Search PubMedSearch

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Behavioral Research”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Teaching persons with profound multiple handicaps: a review of the effects of behavioral research.

The behavioral research on teaching individuals who have profound multiple handicaps is reviewed. The primary focus is on determining the degree to which behavioral research has demonstrated the teaching of meaningful skills to this population. Results of the review indicate that investigations have demonstrated, albeit inconsistently, that behavior change has resulted from contingency management interventions with persons who have profound multiple handicaps. However, there is little evidence that such interventions have resulted in meaningful behavior change according to currently accepted criteria for beneficially affecting the quality of life of persons with serious handicaps. Potential explanations for the lack of such evidence are offered, including the relative lack of research attention given to this issue, the possible ineffectiveness of the components of the technology applied, and possible ineffective application of the potentially effective technology. Suggestions for future research are discussed in terms of developing more effective educational and habilitative services for persons with profound multiple handicaps. In particular, we suggest research on a wider variety of behavioral teaching procedures, providing more comprehensive evaluations of the applications of procedures and developing treatment programs that do not focus solely on traditional skill acquisition.

Activities of Daily Living

A technology for program maintenance: programming key researcher behaviors in a student housing cooperative.

Behavioral researchers play critical, but often unanalyzed, roles in the programs they develop. Unless they replace their key activities with standardized procedures, their continued participation may be essential to program success--a situation that is often not only impractical but may be prohibitively expensive and disliked by local staff. This study was conducted in a student housing cooperative that is dependent on close researcher supervision for its continued health and survival. A key activity of the co-op researchers was to provide public recognition for good job performance by co-op members. The purposes of this study were (a) to replace that idiosyncratic recognition with systematic procedures so members, instead of the researchers, would provide public recognition to each other for good job performance; and (b) to evaluate those procedures by comparing job performance when member-delivered recognition was provided and when it was not. When the procedures were in place, job performance increased and fines for poor job performance and complaining at meetings decreased. This study suggests that procedures can be developed to reduce program reliance on the researcher that are effective, inexpensive, sustainable, and acceptable to the participants--a first step toward developing a technology of program maintenance.

Activities of Daily Living

Generalization in social behavior research with children and youth who have emotional or behavioral disorders.

This article presents a critical analysis of social behavior research with students who have emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). In particular, it focuses on issues of generalized responding and a technology of generalization promotion. From a review of selected studies the conclusion is drawn that (a) researchers too rarely examine generalization in social behavior research, (b) studies that provide analysis of generalization rely on the least analytic approaches, and (c) generalization is seldom presented as a dependent variable of central interest in social behavior research with EBD students. Guidelines for further research in the area of generalization promotion are offered.

Adolescent

Behavioral research in breeding colonies of Old World monkeys.

The existence of an active behavioral research program using animals in primate breeding colonies was considered to be not only a compatable multiple use of animals, but a way of materially improving the management and efficiency of the breeding colonies. In colonies of monkeys specifically established for behavioral research programs directed at the examination of social relationships, incidental breeding resulted in levels of reproductive success equivalent to or greater than that normally experienced in colonies devoted entirely to breeding. Behavioral research revealed patterns of seasonality, fostering, kidnapping, and infant care which would otherwise have escaped notice and which would significantly influence culling and management choices in a breeding colony. Many young males and certain low ranking adult males actively contributed to reproduction. Females born and reared in the colonies were the most productive, exceeding wild born or other introduced females in reproductive efficiency. Specific recommendations for establishing, expanding and culling of nonhuman primate breeding colonies were derived from the behavioral research.

Animals

Federal Aviation Administration's behavioral research program for defense against hijackings.

Behavioral research has been significant contributions to the government's successful program for defense against hijackers. Today's boarding gate defenses have a leading role in that program, but they were rejected until creation of the behavioral profile made selective search feasible. Metal detectors now make search of all travelers practical but with increasing involvement of boarding gate employees, so a behavioral program is used to monitor their performance. Experience shows that some persons have penetrated boarding gate defenses, so another requirement was in-flight defenses. Flightpersonnel had defeated some past hijackers, so a behavioral analysis of past hijackings was used to identify tactics for in-flight defense. These were incorporated into training programs and distributed to all U.S. airlines, many government organizations, and foreign carriers. Research continues for updating these and developing new courses for special needs, such as defense against gangs.

Accidents, Aviation

The Oregon lesson: results of postelection research. Bureau of Economic and Behavioral Research.

Definite issues are involved in the denturism controversy, such as consumerism/economics, sympathy for the elderly population, freedom of choice, and acceptance of paraprofessionals. The dental profession must deal with these issues. Its concern for oral health and quality of training can only be presented (and accepted) if it is placed within the context of the issues as the public sees them.

American Dental Association

The significance of fetal and neonatal behavior research in Japan.

This paper, including the results of our own studies and others, serves as an introduction to this special issue on fetal and neonatal behavior research in Japan. The social impact of these studies is discussed in relation to current problems in family and society. The scientific impact of this research in relation to behavioral development, particularly with respects to the theoretical aspects, is also discussed.

Emotions

Progress and challenges in psychosocial and behavioral research in cancer in the twentieth century.

