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Comparisons between visual and time-series inferences from behavorial data show that serial dependency in scores is likely to disrupt agreement between the two methods of analysis. If researchers follow an earlier recommendation that time-series analysis be used to supplement or confirm visual analysis, this study's findings suggest that the two methods will disagree most often when the data contain high levels of autocorrelation and when reliable behavorial changes are indicated by time-series analysis.

A time-series method is presented, nontechnically, for analysis of data generated in individual-subject operant studies, and is recommended as a supplement to visual analysis of behavior change in reversal or multiple-baseline experiments. The method can be used to identify three kinds of statistically significant behavior change: (a) changes in score levels from one experimental phase to another, (b) reliable upward or downward trends in scores, and (c) changes in trends between phases. The detection of, and reliance on, serial dependency (autocorrelation among temporally adjacent scores) in individualsubject behavioral scores is emphasized. Examples of published data from the operant literature are used to illustrate the time-series method.DESCRIPTORS: ANOVA, experimental design, methodology, multiple baseline, serial dependency, single-organism research, statistics, time-series analysis Reversal and multiple-baseline designs are the methodological kingpins in the functional analysis of behavior. These designs use a baseline period to assess the typical performance of a subject's target behavior, followed by an experimental manipulation intended to alter the level of the target behavior. In reversal designs, the intervention phase is followed by another baseline period to demonstrate the efficacy of the experimenter's control over the target behavior. In multiple-baseline designs, the intervention is implemented at different times to gauge its impact on each separate behavior or subject.Behavioral scores are plotted on a time line running through the baseline and intervention phases, and the return-to-baseline phase in a reversal study. The temporal order of the behavioral scores is an intrinsic and unalterable characteristic of such time series, as is the temporal arrangement of the baseline, intervention, and return-to-baseline phases (Risley and Wolf, 1972). 'Supported by R01 MH 15985 and R01 MH