Over the past 40 years, the Oregon Social Learning Research Group has been engaged in the scientific observation of human social interaction. The purpose of this work has been to improve our understanding of how and when children learn aggressive and oppositional behaviors, what processes maintain and intensify these behaviors, and what processes lead to the desistance of these behaviors.
To investigate these questions, staff members have developed a variety of coding systems that describe the interactions of parents, children, and therapists within a variety of different contexts, including at home, in the classroom, on the playground, in the therapy room, and within group homes.
OSLC coding systems can be categorized into two major types, microanalytic coding systems and dimensional rating systems.
Microanalytic Coding Systems
The ongoing behaviors of an individual or a set of individuals are recorded on a moment-to-moment basis using a limited number of categorical descriptors. For example, a family is observed during the dinner hour. Using a simple five-dimension code, all the behaviors of a target child and the family members he interacts with are recorded during a 15-minute period. The end result is a record of 200 consecutive child behaviors, interspersed with various mother, father, and sibling behaviors that occurred during the time the child was observed.
Dimensional Rating Systems
The behaviors of an individual or a set of individuals are described using a rating scale across a given period of time. For example, a family is observed trying to solve a problem for ten minutes. At the end of the session, an observer completes a form with three questions: "Did family members interrupt each other?", "Were family members hostile or threatening?", "Did the family tend to stay on the topic?". The questions are rated on a five-point Likert scale with 1 = "never" and 5 = "very often". The end result is a list of three numbers that "globally" describe the observed interaction of the family.
Download Manuals for Example OSLC Microanalytic Coding Systems
All manuals are in PDF format. Please see additional information in the sidebar at the top of the page.
- IPC: Interpersonal Process Code Manual
- FPC: Family Process Code Manual
- FPPC: Family and Peer Process Code Manual
- PPC: Peer Process Code Manual
- TPC: Therapy Process Code Manual
Download Forms for Example OSLC Dimensional Rating Systems
All manuals are in PDF format. Please see additional information in the sidebar at the top of the page.