A Walk-Jog Program as a "Applied Changing Criterion Design" By 1419 in 1419's Diary Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 08:46:09 AM EST Tags: walking, jogging, compliance, single subject research methods, changing criterion designs, self-experimentation (all tags)
	An comparison of a walk-jog program to a single-subject research design.

A Walk-Jog Program as a "Applied Changing Criterion Design" The benefits of exercise are well known. Jogging is widely considered to be one such beneficial exercise. However, many people who are most in need of exercise are unable to transition from a sedentary lifestyle to one that includes regular moderate exercise. Previous attempts to exercise might have become aversive due to overexercise or injury . A program that makes small incremental demands is more likely to obtain compliance, minimize the risk of injury and allow the sedentary to transition to a lifestyle of regular exercise. One such program is found online, "Beginning to Run" [1]. This program is comprised of three weekly sessions of 30 minutes. Each session is further divided into three, ten minute intervals. In the first week each interval is just walking with no jogging. Each successive interval ends with the incrementing the jog period by one minute and reducing the walk portion by 1 minute. On the second week, for example, the three ten minute intervals would be nine minutes of walking and one minute of jogging, comprising 3 total minutes of jogging per session. In one week of three sessions this would be a total of nine minutes of jogging. This program starts at a baseline healthy sedentary people should be able to meet. One way to evaluate the ability for sedentary participants to transition to this program is using the PAR-Q [2]. The PAR-Q is a short questionnaire designed to evaluate basic physical fitness capacity. A greater knowledge of science and scientific methodology is often quite useful. Clear examples of the practical usage of scientific methodologies to effect behavior change are often lacking. One methodology is the "Changing Criterion" design [3], a subset of the single-subject research design. In the changing criterion design an initial baseline of behavior is observed and recorded. After baseline stabilization an intervention is introduced to change that baseline. This intervention has a criterion that is progressively changed, typically in a slightly varied manner to control for possible confounds that might be hidden by fixed progress. In the "Beginning to Run" example no variation is included in the incremental change. Each successful week of progress results in the increment of one minute. The Beginning to Run program is an "example" of a changing criterion design with some general assumptions being made about the nature of an intervention. A participant might be motivated to start an exercise program for a variety of naturally occurring contingencies. If we start with the premise that the participant is the researcher [4] and make generous assumptions about the contingencies of the intervention we can see common factors in the simple running program and the "changing criterion" research design. Since there is no explicit variable manipulation, we can speculate on possible reinforcement effects. First, the simplicity of the design makes tracking progress very easy. Access to visible indicators of progress itself is sometimes sufficient to motivate behavior alone. However, whatever contingencies that are motivating participation in an exercise program to begin with might provide a similar explanatory force (for example, compliance with medical advice). Also, progress can be a generalized reinforcer. Most participants will have made progress in a variety of settings in a wide number of tasks. Progress in this task also can be reinforcing as a result. In the sense that video games are reinforcing yet offer little more than point counts, level and other indicators of progress, so too can successful movement in an exercise program provide reinforcement. Past participation in exercise programs might have been highly reinforcing and moderate exercise may bring them in touch with these older, natural contingencies. Additionally, previous attempts to return to an active lifestyle for the sedentary might have been highly aversive. Succeeding in a new program may be reinforcing as a direct result of previous participation in the sense of an "establishing operation" [5]. Although not mentioned in the "Beginning to Run" article, but implicit in a changing criterion design, ongoing data collection would allow the subject to generate a visible graph of progress. One such method to do so might include a simple line graph spread sheet using popular software like Open Office Calc [6]. An alternative for participants who do not own a computer, or who do not possess the sophistication (or permission) to install software, would be an on line spreadsheet such as EditGrid [7]. An on line spreadsheet has many possible desirable side effects including the ability to share progress in the sense of public posting of progress [8], which itself may prove motivating. The "Beginning to Run" program might provide multiple benefits for those transitioning to an active lifestyle. In addition to providing reasonable and small goals for the progression to longer intervals of jogging, it may provide a practical example of a scientific research design. References: [1] Unknown, Beginning to Run, Retrieved on October 9, 2006 from http://www.fleetfeetstl.com/Beginning_to_Run.htm [2] Thomas, S., Reading, J., & Shephard, R. J. (1992). Revision of the Physical Activity Readiness Questionairre (PAR-Q). Canadian Journal of Sports Sciences, 17, 338-345. [3] Changing Criterion Designs, Retrieved on October 9, 2006 from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=100 2635 [4] Roberts, S., Neuringer P., Self-Experimentation. Retrieved on October 9, 2006, from http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~roberts/self/ [5] B A Iwata, R G Smith, and J Michael (2000) Current research on the influence of establishing operations on behavior in applied settings. J Appl Behav Anal. 33(4): 411-418. Retrieved on October 9, 2006, from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1284267 [6] http://www.OpenOffice.org [7] http://www.editgrid.com [8]See, for example, Ward, P. & Carnes, M. (2002). Effects of posting self-set goals on collegiate football players' skill execution during practice and games.Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,. 35, 1-12.Retrieved on October 10, 2006 from http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/2002/jaba-35-01-0001.pdf

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http://www .fleetfeetstl.com/Beginning_to_Run.htm http://www .pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=100 2635 http://soc rates.berkeley.edu/~roberts/self/ http://www .pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1284267 http://www .OpenOffice.org http://www .editgrid.com http://sea b.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/2002/jaba-35-01-0001.pdf 1419's Diary