Document Type

Dissertation

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

PhD in Behavior Analysis

Dissertation Defense Date

2023

First Committee Member

Roscoe, Eileen M.

Second Committee Member

Bourret, Jason C.

Third Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel H.

Additional Committee Member(s)

Pinkston, Jonathan W.

Abstract

"Physical activity has been associated with numerous health benefits, including improved sleep and decreased risk of diabetes. However, individuals rarely meet the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control recommendation of 150 min per week of moderate-to-vigorous-physical activity (MVPA). Therefore, identifying new strategies for increasing MVPA is an important goal for promoting health and wellness. One helpful tool for measuring physical activity is a fitness tracker that automatically records heart rate, step count, exercise minutes, calories, and stand hours. In addition to these features, some fitness trackers offer a competition feature that allows users to challenge other individuals to compete for points gained through physical activity. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the competition feature on MVPA among typically developing adults. If the competition alone was insufficient, additional components, including differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, differential observing response, and a contingency contract, were evaluated. Participants (n = 20) were paired with another adult (n = 10 pairs) and competitions were arranged. In experiment 1, the competition increased levels of MVPA to criteria performance for 5 of 6 participants. For the remaining participants (n = 14), additional intervention components (i.e., differential observing response and contingency contracts) were subsequently combined with the competition feature to evaluate MVPA in experiment 2."

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