Matching-to-sample (MTS) training consists of presenting a stimulus as a sample followed by stimuli called comparisons from which a subject makes a choice. This study presents results of a pilot investigation comparing two packages for teaching university students to conduct MTS training. Two groups--control and experimental--with 2 participants…

Guided notes were employed in two undergraduate Psychology courses involving 71 students. The study design utilized an alternating treatments format to compare Traditional Lectures with Guided Notes lectures. In one of the two courses, tests were administered after each class lecture, whereas the same type of test was administered at the beginning…

This paper presents the empirical basis for the phenomena known as stimulus overselectivity. Stimulus overselectivity involves responding on the basis of a restricted range of elements or features that are discriminative for reinforcement. The manner in which such a response pattern impedes the skill acquisition in children is identified. A…

A growing number of studies have shown that interteaching produces better student-learning outcomes than more traditional teaching methods such as lecture. But to date, no studies have directly examined whether interteaching is differentially effective for students who typically earn either good or bad grades in their courses. In this study, we…

Two experiments were conducted to assess an online version of Keller's personalized system of instruction, called computer-aided personalized system of instruction (CAPSI), as part of a blended learning design with regard to course knowledge and critical thinking development. In Experiment 1, two lecture sections of an introduction to University…

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent of a generalized matching repertoire. Three children, ranging from two to four years of age, were selected from an early childhood developmental delay classroom. They were taught identical matching with six objects. After the children mastered those six objects, they were tested for a generalized…

Research and services continue to expand to community-based programs serving individuals diagnosed with autism. A focus of great interest in those efforts is that of language acquisition and functional usage. For the purpose of this evaluation, language acquisition interventions are grouped into two broad categories, contrived and naturalistic.…

Research suggests that individuals prefer self-determined reinforcers over experimenter-determined ones. The present study had 518 college students complete a delay-discounting task in which the commodity was cigarettes, a grocery store gift card, casino tokens, cash, or the choice of the four. The least amount of delay discounting was observed…

Interteaching is a dyadic activity or a type of peer learning. In the last ten years this teaching pedagogy has been described in the behavior analytic literature (e.g., Boyce & Hineline, 2002). In the current study, we wanted compare the effect of interteaching with traditional lectures in a group of Bachelor students. We found that interteaching…

This study focused on the utility and applicability of brief functional analysis in general education settings. The purpose of the study was to first identify the environmental variables maintaining noncompliance through a brief functional analysis, and then to design and implement a functionally equivalent intervention. The participant exhibited…

This study examined the effects of a graphing task analysis using the Microsoft[R] Office Excel 2007 program on the single-subject multiple baseline graphing skills of three university graduate students. Using a multiple probe across participants design, the study demonstrated a functional relationship between the number of correct graphing…

Studies of derived relational responding and stimulus equivalence that examine the acquisition of arbitrary stimuli into existing classes suggest that classes that are more emotionally salient facilitate the acquisition of novel members. This study examined the hypothesis that personal distress would create facilitated acquisition in deriving…

Students (N = 158) in three sections of an undergraduate educational psychology course equivalent in content and assessment procedures completed five-min writing quizzes over assigned subject matter at the beginning of most class sessions. The study compared the effects of three separate writing contingencies on writing scores and multiple-choice…

This study investigated the relationship between parenting stress and relational conditioning. Fourteen students who were not mothers, 14 mothers who reported high parenting stress and 14 mothers with low parenting stress completed two matching-to-sample (MTS) computer tasks, each requiring formation of three 3-member classes. The first MTS task…

In recent years, school psychology has become increasingly grounded in data-based decision making and intervention design, based upon behavior analytic principles. This paradigm shift has occurred in part by recent federal legislation, as well as through advances in experimental research replicating laboratory based studies. Translating basic…