Quantitative analyses of behavior involve describing, forecasting and explaining behavior. It is an approach that can generate accurate, precise descriptions of behavioral processes. It makes objective comparison of different explanations possible. Sometimes, models generate surprising predictions and explain things you would not expect from verbal descriptions alone!
We investigate choice and timing, decision making under uncertainty, and factors that affect behavior in dynamic environments.
We investigate choice and timing, decision making under uncertainty, and factors that affect behavior in dynamic environments.
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RECENT RESEARCHBehavioral Functions Associated With Wanting to Reduce Internet UseThis registered report compared internet use by people who wanted to reduce the amount of time they spend on the internet with internet use by people who did not.
Respondents completed a self-report measure of problematic internet use, the Young Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ), and an indirect functional assessment of behavioral factors that motivate internet use, the Preliminary Internet Consequences Questionnaire (ICQ-P). People who reported wanting to reduce internet use were more likely to have high YDQ scores than people who did not. They also had higher total ICQ-P scores and endorsed ICQ-P items related to negative reinforcement more than people who did not want to reduce their internet use. Group differences support the theory that excessive unwanted internet use is a problem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement. Kyonka, Garcia, Torres, & Naidu 2023
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LINKS
About Behavior Analysis
Information about behavior analysis.
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Research ProjectsCurrent and past research from the lab.
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PsychologyCal State East Bay Psychology Department.
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HUMAN TIMING
Human temporal learning with mixed signals
People learned to time 2-s and 4-s intervals in a multiple and mixed peak procedure.
When the same signal was associated with both intervals, some participants covered both bases by responding at both times. Others used an either/or strategy; they only responded at the short OR long interval. These experiments demonstrated that informative signals not only help people learn what to do, but also when to do it. |
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