Integrating Basic and Applied Research and the Utility of Lattal and Perone's Handbook of Research Methods in Human Operant Behavior

Abstract

Lattal and Perone's Handbook of methods used in human operant research on behavioral processes will be a valuable resource for researchers who want to bridge laboratory developments with applied study. As a supplemental resource, investigators are also encouraged to examine the series of papers in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis that discuss basic research and its potential for application. Increased knowledge of behavioral processes in laboratory research could lead to innovative solutions to practical problems addressed by applied behavior analysts in the home, classroom, clinic, and community.DESCRIPTORS: human operant research, reinforcement and punishment, stimulus control, verbal and social behavior, integrating basic and applied research Lattal and Perone's (1998) Handbook will make the goal of integrating laboratory research on behavioral processes into application easier to achieve. The authors contributing to the Handbook have done an admirable job of illustrating the laboratory methods used in their respective areas of specialty. Each chapter provides a beneficial primer of methods that are currently used in analyses that clarify how the principles of behavior determine what humans do and what they say (publicly and privately). The knowledge gained from the methods and analyses described can help to solve the practical problems addressed by applied behavior analysts.

Near-Miss Effects on Response Latencies and Win Estimations of Slot Machine Players

“…The studies could retain some degree of external validity by utilizing approximations of real-world casino stimuli and participants. The value of such bridge studies has been more generally noted by Wacker (1996) and Stromer (2000) and may merit exploration in a gambling context. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to forge an initial attempt at a behavioral analysis of gambling.…”

Activity Schedules, Computer Technology, and Teaching Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Apart from the obvious point that a child with autism must be able to imitate to benefit from modeling, we cannot at this point offer a formal algorithm, for instance, that determines what type of learner to teach what type of skills with what configuration of multimedia or basic schedule supports. How can we maximize the production of generative behavior as informed by studies of observational learning, matrix training, and stimulus classes (e.g., Stromer, 2000;Stromer et al, 1992;Stromer et al, 1996;Stromer & Oross, 2000)? What, if any, are the optimal activity schedule history and the necessary features of the instructional environment to promote choice making and engagement when a child is not using a schedule?…”

Stimulus Relations Analysis and the Emergence of Novel Intraverbals

“…The stimulus equivalence paradigm may allow study of complex verbal behavior (e.g., Hall & Chase, 1991;Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001;Stromer, 2000). Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, and other developers of the relational frame theory (e.g., Hayes, 1991Hayes, , 1994Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche;Hayes & Hayes, 1989) also sought to study verbal behavior processes (e.g., Barnes-Holmes, Barnes-Holmes, & Cullinan, 2000;Dymond & Barnes, 1995;Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche;Steel & Hayes, 1991).…”