Association for Behavior Analysis International

Researchers within the area of staff training continue to expand upon current empirically based training procedures in order to promote the adherence to best practices by staff members working with individuals with disabilities. Improper staff training procedures can lead to unproductive and even harmful behaviors by staff to clients. The purpose of this symposium will be to introduce various methodologies used to increase performance amongst individuals within service settings. Specifically, these presentations will discuss ways to train praise delivery in teachers using behavioral skills training, accurate hierarchical prompting in paraprofessionals using equivalence training, and the efficacy of utilizing a modified performance diagnostic checklist to determine appropriate interventions to improve the performance of direct care staff members within a residential setting. Each paper presents different, effective models for implementing behavior change procedures with different professionals. The presentation also provides implications for socially significant changes within the professional environment due to these efficient methods for improving the performance of staff members.

As a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA), it is crucial to abide by the ethical codes in place. One of the ethical codes is to disseminate information about applied behavior analysis (ABA), whether it be presenting at conferences or attending educational meetings BCBAs continue to educate the public about the power of the science. To that end, the current study seeks to investigate the ways in which current behavior analysts may disseminate best practices for/to teachers of individuals with autism and related developmental disabilities. One of the more prominent ways in which behavior-analytic best practices are promoted is via Behavior Skills Training (BST). Behavior skills training involves providing information about a target skill, modeling and role-play of that targeted skill, and feedback about ones performance with respect to that skill. BST has been used in the facilitation of skills such as learning how to conduct functional analyses, staff implementation of DTT skills, and intervention plan implementation. The purpose of the proposed study is to assess the degree to which BST may increase the rate at which classroom teachers provide praise to students behaviors deemed appropriate.

The Performance Diagnostic Checklist (PDC) is an assessment device used to determine deficits in performance. The PDC-Human Services (PDC-HS) has been adapted for use in determining staff performance problems in human services settings. The current study employed the PDC-HS to evaluate performance deficiencies in staff members with respect to their data collection behavior. The staff worked in a residential setting for adults with developmental disabilities. The PDC-HS was used to determine specific performance challenges across 3 residential settings. A multiple baseline design across residences was used to determine the efficacy of the PDS-HS to identify performance discrepancies and assist in developing an intervention to address these deficits. Specific antecedent based interventions were identified through the assessment. The results showed that the PDCHS was able to generate specific intervention strategies that led to increases in staff performance across all of the environments that were measured. Implications for future applications will be discussed in light of these findings.