Todd A. Ward, PhD, BCBA-D
bSci21Media, LLC
Behavior and Social Issues published a study in 2017, that should be of interest to all car owners. Venditti and Wine, both from Florida Institute of Technology, worked with 22 people across different parking lot locations in the Northeastern U.S.
The researchers provided oral and written instructions to each participant regarding the benefits of tire maintenance for safety and fuel savings. They also included instructions on how to properly check tire pressure, and made a portable air compressor available to the participants during the study. Moreover, the researchers regularly checked tire pressures throughout the duration of the study, which lasted approximately 14 weeks.
The team found that the combination of instruction plus the availability of the air compressor served to bring many of the participants tire pressure closer to the recommended levels for their vehicles. However, some participants seemed unaffected by the intervention or responded only after a few weeks’ delay.
The team noted that it was difficult to parse out which component of the package was most effective, and that future research may benefit from showing the participants cost savings projections as a result of their vehicle maintenance.
For more details, you can read the full study here.
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Todd A. Ward, PhD, BCBA-D is the President and Founder of bSci21Media, LLC, which owns the top behavior analytic media outlet in the world, bSci21.org. bSci21Media aims to disseminate behavior analysis to the world and to support ABA companies around the globe through the Behavioral Science in the 21st Century blog and its subsidiaries, bSciEntrepreneurial, bSciWebDesign, bSciWriting, and the ABA Outside the Box CEU series. Dr. Ward received his PhD in behavior analysis from the University of Nevada, Reno under Dr. Ramona Houmanfar. He has served as a Guest Associate Editor of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, and as an Editorial Board member of Behavior and Social Issues. Dr. Ward has also provided ABA services to children and adults with various developmental disabilities in day centers, in-home, residential, and school settings, and previously served as Faculty Director of Behavior Analysis Online at the University of North Texas. Dr. Ward is passionate about disseminating behavior analysis to the world and growing the field through entrepreneurship. Todd can be reached at [email protected]
I am not sure I see this study as “socially significant.”