Keeping an Uphill Edge

Abstract

Several behaviors in a ski shop were identified as being deficient using Austin's Performance Diagnostic Checklist (2000) and Daniels and Daniels' PIC/NIC Analysis (2004). During a 4-week baseline, 7 cleaning behaviors were monitored and 5 were subsequently targeted in an intervention package using an ABC design. The intervention included: a task clarification session, a posted behavioral checklist, graphic feedback of the group's performance for the previous week, and daily task-specific feedback. Immediately after the checklist was posted, the frequency of employee cleaning behaviors increased 52%. Cleaning behaviors increased an additional 12% after the implementation of daily task-specific feedback. Results suggest the interventions generalized to the 2 cleaning behaviors not mentioned in the task-clarification session.     

Using Public Feedback and Competitive Rewards to Increase the Safe Driving of Pizza Deliverers

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of a safe driving competition facilitated by publicly-posted individual feedback. The turn-signal use, safety-belt use, and complete intersection stopping of 82 pizza deliverers were observed at two experimental and three control stores, as well as among the civilian population. After baseline observations, pizza deliverers received posted weekly individual feedback on their turn-signal use (at Store A) or complete intersection stops (at Store B). The deliverers' safe driving scores were posted individually on a vertical scale along with their names. Each week the deliverer with the highest average performance was rewarded with a free vehicle-maintenance coupon. Turn-signal use among drivers at Store A (n= 24) increased 22 percentage points from baseline to the intervention phase which was maintained into the withdrawal phase. Complete intersection stopping among drivers at Store B (n= 21) increased 17 percentage points from baseline to the intervention phase and was maintained into the withdrawal phase. Although the winners of the weekly competitions had the greatest increase in performance, non-winners also increased their instances of safe driving during the competition.     

An Evaluation of Training Procedures for Animal Shelter Volunteers

This study evaluated the effects of 3 training procedures on the correct implementation of a dog walking and enrichment protocol (DWEP). During the shelter’s typical training, volunteers correctly implemented just over half of all DWEP steps (M = 55.2%). Correct implementation of the DWEP procedure improved when participants completed a video-based self-training package (M = 75.3%) but did not reach the preestablished mastery criterion of 85% fidelity with 0 safety errors. Correct implementation improved during coaching (M = 90.6%), which consisted of modeling and positive and corrective feedback, and was maintained during 1-week and 1-month follow-up probes. Criterion performance was demonstrated by 2 of 3 participants at the conclusion of the study.     

Swimming Pool Hygiene: Self-Monitoring,Task Clarification,and Performance Feedback Increase Lifeguard Cleaning Behaviors

The effects of task clarification, self-monitoring, and performance feedback on cleaning behaviors of 9 lifeguards in 3 performance areas (vacuuming, lobby tidying, and pool deck maintenance) were investigated using an ABA reversal design at a county swim complex. A specific task in each performance area was used as a behavioral control. Following a task clarification meeting, the percentage of closing tasks completed each night was self-monitored through ratings by lifeguards and managers. Researchers conducted independent ratings of these completed tasks after the staff had left the building. Feedback data were posted daily using line graphs that displayed the percentage of tasks completed correctly from both self-report and researchers' data. Overall performance increased from an average of 45.1% correct behaviors during baseline to an average of 76.9% during intervention then reversed to baseline during follow-up to an average performance of 45.05%.     

Idea Generation and the Role of Feedback: Evidence from Field Experiments with Innovation Tournaments

In many innovation settings, ideas are generated over time and managers face a decision about if and how to provide in‐process feedback to the idea generators about the quality of submissions. In this article, we use design contests allowing repeated entry to examine the effect of in‐process feedback on idea generation. We report on a set of field experiments using two online contest websites to compare the performance of three different feedback treatments—no feedback, random feedback, and directed feedback (i.e., in‐process feedback highly correlated with the final quality rating of the entry). We posted six logo design contests for consumer products and accepted submissions for 1 week. We provided daily feedback during the contest period using one of the three treatments. We then used a panel of target consumers to rate the quality of each idea. We find that directed feedback is associated positively with agent participation. For outcome, while directed feedback benefits the average quality of entries submitted, we don't find that relationship for the best entries—indeed, no feedback or random feedback may produce better top‐end entry quality. We also find that, under directed feedback, the variance in quality declines as the contest progresses.     

