Behavior In Natural Settings Research Articles

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Book reviewed in this article:Straight Talk About Mental Tests: Arthur R. JensenThe Quest for Ultimate Meaning: Reuven P. BulkaStudying Behavior in Natural Settings: Richard M. BrandtResearch Design in Clinical Psychology: Alan E. KazdinPerfecting social skills: A guide to interpersonal behavior development: Richard M. Eisler and Lee W.

A study of fantasy-based sexual arousal in women

The self-reported use of sexual fantasy as an aspect of sexual behavior in natural settings was examined with respect to genital responding to both sexual fantasy and an erotic audiotape within the laboratory. It was predicted that subjects who self-reported a higher frequency of using sexual fantasy during either masturbation or sexual interaction with a partner in extralaboratory settings would be more highly responsive on genital measures of sexual arousal obtained when the subject was generating sexual fantasy within the laboratory. Forty-five female subjects (median age, 21) completed a battery of questionnaires, which included three scales of general imagery ability and frequency, and a detailed sexual history. All subjects then experienced an initial nonstimulated baseline period followed by a second baseline period and an exposure to an erotic audiotape. Genital responding was measured by vaginal photoplethysmography. Those subjects who reported more frequent use of fantasy during masturbation outside the laboratory showed greater genital responses during both fantasy and tape-elicited arousal than those reporting less use of masturbatory fantasy. One of the imagery questionnaires yielded a significant correlation with genital response in the fantasy condition. It appears that cognitive factors have predictive significance for measures of vaginal pressure pulse responses to erotic tape recordings and fantasies.

The validity of role play tests for assessing social skills in children

A correlational study was conducted in an effort to examine the validity and reliability of role play tests for assessing social skills in children. Twenty-two male and twenty female elementary school children, ranging in age from 8–10 years, responded to role play scenarios involving social interactions. In addition to the role play procedure, a number of other assessment strategies were utilized: (1) observations of behavior in naturalistic settings, (2) sociometric ratings, and (3) teachers' ratings. Results did not support the validity of the role play test. Correlations between role play performance and criterion measures were generally quite low. Test-retest reliability of the role play tests also was unacceptable. Further, results indicated that while several significant relationships were found between children's sociometric scores and teachers' ratings of interpersonal behavior, little association was found between these measures and global ratings of friendliness in role play and in vivo situations. Results are discussed in terms of the validity and utility of role play tests for children, the relationship of these data to previous research in social skills assessment, and the heuristic value of examining research concerning children's interpersonal functioning from developmental and social psychological perspectives.

Dominance and altruism among adolescent males: A comparison of ethological and psychological methods

Three methods of assessing dominance and altruism in adolescents were compared: self-reports, observation of behavior, and peer rankings. Results indicate that the behavior observation and peer assessment methods are congruent in portraying which adolescents were the most and least dominant and altruistic. While the self-report measure of social responsibility is significantly related to the behavioral assessment of altruism, there is little relationship between these two methods of assessing dominance. An ethological approach to studying human behavior fulfills one aspect of what personality theorists report is urgently needed in the field of personality research: observation of behavior in natural settings.

Punishment of self-injurious behavior in natural settings using contingent aromatic ammonia

Contingent aromatic ammonia suppressed the self-injurious behavior (SIB) of two retarded children in clinic, home and school settings. In Study 1. several reversals demonstrated the effectiveness of a 3-s ammonia contingency in the deceleration of hair-pulling in the clinic after a momentary ammonia contingency was shown to be no different from differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). Family members and school personnel suppressed the behavior in the home, grandparents' home and school in multiple baseline fashion. Difficulties in long term maintenance were encountered and discussed. In Study 2, a multiple baseline across Trainers 1 and 2 in a preschool setting and mother at home demonstrated the effectiveness of response-duration ammonia in eliminating hand-biting. Complete suppression was maintained at a 1-year follow-up. These studies replicated the suppressive effects of aromatic ammonia, extended the findings to children with different SIBs in natural settings with family members and teachers as therapists, demonstrated the necessity for different durations of ammonia, and suggested that maintenance must be assessed and programmed rather than assumed.

Training Needs Survey

A survey of current members of the American Association for the Education of the Severely/Profoundly Handicapped was conducted to assess needs within the field for the development and dissemination of training materials. Respondents rated (1) areas of critical need for training materials development, (2) delivery systems for training programs, (3) formats for the presentation of training materials, and (4) evaluation procedures for the measurement of training results. Responses indicate that training materials are needed across a number of training areas. The delivery system most frequently selected for training was college and university courses. Training based on practicum/application activities was the highest rated format for training materials. Overwhelmingly, respondents indicated that observation of the target behavior in natural settings was the preferred evaluation procedure.

A Basis for Identifying Stimuli Which Control Behaviors in Natural Settings

PATTERSON, G. R. A Basis for Identifying Stimuli Which Control Behaviors in Natural Settings. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 900-911. Procedures were described for identifying stimuli in the natural environment whose presence was associated with altered probabilities for both the initiation and persistence of noxious responses. Observation data were analyzed from the interactions of a problem child and his family in order to identify networks of stimuli controlling the interaction for each of his 8 noxious responses. Responses initiated by similar parent and sibling behaviors were combined to form a class labeled hostile. The response class served as a dependent variable to search for consequences which significantly altered the probability of the responses persisting. The empirical information about the response class hostile and these maintaining consequences were used to construct probability trees which described extended interactions. The data showed that the context of the interaction itself set constraints on the performance of both the boy and his parents.

A Basis for Identifying Stimuli Which Control Behaviors in Natural Settings

A Basis for Identifying Stimuli Which Control Behaviors in Natural Settings

A Procedure for Assessing the Classroom Behavior of Students and Teachers

The behavior of students and teachers in the classroom has been a focus of research for over two decades. A persistent methodological problem has been how to obtain reliable objective data on behavioral variables. The need for more refined instruments to measure these variables, the growing interest in pupil and teacher behavior in natural settings, and the specific requirements of a planned research project on underachievement led to the development of the procedure reported here. A method frequently used to study what goes on in classrooms and groups has been the verbatim recording of verbal behavior by machine or stenographer: e.g., Lewin, Lippitt, and White (1939), Anderson, Brewer, and Reed (1946), and Withall (1949) in their studies of socialemotional climate and, more recently, Gallagher (1962) and Spaulding (1963) in their respective analyses of the qualtiy of thinking and of the effective dimensions of the creative process. Hughes (1959) and Leacock (1963) used anecdotal or narrative descriptions to obtain behavioral data that were less quantifiable but greater in scope. Frequently each pair of observers collate their independent records into a single report containing only those data common to the two records. Medley (1963) described a technique called OScAR (Observation Schedule and Record) for measuring a teacher's behavior in the classroom. OScAR is a list of behaviors to be looked for plus a scoring system by which several correlated items form a composite scale that is more reliable and interpretable than any individual item. Other investigators have devised more convenient methods for quantifying and processing behavioral data by training observers to judge and categorize classroom behavior on the spot. In an instrument developed by Flanders (1960a), the observer every three seconds assigns what is then taking place to one of ten categories, seven of which deal with be-