Association for Behavior Analysis International

Presentations, data, and graphs...Oh my! Preparing for and attending conferences can be exhausting. Take some time to reset and restore with a 50 minute yoga class. This gentle practice begins with a light warm up, transitions to a slow flow of seated postures, and closes with a restful savasana. All levels are welcome! See you on the mat!

What makes us human? That is an old question, much older than the modern division of science. Today anthropogeny tries to explain the origin of humans with a multidisciplinary approach. To answer that question one first has to define culture. For some biology researchers, “culture is information that is capable of affecting individuals’ behaviour, which they acquire from other individuals through teaching, imitation and other forms of social learning. Here, ‘information’ includes knowledge, beliefs, values and skills.”. In behavior analysis, Skinner has shown a definition that can cover all of the meanings of previous attempts, with the advantage of specifying what and how it is learned; in his own words, “the usefulness of any lawful relation depends on the sharpness of reference of the terms in which it is stated.” In behavioral terms, culture is the set of conditional relations, or contingencies, which regulates the power to reinforce or punish members of a group. Large groups usually have some controlling agencies for different kinds of behavior.

This award will be accepted by Julia Todorov-Thomsen on behalf of João Todorov.

Len Green received his undergraduate degree from the City College of New York (CCNY) and his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. After completing post-doctoral research, he ventured west of the Mississippi (despite thinking he still would remain east of the river) where he is Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences and Professor of Economics at Washington University in St. Louis, as well as Director of Undergraduate Studies. His research concerns choice and decision-making in rats, pigeons, and people, with a particular interest in models of self-control, impulsivity, and choice and decision-making. He is one of the developers of ‘behavioral economics,’ a transdisciplinary field that combines the experimental methodology of psychology with the theoretical constructs of economics. He is co-author of the book Economic Choice Theory: An Experimental Analysis of Animal Behavior, and editor of Advances in Behavioral Economics, the third volume of which is subtitled Substance Use and Abuse. His research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Aging, and the McDonnell Center for Higher Brain Function. He served on the Executive Board of the Society for the Quantitative Analysis of Behavior (SQAB), was President of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (SEAB), and was Editor of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB). He is a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) and the Association for Psychological Science (APS), and was President of Division 25 (Behavior Analysis) of the American Psychological Association. He received the Victor G. Laties Award for Lifetime Service from the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior in 2018.

I obtained my doctorate in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University in 1974 since when I have been in academic posts in Northern Ireland where I have been a full professor since 1986. I published textbooks on behaviour analysis in 1979, 1996, 2000, 2002. As well as teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses, I have successfully supervised 48 students who have obtained PhDs in fields including, experimental analysis of behaviour, applied behaviour analysis, psychopharmacology, behavioural neuroscience, experimental psychology, applied psychology. Three PhD’s were concerned with behavioural strategies to address environmental issues. In 1977 I was co-founder of the group, Behaviour Analysis in Ireland which became a chapter of ABAI. In 2004, the group became the Division of Behaviour Analysis of the Psychological Society of Ireland, and I am currently the Division chair. I organised the Third European Meeting for the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour in Dublin, Ireland 1999, and have co-organised 13 annual conferences of the Division of Behaviour Analysis from 2007 to 2019, variously in Dublin, Galway and Athlone. I have been a keynote speaker at the European Association for Behaviour Analysis in Milan in 2006, in Crete, Greece in 2010, at the Brazilian Association for Behaviour Analysis, Salvador 2011, and at the 30th International Conference of the Spanish Society for Comparative Psychology 2018, and at the 10th International Conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis International in Stockholm, September 2019.

Jennifer L. Austin received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the Florida State University, where she had the privilege of studying under the supervision of Dr. Jon Bailey. For over 20 years, she has worked as a behaviour analytic researcher and clinician, whilst also playing a key role in the development of behaviour analysis programmes in the United States and the United Kingdom. She currently serves as Professor of Psychology and Head of Behaviour Analysis at the University of South Wales, where directs the MSc Behaviour Analysis and Therapy and PgDip Behaviour Analysis Supervised Practice programmes. She also serves as the Clinical Director of the USW Behaviour Analysis Clinic, which is the only university-based behaviour analysis clinic in Europe. Dr. Austin’s research and clinical interests have focussed primarily on behaviour analytic applications in mainstream education, as well as applying our science to populations that are relatively underserved by the field, including children who have experienced trauma and prisoners. She has been a key driver in the development of the UK Society for Behaviour Analysis, which seeks to protect consumers of behaviour analysis, whilst also working toward professional recognition of behaviour analysts in the UK. Dr. Austin has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and is a former associate editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice, and Education and Treatment of Children.

A fortunate part of my early academic environment was exposure to behavior analysis, which has been critical to my investigation of drugs, addiction, risk behavior, and therapeutic pharmacology. One topic is behavioral economic demand analysis, which I have used to examine the relations among tobacco products, such as traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and the effects of a potential cigarette nicotine-reduction policy. Another topic within the realm of behavioral economics is delay discounting. I have conducted studies helping to identify delay discounting as a fundamental behavioral process underlying addiction across a variety of drugs. My research has applied delay discounting to understand risky sexual behavior in the form of condom use decisions. My drug administration studies show that cocaine and alcohol acutely increase sexual risk behavior by decreasing likelihood of condom use through a delay discounting mechanism. I have conducted drug administration studies with drugs from nearly all drug classes, investigating abuse liability and behavioral effects. These have included first-in-humans studies and studies of novel or atypical drugs such as salvinorin A, the active agent in Salvia divinorum. Finally, I have conducted extensive research with the psychedelic drug psilocybin, including studies showing large long-term reductions in depression and anxiety in cancer patients, and high smoking cessation success rates in treatment-resistant smokers. Overall, my research has provided me the opportunity to speak to the media about a larger number of topics such as: the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs; novel psychoactive drugs largely unknown to the public; the risks associated with alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other drugs; the effects of drugs on sex and sexual risk, and the changing landscape of tobacco/nicotine and cannabis products. My behavior analytic background has not only been instrumental in conducting my research, but also in responsibly communicating about these topics to the public.

Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., has broad expertise on psychoactive drugs, addiction, and risk behavior. Early contributions include research contributing to the recognition that delay discounting, or the devaluation of future consequences, is a fundamental behavioral process broadly relevant to addiction. His early research also validated methods and developed analytic techniques that have since become widely adopted in delay discounting research. He has conducted tobacco/nicotine research throughout his career, determining the role of nicotine and nonpharmacological factors in tobacco use and addiction. This includes recent research on e-cigarettes and current research funded by the Food and Drug Administration using behavioral economics to evaluate cigarettes with potentially modified risk. Applying behavioral economics to sexual risk behavior, Matt has conducted seminal research implicating delay discounting in condom use decisions. He published the first human research determining the effects of cocaine administration on sexual decision making and risk, providing important information for addressing the high rates of HIV among cocaine users. Matt is also a leading expert on the effects of psychedelic drugs and has conducted seminal work that has expanded basic and therapeutic interest in these compounds, including research suggesting potential therapeutic effects of psilocybin in cancer-related psychiatric distress and smoking cessation. He has conducted studies administering nearly all classes of psychoactive drugs. Matt has published 119 articles and chapters including studies on cocaine, tobacco/nicotine, methamphetamine, alcohol, psilocybin, dextromethorphan, salvinorin A, GHB, cannabis, opioids, benzodiazepines, and cathinone-like compounds (“bath salts”). He has been internationally sought as a science communicator on psychoactive drugs and addiction, being interviewed by the CBS 60 Minutes, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Show, Fox Business News, BBC, National Public Radio including Morning Edition and the Kojo Nnamdi Show, Labyrint (a public television show in the Netherlands), the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Globe and Mail, the Daily Mail, USA Today, CBS News, the Baltimore Sun, the Atlantic, the Washingtonian, Psychology Today, Scientific American, and Nature, among others. Matt was quoted and his research was described in Michael Pollan’s best-selling book How to Change Your Mind: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us about Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) was founded in 1990 by Doreen Granpeesheh, Ph.D., BCBA-D, at the suggestion of O. Ivar Lovaas, Ph.D., who wanted the participants in his groundbreaking study to have an ABA program to attend when they aged out of his UCLA research. What began as a one-woman practice in Westwood, California, grew into the largest ABA provider in the world with more than 260 clinic locations in 33 states. Having practiced, researched, and advocated for ABA for over 40 years, Dr. Granpeesheh provides a view of the earliest years of behavioral applications to the treatment of autism, and speaks of the ways in which access to ABA has grown, largely as a result of the onset of health insurance funding. Dr. Granpeesheh shares the lessons learned in the field, describes how data-driven decisions continue to shape behavior analysis, and shares her insights on future directions.

Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) and the Founder and President of the Board of Autism Care and Treatment Today (ACT Today). Dr. Granpeesheh received her Ph.D. in Psychology from UCLA under the mentorship of Professor Ivar Lovaas. She is licensed by the Medical Board of California and the Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Virginia, Michigan and Oregon State Boards of Psychologists. Dr. Granpeesheh holds a Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology from the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, doctoral level, and has been providing behavioral therapy for individuals with autism since 1979. She has been a member of numerous scientific and advisory boards including the US Autism and Asperger's Association, the Autism File journal, Autism 360/medigenesis, the 4-A Healing Foundation, and the Defeat Autism Now coalition. In addition, Dr. Granpeesheh has served on the National Board of Directors of the Autism Society of America, the practice board of ABAI, as well as the Autism Human Rights and Discrimination Initiative Steering Committee, the Early Intervention Taskforce of the Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related Disorders, and the Oversight Committee of the Department of Developmental Disabilities.

Dr. Granpeesheh has co-authored the book Evidence-Based Treatment for Children with Autism and numerous peer reviewed publications on issues concerning the diagnosis and treatment of Autism. She was awarded the George Winoker Clinical Research Award from the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists for her publication titled: Retrospective analysis of clinical records in 38 cases of recovery from autism. Together with her colleagues at CARD, Dr. Granpeesheh created Skills® for Autism, a web-based software tool that creates comprehensive treatment plans for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder, and founded the Institute for Behavioral Training, an online platform for training professionals and families on the principles of ABA.

In 1968, Baer, Wolf and Risley wrote: “Better applications [of behavioral science], it is hoped, will lead to a better state of society, to whatever extent the behavior of its members can contribute to the goodness of a society.” I grew up with that idea and passion—even before I was their student, but they had the practical science. Only a few things from ABA have been brought to population-level scale—with measured population-level benefits. My talk is how my colleagues and I have achieved population-level impact on violence, mental health, addictions and academics using ABA and other proven science. The driving example in this talk, and paper, uses the Good Behavior Game, because it was the first ABA publication on a whole classroom implementation of ABA. Scaling up and scaling out GBG is a function having worked with Sesame Street, implementing my national child-safety effort in NZ, implementing an ABA tobacco control strategy, and understanding and building a business based on sales rather than grants. Achieving population-level benefits with ABA is unlikely to happen as a direct result of an NIH grant. The contingencies are not aligned. Both the Good Behavior Game at micro level and as our international prevention-science company involve selection by consequences to achieve the vision that Baer, Wolf and Risley envisioned. My talk lays a step-by-step pathway to population-level impact of ABA informed prevention science that Don, Mont and Todd foresaw 50 years ago, but did not live to see. From these lessons, we might succeed in bettering the world they predicted.

Dennis D. Embry received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, focused on using ABA for population-level efforts with Sesame Street and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety—ultimately implementing that work throughout New Zealand. Dr. Embry is president/senior scientist at PAXIS Institute in Tucson, and co-investigator at both Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention and the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.  Founded in 1998, PAXIS Institute is an international prevention science company, focused on preventing mental, emotional, behavioral and related physical disorders at population-level. He is a SAMHSA/CMHS National Advisory Council member, the board of the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, and the scientific advisory board of the Children’s Mental Health Network. In the 1990s, he implemented the first RCT at population-level to reduce youth violence (PeaceBuilders) using ABA principles. In 1999, he began replicating the longitudinal Hopkin’s studies of the Good Behavior Game. Today Dr. Embry’s prevention efforts affecting more than one million children in 38 states, multiple provinces of Canada, and EU countries with multiple studies showing population-level reduction of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders using PAX GBG and evidence-base kernels. As grad student, Dr. Baer (his advisor) asked Dennis why he wanted to study ABA having a political and history background, the answer: “I want to use science to make our world a better place for children.”

The efficiency of behavior analytic intervention to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increases when it is early, intensive, comprehensive, and long-lasting. This is particularly true for children with moderate to severe impairment. The above-mentioned key elements make behavior analytic intervention often inaccessible for most of the affected population in developing countries, such as Brazil. The main causes for that are: the shortage of trained professionals and the absence of specialized public services. Some of the families have the profile to be trained to participate in the intervention plan. Parental implementation may be an important tool for behavior analysts to deliver interventions with the required intensity, comprehensiveness, and extension. On the other hand, training technicians efficiently is another challenge. In this scenario, research focusing on the advancement of training procedures to develop implementation skills in parents of children diagnosed with ASD and also technicians is helpful. This presentation describes some of our applied research on teaching basic skills to implement behavior-analytic intervention to ASD. We describe our results with instructional video-modeling to teach parents to implement structured teaching and its impact on their respective children. We also compare results of implementation by parents to results of implementation by technicians. Research on training basic skills to implement incidental teaching is also reported, along with data on self-video-monitoring to prevent drifting in implementation by technicians. This research line as a whole is dedicated to developing useful tools for behavior analysts to quickly bring others to help in an intervention plan.

