Human Behavior Theory and the African American Experience

Abstract

This article discusses why it is important to give consideration to the black experience if educators and practitioners are to objectively analyze black behavior. It argues that there are few racially-sensitive theoretical formulations that can accurately serve as a base for practice, and even those present should still be subjected to rigorous empirical investigation. Therefore, until new formulations are developed, practitioners may wish to employ “theoretical strips” (bits and pieces of existing theory) to model their practice. Examples of theory pieces are included in this article.     

Making Human Behavior Theory Real Through the Unreal: Fiction in the HBSE Classroom

This article examines the use of fictional literature as a method for helping students apply human behavior theory in competent practice. When students and educators read a poem, short essay, or novel, it allows them the opportunity to join together as an audience as they tease out teachable lessons from the story. The authors posit that when used in human behavior and the social environment courses, fictional literature allows educators and students to experience abstract content as more concrete. Following a brief literature review, we examine one novel through the lens of three different human behavior theories.     

An Integrated Cognitive Theory of Comprehension

This article proposes an integrated cognitive theory of reading and listening that draws on a maximalist account of comprehension and emphasizes the role of bottom-up and top-down processing. The theoretical framework draws on the findings of previous research and integrates them into a coherent and plausible narrative to explain and predict the comprehension of written and auditory inputs. The theory is accompanied by a model that schematically represents the fundamental components of the theory and the comprehension mechanisms described. The theory further highlights the role of perception and word recognition (underresearched in reading research), situation models (missing in listening research), mental imagery (missing in both streams), and inferencing. The robustness of the theory is discussed in light of the principles of scientific theories adopted from Popper (1959).     

Understanding Physical Activity Behavior in African American and Caucasian College Students: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Only 30% of college students meet the recommended amount of physical activity (PA) for health benefits, and this number is lower for African American students. Moreover, the correlates of PA may vary by ethnicity. Objective: In the present study, the authors tested the utility of the theory of planned behavior for explaining PA intentions and behavior in Caucasian and African American students. Participants and Methods: Participants were 238 African American (M age = 20.05 years, SD = 2.28) and 197 Caucasian (M age = 19.50 years, SD = 2.28) students who completed a baseline theory of planned behavior questionnaire and a follow-up PA measure 1 week later. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that affective (β = .23) and instrumental (β = .28) attitudes and perceived behavioral control (β = .59) were significantly predictive of intention for the Caucasian students, whereas affective attitude (β = .18) and perceived behavioral control (β = .56) were significant for African American students. Furthermore, intention (β = .33) was the lone significant predictor of PA for Caucasian students, whereas perceived behavioral control (β = .23) was the significant predictor of PA for African American students. Conclusions: These data suggest that practitioners may need to consider ethnicity when developing PA interventions for college students based on the theory of planned behavior.     

Measurement Issues in Human Behaviour Theory

Abstract

This paper provides a brief introduction to the use of standardized measurement scales in behavioural theory, discusses some of the limitations of the domain sampling model of measurement for behavioural scientists and practitioners, and identifies central measurement issues in behavioural theory that are germane to all measurement tools. The ever popular and useful behavioural checklist is used to introduce the domain sampling model of measurement and to describe how it can be treated as a standardized measurement tool.     

A Test of the Emergent Norm Theory of Collective Behavior

Objective: The paper uses the timing of evacuation behavior of occupants of the World Trade Center at the time of the explosion of February 26, 1993, to test predictions from Emergent Norm Theory. Method: It uses ordinary least square multiple regression analysis to examine data from a survey done in the first week in May 1993 of 415 people who worked at the World Trade Center. Results: The theory's predictions regarding the additive effects of size of group and preexisting social relationships on the timing of evacuation are supported. However, the findings document important and unexpected interaction effects of these two variables on the effects of perceived threat, resources, and cooperativeness on the timing of evacuation. Conclusion: The results augment the theory by showing the continued importance of enduring social relationships as determinants of collective behavior. Enduring social relationships are not only useful to differentiate collective behavior from institutionalized behavior but also specify the dynamics attending the occurrence of collective behavior.     

Autistic Behavior, Behavior Analysis, and the Gene��Part II

This article reviews the negative behavior-analytic commentary on Drash and Tudor''s behavior-analytic analysis of the etiology of autistic repertoires and values. This article also asks that, in our effort to scrub it clean, we not drown Drash and Tudor''s beautiful, but fragile, new-born, behavior-analytic baby in hyper-methodological, hyper-scholarly bathwater.     

