Premium
OBSERVATION PROCEDURE, OBSERVER GENDER, AND BEHAVIOR VALENCE AS DETERMINANTS OF SAMPLING ERROR IN A BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT ANALOGUE
Author(s) -
Farkas Gary M.,
Tharp Roland G.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1980.13-529
Subject(s) - valence (chemistry) , psychology , representativeness heuristic , observer (physics) , population , social psychology , physics , demography , quantum mechanics , sociology
Several factors thought to influence the representativeness of behavioral assessment data were examined in an analogue study using a multifactorial design. Systematic and unsystematic methods of observing group behavior were investigated using 18 male and 18 female observers. Additionally, valence properties of the observed behaviors were inspected. Observers' assessments of a videotape were compared to a criterion code that defined the population of behaviors. Results indicated that systematic observation procedures were more accurate than unsystematic procedures, though this factor interacted with gender of observer and valence of behavior. Additionally, males tended to sample more representatively than females. A third finding indicated that the negatively valenced behavior was overestimated, whereas the neutral and positively valenced behaviors were accurately assessed.