Students and professionals interested in the dissemination of Applied behavior analysis.

The purpose of these three studies was to evaluate different variables that may impact skill acquisition in individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The first paper evaluated the order in which stimuli were presented (i.e., sample-first or comparison-first) during receptive discrimination in six children. Results suggest that all participants learned faster during the sample-first condition. The second paper examined if the participants acquired receptive identification and tacting of unknown stimuli presented in array of stimuli that included directly trained tacts. Results suggest that receptive responding may emerge after tact training and that for some individuals tacting and receptive identification may be acquired through exclusion. Finally, the last paper investigated whether the form of visual stimuli affects the acquisition of object-to-picture matching in three young men. Results suggest that the use of stimuli with greater visual similarity to the target object may yield greater efficiency in mastering object-to-picture relations for some individuals diagnosed with ASD.

RBTs, BCaBAs, BCBAs, graduate students

Our field continues to refine and advance methods of teaching individuals with autism critical language skills that allow them to more fully interact with others in their surroundings. The goal of research within this area is often to produce spontaneous language that allows individuals with autism to have more successful social experiences. The papers in this symposium will address teaching language skills to individuals with autism with respect to question-asking skills and simple social responses for an individual also diagnosed with catatonia. Through the use of single-subject experimental designs, the researchers have investigated strategies of teaching language responses to students with autism and demonstrated the effective use of such strategies to increase appropriate spontaneous language responses in the presence of target discriminative stimuli. In addition, each presenter will define methods by which the generalization of these important verbal skills was targeted and the extent to which these responses were displayed under non-training conditions. Finally, each presenter will detail the acquisition and generalization of these responses through a learning-based account and comment on the importance of these skills in advancing the language repertoires of individuals with autism.

Professionals in behavior analysis, education, and clinicians serving individuals with autism who hold certification in behavior analysis or BA, MA, or Ph.D level degrees.

Children with autism exhibit severe deficits in social communication and social interactions (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Studies show that even if children acquire a verbal repertoire they rarely engage in spontaneous speech (Krantz, Rams Land, & McClannahan, 1989; Stevenson, Krantz, & McClannahan, 2000). Question-asking skills is a key aspect of spontaneous language that typically is absent or delayed in individuals with autism (Hauck, Fein, Waterhouse, & Feinstein, 1995; Stone & Caro-Martinez, 1990), and a particular form of question asking that is of vital importance is asking for help. During our presentation we will show the use of audio scripts, an interrupting chain procedure and sufficient exemplar training in teaching preschool aged children with autism to ask for help. Children were taught to request help across three different skill domains (play, self-help, and academic tasks). We employed a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across three participants. The intervention was effective for all participants. All three participants learned to ask for help when appropriate, and to refrain from asking for help when help was not needed. Furthermore, asking for help behavior generalized to untrained situations and to new people. Asking for help behaviors were also maintained at follow-up, conducted three months after intervention.

Catatonia is a syndrome characterized as a cluster of difficulties in verbal and motor behavior that interfere with everyday function. The following is an experimental analysis of the effects of a prompt-fading behavioral treatment package on the verbal behavior of an adolescent girl with autism spectrum disorder and catatonia. Data were collected on the verbal production of three target responses previously in the participant’s repertoire: “Hi;” “That sounds great;” and “Excuse me.” Following the presentation of an opportunity to respond (e.g., following an instructor’s greeting), the instructor provided full manual guidance, in conjunction with a verbal model when needed, to assist the participant in emitting the verbal response. Over time, manual prompts were replaced with graduated guidance, spatial fading and shadowing. A functional relation between prompt-fading and verbal behavior was demonstrated by the systematic increase in the percentage of verbal responses displayed following the introduction of prompt fading across three verbal responses. As manual prompts were systematically faded, independent verbal responding emerged. Responding was displayed across unfamiliar adults and maintained over a 12-month period. Future researchers may want to investigate the effectiveness of prompt fading to reestablish verbal behavior across different individuals with similar/less similar profiles.

Behavior Analysts in the applied setting have a unique opportunity to contribute to a robust literature base by providing replication of existing best practices, and by evaluating treatment models rooted in behavior analytic literature. We are compelled by our ethical code (and our funding sources) to continue to disseminate evidence that Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an effective treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorder. The call to disseminate, combined with the opportunity of capturing progress in real-world settings, is a powerful argument for conducting meaningful applied research. In practice, there are numerous potential hurdles to conducting quality applied research. This panel will propose an approach for creating infrastructure to support in-house research initiatives, as well as strategies for implementation within the time and resource constraints faced by practicing Behavior Analysts. Additionally, the panelists will review the benefits of mentorship and collaboration between academics and practitioners, as well as self-reported benefits to clinicians who participate in research efforts in the applied setting.

Behavior Analysts

Individuals without a fluent speaking repertoire may show disproportionate levels of strength across samples of verbal operants. Verbal behavior is inherently social in that its reinforcement is mediated by a listener. Common examples of verbal behavior within the applied literature include conditioning mand, tact, echoic, and intraverbal control. Sampling responses from these four operant classes allows us to infer the overall strength of these populations of behavior, and analyze differences in their relative strength. The null hypothesis for this type of analysis is that the levels of strength across these four operants is proportionate, a phenomenon commonly described as “fluency” that facilitates transfer of stimulus control across changing environmental conditions. The alternative hypothesis is that the levels of strength across these four operants is disproportionate, a phenomenon commonly described as “autism” that inhibits transfer of stimulus control due to certain response prepotencies. Assessment strategies and implications for treatment will be discussed.

Individuals without derivational stimulus control may show disproportionate levels of strength across samples of intraverbal relations. Derivational stimulus control refers to the extent to which listeners effectively respond to verbal stimuli along a generalization gradient. Common examples of derivational stimulus control within the applied literature include reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity. Sampling responses from these three operant classes allows us to infer the overall strength of these populations of behavior, and analyze differences in their relative strength. The null hypothesis for this type of analysis is that the levels of strength across these three operants is proportionate, a phenomenon commonly described as “listener comprehension” that facilitates prolonged verbal episodes and facilitates the development of other social skills. The alternative hypothesis is that the levels of strength across these three operants is disproportionate, a phenomenon commonly described as “autism” that inhibits transfer of stimulus control due to certain response prepotencies. Assessment strategies and implications for treatment will be discussed.

In this panel discussion we will identify parent barrier behaviors and treatment indications resulting from parent barrier behaviors. We have developed a basic checklist of parent barrier behaviors observed in an ABA clinic in Arizona and corresponding data will be described. These identified parent barrier behaviors have been hypothesized to impact treatment duration and ultimately impact the child’s long-term access to effective ABA intervention. Many of the families with high barrier behaviors often begin ABA services with various providers in a geographic area with limited duration of services at each location. These barrier behaviors are often seen in various settings with the caregiver, therapy, school, and other medical providers. This checklist was designed to identify what barrier behaviors may be exhibited by parents or caregivers, establish a threshold score to indicate a specific treatment focus, and a suggestion for high intensity parent training at the onset of ABA therapy and other treatment indications should be discussed. The goal is to focus on parent barrier behaviors and address them behavior analytically in order to increase duration of effective ABA services for the child.

BCBAs in practice, BCBA administrators that may have policy control, practitioners that have direct contact with parents on a regular basis.

A child psychologist, child psychiatrist, general pediatrician, and behavior analyst all walk into a room and... The result is a discussion about how integrating applied behavior analysis into a 10-bed medical-behavioral unit at a children's medical hospital has impacted the practice of non-behavior analytic colleagues. From providing capacity for these practitioners to use their unique skill sets to ensuring that patients receive more effective treatment, the presence of behavior analysts on the medical-behavior unit has allowed for behavior to be assessed and treated with efficacy and integrity. This has resulted in a larger emphasis on behaviorally-based treatments rather than the sole use of psychotropic medications. Practitioners report greater proficiency with behavioral terminology, better understanding of behavioral technologies, increased use of behavior analytic assessment and treatment, and overall improved outcomes for patients. As a result, non-behavior analytic practitioners are able to re-focus resources as needed to patients and families with a greater understanding of why behaviors are occurring as well as more targeted treatment.

Target audience includes consultants and behavior analysts working with acute feeding disorders and/or medically complex clients.

According to the most recent report of the US Employment Demand for Behavior Analysts, annual demand for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) has increased about 800% from 2010 to 2017. While this leads to greater job security in the field, it also means that employers are under a great deal of stress to provide services to significantly more clients, leading to either turning away business and money, or pressuring staff to take on more than they can handle. Gregoire (2016) reported that levels of stress in the workplace are reportedly 18% – 24% higher now than they were 30 years ago. The first presentation in this symposium will provide an overview of the theory of self-care and Basic Conditional Factors (BCFs), commonly overlooked barriers to self-care. The second presentation will provide an overview of results from a recent study that examined the relationships between self-care strategies, job crafting practices, work-life balance, work engagement, and burnout among behavior analysts. The third presentation will provide an example of how self-care practices have been integrated into the organizational culture of a multi-specialty practice pediatric practice and provide suggestions for how these practices can be generalized to other settings.

Professionals, including behavior analysts, working in human service settings of any type, interested in supporting personal and professional health and wellbeing of individuals and organizations; psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.

Efficient and effective training on evidence-based practices including applied behavior analysis (ABA) based interventions may not be accessible to caregivers and professionals implementing interventions. In order for caregivers and professionals to effectively implement ABA-based interventions, training and ongoing coaching are critical. However, numerous training barriers associated with traditional didactic models exist (e.g., time, costs, scheduling, shortage of qualified individuals). Telehealth is a model that can address these barriers and support individuals as they learn to implement ABA-based interventions. Telehealth is the use of online and communication technologies to deliver explicit training and ongoing coaching from a distance. This presentation aims to address the need for efficient and effective training on ABA-based interventions through the use of telehealth. The results of four single-case design studies in which caregivers and professionals (e.g., teachers, early intervention providers, and parents) were taught and coached via telehealth to implement ABA-based interventions are presented. Data regarding implementation fidelity, child outcomes, and social validity are shared.

Practicing BCBAs

Applied Behaviour Analysis is the basis of the most effective interventions for the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders. However, there is a significant shortage in appropriately qualified individuals (i.e., Board Certified Behavior Analysts; BCBA®) that can design and oversee the implementation of individually-tailored interventions that meet service-recipients needs. To address this gap in professional training and service provision, telehealth has emerged as a model that makes use of technology to increase treatment efficiency and accessibility by providing remote training and supervision of behaviour analytic treatment. Given existing research on the use of telehealth presents important methodological flaws, rigorous experiments are warranted before telehealth can be classified as evidence-based practice. Our work has focused on the creation and experimental testing of two parent and professional training packages that use instruction and live coaching to teach skills that promote communication and independent living skills. In this presentation, we will share data on efficacy in terms of parent/professional skill acquisition and child outcomes, fidelity of implementation and social validity.

Growing evidence suggests complementary findings in research on verbal development and relational responding. A large body of research in relational responding demonstrates stimulus control involving complex human behavior and communication including language. Simultaneously, decades of research findings in verbal development and applications identified stimulus control for the range of cusps and how this changes children’s prognosis. This program of research suggests experiential and reinforcement sources of stimulus control that lead to incidental language learning as bidirectional naming (BiN) and the component unidirectional naming (UniN). Another body of research on BiN increasingly points to the presence of BiN as a facilitator of relational responding. We present and discuss two papers whose findings show correlational and functional relations between the presence of and onset of the BiN cusp and arbitrary derived relations (AAR). Each body of research represents extensions of behavior analysis to domains traditionally seen as exclusive properties of cognitive psychology. Findings showing the intercept of stimulus control for these lines of investigation are evidence of a more mature science that promises a bright future for the science of behavior.  

Intermediate level, behavior scientists,

Bidirectional Naming and derived relational responding have both commonly been used to explain the accelerated rate in word learning that often occurs within the second to third year of life. However, there has been limited research on how these repertoires may intersect and relate to each other. Across two analyses we evaluated the relation between Bidirectional Naming (BiN) and derived relational responding demonstrated by 31 preschool students with and without diagnoses. Within the first experiment we tested the presence and strength of relations between BiN, arbitrary and non-arbitrary relations which were mutually and combinatorial entailed. Data from the first analysis indicated a strong, significant correlation between participants’ degree of BiN and scores on tests of derived relations. The second analysis compared the mean differences between the establishment of arbitrary unimodal and cross-modal relations for 18 preschool students, selected from participants included within Experiment 1. The data indicated a significant difference for both cross-modal and unimodal derived relations. The obtained results of both experiments have implications for research in how Bidirectional Naming and derived relational responding may lead to learning at accelerated rates and in new ways.

