A Method for Illustrating the Continuity of Behavior during Schedules of Reinforcement

Abstract

In this article, we present a method for illustrating the continuity of behavior during schedules of reinforcement. Students experienced either a fixed-interval 15-sec schedule in which the first contact after 15 sec of a cursor on a computer screen with a 0.7-cm diameter virtual (invisible) target resulted in reinforcement (a beep) or a fixed-ratio 5 schedule in which every 5th contact with the target produced the reinforcer. In addition to illustrating the continuity of behavior, this method provides a means of exposing students to concepts and methods such as the acquisition of operant behavior, the assignment-of-credit problem, the organization of behavior across time, and the analysis of single-subject data.

Web-Based Tutorials for Teaching Introductory Statistics

“…Research has shown that effective use of multimedia can increase student learning (Erwin & Rieppi, 1999;Fletcher-Flynn & Gravatt, 1995;Forsyth & Archer, 1997;Kazmerski & Blasko, 1999;McNeil & Nelson, 1991) and instructors are increasingly encouraged to incorporate multimedia into classroom teaching. Computerized demonstrations that are used for active learning exercises during class sessions and for supplementary, out-of-classroom learning and review have been developed for teaching: 1) introductory psychology (Chaparro & Halcomb, 1990;Worthington, Welsh, Archer, Mindes, & Forsyth, 1996), 2) research methods (Kazmerski & Blasko, 1999;Varnhagen & Digdon, 2002), 3) clinical diagnosis (Desrochers, House, & Seth, 2001;Jachna, Powsner, McIntyre, & Byck, 1993), 4) decision-making (Misale, Gillette, & del Mas, 1996), 5) perception and cognition (Neuhoff, 2000); 6) social psychology (Sherman, 1998), 7) behavioral principles (Lambert, 1987;Silva, Yuille, & Peters, 2000), and, most relevant for the current work, 8) statistics (Aberson, Berger, Healy, Kyle, & Romero, 2000;Britt, Sellinger, & Stillerman, 2002;Franklin & Cooley, 2002;Hurlburt, 2001;Richardson & Segal, 1998;Warner & Meehan, 2001;West & Ogden, 1998). Students consistently give favorable reviews to these computerbased learning resources emphasizing their interactive nature, ease of use, graphical presentation of material, and the ability to review concepts.…”

Using CHAINS, a QuickBASIC 4.5 Program, to Teach Single-Subject Experimentation with Humans

“…Silva (1999) introduced software for the Macintosh® operating system that allows students to study shaping. The software tracks how a student moves a cursor on a computer screen and shapes movements as a function of various parameters until the cursor "hits" a target (Silva, 1999;Silva, Yuille, & Peters, 2000).…”