The construct validity of six hypothesized dimensions was explored for an Accountancy majorgraduation examination, in order to understand the underlying process of responding. Using answers from 313 examinees to an intentional sample of 17 objective items administered on large scale, a confirmatory factorial analysis was carried out, with a Multi-Trait Multi-Method matrix (MTMM): Traits represented three cognitive operations required to solve the items and the methods represented three knowledge fields of the content. Each item was linked to a cog- nitive operation and to a knowledge field. The resulting model showed convergent validity in two constructs and its manifest variables and divergent only between technical and combined knowledge. Thus, the answering process was explained, simultaneously by the Understanding operation influenced by Theoretical knowledge. Implications to understanding the answering process in this type of examination through construct validation are discussed. / Se investiga la validación de constructo de seis dimensiones que están en la base del examende egreso de una licenciatura en contabilidad, con el fin de entender el proceso de respuesta subyacente. A partir de las respuestas a 17 ítems objetivos aplicados de manera grupal a 313 participantes seleccionados según muestreo intencional, se realizó un análisis factorial confirmatorio MRMM, en el que se representaron tres operaciones cognitivas demandadas para resolver los ítems y los métodos, así como los tres campos de conocimiento del contenido que se evalúa en ellos. El modelo resultante muestra bondad de ajuste, validez convergente entre dos constructos y sus variables manifiestas, además de validez divergente solo entre el conocimiento técnico y el combinado. El proceso de respuesta fue explicado, simultáneamente, por la operación comprender, influida por el conocimiento teórico. Se discuten las implicancias para comprender el proceso de respuesta en este tipo de examen a partir de la validación de constructo realizada.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:21:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcio Borges Moreira.pdf: 1127793 bytes, checksum: efefd6c330ef947e1e02cb9c1d3425d1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-03-11 / Um dos grandes desafios, históricos e atuais, da Análise Experimental do Comportamento consiste em explorar conceitual e metodologicamente como estímulos, ou relações entre estímulos, passam a controlar um determinado comportamento, sobre tudo o comportamento humano. Os trabalhos iniciados por Sidman em 1971 alargaram os horizontes da Análise Experimental do Comportamento neste campo de estudos, sobretudo ao que se refere à linguagem e/ou comportamento simbólico. As extensões, ramificações e derivações dos trabalhos de Sidman têm gerado desde então incontáveis trabalhos empíricos e teóricos. A natureza do operante discriminado tomou vertentes e vultos bastante diferentes e complexos, por conseguinte, extensas discussões sugiram. O presente trabalho tenta contribuir com estas discussões e teve como objetivo propor um procedimento de treino discriminativo alternativo às propostas atuais sobre responder relacional e emergência de relações entre estímulos, baseado em discriminações simples simultâneas e utilizando-se estímulos compostos. Os resultados obtidos mostram ser o procedimento viável para o estudo do responder relacional e emergência de relações entre estímulos. Sugerem ainda uma reflexão sobre as características definidoras do responder relacional e emergência de relações entre estímulos. Indicam também que o repertório comportamental pré-experimento dos participantes é uma variável bastante relevante e que deve ser considerada e estudada como mais atenção.

The present study assessed if embedding high probability responding (high-p) into an attentional cue, versus a general attentional cue (GA), would result in students with moderate and severe disabilities displaying differential responding for grade level science vocabulary word identification. Using an adapted alternating treatments design, three students with autism spectrum disorder received an intervention involving a GA cue and one with a high-p to determine which is more efficient. Hypothesized results are that the attentional cue with a high-probability motor sequence would be more effective for teaching vocabulary word identification.

Active student responding increases student academic outcome and on-task behavior. Response cards are an effective and efficient strategy for increasing active student responding. This study examined the effects of response cards on student disruptive behavior, percentage of questions answered, and accuracy of questions answered while alternating the number of teacher-directed questions across sessions. An alternating treatments design was used with 5 teacher-nominated students. During baseline (BL), the teacher used her standard lecture format, having students raise their hand when responding to a question. During the response card (RC) intervention, the teacher asked students to write responses on their white boards. Following BL, 3 conditions were rapidly alternated across sessions. Conditions included BL, RC in which the teacher asked 6 questions, and RC in which the teacher asked 12 questions. During the RC conditions, there was a decrease in disruptive behavior and an increase in the percentage and accuracy of responding.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating disorder characterized by significant mood disturbance. In laboratory studies, MDD has been characterized by both blunted positive (PER) and negative emotional reactivity (NER). However, mood disordered persons' emotional reactivity has rarely been studied in naturalistic settings, and it is unknown how less severe forms of depression relate to emotional reactivity. To address these issues, the current study utilized two naturalistic sampling methods (the Day Reconstruction Method and the Experience Sampling Method) to examine PER and NER to daily life events in 35 individuals currently experiencing a major depressive episode (MDD), 26 individuals currently experiencing a minor depressive episode (mD), and 38 healthy controls. Both methods demonstrated that individuals with major and minor depression exhibited blunted PER relative to controls. In surprising contrast to previous laboratory findings, both individuals with MDD and mD showed increased NER relative to controls. Correlational analyses with severity measures indicated that depression and anxiety severity were positively related to NER and negatively related to PER. Findings suggest that NER in mood disorders may diverge as a function of assessment context and may be heightened in naturalistic environments. Despite the fact that mD is a milder mood disorder, findings suggest that mD results in similar emotional impairments as found in MDD.