The rapid growth in computer technology means that nearly anything imaginable is either possible or will soon become possible. Behavior analysts, as specialists in learning and behavior, are uniquely trained to become strong collaborators on multidisciplinary teams focusing on projects to advance machine learning, simulation-based experiences, and much more. In this tutorial, I will discuss how we currently leverage such technology in my lab and integrate robotics, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) in our behavior analytic research. I will share the outcomes of some of our current research projects as well as my collaborative efforts on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) grants.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Dr. Kazemi is a Professor at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where she has developed and teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in behavior analysis for the past 10 years. She founded the Masters of Science Program in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2010 and has collaborated with the CSUN community to provide graduate students high quality supervision experiences. She currently has two different lines of research. Her applied research interests involve identification of efficient, effective strategies for practical training, supervision, and leadership. Her laboratory research involves leveraging technology (e.g., robotics, virtual or augmented reality) for efficient training and feedback using simulations. She is currently working on several nationwide large projects (e.g., with FEMA and NASA) with a focus on effective training and behavioral outcomes. She has received several mentorship awards including the ABAI Best Mentor Award, the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Outstanding Service Award. She has published articles and book chapters on a variety of topics including training, staff turnover, and the use of technology in behavior analysis. She is the leading author of a handbook written for both supervisors and supervisees that is titled, Supervision and Practicum in Behavior Analysis: A Handbook for Supervisees.

Effective presenting is an important skill for graduate students do develop in the context of their training. However, effective dissemination is often neglected in training programs which is problematic in regard to professional advancement and overall dissemination to the field. This question-and-answer-style Professional Development Series panel will offer an opportunity for students to ask questions regarding oral presentations. The panelists will discuss all components to presenting, from creation of slides and effective story-telling to delivery based on audience type. Panelists will focus on three main components to presentations: organization and structure, slides, and delivery. Presenters will offer advice on how to give effective and engaging presentations while giving enough time for ample questions from the audience. The goal of this panel is to offer insight and advice to students on how to become a more effective and engaging presenter through the expertise of the invited panelists

Graduate students, certified behavior analysts

Often thrown into the bucket of “behavior sciences,” Behavior analysis is frequently misunderstood or even maligned by members of the general population who believe it is something “done” to a person with special needs or autism without regard to social validity or the environment. As behavior analysts, we understand the great need for the technology of ABA across almost every facet of life. From moms, teachers, and coaches to CEOs and even world leaders, a fundamental understanding of the principles of behavior can drastically improve performance, outcomes, and quality of life across multiple environments. However, our skillsets and reinforcers are predominantly related to the application, not the dissemination of the science. Most people are left in the dark regarding the greatest science in the world. After all, what science can benefit all other sciences by improving the performance of their perspective scientists? This panel discussion will focus on current efforts to disseminate while providing participants tips and techniques for Expanding the World's Collective Wisdom of Behavioral Science to Change the Landscape of Government, Education, Industry, and Society at Large.

Behavior Analysts seeking to expand the field and impact of behavior analysis through dissemination.

This invited panel is sponsored by ABAI’s new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Board; it represents the first of an annual series of program events highlighting topics identified as central to success in DEI achievements. After a brief review of the Board’s activities this year by Carol Pilgrim, the panel discussion will focus on the critical issue of recruitment efforts in DEI. Dr. Jomella Watson-Thompson will address recruitment strategies and challenges within practice and field settings, Dr. Sarah Bloom will discuss recruitment of university students, and Dr. Mike Perone will speak to recruitment practices targeting university faculty and administrators. Time for questions and comments from the audience will be included to allow for sharing relevant experiences and lessons learned. Future panels in the DEI series will target themes including retaining individuals once recruited, mentoring programs, inclusion and equity strategies at the organization level, inclusion and equity strategies at the individual level, and others.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Dr. Jomella Watson-Thompson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science, and the Director of the Center for Service Learning at the University of Kansas. She is also an Associate Director with the Center for Community Health and Development. She attained a Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology and a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Kansas. She applies behavioral science methods and interventions to improve how communities address issues related to community health and development. Her research has focused on behavioral-community approaches to neighborhood development, substance abuse prevention, and youth and community violence prevention. Dr. Thompson supports community-engaged scholarship using participatory approaches to address social determinants or factors that may contribute to disparities, particularly for marginalized groups and communities. She has researched the effects of community-based processes and behavioral-community interventions to promote mobilization and change in communities. Dr. Thompson has co-authored articles on community capacity-building, youth development, and prevention and received numerous federal, state and local funding awards. She is as an Associate Editor with Behavior and Social Issues. Dr. Thompson has extensive experience providing training, technical support and evaluation for coalitions and community-based initiatives.

This symposium involves studies investigating the effects of lag schedules and teacher presentation rates on academic, play, and social behavior of children with autism. The first presentation will discuss using a lag schedule to teach variable play behavior in preschoolers with autism, and assessing preference for variable or repetitive play. The second presentation will discuss using fixed and varied instructional arrangements to establish varied intraverbal responses. The third presentation will discuss the role of intertrial intervals of instruction presentation on skill acquisition and rates of problem behavior. The final presentation will discuss skill acquisition and problem behavior rates during two different intertrial intervals of instruction presentation, as well as student preference for instruction presentation rate. The discussant will provide comments on each of these studies.

BACBs, graduate students, researchers

Although individuals with autism tend to behave repetitively, certain reinforcement contingencies (e.g., lag schedules) can be used to increase and maintain behavioral variability. In a lag schedule, reinforcement is only delivered for responses that differ from recent responses. We designed the present study to promote variable play behavior in preschoolers with autism interacting with playsets and figurines, and to assess preference for variability and repetition contingencies. Limited data have shown a preference for variability in pigeons and college students, but this effect has not yet been explored in clinical populations. In this experiment, three preschoolers with autism were taught to discriminate between variability and repetition contingencies. With one set of discriminative stimuli, only play behaviors that met a lag schedule were reinforced, and with another, only repetitive play behaviors were reinforced. After differential performance was established, participants were presented with a choice between the two sets of stimuli, and participants completed a play session with the corresponding contingency. Two participants showed a slight preference for variability over repetition, and the other showed indifference. These results indicate that some individuals with autism play repetitively, not because they prefer repetitive play, but because they would require additional teaching to play variably.

Research on the importance of antecedent variables when teaching persons with autism has the potential to provide pragmatic methodologies for the applied setting. This study replicated and extended the work of Roxburgh and Carbone (2013) on the effects of the rate of teacher-presented instructional demands as an independent variable. An alternating treatment design was used to evaluate the effects of the rate of teacher presented instructional demands across three intertrial intervals (1 s, 5 s, 10 s). Dependent variables were frequency of problem behavior, frequency of teaching trials for target skills, frequency of error responses, frequency of mastered skills presented, and rates of reinforcement during discrete trial instruction with four students with autism. Results indicated that reduction of intertrial intervals resulted in a commensurate increase in rates of socially mediated positive reinforcement, increased rates of instructor presented teaching trials, and a decrease in frequency of problem behavior. Issues related to the importance of replication, the role of translational research in applied settings, and conceptual analyses of the role of motivating operation on the occurrence of problem behavior will also discussed.

This study was a partial replication and an extension of Roxburgh and Carbone (2012). The purpose of the study was three-fold. First, we evaluated the effects of varied teacher-presented instructional demands (inter trial interval = 1s, 5s) on the opportunities of respond, the number of responses emitted, percentage of correct responses, and percentage of intervals with disruptive behavior for three children with autism. Second, we compared the effects of varied teacher presentation rates on responding, especially the accuracy of responding and occurrences of disruptive behavior during easy and hard tasks. Third, we used a concurrent-chain procedure to assess participant preferences for teacher presentation rates during easy tasks. An alternating treatment embedded in ABAB without baseline design was used to compare the effects of the two treatment conditions (inter trial interval = 1s, 5s) and two task conditions (easy and hard). The results of the study demonstrated that as compared to extended intertrial interval (ITI), brief ITI increased the rate of instructional demands presented, rate of learner responses emitted, and rate of correct responding during both tasks while increasing percentage of correct responding and reducing problem behaviors during hard tasks only. During easy tasks, the participants’ choices between two rates were inconsistent, suggesting avoidance contingency might have been in effect.

Neuroscience constitutes a branch of the biological sciences that is easily integrated with Behavior Analysis in several ways, including direct analysis of neural signals in behavioral experiments, the use of behavioral approaches to help rewire the brain and improve lost skills after brain injury, and theoretical integration of biological measures and neurological events into the behavioral paradigm. This symposium will present varied basic, applied, and theoretical work in the Neuro-operant realm currently conducted at the University of North Texas in association with the Beatrice H. Barrett Endowment for Research in Neuro-Operant Relations. Two basic talks will integrate physiological, neurological, and behavioral data into an analysis of covertly mediated stimulus equivalence, and into an examination of humor responses. An applied project will show the results of using a Wii gaming system to improve rehabilitation of balance deficits after brain injury. Finally, the divide between stimulus and response when considering events occurring inside the skin will be considered on a theoretical and practical level.

The Wii Fit U game utilizes a Wii Balance Board™ (WBB) that provides precise feedback contingencies, thereby potentially increasing the dose of quality therapy with or without the presence of a therapist during post-stroke rehabilitation. Additionally, an engaging video-game could improve treatment adherence, a critical aspect of making progress, by potentially increasing the rate and quality of reinforcement embedded in therapy. The present study has three aims: 1) Develop a behaviorally rigorous therapy for improving balance in chronic stroke victims using the Wii Fit U and WBB; 2) Evaluate the program’s effects on Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Center of Balance (COB) scores using a within-subject experimental design; 3) Assess social validity of behavioral gains by evaluating the program’s effects on participant’s "subjective balance confidence" (i.e., their Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scores). A reversal design is used wherein the experimental gameplay condition and no intervention condition are alternated for 6 to 10 weeks. It is expected that participants will exhibit greater performance in the game as well as better BBS and COB score improvement when the Wii Fit U game is administered at a high therapeutic dose, and that increased ABC scores will correlate with improved BBS and COB scores.

While the descriptive understanding of stimulus equivalence is widely accepted within the field of behavior analysis, its interpretation is more contentious. The emergence of reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity without direct reinforcement of the responses that make up these relations is puzzling in light of our basic understanding of reinforcement contingencies. The present study explores the role of covert verbal behavior in the emergence of equivalence relations in an arbitrary matching to sample task using participants recruited from the general population, as well as college students. Participants engage in a computerized matching to sample task with arbitrary stimuli under three different conditions. Baseline consists of matching to sample training of four conditional discriminations using arbitrary stimuli yielding two, three-member equivalence classes and tests for the resulting symmetry, transitivity and equivalence relations. The order of the two experimental phases is counterbalanced across participants and these phases consist of one of two conditions, engaging in behavior that was either compatible with covert verbal behavior or incompatible with covert verbal behavior concurrently with the tests for equivalence. A final phase consists of a return to baseline. Behavioral data collection is ongoing and EEG data collection will follow to assess N400 response changes across conditions.

Several reviews and meta-analyses have demonstrated the robust effects of behavioral treatments for feeding problems, including increasing oral intake, increasing diet variety, teaching feeding-related skills, and decreasing inappropriate mealtime behavior. This symposium will include four presentations related to recent advancements in the assessment and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders. The presentations are a product of research being conducted across different laboratories and clinical sites across North America. The first presentation will discuss indices of child happiness during treatment for pediatric feeding disorders. The second presentation will describe using structured visual inspection criteria with functional analyses of inappropriate mealtime behavior. The third presentation will compare a re-presentation and modified chin prompt technique to treat different topographies of liquid expulsion. The final presentation will display large-scale outcome data from an inter-disciplinary pediatric feeding disorders program. The symposium will conclude with a discussion and integration of how each of the presentations advance our current understanding of pediatric feeding disorders.

BCBAs, BCaBAs, clinical behavior analysts, clinicians working with children with pediatric feeding disorders

Caregivers may discount the clinical benefits of an effective intervention if it does not appear to lead to positive changes in their child’s affective behavior (Dillon & Carr, 2007). Some researchers suggest that when children appear to enjoy teaching procedures, caregivers may be more likely to seek out the treatment for their child and adhere to implementing the procedures (Green et al., 2005; Kazdin, 1980). Escape extinction, an empirically supported intervention for the treatment of pediatric feeding disorders, is often necessary to improve consumption of healthy, targeted foods for children with feeding disorders. However, escape extinction may occasionally be associated with undesirable side effects (e.g., bursts, increased emotional responding) (Bachmeyer, 2009; Woods & Borrerro, 2019). In the current study, we identified behavioral indices of happiness and unhappiness and collected data on those behaviors before and during escape and attention extinction in the treatment of pediatric feeding disorders. We have observed an increase in levels of happiness and a decrease in levels of unhappiness during escape extinction relative to baseline in one treatment evaluation thus far. We will discuss these findings and address future directions of the study in terms of intervening on child happiness or unhappiness during treatment.

