Association for Behavior Analysis International

The purpose of this research was to provide an data-based method of gauging candidate progress through a teacher special education preparation program. A vocabulary assessment was created and is framed with the CBE and RtI models that have a 30-year research base. Curriculum-based measures were used in order to monitor the progress of candidates as they proceeded through the special education program. Further, the technology appears to hold promise for identifying candidates who were likely to need support; the results showed a difference in candidate acquisition of vocabulary from the beginning of the program to the end of the program. The assessments also accurately identified candidates within the program who were experiencing academic difficulty with program content.

Several studies confirm that many applied behavior analysis (ABA) terms elicit unpleasant emotional reactions, and that emotional responses to ABA terms overall are more negative than to English words in general (Critchfield, et al., 2017). Understanding the emotional perceptions of jargon in ABA is important because it is the contemporary gold-standard of treatment for autism developmental disabilities. ABA is practiced in many countries using different languages. To address this development, the professional certification board has developed glossaries of ABA terms in 12 languages. What is not known is whether word-emotion effects that have been documented in English apply to perceptions of jargon in other languages. Critchfield and Doepke (2017) found cross-language similarities for terms in five non-English languages, but their study discussed preliminary results. The current study will present data from a larger sample of terms and will examine similarities and differences in emotional responses to ABA terms in English and Spanish. In addition, data from bilingual speakers (English and Spanish) will be presented because past research suggests that language proficiency and language preference may play a role in emotional attachment to words (Pavlenko, 2008). The results will provide insights for how to enhance communication between clients and therapists.

Students who complete online programs in pursuit of BACB credentials must develop fluency of behavior analytic terms in order to meet demands of practice in the field as well as professional exams at each level (BCaBA, BCBA). The current study was conducted to determine effectiveness of and preference for three popular strategies in online fluency training: Game-based interaction (e.g., Quizlet.com), SAFMEDS, and Interteaching. Eight online students were selected from various online contexts and paired by their level of training (post-bacc BCaBA students, graduate students in a Master's program for ABA, graduate students seeking a Master's degree in education, and post-Master's graduates studying for the BCBA exam). Dyads completed fluency activities in several non-concurrent changing criterion designs. The study involved 40 daily sessions which measured cumulative vocabulary acquisition with mastery criteria set at 100% for 3 consecutive sessions. Random assignments to Interteaching, SAFMEDS, and Quizlet were made for each new vocabulary set. Maintenance probes were conducted at 4, 6, and 10 weeks post-training. A post-study survey of participants examined their preferences and compared preferences with effectiveness.

The use of operant chambers for research and teaching in behavior analysis is in decline due to the expense, maintenance, and ethical considerations of such complex mechanical apparati (Venneman & Knowles, 2005). Other technologies for testing and demonstrating behavioral principles have emerged in the pursuit of creating free operant paradigms that are accessible and effective for students and economical for institutions. One example is a virtual program that emulates the behavior of organisms (Graham, Alloway, & Krames, 1994). Recently, a new instrument has been developed - the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab (PORTL; Rosales-Ruiz & Hunter, 2016). PORTL is a tabletop apparatus comprised of various objects and tools that enables students to experience and manage free operant situations. In addition to its instructional benefits, PORTL provides a setting for basic research to be completed quickly and ethically with human participants. One purpose of this presentation is to outline the basic utility and implementation of PORTL in a collegiate setting where students themselves serve as the experimental organisms. A second purpose is to demonstrate PORTL as an alternative to operant chambers and virtual programs that can be easily and inexpensively replicated in any setting involving students of behavior analysis.

For her 5th grade science fair project, the principle author chose to evaluate several behavioral principles, with which she had personal learning experience, in the teaching of skills to elementary school students. Specific targeted skills were the distances of putting a golf ball and kicking a soccer ball into a goal. Materials and Methods: Materials included soccer and golf balls, putters, goals and holes, measuring tapes. Methods: Measurement of pre and post intervention distances; incremental increases in practice distance based upon successful scoring at starting distance; Results/Discussions: Distinct improvements in longer distances were demonstrated for some students The process of conducting a study requires development of skills, and developing and maintaining behavioral momentum Conclusions: Successive approximations and behavioral momentum are constructs/techniques useful for teaching select skills to elementary school students The process of conducting a study is in itself a "successive approximation" loaded with subset "successive approximations," aspects of the study that themselves change from the inception to completion of the study, which requires behavioral momentum to start and complete