Research in the psychosocial and behavioral aspects of cancer has shown steady growth since the 1950s, and its course of development has paralleled the history of medical techniques in treating cancer. Table 1 outlines this parallel evolution from the 1850s to the 1960s. The roles of the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in spearheading and nurturing research in this area are documented. Interest in psychooncologic questions can be traced back for centuries to the search for etiologic factors and psychologic variables that would explain individual vulnerability to cancer. The first psychologic studies of cancer patients were reported in 1951 and 1952 from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, respectively. The 1970s saw new interest in psychosocial and behavioral research with many issues being addressed for the first time: better care of the terminally ill through more humanistic approaches including better means of pain control; ethical concerns related to patient rights and their status as subjects in experimental protocols; trying to measure quality of life for cancer patients on protocols; seeing the need for multidisciplinary collaborative groups to make up for the absence of formal training in this area; and the need to design valid, accurate measuring scales specific to the symptomology of patients with cancer. Table 4 outlines how the 1980s gave increasing recognition and support to the psychosocial dimensions of cancer. This period produced a series of key conferences that examined a broad research and education perspective and produced recommendations that remain a benchmark in regard to instrumentation, conceptual models, pitfalls of psychosocial research, training, and education, and the organization of research efforts. New precision has been added to the field in the past 6 years: studies measuring concurrent psychologic, endocrine, and immune function; use of statistical modeling to incorporate quality of life data as a correction factor in survival data (TWiST and QALY); and broadened definitions of medical outcome to include functional status, thus allowing advances in psychiatric measurements to help answer questions in cancer. The challenges for the 1990s are identified in a summary in Table 9. Especially noteworthy is the observation that the comprehensive research needed today cannot be carried out by any one discipline alone. New approaches call for areas of the social sciences formerly inactive in cancer research (e.g., anthropology) to contribute the tools and expertise required to address the problems.

Adult

Sampling methods in behavior research.

Animals perform a continuous stream of behavior throughout their lives. Because their behavior is not random, appropriate sampling methods can be used to obtain data that accurately reflect the actual behavior and are valid for answering research questions. Answering questions related to several variables assists in narrowing the choices of sampling methods. First, a determination must be made of what behaviors to measure. If the behaviors are few and easily measured, then All Occurrences Sampling is the method of choice because it generates accurate frequency and duration data through continuous recording. Sequence and Sociometric Matrix Sampling are specialized types of All Occurrences Sampling that are restricted to sampling intra- or interindividual sequences and social interactions (e.g., agonistic), respectively. Second, if who (e.g., specific individual, sex, or genotype) performs the behavior is a major component of the research question, then consideration should be given to Focal Animal (Pair, Group) Sampling. Third, if when or where the behavior is performed is of interest (e.g., activity budget), then Instantaneous or Scan Sampling can often be effective. Ad libitum Sampling does not produce valid data for analyses, but it is useful when formulating and fine-tuning research questions. One-Zero Sampling is not recommended except when the research question relates to the presence or absence of behaviors only. Other factors to consider in selecting a sampling method are duration of the behavior (event or state), desired scale of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio), and logistics (e.g., time, and equipment and facilities available).

Animals

Needs and recommendations for behavior research in the prevention and early detection of cancer.

Because life-style patterns affect many cancer risks, research on health-risk behavior and behavior change is critical to cancer prevention. This report recommends priorities for the next decade of psychosocial research on cancer prevention and detection. The leading priority for future research is to fill gaps in basic knowledge left by the rush to intervention and outcome studies. Such research must be theoretically driven and should aim to develop broad principles applicable to diverse health behaviors. Studies that include relevant process data on various stages of behavior change are considered more desirable than simple outcome studies. Epidemiologic investigations should be expanded to include measures of relevant behaviors, so that their impact on clinical outcomes might be established. More research is needed on lay perception of health risks and on individual and health-system barriers to effective cancer prevention and detection. Studies that address the needs of minority and underprivileged populations are crucial. Funding agencies' narrow categorical mandates impede interdisciplinary research on multiple risk factors and their interactions; these boundaries must be relaxed to promote such approaches. Funding agencies should also consider basic research as a long-term investment towards the development of effective interventions.

Health Behavior

Some highlights of aircraft passenger behavior research.

A brief review is offered of the field of aircraft passenger safety research. Probelms associated with passenger behavior, e.g. panic, and passenger safety education studies and requirements are discussed. In addition, a comparison is drawn between commerical and corporate aircraft passenger safty requirements and current research and development programs. It is concluded there is a need for increased funding and more emphasis to be placed on education in the areas of aircraft passenger safty research.

Accident Prevention

Methodological considerations in pediatric behavioral research: measurement.

Measurement is the critical building block underlying all science. Adequate measures should demonstrate reliability, validity, and sensitivity. Special problems associated with the selection and development of measures used in behavioral pediatric research are reviewed. These include measurement specificity, construct complexity, the illusive "gold standard," construct independence, theoretical clarity, timing of measurements, and developmental considerations. The advantages and limitations of a variety of behavioral assessment strategies are described: questionnaires, interviews, behavioral observations, permanent products, biological measures, and provider ratings. Programmatic measurement research not only improves the science of behavioral pediatrics but also has widespread clinical application.

Attitude to Health