The extant literature on pediatric feeding disorders indicates intensive, multidisciplinary treatment holds benefits for children with severe feeding difficulties, such as patients relying on enteral nutrition (e.g., gastrostomy tube). The most common methodology documenting outcomes for these programs are Nonrandomized Studies (NRS). Although NRS represents a valuable tool for providing insight to intervention, prior research utilizing NRS included potential bias concerning data abstraction. Additionally, there is a lack of standardization across studies regarding uniformity of outcome measures, and description of patient characteristics and treatment protocols. The purpose of the present study was to examine the clinical presentations, intervention characteristics, and treatment outcomes in a sample of children receiving intensive, multidisciplinary intervention for feeding tube dependence. This study followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) criteria to plan the study, guide data abstraction and structure the study’s methodology. We conducted a retrospective electronic medical review to gather outcome data for patients admitted to an intensive day treatment feeding program. The review included 81 individuals dependent on enteral nutrition. We will describe treatment setting and protocols and outcome measures including demographics, anthropometrics, meal-time behaviors, oral/enteral intake and caregiver satisfaction at admission, discharge and follow-up.

The current symposium outlines dissemination efforts in countries beyond the United States of America and in fields beyond autism, with the aim of inspiring the audience to become better ambassadors for applied behavior analysis (ABA). Our first paper reviews the power of social media and the challenges that can be faced when becoming a social behavioral influencer. The second paper examines the current status of the dissemination of ABA in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East, including an overview of efforts related to the translation of behavior analytic works and collaborations with non-behavior analytic professional peers. The third paper brings us into the field of health and fitness, and specifically football, with an evaluation of the antecedent and consequent components of the standard Behavioral Skills Training procedure. Our final paper will discuss current growth rates of certified behavior analysts, barriers to dissemination, and avenues for support in Africa. The discussant will highlight and integrate the contributions of all presenters in relation to and under the framework of her #dobetter professional development movement.

Basic level event designed for: BCaBAs, BCBAs, BCBA-Ds and anyone interested in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and its dissemination.

The world has changed significantly over time, however many of our problems remain the same. Luckily, our tools for accessing and sharing information with others have drastically improved. One of the most powerful tools available to us today, for communicating with others, is social media. Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook were among the first social media platforms to become available for the everyday user. For me, they emerged while I was deep in my “dissertation-writing-avoidance-phase” of my life. What originally started as a website for parents and teachers, which housed a few resources, turned into a Twitter handle, and then a public “persona” on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Due to social media, we are now able to reach millions of people without leaving the comfort of our homes. Ironically, as a result of my efforts, I have been invited to travel and speak at events throughout the world. As Behaviorbabe, I have experienced many successes, however, there have also been many missteps and some outright failures. I invite you to take a journey with me, to learn the history of Behaviorbabe, and to use these experiences to help you become an ambassador for behavior analysis.

“Behavior analysts are responsible for disseminating behavior analysis by making information about the science available to the public, professional peers, and government officials” (Kelly, Martin, Dillenburger, Kelly & Miller, 2019; p. 440). This presentation examines the current status of the dissemination of applied behavior analysis (ABA) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the Middle East (Kelly et al., 2016). Dissemination efforts will be shared including: the initiation of the first graduate Verified Course Sequence in the country; presentations at non-behavior analytic conferences; translation of behavior analytic works; and collaborations with non-behavior analytic professional peers including experts in educational technology, and members of the Ministry of Education. Finally, an overview will be provided of results from an online survey that investigated levels of awareness of autism and ABA amongst 232 pediatricians in the UAE. The results indicated suboptimal awareness of the causes and characteristics of autism as well as alarming support for unestablished interventions for individuals. Dissemination efforts with pediatricians will be shared.

Behavioral Skills Training (BST) has been a common procedure to help teach or improve various behaviors for some time, and it involves instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. However, there might be instances in which some components of BST are not necessary. For example, common coaching techniques in American rules Football involve a coach providing antecedent instruction without detailed feedback immediately after a rehearsal, and the players appear to often learn the desired skill. This means that there might be times when antecedent instruction might be sufficient when attempting to change behavior, and consequent feedback could be an unnecessary laborious task. Thus, we evaluated antecedent and consequent components of the standard BST procedure to teach proper tackling form to 3 football players. Overall we found that instruction and modeling helped all players improve their behavior. However, the immediate feedback following rehearsal proved to help all participants improve their behavior to desired levels. Procedures, results, and implications will be discussed.

Individuals who are unable to use conventional speech are at risk for challenging behavior, social isolation, and poor long term outcomes. Approximately 30% of children with moderate-severe disabilities are at high risk for complex communication needs; most of these individuals would benefit from AAC. AAC has been supported as effective for a variety of implementers, procedures, and target outcomes. However, many questions remain regarding the quality of reporting this research, critical outcomes, and features of implementation. Without this information, it is difficult to determine when and how AAC-based interventions are most effective. Comprehensive systematic reviews examining the impacts of AAC for individuals with complex communication needs, including individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities, were conducted by the presenters and their research teams. The presenters will synthesize available evidence about AAC to address the methodological quality of the literature, effects of AAC intervention on speech production, the use of telehealth in AAC interventions, and factors related to parent-implementation of AAC-based interventions. Participants will gain an understanding of critical points related to implementing AAC and will be able to summarize the current state of the science.

Researchers, Graduate Students, Behavior Analysts

Behavior analysis has focused on examining the effects of the consequences of behavior. However, evidence suggests that rats’ operant performance is attuned to the affordances that the operant setting provides, such as lever height. This presentation will cover two studies on rats’ progression from lever pressing acquisition to situations where lever pressing has been instrumentally conditioned. In experiment 1 lever pressing acquisition was examined in three groups of naïve rats, in each group lever height was set at 1, 11, or 18 cm-height. Response acquisition was faster at the 11-cm height lever group, and lever pressing latency was shorter with the 18-cm lever group. In experiment 2 lever pressing was reinforced in two concurrent equal variable-ratio schedules of reinforcement, and in successive conditions lever height was varied asymmetrically. That is, one lever was higher than the other. Across conditions, preference between both levers changed showing a linear trend with increasing lever heights. Collectively, the research suggests that preorganized properties of behavior (i.e., the animal’s abilities) interact with the environment before operant learning emerges.

Compared to rate of discrete responding, response duration has received scant attention as a dependent measure in behavior analysis. We will present results from a series of recent experiments in which we studied the duration of lever-pressing in laboratory rats. In all of the investigations, we arranged the delivery of edible reinforcers if depressing a response lever fell under or exceeded a programmed interval. We will discuss three general findings in detail. First, response duration may present some advantages over response rate for studying the effects of delayed reinforcement. Second, response duration increases significantly during extinction. This occurs whether or not there has been a history of differential reinforcement for depressing the response lever. This has implications for the interpretation of resurgence when behavior has a salient duration dimension. And finally, arranging reinforcement for response duration results in chains of idiosyncratic responses that rats emit concurrently with lever pressing. Whether these responses should be operationally defined as lever pressing presents a conceptual challenge.

To examine the effects of the temporal separation of multiple VI VI schedule components on differential resistance to change (DRTC), two experiments were conducted with rats. Reinforcement rates and magnitudes (reinforcers per cycle) were manipulated in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively, to produce rich and lean components. In both experiments, the separation of the components was manipulated by using different component durations, during one condition, and different intercomponent intervals (ICI), during another condition. Total exposure to the components was constant across sessions of each condition. Resistance to satiation was evaluated by delivering increasing amounts of the reinforcer before each test session. In Experiment 1, different component duration either increased (F2 and F4), decreased (F1 and F02), or had no consistent effects (F3) on DRTC. Increasing ICIs produced either an increase (F02) or an increase followed by a decrease (i.e., an inverted U function) in DRTC. In Experiment 2, increases in component duration produced either an increase (F6 and F8) or no consistent effects on DRTC. Increasing ICIs produced an increase (F7) or an inverted U effect on DRTC. Results are discussed in terms of the discrimininability of contingencies that are too close or too separate in time.

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an effective, empirically supported classroom management procedure that behavioral researchers continue to study and refine. In the current symposium, researchers from multiple laboratories will present their research on procedural variations, component analysis, indirect effects, generalization, and maintenance. In Study 1, researchers examined the effects and social validity of variations in team size. Study 2 examined the effects of systematic component removal on student behavior. In Study 3, researchers examined the effects of fading effortful components of the GBG and conducted a systematic analysis of peer interactions as an indirect effect. Study 4 examined the differential effects of dosage levels on the generalization and maintenance of GBG effects on student behavior.

Behavior analysts working in or consulting with schools, special education teachers, university faculty members, graduate students, and other certified behavior analysts interested in group contingencies

In this symposium, four studies will be described that evaluated procedures to facilitate emergent responding and/or equivalence class formation with adults of typical development or adults diagnosed with ASD. In the first study, equivalence-based instruction (EBI) was compared to a PowerPoint lecture to teach differential reinforcement procedure descriptors to college students. In the second study, EBI was compared to self-study of videos to learn examples of American Sign Language and to combine them in novel ways using both listener and speaker behavior. In the third study, adult participants were trained on nutrition Information for different food items using conditional-discrimination training. In the last study, adults with ASD learned classes of stimuli representing computer hardware (i.e., hard drive, CPU fan, RAM, processor, and power supply) using EBI and then demonstrated the emergence of untaught relations, intraverbals, and assembly of a hard drive. Collectively, these studies inform best practices of procedures used to promote emergent responding and equivalence class formation across a broad domain of skill areas.

College instructors / BCBAs

Mastery criteria are a ubiquitous component of skill acquisition programs; however, there is limited research on its use. Studies in this symposium will cover a range of issue related to an educator's use of criteria. Our first talk discusses data analysis and how the continuity of data collection affects mastery. The second and third talks manipulate an aspect of mastery criterion and evaluate its effect on skill acquisition. The final talk focuses on appropriate criteria and instruction to promote eye contact.

Researchers and practitioners who design educational interventions for children with developmental disabilities

Data collection procedures must be chosen to work for the clinician, rather than expending inefficient effort on gathering underutilized information. Balancing clinician use of time with effective instructional interventions and decision-making. This study applied a multiple baseline across participants design to compare the two approaches using parallel data-based decision protocols regarding the impact on client skill mastery, false mastery indicators, rate of instruction, and overall clinician intervention decisions. The data collection systems of the programming for 6 children with autism were manipulated in a private day school in suburban Virginia. Licensed special education teachers supervised by behavior analysts designed the skill acquisition programming. The data indicate that while mastery of targets was similar between the conditions, significant differences were found in teacher decision-making effort, rate of instruction, and targets falsely flagged as mastered. Exploring the potential effects a data collection system may have on client skill acquisition and the efficient use of limited clinician time can help service providers determine which systemic processes they will use in their practice.

In humans, eye contact is one of the most important nonverbal communicative behaviors. However, deficits in eye contact are characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. Interventions targeting increasing eye contact in this population are important as eye contact can be conceptualized as a behavioral cusp that allows the individual to access novel environments and contingencies. Previous research has used a variety of procedures to increase eye contact in this population with limited success and arbitrarily determined mastery criteria. Thus, the purpose of this presentation is to discuss three studies which evaluated eye contact. In the first study, researchers used descriptive analyses to determine normative levels of eye contact in a sample population. In the second study, researchers used eye tracking software to increase eye contact in individuals with disabilities and evaluated generalization across settings. In the third study, researchers used a progressive model to teach eye contact and evaluated maintenance during follow-up probes. Limitations of these studies are discussed along with suggestions for future research on increasing eye contact in individuals with developmental disabilities and programming for generalization and maintenance.

Since its inception in the late 1960s Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) has been applied across a wide variety of industries. Within these various industries different goals, populations, and procedures make OBM one of the broadest applications of behavior analysis. However, the differences across settings require a range of skills in an OBM practitioner that include industry specific terminology, knowledge of safety procedures, government regulations, among others. This symposium contains two presentations in a human service setting, a study that took place within a hospital, and a final study that took place in a manufacturing plant. The goals and methods of the studies vary widely and highlight how OBM procedures can be implemented. The applications of OBM will be compared and contrasted by the discussant.

Behavior analysts

Signs are a commonly used antecedent intervention. There are a number of variables that make a sign more likely to be followed (proximity, response effort, changing vs. static), but there is little research into whether a sign is more effective if the message is provided in a “do” versus a “don’t” format. Providing a “do” request is generally considered more effective in clinical populations but has not been studied in an employee population. In the current study, written requests, in the form of a posted sign on a door, were used to measure the effectiveness of a “do” message (find another way) and a “don’t” message (do not enter) with employees in a school setting. Adherence to the signs did some to be influenced by the message.

Pay-for-performance broadly describes systems where an employee’s behavior is tied to her or his performance. The current applied study describes the effects of transitioning a team of four behavior analysts from a standard pay-for-time paradigm to a pay-for-performance system. In the pay-for-performance system a percentage of pay was made contingent upon the number of hours billed. Results indicated an increase in the number of monthly hours billed across all behavior analysts. Additionally, the improvements in performance achieved in the pay-for-performance program made the department profitable for the first time.