The Effects of Graphic Feedback,Goal Setting,and Manager Praise on Customer Service Behaviors

Abstract

The current study used a multiple baseline design to investigate the effects of graphic feedback, goal setting, and manager praise on customer service behaviors in a large retail setting. Direct observation of customer greeting, eye contact, and smiling was used to collect data. After baseline data were collected feedback graphs were posted twice each week in the employee break room. A second intervention phase included goal setting and manager praise. Goals were developed based on employees' prior performance and were posted on the graphs. Managers then delivered immediate, verbal praise to employees. Graphic feedback produced slight increases in the customer interaction variables in the front of stores 1 and 2. Another small increase in performance was seen in the back of store 1 and the front and back of store 2 with the implementation of the interventions.     

A Preliminary Investigation of the Reinforcement Function of Signal Detections in Simulated Baggage Screening: Further Support for the Vigilance Reinforcement Hypothesis

The vigilance reinforcement hypothesis (VRH) asserts that errors in signal detection tasks are partially explained by operant reinforcement and extinction processes. VRH predictions were tested with a computerized baggage screening task. Our experiment evaluated the effects of signal schedule (extinction vs. variable interval 6 min) and visual field complexity (dial vs. baggage x-ray) on search behavior rates. There was a main effect for signal schedule [F (1, 20) = 14.0, p = .001, p_rep = 0.99], but no effects for field complexity or interaction. The VRH suggests that performance errors in visual screening work may be reduced through operant conditioning of search behaviors by intensive management of artificially planted signals.     

Effects of Grouped and Individual Feedback and Feinforcement on Retail Employee Performances

Using a modified withdrawal design, the effeciveness of grouped feedback, individual feedback, and reinforcement plus individual feedback were assessed on cashier precision, punctuality, and money check-out proficiency of 15 part-time employees in a retail drugstore. Publicly posted performance charts were used during all conditions to inform employees of their grouped or individual daily discrepancies between cash register cumulative totals and the actual amount accounted for, the tardiness figures, and the manner in which all daily money was checked into the safe. The final intervention also included contingent reinforcement in the form of movie tickets, soft drinks, and candy bars for performances at or above criterion levels. The use of individual feedback alone and reinforcement with individual feedback increased efficiency substantially in all three areas; whereas, grouped feedback alone did not effectively increase efficiency.     

Daily Inhalation Rate and Time‐Activity/Location Pattern in Japanese Preschool Children

Lack of data on daily inhalation rate and activity of children has been an issue in health risk assessment of air pollutants. This study aimed to obtain the daily inhalation rate and intensity and frequency of physical activity in relation to the environment in Japanese preschool children. Children aged four–six years (n= 138) in the suburbs of Tokyo participated in this study, which involved three days' continuous monitoring of physical activity using a tri‐axial accelerometer and parent's completion of a time/location diary during daily life. The estimated three‐day mean daily inhalation rate (body temperature, pressure, saturated with water vapor) was 9.9 ± 1.6 m³/day (0.52 ± 0.09 m³/kg/day). The current daily inhalation rate value of 0.580 m³/kg/day proposed for use in health risk assessment in Japan is confirmed to be valid to calculate central value of inhaled dose of air pollutants in five‐ to six‐year‐old children. However, the 95th percentile daily inhalation rate of 0.83 m³/kg/day based on measurement for five‐year‐old children is recommended to be used to provide an upper bound estimate of exposure that ensure the protection of all five‐ to six‐year‐old children from the health risk of air pollutants. Children spent the majority of their time in sedentary and light level of physical activity (LPA) when indoors, while 85% of their time when outdoors was spent in LPA and moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity. The results suggest the need to consider variability of minute respiratory ventilation rate according to the environment for more refined short‐term health risk assessment.     

