Abstract
Describing behavior with ratios of count and time is a popular measurement tactic in the field of behavior analysis. The paper examines some count and time ratios in order to determine what about behavior each describes and why one ratio may sometimes be more useful than another. In addition, the paper briefly considers some terminological issues, derived quantities, dimensional analysis, some advantages and disadvantages of ratios, and selection of useful quantities for measurement.
Keywords: methodology, rate, frequency, duration, interresponse time, dimensional quantities, units of measurement, ratios, dimensional analysis
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- McDowell J. J. Behavior analysis: The third branch of Aristotle's physics. J Exp Anal Behav. 1988 Sep;50(2):297–304. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1988.50-297. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nevin J. A. Response strength in multiple schedules. J Exp Anal Behav. 1974 May;21(3):389–408. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1974.21-389. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]