Association for Behavior Analysis International

The two studies used functional communication training on separate individuals with autism spectrum disorder. One of the studies described a synthesized analysis and treatment, where the analysis was based on an open-ended interview and the treatment was functional communication- and delay-tolerance training, on a child with severe problem behavior (Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, & Hanratty, 2014). The second study described a traditional functional analysis(Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1994) including a precursor analysis as basis for FCT, on an adult with severe problem behavior . The first study was conducted in an early intensive behavior intervention program EIBI in the USA, and the second study was conducted in a residential facility for adults in Norway. Both studies resulted in a considerable reduction in problem behaviors and an increase in appropriate requests. The findings suggest that functional communication training can be used over age range and settings, and lead to meaningful improvements in problem behavior.

In order to deliver services to clients and the serve the community at large, it is imperative for behavior analysts to develop collaborative partnerships with various entities such as school districts, community mental health agencies, departments in higher education, and private clinics or programs. Moreover, collaborating and creating practicum sites with those agencies can serve as valuable placements for training opportunities for individuals receiving learning applied training in behavior analysis. However, developing these partnerships and collaborations is not always easy, and there can be many obstacles to address along the way. This panel discussion will discuss and present strategies for effective partnership and practicum development on behalf of several different practicums through their various stages of their existence, as well as share experiences resolving various obstacles and hurdles faced during creation and maintaining of the partnerships. Audience members will also have an opportunity to pose questions to the panelists regarding any presentation material or issues they are facing themselves.

Telepractice refers to using technology to deliver training from a distance. Telepractice can allow Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) to access more students and families and teach applied behavior analytic (ABA) to more people. For example, Wacker et al., 2013 revealed that it is feasible for parents to conduct functional communication training (FCT) when being coached by BCBAs that were within 200 miles via telepractice. While there is developing literature supporting the use of distance technology to disseminate ABA, there is limited support for the use of this technology in global dissemination. These studies aim to extend the telepractice literature base by evaluating the use of telepractice to disseminate naturalistic instruction on a global level. Naturalistic instruction involves teaching in one's natural environment and reinforcing behavior with natural contingencies. The authors will speak on their research done on using telepractice to coach parents and students on naturalistic teaching in Japan.

We investigated the effects of a global telepractice training package on participants implementation of incidental teaching. The supervisor was a BCBA-D in the United States while the supervisees worked at a community based clinic in Japan. The supervisor worked with one bi-lingual coach to master incidental teaching via videoconferencing and delayed video-based feedback. The coach then taught three subsequent therapists. Impacts of this global telepractice training program will be discussed in terms of therapist fidelity of implementing incidental teaching, impact on child mands, and social validity of the training program.

Both naturalistic communication and parent-delivered interventions are considered evidence-based practices for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, it is not well known how much this delivery model may actually be efficient in terms of cost, time, and effort for parents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a training on parent implementation of naturalistic communication teaching procedures and on childs communication skills using a tele-home practice. This study used a self-training manual that included written and video instructions to provide parent training in participants home environments. A changing criterion design was utilized. Three mother-child dyads with children ages 4-6 years with a diagnosis of ASD participated in this study. In addition to the self-training manual, the mother participants were asked to complete a self-checklist of the instructional procedures after each session. Based on the participants performances, written feedback was provided. Pre- and post-training and follow-up data collection are still under way.

Dixon et al. (2015) ranked graduate programs in behavior analysis per the publication rates of their faculty. While controversial, this established the contention that research productivity may be a vital component of graduate training. Conversely, Malott (1992) argued that graduate programs should focus less on researcher skills and more on developing practitioners. At ABAI 2016, Wilder, Reeve, and Dixon offered a panel to discuss the importance of research in graduate ABA training. The purpose of this panel is to continue and expand that discussion, particularity with respect to the practicum and supervision graduate programs provide to students. Participants will take part in an open discussion regarding the role and integration of research into practice experiences. Should supervisors encourage or even require students to take a case-driven research model, such as the one proposed by Reid (1992)? Should practicum and supervision experiences focus more on the delivery on services without attention to specific research issues? Can ABA practice truly be separated from a research-based orientation and still uphold the seven dimensions of ABA as outlines by Baer, Wolf, and Risely (1968)? These questions and many others will be discussed in an open forum. This is part two of a two part panel.

