Using computers to teach behavior analysis.
Free 1995 software lets trainees practice shaping and read schedules on screen when live labs are impossible.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dugan et al. (1995) built two free computer programs. One shows a rat on screen. Students shape the rat to press a bar.
The other program draws real cumulative records. Students see what VI, VR, FI and FR schedules look like.
Both tools run on old PCs. No live animals needed.
What they found
The authors did not run an experiment. They simply shared the software and told teachers how to use it.
They said the screen rat gives the same feel as a live-shaping lab.
How this fits with other research
Pfadt (1991) came first. That paper gave a tiny BASIC file that prints VI schedule values. Dugan et al. (1995) went bigger: full graphics and a moving rat.
Lovitz et al. (2021) took the idea further. They swapped the rat for typed timed practice. Students see a term, type the definition and get a chart. Both studies use computers to teach behavior analysis, but one builds fluency, the other shows schedules.
Gilroy et al. (2017) moved the same line of work into research. Their free tool fits delay-discounting curves instead of teaching students. Together the three papers show a path: first automate tables, then teach with games, then help practicing BCBAs analyze data.
Why it matters
If you train new staff or students, you can still download these 1995 programs. They run in DOS emulators. Use the shaping game before touching a live client. Let trainees see clean cumulative records so they spot patterns faster in real data. It costs nothing and saves animals.
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Join Free →Run the schedule-discrimination program on your office PC. Show the class what a real cumulative record looks like before they graph their first client session.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
When it is impractical to provide behavior analysis students with extensive laboratory experience using real organisms, computers can provide effective demonstrations, simulations, and experiments. Furthermore, such computer programs can establish contingency-shaped behavior even in lecture classes, which usually are limited to establishing rule-governed behavior. We describe the development of computerized shaping simulations and the development of software that teaches students to discriminate among reinforcement schedules on the basis of cumulative records.
The Behavior analyst, 1995 · doi:10.1007/BF03392718