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| SQAB 2004 Tutorial: Behavioral Variability: Control, Description, and Analysis |
| Saturday, May 29, 2004 |
| 2:00 PM–2:50 PM |
| Commonwealth |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Marc N. Branch (University of Florida) |
| Presenting Authors: : MICHAEL PERONE (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: Variability is fundamental to the analysis of behavior. Both basic and applied behavior analysts emphasize systematic variability, the kinds of behavioral changes they bring about by manipulating environmental factors in laboratory or field settings. They are inclined to eschew statistical evaluations of these changes in favor of demonstrations of experimental control. But behavior analysts cannot avoid statistical methods entirely. At the very least, they need to them to quantify the degree of unsystematic variability ("noise" or "error") in their results. Indeed, the description of unsystematic variability underlies the evaluation of experimental control: If every factor relevant to the behavior under study could be identified and controlled, unsystematic variability would be eliminated. This tutorial will: (a) review and evaluate behavior analysts' use experimental and statistical methods to control, describe, and analyze variability, and (b) compare the underlying logic of behavior analytic methods to that of conventional group-statistical methods. My approach to these matters will be pragmatic, not dogmatic. |
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| MICHAEL PERONE (West Virginia University) |
 Michael Perone is a professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at West Virginia University, where he has worked since 1984. He was educated at the University of Maryland (B.S., 1975) and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (M.A., 1977; PhD, 1981). He conducts basic research with rats, pigeons, and people in the areas of positive and negative reinforcement, schedule control, and conditioned reinforcement, with particular attention to bridging human and animal work. Mike also is interested in research methodology and recently co-edited, with Kennon A. Lattal, the Handbook of Research Methods in Human Operant Behavior (Plenum, 1998). His work has been supported by grants from NSF, NIOSH, and NICHD. He has served as President of ABA, President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Associate Editor of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, co-chair of the ABA Convention Program Committee, and co-editor of the Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin. He is a Fellow of e American Psychological Association. He currently serves as President of the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis. |
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