Treatment integrity refers to the extent to which a procedure is implemented as it was designed. Recent research about treatment integrity has evaluated the extent to which variations of measurement procedures affect obtained integrity values, and the extent to which reduced integrity affects treatment outcomes. In this symposium, we will describe recent studies that have further advanced these two areas of enquiry. Our studies include both aspects of contemporary integrity research. Halbur et al. describe the extent to which variations in measurement systems may lead to different perceived levels of integrity in published studies. This line of research is furthered by Smothermon et al., who show that similar variations can over- or underestimate the performance of staff. Because integrity levels are often low without ongoing feedback, our final two studies evaluate the impact of reduced integrity on intervention outcomes. Brand et al. review the published literature in which treatment integrity was experimentally manipulated, and Mesches et al. describe a study in which integrity was manipulated during differential reinforcement of other behavior. Results across all studies continue to suggest that treatment integrity should be an important consideration for applied researchers and practitioners.

Collecting data on the integrity with which staff and caregivers implement prescribed treatments is a critical component of program evaluation. However, it can be challenging to collect data accurately on multiple procedural components in fast-paced instructional contexts. One possible approach is to evaluate performance across an entire session (e.g., whether the individual delivers prompts correctly during all trials of an observation) versus on a trial-by-trial basis (e.g., whether the individual delivers prompts correctly on each trial). In this study, we examined the sensitivity of data collected in this manner by comparing whole-session data to trial-by-trial data on the procedural integrity of 16 paraprofessionals who received training on how to implement discrete-trial teaching (DTT). We also compared the outcomes when data were collapsed across all procedural components versus individual components. Results suggested that whole-session data had adequate sensitivity but, in general, underestimated the performance of the individual implementing DTT. At the same time, trial-by-trial data were more likely to overestimate performance unless we examined the integrity of individual DTT components. Findings have important implications for assessing procedural integrity and selecting an appropriate mastery criterion during caregiver training.

Treatment integrity refers to the extent to which a treatment is accurately implemented according to the treatment plan (Gresham, 1989). There are multiple methods for collecting and calculating treatment integrity data. For example, experimenters may collect data on the trainees implementation of each step of intervention and calculate treatment integrity by dividing the number of correctly implemented treatment steps by a total number of steps per session. The present study describes variations in treatment integrity calculations and the implications of using each method of calculation. We will review trends in treatment integrity calculations used in staff/caregiver training studies and compare those methods to studies in which treatment integrity errors are evaluated. Raw data from staff/caregiver training studies published in the past seven years will be obtained and re-calculated using different criteria, and aggregated outcomes of these re-calculations will be presented and discussed. Clinical implications of the recalculations, suggestions for integrity calculations, and future research will be discussed.

Treatment integrity refers to the degree to which a treatment is implemented as it was designed. Treatment integrity failures are known negatively affect differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) and response cost, but little is known about effects of integrity failures on differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). We assessed the efficacy of a DRO procedure when implemented perfectly and when implemented with varying degrees of treatment integrity failures using a human-operant preparation with students from a university (Experiment 1) and with a child who engaged in socially significant challenging behavior (Experiment 2). The DRO was effective at all levels for 3 human operant participants, but lost efficacy when implemented with 60% or lower treatment integrity for the remaining 3 participants. We also obtained a loss of treatment effects at around 60% integrity with the clinical replication. These data suggest that DRO interventions may be effective with some level of failure in treatment integrity, but there may be a critical integrity level around 60% at which the intervention breaks down.

We describe a model used to teach the principles of behavior analysis and their application in the human services to students and practitioners over the past five decades. Materials for the book were developed in the late 1960’s at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, where the first presenter began his teaching career in 1968. The second presenter supervised the administration and testing of the materials. The course content and testing materials were continuously revised and updated over the following years by both presenters, based on data related to student mastery of the content. The teaching model was influenced by the prominent educational technology at the time, including: (1) the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan; (2) the programmed instructional format of Skinner and Holland, and that of Geis, Stebbins, and Lundin; (3) Fred Keller’s Personal System of Instruction (PSI); and (4) Robert Mager’s influential publication on preparing instructional objectives. The first presenter will describe the methodology used to develop the materials and how they provided the basis for a textbook that has been revised over six editions. The second presenter will describe how the materials and resulting textbook were used in undergraduate, graduate and professional courses and seminars. Together, the two presenters will provide examples of their experiences using the textbook to teach behavior analysis. They will present the rationale for the organization and structure of the text and course, along with reasons for including and excluding specific content. The two presenters identify historical, methodological, and conceptual issues that formed the underpinnings of their unique approach to teaching behavior analysis, as well as how the model has evolved. The two presenters, one from a primarily academic perspective and the other from a primarily applied perspective, provide complementary viewpoints on this topic.

