Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may mand repetitively for preferred items using the same mand topography, unless the environment is arranged to promote mand variability. For example, an individual with ASD may request access to songs played on the radio by repeating the word “dance” only. Previous research suggests that lag schedules of reinforcement can increase variability of vocal mands displayed by individuals with ASD. The current study evaluated the effects of a lag schedule of reinforcement and progressive time delay (TD) on the vocal mands by a 27-year old male, 28-year old female, and a 26-year old female. The evaluation included a multiple baseline across behaviors with embedded reversal design. A mand topography invariance assessment (MTIA) was conducted with each participant to identify new and existing vocal mand topographies. Two conditions were used to assess variable responding when variability was (Lag 1 + TD) and was not (Lag 0) required to produce reinforcement. During Lag 0, reinforcement was contingent on instances of independent manding (of any topography). During Lag 1 +TD, reinforcement was contingent on instances of independent variant and prompted variant responses (i.e., a mand topography had to be different from the mand topography that occurred independently in the preceding trial). A progressive TD was used to transfer stimulus control from an echoic prompt to naturally occurring contingencies. Results indicated that a Lag 1 schedule of reinforcement with progressive TD resulted in acquisition of novel vocal mand topographies for all participants, with varying effects on rates of independent variant mands. / Applied Behavioral Analysis

Commercial viewing was measured by a conjugate arrangement for 1 female and 3 male participants. Reinforcing qualities were evaluated according to screen variations and ratings. Subjects changed the screen clarity via knob pressing either making the screen more or less transparent, translucent or opaque based on commercial interest. Results were conducive to participant attentiveness or indifference to commercial viewing. Experimenter was able to identify the commercials that grasped and maintained the participants' viewing behavior. Conceptually this conjugate arrangement could enhance eye tracking technology to improve marketing and advertising strategies. This experiment yield results that suggest a more concrete analysis of consumer response to visual stimuli that maintains attending.

Learning in America has been restrained by time. Educators have developed a time-bound mentality and deceived themselves into believing that schools can educate all students at the same pace. Across the nation there is a growing trend toward restructuring as educators seek smaller class enrollment with more flexible use of time. Block scheduling utilizes classes organized into longer blocks of time and may be an element that meets these demands for restructuring. In Virginia, 4/4 block scheduling is the most popular (31.6%) arrangement of the school day. Advocates of 4/4 block scheduling are convinced this schedule meets students' needs. With the adoption of the new Standards of Learning Tests for Virginia Public Schools it is important for educators to determine which schedule will help students improve their test scores. There are no empirical studies on the effect of 4/4 block scheduling on these Standards of Learning Tests. This study will attempt to determine if there is a meaningful relationship between two types of schedules, the 4/4 block and 7-period traditional schedules, and student achievement on the Standards of Learning Tests for Virginia Public Schools. / Ed. D.

This thesis presents a methodology for determining faculty/course assignments based on preferences for the goals faculty members feel are important and seek to attain in selecting the courses they would like to teach. The heuristic procedure seeks to maximize faculty goal and preference attainments for the courses. Several operations research techniques have been used to solve this problem, but the limitations of the techniques minimize their usefulness. A discussion of these techniques and their sources of information are given. The assignment model uses faculty preferences for courses based on course-specific goals, faculty availability, and maximum teaching load as constraining factors. The model was implemented using three Advanced BASIC programs with interactive capability. The model was tested in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at Virginia Tech. System analysis was performed utilizing pre-test measures of satisfaction with the teaching assignments determined by the current scheduling system and post-test measures of satisfaction with the teaching assignments determined by the proposed scheduling system. An analysis of the results is included. / Master of Science