Hospital errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. One way to reduce errors is to increase communication between doctors, nurses, and patients. Each stakeholder brings valuable information to the discussion and can serve as a second check during medical decisions. In this study, we examined a package intervention that included task clarification, prompting, and feedback for increasing discussion among doctors, nurses, and patients during morning rounds on two units. Communication was measured using a checklist of items to be discussed during rounds. Furthermore, nurse presence and submitting orders during rounds was measured. Results indicated that they intervention was successful at improving communication.

Organizational behavior management (OBM) techniques have long made positive impacts in businesses and organizations. One successful area within OBM is performance management or focusing on employee behaviors to reach organizational goals. The current study used performance management techniques to improve casting productivity and efficiency in a copper manufacturing company. Combinations of goal-setting, task clarification, and feedback were used to target both pounds of copper casted and the amount of time needed to complete a cycle (cycle time). Overall, productivity increased by 7.2% and cycle time decreased by 4.4% during the intervention and this change was estimated to be worth over $5 million. Methodology and other results will be discussed.

As access to information increases with internet searches and almost instantaneous global communication, behavior analysts become exposed to a wide-variety of perspectives and strategies for treatment implementation. This exposure can cause behavior analysts’ worldview to shift from applying the theoretical foundations of behavioral science to incorporating other worldviews (e.g., mentalistic, non-scientifically supported theories) into their clinical practice. Some behavior analysts have confused the technologies of behavior analysis (e.g., curricula, assessments, etc.) for behavior analysis itself or have not adopted a behavioral worldview. “If this were a theoretical issue only, we should have no cause for alarm; but theories affect practice… Confusion in theory means confusion in practice” (Skinner, p. 9, 1968). This symposium, which includes four presentations and a discussion, will examine the variables that impact the shift to or away from a behavior analytic "worldview", the necessity for incorporating a behavioral worldview into ethical practice, and the impact for not utilizing a behavioral worldview.

Practicing behavior analysts, students of behavior analysis, clinical supervisors.

A worldview is the lens through which we look and make sense of the world. A worldview constructs the foundation of what we believe, and dictates how we explain, assess, and deal with the phenomena of interest. Behavior analysts, through their training, are exposed to and supposedly embrace the worldview of behaviorism and all that that means, such as adherence to scientific attitude and practice, that informs our assessment and treatment of behavior. However, there is accumulating evidence that behavior analysts are using and supporting treatments and interventions that are not based upon the behavior-analytic worldview or conceptualization of behavior. Such practice hurts consumers, hurts our field, and demonstrates ethical disarray on the part of the behavior analyst. Behavior analysts have an ethical and practical responsibility to adhere only to behaviorism as their worldview and behave according to only its tenets and philosophy.

Despite ethical requirements that behavior analysts function under a behavioral world view, it appears that some behavior analysts have adapted more of a conspiracy theory – flat earth world view not based upon our science. In fact, evidence indicates that some behavior analysts believe that the behavioral world view only applies to specific populations and age groups – not the full earth. This may be due to a lack of understanding and application of the fundamental philosophy of the science or an over-reliance on marketing behavioral analysis to specific populations and commercialized guides as easy to use as a point-and-click google search. Marketing may have been appropriately conducted to disseminate to the public behavior analysis’ effectiveness for specific populations, it may have marketed too well – changing behavior analysts’ world view. Although curriculum and guides initially may have been appropriately developed to assist behavior analysts, but not replace the fundamental applications of the science, the over reliance on their simplicity may be replacing the comprehensive understanding and use of the behavioral world view and application of such. Without a thorough understanding and application of a comprehensive behavioral worldview, behavior analysts may evolve into superficial and unethical, point-and-click behavioral technicians and not analysts.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may exhibit deficits in language and social communication; therefore, behavioral intervention needs to ameliorate deficits in verbal behavior and expand relevant repertoires. Continuous refinement of procedures to assess and teach these skills is needed to promote efficacious and efficient intervention strategies, which should produce meaningful outcomes for clients. This symposium will present empirical data from research projects aimed at identifying efficacious and efficient procedures to teach and expand the verbal repertoires of children with ASD. Chance, Cividini-Motta, and Livingston will present on a comparison of methods used to condition echoic behavior as reinforcers to increase vocalizations. Niland et al. will describe the results of a comparison of isolated and compound stimulus presentations to teach auditory tacts. Scott et al. will describe the results of a comparison of different antecedent verbal stimuli on the acquisition and emergence of bidirectional intraverbals. Finally, Guerrero et al. will report on a comparison of procedures to teach multiply-controlled verbal behavior, short story recall. Presentations will be followed by a discussion of applied implications and future directions.

Applied researchers and applied practitioners

Tacts are verbal operants evoked by some object, event, or stimulus feature, and tacts should occur in the presence of stimuli across all five senses. An example of an auditory tact is saying “siren” upon hearing the high-pitched noise of an ambulance. We replicated and extended a study by Hanney, Carr, and LeBlanc (2019) by examining the efficacy and efficiency of three different stimulus-presentation conditions including: (a) isolated, (b) compound with known visual stimulus, and (c) compound with unknown visual stimulus. We evaluated the acquisition of auditory tacts with an adapted alternating treatments design embedded within a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across sets with two children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). All three conditions were efficacious with at least one set of stimuli for each participant. However, the compound conditions were more likely to lead to mastery in the least amount of time. In transfer probes, isolated stimuli were presented as compound stimuli and compound stimuli were presented in isolation; correct auditory tacts emitted throughout probes indicated appropriate control of auditory stimuli persisted. Implications for future applied research and application to practice will be discussed.

Reading comprehension is an important early academic skill that may pose challenges for some children with autism. Prior research (Valentino, Conine, Delfs, & Furlow 2015) has reported effective methods for teaching children with autism to retell short stories that were previously read to them, as a possible first step in establishing a reading comprehension repertoire. We replicated and extended this prior work with three school-aged children with autism using a multiple baseline across stories and a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants. Participants were exposed to an initial baseline, a reading with reinforcement condition (treatment 1), and a backward chaining with textual prompts condition (treatment 2). All three participants emitted mastery-level recall of stories more rapidly and under less complex intervention procedures than in prior research. Improvements in story recall were associated with increases in correct answers to basic comprehension questions, and intervention also resulted in generalized improvements in recall across multiple stories. We also conducted standardized reading assessments with all participants before and after completion of the study. These data have important implications for behavior analysts and educators providing reading intervention to children with autism and suggest several possible avenues for future research on reading comprehension and recall.

This event, coordinated with the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences, will feature program directors (to be announced later) from federal funding agencies relevant to behavior analysis (e.g., NIH, IES, NSF). Program directors will briefly discuss funding priorities of relevance to behavioral scientists, suggest ways to better align behavior analytic proposals with these priorities, and take questions from the audience.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Clinicians may implement a number of preliminary assessments (e.g., functional analyses, demand assessments, preference assessments, etc.) prior to developing behavioral programs for clients with autism. The researchers in this symposium will describe two applications of concurrent-operants preparations for evaluating stimulus functions prior to initiating treatment. Lindsay Lloveras and colleagues will describe a concurrent-operant demand assessment (CODA) to identify a hierarchy of preferred and nonpreferred demands. Allie Rader and colleagues will describe a concurrent-operants assessment for determining the relative reinforcing efficacy of events hypothesized to maintain problem behavior. Implications for practitioners and applied researchers will be discussed.

Graduate students in behavior analysis, clinicians working with individuals with problem behavior, applied researchers

This symposium includes three papers two of which evaluate interventions for efficiently teaching safety skills to children with developmental disabilities. Miltenberger, Novotny, Maxfield, and Baruni evaluated video self-modeling with children with autism and preliminary data show the procedure is effective. Orner, Miltenberger, and Maxfield evaluated small scale simulation training with kids with autism and found it effective for only one of three children. Lastly, Maxfield, Park, and Blair discuss the results of their meta-analysis on 26 single subject design studies on safety skills interventions for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

BCBA and BCaBA

Every year children are unintentionally injured or killed due to finding an unattended firearm. Although research evaluating various approaches to teach safety skills shows that behavioral skills training and in situ training are effective, limited research exists evaluating small-scale simulation training in teaching safety skills to children. Furthermore, there is no research evaluating this approach with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study evaluated the effectiveness of small-scale simulation training in teaching firearm safety to 5 to 6-year-old children with ASD. Simulation training was effective for one participant, in situ training was necessary for one participant, and an incentive was required for the third participant to demonstrate the safety skills.

This study provides the results of a meta-analysis of 26 single subject design studies on safety skills interventions for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Results indicate that individuals who have mild to moderate ID, particularly school-age children, have benefited most from the safety skills interventions, and that that the interventions have demonstrated low-to-large effect sizes across safety skills (e.g., abduction prevention, fire safety, first aids, daily living safety, pedestrian safety skills). The behavioral skills training (BST) with and without additional components was the most commonly used safety skills intervention for individuals with ID; however, BST alone demonstrated a larger effect than BST with additional components, and video modeling had the largest treatment effect of all intervention types. Outcomes for abduction prevention skills were larger than those of other safety skills. Implications for practice and future research are discussed in the following areas: implementer, dose of intervention, treatment fidelity, and social validity.

Traumatic experiences can have significant, and long-lasting, effects on the individuals who survive them. Frequently, clients who live through trauma experience a host of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical health problems. When these individuals come to therapy, most of them are hoping that they will be able to eliminate the nightmares, memories, anger, anxiety, and other posttraumatic symptoms that they experience. In fact, most of them have tried many things (such as isolation, substance abuse, even suicide attempts) to manage these symptoms. However, what many of these individuals fail to realize is that their heroic efforts to avoid the pain of their posttraumatic experiences may actually be making things worse - and may even be the heart of the problem. In many ways, despite their best efforts, trauma survivors frequently find themselves trapped in a life that is largely devoted to the avoidance of pain. Effective empirically supported treatments for posttraumatic symptoms have been developed to aid trauma survivors in improving traditional PTSD symptoms. However, they are not universally effective, and not all clients are willing to engage in exposure-based treatment. In addition, given the high levels of psychiatric comorbidity with PTSD, treatments are needed that can cut across diagnostic categories and begin to treat presenting problems based on functional dimensions. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a contemporary behavior therapy, provides an alternative to the feel-good agenda and instead focuses on helping clients to reconnect with those ideals and principles for living that are deeply important to them and that dignify the difficult events that they have survived. This presentation will introduce clinicians to contextual behavioral tools to work with trauma survivors on identifying each person’s valued life directions and then help motivate experiential acceptance and behavior change in the service of those values.

Clinicians, supervisors, students

Providing behavior analytic services in an acute inpatient psychiatric setting can be very challenging, especially when working with individuals with serious mental illness, significant trauma history, co-morbid personality disorders, and limited intellectual functioning. A team of behavior analysts at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County in Brooklyn, NY work with an interdisciplinary team of clinicians to provide evidence-based behavior analytic treatment for people with varying serious mental illnesses. This panel will include an interdisciplinary team (behavior analyst, Doctor of Nursing, and Peer Specialist) which will discuss the trials and tribulations of providing behavior analytic services for individuals in an environment where people do not have experience with behavioral interventions. Some topics discussed among the panel will include: a) understanding serious mental health symptoms and behaviors from a function-based behavior analytic approach; b) the importance of “playing nicely in the sandbox” and receiving support to create effective service delivery models; and c) discussion of other treatment modalities and how behavior analysts can work with others to create effective behavior change. This panel will also provide a few case studies of challenging cases to provide other behavior analysts in attendance some creative ideas and solutions to very complex, challenging cases in mental health settings.

Behavior analysts in public health settings; Behavior analysts who work with individuals diagnosed with mental health diagnoses; Behavior analysts who are interested in systems change and collaboration

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

This panel will be a discussion of Dr. Ellie Kazemi’s SQAB Tutorial on the utility of computer technologies in behavior analysis.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

In this symposium we provide a discussion of unique presenting concerns and clinical evaluations in clinic settings. The first two papers address schedule thinning considerations functional communication training (FCT). The study by Smith and colleagues evaluates a comparison of a compound schedules of reinforcement involving discriminative stimuli (e.g., multiple or chained schedules, Greer et al., 2016) or within the context of probabilistic, progressive-delay schedules (e.g., contingency-based progressive-delay schedule, Ghaemmaghami et al., 2016) and the relative efficacy of these two methods during schedule thinning for individuals with severe challenging behavior. Similarly, the study by Salvatore and colleagues investigates the efficiency and preference for alternative activities during schedule thinning within FCT. Garcia and Wunderlich extend the work of Edgerton and Wine (2017) by using a function-based treatment to increase appropriate voice volume responses. Last, another unique study by Weber and colleagues implemented an adaptation of the Good Behavior Game with a sibling dyad to decrease destructive behavior. Dr. Tracy Kettering will provide comments on navigating challenges presented by adaptations of assessment and treatment to address unique cases in a clinical setting.

Behavioral specialists Graduate Students Practitioners

Functional communication training (FCT) is an effective treatment for decreasing socially-reinforced destructive behavior (Carr & Durand, 1985). Multiple schedules are frequently used to thin the reinforcement schedule during FCT (Hanley et al., 2001). An extinction burst is possible with each schedule thinning step, contributing to slow treatment progress. In clinical practice, individuals are often expected to sit and wait during periods of restricted access to functional reinforcers; however, in the natural environment, they generally do not wait without alternative items/activities available. Ten children referred for treatment of destructive behavior participated in this study. Therapists conducted functional analyses and taught participants a functional communication response to access functional reinforcers. Therapists implemented a multiple schedule during schedule thinning, comparing a control condition (nothing available during S-delta intervals) to separate conditions with embedded items/activities during S-delta intervals (moderately preferred tangible items, attention, demands). After reaching the terminal schedule in at least one condition, therapists assessed participant preference across S-delta conditions. For 80% of participants, the terminal schedule was only reached with alternative items/activities. All participants demonstrated preference for alternative items/activities and therapists indicated preference for conducting these sessions. For 6 participants, we simultaneously targeted an escape function during the S-delta condition including demands.

Inappropriate prosodic production is often observed, but rarely treated, communication skill deficit for individuals with autism. Few studies have evaluated the acoustic characteristics of prosody in children with ASD, and obtaining a pragmatic measurement of their conversational skills is typically limited to parent and teacher report measures. In one exception in the research, a previous study by Edgerton and Wine (2017) implemented an intervention for shaping the conversational speech volume of an intellectually disabled participant. Expanding on the previous literature, we conducted a functional analysis of the voice volume responses (VVR) of two children with ASD utilizing similar procedures to those from Edgerton and Wine. Further, we evaluated the efficacy of using a function-based treatment, in conjunction with the visual feedback from the app, to increase appropriate VVR. Results of the evaluation, as well as implications for the treatment of inappropriate voice volume and other prosodic behaviors, will be discussed.

In 2012, Hanley provided guidance to mitigate and overcome the myths that functional analyses (FAs) are too complex, take too long, and are too risky for dangerous behavior. Despite Hanley’s recommendations and evidence suggesting that FA is the most informative tool in the assessment of problem behavior, many practitioners rely on indirect or descriptive methods. We will share extensions of the practical functional assessment (PFA) and skill-based treatment (SBT) model and describe how they can directly influence practitioners’ assessment and treatment practices. In Study 1, FA training was evaluated wherein participants of various backgrounds learned how to accurately conduct Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analyses (IISCAs) in ecologically relevant settings following a PFA workshop. IISCAs with 3-minute analysis sessions were conducted in Study 2, which led to meaningful treatment outcomes with nine clients in a consecutive case series. The remaining studies attempt to break down the myth that FAs are too risky when it comes to severe problem behavior. To evaluate risk, a group FA and treatment was conducted with clients who have severe problem behavior in a classroom with limited resources (Study 3) and IISCAs and treatment were developed for clients whom had been reported to have idiosyncratic problem behavior in a specialized school (Study 4).

BCBAs, BCBA-Ds, BCaBAs, licensed psychologists, and other behavior analytic providers who wish to learn how to assess and treat problem behavior.

The purpose of the present symposium is to provide an overview of research advances on varaibles that impact the efficiency of language acquisition interventions. Two presentations will discuss the role of stimulus disparity within conditional discrimination training and two presentations will evaluate the efficiency of instructional sequences on acquisition of targets. In the first study, Halbur and colleagues compared the acquisition of high-disparate sounds, low-disparate sounds, and words as sample stimuli during conditional discrimination training for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the second study, Wu and colleagues manipulated stimulus disparity of color saturation and conducted analyses to identify error patterns during conditional discrimination training. In the third study, Martin, Lechago, and Romo investigated acquisition of listener skills when the instructional sequences (i.e., English-Spanish, Spanish-English, mixed language) were varied for bilingual children with ASD. In the fourth study, Devine, Cox, and Petursdottir conducted multiple experiments that evaluated the impact of tact instruction on the establishment of bidirectional intraverbals and other relations. Following the four presentations, our discussant will summarize, provide clinical recommendations for efficient teaching procedures, and suggest areas for future research.

behavior analysts, graduate students, researchers

Conditional discrimination skills are foundational in teaching many functional skills in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Antecedent- and consequence-based intervention are commonly used without the understanding of patterns comprising these errors. A framework based in behavioral-choice and signal-detection theory can quantify error patterns due to (1) biases for certain stimuli or locations and (2) discriminability of stimuli within the conditional discrimination. Three children diagnosed with ASD responded in delayed matching-to-sample procedure. We manipulated sample disparity through changes in relative color saturation between samples on a touchscreen across four experimental conditions. Sample-disparity differences were high, low, zero, and a return to high disparity. Decreases in sample disparity primarily produced corresponding decreases in discriminability without systematic changes in stimulus or location biases. These findings demonstrate the use of these analyses to identify error patterns during conditional-discrimination performance in a clinically relevant population under laboratory conditions. Further development of this framework could result in the development of technologies for categorizing errors during clinically relevant conditional-discrimination performance with the goal of individualizing interventions to match learner-specific error patterns.

How to structure social skills groups across ages and skill levels has been a challenge for many behavior analysts. There are limited evidence-based curriculums and assessments, so clinicians are often found creating curriculums, goals, assessments and data collection systems on their own. Doing so takes up a great deal of time for an already stretched thin behavior analyst. We aim to alleviate some of this burden by offering case studies shown to have had effective treatment to address social skills, resources regarding evidence-based curriculums as well as for individualized goals, assessments to verify the presence of pre-requisite skills, progress and caregiver stress prior to and after treatment, and finally logistical recommendations for the overall success of the group. We will then provide information on how to incorporate caregivers and support their skill development in the non-traditional applied behavior analysis social skills group structure and lastly will pose recommendations for future research and directions of social skills groups. Key Words: Social Skills, Group Therapy, Autism, Behavior Systems

BCBAs, BCaBAs, Graduate students

Criminal behavior is a broad, socially significant problem that affects many individuals and wider communities across the world. For example, in America, mass shootings occur on average 334 times per year, and smuggling activities contribute towards acts of terrorism which cause devastation and costs countries billions to manage. A factor that can increase the likelihood of a person committing criminal activity is a previous learning history with crime, and operant behaviors with which it is associated. If conceptualized behaviorally, environmental factors and functional relations maintaining criminal repertoires could be addressed pragmatically and effectively. The possible applications of behavior analysis to criminal activity are broad-ranging, and we will present the application of the science in a port setting to analyze and explore behaviors of interest, explore behavioral skills training for active shooting scenarios, present a behavioral conceptualization of mass killings, and research the use of behavior analysis in criminal justice systems. Although the applications presented in this symposium are diverse, they represent an attempt to understand criminal behaviors, and how these can be manipulated or changed with behavior analysis.

Any individual who wants to learn more on a new dissemination topic Those in behavior analysis with interest in expanding into their communities

Functional communication training is the most empirically supported intervention for the severe problem behavior exhibited by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Despite this strong research base, the translation from the highly controlled clinical settings in which the process has been described to more normative environments has been imperfect. This group of researchers presents work addressing the challenges of this transition including the use of antecedent strategies, the programming of procedures to support delay tolerance, the transition from motor to vocal alternative responses, and in visual analysis strategies.

Practicing BCBA's who see individuals displaying severe problem behavior

Individuals with developmental disabilities are more likely to experience social exclusion as a result of impairments in individual functioning and adaptive living skills, and because of the presence of direct support workers (Hall, 2016). Technology can reduce staff support, increase skill development and improve independence (Owuor et al., 2018). This project introduced iPad or iPhone technology and specialized apps to 12 adults with intellectual disabilities living in a community setting. Target skills associated with improving independence (e.g., employment skills, budgeting and banking) were identified and matched to a specialized app (e.g., Stepbystep, Intellist, Monefy). Chaining and prompting were used to teach the independent use of technology and to fade direct staff supports. Four concurrent multiple-baseline across participants designs were used to track individual progress and to illustrate the effective introduction of technology and apps, as a tool to reduce direct staff support and to increase independence in community settings. Duration data on the amount of support provided and the total task time were collected, and a percentage of direct support was calculated and tracked using multiple probes across participants. Percentage of direct support ranged between 30-100% during baseline and was successfully reduced to 0% upon the introduction of technology.

Token economies are used in a variety of settings for a range of populations. For example, token economies have been used with patients in psychiatric treatment facilities (e.g., Baker, Hall, Hutchinson, & Bridge, 2018), children in educational settings (e.g., Shillingsburg, Lomas, & Bradley, 2012), delinquents in detention centers (e.g., Phillips, Phillips, Fixsen, & Wolf, 1971), incarcerated individuals in prisons (e.g., Milan, Wood, & McKee, 1979), and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in residential settings (e.g., Reese, Sherman, & Sheldon, 1998). Given that the broad aim of token economies is to decrease problem behavior and increase adaptive behavior, better client outcomes rely on the implementation of these token economies to be carried out with high fidelity (Bailey, Gross, & Cotton, 2011). Staff implementation of token economies is one of the most noted barriers in their effectiveness (e.g., Bailey, Gross, & Cotton, 2011; Bassett & Blanchard, 1977; Drabman & Tucker, 1974). Thus, the purpose of this talk is to review the literature using token economies with this population and the importance of reporting fidelity measures used with adults with IDD. Recommendations for future research to inform the implementation of token economies will be discussed.

Increased complexity of support needs of persons with developmental disabilities (DD) living in the community and improved governance for agencies supporting adults engaging in challenging behaviour has increased demand for clinical behavioural services in Ontario. Waitlists have increased as clinical providers are required to help those most in need. In response, Regional Support Associates, a Ministry funded clinical provider for adults with DD, developed the Community Capacity Development Initiative (CCDI). CCDI was designed to complement RSA services while simultaneously building capacity within Developmental Service Agencies (DSA). CCDI is a comprehensive training focused on increasing DSA staff's ability to address problematic behaviours through the completion of a Functional Behaviour Assessment and the development of a Behaviour Support Plan. Results for a scoping review drawing from Organizational Behaviour Management and Implementation Sciences, this presentation will review factors influencing DSA's ability to increase capacity (e.g., skill acquisition, treatment adherence, generalization and maintenance). Some relevant factors include environmental factors, organizational resources, leadership style, training approaches (e.g., BST and multiple exemplars), the complexity of interventions and relationship with change agents. An overview of the CCDI training model included the training approach and efforts incorporated to address factors influencing capacity development will also be reviewed.

The present studies assessed variables involved in behavioral persistence under resistance to change and relapse procedures. By using a four-component multiple schedule, Bai, Xue, Podlesnik and Elliffe established key pecking under different reinforcement frequencies (rich, lean and intermediate). Their results suggest a role for stimulus generalization as a determinant of resistance to change. Teixeira and Cançado assessed the effects of response-reinforcer dependency on resistance to change and choice in two experiments. Their results suggest that contingencies which generate high or low response rates affect resistance to change, but have not impacted choice. Madrigal, Craig and Flores reported similar results by isolating response-rate effects and training length on ABA-operant renewal. Rats responded at high or low rates and were exposed to either short or extended training. They found a relation between length of training and renewal, which was affected by differences in training response rates. Finally, Nist and Shahan explored the temporal dynamics of resurgence during alternative reinforcement thinning via within-session progressive-interval in two experiments. In both, resurgence occurred during thinning but not after alternative-response extinction. The present set of experiments extend previous findings and provide novel strategies for the assessment of the variables involved in behavioral persistence and relapse.

Practitioners, teachers, basic and applied researchers, and translational researchers

Behavioral momentum theory suggests that the relation between a discriminative stimulus and reinforcement determines the persistence of responding in the presence of that discriminative stimulus. However, responding also generalizes across similar discriminative stimuli and it remains unclear how generalization may affect behavioral persistence. The present experiment arranged food reinforcement for pigeons’ key-peck responses in a four-component multiple schedule. Components were signalled by different wavelengths projected onto the response key. Two components arranged equal, Intermediate variable interval (VI) 60-s schedules in the presence of 510 nm and 580 nm, while the other two components arranged Rich VI 15-s and Lean VI 240-s schedules in the presence of 530 nm and 560 nm, respectively. Responding in the Intermediate component flanking the Rich Component was more persistent than responding in the Intermediate component flanking the Lean Component. Additionally, generalization tests and preference probes provided converging evidence that stimuli associated with Richer and Leaner reinforcement schedules impacted the value of the stimuli signalling the Intermediate components. These data suggest a role for generalization in establishing the stimulus-reinforcer relation that determines behavioral persistence.

Two experiments assessed the effects of the response-reinforcer dependency on resistance to change and choice. In both, pigeons were first exposed to a two-component multiple schedule and then to a concurrent-chains schedule. Reinforcement rate was equated between components and alternatives. In Experiment 1, the dependency was low in one multiple-schedule component (concomitant variable interval, VI, variable time, VT), and high in the other (VI). Response rates were lower in the low than in the high-dependency component, and resistance to extinction and VT schedules were greater in the former. Also, pigeons preferred the terminal link associated with low rather than high dependency. In Experiment 2, the procedure was replicated but response rates were lower in the high-dependency than in the low-dependency multiple-schedule component and terminal link. Resistance to extinction and VT schedules were greater in the high than in the low-dependency component, but preference was greater for the terminal link associated with low dependency. These results extend previous studies on the relation between resistance to change and choice. In addition, they suggest that contingencies that generate high or low response rates are important determinants of resistance to change as a function of dependency in multiple and concurrent-chains schedules of reinforcement.

