EAB 3764: APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS (Spring 2013) MWF 3 rd period, Psychology 151 Instructor: Michele R. Traub, 349 Psychology Building Email address: mtraub@ufl.edu Office hours: Monday 10:30-11:30am; Wednesday 3:30-4:30pm Teaching Assistant: Graham Morris Email address: gwmorris@ufl.edu Office Hours: TBD Overview. This course is an introduction to applied behavior analysis, which is a field dedicated to the application of behavioral principles and procedures. We will cover basic principles such as reinforcement, punishment, stimulus control, and extinction, and we will address how these principles relate to common behavioral procedures. In addition, we will cover particular content areas such as developmental disabilities, organizational behavior management, behavioral approaches to teaching, behavior analysis in sports, and community safety, among others. A behavioral approach to teaching and learning will be used in this course. Specifically, you will be provided with learning objectives, tested and quizzed frequently, you will be provided feedback on your performance, and you will be given opportunities to answer remedial questions in subsequent tests. Unit objectives. Learning objectives will be provided for each unit. These objectives are intended to guide your reading and studying. Some questions from unit objectives may appear on tests, so if you learn the material covered in the objectives, you will likely do well in this course. Readings. Reading assignments will come from two sources: Behavior Modification (Miltenberger; Fifth Edition) and from the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis website (free downloads). Any additional readings will be posted in the Resources folder on Sakai. Readings are intended to be completed prior to the class period in which they are due. I will presume that you have read the chapter(s) when coming to class, and lectures will build on the foundation built in the reading. You are responsible for the material in the assigned readings even if it is not directly discussed in lecture. Assessments Participation. I will ask iclicker questions at various points throughout class. These will be brief, multiple-choice questions on the material in lecture. Credit will be given for participation (i.e., clicking in) regardless of whether your answer is correct or not (10 points total over the semester). The purpose of these questions is to gauge understanding within the class period; if everyone is grasping the material well we can speed up, and if people are struggling with a concept we can review.
Assignments. There will be 3 short assignments over the course of the semester to give you additional chances to practice techniques and demonstrate your understanding of the material. Each assignment will be worth 10 points and be turned in electronically. Specifics on the assignments will be announced in class and posted on Sakai as they get nearer. Quizzes. There will be reading quizzes on every class day with a reading assignment due (chapter from the book or supplemental reading). The quizzes will be given at any point during the class period, but usually at the beginning. These quizzes are worth 2 points and you may drop the lowest 5 scores. (Thus, quizzes are worth a total of 40 points). If you come in late, the quiz will not be repeated and you will need to count that as one of your missed quizzes. We will use the iclicker for these quizzes, so it is crucial that you bring your iclicker to class with you each day. Tests. There will be 12 unit tests and a cumulative final on the last day of class. The tests will cover the objectives and some cumulative questions (questions covering past material). All unit tests will be worth 20 points and the final exam will be worth 40 points. The tests serve several functions. First, they are designed to break up your studying into smaller, more manageable units. Second, they will prompt you to keep up with scheduled reading. Third, you will receive frequent feedback about your performance in the class. Only 10 of the unit tests will count toward your grade; thus, you will be able to drop your lowest two scores. The cumulative exam cannot be dropped. Drop Policy. There will be 12 unit tests and the best 10 will count toward your grade. There will be 25 quizzes and the best 20 will count toward your grade. The reasons you may miss tests and quizzes are various, but include things like religious holidays not recognized by the university, personal illness, military responsibility, test overload, family issues, automobile accidents, jury duty, athletic events, student government, etc. I realize that not everyone can be up to