Individuals teaching behavior analysis or those training students and practitioners in behavior analysis.

The prevalence of autism has increased substantially over the past decade (Centers for Disease Control, 2015), bringing early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) services into greater demand for families living in both urban and rural areas (Jang et al., 2012; Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2015). Currently there are not enough behavior analysts to oversee these interventions and as a result many behavior analysts must travel long distances to see clients. By providing employee feedback through telemedicine approaches such as bug-in-ear (BIE) and videoconference technology, behavior analysts can assist clients by remotely monitoring interventions delivered by behavior technicians. Doing so can save time and that time can be used to assist more clients. In this study, we evaluated the relative effectiveness of BIE, videoconference, and in-person feedback on increasing treatment integrity with behavior technicians working for an EIBI company. The potential secondary effects (i.e., distractibility) of the stimuli present across each delivery method were also examined. The experiment utilized a multi-element research design with an initial baseline and a brief follow-up of the three feedback delivery methods. Relative effectiveness, secondary effects, social validity and cost-benefit of each feedback method will be discussed.

The Behavior Analyst Certification Board provides guidelines to Board Certified Behavior Analysts for provision of effective supervision. However, discussions on social media forums such as Facebook raise concerns about the quality of supervision received by students in the field of Behavior Analysis. This panel focuses on discussing key components in providing effective supervision, teaching supervisees to engage in problem solving using the evidence based practice framework, and how to promote behavior analytic skills over solely implementing interventions. Panelists will provide insight and recommendations based on their experiences training supervisees in the home and school environment.

A Norwegian national implementation strategy aimed to test and conduct a large-scale implementation of The Oregon model of Parent Management Training (PMTO) based on Gerald Patterson's Social Interaction and Learning theory. The program targets children with antisocial behavior and co-occurring problems and their families. A randomized trial demonstrated the effectiveness of the program, and identified central moderators, mediators and predictors. Fidelity to the PMTO model was found to predict child behavioral outcomes better than parent-reported treatment alliance. Several parents seemed to manage with shorter interventions, and the "Early Interventions for Children at Risk" program was designed for implementation in the municipalities. In line with findings from a study of the normative development of aggression, this adapted program targets children from the age of 3 years on. In sum, findings confirmed that PMTO principles and components could be successfully transported from US to real-world settings in Norway with sustained positive outcomes and maintenance of competent adherence. PMTO has been tested with positive outcomes in both individual and group trainings and in high and low dosages of treatment. The Norwegian project may serve as an inspiration for the testing and scaling up of evidence-based parenting programs in other countries, particularly in Europe.

Professionals interested in the effectiveness, implementation, and scaling up of parenting interventions for families with children with antisocial behaviour and co-occurring problem.

As behavior analysts it is our duty to provide quality care while following our ethical code, but there may be times where the environment makes this a difficult challenge. Our ethics state we must use language understandable by the recipients of our craft, however working in a border town often means providing services to families where English is a second language if even spoken at all. To overcome this challenge, we have implemented strategic staffing by having at least one team member who works with the family that can also speak the native language of the family, in addition to a lot of patience from all parties involved. The results fostered trust in our services and increased family participation in our programs. These results are likely able to be generalized, however providing services to a family that does not speak your same language should only be practiced when there is no better option.