Historically, scheduling has not been a major concern for elementary school principals but has been viewed by many as the task of the secondary principal (Canady, 1985). Recently, however, more attention has been given to the merits of scheduling for several reasons. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of parallel scheduling upon classroom instructional time and the scores of elementary students in language arts and mathematics. Parallel scheduling was defined as the structuring Of the school day by the principal to ensure that specialist schedules (art, music and physical education) and the support schedules (special programs for selected students) enhance rather than fragment the instructional day. This scheduling design ensured that all children received direct teacher instruction without interruption to attend a pull-out program. It also reduced the number of students in the classroom during direct instruction in reading and mathematics allowing the teacher the opportunity to provide direct instruction to 12-15 students without the presence of the remainder of the students in the classroom. This encouraged efficient and effective use of instructional time during each school day. This study was designed to address the following questions: 1. What impact, if any, does the use of parallel scheduling as compared to a regular elementary schedule have upon elementary students? 2. Does the performance level of elementary students in parallel scheduling interact with student achievement? 3. Does parallel scheduling impact classroom instructional time? To accomplish this purpose, a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design was used as the researcher was unable to randomly assign the participants to the pilot and control groups. Data was collected from an assigned pilot school and a control school, that had been matched based on socio-economic level, size of school, and standardized test scores. All students in grades two, four, and five in the pilot and control schools served as subjects for the study. A pre and post-test, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, was utilized to measure growth and achievement of the elementary students. Analysis of covariance was the statistical method used to determine the relationship of parallel scheduled schools and regular scheduled schools with regard to reading, language and mathematics achievement. Secondly, the Classroom Check List, designed by Jane Stallings (1977), was used to collect data relative to the type of activities that were occurring in the classroom, the size of the group involved in their activity, and whether students were working directly with the teacher or independently. The Chi-Square test was used to determine the relationship between classroom activities, size of groups, and whether students worked directly with the teacher or independently. It was determined from this study that there were significant differences in the vocabulary, word recognition, total reading, math computation and post total battery achievement scores of children in parallel scheduling as compared to children in regular scheduled schools. No relationship could be established between classroom activities, the size of student groups, nor the direct interaction with teachers and parallel scheduling. Therefore, no relationship could be established between parallel scheduling and classroom instructional time. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the seven-period day schedule implemented at Abingdon High School and to judge the feasibility of implementing a comparable schedule in all Washington County high schools on a permanent basis. In order to facilitate the evaluation, several areas of inquiry were identified. Questions of interest included: Did the students take advantage of the additional opportunities to take courses? If so, what courses were selected? Did an extended day create problems for students and/or faculty? If so, what kind of problems/concerns were encountered? Was students' performance affected? Did students' behavior change? Did the lengthened school day increase stress or otherwise affect teachers' performance? What about cost? Finally, administrators in the region were asked to comment on the possible impact (advantages and disadvantages) of a seven-period schedule as an addendum to the data collected at the school. Data pertinent to the evaluation of the seven-period day were obtained from various offices at Abingdon High School and the Washington County School Board. Data regarding perceptions of faculty and students were obtained from two 13-question surveys, one given to 76 faculty members with 58 responses and the other given to all students with 977 responses. There were subjective qualities involved in the study such as newness of the seven-period day or change itself. These qualities cannot be measured quantitatively and may have affected the results of the study. Aside from these considerations, no evidence was revealed by the research that would indicate the seven-period day was less effective than the six-period day. The results of the study indicate that students would take additional courses if given the opportunity with no apparent negative effects. The cost of the seven-period day was less on a per course basis than for the six-period day. