roles are considered by which systematic, quantified field research can augment controlled laboratory experimentation in terms of increasing the validity of laboratory studies." Advocates that comparative psychologists should "take more initiative in designing, executing, and interpreting our experiments with regard to the natural history of…

Main purpose of this study is to demonstrate a control procedure which allows the researcher to investigate behaviors which are lawfully related to charity stimuli and assess the influence of uncontrolled variables in charity situations. (Author)

Qualitative/naturalistic inquiry intends to discover whatever naturally occurring order exists rather than to test various theories or conceptual frameworks held by the investigator. Naturalistic, ecological data are urgently needed concerning the behavior of educational administrators. Such data can considerably change the knowledge base of the…

The Multiple Option Observation System for Experimental Studies (MOOSES) is a flexible data collection and analysis package for applied behavioral research that addresses the needs of researchers interested in live coding of observational data. MOOSES allows the researcher to design a coding system for a particular research question. General types…

Several factors thought to influence the representativeness of behavioral assessment data were examined in an analogue study employing a multifactorial design. Systematic and unsystematic methods of observing group behavior were investigated using 18 male and 18 female observers. Additionally, valence properties of the observed behaviors were…