Different cultural groups tend to have different ways of interpreting the world and the events that happen within it (Hill, Carjuzaa, Aramburo, & Baca, 1993; McIntyre & Silva, 1992). Verbal behavior is described as being being behavior which is reinforced through the mediation of the other people (Skinner, 1957). But what happens when the speaker and listener speak different languages, or have different cultural beliefs? What happens if the listener is unable to appropriate discriminate the speakers verbal stimuli in a way in which the speaker understands? Can the supervisor still reinforce the verbal behavior of the supervisee?As a Korean BCBA working primarily with Korean American families, I have experienced receiving supervision from a supervisor from an outside culture. Similarly, I have also provided supervision to supervisees who are from a different culture. From my experience, the literal language barrier is just one of the many considerations that must be given when attempted to bridge cultures and ensure a successful supervision experience.

Employees in human service organizations engage in complex behaviors like problem solving, decision making, and leadership skills, on a regular basis (e.g., dealing with difficult employees, managing time and work tasks, and choosing appropriate measurement systems). Despite increased requirements for supervision for BCaBAs and RBTs, the effects are only as good as the supervisors and the systems in which they work. It is the responsibility of supervisors to train, monitor, and manage those behaviors. Although complex behaviors are common and important in human service organizations, they have received little attention in the applied behavior analytic literature. In this panel, strategies for defining, assessing, and intervening on complex employee behaviors in human service organizations will be discussed. Specific examples from research and practice will be provided to illustrate these strategies and systems and processing for supporting them will be discussed. Practical applications and areas for further development and research will also be highlighted.

Effective supervision practices have been a concern for the behavior analytic community leading to new, more rigorous guidance regarding supervision regulations outlined by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB: BACB newsletter, Sept. 2011, p.1). Despite this discussion, there is limited research or guidance on best practice in supervision of behavior analysts. Lack of research and appropriate technologies for consistent, high quality supervision is a potential liability for the field as a whole since having advanced training asclinical personnel is no guarantee one is able to effectively transfer both knowledge and skill to those they are supervising (Martin & Cannon, 2010). This issue can be compounded in rural areas where individuals may engage in one of the many distance-based education programs in fulfillment of the educational requirements of certification, but lack high-quality training and supervision opportunities. This panel will explore the unique challenges of providing an evidence-based training experience from a distance, lessons learned, and future directions for the field from the viewpoints of the researcher, supervisor, and supervisee. An emphasis will be placed on the use of a structured supervision curriculum and measurement procedures.

The current symposium centers around topics related to the necessary skills required to provide effective behavior analytic services, and the extent to which our field is potentially equipped to this end. Special attention will be paid to practitioners who support individuals who exhibit severely challenging behaviors in the home and community settings, however, each presentation includes implications for practitioners across a range of settings and populations. The first is a discussion paper on the recent increase in publications regarding the current standards for graduate training and the supervision of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), as well as the potential divide between science and practice within the field of behavior analysis. The second paper focuses on the outcomes of a survey designed to extend previous research on the various types of staff and supervisory training, as well as performance management procedures offered to BACB certificants actively working in the applied setting.

There has been a recent increase in publications related to increasing the standards for 1) graduate training programs in ABA (e.g., Dixon, Reed, Smith, & LaMarca, 2015) and 2) supervision of individuals pursuing BCBA certification (e.g., Turner, Fischer, & Luiselli, 2016). Carr (2016) suggested a potential deficit of over 55,000 BCBAs to meet the growing need for behavior analytic services, making these discussions related to the quality of graduate training and BCBA trainee supervision extremely important. However, there has been relatively less attention paid to issues associated with ensuring on-going training for individuals who have already completed graduate school and have obtained their BCBA. By definition, as the demand for behavior analytic services increases, it may be reasonable to expect increased expertise in the practitioner skill set maintained by BCBAs. The purpose of the current paper is two-fold: 1) to review the recent publications on issues related to training behavior analysts, and to extend this discussion to the on-going supervision of BCBAs, and 2) to provide suggestions for supporting the on-going development of BCBAs who are faced with increasingly complex clinical issues. These topics will be addressed with respect to recent publications regarding the potential divide between science and practice within the field of behavior analysis (e.g., Critchfield, 2015b).