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:18:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pre-versao eletronica.pdf: 1665329 bytes, checksum: fb0986a0146d93d0706058a1172c3b0c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-04-29 / The purpose of this research was to analyze the production of observing responses (OR) emitted by humans when the consequences were the production of stimuli related to a VI or EXT schedule. Six participants between 22 and 42 years old were distributed in 2 groups. Participants in Group 1 were first exposed to a multiple schedule VI 20s-EXT with components of 90 seconds in average. During the VI component, presses on a button produced points exchanged for money at the end of each session. After achieving 0.9 or more in a discrimination index (responses during VI divided by responses during VI plus responses during EXT) for 3 or more consecutive sessions, these participants were exposed to a mixed schedule VI 20s-EXT, with the possibility of emiting responses (OR) on a second button that changed the schedule from mixed to its multiple equivalent for the time the button remained pressed. Group 2 participants were exposed directly to this second condition. Participants of Group 2 achived discrimination indexes higher than 0,9 and Group 1 participants did not achived the criterion. The absence of dircrimination of the responses of Group 1 participants was discussed in terms of relevance of the stimuli produced by the OR and in terms of accidental chaining. All participants exposed to the mix VI EXT with OR produced OR. Two participants emitted OR in a situation where they represented effort economy. All participants produced the stimulus related to EXT in geater or equal frequency and duration than the stimulus related to VI / O objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar situações relacionadas à produção de respostas de observação (RO) emitidas por humanos quando as conseqüências eram a produção de estímulos relacionados a um esquema VI ou a EXT. Seis participantes, com idades entre 22 e 42 anos, foram distribuídos em dois grupos. Os participantes do Grupo 1 foram primeiro expostos a um esquema múltiplo VI 20s-EXT com componentes de 90 segundos em média. Durante os componentes VI, pressões em um botão produziam pontos que eram trocados por dinheiro ao final da sessão. Após atingir um índice de discriminação de 0,9 ou mais (respostas durante VI dividido pela soma das respostas durante VI com as respostas durante EXT) por três ou mais sessões consecutivas, os participantes seriam expostos a um esquema misto VI 20s-EXT, com possibilidade de emissão de respostas (RO) em um segundo botão que mudavam o esquema de misto para seu equivalente em múltiplo pelo tempo que o botão permanecesse pressionado. Os participantes do Grupo 2 foram expostos diretamente a esta segunda condição. Os participantes do Grupo 2 atingiram índices de discriminação maiores que 0,9 e os participantes do Grupo 1 não atingiram este critério. A ausência de discriminação nas respostas dos participantes do Grupo 1 foi discutida em termos da relevância dos estímulos produzidos pela RO e em termos da possibilidade de encadeamento acidental. Todos os participantes expostos ao mix VI EXT com resposta de observação produziram respostas de observação. Dois participantes do Grupo 2 emitiram RO numa situação em que estas representavam economia de esforço. Estímulos relacionados com EXT foram produzidos com maior ou igual freqüência e duração que os estímulos relacionados com VI

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:44:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3406.pdf: 3435374 bytes, checksum: 3b19cf7abfbb0245d22a3a09ffdfa56c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-12-01 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / For the Analysis of Operant Behavior, between behavior and choice there is a bidirectional relationship, because each environmental stimulus has the potential to control various responses and the repertoires of individuals are complex. The selection of the response to be emited before each stimulus in each context constitutes in a condition of choice. The choice behavior is typically studied by concurrent schedules and chain concurrent schedules of reinforcement, and practical applications of the experimental model have been increasingly frequent. The present study aimed to investigatie the choice of adults with intellectual disabilities under work conditions; assess the preference for work components and to evaluate the influence of the situation of choice and no choice on parameters performance in such conditions. Four individuals have learned a task, with and without environmental work support. The work task was to assemble notebook s cover by gluing pieces of paper on the background cover. The arrangement developed for the work task, contained devices for placement of shredded paper, background covers and glue. Its goal was to provide immediate assistance to increase or maintain the frequency of the behavior and prevent errors in routine task. Then, the chain concurrent schedules of reinforcement were introduced. The participant could choose, in the first link, pressing a button on a fixed ratio schedules (FR 1), the condition, with or without environmental work support, with which would work on the second link. In Phase 2, participants could choose, still pressing a button and under fixed ratio schedules (FR1) among multiple schedules of reinforcement, without choice, and concurrent chain schedules of reinforcement, with choice. In multiple schedules, the components alternated in an almost random manner and differed in relation to the presence or absence of environmental work support. The criterion for response stability for parameters performance in relation to time and number of errors, respectively, was maximum variation of a minute around the average for the time parameter and a maximum variation of one error around the average for the number of errors parameter, both for three consecutive trials. The criterion for stability of the choice response was to emit at least 12 choices in the initial link of the chain concurrent schedules and emission of 100% of choice responses in