This note is concerned with the benefits that can result from the use of the maximal reliability and optimal linear combination concepts in educational and psychological research. Within the widely used framework of unidimensional multi-component measuring instruments, it is demonstrated that the linear combination of their components that…

Direct observation recording procedures produce reductive summary measurements of an underlying stream of behavior. Previous methodological studies of these recording procedures have employed simulation methods for generating random behavior streams, many of which amount to special cases of a statistical model known as the alternating renewal…

Reliability of direct observation outcomes ensures the results are consistent, dependable, and trustworthy. Typically, reliability of direct observation measurement approaches is assessed using interobserver agreement (IOA) and the calculation of observer agreement (e.g., percentage of agreement). However, IOA does not address intraobserver…

An e-mail marketing experiment based on the behavioral perspective model was conducted to investigate consumer choice. Conversion e-mails were sent to two groups from the same marketing database of registered consumers interested in children's books. The experiment was based on A-B-A-C-A and A-C-A-B-A withdrawal designs and consisted of sending B…

For more than 10 years, the "Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions" has published, among other types of articles, behavioral intervention outcome studies related to positive behavior support. Operationally defining interventions is important to facilitating replication studies and adoption of intervention in applied settings. Furthermore,…

Vasconcelos, Urcuioli, and Lionello-DeNolf (2007) report the results of five experiments that fail to replicate the results of our within-trial contrast study (Clement, Feltus, Kaiser, & Zentall, 2000) and suggest that our results may represent a Type I Error. We believe that this conclusion is not warranted because (a) there is considerable…

Zentall and Singer (2007) challenge our conclusion that the work-ethic effect reported by Clement, Feltus, Kaiser, and Zentall (2000) may have been a Type I error by arguing that (a) the effect has been extensively replicated and (b) the amount of overtraining our pigeons received may not have been sufficient to produce it. We believe that our…

Although behavior analysis relies primarily on visual inspection for interpreting data, previous research shows that the method of display can influence the judgments. In the current study, 26 Board-Certified Behavior Analysts reviewed two data sets displayed on each of three methods--equal-interval graphs, tables, and Standard Celeration…

This study produced a second replication of an investigation of the effects of a multicomponent cognitive-behavioral intervention on the challenging behavior of young children with growing behavioral concerns after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The participants were two young elementary-age children with escalating behavior problems after severe…

Studies in applied behavior analysis have used two expressions of reliability for human observations: percentage agreement and correlational techniques (including the phi coefficient). Formulas for converting percentage agreement scores to phi coefficients and vice versa are presented. (Author/RL)

A linear combination of a set of measures is often sought as an overall score summarizing subject performance. The weights in this composite can be selected to maximize its reliability or to maximize its validity, and the optimal choice of weights is in general not the same for these two optimality criteria. We explore several relationships…

The reactions of volunteer and nonvolunteer subjects to experimental treatments are compared in two exploratory studies, and the resulting data are analyzed. (DB)

The central purpose of this study was to determine the effect of training of teachers in the use of elements and sequences of strategies for content development through classroom communication behaviors. (Author/RK)

Time sampled observations of the cooperative behavior of two samples of 31 preschool children were analyzed for stability (that is, short term reliability of behavior) over a 2-month period using Cronbach's generalizability coefficient. Observations were made during free play periods on nursery school settings. The observation schedule required…