This thesis was designed to investigate the effect of task complexity upon how humans estimate duration. Previous task complexity research suggests that duration is overestimated with simple tasks and underestimated with complex tasks. One-hundred and forty-two first and second year university students participated. Twelve experiments were conducted, which required participants to complete computer generated jigsaw puzzles and periodically estimate how long they thought they had been doing the puzzle. In Experiment 1, participants were required to complete a jigsaw puzzle before making an estimate. In the remaining eleven experiments, estimates were made throughout the session whilst participants worked on the jigsaw puzzle. In the first four experiments, a task was complex if there were more puzzle pieces and simpler if there were fewer puzzle pieces. There were no significant results obtained from the first four experiments. Given the lack of effect from the first four experiments, the next two experiments partially replicated two task complexity studies to determine how task complexity can be used as an explanation for why estimations of duration differ. Again, there were no significant results obtained from these two experiments. The next four experiments tested whether people's estimates of duration were affected by the rate of reinforcement they receive (i.e., successfully moving a puzzle piece to a new location per unit time). In the first of these two experiments (7 and 8) there was no effect of the manipulation, which consisted of decreasing the distance which a puzzle piece could be moved on the screen, relative to the distance the computer mouse was moved and fixing the speed at which a puzzle piece could be moved. In Experiments 9 and 10, more discriminative stimuli were used to indicate to participants that a change in the reinforcement rate was occurring. There was a significant result in Experiment 9 in one condition but this effect was not replicated in Experiment 10. In Experiment 11, the reinforcement rate was reduced to zero and there was a significant effect on participants' estimates of duration. However, these results suggested a confound between whether the reinforcement rate or not being able to access the jigsaw puzzle was affecting estimates of duration. In Experiment 12, access to the jigsaw puzzle was limited, whilst simultaneously controlling the reinforcement rate and the results showed that not having access to the jigsaw puzzle affected how participants estimate duration. These findings suggest that information can act as reinforcement, enabling a person to engage in private behaviour. When there is no access to reinforcement, time 'drags' for humans.

Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder have difficulties identifying and labeling feelings and emotions of others. Three adolescent males all diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder participated in this study. In a multi-element design, the participants were trained to tact private events of others in context using novel video-based scenarios. Two of the three participants were able to increase and maintain their responding for all trained and derived relations, as well as a transformation of stimulus function task. The third participant required multiple exemplar training to novel stimuli to increase his responding for all the video-based scenarios. The results of the study support the utility of relational training for teaching children with autism to identify private events of others in context.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:30:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5376.pdf: 831394 bytes, checksum: dd6f49eb637e2e88ec9c0810d98c6605 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-04 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / This work aims to present and discuss different positions placed in the current debates on approach subjective phenomena in radical behaviorism. On this, the work focuses on the writings of researchers in the field of behavior analysis in the theme of subjectivity, leading to a discussion of the concepts, the role and relevance of the theory of private events for the explanation of behavior. Despite being one of the most recurrent behavior analytic treatment of this theme, the defense of the theory and concept of private events as well as the linking privacy-subjectivity, has not been developed in a consensual way. Thus, the area appears to be facing not only the challenge of establishing a clearer understanding regarding the possibility of a scientific approach to private events, but also of evaluating the coherence and relevance of this concept with the theoreticalphilosophical project of radical behaviorism. From the analysis and discussions developed, it is possible to indicate two distinct directions regarding the advances proposed for the comprehension of subjective phenomena in radical behaviorism: one relates to the refinement of the private events concept, emphasizing its relational and contextual character a circumstantially restricted observability. Another direction is built upon critical positions about the privacy notion, defending the abandonment of the theory and concept of private events in favor of an alternative approach grounded in a relational and immanent metaphysics, and understanding subjective phenomena in a continuum of complexity, referent to the interweaving of repertoires from different levels of selection. / Este trabalho procura apresentar e discutir distintas posições colocadas nos debates atuais sobre a abordagem de fenômenos subjetivos no behaviorismo radical. Para isso, volta-se para os textos de pesquisadores do campo da Análise do Comportamento na temática da subjetividade, buscando conduzir uma discussão sobre os conceitos, a função e pertinência da teoria de eventos privados para a explicação do comportamento. Apesar de ser uma das formas mais recorrentes no