Stability Check: A Program for Calculating the Stability of Behavior

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Research in behavior analysis is conducted primarily by using single-subject experimental designs, in which responding during a previous, baseline, condition serves as a control against which the experimental manipulations can be assessed. The effects of these manipulations are detected more easily when baseline behavior is stable, that is, when there is relatively little moment-to-moment variation in some aspect of behavior. The purpose of this article is to describe a computer program, Stability Check, that performs calculations of the stability of response rate according to two quantitative criteria. The program is simple to use, requires little hard-drive space, is free and, thus, can be useful to both researchers and teachers within behavior analysis and research methods. Detailed descriptions of the program and its use are presented after a brief summary of the importance of behavioral stability criteria in single-subject experimental designs.