Association for Behavior Analysis International

Behavioral skills training (BST) is an effective training procedure (e.g., Fetherston & Sturmey, 2014; Parsons et al., 2012); however, there are barriers to its implementation (e.g., DiGennaro Reed et al., 2013; Erath et al., 2020; Shapiro & Kazemi, 2017). Therefore, it may be important to evaluate other variations of BST that are as effective and more efficient than the complete behavioral skills training package. This symposium attempts to answer this question through several literature reviews and evaluations of modified BST procedures. Advancements in BST and future directions will be discussed.

Students, researchers, and practitioners who work in human-service settings and use behavioral skills training to teach skills to their staff or caregivers who work directly with individuals diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Behavioral technicians are typically trained on the job to implement DTT by an experienced behavior analyst using an evidence-based approach called behavioral skills training (BST; Miltenberger, 2003). Although BST is a widely used approach, significant practical constraints related to the time and resources required to effectively implement it exist. Over the years, researchers have conducted many studies with the purpose of increasing the efficiency and practicality of BST while maintaining its effectiveness. Unfortunately, the variation in purpose(s) and procedures across these evaluations make it challenging to draw clear conclusions from published outcomes throughout the research literature. Therefore, a summary of the emerging research on training innovations when using BST to train staff to implement DTT procedures is needed. The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the literature on BST used for training individuals to implement DTT procedures in order to identify variables relevant for effectively training DTT skills and elucidate implications for using BST to train individuals to implement DTT in practice.

Behavioral skills training (BST) is an evidence-based training protocol that is most commonly comprised of (a) instructions, (b) modeling, (c) rehearsal, and (d) feedback. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the influence of each BST component in a sequential manner to determine the most effective and efficient method for training behavioral technicians to implement discrete-trial teaching. Preliminary results suggest the feedback component was necessary for all participants to reach the mastery criterion (100% correct across three consecutive sessions). We discuss implications of these results and directions for future research.

Behavioral skills training (BST) with feedback (Parsons et al., 2012) is a common intervention for training staff and caregivers to engaged in various important behaviors. However, BST with feedback is labor intensive, costly, and often requires extensive involvement from a supervisor or experienced trainer (DiGennaro Reed & Henley, 2015). Thus, training models that are more efficient and less resource intensive are necessary. One such group of procedures are self-instruction (self-directed) training procedures, which include video modeling and written instructions. Recently, researchers have evaluated the effects of enhanced written instructions (i.e., step by step instructions, written with minimal technical jargon, and pictures or diagrams; Shapiro et al., 2016) for training staff and caregivers to engage in various important skills (e.g., conduct preference assessments, implement discrete trial teaching, etc.). The purpose of this presentation is to review the literature on enhanced written instructions as self-instruction training procedures with a focus on describing the procedure, overall outcomes of research on the procedure, strengths and potential limitations of the procedure, and areas for future application and research.

Behavioral skills training is an effective training procedure (e.g., Fetherston & Sturmey, 2014; Parsons et al., 2012); however, there are barriers to its implementation (e.g., DiGennaro Reed et al., 2013; Erath et al., 2020; Shapiro & Kazemi, 2017), as well as concerns with its frequency of implementation (DiGennaro Reed & Henley, 2015). Therefore, it may be important to evaluate other variations of BST that are as effective and more efficient than the complete behavioral skills training package. We evaluated BST without the use of modeling (i.e., modified BST) to train adults to implement a multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment using web-based technology. Modified BST was effective for all three participants. Additionally, skills acquired maintained and generalized to a novel confederate and novel stimuli 1-week post-training.