Association for Behavior Analysis International

Pinpointing, measuring, and changing behavior that impacts key performance indicators (KPI's) to rapidly grow a human service organization is achievable through the use of behavioral science. In fact, when executed with precision, this can result in massive scaling of services to impact many lives while creating economic opportunity for many employees. This panel is comprised of practitioners that are CEO's and executives that are doing this on a daily basis and provides specific actionable leadership behaviors that achieve massive organizational growth while maintaining the utmost quality through precise measurement of KPI's. Executives on this panel have produced peak employee and organizational performance resulting in employee retention rates exceeding 97% annually and doubling in revenue each year. The principles of organizational behavior management (OBM) that drive successful KPI trends must cascade through the fabric of three levels in any organization. Those levels include the individual employee level, the departmental level, and organization-wide level. Specific KPI's discussed are employee retention, employee engagement, employee recruitment and selection mechanisms, profit & loss, stakeholder feedback, utilization of authorized service units, diversity of funding, social media metrics, staff training and competency, fluency of accounts receivable, cash flow, and adherence to regulatory body compliance standards. Behavior analytic principles run through the fabric of each system to monitor and produce peak organizational performance in all these areas are analyzed.

The target audience for this panel is business owners, C-Level leadership in human services agencies, and those with supervisory and leadership experience. Participants should have, preferably, already taken the 8-hour supervision course. BCBA's, BCaBA's, & BCBA-D's are also encouraged to attend.

The standards for Board Certified Behavior Analyst supervision have changed greatly over the past decade. As stated by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, the supervisee's primary focus should be acquiring new behavior analytic skills related to the BACB Task List, with activities consistent with the dimensions of applied behavior analysis identified by Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968). Providing appropriate supervision includes clinical case review, direct observation and reviewing the application of BACB Task List items. Supervising potential BCBAs may be accomplished using varied formats, including in-person meetings and observations and distance contact through both synchronous and asynchronous modes. This expert panel comprises BCBA supervisors who use various modes of supervision, including in-person, distance, university practicum, private practice, clinic-based, and more. Panelists will present best practices in providing supervision, share tracking systems, and discuss dilemmas faced when providing supervision. There will be a discussion with the audience with an emphasis on best practices, assessing supervisees skills and acquisition of new skills, as well as supervisor effectiveness.

The target audience is BACB supervisors who have completed an 8-hour supervision training.

Self-care is a term discussed scarcely enough in psychological practice, but is rarely discussed among behavior analytic practitioners. Trauma, burnout, and compassion fatigue are widely studied in other fields similar to behavior analysis. These concepts have significant impacts on client care and therapist well-being, so why aren't we discussing this more often? This panel aims to discuss these concepts in behavior analytic practice and further the discussion on a potentially ugly but necessary truth of behavior analytic practitioners.

Our target audience are BCBA's that are seeking to learn more about the important components of self-care in our field and how to embed as part of being a practitioner and supervisor.

Although many clinical practices are requiring the Registered Behavioral Technician (RBT) credential, it is still uncommon to see RBT's working in the schools. Teachers and paraprofessionals can benefit from the RBT credential to give them the basic ABA knowledge that they need to manage behavior, develop IEP goals, build skills in students, and further their own careers. Select schools in the U.S. are embracing the RBT credential and working to provide the training and supervision for their teachers and paraprofessionals. Schools face certain barriers to doing this such as professional development time (particularly for paraprofessionals), cost, and buy-in from district leadership. This panel will discuss the essential needs for RBTs in the school system, the barriers to training and supervision, and challenges in scaling district wide. The ethical considerations for schools will be discussed as well as future directions for providing schools with the education and tools that they need to give teachers and paraprofessionals the ABA training that they need. School districts from Colorado and Connecticut will present their data and procedures for RBTs in their districts, as well as how they plan to utilize RBTs with students, and expand opportunities for staff to get the credential.

Behavior analysts of all levels working within school districts or working with school districts.

