Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Concept Learning and Analysis

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Todays agenda Welcome (5 minutes) –Please remember to click –Party dishes Questions & answers (5 minutes) Student presentations of difficult-to-discriminate stimuli (45 minutes)

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis A thought for today… Those who fall in love with practice without science are like sailors who enter a ship without a helm or a compass, and who never can be certain of whither they are going. -author unknown

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Concept Learning an abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances (Websters On-line Collegiate Dictionary) Any stimulus property(ies) that set the occasion for the same or functionally equivalent responses A common tact that is under the control of a subset of properties which may be present upon a given occasion but probably never exclusively compose such an occasion. (Skinner, 1957)

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Concept Attributes Critical –Define the concept –Required for delivery of reinforcement –Comprise the S d Variable –Accompany, but do not define the concept –Are not required for reinforcement –Are often the source of stimulus control problems in instruction

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! Generate a list of the critical and variable attributes for the following concepts: –Circle –Over –Sentences that use the passive voice construction

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Critical AttributesVariable Attributes

On the need for discrimination training in instruction… Any property of a stimulus present when a verbal response is reinforced acquires some degree of control over that response and this control continues to be exerted when the property appears in other combinations. - Skinner, 1957, p. 107

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Teaching new conceptual items… One example cannot teach a concept Sets of only positive examples do not help Egs & Negs MUST share some common variable attributes Minimally different Negs tighten stimulus control

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis A basic discrimination routine to establish a concept… Eg Maximally different Eg. Minimally different Neg. Maximally different Neg Minimally different Eg. Juxtapose NOVEL Egs & Negs - Engleman & Carnine, 1991, p. 37

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis

BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis

BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! On the next slide, youll see an example of a poorly designed discrimination routine to teach the concept over. While looking at the routine, describe what makes it a non-example of good instructional design.

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis

BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis

BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! On the next slide, youll see an example of a poorly designed discrimination routine (although it is a bit better than the example you just saw) to teach the concept over. While looking at the routine, describe what features the routine has that makes it a good example and what features make it a bad example.

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis

BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis

BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! On the next slide, youll see an example of a well-designed discrimination routine to teach the concept of over. Describe its features that help make it a good example.

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis

BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Testing for generalization and discrimination Must use novel examples and nonexamples –Examples must be close-in nonexamples and far-out examples Far-out examples test for generalization Close-in nonexamples test for discrimination Please remember… all test examples really should be novel

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis

BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! Now, take that fairly good example of the discrimination routine to teach over and make it even better!

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! Generate discrimination routines that requires the child to answer yes or no to teach the concept of a circle –Generate a bad example of a routine and explain why it is a nonexample –Generate a good example and explain why it is so Generate a discrimination routine to teach the child to say the number 3 in response to seeing three lines on a page –Generate a bad example of a routine and explain why it is a nonexample –Generate a good example and explain why it is so

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Tonights homework Analyzing appendices 6, 7, and 8 (8 is online) of the 13 example draft concept analyses Tiemann & Markle present in Appendix 7, select four and identify in each what procedural errors the drafts contain and exactly where the errors are located; also, please generate at least one solution for each procedural error you detect (due tomorrow)

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Todays agenda Welcome (5 minutes) –Please remember to click –Set date to begin applied project presentations Questions & answers (5 minutes) Student presentations of difficult-to-discriminate stimuli (45 minutes) Concept relationships and constructing rational sets

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Superordinate Subordinate Relationships between concepts

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Coordinate Relationships between concepts

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Relationships between concepts (All) X Y

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Relationships between concepts (All) 1 3

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Relationships between concepts (Some) 1 3

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Relationships between concepts (Some) Floozals Widgets Hoomptas

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Relationships between concepts (No) Floozals Widgets Hoomptas

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! Diagram the relationship between the following concepts: –Circles –lines –Shapes –Things that are drawn by hand –Label each as Superordinate Subordinate Coordinate

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Student errors in responding Generalization error –Calls an X a Y, when its really an X –Source of error: variable attributes –Remediation: broader set of examples using wider range of variable attributes Discrimination error –Calls a NON-X an X –Source of error: critical attributes –Remediation: broader set of examples and nonexamples that more carefully control for presence and absence of critical attributes

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Developing a rationale set Identify a prototype Identify the critical attributes Identify nonexamples based on absence of each critical attribute Identify the variable attributes Assemble the minimum rationale set

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Developing a rationale set Identify a prototype Identify the critical attributes Identify nonexamples based on absence of each critical attribute Identify the variable attributes Assemble the minimum rationale set

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Identifying the prototype Typical and highly representative

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Developing a rationale set Identify a prototype Identify the critical attributes Identify nonexamples based on absence of each critical attribute Identify the variable attributes Assemble the minimum rationale set

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Developing a rationale set Identify a prototype Identify the critical attributes Identify nonexamples based on absence of each critical attribute Identify the variable attributes Assemble the minimum rationale set

Nonexamples based on critical attributes ConceptCritical attributePossible nonexample SpoonSmooth forward edge of bowl Small spatula ShoeClosed heelLeather clog BedMattress on some form of a base Mattress on the floor

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! Using the critical attributes you identified for the following concepts, describe and draw possible nonexamples based on the absence of critical features: –Circle –Three objects –Sentences that use the passive voice construction Each nonexample should be missing one (and only one) critical attribute

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Developing a rationale set Identify a prototype Identify the critical attributes Identify nonexamples based on absence of each critical attribute Identify the variable attributes Assemble the minimum rationale set

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Identify the variable attributes Identify each important dimension (at least two) of each variable attribute Shoot for exhaustive values of each dimension Select generalization examples based on exhaustive values of variable attributes

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Developing a rationale set Identify a prototype Identify the critical attributes Identify nonexamples based on absence of each critical attribute Identify the variable attributes Assemble the minimum rationale set

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Assemble the rational set 2 sets –Examples –Nonexamples

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Assemble the rational set 2 sets –Examples Any attribute that does vary must vary –Nonexamples Must represent the absence of each critical attribute one at a time

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Your turn! For the following concepts, generate a list of its critical and variable attributes, then generate a description of the minimal rational set for the examples and nonexamples, and place the examples and nonexamples into the teaching order we discussed earlier. –Book –Car –Lowercase letter a

Department of Behavior Analysis BEHV 5250: Advanced Topics in Intervention Summer 2003Department of Behavior Analysis Tonights homework following the examples Tiemann & Markle gave you in Appendix 8, generate model concept analyses for the following concepts assuming that you will be teaching these concepts to children with autism in elementary school: cup car shirt friend –note: you will share these in class tomorrow, so please prepare the materials with presentation in mind complete steps one and two in Tiemann & Markle's Appendix 6 (bottom pf page 218) and be prepared to present your rational set to the class tomorrow. Do this for each of the concepts listed above.