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Careful consideration of the tradeoff between Type I and Type II error rates when designing experiments is critical for maximizing statistical decision accuracy. Typically, Type I error rates (e.g., .05) are significantly lower than Type II error rates (e.g., .20 for .80 power) in psychological science. Further, positive findings (true effects and Type I errors) are more likely to be the focus of replication. This conventional approach leads to very high rates of Type II error. Analyses show that increasing the Type I error rate to .10, thereby increasing power and decreasing the Type II error rate for each test, leads to higher overall rates of correct statistical decisions. This increase of Type I error rate is consistent with, and most beneficial in the context of, the replication and "New Statistics" movements in psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

This article describes the use of statistical significance tests and distance-based effect sizes with behavioral data from single case experimental designs (SCEDs). Such data often are interpreted only with visual analysis. However, a growing movement in the field is to quantify results to improve decision-making and communication across studies and sciences. The goal of the present study was to assess the agreement between visual analysis and various statistical tests. We recruited visual analysts to judge 160 pairwise data sets from published articles and compared these analyses to significance tests and effect sizes. One-tailed significance testing of Tau z and the percentage of pairwise differences in the predicted direction (PWD) generally agreed with each other, and complemented the effect sizes of Ratio of Distances (RD) and g. Visual analysis was somewhat unreliable and should be combined with statistical complements to maximize decision accuracy.

Selecting a quantitative measure to guide decision making in single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) is complicated. Many measures exist and all have been rightly criticized. The two general classes of measure are overlap-based (e.g., percentage nonoverlapping data) and distance-based (e.g., Cohen’s d). We compare several measures from each category for Type I error rate and power across a range of designs using equal numbers of observations (i.e., 3–10) in each phase. Results showed that Tau and the distance-based measures (i.e., RD and g) provided the highest decision accuracies. Other overlap-based measures (e.g., PND, dual-criterion method) did not perform as well. It is recommended that Tau be used to guide decision making about the presence/absence of a treatment effect, and RD or g be used to quantify the magnitude of the treatment effect. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40614-021-00317-8.

Reinforcement has been shown to change exercise behavior, often in contingency management programs. In this study, boxers received conjugate reinforcement-like performance feedback through both visual cues and changes to music. A device made music speed contingent on punching speed, and the music volume contingent on punching force. Participants could see green or red cues for being above or below a goal. Multiple baseline design and reversal designs were used to evaluate the effectiveness of our audio-visual intervention in increasing the speed and force of punches for eight participants. Punching force and speed appeared to increase for five of the eight participants compared to punching performance when using unaltered music alone in baseline.

This article serves as a brief primer on planaria for behavior scientists. In the 1950s and 1960s, McConnell’s planarian laboratory posited that conditioned behavior could transfer after regeneration, and through cannibalization of trained planaria. These studies, the responses, and replications have been collectively referred to as the “planarian controversy.” Successful behavioral assays still require refinement with this organism, but they could add valuable insight into our conceptualization of memory and learning. We discuss how the planarian’s distinctive biology enables an examination of biobehavioral interaction models, and what behavior scientists must consider if they are to advance behavioral research with this organism. Suggestions for academics interested in building planaria learning laboratories are offered. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s40614-018-00176-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

As concerns regarding the current and future state of the planet continue to grow, the need to understand the behavioral mechanisms that underlie behaviors linked to large-scale, probabilistic and delayed outcomes become more critical. Delay discounting refers to decline in the subjective value of a stimulus as the delay-interval to access that stimulus increases. In this article, the relevance of delay discounting to issues of sustainability is explored. The research on delay discounting and related processes is summarized, specifically research that relates discounting and sustainability issues. Implications for behavior change and future research are discussed.

This article describes the development of an effect size measure called Ratio of Distances (RD). The goal was to develop a measure of level change for single case experimental research that met several practical requirements: (a) the measure is adaptable to designs with varying numbers of observations per, and across, phases; (b) the measure is adaptable to situations in which slope does and does not exist; (c) the measure has no ceiling, as is the limitation with commonly used overlap-based measures of effect size; and (d) the measure is computationally transparent and easily computed using widely available analysis tools (e.g., Microsoft Excel). The measure is applicable to single cases and meta-analyses.

Charts play a significant role within the interpretation of scientific data. This article examines some inconsistencies in data display methods used in Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and suggests that adopting some chart goals could improve futu