Behavioral Fluency

Description

Behavioral fluency refers to a definition of mastery, or to be “good at” something that includes the time dimension and a criterion of accuracy or quality of the response or its product (e.g., answers to math problems, notes picked on a guitar). Use of this term by behavioral educators in reference to competence or ability has precedents in everyday descriptions of, for example, foreign language speakers and the study and teaching of reading.

The original meaning of the term, well understood by anyone with experience in language learning, is the ability to speak both accurately and quickly or without hesitation. A speaker of French or Japanese is fluent when she or he can say the right words smoothly without stumbling. Language fluency or dysfluency (nonfluency) is recognized by and proficiency judged on the quality and pace of the speaker's utterances. Speech therapists treat speaking disorders (e.g., stuttering after brain injury) to assist sufferers in achieving fluency in their native tongue, with similar attention to the temporal dimension of behavior.

Unlike behavioral educators who describe fluent behavior as both accurate and quick, reading specialists use the term fluency to distinguish the pace or speed at which readers decode words from the accuracy of their reading. Despite this difference in the use of the term, their shared focus on the temporal dimension of behavior creates common ground for understanding and analyzing learning problems and performance deficits. Reading research has shown that fluency is an essential prerequisite for reading comprehension. Fluency-based instructional researchers and practitioners have discovered that fluency in [Page 1186]behavior components, or preskills, is in general a critical determinant of learning and acquiring composite skills later in any curriculum or learning sequence.

Fluency is not a strategy or method. Rather, it describes an outcome, a goal, or an attainment that represents what some behavioral educators have called true mastery. In contrast, some instructional researchers and practitioners define mastery exclusively based on the accuracy or quality of behavior and its products, ignoring speed or pace. While most educators and trainers follow an assumption that percent correct is the sole dimension for judging competence, proponents of fluency-based learning and teaching emphasize that the speed or pace at which one can perform a skill or use knowledge is a critical success factor.

In athletic activities, martial arts, music, dance, acting, and other fields that involve physical or verbal skill, the temporal features of behavior—speed, pace, or rhythm—are essential elements of competence. In manual labor, front-line management, sales, customer service, and most other types of professional activity, the pace at which people can perform and make decisions is likewise a critical success factor. In many other areas where we might not immediately consider it relevant, experienced performers report that the time dimension is essential. Surgeons, for example, often practice making sutures (stitches) on pigs' feet or cadavers during their training to be sure that in lifeor-death surgical operations they will be able to efficiently and accurately complete the job. People who knit and crochet sometimes note how many stitches they can perform in a given time, and many professional writers keep track of how many publishable words they can write per hour or per day.

...