A Model for Master Production Scheduling in Uncertain Environments

In uncertain environments, the master production schedule (MPS) is usually developed using a rolling schedule. When utilizing a rolling schedule, the MPS is replanned periodically and a portion of the MPS is frozen in each planning cycle. The cost performance of a rolling schedule depends on three decisions: the choice of the replanning interval (R), which determines how often the MPS should be replanned; the choice of the frozen interval (F), which determines how many periods the MPS should be frozen in each planning cycle; and the choice of the forecast window (T), which is the time interval over which the MPS is determined using newly updated forecast data. This paper uses an analytical approach to study the master production scheduling process in uncertain environments without capacity constraints, where the MPS is developed using a rolling schedule. It focuses on the choices of F, R, and T for the MPS. A conceptual framework that includes all important MPS time intervals is described. The effects of F, R, and T on system costs, which include the forecast error, MPS change, setup, and inventory holding costs, are also explored. Finally, a mathematical model for the MPS is presented. This model approximates the average system cost as a function of F, R, T, and several environmental factors. It can be used to estimate the associated system costs for any combination of F, R, and T.     

Potency Factors for Risk Assessment at Libby,Montana

We reanalyzed the Libby vermiculite miners’ cohort assembled by Sullivan to estimate potency factors for lung cancer, mesothelioma, nonmalignant respiratory disease (NMRD), and all‐cause mortality associated with exposure to Libby fibers. Our principal statistical tool for analyses of lung cancer, NMRD, and total mortality in the cohort was the time‐dependent proportional hazards model. For mesothelioma, we used an extension of the Peto formula. For a cumulative exposure to Libby fiber of 100 f/mL‐yr, our estimates of relative risk (RR) are as follows: lung cancer, RR = 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) =[1.06, 1.17]; NMRD, RR = 1.14, 95% CI =[1.09, 1.18]; total mortality, RR = 1.06, 95% CI =[1.04, 1.08]. These estimates were virtually identical when analyses were restricted to the subcohort of workers who were employed for at least one year. For mesothelioma, our estimate of potency is K_M = 0.5 × 10^?8, 95% CI =[0.3 × 10^?8, 0.8 × 10^?8]. Finally, we estimated the mortality ratios standardized against the U.S. population for lung cancer, NMRD, and total mortality and obtained estimates that were in good agreement with those reported by Sullivan. The estimated potency factors form the basis for a quantitative risk assessment at Libby.     

Real‐Time Work Schedule Adjustment Decisions: An Investigation and Evaluation

Service managers often find that available worker capacity does not match with actual demand during a given day. They then must attempt to modify the planned work schedule to improve service and increase profitability. This study, which defines such a setting as the real‐time work schedule adjustment decision, pr oposes mathematical formulations of the real‐time adjustment and develops efficient heuristic approaches for this decision. The study evaluates the relative effectiveness of these heuristics versus experienced service managers, investigates the effect of the degree of schedule adjustment on profitability, and assesses the effect of demand forecast update errors on the performance of the schedule adjustment efforts. First, the results indicate that the computer based heuristics achieve higher profit improvement than experienced managers. Second, there is a trade‐off between schedule stability and profitability so that more extensive schedule revisions (efficiency first heuristics) generally result in higher profitability. However, the incremental return on schedule changes is diminishing. Third, we find that active adjustments of work schedules are beneficial as long as the direction of demand change is accurately identified.     

