Chapter 7: Analyzing Behavior Change: Basic Assumptions And Strategies

Front 1

A-B design

Back 1

a two phase experimental design consisting of a pre-treatment baseline condition (A) followed by a treatment condition (B)

Front 2

affirmation of the consequent

Back 2

A three step form of reasoning that begins with a true antecedent-consequent (if A then B) statement and precedes as follows (1) If A is true, then B is true; (2) B is found to be true; (3) therefore, A is true

Front 3

ascending baseline

Back 3

a data path that shows increasing trend i the response measure over time

Front 4

baseline logic

Back 4

a term sometimes used to refer to the experimental reasoning inherent in single-subject experimental designs; entails three elements prediction, verification and replication

Front 5

confounding variable

Back 5

an uncontrolled factor known or suspected to exert influence on the dependent variable

Front 6

dependent variable

Back 6

the variable in an experiment measured to determine if it changes as a result of manipulations of the independent variable

Front 7

descending baseline

Back 7

a data path that follows a decreasing trend in the response measure over time

Front 8

experimental control

Back 8

1) the outcome of an experiment demonstrates convincingly a functional relation.
2) the extent to which a researcher maintains precise control of the independent variable by holding it constant

Front 9

experimental design

Back 9

the particular type and sequence conditions in a study so that meaningful comparisons of the effects of the presence or absence of the IV can be made

Front 10

experimental question

Back 10

a statement of what the researcher seeks to learn by conducting the experiment

Front 11

external validity

Back 11

the degree to which a study's findings have generality to other subjects,settings, and/or behaviors

Front 12

extraneous variable

Back 12

any aspect of the experimental setting that must be held constant to prevent unplanned environmental variation.

Front 13

independant variable

Back 13

a variable that is systematically manipulated by the researcher

Front 14

internal validity

Back 14

the extent to which an experiment shows convincingly that changes in behavior are a function of the independent variable and not the result of uncontrolled or unknown variables.

Front 15

parametric analysis

Back 15

an experiment designed to discover the differential effects of a range of values of an independent variable

Front 16

practice effects

Back 16

improvements in performance resulting from opportunities to perform a behavior repeatedly so that baseline measures can be obtained.

Front 17

prediction

Back 17

a statement of the anticipated outcome of a presently unknown or future measurement

Front 18

replication

Back 18

repeating conditions withing an experiment to determining the reliability of effects and increase internal validity.

Front 19

`single-subject designs

Back 19

a wide variety of research designs that use a form of experimental reasoning called baseline logic to demonstrate effects of the independent variable on the behavior of individual subjects.

Front 20

stable baseline

Back 20

data that show no evidence of upward or downward trend

Front 21

steady state responding

Back 21

a pattern of responding that exhibits relatively little variation in its measured dimensonal quantities over a given amount of time

Front 22

steady state strategy

Back 22

repeatedly exposing a subject to a given condition while trying to eliminate or control extraneous influences on the behavior and obtaining a stable pattern of responding before introducing the next condition

Front 23

variable baseline

Back 23

data points that do no consistently fall within a narrow range of values and do not suggest any clear trend