Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 8-1993 Computer-Based Fluency Training with the Terminology of Behavior Analysis Guillermo E. Yaber-Oltra Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/dissertations Part of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons Recommended Citation Yaber-Oltra, Guillermo E., "Computer-Based Fluency Training with the Terminology of Behavior Analysis" (1993).edu/dissertations/1887 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.
COMPUTER-BASED FLUENCY TRAINING WITH THE TERMINOLOGY OF BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS by Guillermo E. Yaber-Oltra A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Psychology Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan August 1993 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COMPUTER-BASED FLUENCY TRAINING WITH THE TERMINOLOGY OF BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS Guillermo E.
Yaber-Oltra, Ph. Western Michigan University, 1993 This study examined the effects of computer-based fluency training on the learning of behavior-analysis terminology. Sixty-nine undergraduates studied the definitions of half a set of behavior-analysis terms using a computer program Think Fast (Parsons, 1989), and half using their regular methods. Think Fast training items consisted of typing the words missing from definitions.
On seven out of nine post-training quizzes, students were better able to define terms pre viously studied with the computer program. In a related experiment, volunteers studied half a new set of terms using the computer, either typing or saying the answers. Students mastered the definitions better when they typed the answers. There were no differences in the presentation order of the concepts so neither a primacy nor a recency effect was supported.
Even though the amount of time allowed to study the definitions was the same for both methods, Think Fast train ing with the typing mode was still superior. This suggests that in both experi ments, the superiority of typing the answers using Think Fast was a result of the training method used and not the amount of time devoted to practice with the defi nitions. Fluency training using Think Fast with the typing mode helps students achieve competency with behavior-analysis terminology. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
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O rder N um ber 9400096 C om puter-based fluency training w ith th e term inology o f behavior analysis Yaber-Oltra, Guillermo Enrique, Ph. Western Michigan University, 1993 Copyright ©1993 by Yaber-Oltra, Guillermo Enrique. All rights reserved. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by Guillermo E.
Yaber-Oltra 1993 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank the members of my doctoral committee, Dr. Richard Malott, Dr.
Jack Michael, Dr. Howard Farris, and Dr. Howard Poole, for their invaluable contribution to my graduate education. Malott gave me many lively lessons that improved my teaching, think ing, and research skills.
The most important lesson was to watch and follow him while he practiced what he preaches: Behavior-analysis is an approach to study behavior, as a profession, and as a world view. Michael was a decisive factor in my attempt to enter Western Michigan University. He also gave me the golden opportunity to study verbal behavior and teaching strategies under his supervision. I shall lose no time applying what I have learned from him.
Thanks a lot! Academic feedback from Dr. Farris was invaluable through my graduate program. He offered important suggestions that improved the research design on this project and helped to improve my performance in comprehensive exams and review paper. Poole asked challenging conceptual questions about the dissertation project and comps that caused me to think extensively.
His willingness to help at all moments was unusual. Myma, Bill Alex, and Maria, my family companions in this academic journey, were an incomparable support during these years. Your love and care were crucial. Without the help and experience of Jose Maria I would never have finished this document on time.
You are a wonderful friend and out standing professional. Thanks amigo! I am grateful to the Universidad Simon Bolivar, Fundayacucho, LASPAU, and the Venezuelan government. Thanks to ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Acknowledgments-Continued them my dream came true. I dedicate this dissertation to my father and my moth er. You deserve all the applause. Yaber-Oltra iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. ii LIST OF TABLES. vi LIST OF FIGURES.
EXPERIMENT 1: THE VALUE OF COMPUTER-BASED FLUENCY TRAINING. 8 Apparatus and Program. 11 Results and Discussion. EXPERIMENT 2: CONTROLLING FOR RECENCY AND AMOUNT OF STUDY.
16 Subjects and Setting. 18 Results and Discussion. Human Subjects Institutional Review Board Approval. 27 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents-Continued C. 41 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
LIST OF TABLES 1. Mean Percentage of Correct Answers With and Without Think Fast. t-Test Values, and Sample Size Across Sessions. VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES 1. Behavior-Analysis Literacy Model. A Think Fast Card Example.
