Changing Criterion Designs

The changing criterion design is a type of singlesubject research design that may be used as either an experimental or a quasi-experimental design, depending on the amount of experimenter control. Typically, changing criterion designs are used to evaluate the effects of instructional programs in building fluency or affecting rate of responding over time. Fluency evaluation with academic facts, the speed with which a task is performed, and the number of tasks that are completed in a set period of time are examples of behaviors for which this design would be appropriate. By monitoring gradual changes in performance over time, experimental control is demonstrated as stepwise changes in criterion predict concurrent changes in performance. As a quasi-experimental research design, the changing criteria design may be ...