SAFMEDS and Standard Celeration Chart
Analyze theories of behavior analysis and their influence on teaching and educational programs.
Evaluate theoretical principles and research that inform instructional strategies.
Communicate in a professional manner consistent with the field of behavior analysis.
summarize the results of your SAFMEDS activity and evaluate the processes, principles of behavior, and theories that
undergird the activity.
Sample Solution
Behavior Analysis is a term that refers to the scientific study of behavior. The theory behind this approach to educational instruction involves using principles derived from the science of behavior in order to teach students more effectively, while also aiming to modify and improve challenging behaviors. Some of the main theoretical principles within Behavior Analysis include operant conditioning, classical conditioning, Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior, reinforcement contingencies, stimulus control procedures, and extinction. These concepts are used in combination with one another in order to create an effective plan for teaching and learning new skills.
n this experiment, small and large lima beans were used to test whether or not bean beetles had a preferred site size for oviposition. Our hypothesis proposed that if a preference was shown, a greater number of eggs would be oviposited on the larger lima beans compared to small lima beans. We predicted that they would prefer the larger bean because it has a greater surface area, therefore finding a spot on the bean to oviposit would be easier to do. On the contrary, our results show that we reject the null hypothesis due to the fact that our p-value was so extremely small. Because of this, we can conclude that C. maculatus prefer smaller sized lima beans for oviposition. The preference for a smaller lima bean could be due to a chemical cue preferred by, or undesirable to, bean beetles. Another reason could be that the nutrient to surface area ratio is greater, or because larger beans may be more appealing to predators. According to a similar experiment conducted by Jason Cope and Charles Fox, bean beetle eggs were distributed so that resources were maximized per individual offspring (2002). They found that females preferred a larger mass compared to surface area due to the quantity of resources available inside the seed. Although our experiments measured different variables, in both findings we can identify that a larger surface area is not ideal for bean beetle site preference for oviposition.
In an experiment conducted by Grace Pitman, Tyler Flockhart, and Ryan Norris, they measured which size and what density of a milkweed patch was preferred by the monarch butterfly for oviposition (2018). Their results showed that a small, low-density patch had the highest egg density. This was because larger patches showed an increase in predator abundance (Flockhart et al. 2018). When determining sites for oviposition, the one that increases probability of offspring survival is more desirable. Therefore, choosing a small, low-density site for oviposition increased the probability that the offspring would survive and reproduce. This relates to our experiment because we tested to find the preferred site that would increase survival in b