Amidst the ever-changing landscape of updated requirements for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's Task List(s) and Experience Standards, agency directors often face organizational challenges balancing the needs of clients and their families, resource allotment, and third-party payers. The panelists in this session will highlight specific ethical and supervisory challenges that may exist when students working under BACB Experience Standards, human service operations (e.g., services for autism spectrum disorder), and a variety of payers (e.g., insurance, waivers, school funds, etc.) collide in the pursuit of socially valid behavioral treatment. Policies, procedures, training protocols, and parent handbooks can be developed with the purpose of supporting cooperation and increasing collaboration. When requirements change from any stakeholder, others must adapt and reflect the changes in practice. Building a culture that is responsive to change in many ways benefits the whole agency. Participants in this session will gain an understanding of recent BACB supervisory changes, related challenges presented by third-party payers, and creative solutions that have been developed in order to balance collaborative efforts.

BACB Supervisors, Agency Directors, Billing/Insurance Managers, University Contact Faculty for BACB Practicum Programs

Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, and Hanratty (2014) developed a functional assessment format intended to be practical and efficient. The process begins with an open-ended interview, the information of which is used to inform the unique contingencies evaluated in an analysis with a single synthesized test condition and a matched control. This symposium includes a comprehensive evaluation of the reliability, validity, generality, and efficiency of the functional assessment model. Study 1 of this symposium evaluates the reliability of the open-ended interview used to design the subsequent analysis by comparing the results of multiple interviewers. In Study 2, multiple contextually relevant variables are assessed to determine the generality of the treatment procedures in natural settings informed by the functional assessment in a consecutive case series analysis. Study 3 evaluated the efficiency of the functional assessment by reanalyzing session duration to determine the extent to which analysis duration can be reduced without detriments in interpretations of functional control. Comparative validity measures of the practical functional assessment and a traditional functional analysis format were obtained in Study 4 by conducting both formats with each of the adult participants.

BCBAs, BCBA-Ds, BCaBAs, licensed psychologists, and other behavior analytic providers who are looking for information on how to conduct or how to teach someone to conduct a practical functional assessment and treatment model.

The interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA; Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, & Hanratty, 2014) is an efficient functional analysis that has led to the development of effective skill-based treatments for severe problem behavior (Ghaemmaghami, Hanley, & Jessel, 2016; Hanley et al., 2014; Santiago, Hanley, Jin, & Moore, 2015). The indirect assessment used in this functional assessment process takes the form of a semi-structured interview with caregivers that informs the design of a subsequent analysis. The reliability of the process of conducting an interview and designing an analysis from the interview has, however, not been assessed. This study aimed to (a) provide multiple measures of the reliability of the semi-structured interview and analysis design process and (b) assess the efficacy and generality of treatments derived from a functional assessment process on baselines established from an independent process. Results showed that reliability largely depended on the lens with which agreement was measured across two independent assessments; the assessment process was reliable on a general level but unreliable on a more specific level. The variability imposed by the unreliability of the assessment process did not negatively influence treatment utility, as the effects of the treatment designed in one context transferred to the other context.

Improving the analytic efficiency and control of functional analysis may reduce common barriers to its practical utility and increase the use of empirically-supported procedures for identifying the functions of problem behavior in clinical settings. We conducted this study to determine if the efficiency of the recently developed interview-informed, synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) could be improved without detrimental effects on control. In Study 1 we reanalyzed IISCAs conducted for the problem behavior of 18 children. We reinterpreted rates of problem behavior during the first 5 min and 3 min of the 10-min sessions and evaluated any changes in the level of control (i.e., strong, moderate, weak). In addition, the first test-session of each full IISCA was reanalyzed at the varying session durations to determine the possibility of obtaining functional control over problem behavior in, what has been termed, the single-test IISCA. In Study 2 we conducted 8 consecutive IISCAs with 3-min sessions to validate the results of the reanalysis. We found that strong levels of control over problem behavior can be maintained when conducting IISCAs with sessions as brief as 3 min.

Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis is increasingly recognized as a viable method for identifying operant function (Ghaemmaghami et al., 2015, 2016; Hanley et al., 2014; Santiago et al., 2016; Strohmeier et al, 2016). However, Fisher, Greer, Romani, Zangrillo, and Owen (2016) found that, for some individuals, combined contingencies can lead to false-positive results. In the current study, we extend this research to adults with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability in a day program; a population and setting relatively unexamined via functional analysis (Beavers, Iwata, & Lerman, 2013). Following initial interview and brief observations, we conducted both standard (Iwata, et al., 1982/1994) and interview-informed synthesized (Hanley et al., 2014) functional analyses in typical adult day program environments across participants. Using the results of the synthesized and the standard functional analyses, we evaluated hypotheses about environment-behavior relations using an intervention test analysis. In the intervention test we measured the occurrence of problem behavior when the putative establishing operations were present in the natural environment, and subsequently introduced intervention components until we achieved suppression of problem behavior. Participants' levels of problem behavior varied across the standard and synthesized approaches following treatment.

Despite serving as effective change agents for clients, behavior analysts often struggle with motivating and supporting the educators with whom they consult. This presentation will propose a three-term model for targeting educator behavior, describe evidence-based performance management procedures, and share experimental data and case studies supporting the effectiveness of a behavior analytic approach to educator training and professional development.

Supervisors, consultants, educators, or staff interested in training others.

Behavior skills training is an evidence-based training package for increasing the accuracy with which staff and caregivers implement behavioral interventions and teaching procedures. Behavior skills training packages typically include instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback components. The purpose of the current symposium is to further evaluate the effectiveness of behavior skills training to increase the fidelity with which staff or caregivers implement a variety of behavior-analytic interventions and teaching procedures. The first study evaluated the effectiveness of self-monitoring following behavior skills training to increase the fidelity with which caregivers implemented three-step prompting. The second study combined group-based behavior skills training with in-situ training to teach participants to implement incidental teaching. The third study used behavior skills training and multiple exemplar training to teach participants to implement mand training. The fourth study combined behavior skills training and coaching to train teachers to arrange incidental teaching opportunities to teach verbal operants. All four studies evaluated the maintenance or generalization of skills trained during behavior skills training.

The target audience for this symposium is BCBAs or behavior analysts responsible for overseeing, training, and supervising staff or caregivers of behavior services.

This study extends the literature on caregiver training methods by assessing self-monitoring as a method for increasing caregivers' procedural integrity when implementing three-step prompting with a family member. Experimenters used a behavior skills training package and procedural integrity training to train two caregivers how to implement a three-step prompting procedure and evaluate procedural integrity. Following training, caregivers implemented the procedures with their family member and monitored their own implementation of the procedures. For one caregiver, self-monitoring was effective at increasing overall procedural integrity above mastery levels and effects maintained when self-monitoring was removed and the procedures where implemented with new instructions. The caregiver who did not master the procedures when self-evaluation was the only form of feedback received performance feedback, additional behavioral skills training, and post-session performance feedback. Results obtained from this study provide useful information about the effectiveness of self-monitoring as a method of performance feedback for caregivers and demonstrates that the way procedural integrity is evaluated may influence the perceived effectiveness of an intervention.

Active engagement broadly refers to the delivery of reinforcers and use of incidental teaching to promote skill acquisition and language development. In school settings, incidental teaching is vital to promoting learning and positive behavioral outcomes. However, training staff to actively engage with children can be difficult and resource intensive. We used a multiple-baseline across-participants design to evaluate the use of group-based behavior skills training and in-situ training with seven trainees to increase their implementation of incidental teaching procedures to preschool children with developmental disabilities within an integrated classroom. The group-based behavior skills training consisted of the trainer delivering a presentation describing procedures, modeling the skills, and providing feedback after role-plays. During in-situ teaching, the trainer delivered feedback as participants implemented incidental teaching. The group-based behavior skills training increased incidental teaching with six participants; however, only one participant met mastery levels. In-situ training was necessary to increase levels of incidental teaching to mastery with six participants. Incidental teaching skills maintained for 1 to 20 weeks.

