PROGRAMMED CONTINGENCY SOFTWARE: ITS UTILITY AND FUNCTIONALITIES

Abstract

This article describes characteristics and the context of creation of the Programmed Contingency software (CP), which allows the programming of contingencies to teach and test simple and conditional discriminations with differential behavior consequences. The software is downloading free for the scientific community. It was planned with user-friendly interface for researchers with no experience in computer programming for setting and testing experimental protocols. CP allows the use of nine stimuli and response windows. The output file provides information about time of events, latency and number of responses, with the corresponding parameters of each trial. Records’ formatting facilitates the conference and analysis of results and allows export to MS Excel. The description of characteristics of flexible software, taking CP as a model, may reduce failures in the interaction between researchers and information technology professionals. Keywords: software, simple discrimination contingency, conditional discrimination contingency, research, teaching, behavior analysis, cognitive psychology.