Teen Sexual Behavior: Applicability of the Theory of Reasoned Action

We examined the utility of the theory of reasoned action for predicting sexual intercourse among teenagers and determined whether it holds for both genders and for those with and without prior sexual experience. The data include 749 students who were in 9th–11th grades when the predictors were measured and in 10th–12th grades when sexual intercourse was assessed. About half (53%) were girls, about half (48%) were non‐Hispanic European Americans. Results showed that prior sexual experience was related to a higher rate of sexual intercourse, but boys and girls did not differ. Tests of the causal model for subgroups (boy and girl virgins, boy and girl nonvirgins) yielded similar results. As predicted, paths from intentions to behavior and from norms and attitudes to intentions were significant, as were paths from outcome and normative beliefs to attitude and norm, respectively.     

Human Behavior and Biodiversity Loss: A Theoretical Analysis

Diversity of genes, species, and ecosystems altogether constitute biodiversity. Biodiversity is essential for our survival. Anthropogenic biodiversity loss is due to reasons such as unsustainable production and consumption, human population growth, and poverty. Despite various efforts undertaken for conserving biodiversity, nothing significant has been achieved. This study focuses on human behavior for biodiversity loss. The goal of human life is genetic survival through reproduction. The driving force for reproductive success can be explained through natural selection. From an evolutionary perspective, resources acquire intrinsic utility when they enhance the inclusive fitness, called reproductive success. Human behavioral change is required for conserving biodiversity.     

An Annotated Bibliography of Verbal Behavior Scholarship Published Outside of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior: 2014

This annotated bibliography summarizes journal articles on verbal behavior published outside of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, the primary journal for scholarship in this area. Seventeen such articles were published in 2014 and are annotated as a resource for practitioners, researchers, and educators.     

Social Exchange and Sexual Behavior in Young Women's Premarital Relationships in Kenya

Transactional sex, or the exchange of money and gifts for sexual activities within nonmarital relationships, has been widely considered a contributing factor to the disproportionate prevalence of HIV/AIDS among young women in sub-Saharan Africa. This study applied social exchange theory to premarital relationships in order to investigate the linkages between a variety of young women's resources-including employment and material transfers from male partners-and sexual behaviors. Data on the first month of premarital relationships (N=551 relationships) were collected from a random sample of young adult women ages 18-24 in Kisumu, Kenya, using a retrospective life history calendar. Consistent with the hypotheses, results showed that young women's income increases the likelihood of safer sexual activities, including delaying sex and using condoms consistently. Material transfers from the male partner displayed the opposite effect, supporting the view that resources obtained from within the relationship decrease young women's negotiating power.     

The Social Care Work Portfolio: An Aid to Integrated Learning and Reflection in Social Care Training

The focus of the paper is on the use of a specifically designed portfolio in social care training as an aid to both integrated learning and reflection. Integrated learning is achieved through the use of discrete sections in the portfolio which require students to discuss their practice placement agencies from perspectives that demonstrate their understanding of subjects such as theories and practices of social care, psychology, social policy, legal studies. Reflection, which is considered a core element of social care training, is examined as a learning tool. A model for the promotion of reflection is presented to help students gain new perspectives on their learning experiences. Criteria for the assessment of both integrated learning and use of reflection are discussed. Some comments of students, recorded during the evaluation process, are presented as evidence of their learning through the use of the portfolio model.     

Predicting STEM Major and Career Intentions With the Theory of Planned Behavior

This investigation predicted ACT‐tested 11th‐ and 12th‐grade students’ intentions to choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college majors and STEM careers using a measure of mathematics beliefs and attitudes based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). The TPB states that the best predictor of behavior is the intention to perform that behavior, and intention is influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Students (N = 1,958) from 11th grade (48%) or 12th grade (52%) completed the measure and also indicated their intended college major and career. Results revealed that TPB predicted STEM major and career choice incrementally over a host of additional variables. More specifically, attitude and intention were the most predictive components. Although results were similar for male and female participants, attitudes and interests were somewhat more predictive for female than for male participants. Intervention possibilities and implications for future research were discussed.     

