Deck 10: Steady States and Transitions

Question 1

The steady state strategy involves measuring responding for each participant repeatedly under both baseline and experimental/treatment conditions, with the objective of obtaining a stable pattern of responding that represents _________.

A) what would happen if another variable was introduced
B) the full effects of each condition
C) how often data were collected
D) the highest data points in the set

Answer 1

B

Question 2

If you repeatedly exposed each subject to a condition in an effort to control or eliminate extraneous influences and allow the condition to fully represent its effects on behavior, you would be using:

A) a between-groups design
B) an interval agreement procedure
C) discontinuous observation
D) the steady-state strategy

Answer 2

D

Question 3

By giving a participant repeated exposure first to the baseline condition and then to the intervention condition, the researcher is trying to get a graphical picture of responding under each condition that is ______ and ______.

A) valid; believable
B) reliable; accurate
C) complete; representative
D) calibrated; absolute

Answer 3

C

Question 4

If data show that responding is unstable under either the baseline condition or the treatment condition, the investigator should assume that these variations must be due to:

A) the independent variable
B) extraneous variables
C) the dependent variable
D) sequence effects

Question 5

A steady state of responding suggests that extraneous influences are minimal and:

A) that any transition from the initial effects of the condition are complete
B) that the data are accurate, reliable, and valid
C) that the dependent variable is responsible for any differences between conditions
D) that the treatment phase is effective

Question 6

A pattern of responding that shows relatively little variation in its measured dimensional quantities over some period of time is known as a ______.

A) trend
B) transition state
C) steady state
D) transitory state

Question 7

If a researcher is measuring the duration of a target behavior and achieves a steady state of responding, they can then conclude what about the frequency of that target behavior?

A) They cannot make any conclusions about the frequency of the target behavior
B) That the frequency of the target behavior has also achieved a steady state of responding
C) That the target behavior is increasing in frequency
D) That the target behavior is decreasing in frequency

Question 8

The steady-state strategy is valuable for all of the following reasons, except:

A) it can encourage curiosity about other measurement decisions
B) it evaluates experimental control
C) it ensures that data being recorded will be valid
D) it facilitates experimental comparisons

Question 9

The researcher or practitioner must be sure that data being compared fully represent the impact of each condition, so that any differences in responding that are seen may be attributed to the ______.

A) dependent variable
B) extraneous variables
C) independent variable
D) researchers decisions

Question 10

A trend in the data that has no obvious explanation is troublesome for researchers for all of the following reasons, except:

A) some variable is influencing behavior significantly and this could interfere with seeing the impact of the control condition or the intervention condition
B) without an obvious explanation for the trend, the researcher cannot be clear on how to more effectively control the environment to reduce the impact of these factors
C) a trend makes it more difficult to determine the effects of an intervention
D) there are no informal criteria or rules to help guide a researcher's decision-making process if this occurs

Question 11

The most popular approach to determine stability criteria is based on:

A) statistical analysis
B) graphical analysis
C) descriptive analysis
D) nondata criterion

Question 12

______ criteria usually specify a limited amount of variability that will be permitted over a certain number of data points.

A) Graphical
B) Statistical
C) Descriptive
D) Nondata

Question 13

A relatively consistent change in data in a single direction is called a(n) ______.

A) cycle
B) trend
C) transition state
D) transitory state

Question 14

______ is a measure of variability defined by the highest and lowest values in a data set.

A) Rate
B) Level
C) Trend
D) Range

Question 15

A ______ is a repeating pattern of local variability, often involving sequences of increasing and decreasing trends (in either order).

A) level
B) trend
C) range
D) cycle

Question 16

A pattern of responding involving change from one steady state to a different steady state is called a .

A) trend
B) transition state
C) transitory state
D) cycle

Question 17

Identifying transition and transitory states is a matter of:

A) statistical analysis
B) determining how long each phase should last
C) identifying the steady states preceding and following the transition
D) demonstrating stable responding across sessions

Question 18

Just because some aspect of responding is stable, one should not conclude that the ______ is also stable.

A) researcher
B) participant
C) environment
D) observer

Question 19

The figure below is an example of data that are in:

A) a steady state
B) a cycle
C) a transitory state
D) a transition state

Question 20

When comparing the responding in the two phases depicted in the figure below, the proper interpretation of the second phase would be:

A) that the change in responding in the second phase may represent the effects of the condition itself plus extraneous variables present in the first phase
B) that the change in responding in the second phase is due to extraneous variables
C) that the change in responding in the second phase is due to the introduction of the new condition
D) that the change in responding in the second phase is due to the dependent variable

Question 21

What is the major consideration of all investigators that is at the core of the steady state strategy?

Question 22

What are repeated measures of behavior? Why is one session not sufficient?

Question 23

What is the goal for comparing different states of responding across conditions?

Question 24

How do repeated observations of a participants' responding assess the risk of extraneous variables?

Question 25

Describe the steady state strategy.

Question 26

Explain how the steady state strategy facilitates comparisons of responding under different conditions.

Question 27

What must a researcher do to distinguish between a transition state and a transitory state?

Question 28

Describe the importance of collecting repeated measures of responding under a condition.

Question 29

What are the two conclusions that stable responding suggests?

Question 30

Describe the value of the steady-state strategy for both researchers and practitioners. Also, how do their different interests impact steady state strategy?

Question 31

What is the main problem with the following statement: "The participant's responding was stable."

Question 32

What does stable responding say about the environmental conditions under which it occurred?

Question 33

What are three reasons why an investigator should be concerned about trends in the data that have no obvious explanation?

Question 34

Can a trend be considered stable responding? Explain your answer.

Question 35

How does range influence the steady-state strategy?

Question 36

Why is the graphical approach to determining steady state considered the "Supreme Court Standard" versus the statistical method?

Question 37

Distinguish between transition and transitory states.

Question 38

Why is it important to distinguish between transition and transitory states?

Question 39

How long should each phase of an experiment last?

Question 40

What is the difference between trend and range of data?