Mean Percentage of Correct Answers With and Without Think F a s t. Social Validity of Impact of Think Fast Helped on the Quizzes 14 5. Social Validity of Impact of Think Fast on Fluency. Group Performance Average According to Training Mode and Presentation Order.
19 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A goal of higher education is that students acquire, maintain, and transfer verbal (intellectual) repertoires. Students should become competent with concepts and skills of a given content domain; and in turn, graduates with these competen cies can then contribute to the physical and social well-being of their community (Malott, 1984).
Behavioral systems analysis might help to achieve these goals through the design and implementation of effective instructional systems. Behavioral systems analysis consists of the use of behavior-analysis and systems-analysis to help be havioral systems achieve their goals (Malott, 1974; Malott & Garcia, 1987). In this approach the first step consists of using tools of systems-analysis, particularly goal-directed systems design to analyze the system and subsystems' goals and determine how their components contribute to the accomplishment of the system's goals. The second step is to use behavior-analysis to help individuals and groups acquire, maintain, or improve skills so that each of the system's components will contribute to the attainment of the organization's goals.
In practice, both research ers and practitioners in applied behavior analysis have attempted to improve in structional systems through the application of the principles of behavior (Geller, 1992; Skinner, 1968). An example of an instructional system is a psychology course. Boneau (1990) specified the goal of such a course by using the term psychological literacy to designate a list of terms and concepts that "psychologists and their students 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
might be expected to know (p. He determined this set of concepts through the statistical analysis of results from a survey sent to psychology textbooks' au thors that served as expert judges. Through this procedure he established the top 100 psychological terms, and the top 100 terms in each of the 10 subfields that he used to cover the field of general psychology. In a variation of Boneau's ap proach, behavior-analysis literacy can mean mastery of questions or problems regarding behavior-analytic terms, definitions, and examples.
A behavioral term is a word that has a technical meaning for behavior-analysis (e. A definition is a description of a behavioral term by its properties (e., muscular movement or glandular secretion). A behavioral example is an instance or model of a behavioral term (e. ^ Behavior-Analysis Literacy Learners acquire an intellectual (verbal) repertoire of behavioral terminology Term "Behavior" Definition ~ Example "A muscular movement or "Lever-press" glandular secretion" Figure 1.
Behavior-Analysis Literacy Model. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The arrows linking the three components of the model suggest the wide variety of training and testing possibilities within the instructional system.
Per formance mastery in a content domain such as behavior-analysis requires the steps of repertoire acquisition, fluent use of the concepts, their maintenance over time, and their application to new situations or more complex skills as pointed out by Johnson and Layng (1992). These authors referred to those steps as: accuracy training, fluency building, endurance building, and applying. The first step, accuracy training, consists of the acquisition of a repertoire of terms, definitions, and examples of the content domain of behavior-analysis. For example, given a behavioral term, "behavior," provide its corresponding tech nical definition and or example: "a muscular movement or glandular secretion," "level-press." The second step, fluency building, consists of using that repertoire with accuracy and speed.
For example, given a set of behavioral terms provide as many definitions or examples as possible in one minute or other short duration timings. The third step, endurance building, consists of performing rapidly and accurately with progressively longer time-periods until the learner performs the skill over an appropriate time frame. An example of this step might be: Given a set of 12 behavioral terms, be able to provide all of the corresponding definitions or examples with at least 92% accuracy and in 5 minutes. The final step, apply ing.
implies the application of the acquired repertoire to answering new questions or solving new problems, those not included in the original training. One instance of this final step could be: Given a new set of 20 problem situations, name and diagram the appropriate behavioral contingency in 20 minutes; or give an original example of a punishment contingency in 2 minutes. In summary, competent indi viduals with behavior-analysis will show an accurate, fluent, enduring, and gener alized (extended) performance in this subject matter (Johnson & Chase, 1981). Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Fluency building is the second step toward performance mastery, and a requisite for endurance.