the initial links of the chain concurrent schedules with a preference for one of the alternatives with or without environmental work support and with and without choice in four trials (one session) in two consecutive sessions. The performance under multiple schedules, without choice of component, was compared with performance under concurrent schedules, in which participants could choose the alternative that would work to verify the function of choice on performance in the alternatives, with and without environmental work support. In the teaching phase, participants learned the six steps of the task and showed a higher amount of instructions without the environmental work support. Both in the teaching phase and in Phases 1, 2, 3 e 4, all participants completed the task, on average, faster in the presence of the environmental work support. The condition with environmental work support and the alternative with choice proved to be preferable from the point of view of the individual with intellectual disabilities. Moreover, in general, working in the presence of the condition of choice, the participants completed the task with lower average of total time, and kept the number of errors in low level. Choice was made, therefore, without prejudice to its performance in the parameters analyzed. The study contributes to the development of professional training programs of individuals with intellectual disabilities, and brings important practical implications for planning education for this population. / Para a Análise Operante do Comportamento, entre comportamento e escolha há uma relação bidirecional, porque cada estímulo ambiental tem o potencial de controlar várias respostas e os repertórios dos indivíduos são complexos. A seleção da resposta a ser emitida diante de cada estímulo em cada contexto constitui-se em uma condição com escolha. O comportamento de escolha é estudado tipicamente por meio de esquemas concorrentes com encadeamento, e aplicações práticas do modelo experimental têm sido cada vez mais frequentes. O presente estudo pretendeu investigar a escolha de adultos com deficiência intelectual sob condições de trabalho; avaliar a preferência pelos componentes do trabalho; e avaliar a influência da situação de escolha e não escolha sobre parâmetros de desempenho nessas condições. Quatro indivíduos aprenderam uma tarefa, sem e com arranjo instrucional. A tarefa de trabalho ensinada consistia em montar capas de blocos de anotações por meio da colagem de pedaços de papel dobradura sobre papel cartão. O arranjo, desenvolvido para a tarefa de trabalho, continha dispositivos para colocação de papel picado, fundo de capas e cola. Seu objetivo foi prover assistência imediata, aumentar ou manter a frequência do comportamento e prevenir erros na rotina da tarefa. Em seguida, foram introduzidos os esquemas concorrentes com encadeamento. O participante pôde escolher, no primeiro elo, pressionando um botão sob esquemas de razão fixa (FR 1), a condição, com ou sem arranjo instrucional, com a qual trabalharia no segundo elo. Na Fase 2, os participantes podiam escolher, ainda pressionando um botão e sob esquemas de razão fixa (FR1) entre a alternativa de esquemas múltiplos, sem escolha, ou nos esquemas concorrentes com encadeamento, com escolha. Nos esquemas múltiplos, os componentes se alternavam de forma quase randômica e diferiam com relação à presença ou ausência do arranjo instrucional. O critério definido para estabilidade de resposta para o desempenho em relação aos parâmetros tempo e erros, respectivamente, era de variação máxima de um minuto em torno da média para o parâmetro tempo e variação máxima de um erro em torno da média para o parâmetro número de erros, ambos para três tentativas consecutivas. O critério definido para estabilidade da resposta de escolha era de emissão de pelo menos 12 escolhas no elo inicial dos esquemas concorrentes com encadeamento e emissão de 100% de respostas de escolha nos elos iniciais dos esquemas concorrentes com encadeamento com preferência para uma das condições com ou sem arranjo e com ou sem escolha em quatro tentativas (uma sessão) em duas sessões consecutivas. O desempenho sob esquemas múltiplos, sem escolha do componente, foi comparado com o desempenho sob esquemas concorrentes com encadeamento, em que os participantes puderam escolher a alternativa com que iriam trabalhar, para verificar a função da escolha sobre o desempenho nas alternativas, com e sem arranjo. Na fase de ensino da tarefa, os participantes aprenderam os seis passos da tarefa e ocorreu maior quantidade de níveis de ajuda na presença do componente sem arranjo. Tanto na fase de ensino da tarefa, como nas Fases 1, 2, 3 e 4, todos os participantes concluíram a tarefa, em média, mais rapidamente na presença do arranjo. A alternativa com arranjo instructional e a condição com escolha mostraram ser opções preferíveis sob o ponto de vista do indivíduo com deficiência intelectual. Além disso, no geral, trabalhando na presença da condição com escolha os participantes concluíram a tarefa com tempo médio total menor, e mantiveram o número de erros em nível baixo. A escolha foi exercida, portanto, sem prejuízo de seu desempenho nos parâmetros analisados. O estudo contribui para o desenvolvimento de programas de capacitação profissional do indivíduo com deficiência intelectual severo, e traz implicações práticas importantes para o planejamento de ensino para essa população.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences