What is PORTL?
PORTL stands for the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab. It provides an interactive environment for learning about behavior principles and investigating behavioral phenomena.
The nearly 50 exercises in this manual can be used to model a wide range of behavior analytic concepts and principles. They will also help you improve your shaping and problem-solving skills. By the time you finish the final chapters, you will have the skills to design errorless programs and conduct your own research projects.
Visit our What is PORTL? article for several video clips and more information.
The manual is divided into four main sections:
– The first part of the manual introduces you to the game of PORTL. You will learn what supplies you need to play PORTL, learn how to set up the teaching environment, and practice the PORTL reinforcement system. It also includes several sample curricula that can be used as you go through the manual.
– The second part of the manual will teach you about differential reinforcement and shaping. The six shaping foundational exercises in Chapter 4 will help you see the component pieces that make up larger behaviors and let you practice teaching these components. As you practice these exercises, your shaping skills and problem-solving skills will improve.
– The third part of the manual will allow you to model a variety of different principles and concepts using PORTL. This includes schedules of reinforcement, stimulus control, concepts, and behavior chains. As you complete these exercises, you will discover more about how behavior works.
– The fourth part of the manual will acquaint you with errorless learning, inquiry projects, and research projects. The skills you have practiced in the earlier chapters will come together as you learn how to teach behaviors with minimal errors and practice using PORTL to ask and answer your own questions about behavior.
You will need minimal instructions to start playing PORTL. However, as you gain more experience with the game, you can use it to ask and answer complex questions about behavior.
About the authors: Visit this page to learn more about Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz and Mary Hunter.
About the PORTL ebook
The price for the PORTL ebook is $29.99 USD.
If you would prefer a printed copy of the PORTL manual, please visit this page of our webshop.
In order to play PORTL, you will also need a PORTL kit. You can purchase a pre-made PORTL kit from our webshop. Or, you can make your own PORTL kit using these instructions.
PORTL eBook for Apple computers and iPads
Available for purchase as an iBook in the Apple Book store.
Note: With this iBook, you will be able to highlight text in the book, add notes to the book, and search the book.
System requirements: This book can be viewed on an iOS device with Apple Books on iOS 12 or later, or an iPad with iBooks 2 or later and iOS 5 or later, an iPhone with iOS 8.4 or later, or a Mac with OS X 10.9 or later.
Will this book work on my device? You can download a sample to check if the iBook is compatible with your device and to preview how the iBook will display on your device.
To download the preview file, first view the book in the Apple Book store. Then, click the SAMPLE button. This will open a preview file in the Books app on your Apple device. The preview file contains the table of contents and several pages from the introduction.
PORTL eBook for Windows and Android
Note: Please read the following information before purchasing the Kobo ebook.
The PORTL ebook had to be designed with a “fixed-layout” format because of the heavy amount of tables and formatting in the book. Unfortunately, most eReader applications for Windows and Android still only offer a limited amount of functionality for fixed-layout ebooks.
As a result, the Windows and Android version of the ebook has a read-only format. You will be able to read the book. However, the book does not permit you to highlight text, add notes, or search within the book.
We are working on finding a better option for Windows and Android users that will offer increased functionality. Meanwhile, we did want to go ahead and make this read-only version available, as we know shipping costs make it prohibitive for some people to obtain the printed version of the PORTL manual.
The Kobo PORTL ebook can be purchased in this “read-only” format from the Kobo Book store.
The Kobo reading app is compatible with most PC computers and with most Windows and Android devices. This page on the Kobo website has more information about the Kobo reading app.
What is Kobo? Rakuten Kobo is a Canadian company. It sells e-books, audiobooks, e-readers and tablet computers. The name Kobo is an anagram of the word “book.”
Questions?
If you have questions about the PORTL ebook, please contact us.