Children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities typically have delays in their communication skills. It is important for teachers and other school personnel to have an understanding of the different verbal operants and how to use incidental teaching to teach children to emit mands, tacts, and intraverbal responses. The purpose of the study was to use a multiple-baseline across-participants design to evaluate behavior skills training with classroom coaching to train school personnel to use incidental teaching to teach verbal behavior. Six females who were currently enrolled in a practicum to become bachelor's level or Master's level Special Education teachers participated. Trainees were provided with instructions on each verbal operant and observed the experimenter modeling how to use incidental teaching to arrange opportunities to teach a child with autism spectrum disorder the targeted verbal operant (mand, tact, or intraverbal). Following the model, the trainee worked with the child while the experimenter provided coaching in the form of in-situ feedback and feedback following each session. Behavior skills training and coaching was effective to increase participants' use of incidental teaching to teach mands, tacts, and intraverbals.

In-situ staff training often involves verbal feedback, which tends to be delayed and may be distracting to staff. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of an auditory clicker sound as a conditioned reinforcer to train behavior interventionists' relevant clinical skills during in-situ training. A multiple-baseline across behaviors design indicated that the intervention was effective in increasing all target behaviors for all three participants. For two of the participants, we conducted maintenance probes one to five weeks after the final training session and performance continued to occur at a high level. Although the participants ranked the contingent clicker presentation as less disruptive and fairer than typical feedback methods, they ranked it as slightly less helpful, slightly less worthwhile, and slightly less pleasant than typical feedback methods. Two of the three participants asked for this procedure to be used for other clinical skills outside the scope of the study. Findings of this study can offer a different and perhaps more practical approach to in-situ staff training.

Behavior Analysts, Behavior Analysts in training, para-professionals, ABA masters students

Successful intervention requires ongoing evaluation in the form of objective data to determine the effects of treatment. The importance of ongoing data collection with the ability to make changes to treatment plans based on immediate information is essential to the treatment of individuals requiring behavioral interventions. However, if those implementing behavior intervention fail to submit this information, data-based decisions cannot be made. Support for the effectiveness of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) procedures for improving and or maintaining staff performance in the human services field has been well documented. The use of group contingencies have been used in an organizational setting to decrease staff problem behavior and a variation of a group contingency has used to decrease staff absenteeism. However, previous studies have not determined the most effective components to Group Oriented Contingency based procedures to change staff behavior. A group multiple baseline will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of a single intervention (e.g., lottery-based group contingency) procedure with the addition of the remaining intervention (e.g., performance feedback) across 4 groupings of staff providing behavior intervention services.

The need for Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) applications in human service settings has become more and more apparent. The first paper in this symposium will present a quantitative literature review of research on OBM in human service settings, discussing trends, strengths, and opportunities, including the need to conduct more preintervention assessments before implementing OBM interventions. This second paper will highlight survey research that demonstrates the need for clinical behavior analysts to obtain training in OBM and compares clinicians' concerns with the current research trends highlighted in the first paper. The last paper will describe an OBM intervention in an early intervention center, where the effects of scorecards on typically high and typically low performers was evaluated.

Supervising behavior analysts working in human service settings that serve clinical populations; supervisors can be at a manager or director level

One approach that can be used to improve effectiveness and efficiency in human service settings (HSS) is organizational behavior management (OBM). However, OBM has not been widely adopted in HSS and more research is needed to improve organization-wide adoption and application. In addition, although several quantitative reviews of various aspects of OBM have been conducted, none to date has specifically looked at the role of OBM specific to HSS. Thus, the present review was conducted to look at the literature on OBM in HSS that was published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM), the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and Behavior Analysis in Practice (BAP) from 1990–2016. Trends across client populations served, settings for conducting research, employee populations targeted, the use of pre-intervention assessments, the specific dependent variables measured, and the types of independent variables used will be described. Recommendations for future research will also be provided.