The purpose of the current investigation was to extend previous research on the various types of staff and supervisory training and performance management procedures offered to BACB certificants. Reed and Henley (2015) surveyed 382 individuals to this end, and their results suggest several areas that require increased attention; in particular, half of the respondents indicated that they did not receive initial pre-service training and nearly one third of respondents indicated that they do not receive on-going training in their work setting. The outcomes of Reed and Henley's investigation provide several valuable avenues for future research and practice. It is important to note, however, that only 18.9% of respondents reported that they work in the home setting (the remainder worked in center/school-based programs). Community-based practitioners are operating under far different contingencies than those who work in a group setting, which directly impacts issues related to staff training and performance management. Moreover, the topography and severity of challenging behaviors may differ across the home and school settings for a given individual. As such, the purpose of the current investigation was to extend Reed and Henley to include 1) more BCBA respondents who practice in the home setting and 2) more data on the frequency and nature of training and supervision received and provided by the respondents (with particular attention to severely challenging behaviors). Potential benefits associated with establishing a more robust definition of on-going training and performance management will be discussed. Implications for the concept of "Continuing Education" also will be presented.

This symposium presents four studies examining effects of various types of social and nonsocial reinforcers for the behavior of children with autism spectrum disorders and typically developing children. Effects of three types of social reinforcers (i.e., enthusiastic praise, neutral praise, and smiling faces) and one type of nonsocial reinforcer (i.e., geometric forms) were assessed. Results shows that for the children with autism, exited praise was more reinforcing as compared to praise given in a neutral tone of voice. In contrast, the two types of praise was equally effective for typically developing children. When given a choice between a smiling face and a geometric form, children with autism preferred the geometric reinforcer to a lager extent than was the case for the typically developing children.

In an expansion of Polick, Carr and Hanney (2012), the purpose of this study is to determine the effects of enthusiastic and neutral praise in skill acquisition by four children with developmental disabilities in this alternating treatment design with a concurrent multiple baseline. One skill with six objectives, three for each phase of treatment, was targeted for each participant. Skill acquisition was measured as a percentage of opportunity as well as sessions to mastery to determine which method resulted in faster skill acquisition. During one phase, enthusiastic social praise was delivered contingent on a correct response while neutral praise was delivered during the second phase. Enthusiastic praise was defined as varied pitch and intonation, volume or tempo as well as an animated tone of voice. Neutral Praise was defined as even and consistent pitch and tone. The same ten approved phrases were used as in both phases of treatment. No sensory input or gestures were provided during either phase of treatment. For all four participants, skill acquisition was faster when enthusiastic social praise was delivered by an average of 1.43 sessions. Anecdotal reports indicate that noncompliance was higher in participants during the neutral praise phase and Clients failed to meet mastery in more neutral praise targets. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

According to treatment manuals, praise when used as a putative reinforcer should be given in an excited voice. However, no published study have directly evaluated whether excited praise is more effective than praise delivered in a neutral tone. To examine this questions experimentally, an application for a tablet to assess responding to social praise delivered in excited tone and neutral tone was developed. Two squares, one red and one yellow were presented simultaneously on the tablet screen. Whenever one of the stimulus was touched, it played an audio clip of social praise either delivered in excited tone or neutral tone. Participants were 10 children with ASD and 9 typically developing children. Dependent variable was number of touches on each type of stimuli within and across participants. Results showed that for children with ASD, praise delivered in excited tone was more reinforcing compare to praise delivered in neutral tone. For typically developing children, in contrast, both conditions were equally effective in controlling responding, and hence, equally effective as reinforcers.

This study assessed reinforcement magnitude of social and nonsocial stimuli in children with autism and typically developing children using a progressive ratio reinforcement schedule. An application for a tablet was developed to assess responding to social images and nonsocial images. A pixelated stimulus was presented on the tablet screen, and whenever it was touched, it played a video clip for two seconds. The video clip was either a social image (a face) or a nonsocial image (a geometric pattern). Participants were 10 children with autism and 10 typically developing children. Dependent variable was the reinforcement schedule reached before responding extinguished (i.e., break point), and rate of responding across sessions. Results showed that for nonsocial stimuli, the break point and the rate of responding was higher for the children with autism as compared to the typically developing children. For the social stimuli the break point and the response rate was for similar for the children autism compared to the typically developing children. Results suggest that nonsocial stimuli is a more potent reinforcer for the behavior of children with autism as compared to typically developing children. Potent nonsocial reinforcers may select stereotyped and repetitive behavior and defici verbal and social skills.