Association for Behavior Analysis International

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of self-management on two eco-driving behaviors: reducing speed and shifting to neutral. Self-management consisted of three intervention components: goal setting, self-monitoring, and reward. Three office workers who drive regularly participated in this study. We adopted an ABCD multiple baseline design. After the baseline (A), participants set their own goals on driving behaviors (B). In the next phase (C), self-monitoring was added. At the final phase (D), participants were provided with rewards when the individual goal was met. Results showed that goal setting decreased speeding. Moreover, adding self-monitoring and reward further decreased speeding. Similarly, goal setting substantially improved the gear shifting behavior. Specifically, the gear shifting behavior of two participants reached to 100% when goal setting was introduced so that the effects of self-monitoring and reward could not be examined. The gear shifting behavior of the remaining one participant also substantially improved when goal setting was introduced and further increased when self-monitoring and reward were added.

The present study examined the effectiveness of a behavioral-based safety (BBS) program in improving safety performance and safety climate. The BBS program was applied to a steel manufacturing company and a construction site. The BBS program consisted of goal-setting, feedback, and low cost reward. Feedback was delivered biweekly to the workers. A monthly goal was set and adjusted based on the safety performance in the previous month. Also, rewards were provided if the monthly goal was met. The effects of the program on safety performance were evaluated using an AB design. Safety climate were measured using a questionnaire (Neal, Griffin, & Hart, 2000), adopting one group pretest-posttest design. The results indicated that the mean percentage of observed safety behaviors increased after introducing BBS program. Also, the mean scores of safety climate significantly increased.

This study compared the effects of specific and global of feedback on safety performance. Participants were 20 undergraduate students. They were asked to work on a computer-simulated work task and engage in seven target behaviors. Ten participants (skilled group) had a previous experience in working on the task and the other 10 participants (unskilled group) did not. Participants in each group were randomly assigned to one of two feedback conditions: global and specific feedback. In the specific feedback condition, participants were provided with information on safety performance of each target behavior. In the global feedback condition, participants were provided with information on overall safety performance across all seven target behaviors. Results showed that the specific feedback produced higher level of safety performance than the global feedback for both skilled and unskilled group.

This study examined whether positive and negative reinforcement has differential impacts on safety rule following behavior under two different schedules of reinforcement (FR1 and VR5). Participants were asked to work on a computerized task and follow safety rules. A 2 x 2 factorial design was adopted and 80 participants were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental groups: FR1 positive, VR5 positive, FR1 negative, and VR5 negative reinforcement groups. The participants in the FR1 and VR5 positive reinforcement groups earned a base pay of 5,000 won at the beginning of the experiment, and could earn additional 50 and 250 won, respectively, if they followed all safety rules. The participants in the FR1 and VR5 negative reinforcement groups earned 10,000 won at the beginning, but they could lose 50 and 250 won, respectively, if they did not follow any of the safety rules. The results showed that there were no differential impacts on rule following behavior under the FR1 condition. However, under the VR5 condition, the negative reinforcement condition produced a significantly lower level of rule following behavior. This result suggests that effects of positive and negative reinforcement may differ depending on the type of reinforcement schedule.

In todays competitive business environment, petrochemical refineries, oil platforms and manufacturing plants are expected to run at or close to nameplate capacity. Unplanned shutdowns result in lost production and profitability as well as increased maintenance costs. Furthermore, personnel and process safety risk exposures are higher during plant shutdowns and restarts than in running plant environments. Reliability Inspectors determine the probability and capacity of plant components to perform required functions for specific periods of time under certain conditions and they conduct inspections to ensure component integrity. Traditionally, inspections for critical equipment are specified on a time-based schedule. Reliability Inspectors employing risk-based inspections (RBI) consider multiple process variables, component materials, and other factors to identify probability and consequences of failure and adjust the frequency of inspection accordingly. Using RBI results in better reliability and lower cost but requires more complex behaviours from inspectors and a higher level of decision making and advanced stakeholder management. Results of a behaviour-based coaching programme show that as front-line supervisors engage in more effective field leadership, such as taking ownership of the findings instead of just sending a report, new inspector behaviours are shaped and new results delivered. This change has effectively avoided costs in excess of $100M which motivates ongoing analysis of which behaviours have the greatest impact.

Over the years organizational behavior management has proven to be an effective tool to help improve target behaviors in organizations. Oftentimes OBM interventions focus on high frequency behaviors and frequently recurring behaviors. Occasionally key behaviors are needed for discrete periods and also with a time lapse between those discrete periods. This poster describes one approach to help an organization address episodic behavior.

The main objective of the investigation was to design and apply a modification behavioral program in order to help the employees of an organization cope with extraorganizational stressors. The main problem was the direct influence that extraorganizational stressors have on some employees performance, feelings, thoughts and health. There were three hypothesis: the treatment program will produce a significant variation in the subjects stress levels, the treatment will not produce a significant variation in the subjects stress levels; there will be a significant variation in the subjects stress levels but will not be caused by the program but by extraorganizational stressors. The treatment consisted in the administration of five main programs: first, the subject learning to relax efficiently by using deep muscle relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing; the second one consisted in listing and ranking stressful events by hierarchy and based on the hierarchy apply relaxation techniques; the fourth and fifth consisted in stress coping thoughts and applying coping skills into real situations. The sample consisted of two male subjects, with 23 and 25 years old, performing administrative roles, both of them suffering from acute stress disorder by the manifestation of disturbing thoughts and physical symptoms. Despite the fact that the disturbances were reduced after the treatment, there were some extra organizational stressors that interfered with our results, which lead us to accept the fact that there were significant variations in the subject stress levels that were not produced by the treatment program.