Examined effects of unexpected behavioral information on person impressions. Inconsistency was manipulated with respect to Implicit Personality Theory. Found that behaviors with inconsistent evaluation implications did not affect impressions and that effects of inconsistent information depended on dimension of contrast, valence of initial…

Examines people's behavior in the Monty Hall Dilemma (MHD), in which a person must make two decisions to win a prize. In a series of five studies, found that people misapprehend probabilities in the MHD. Discusses the MHD's relation to illusion of control, belief perseverance, and the status quo bias. (RJM)

Comments on the ideas espoused by Smedslund (PS 522 552) in this issue. Agrees to the idea of spending more intellectual energy in distinguishing between a priori and empirical hypotheses but emphasizes that concepts are not always accurate reflections of reality and that even empirical disconfirmation of an a priori hypothesis sometimes can…

A fading procedure was successfully used to maintain high levels of compliance obtained with presenting high-probability requests immediately antecedent to low-probability requests in both a 5-year-old boy with developmental disabilities and a 15-year-old girl with developmental disabilities (for whom rephrasing of "don't" requests to…

This essay introduces a series of studies developing a statistical theory of elementary learning processes. An attempt is made to derive relations among commonly used measures of behavior and quantitative expressions describing simple learning phenomena. Laws of the theory state probability relations between momentary changes in behavioral and…

This commentary focuses on the application of D. Rogosa and G. Ghandour's work to observational research on classroom processes. Rogosa and Ghandour have shown that the short length of an observation is typically the dominant source of error. Investigators should conduct observations for as long as possible. (SLD)

This paper outlines challenges for community research endeavors such as avoiding exploitative relationships with research participants. It then outlines 10 values for community research and action, involving establishing collaborative relationships with research participants, determining research goals and methods, designing and disseminating…

General issues raised by Gersten in his commentary on DeVries' article are discussed. These include the role of error, academic content, and direct instruction in constructivist education. His criticisms of sociomoral research by DeVries and others are emphatically refuted. (LB)

A study of over 200 Belgian and U.S. labor grievances showed that persistence through several episodes was risky but positively related to satisfaction with outcomes. Focus on formulation of grievances and behavioral analysis provide a model for managing grievances that favorably influences worker beliefs about the organization. (SK)

This article challenges applied behavior analysts to use their knowledge of consumer behavior and effective educational strategies to provide consumers with useful information, thereby enabling them to make informed decisions. This will decrease the misconceptions that many consumers have about behavior analysis, thus improving the social validity…

Describes an instructional strategy to help students understand behavior variations and the factors related to that variation. Maintains that the technique helps students understand the difference between a statement of association and a hypothesis. Includes a recommended diagram to help implement the strategy. (CFR)

Reports preliminary findings from ongoing interviews with youth who had experienced suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Suicide risk was associated with negative life events or extreme difficulty in school, overwhelming daily stresses, and absence of support. Teachers had a huge impact on the psychological functioning of troubled adolescents. (SV)

This study, with an 11-year-old male with severe mental retardation, investigated the effectiveness of selectively implementing punishment for only the most severe topographies of aggression and property destruction, whereas less extreme behaviors were ignored. Results indicated that severe behaviors were reduced to near-zero levels only when both…

Presents findings from a study of how knowledge workers use the Web to seek external information as part of their daily work. Participants were 34 users from seven companies. Findings suggest that a behavioral framework that relates motivation and moves may be helpful in analysing patterns of Web-based information seeking. (AEF)

Previous experiments have shown that unsignaled delayed reinforcement decreases response rates and resistance to change. However, the effects of different delays to reinforcement on underlying response structure have not been investigated in conjunction with tests of resistance to change. In the present experiment, pigeons responded on a…