Session 264: Inside JABA 19, How Does Interviewer Behavior Influence Children’s Responses?

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Instructors: Milad Najafichaghabouri, Ray Joslyn, Emma Preston

If you've ever watched a police procedural show on television, you're probably noticed that there are different ways to phrase questions to people. I've just given you a few examples that will be salient to the forthcoming discussion.

And, all kidding aside, if you haven't done so already, if you enjoy what we do here, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave a rating and review of the show.

In the 19th installment of Behavioral Observations' Inside JABA Series, Dr. John Borrero and I discuss a paper in the most recent issue called, Idiosyncratic effects of interviewer behavior on the accuracy of children’s responses, with its authors: Milad Najafichaghabouri, Dr. Ray Joslyn, and Emma Preston.

Here's some additional background on our guests:

  • Dr. Ray Joslyn is currently an assistant professor in the psychology department at West Virginia University. He has research interests in group contingencies, behavior analysis in education, and crime and delinquency.
  • Milad Najafichaghabouri is a doctoral student in the Disability Disciplines program at Utah State University specializing in ABA. His primary research interests include group contingency-based intervention in the classroom, and social validity practices in research
  • Emma Preston is currently a graduate student in the Disabilities Disciplines program at Utah State University specializing in ABA. Her research and practice interests include the Good Behavior Game, manipulating parameters of reinforcement to improve intervention outcomes, and Tier 3 school-based interventions.

I'll refrain from spoiling the discussion here, but there are a few things to note. First, this is the first time we've discussed a replication in the Inside JABA Series, and John dons his Editor in Chief hat for a few minutes at the end and discusses the importance of replication studies in general, and what makes for good replication more specifically.

Second, this topic - describing the conditions in which children do and do not report incidents accurately - has huge implications. From schools, to child services, to law enforcement, understanding the potential influences of phrasing questions and acknowledging responses could be crucial contributions in these areas.

Third, this study featured a clever assent procedure that again, I won't spoil here, but it's worth tuning into.

And lastly, we get into all sorts of nitty-gritty details, including some of the participants' unexpected responses to the experimental procedure (see below) ... and these are the things that generally do not make the printed page that you can only get in these types of conversations.

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