tratamento analítico-comportamental dessa temática, a defesa da teoria e conceito de eventos privados, bem como a vinculação privacidade-subjetividade, não tem se desenvolvido de maneira consensual. Dessa forma, a área parece encontrar-se frente ao desafio não só de estabelecer uma compreensão mais clara em relação à possibilidade de uma abordagem científica dos eventos privados, mas também de avaliar a coerência e pertinência dessa concepção com o projeto teórico-filosófico do behaviorismo radical. A partir das análises e discussões desenvolvidas, é possível indicar duas direções distintas em relação aos avanços propostos para a compreensão dos fenômenos subjetivos no behaviorismo radical: uma orienta-se ao refinamento do conceito de eventos privados, salientando seu caráter relacional e contextual uma observabilidade restrita circunstancialmente. Outra direção constrói-se a partir de críticas à noção de privacidade, defendendo o abandono da teoria e conceito de eventos privados em favor de uma abordagem alternativa pautada em uma metafísica relacional e imanente, e da compreensão dos fenômenos subjetivos em um continuum de complexidade, relativo ao entrelaçamento de repertórios dos diferentes níveis de seleção.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T14:38:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciano de Sousa Cunha.pdf: 837027 bytes, checksum: bfaac4274033a31c31550114d6c6c288 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-04-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Analistas de Comportamento têm apontado relações entre contingências de reforçamento, estados corporais (eventos privados) e eventos públicos. O presente experimento teve por objetivo investigar o controle de contingências programadas sobre eventos privados do tipo sentir, empregando um procedimento que eliciou tais eventos e evocou o tacto dos mesmos (sentimentos). Participaram 20 estudantes, de ambos os sexos, com idade entre 11 e 14 anos, que cursavam o ensino fundamental em uma escola privada de Vitória-ES, que executaram as tarefas do software PsychoTacto 2.0. Diante de uma tela dispondo de quatro estímulos (cards), um localizado na parte superior central (estímulo-modelo) e três alinhados na parte inferior central da tela (estímulos-comparação), os participantes respondiam clicando com um mouse em um dos estímulo-comparação a conseqüência era programada de acordo com a contingência básica de reforçamento em operação e, ao término de cada procedimento, relatavam o que sentiram. A freqüência cardíaca e a latência das respostas foram medidas; comportamentos motores e verbais foram registrados por observadores treinados; dos verbais foi inferido controle instrucional sobre o desempenho. Resultados: na fase Reforçamento Positivo predominaram relatos de contentamento (30%), ansiedade (30%), satisfação (20%) e alegria (20%). Na fase Punição Negativa, predominaram relatos de frustração (50%), desapontamento (20%), tristeza (20%) e apreensão (10%). Na fase Punição Positiva, predominaram relatos de raiva (30%), aborrecimento (20%), ansiedade (20%), apreensão (20%) e medo (10%). E na fase Reforçamento Negativo, relatos de ansiedade (40%), apreensão (30%) e alívio (30%). Em todas as fases as respostas apresentaram um tempo médio de latência diferente, sendo a maior para o Reforçamento Positivo (3 min e 17 seg) e a menor para o Reforçamento Negativo (1 min e 23 seg). As regras formuladas indicaram a não discriminação do desempenho como variável controlada. Os dados motores, verbais e cardíacos combinados mostram que a exposição a contingências pode eliciar eventos privados do tipo sentir e produzir tactos dos mesmos. Não foram registradas discrepâncias entre os dados obtidos entre meninos e meninas. / Behavior Analysts have appointed relations between contingencies of reinforcement, corporeal conditions (private events), and public events. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the control of programmed contingencies on private events (fellings), using a procedure that caused those events and evoked the tact of them (feelings). Twenty students executed the assignments from the software PsychoTacto 2.0. They were students (both sex aged between 11 and 14 years old) from a private elementary school in Vitória-ES. In front of a screen with four stimulus (cards), one located at the upper central part (model stimulus) and three aligned at the lower central part of the screen (comparison stimulus), the subjectives had answered, clicking with a mouse on one of the comparison stimulus. The consequence was programmed according to the basic contingencies of reinforcement in operation and at the end of each step they told what they felt. The cardiac frequency and the latency time of the answers were measured; motor and verbal behaviors were registered by trained observers; from the verbal ones was inferred instructional control about the performance. In the Positive Reinforcement phase predominated contentment (30%), anxiety (30%), satisfaction (20%) and joy (20%) reports. In the Negative Punishment phase predominated frustration (50%), disappointment (20%), sadness (20%) and apprehension (10%) reports. In the Positive Punishment phase predominated anger (30%), disgust (20%), anxiety (20%), apprehension (20%) and fear (10%) reports. And in the Negative Reinforcement, anxiety (40%), apprehension (30%) and relief (30%) reports. In all of the phases the answers presented a different average time of latency time, being the longest for the Positive Reinforcement (3 minutes and 17 seconds) and the shorter for Negative Reinforcement (1 minute and 23 seconds). The formulated rules indicated the non discrimination of the performance as a controlled variable. The combined motor, verbal and cardiac data indicate that the exhibition to contingencies can eliciate private events (feelings) and produce tacts of them. No discrepancies were registered among the obtained data from both, boys and girls.

Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2017-08-10T17:58:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JOÃO LUCAS BERNARDY CARDOSO.pdf: 2200583 bytes, checksum: a3616ef60dd73db36ee45e6c5134b2b1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-10T17:58:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JOÃO LUCAS BERNARDY CARDOSO.pdf: 2200583 bytes, checksum: a3616ef60dd73db36ee45e6c5134b2b1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-17 / Privacy, since the therm was first used by B. F. Skinner it has been subject of theoretical content, but it received little empirical attention. Considering recent theoretical advances on the problem of privacy, namely: (1) privacy as momentary; (2) relative to an observer; (3) different from intern; and (4) measurable in a public-private continuum. We propose the empirical investigation of privacy as a function of two variables, separately analyzed in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively: the access to the controlling variables of momentary private responses, and a common history of reinforcement. In both experiments 20 participants were divided in two groups: Base Group and Referential Group, being that the dependent variable analyzed was the probability of occurrence of verbal responses of the participants of the Referential Group that corresponded to those emitted previously by the participants of the Base Group. In the Experiment 1 the participants were exposed to a set of 8 properties for each one of 6 stimuli, while the participants of the Referential Group accessed the same 6 sets of 8 properties but cumulatively in a series. The data of the Experiment 1 shows that for all participants of the Referential Group the probability of occurrence of correct answers increased as a function of the number o stimulus properties known. In the Experiment 2 the participants were exposed to three test conditions: Baseline (BL.), Post Verbs-Training Test (V.T.) and Post Noun-Training (N.T.), being that between the first and second tests (BL. - V.T.) participants were exposed to a matching-tosample task and relations between shapes and verbs were stablished, and between the second and the third testes (V.T. - N.T.) participants were exposed to similar matching-tosample task, but the relation stablished were between shapes and nouns. All participants were requested to tact the shape stimuli during the test conditions. We observed that the transfer function procedure controlled the emission of correct answers during the tests for all participants of the Group Base. For the participants of the Referential Group the procedure was partially effective. Yet, for 13 out of 16 participants, the probability of occurrence of correct answers was a function of a common history of reinforcement, being that correct answers didn’t occurred for any participant during the Baseline. We concluded that privacy, if described accordingly with some recent theoretical contributions, may be a subject of empirical investigations that could provide conditions for: (1) a better description of the controlling relations during the verbal episode; (2) the development of an empirical agenda that allow a more straightforward analysis of privacy; and (3) an objective description of the role of inference in the analysis of events that are momentarily private considering the commitment of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior with the assumptions of natural sciences. / A temática da privacidade, desde que foi inaugurada na literatura behaviorista radical por B. F. Skinner tem sido discutida a nível teórico mas foi tema de poucos trabalhos empíricos. Considerando-se os avanços teóricos recentes na área, nomeadamente: (1) a privacidade como momentânea; (2) relativa a um observador; (3) diferenciada do interno; e (4) mensurável em um continuum público-privado. Propõe-se no presente trabalho a investigação empírica da privacidade com função de duas variáveis, analisadas individualmente nos Experimentos 1 e 2, respectivamente: o acesso às variáveis controladores de respostas momentaneamente privadas, e um histórico de reforçamento em comum. Nos dois experimentos 20 participantes foram divididos em dois grupos: Grupo Base e Grupo Referencial, sendo que a variável dependente analisada foi a probabilidade de ocorrência de respostas verbais dos participantes do Grupo Referencial que correspondiam às emitidas anteriormente por participantes do Grupo Base. No Experimento 1 os participantes foram expostos a conjuntos de estímulos controladores, sendo que os participantes do Grupo Base acessaram oito propriedades de cada um de seis estímulos-palavra simultaneamente, ao passo que os participantes do Grupo Referencial acessaram as mesmas oito propriedades dos seis estímulos-palavra de forma cumulativa em uma série. Os dados do Experimento 1 mostram que, para todos os participantes do Grupo Referencial, a probabilidade de ocorrência de respostas correspondentes variou em função do número de propriedades de estímulos-palavra conhecidas, quanto mais propriedades conhecidas mais a probabilidade de ocorrência de respostas correspondentes. No Experimento 2 os participantes foram expostos a três condições de teste: Linha de Base (L.B.), Teste pós-treino de verbos (T.V.) e Teste pós treino de substantivos (T.S.), sendo que entre o primeiro e o segundo teste (L.B. - T.V.) os participantes foram expostos a um procedimento de escolha de acordo com o modelo no qual foram estabelecidas relações entre formas e verbos, e entre o segundo e o terceiro teste (T.V. - T.S.) os participantes foram expostos a um novo procedimento de escolha de acordo com o modelo no qual foram estabelecidas relações entre formas e substantivos. Foi solicitado a todos os participantes que tateassem os estímulos forma durante as condições de teste. Observou-se que o procedimento de transferência de função controlou a emissão de respostas corretas para todos os participantes do Grupo Base. Para o Grupo Referencial o procedimento de transferência de função foi parcialmente eficiente. Ainda assim, em 13 de 16 participantes a probabilidade de ocorrência de respostas corretas foi uma função de um histórico de reforçamento em comum, sendo que não houve acertos para nenhum dos participantes durante a Linha de Base. Concluiu-se neste trabalho que a privacidade, se descrita conforme determinadas proposições teóricas recentes, pode ser alvo de investigações empíricas que podem fornecer condições para: (1) a melhor descrição das relações de controle envolvidas no episódio verbal; (2) desenvolvimento de uma agenda empírica que possibilite uma análise mais objetiva da privacidade; e (3) uma descrição mais objetiva do papel das inferências na análise de eventos momentaneamente privados, considerando-se o compromisso da Análise Experimental do Comportamento com os pressupostos das ciências naturais.