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Detecting Reinforcement Patterns in the Stream of Naturalistic Observations of Social Interactions Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 7-14-2020 Detecting Reinforcement Patterns in the Stream of Naturalistic Observations of Social Interactions James Lamar DeLaney 3rd Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Developmental Psychology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation DeLaney 3rd, James Lamar, "Detecting Reinforcement Patterns in the Stream of Naturalistic Observations of Social Interactions" (2020). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5553. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.7427 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Detecting Reinforcement Patterns in the Stream of Naturalistic Observations of Social Interactions by James Lamar DeLaney 3rd A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology Thesis Committee: Thomas Kindermann, Chair Jason Newsom Ellen A. Skinner Portland State University i Abstract How do consequences affect future behaviors in real-world social interactions? The term positive reinforcer refers to those consequences that are associated with an increase in probability of an antecedent behavior (Skinner, 1938). To explore whether reinforcement occurs under naturally occuring conditions, many studies use sequential analysis methods to detect contingency patterns (see Quera & Bakeman, 1998). This study argues that these methods do not look at behavior change following putative reinforcers, and thus, are not sufficient for declaring reinforcement effects arising in naturally occuring interactions, according to the Skinner’s (1938) operational definition of reinforcers. This study presents the conceptual and technical development of an algorithmic strategy and web-app used to restructuring naturalistic observations in a way that can be used to assess behavior change as a function of putative reinforcers. I demonstrate this strategy by re-examining some of the hypotheses Sage and Kindermann’s (1999) study on contingency patterns across fifth and sixth grade students. Using methods of generalized estimating equations (e.g. Liang & Zeger, 1986) and Allison and Liker (1982) z-scores, this study found full support for reinforcement effects of Social Approval for children’s Off-Task classroom behaviors, and partial support for Social Approval following On-Task behaviors. Social Disapproval was shown to reinforce Off-Task behaviors, contrary to expectations. This paper concludes by a comprehensive discussion of these results and directions for future modifications of these reinforcement detection strategies. ii Acknowledgements I want to thank my committee members for their guidance. Specifically, I want to thank Dr. Jason Newsom for his visions in guiding the primary analysis and extending the scope of the study beyond its original capacity. I want to thank Dr. Ellen Skinner for being the ‘glue’ behind multiple perspectives behind the study and for her strong patience throughout the process. Finally, I want to thank Dr. Thomas Kindermann for providing the vision behind this project and expanding my vision for my research career. Dr. Kindermann’s passion and support has been a true inspiration and will continue to shape my perspectives, attitudes, and forward thinking, with regards to the synthesis of the intellectual and humane in my future endeavors. All three of my committee members have embodied patience, and for this, I have the uttermost gratitiude. I want to thank my family for embodying love, perseverance, humility, and compassion (among all other good things), from day one till the future. My understanding of being a good human being comes directly from their examples. I want to thank all my friends, family, and lab-mates for continuing to inspire and teach me new lessons on being the best we can be. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................v List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi List of Equations ............................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2 Literature Review .............................................................................................................6 Chapter 3 Purpose of Study ...........................................................................................................18 Chapter 4 Methods 1: Description of the Dataset ..........................................................................34 Chapter 5 Methods 2: Describing Reinforcement in the Stream of Observations ..........................41 Chapter 6 Methods 3: An Online Application for Detecting Reinforcers .......................................74 Chapter 7 Results ...........................................................................................................................84 Chapter 8 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 112 Appendix A. Experimental Demonstrations of Social Reinforcers in Classrooms ........137 Appendix B. Non-Experimental Reinforcement Detection Strategies ...........................145 Appendix C. Glossary of Terms ......................................................................................148 Appendix D. Glossary of Equations ...............................................................................150 Appendix E. Reformatter ................................................................................................151 Appendix F. Supplement to Analysis Strategies .............................................................153 Appendix G. Detailed Review of Strategies ...................................................................157 iv Appendix H. Primary Analyses with Exchangeable Working Correlations ....................162 v List of Tables Table 1. All lag-one conditional frequencies from Figure 1 ............................................. 24 Table 2. Focal children behavior codes ............................................................................ 38 Table 3. Social partner behavior codes ............................................................................ 39 Table 4. Example long-formatted observational data file ................................................ 41 Table 5. Shortened example recounted data series (data-frame) ..................................... 51 Table 6. Contingency table for recounted frequencies ...................................................... 71 Table 7. Contingency table for average recounted frequencies ........................................ 73 Table 8. Contingency table for recomputed frequencies ................................................... 74 Table 9. Contingency table for recounted frequencies (table 6 reprint) ......................... 100 Table 10. Contingency table for average frequencies (table 7 reprint) .......................... 101 Table 11. Contingency table for recomputed frequencies (table 8 reprint)) ................... 102 Table 12. Proportions used in Allison and Liker (1982) z-scores ................................... 103 Table 13. Distribution of overall behaviors in original data-file ................................... 104 Table 14. Distribution of recounted behaviors for social approval as a reinforcer ....... 105 Table 15. Research question 1 hypothesis 1 primary analysis........................................ 106 Table 16. Research question 1 hypothesis 1 proportions ................................................ 107 Table 17. Research question 1 hypothesis 1 summary secondary analysis .................... 107 Table 18. Research question 1 hypothesis 2 primary analysis........................................ 109 Table 19. Research question 1 hypothesis 2 proportions ................................................ 109 Table 20. Research question 1 hypothesis 2 summary secondary analysis .................... 110 Table 21. Distribution of recounted behaviors for direct disapproval as a punisher ..... 111 Table 22. Research question 2 hypothesis 3 primary analysis........................................ 112 Table 24. Research question 2 hypothesis 3 summary secondary analysis .................... 113 Table 25. Research question 2 hypothesis 3 proportions ................................................ 114 Table 26. Structure of the recounted observations for primary analysis ........................ 160 Table 27. Contingency table for the recounted frequencies using overall strategy ........ 160 Table 29. Recounted series contingency table for two focal children............................. 162 Table 30. Lag-one conditional frequencies and proportions
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