PHBA8240 Complex stimulus control - research and application Course description

Master-s level knowledge of behavior analysis

Students can:

• describe the research strategies and main findings of the initial research on Complex stimulus control describe and discuss the evolution of the field of equivalence research, with emphasis on theoretical explanation
• describe the main theoretical explanatory models for stimulus equivalence, and discuss the supporting evidence for each of them
• describe the experimental procedures in equivalence research, and discuss the findings from selected experiments using the different training procedures
• design and execute experiments

The course consists of 1 introductory meeting, and 6 - 12 seminars of 4 x 45 minutes, and time for discussion and a final seminar (4 x 45 minutes). The introductory meeting takes place 2 weeks ahead of the main part of the course. At this meeting, the structure, content and purpose of the course are presented. The students are asked to give short presentations of their Ph.D. projects, and describe how the course is relevant to it. The main purpose of this early session is to help the students to start systematic work with the course readings.

The seminars target central themes from the course readings for discussion and reflection. A high level of student participation is expected. During this time, students will produce several reaction papers (3 - 4 pages double spaced), and a final presentation of one central theme from the course. Themes are assigned by the lecturers.

The final seminar consists of a discussion of the presentations, which are distributed in advance as papers not to exceed 10 pages double spaced, and introduced by each candidate in a short (3 minute) session. Course teachers mediate the discussions.

This course offers an overview and adopts a critical perspective of different types of mapping, testing, and evaluation of health-related activities at individual, group, and society levels. The course covers mapping, testing, and evaluating quality of life, mental health, physical health, functional ability, and disease mechanisms. It will take a critical look at the classification of measurement methods as disease-specific vs. generic, and self-reported vs. performance-based, as well as screening vs. diagnostics, quantitative vs. qualitative evaluation, and standardisation vs. individualisation.

None

All

Pass / Fail

Work and teaching methods consist of lectures, seminars, self-study, and practical exercises in the use of different software programmes for statistical analysis The outcomes of the seminars are presented and discussed in plenary sessions.