Absenteeism in Health Care: Using Interlocking Behavioral Contingency Feedback to Increase Attendance With Certified Nursing Assistants

This research used an ABA multiple baseline design across hospitals to evaluate a behavioral intervention designed to reduce absenteeism among 64 certified nursing assistants (CNA) in a rural health care organization. Pre-baseline assessments suggested that when CNAs were absent from work, other employees had to work unscheduled shifts. Because of this metacontingency, employees reported that they skipped work themselves to make up for the extra shifts they had to cover. This cycle created more unscheduled shifts and potentially caused the high absenteeism prevalent at the organization. An intervention with normative and metacontingency feedback significantly decreased the total number of days CNAs were absent per week across the three hospitals from a baseline mean of 0.24 (SD?=?0.19) days per week (7.74% of their scheduled hours) to a mean of 0.13 (SD?=?0.17) days per week (3.81% of their scheduled hours) during the intervention. In a return to baseline the total number of days CNAs were absent per week across the three hospitals increased to a mean of 0.24 (SD?=?0.20) days per week (7.47% of their scheduled hours).     

Weekly Feedback vs. Daily Feedback

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted in a retail setting to (a) assess the effectiveness of a multi-component performance management intervention and (b) compare the effectiveness of weekly and daily feedback. During the first experiment, a multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of task clarification, goal setting, access to preferred items contingent upon goal attainment, and weekly graphic feedback on the completion of routine maintenance tasks in a framing and art store. During phase 1 of the second experiment, an AB design was used to replicate the effects of this intervention on similar tasks in a new store location with the same participants. During phase 2 of the second experiment, a multiple baseline design was used to assess the effectiveness of the intervention when daily feedback replaced weekly feedback. Results indicate that the multi-component intervention was effective in both experiments, and that daily feedback may have enhanced the effectiveness of the intervention.     

Popular matchings: structure and algorithms

An instance of the popular matching problem (POP-M) consists of a set of applicants and a set of posts. Each applicant has a preference list that strictly ranks a subset of the posts. A matching M of applicants to posts is popular if there is no other matching M′ such that more applicants prefer M′ to M than prefer M to M′. Abraham et al. (SIAM J. Comput. 37:1030–1045, 2007) described a linear time algorithm to determine whether a popular matching exists for a given instance of POP-M, and if so to find a largest such matching. A number of variants and extensions of POP-M have recently been studied. This paper provides a characterization of the set of popular matchings for an arbitrary POP-M instance in terms of a structure called the switching graph, a directed graph computable in linear time from the preference lists. We show that the switching graph can be exploited to yield efficient algorithms for a range of associated problems, including the counting and enumeration of the set of popular matchings, generation of a popular matching uniformly at random, finding all applicant-post pairs that can occur in a popular matching, and computing popular matchings that satisfy various additional optimality criteria. Our algorithms for computing such optimal popular matchings improve those described in a recent paper by Kavitha and Nasre (Proceedings of MATCH-UP: Matching Under Preferences—Algorithms and Complexity, 2008).     

The Discussion of Behavioral Principles in JOBM

Abstract

We addressed the inclusion of behavioral analyses in the research and case study articles published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM) over the past 5 years (1992–1997). The amount of behavior analysis included in JOBM articles appears to be greater than that found in JABA in the early 1980s. However, the presence of such analyses in JOBM can still be increased. Further, a significant number of articles do not mention how the particular intervention was chosen to address a specific organizational problem. This lack of a functional assessment makes it difficult for readers to decide if a proposed intervention is applicable to a situation with which they might be dealing. Additionally, we reviewed articles and examined the range of those behavioral principles discussed and found little diversity among the principles used. This paper serves to address some of the problems and ramifications associated with this separation and to offer suggestions as to how this situation could be improved.     