par every week of the semester, and schedule conflicts abound. You do not need to explain to me why you may have missed a test/quiz or taken a test/quiz and scored poorly; I will assume you missed it for a valid reason. The cumulative exam on April 24 (the last day of class) cannot be dropped. Final Exam Period. The cumulative final on April 24 th will serve as the final exam for this class. Accommodations. If you are a student with a disability and would like to request disability-related accommodations, you are encouraged to contact the Disability Resource Center and me as early in the semester as possible. The Disability Resource Center is located in 001 Building 0020 (Reid Hall). Their phone number is 392-8565. Honor Code. Anyone who does not abide by the UF Honor Code will not receive a passing grade in this class. The work you turn in for quizzes, tests, and written assignments or projects MUST BE YOUR OWN. If you copy someone else s work (published or from a peer), present material without proper citations, cheat, or help
someone else cheat, you WILL receive a 0 for that assignment and have to complete an additional assignment related to cheating and behavior analysis. All violations of the honor code will be reported to the Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. The University of Florida Student Honor Code may be found at http://regulations.ufl.edu/chapter4/4017.pdf Folders. I will keep all of your tests and quizzes in a folder, which you can look through before/after class and during office hours. I encourage you to frequently check your folder. Grading. There are a total of 320 points (10 tests = 200, 20 quizzes = 40, 3 assignments = 30, participation = 10, final exam = 40). The point totals for each letter grade are firm and have already been rounded. Final Minimum score required grade A 300 A- 288 B+ 278 B 265 B- 256 C+ 246 C 233 C- 224 D+ 214 D 201 D- 192 E Anything below 192 Contesting a grade. If you object to the way any test or quiz item has been graded or scored, you must write out your objection and send it either via e-mail or give it to us in class within 1 week of the test or quiz. We will not get into verbal debates about specific grading issues, but we would be happy to consider changing a grade if the objection is stated clearly in writing and is supported. We do make grading errors, and sometimes we say things that do not correspond with the position of one of the authors. You may very well have a good argument, but we have found it is best to present the argument in writing. Course Schedule Date Topic Assignment Due Additional Info Mon 1/7 Introduction to the course Wed 1/9 Historical overview Miltenberger Ch. 1 Fri 1/11 Introduction to applied Baer, Wolf, & Risley (1968) behavior analysis Mon 1/14 Observing behavior Miltenberger Ch. 2
Wed 1/16 Graphing; Experimental Miltenberger Ch. 3 Design Fri 1/18 Test 1 Mon 1/21 NO CLASS Wed 1/23 Classical conditioning 1 Miltenberger Ch. 8 Fri 1/25 Classical conditioning 2 Miltenberger Ch. 24; Whitehead, Lurie, & Blackwell (1976) Mon 1/28 Operant behavior; Miltenberger Ch. 4; Reinforcement Assignment 1 due Wed 1/30 Schedules of reinforcement Northup, Jones, Broussard, & George (1995); Lee, Yu, Martin, & Martin (2010) Fri 2/1 Test 2 Mon 2/4 Motivating operations Vollmer & Iwata (1991) Wed 2/6 Extinction Miltenberger Ch. 5 & 14 Fri 2/8 Test 3 Mon 2/11 Functional Assessment Miltenberger Ch. 13 Wed 2/13 Functional Analysis Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman (1994) Fri 2/15 Test 4 Mon 2/18 Differential reinforcement 1 Miltenberger Ch. 15 Wed 2/20 Differential reinforcement 2 Vollmer, Roane, Ringdahl, & Marcus (1999) MLK, Jr. Day Fri 2/22 Test 5 Mon 2/25 Punishment 1 Miltenberger Ch. 6 & 18 Wed 2/27 Punishment 2 Miltenberger Ch. 17; Donaldson & Vollmer (2011); Assignment 2 due Fri 3/1 Test 6 Mon 3/4 NO CLASS Spring Break Wed 3/6 NO CLASS Spring Break Fri 3/8 NO CLASS Spring Break Mon 3/11 Discrimination Miltenberger Ch. 7 Wed 3/13 Generalization Miltenberger Ch. 19 Fri 3/15 Test 7 Mon 3/18 Shaping; Prompting Miltenberger Ch. 9 & 10 Guest Lecturer Wed 3/20 Chaining Miltenberger Ch. 11 Guest Lecturer Fri 3/22 Test 8 Mon 3/25 UF Research Opportunities Wed 3/27 Antecedent Interventions; Miltenberger Ch. 16 & 22 Token economy Fri 3/29 Test 9 Mon 4/1 Self-management Miltenberger Ch. 20 Nicole Zeug, Kara Wunderlich
Wed 4/3 Behavioral contracts Miltenberger Ch. 23; Assignment 3 due Fri 4/5 Test 10 Mon 4/8 Putting it together 1 TBD Wed 4/10 Putting it together 2 TBD Fri 4/12 Test 11 Mon 4/15 Organizational Behavior Management Mager & Pipe chapter (on Sakai) Wed 4/17 Substance Abuse TBD Fri 4/19 Test 12 Mon 4/22 Semester review Wed 4/24 Cumulative Final