The duration of acquisition has been positively associated with ABA renewal. However, in studies that have showed this effect, response rates generally are higher for subjects that experience prolonged training than for subjects that experience shorter training. Thus, it is unclear if this differences can be explained by the duration of acquisition or by any difference on response rates. Therefore, the present experiment was developed with the purpose of further assessing this possibility. During the first condition, two groups of rats were exposed to either short or long training in Context A. Within each group, high and low response rates were established according to a VI30s (100% and 50% response-dependent food, respectively). Rats were then exposed to extinction sessions under Context B. Finally, we tested for renewal by returning the rats to Context A. The second condition occurred in the same manner as the first, with the exception that subjects’ response rates were reversed (i.e. High – Low; Low – High). Greater ABA renewal was observed after long training than short training. However, independently of the length of training, greater renewal was observed after low lever-pressing response rates. These results extend those of previous studies where renewal was greater after long training. Additionally, they provide evidence on the effects of response rates on ABA renewal.

The terms Motivating Operation and Discriminative Stimulus are widespread and thought to be generally well understood in the field of ABA. However, there are significant issues with Interobserver Agreement among Behavior Analysts when attempting to discriminate between these stimuli in realistic situations. Jack Michael made a major contribution to the science of ABA with his development of the MO concept. However, further refinement of the concept, as well as the published definition of the discrimination stimulus need to be explored. This talk explores IOA in textual vignettes and video stimuli, uses Equivalence Based Instruction to teach revised definitions of these terms and evaluates whether IOA improves. It also evaluates the utility of Moodle as a platform to deliver equivalence based instruction to large groups without a proctor. Discussion and evaluation of the applied utility of current definitions for stimulus control are discussed as well.

Domestic dogs are routinely used for scent detection tasks in increasingly wide-ranging domains, from explosives, to disease, pest, and rare species. How training, handling, and selection of dogs and handlers influences performance are important questions for this expanding field. This symposium reports research into the effects of these dimensions on scent dog performance. First, detection threshold of dogs and dogs' ability to generalize to new odor concentrations will be explored as it relates to the odor concentration they were initially trained on. Such research provides insight into applied questions of what concentrations to train on, as well as basic questions of stimulus generalization. A second paper investigates the influence of handler knowledge of target locations, an essential question given that teams often test in situations where the handler knows target locations, but do not when they are in the field. Finally, a third paper investigates the feasibility of training owned dogs with their owners to serve as citizen-science teams detecting agricultural diseases and pests, and whether selection tests based on reinforcer efficacy and persistence can predict success. Given the ubiquitous nature of conservation and agricultural issues, training and deploying pet dogs could greatly increase communities' ability to protect their environment.

Practitioners interested in applied nonhuman research and how results might apply to human training issues Practitioners interested in basic research and how results might apply to human training issues Researchers interested in applications of basic and applied research to nonhuman domains

Parent training can have many benefits for the families of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), most notably in improving parent-child interactions. Furthermore, collaboration with parents is often used to generalize gains made during applied behavior analysis (ABA) sessions. In addition to aiding the child, parent training can also improve parental well-being. Given the potential benefits, strategies to increase parent involvement in their child’s ABA program are critical. Involving parents in formal parent training is an important method in gaining this involvement; however, this can be challenging in some situations. Addressing and analyzing the sources of these obstacles are valuable in increasing the amount and quality of parent training received by families. In the first talk, a literature review on the barriers to implementing parent training will be presented. Following this discussion, data will be shared on the effects of a parent training program on parents’ use of strategies and parental well-being. Lastly, strategies for training behavior analysts to implement parent training will be discussed. Across the talks, emphasis will be placed on practical strategies that practitioners can implement to improve delivery of parent training.

In this symposium, we will review strategies for utilizing competing stimuli and matched stimulation to reduce automatically maintained problem behavior in children with autism. The first presenter will explore procedural variations of delivering competing stimuli to treat automatically maintained stereotypy. This included presenting alternative stimuli when item contact is absent and in the absence of functional engagement providing manual prompting to engage appropriately. Data are presented on item contact and functional engagement along with stereotypy. Our second presenter will share data comparing the implementation of matched stimulation versus preferred stimulation on reducing stereotypy in children with autism during work sessions, a setting in which previous matched stimulation research has yet to target. Data will be presented on engagement in stereotypy and on-task behavior during sessions. The final presenter will review data evaluating the competing stimulus assessment (CSA) in identifying appropriate treatment for automatically and attention-maintained problem behavior. The CSA in this study was designed to match the function and topography of the target behaviors.

BCBAs; clinicians working with individuals with automatically maintained problem behavior

The present study investigated the efficacy of matched stimulation (MS) on reducing frequency of stereotypic behavior for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during their work sessions. Children with ASD engage in rigid, repetitive, stereotyped behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and this behavior is often targeted for reduction, because it can interfere with appropriate behavior and engagement with learning opportunities (Cunningham & Schreibman, 2008). Research has demonstrated matched stimulation’s efficacy in reducing motor stereotypy during periods of continuous, non-contingent access (Gunter et al., 1993; Lanovaz et al., 2009; Lanovaz et al., 2012; Lanovaz et al., 2011; Love et al., 2012; Luiseli et al., 2004; Rapp, 2006; Rapp, 2007), but no previous study has examined the implementation of matched stimulation in short intervals while the participant is engaged in a work session. Compared to baseline sessions and preferred stimulation sessions, four of five participants demonstrated a decrease in stereotypic behavior during matched stimulation sessions with no impact on measures of on-task behavior.

While there is a growing body of research examining early symptoms of ASD, the point at which this pattern of atypical social responding begins to deviate in children who are later diagnosed with autism is unclear. Researchers are now identifying early behavioral markers in children 6-12 months of age (Zwaigenbaum et al., 2005), however, more recent data suggest emergence of symptoms before 3 months of age (Graupner & Sallows, 2017). The first paper in this session describes data obtained using a newly developed research tool, the Early Markers of Autism, on infants under 6 months of age. Assessment data using the EMA reveal the presence of five key early markers in infant siblings and the accurate assessment of each using this tool. The second paper in this session describes the use of telehealth technology to train parents to implement treatment protocols in their young children with autism. Caregiver fidelity of implementation of treatment techniques and changes in child specific behaviors showed the effectiveness of these training procedures. These findings have implications for the early identification and treatment of autism in infants, leading to long term positive outcomes for infants and families.

Researchers and BCBA clinicians

This project was designed to conduct a multiple-subject component analysis study of treatment to ascertain the “active ingredients” that lead to symptom improvement in infants with early signs of ASD. Six infants (6-12 months of age) exhibiting early signs of ASD and their primary caregivers participated in this study. A multiple-baseline-design across subjects was used with counterbalanced introduction of three treatment techniques (Step into the Spotlight, Imitation, Talking to Baby). Treatment sessions occurred three times per week for one month for a total of 12 sessions. Treatment techniques were introduced weekly to the caregiver and allowed for caregiver practice with immediate feedback. Caregiver fidelity of implementation (FI) of treatment techniques and child ASD-specific behaviors were coded from 10-minute caregiver-child dyad intervention video-recorded probes. Caregivers met FI requirements quickly, with interobserver agreement (IOA) of 88% overall. Since time is of the essence when presented with an infant with early signs of ASD, identifying which key treatment techniques to teach first that produce the most change quickly in infant behavior is ideal. In addition, learning more about the successes and challenges of using telehealth technology to coach caregivers will inform future clinical practice and research efforts in this area.

The first book-length treatment of RFT was published almost 20 years ago in 2001. In recent years, a number of conceptual advances have been made in the theory that have implications for its application in both educational and clinical domains. The first of these is the emergence of a type of periodic table for conceptualizing derived relational responding, known as the multi-dimensional, multi-level framework (the MDML). The presentation will explain how this framework provides opportunities for conceptualizing and remediating the core skills required for basic and advanced language and cognition in educational contexts. The second of these is a recent extension to the MDML framework, called the hyper-dimensional, multi-level framework (the HDML), that incorporates the orienting and evoking functions of stimuli that participate in derived relations. The presentation will explore how this recent extension connects basic research in RFT to clinical behavior analysis. Overall, the case will be made that although RFT should be seen as a work in progress, the theory continues to offer insights that will potentially improve functional-analytic methods for assessing and treating behavioral problems.

Behavior analysts with an interest in development and clinical behavior analysis.

The effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is supported by over 300 randomized controlled trials. ACT was developed on the basis of behavior analytic principles but most previous research has been in the context of psychotherapy interventions. More research is needed on the basic mechanisms responsible for behavior change within ACT. This symposium brings together two laboratory studies that examine components of ACT, from a relational frame theory perspective. The first presentation, by Barbara Gil-Luciano, consists of a study that evaluated the effects of two different defusion strategies on lab measures of rumination and memory. The second presentation, by Jorge Ruiz-Sanchez, examines the effects of a rule-governed behavior protocol on experimentally induced fear and avoidance.

Behavior analysts

Psychological inflexibility is made of distinct reactions that are oriented to lessen distress. In this sense, worry and rumination (RNT) are strategies that seem to be common denominators in many psychological disorders. Cutting-edge RFT approach suggests that both strategies are triggered by framing thoughts in hierarchical relations. This study had two parts. Firstly, we explored such a hierarchical organization of thoughts with two ruminative induction procedures, analyzing their impact on a memory task. Secondly, we examined the differential effect of two defusion protocols that aimed to alter the discriminative avoidant functions of triggers for RNTand a control condition.Results suggest that inducting RNT with stronger triggers (thoughts at the top of the hierarchy, or “big ones”, that symbolically contain or are inclusive of weaker thoughts or triggers) showed a more negative effect in the task performance than inducting RNT with less stronger triggers. Results also indicate that participants that were intervened with the defusion protocol that specifically containedhierarchical cues to reduce the discriminative avoidant functions of triggers for RNTshowed a better performance at post-test, in comparison with participants that received a defusion protocol that only contained deictic cues, and with a control condition. Results also informed that, when promoting a hierarchical relation between the individual (deictic I) and his or herstronger triggerfor RNT, the level of concentration was higher at post-test than when targeting an individual’s less stronger trigger – all triggers being related.Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Defusion and values-based protocols are built of interactions that involve responding under the overarching motivative functions, as higher-order establishing operations, while integrating rules-driven emotive functions present at the moment. The present study aims to analyze the impact of a higher-order motivate protocol (values) on experimentally induced fear responding. Firstly, 55 participants underwent an aversively conditioned task where non-avoidance was followed by shocks and noises, whereas a black screen followed avoidance responding. Next, participants randomly received one of three protocols: (a), conditional motivative protocol, which involved a conditional relation between non-avoidance and earning money; (b), as (a) plus adding a higher-order function for non-avoidance (conditional + higher-order motivative protocol). And (c), the same as previous but only a higher-order function was included (higher-order motivative protocol). Lastly, participants repeated the experimental task. Results show that the conditional motivative protocol has little impact on avoidance behavior, whereas higher-order motivative protocols suppress completely avoidance behavior, even in the presence of elicited fear responses.

Social justice can be defined as the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges to promote fair and just relations. Although behavior analysts’ efforts towards social justice can be traced back to the late 1980s, analyses of the movements are still in their infancies. The current symposium will consist of three presentations directed at the promotion of social justice within the field. First, an analysis of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis will be provided to discuss inherent power imbalances between behavior-analytic researchers and human research subjects. Recommendations to diffuse such power will be approached from the perspectives of collaboration and cultural humility. Next, findings will be presented on the presence of Latina professors teaching in educational programs accredited through the Association for Behavior Analysis International. To date, researchers have not examined racial and ethnic identities of professors in the academy, which is necessary if diversity and equity is truly being targeted. Barriers to gathering such data will be discussed, in addition to the proposal of solutions to sustain diversity and equity within the field. Finally, an approach to increase social justice narratives will be described. The approach will discuss the importance of taking perspectives of others experiencing social injustice, which is foundational towards ensuring the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges for all.

Behavior-analytic researchers, behavior-analytic faculty, students in behavior analysis, behavior analysts

Increasing diversity and equity has recently gained momentum in behavior analysis. In the previous five years, data have supported significant progress in the presence of women in our discipline (Nosik, Luke, & Carr, 2018; Li, Curiel, Pritchard, & Poling, 2018), including the creation of the Women in Behavior Analysis conference (Sundberg, Zoder-Martell, & Cox, 2019). Despite these accomplishments, there is a lack of information regarding the racial and ethnic identities of behavior analysts, which should be considered when promoting diversity and equity. With Latinxs (a gender-neutral term) growing in the U.S., the number of Latinx behavior analysts is likely to increase. Although there are more women than men at the ranks of assistant and associate professor in programs accredited through the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI; Li, Gravina, Pritchard, & Poling, 2019), it is unknown how many Latina professors there are, which has great implications for the training and mentoring of future behavior analysts who come from similar backgrounds. In addition to presenting data on Latina professors teaching in ABAI-accredited programs, the current presentation will also discuss the barriers encountered when identifying such individuals. Moreover, viable solutions that can create change will be proposed, including the development of networks to provide coherent support to Latinas interested in pursuing higher education and the establishment of outlets for research related to sustaining diversity and equity.