New Data,Strategies, and Insights for Listeria monocytogenes Dose‐Response Models: Summary of an Interagency Workshop, 2011

Listeria monocytogenes is a leading cause of hospitalization, fetal loss, and death due to foodborne illnesses in the United States. A quantitative assessment of the relative risk of listeriosis associated with the consumption of 23 selected categories of ready‐to‐eat foods, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2003, has been instrumental in identifying the food products and practices that pose the greatest listeriosis risk and has guided the evaluation of potential intervention strategies. Dose‐response models, which quantify the relationship between an exposure dose and the probability of adverse health outcomes, were essential components of the risk assessment. However, because of data gaps and limitations in the available data and modeling approaches, considerable uncertainty existed. Since publication of the risk assessment, new data have become available for modeling L. monocytogenes dose‐response. At the same time, recent advances in the understanding of L. monocytogenes pathophysiology and strain diversity have warranted a critical reevaluation of the published dose‐response models. To discuss strategies for modeling L. monocytogenes dose‐response, the Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC) and the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) held a scientific workshop in 2011 (details available at http://foodrisk.org/irac/events/ ). The main findings of the workshop and the most current and relevant data identified during the workshop are summarized and presented in the context of L. monocytogenes dose‐response. This article also discusses new insights on dose‐response modeling for L. monocytogenes and research opportunities to meet future needs.     

Robot Map Verification of a Graph World

In the map verification problem, a robot is given a (possibly incorrect) map M of the world G with its position and orientation indicated on the map. The task is to find out whether this map, for the given robot position and its orientation in the map, is correct for the world G. We consider the world model of a graph G = (V _G, E _G) in which, for each vertex, edges incident to the vertex are ordered cyclically around that vertex. (This also holds for the map M = (V _M, E _M.) The robot can traverse edges and enumerate edges incident on the current vertex, but it cannot distinguish vertices (and edges) from each other. To solve the verification problem, the robot uses a portable edge marker, that it can put down at an edge of the graph world G and pick up later as needed. The robot can recognize the edge marker when it encounters it in the world G. By reducing the verification problem to an exploration problem, verification can be completed in O(|V _G| × |E _G|) edge traversals (the mechanical cost) with the help of a single vertex marker which can be dropped and picked up at vertices of the graph world (G. Dudek, M. Jenkin, E. Milios, and D. Wilkes, IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, vol. 7, pp. 859–865, 1991; Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 22(2), pp. 159–178, 1997). In this paper, we show a strategy that verifies a map in O(|V _M|) edge traversals only, using a single edge marker, when M is a plane embedded graph, even though G may not be planar (e.g., G may contain overpasses, tunnels, etc.).     

Flexible reasoning using sensible agent-based systems: A case study in job flow scheduling

Planning and control systems for highly dynamic and uncertain manufacturing environments require adaptive flexibility and decision-making capabilities. Modern distributed manufacturing systems assess the utility of planning and executing solutions for both system goals (e.g. minimize manufacturing production time for all parts or minimize WIP) and local goals (e.g. expedite part A production schedule or maximize machine X utilization). Sensible Agents have the ability to alter their autonomy levels to choose among a set of decision models in order to handle the differences between local and system goals. In this paper, Sensible Agents are applied to a production planning and control problem in the context of job shop scheduling and decision model theory. Sensible Agents provide for trade-off reasoning mechanisms among system and local utilities that are flexible and responsive to an agent's abilities, situational context and position in the organizational structure of the system.     

When Knowing You Are Doing Well Hinders Performance

Summary

The effect of two types of verbal consequences, rule-following feedback and task performance feedback, on rule-induced insensitivity to programmed schedules of reinforcement were examined. Rule-following feedback could be either accurate or non-contingently positive. The task involved moving a sign through a grid using telegraph keys operating on a multiple DRL 6/FR 18 schedule of reinforcement in the presence of an initially accurate rule. After acquisition, the multiple schedule was changed without notice to a FR 1/FI Yoked schedule. Accurate rule-following feedback plus feedback on task performance produced striking insensitivity to the DRL 6 to FR 1 schedule change, the opposite of what might be expected by a common sense analysis of task performance feedback, even after controlling for contact with the changed contingency. It is argued that findings such as these can only be understood by considering the mutual verbal relations evoked by the combinations of rules and feedback, rather than treating feedback as a simple consequential event or as a verbal consequence whose effects do not depend on the relations sustained with other events.