The general aim of this thesis is to describe mortality, health and living conditions in an administratively defined county population of people with intellectual disabilities born between 1959 and 1974 (N=213). The living conditions of persons with intellectual disabilities were compared with those of the general population. Moreover, the reports of relatives and staff were compared on the living conditions of people with intellectual disabilities. Information on the living conditions of persons with intellectual disabilities was provided by proxy (relative and staff) questionnaire reports and national welfare statistics conducted by Statistics Sweden (SCB). Medical examination and medical case records were used to obtain data on health and medical services. People with intellectual disabilities lived in the community and took part in numerous common recreational and cultural activities. However, the comparison with the general population indicated clear differences in living conditions, particularly regarding employment and social life. In contrast, surprisingly little variation in living conditions was found in people with intellectual disabilities, despite varying ages and a wide range of level of disabilities. In addition, gender related differences of persons with intellectual disabilities were few when compared with those found in the general population. A wide range of physical and mental health problems were identified in the group with intellectual disabilities. Although a majority of persons with intellectual disabilities had access to a family doctor and attended regular health checks, a number of needs of specialist examinations were identified indicating shortcomings in the quality of health care. Analyses indicated differences in the reports of relatives and staff on living conditions of most domains included in the questionnaire. In general, disagreement was higher on subjective than on objective items. Relative and staff responders contribute dissimilar information that is related to varying viewpoints and different types of information.

Relational Frame Theory research involves either of two protocols utilized to establish relational networks and functions for stimuli in those relational networks. Years of research indicate the most prevalent method involves first establishing a relational frame, conditioning one of the stimuli to acquire a particular function, and then providing a test to see if the function trained to one of the stimuli in the network transferred through the relational network to other stimuli. The less common method involves first training a particular function for a stimulus, entering that stimulus in a relational network with at least two other stimuli, and then subsequently providing a test to see if the function transferred. Hayes, Kohlenberg, and Hayes (1991) hypothesized that not only do both procedures work, but there is also no differentiation between the two with regards to transformation of stimulus function. Although both protocols have been used in the RFT literature, a direct comparison has never been made. The current study directly examines that comparison in a within-subject analysis to determine if there may be differentiated results in transformation of stimulus function based on the protocol used. A within-subjects analysis indicates that subsequent probes of transformation of stimulus function probes yielded similar levels of correct responding in both training protocols, and thus supporting the hypothesis put forth by Hayes and colleagues (1991).

This study examined the effects of preprinted response cards on disruptive behavior and rates and accuracy of responding of elementary-aged students in an inclusive education setting with or at risk for Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). An alternating treatments design with an additional baseline phase was used across three teacher recommended students. During baseline, the teacher conducted a group language arts routine as normal, posing questions to the class and prompting them to raise their hands to answer. During the intervention phase, preprinted response cards (two sets: one true/false and one A/B) were passed out to the class to utilize during the group language arts routine to answer questions. The response card intervention was alternated with the baseline phase in each observation session. The results showed that disruptive behavior decreased substantially across all three students during the response card condition. Additionally, rates of responding and accuracy of responding increased across all three participants during the response card condition. Results indicate that the preprinted choice cards could serve as an effective classroom management strategy in inclusive education settings.

Perspective taking is a pivotal behavioral repertoire essential for social functioning and is recognized as a hallmark deficit of the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Recent advancements in the Relational Frame Theory have led to the development of a perspective-taking training protocol shown to improve performance on Theory of Mind tasks in typically developing children; however, there has been little research on the generality of these findings in children with ASD. The impact of deictic responding on social interaction is also undetermined. The current study aimed to: a), evaluate the effectiveness of multiple exemplar training of deictic relations on perspective taking abilities in children with ASD, b), assess the impact of deictic relations on naturalistic Theory of Mind tasks, and c), assess generality of the deictic repertoire on pretend play. All three participants acquired deictic repertoires through double reversed complexity. Acquisition of the relational operants was variable and required many sessions for each participant. Two of three participants showed transfer of perspective taking to the Strange Stories test, all three participants showed overall improvement in performance on various Theory of Mind tasks; and lastly, participants showed mixed results on transfer to pretend play. Implications for using multiple exemplar training in supporting social understanding, prerequisite skills for deictic relational responding, and training strategies are discussed.

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) typically learn less history content than their peers without disabilities and show fewer learning gains. Even when they are provided with the same instructional strategies, many students with SLD struggle to grasp complex historical concepts and content area vocabulary. Many strategies involving technology have been used in the past to enhance learning for students with SLD in history classrooms. However, very few studies have explored the effectiveness of emerging mobile technology in K-12 history classrooms. This study investigated the effects of mobile devices (iPads) as an active student response (ASR) system on the acquisition of U.S. history content of middle school students with SLD. An alternating treatments single subject design was used to compare the effects of two interventions. There were two conditions and a series of pretest probesin this study. The conditions were: (a) direct instruction and studying from handwritten notes using the interactive notebook strategy and (b) direct instruction and studying using the Quizlet App on the iPad. There were three dependent variables in this study: (a) percent correct on tests, (b) rate of correct responses per minute, and (c) rate of errors per minute. A comparative analysis suggested that both interventions (studying from interactive notes and studying using Quizlet on the iPad) had varying degrees of effectiveness in increasing the learning gains of students with SLD. In most cases, both interventions were equally effective. During both interventions, all of the participants increased their percentage correct and increased their rate of correct responses. Most of the participants decreased their rate of errors. The results of this study suggest that teachers of students with SLD should consider a post lesson review in the form of mobile devices as an ASR system or studying from handwritten notes paired with existing evidence-based practices to facilitate students’ knowledge in U.S. history. Future research should focus on the use of other interactive applications on various mobile operating platforms, on other social studies subjects, and should explore various testing formats such as oral question-answer and multiple choice.