Measuring and Manipulating Indices of Happiness and Unhappiness

The field of behavior science has recently focused much attention on issues related to consent and assent. While consent has been more clearly defined legally, assent can be more difficult to determine, especially among individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other intellectual or developmental disabilities. Previous studies have shown that defining specific behaviors among individuals related to emotional states of being happy or unhappy can be consistently scored across observers. The purposes of the current study were to define indices of happiness and unhappiness, assess their occurrence in different activities, and introduce environmental variables to assess the extent to which indices of happiness and unhappiness would change. Results showed that indices of happiness and unhappiness were able to be operationally defined, scored accurately, showed covariance with different types of activities, and were increased and decreased contingent upon the introduction and withdrawal of environmental stimuli. Results were discussed in terms of the procedural importance of identifying indices of behavior as potential individual markers of assent- and dissent-adjacency, and their potential impact on clinical outcomes.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Kansas

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Eads, Andrea

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Zane, Thomas

• Behavioral sciences
• Alternating treatments
• Assent
• Assent-adjacent
• Consent
• Indices of happiness and unhappiness
• Non-vocal children

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:19814

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/38351