By Todd A. Ward, PhD, BCBA-D
Founding Editor, bSci21.org
Behavior and Social Issues recently published a study showing the effectiveness of Applied Behavior Analysis for reducing electricity consumption in Northern Ireland. The field experiment, run by Patricia Frazer (Dublin Business School) and Julian Leslie (University of Ulster, Coleraine), investigated optimal combinations of feedback and goal-setting to reduce residential electricity use over a ten-month period.
Wireless home energy monitors provided feedback on electricity use, while goal-setting involved signing a declaration of intent to reduce energy consumption. Results suggest that the greatest reduction in energy (33%) came as a result of alternating periods of feedback at two-month intervals across the study. The latter produced greater reductions than did five-months of continuous feedback for either the first or second half of the study period.
To read more, please visit Behavior and Social Issues.
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Todd A. Ward, PhD, BCBA-D is President of bSci21 Media, LLC, which owns bSci21.org and BAQuarterly.com. Todd serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management and as an editorial board member for Behavior and Social Issues. He has worked as a behavior analyst in day centers, residential providers, homes, and schools, and served as the director of Behavior Analysis Online at the University of North Texas. Todd’s areas of expertise include writing, entrepreneurship, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Instructional Design, Organizational Behavior Management, and ABA therapy. Todd can be reached at [email protected].
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