ABSTRACT
The stability of delay discounting across time has been well-established. However, limited research has examined the stability of probability discounting, and no studies of the stability of effort discounting are available. The present study assessed the steady-state characteristics of delay, probability, and effort discounting tasks across time with hypothetical rewards in humans, as well as whether response characteristics suggested a common discounting equation. Participants completed delay, probability, and effort discounting tasks on three occasions. We found moderate relative stability of delay and probability tasks, and similar evidence for absolute stability across time for all tasks. The interclass correlations coefficient showed some correspondence across time points and tasks, and higher levels of between subject variability, especially for the effort discounting task, suggesting trait level variables has a stronger influence on performance than state level variables. Performance on the delay and probability tasks were moderately correlated and similar mathematical functions fit choice patterns on both tasks (hyperbolic), suggesting that delay and probability discounting processes shared some common elements. Lower correlations and different function fits suggested that effort discounting involves more unique features.
ABSTRACT
This work analyzes stability and change of T-patterns related with on-task persistence and social interaction of preschool-age children. Stability and change are considered as natural setting indicators of time allocation processes and social dynamics with teachers and peers, within the fields of educational neuroscience and developmental science. In contrast with descriptive observations, developmental scales or ratings, T-pattern analysis clarifies and allows predictions on otherwise hidden behavioral patterns and their stability and change processes in natural settings. Here, T-pattern analyses were applied on observational behavior profiles of three preschool children, their teacher and their interacting peers in classroom and playground natural settings, to identify the structure and dynamics of daily activities in a multiple case study strategy about persistence and social interaction processes, considering teachers' and peers influence on children's behavior. Behavioral data were obtained with the Observational System of Social Interaction in a nomothetic, following and multidimensional observational design. Main results include the identification and description of patterns, their stability and change over time, and their subsumed structure regarding setting, child, and diachronic information. Two main behavioral patterns identified were: (1) teacher's attempts at redirecting child behavior to on-task were followed by on-task and off-task alternation loops, and (2) peers or teacher not responding to child social emissions, predict the kid going off-task. This constitutes a methodological contribution to Educational Neuroscience's efforts to describe real-world group contexts and predict the use of time in preschool contexts by children, their subsumed behavioral patterns and the influence of peers and teachers.
Subject(s)
Child Behavior , Peer Group , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , SchoolsABSTRACT
This study applied a systematic observation strategy to identify coercive behavioral patterns in school environments. The aim was to describe stability and change in the behavioral patterns of children identified as victims of bullying. To this end, the following specific objectives were defined: (1) to identify episodes of bullying based on the frequency of negative behaviors received and power imbalances between bully and victim; (2) to describe stability and behavioral changes in student victims based on their social and academic conduct and the aggression they receive from peers and teachers; and (3) to describe the functional mechanisms responsible for the process of social organization (i.e., the Social Effectiveness, Social Responsiveness, and Social Reciprocity Indexes). The sample consisted of nine children identified as victims, nine classified as bullies, and nine matched controls, all elementary school students from the study developed at the National Autonomous University of Mexico files. A multidimensional/idiographic/follow-up observational design was used. Observational data describes asymmetry between victims and bullies based on microanalyses of the reciprocity of their behavioral exchanges. In addition, the behavioral patterns of victimized children were identified in relation to their academic activity and social relationships with peers. A model of coercive reciprocity accurately describes the asymmetry found among bullies, victims, and controls. A reduction in victimization was found to be related to: (1) responsiveness to the initiation of social interactions by peers and teachers; and (2) the time allocated to academic behavior during the study.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to analyze the organization of on-task behavior in the classroom. Four observational methodology techniques- T-pattern detection, lag sequential analysis, trend analysis, and polar coordinate analysis-were used to study the organization of on-task and off task behavioral patterns during class time in a primary school setting. The specific objective was to detect and explore relationships between on-task behavior and different social interaction categories in relation to the actual distribution of activities in a real-life classroom setting. The study was conducted using the behavioral observation system for social interaction SOCIS and the software programs Theme (version 6, Edu), SDIS-GSEQ (version 4.1.2), HOISAN (version 1.6), and STATGRAPHICS (version 6). We describe the results obtained for the four techniques and discuss the methodological implications of combining complementary techniques in a single study (AU)
El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la organización de la actividad académica en el aula de clase. Cuatro técnicas de análisis de datos utilizadas en metodología observacional -detección de T-Patterns, análisis secuencial de retardos, análisis de tendencias, y análisis de coordenadas polares- han permitido estudiar como los escolares de Primaria distribuyen sus actividades en el aula. De forma específica, se pretendía detectar y explorar las relaciones entre las conductas relativas al trabajo académico y diferentes categorías de interacción social respecto al uso del tiempo en el contexto de la vida cotidiana en el aula. El estudio se llevó a cabo mediante el instrumento de observación SOC-IS, focalizado en la interacción social, y se utilizaron los programas informáticos THEME (versión 6, Edu), SDIS-GSEQ (versión 4.1.2), HOISAN (versión 1.6), y STATGRAPHICS (versión 16). Se describen los T-Patterns, patrones de conducta, tendencias y vectores obtenidos, sí como las implicaciones metodológicas de la estrategia propuesta (AU)