Applied behavior analysts working in human service settings (HSS) train and supervise staff, design systems, and do other tasks related to organizational behavior management (OBM). Consistent with these practices, the Fifth Edition Task List from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board has placed additional emphasis on the need for supervision and OBM training for all clinical behavior analysts. To better understand the role of OBM in HSS, we created a survey for clinical behavior analysts. Respondents were 164 individuals who worked in clinical or human service settings as behavior analysts and who supervised at least one other person. We also coded ten director-level and ten manager-level job descriptions for behavior analysts in HSS to see what kinds of OBM training employers ask for and what kind of OBM job duties employers advertise. Data obtained are discussed in terms of how they can illuminate the links between what clinical behavior analysts are trained to do, what companies advertise they want their clinicians to do, and what those clinicians actually do once they enter the workforce.

The present study evaluated the impact of scorecards on behavior technicians' performance in an early intervention center. Eight technicians participated in the study, each receiving a weekly scorecard. Baseline measures determined the performance level of participants, with four of the highest performers and four of the lowest performers being selected as the participants for this study. The scorecards included measures drawn from an employee survey which sought to identify essential job duties. From the survey results, four measures were selected that corresponded with pre-existing data collection methods. These included: timeliness, programs ran, data entry, and provision of feedback. Initially, there was a modest increase in performance for four of the technicians when scorecard delivery was introduced. Scorecard dimensions were further altered to assess the impact of the modifications on typically high and low performers. Implications and areas of future research will be discussed.

As behavior analysts, we have the responsibility of training other individuals (parents, educators, or Registered Behavior Technicians) to deliver service or accurate instruction directly to our clients. Much research has demonstrated that instructor accuracy (i.e., errorless instructional delivery) is critical for learner outcomes. There is a significant quantity of behavior analytic literature that discusses evidenced-based methods for improving teacher training and supervision. In this symposium, we present an experimental analysis of the necessary components that constitute effective and efficient supervision and identify tactics to increase supervision by clinical management. In summary, this experimental study established the following: 1) supervisor accuracy in presentation of instructional trials across student programming is a required prerequisite for training and supervising others, 2) observing others deliver instruction via video training, Powerpoint presentations, or role playing are ineffective methods of increasing teacher accuracy, 3) the controlling variable for how teacher accuracy is achieved is through the use of direct, objective measurement of instruction using the Teacher Performance Rate Accuracy Scale (TPRAS) provided during in situ supervision, and 4) self-monitoring one's own instructional delivery through conducting TPRAS on oneself is another effective way to increase teacher accuracy.

BCBAs, BCaBAs, and any individuals who are responsible for training and supervising RBTs, paraprofessionals, and/or school aides in direct instruction with learners.

Supervision of Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT) in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis is a key quality indicator to providing the best outcomes for consumers. Previous research has demonstrated that the Teacher Performance Rate and Accuracy Scale (TPRA) measure is the most effective tool used to increase instructional accuracy of instructors in the field by providing immediate and objective feedback. In contrast, the frequency of which a Clinical BCBA Managers implement the TPRA measure with RBTs is to be considered. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of a yoked-contingency tactic to increase the implementation of TPRAs with a group of 3 BCBA managers who delivered very few TPRAs during RBT supervision sessions, using a delayed multiple probe design across groups of participants. The dependent variable is the number of TPRAs each BCBA manager completed per day. The independent variable is the implementation of a yoked- contingency tactic, in which individuals in a group must work together to access reinforcement (Greer & Ross, 2008). This study is on-going, however, current results indicate that a yoked-contingency intervention is overall an effective tactic to increase TPRAs delivered by current BCBA manager participants during sessions.