Association for Behavior Analysis International

The symposium includes three presentations on training staff to implement behavioral technologies for consumers with autism spectrum disorder. The first study evaluated the use of video modeling with voiceover instruction and on-screen text plus performance feedback to train implementation of stimulus preference assessments. All staff mastered the preference assessments and demonstrated high levels of generalized responding. The second study evaluated the use of enhanced data sheets to reduce teacher error patterns related to teaching auditory-visual conditional discriminations. The results indicated that the enhanced data sheets resulted in a decrease in error patterns. The third study trained teachers to implement discrete trial teaching using behavioral skills training. All teachers implemented discrete trial teaching with high integrity and adequately trained paraprofessionals to implement discrete trial teaching. Presenters will discuss findings in light of previous studies and provide avenues for future research.

Behavior analysts frequently use stimulus preference assessments to identify putative reinforcers for consumers with autism spectrum disorder. The current study evaluated the effect of video modeling with voiceover instruction and on-screen text (VMVOT) and performance feedback to train staff to implement the multiple-stimulus-without-replacement, paired-stimulus, and single-stimulus preference assessments. Generalization probes with a larger stimulus array and with an actual consumer were conducted. The results indicated that VMVOT may be a useful prelude to in-vivo training approaches, as all staff mastered the preference assessments and demonstrated high levels of generalized responding. This outcome is discussed in light of previous staff training studies and avenues for future research.

Teaching receptive identification to learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) requires careful consideration. Simple instructional errors, such as arrangement of materials, can slow skill acquisition and unintentionally result in a learner response bias to position or stimulus. In the context of teaching receptive identification, best practice recommendations suggest rotating the target stimulus across trials, conducting an equal number of trials with each stimulus as sample, and counterbalancing placement of comparison stimuli in the array across trials (Grow & LeBlanc, 2012). In the current study, we evaluated the use of enhanced data sheets to reduce teacher error patterns related to practice recommendations for teaching receptive identification of skills to students with ASD. Three teachers participated in an evaluation of traditional and enhanced data sheets utilizing a multiple baseline design. Results indicate that participants were not consistently counterbalancing placement of comparison stimuli across trials prior to the implementation of the enhanced datasheet. Following implementation of the enhanced data sheet, placement of target stimuli and comparison stimuli were counterbalanced with 100% accuracy. Implications for use within the classroom will be discussed.