Effects of Behavioral Skills Training and Peer Modeling on College Students\u27 Pours of Standard Servings of Beer

Excessive alcohol consumption among college students is a serious problem. Alcohol education courses have been proposed as one strategy to reduce this problem, with an emphasis on teaching college students to accurately track their drinks. Many of these courses are taught in a small group format, and aim to teach students to accurately identify and pour standard servings, largely because students report using the counting of drinks as a protective strategy against high-risk drinking. Despite the promotion of this strategy, few studies have evaluated training methods to teach this skill. The current study used a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline across subjects design to investigate (1) the effectiveness of behavioral skills training (BST) to teach college students ( N = 19) to accurately pour standard servings of beer, and (2) the effects of peer modeling on maintenance of participants’ pouring skills immediately following BST. Results indicated participants who inaccurately poured a standard serving of beer at baseline ( n = 17) accurately poured following receipt of BST, and all participants ( N = 19) maintained accurate pouring in the presence of peer confederate models who poured either inaccurately or accurately. These results suggest BST can be used to teach college students to accurately pour standard servings of beer. Directions for future research include the evaluation of BST in group alcohol education courses and with different alcohol types and vessels, as well as college students’ skill maintenance following BST

Effects of Behavioral Skills Training and Peer Modeling on College Students\u27 Pours of Standard Servings of Beer

Excessive alcohol consumption among college students is a serious problem. Alcohol education courses have been proposed as one strategy to reduce this problem, with an emphasis on teaching college students to accurately track their drinks. Many of these courses are taught in a small group format, and aim to teach students to accurately identify and pour standard servings, largely because students report using the counting of drinks as a protective strategy against high-risk drinking. Despite the promotion of this strategy, few studies have evaluated training methods to teach this skill. The current study used a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline across subjects design to investigate (1) the effectiveness of behavioral skills training (BST) to teach college students ( N = 19) to accurately pour standard servings of beer, and (2) the effects of peer modeling on maintenance of participants’ pouring skills immediately following BST. Results indicated participants who inaccurately poured a standard serving of beer at baseline ( n = 17) accurately poured following receipt of BST, and all participants ( N = 19) maintained accurate pouring in the presence of peer confederate models who poured either inaccurately or accurately. These results suggest BST can be used to teach college students to accurately pour standard servings of beer. Directions for future research include the evaluation of BST in group alcohol education courses and with different alcohol types and vessels, as well as college students’ skill maintenance following BST

The Effects of Behavioral Skills Trainingand Peer Modeling on College Students\u27 Pours

College students excessive alcohol consumption often results in negative consequences. Because students who avoid excessive drinking report counting their drinks, campus alcohol education courses are designed to teach students to accurately identify and pour standard servings. However, few studies have evaluated teaching this skill, and none have used BST. Because college students often imitate their peers, it is unclear if skills gained during BST would be lost in the presence of peers modeling inaccurate pouring. We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across subjects design to evaluate the (1) use of BST to teach college students (N = 19) to pour standard servings of beer (12 fl oz), and (2) effects of inaccurate peer modeling on skill maintenance. Participants who poured inaccurately at baseline (n = 17), poured accurately after receiving BST. Immediately following BST, all participants engaged in a group training where they observed two confederate peers over-pour, under-pour, or pour accurately; all participants maintained accurate pouring. Results suggest BST can be used to teach accurate pouring and these skills maintain in the presence of inaccurate peer models. Directions for future research include evaluating BST in alcohol education courses with different alcohol types and vessels, along with maintenance in naturalistic settings

The Effects of Behavioral Skills Trainingand Peer Modeling on College Students\u27 Pours

College students excessive alcohol consumption often results in negative consequences. Because students who avoid excessive drinking report counting their drinks, campus alcohol education courses are designed to teach students to accurately identify and pour standard servings. However, few studies have evaluated teaching this skill, and none have used BST. Because college students often imitate their peers, it is unclear if skills gained during BST would be lost in the presence of peers modeling inaccurate pouring. We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across subjects design to evaluate the (1) use of BST to teach college students (N = 19) to pour standard servings of beer (12 fl oz), and (2) effects of inaccurate peer modeling on skill maintenance. Participants who poured inaccurately at baseline (n = 17), poured accurately after receiving BST. Immediately following BST, all participants engaged in a group training where they observed two confederate peers over-pour, under-pour, or pour accurately; all participants maintained accurate pouring. Results suggest BST can be used to teach accurate pouring and these skills maintain in the presence of inaccurate peer models. Directions for future research include evaluating BST in alcohol education courses with different alcohol types and vessels, along with maintenance in naturalistic settings

Teaching college students to pour accurately: Effects of behavioral skills training and peer modeling

Excessive alcohol consumption among college students is a serious problem. Alcohol education courses, during which students are taught to free‐pour accurate servings of alcohol, have been proposed as one strategy to reduce this problem. However, few studies have evaluated the effects of peer models on free‐pour skill maintenance. We used a nonconcurrent multiple‐baseline across subjects design to assess the effects of peer modeling on maintenance of college students\u27 (N = 19) pouring skills of a standard serving of beer immediately following Behavioral Skills Training (BST). Results indicated participants who inaccurately poured a standard serving of beer at baseline (n = 17) accurately poured following receipt of BST, and all participants (N = 19) maintained accurate pouring in the presence of peer confederate models who poured inaccurately or accurately. Results suggest BST is an efficient (i.e., low to no‐cost, requires no sophisticated laboratory space or software, and makes use of available and affordable materials) and effective tool for teaching college students to pour standard servings of beer and that the immediate introduction of inaccurately pouring peer models has little or no effect on skill maintenance

Poor Pouring Peers: The Effects of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) and Peer Modeling on College Students’ Pours of Standard Servings of Beer

Excessive alcohol consumption among college students often results in negative consequences (e.g., driving drunk, injury, sexual assault). Campus alcohol education courses aim to teach students to accurately identify and pour standard servings, because counting drinks has been identified as a protective strategy against risky drinking. However, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of teaching this skill, and no published studies have evaluated the use of behavioral skills training (BST) for this purpose. Moreover, it is unclear whether observing peer models’ inaccurate behavior (e.g., during a group training class) would negate the positive effects of BST. We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across subjects design to investigate (1) the effectiveness of BST to individually teach college students (N = 19) to accurately pour standard servings of beer (12 fl oz), and (2) the effects of peer modeling on skill maintenance immediately following BST. Following BST, participants partook in a “group training” in which they observed two confederate “peers” over-pour, under-pour, or pour accurately. Participants who poured inaccurately at baseline (n = 17), poured accurately post-training, and all participants (N = 19) maintained accurate pouring, regardless of peer presence or pouring behavior. These results suggest BST is effective for teaching college students to pour standard servings of beer. Directions for future research include evaluating use of BST in alcohol education courses, with different alcohol types and vessels, and maintenance in naturalistic settings

Poor Pouring Peers: The Effects of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) and Peer Modeling on College Students’ Pours of Standard Servings of Beer

Excessive alcohol consumption among college students often results in negative consequences (e.g., driving drunk, injury, sexual assault). Campus alcohol education courses aim to teach students to accurately identify and pour standard servings, because counting drinks has been identified as a protective strategy against risky drinking. However, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of teaching this skill, and no published studies have evaluated the use of behavioral skills training (BST) for this purpose. Moreover, it is unclear whether observing peer models’ inaccurate behavior (e.g., during a group training class) would negate the positive effects of BST. We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across subjects design to investigate (1) the effectiveness of BST to individually teach college students (N = 19) to accurately pour standard servings of beer (12 fl oz), and (2) the effects of peer modeling on skill maintenance immediately following BST. Following BST, participants partook in a “group training” in which they observed two confederate “peers” over-pour, under-pour, or pour accurately. Participants who poured inaccurately at baseline (n = 17), poured accurately post-training, and all participants (N = 19) maintained accurate pouring, regardless of peer presence or pouring behavior. These results suggest BST is effective for teaching college students to pour standard servings of beer. Directions for future research include evaluating use of BST in alcohol education courses, with different alcohol types and vessels, and maintenance in naturalistic settings

Preference for Similar Others: A Replication and Extension

Mahajan and Wynn (2012) contend infants’ preference for similar others is innate, not learned, and influenced by the salience of the similarity; they also contend this helps explain behaviors such as genocide and prejudice. In their study, infants (N=32) were more likely to choose the puppet that liked the same food when the infants chose the food first (high salience) then chose a puppet (84%) compared to infants (N = 16) who chose a puppet and then chose a food (44%) (low salience). Limitations of their study include potential parental bias (i.e., parents were not blind to infants’ food preference in the high salience condition) and use of a single choice measure. Our replication of the low salience condition (N = 20 infant-parent dyads) will include an extension in which (1) half of the parents indicate their infant’s food preference before viewing the puppet show (i.e., creating “high saliency” only for parents, not infants) and (2) a within subjects measure in which all infants will choose a puppet five times. Data collected thus far (n = 1; no questionnaire condition) show the infant chose the dissimilar puppet across all five choice trials. Results and implications are discussed

The Effect of Product Characteristics on Recycling Behavior

The United States generated 251 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2012 (EPA), half of which entered landfills; paper and paperboard comprised the largest portion. Recycling paper should reduce waste and its negative environmental impact. Although most research has focused on antecedent and consequent interventions or individual characteristics associated with recycling (e.g., attitudes, knowledge), Trudel and Argo (2013) examined product characteristics. They found size of paper affected whether individuals recycled (e.g., approximately 40% recycled small pieces of paper and 80% recycled large paper). We partially replicated their methods, but conducted individual rather than group sessions, in which all participants (N = 60 typically-developing adults) were asked to dispose of all sizes and conditions of paper (twice, for a total of two trials) rather than only one piece of paper once. Results indicated nearly all participants (93%) recycled all pieces of paper (small, medium, standard, crumpled) when recycling and trash bins were concurrently available. These results are unlike those obtained by Trudel and Argo (2013). Factors including reactivity and increased awareness of recycling may account for these observed differences. We should continue to extend our knowledge regarding how packaging and other stimulus characteristics affect individuals’ recycling