Social Work Textbooks on Human Behavior and the Social Environment

SUMMARY

This analysis of fourteen foundation frequently used Human Behavior and Social Environment (HB&SE) textbooks is based on the Council on Social Work Education's (2001) guidelines for HB&SE and a framework for integrating content related to the social environment. Specific criteria for assessment included how well the textbook reflected the reciprocal nature of human behavior and the social environment, presented a strengths perspective, incorporated diversity content, and covered material related to families, groups, organizations, communities and political economy. Three types of HB&SE textbooks were identified (life cycle, systems, and theory), and results are presented by textbook type. The findings suggest that increased attention to content related to the macro social environment and to the inter-relationships of macro, meso, and micro forces would strengthen HB&SE texts.     

One Gay Asian Body: A Personal Narrative for Examining Human Behavior in the Social Environment

Research examining persons-in-environments have focused heavily on the environment at the expense of the individuals in the environment. Yet social work has much to learn from individual narratives that offer a method of inquiry to document efforts to promote individual and societal transformation. In this article, I use the life experiences of one gay Asian man to examine how an individual who is both racially and sexually marginalized negotiates his identity in light of environmental influences to develop a positive self-image.     

An Analysis of Verbal Stimulus Control in Intraverbal Behavior: Implications for Practice and Applied Research

A common characteristic of the language deficits experienced by children with autism (and other developmental disorders) is their failure to acquire a complex intraverbal repertoire. The difficulties with learning intraverbal behaviors may, in part, be related to the fact that the stimulus control for such behaviors usually involves highly complex verbal stimuli. The antecedent verbal control of intraverbal behavior may involve discriminative stimuli (i.e., discriminated operants), conditional stimulus control, and/or control by compound stimuli. Distinctions among these different types of antecedent control are presented, along with recommendations for intervention procedures that may facilitate the acquisition of intraverbal behavior.     

Verification of Self Using a Mathematical Theory of Identity,Feeling, and Behavior

The current study tests the affect control theory of self, a mathematical theory that demonstrates a core social psychological principle: individuals strive for a stable and coherent self through identity selection and behavior. In the affect control theory of self, the self is conceptualized as self‐sentiments, which are measured on three dimensions: evaluation (good/bad), potency (powerful/powerless), and activity (fast/slow). In a longitudinal sample of college men and women, I find the self‐sentiment predicts how individuals describe themselves on a range of terms, including primary emotions and both stigmatized and esteemed traits related to mental illness and self‐esteem. It also predicts various productive and deviant behaviors five months later. Thus, the current study demonstrates the theoretical precision of the theory, its ability for understanding human behavior, and its potential for identifying at‐risk individuals.     

Extremely Frequent Behavior in Consumer Research: Theory and Empirical Evidence for Chronic Casino Gambling

The present study informs understanding of customer segmentation strategies by extending Twedt’s heavy-half propositions to include a segment of users that represent less than 2% of all households—consumers demonstrating extremely frequent behavior (EFB). Extremely frequent behavior (EFB) theory provides testable propositions relating to the observation that few (2%) consumers in many product and service categories constitute more than 25% of the frequency of product or service use. Using casino gambling as an example for testing EFB theory, an analysis of national survey data shows that extremely frequent casino gamblers do exist and that less than 2% of all casino gamblers are responsible for nearly 25% of all casino gambling usage. Approximately 14% of extremely frequent casino users have very low-household income, suggesting somewhat paradoxical consumption patterns (where do very low-income users find the money to gamble so frequently?). Understanding the differences light, heavy, and extreme users and non-users can help marketers and policymakers identify and exploit “blue ocean” opportunities (Kim and Mauborgne, Blue ocean strategy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 2005), for example, creating effective strategies to convert extreme users into non-users or non-users into new users.     

The Developmental Life Course Perspective: A Conceptual and Organizing Framework for Human Behavior and the Social Environment

The developmental life course perspective (DLC) focuses attention on the socio-historical context in which we live our lives as it influences opportunities and life events that produce cumulative advantage or disadvantage. These large contextual forces shape preference and behavior, and it is within this context that the individual exerts personal agency. This perspective has particular utility as a conceptual framework for human behavior and the social environment courses as it integrates individual-level behavior within a social forces context. This article describes the DLC and its application as both a conceptual and an organizing framework for human behavior and the social environment courses at the masters level. It is illustrated with a case example.