Presenting choices to nonvocal and early verbal learners is frequently achieved by arranging concurrent choices wherein two or more stimuli are put in front of the learner with the prompt “choose.” The paired-stimulus preference assessment is one example of a paired-choice arrangement. Some choices, such as the choice of intervention or choice of music to listen to, present challenges as they cannot be easily represented by an item or icon. The first presentation will describe a concurrent chain procedure for offering choice between errorless instruction and error correction within the Picture Exchange Communication System and a receptive identification task. We will report data on the relative efficiency of these instructional strategies and client preference for instructional strategy. The second presentation will report the effects of presenting choice of music via an iPad on vocal stereotypy. Data will be reported on the effects of music- and song-level interactions. Our discussant, who has in-depth experience in basic and applied research on choice and concurrent operants, will then provide her comments and considerations.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts and Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts

We conducted a preference assessment that included musical stimuli and, for those that selected music, we examined the effects of presenting musical stimuli via an iPad on sensory-maintained vocal stereotypy in three children with autism. Pressing an icon resulted in the corresponding song playing through headphones and the participant could change the song by pressing a different button at any time. Data were analyzed across condition type (music vs. no music) and song type. This intervention produced a reduction of vocal stereotypic behavior three of three participants, with socially significant decreases for at least one participant. Future research will be discussed to include the assessment of specific stimulation maintaining vocal stereotypy, competing stimulation, and the role of concurrent choice for substitutable reinforcers to treat automatically-maintained behavior.

As our population ages, age-related diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, become more prevalent. Therefore, treatments to increase quality of life and adaptive independence are in high demand. In this symposium, we will explore two ways in which research within behavioral gerontology are seeking to answer questions within this area. Both focus on ways behavior analysts can work to establish adaptive verbal repertoires in older adults. Our first presenter will explore how the establishment of conditional discriminations and the formation of emerged relations were influenced by simultaneous matching-to-sample (MTS) or delayed matching-to-sample using many-to-one or one-to-many training structures. The second presenter will share the data collected during a four-month study involving older adults with mild-cognitive impairment and dementia, which targeted immediate and delayed tacts (recall) and other memory-related measures before and after an intensive Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) procedure. Implications and future directions of these studies will be discussed.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts, behavioral gerontology practitioners, behavioral gerontology researchers

As our population ages, age-related diseases, such as dementia, become more prevalent and treatments to increase quality of life in high demand. The present study utilized a crossover multiple baseline design across participants to examine the efficacy of an Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) intervention on the improvement of remembering behaviors (immediate and delayed tacts) and neurocognitive impairment and present moment awareness screening scores in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early-stage dementia. Results demonstrated some improvement on both immediate and delayed tacts across participants. Lower scores post-treatment and at follow-up on the Trail Making Test (TMT) were also observed for most participants. Additionally, those with the lowest initial St. Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) assessment scores demonstrated the greatest increase following treatment and at a two-month follow-up. Implications of this study suggest that Acceptance and Commitment Training may be a beneficial to prolong remembering behaviors in individuals diagnosed with dementia, which may remain stable across time. Future directions will be discussed.

Stimulus preference assessments (SPA) are commonly used to identify stimuli that can be used in both assessment and intervention. Much of the literature on preference assessments has focused on the design of the assessment, including stimulus presentation format, stimulus modality, and consequences for selection. Overall, single, two-item, and multiple item formats, with immediate access, can be effective methods to identify preferences. More recently, researchers have examined adaptations to SPAs, focusing on different modalities and consequences. For example, some items or activities may be difficult to present; therefore, it may only be possible to present a picture of the name of the item. Additionally, it may be difficult to repeatedly present an large item or activity. Likewise, some stimuli may have multiple parameters that could be presented as separate items during SPAs. The purpose of this symposium is to present two studies that address adaptations to SPAs, focusing on stimuli with multiple parameters and problem behavior during SPAs. In the first study, the authors evaluated preference for different types of attention and the relation between preference assessment results and reinforcer assessment results. In the second study, the authors evaluated problem behavior during different modalities and consequence arrangements of paired-stimulus preference assessments.

Practitioners, Applied Researchers, Graduate Students

Effective writing ability is arguably one of the most important skills an individual must acquire. Despite the crucial role of effective writing skills in today’s society, many individuals do not possess strong writing ability and do not consider themselves good writers, as only 27% of 12th grade students met the criteria for “Proficient” writing, while 21% of 12th grade students met the criteria for “Below Basic” writing (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). This distribution is even more concerning for black and Hispanic students. These findings suggested that many individuals leaving the public secondary education system lack the skills required to successfully meet the writing demands of the workplace and of higher education. With that in mind, this symposium will demonstrate several ways in which behavior analytic methods may be used shape different aspects of the writing process. The first presentation will review an intervention package consisting of programmed instruction and rate-building to develop revision skills. The second presentation will examine the use of lag schedules to increase variable fictional writing with children with autism. The final presentation will present an integration of precision measurement, pinpointing, and multiple learning channel practice with mechanics exercises.

The target audience for this symposium are behavior analysts, teachers, supervisors, and anyone else who is required to either develop written products or to review written products as apart of their job.

Clear technical writing is critical for communicating complex information to professional and lay audiences. Due to a lack of instruction and practice, behavior analysts and researchers who venture beyond formulaic article writing are prone to structural and stylistic errors. Such writing patterns are noticeable and less desirable to some readers. In her technical writing course Writing Solutions for Behavior Analysts, Marilyn Gilbert introduced a series of Flags—stimuli that signal a particular situation in one’s writing that may need to be changed. The course helped students fluently identify and change Flags that make writing unclear, misleading, or unnecessary. When teaching stylistic writing, Gilbert employed an age-old copywork exercise or the rewriting of an exemplar text to shape an easy and approachable style that effectively communicates scientific information. Many successful writers, including Benjamin Franklin, have used the copywork exercise to improve overall and domain-specific writing (e.g., sales copy). This paper will present an integration of precision measurement, pinpointing, and multiple learning channel practice with Gilbert’s mechanics exercises (Flags) and an eyes/ears copywork approach to promote high-level writing among behavior analysts and other science writers.

Tootling interventions involve using interdependent group-oriented rewards to enhances student reports of classmates’ student-helping-student behaviors. Tootling has been shown to decease typical inappropriate classroom behaviors including out of seat behavior and calling out, but not antisocial behaviors. In Study I, a withdrawal design showed that tooting caused immediate decreases in antisocial behaviors (e.g., mean behaviors like name-calling). Researchers have not evaluated the effect of tootling on the behaviors which students are reporting. In Study II, social skills training was used to teach compliment-giving behavior, and during the tootling intervention rewards were delivered contingent upon peer reports of classmates’ giving compliments. Visual analysis of our A-B-A-B figures showed that the tootling intervention enhanced students compliment giving behavior, not just reports of compliment giving behavior, in a generalized setting. This behavior-specific tootling intervention enhanced compliment-giving behavior in a generalized setting. In Study III, a multiple baseline design was used to sequentially enhance three recently-taught social skills in a generalized setting. Discussion focuses on using tootling to reduce antisocial behaviors and promote generalization and maintenance of recently-taught social skills.

Those who work in educational settings

The current study was designed to extend research on tootling interventions. Tootling involves reinforcing students’ reporting of their peers' incidental prosocial behaviors, specifically student-helping-student behaviors. Reinforcement is provided via the application interdependent group-oriented bonus rewards. While previous researchers reinforced the class contingent upon the number of tootles (i.e., peer reports of classmates’ student-helping-student behaviors), during the current study group rewards were delivered contingent upon the number of different students who received tootles. A withdrawal (A-B-A-B) design was used to determine if a tootling intervention decreased antisocial/disrespectful interactions of four, teacher-nominated students in an after-school, third-grade classroom. Visual analysis of a repeated measures graph and effect size estimates suggest that the tootling intervention decreased these interactions. Discussion focuses on the failure to maintain gains during the withdraw phase and future research designed to enhance and evaluate the generalizability of tootling interventions and the effects of similar interventions over time and across dependent variables.

Behavioral Safety is not only relevant to “classical” physical work in plants. It’s also important in social service organizations and other environments that are not typically in focus, when thinking about workplace safety. This symposium highlights several developments in behavioral safety. One is the application of the well-established procedures to work environments previously not being targeted much by behavior analysis. The first talk is about the use of the Performance-Diagnostic Checklist – Safety (PDC-S) to enhance safety in two social service institutions. The other presentations in this symposium describe the collaborative effort of machinery safety experts and behavior analysts to include the knowledge of behavior analysis into international standards of workplace safety like the International Standard Organization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Behavior analysis introduces it’s measurement and assessment strategies to machinery safety, to make the human factor – once thought of as a “soft” factor – more controllable and manageable. Perspecitves for future developments are discussed.

Performance feedback is one of the most common strategies employed in interventions within the field of organizational behavior management (OBM) and has been demonstrated to improve performance across a variety of settings and behaviors when used effectively. Despite its accumulation of empirical support overall, the key variables influencing feedback efficacy, maintenance, and treatment implementation require further evaluation. The presentations in this symposium seeks to further this evaluation by 1) providing an updated review on the existing evidence regarding the use of feedback in 75 articles published in the Journal of Organization Behavior Management from 1998 to 2018, 2) assess performer preference for feedback timing relative to task completion (e.g., after step, after trial, and after session), 3) and evaluate the effects of performer reactions to feedback on subsequent feedback delivery and observation accuracy. Each presentation will highlight the importance of identifying various feedback components as they relate to treatment efficacy and implementation. Implications for future research and the utilization of performance feedback in applied settings will be discussed.

Open to all audiences.

In organizational behavior management (OBM), feedback can effectively increase and maintain performance across settings and target behaviors. Feedback has been extensively studied, being one of the most studied independent variables in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM). Alvero, Bucklin, and Austin (2001) conducted an objective review of the effectiveness and essential characteristics of performance feedback in organizational settings between 1985-1998. This talk will present an update and extension of the Alvero et al. (2001) review by summarizing the effective characteristics of feedback based on 75 articles that implemented feedback as an intervention in an applied setting that were published in JOBM, and in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) between 1998 and 2018. Feedback effectiveness will be presented for the following characteristics: feedback source, feedback medium, feedback privacy, feedback participants, feedback frequency, the immediacy of feedback, feedback combinations (e.g., feedback + goal setting or feedback + incentives), and feedback nature (increase or decrease behavior).

Performance feedback can be a valuable tool for behavior change when used effectively. Despite its utility, delivering feedback may be aversive to the observer, affecting the accuracy of subsequent observations and feedback. A study conducted by Matey et al. (2019) evaluated the effects of required feedback delivery on observer accuracy and found that accuracy was lower when performance feedback was required compared to observation-alone, suggesting the performer’s reaction to feedback may be one variable influencing subsequent accuracy. The current study sought to evaluate the effects of feedback reaction-type on observer accuracy and feedback delivery. First, undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either positive, neutral, or negative reaction groups. Then, in phase one, participants were trained to score a confederate’s posture as either “safe” or “at-risk”. During phase two, participants were instructed to deliver feedback to the confederate after each session. The confederate reacted to this feedback differently depending on group assignment (i.e., positive, negative, or neutral). Preliminary results indicate observation accuracy in the negative-reaction group may be lower after feedback delivery compared to accuracy in the neutral-reaction and positive-reaction groups. Implications for these findings and suggestions for future research will be discussed.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

The field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has grown faster than many of us have ever imagined. Current projections estimate there will be over 120,000 Behavior Analysts worldwide within the next 5 years. The panelists will provide the audience with their perspective about the current state of the field. In doing so the panelists will discuss areas in which ABA has excelled (e.g., functional analysis, certifying individuals, single subject designs) as well as areas requiring additional growth (e.g., marketing, collaborating with other fields, large scale outcomes). Additionally, the panelists will provide their perspective on the future directions of ABA (e.g., private equity, increasing number of technicians, licensure laws) and how behavior analysts can continue to promote quality behavioral intervention with the new challenges. All Board Certified Behavior Analysts have an ethical responsibility to our profession to “uphold and advance the values, ethics and principles of the profession of behavior analysis” (BACB Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts, Section 6.01). As such, the panelists will also discuss current and future ethical responsibilities to the field. Questions and comments from the audience will be encouraged throughout.

Graduate students, practitioners, researchers, and professors.

The Decimal Systemof Behavior (DSB)—a principle and function based system—was initiated in 2010 as a behavior-analytic alternative to diagnostic systems for the classification of behavior assets and problems. The DSB is a behavior process -based system for the identification of behaviors that may be described and analyzed in behavior chains. These chains include separate behaviors plus behavioral products or ecological situations that may follow each other in sequences. Two behavior chains may occur simultaneously. The behaviors in the chains have their own developmental and reinforcement histories that may be investigated after the formulation of the chains. These investigations may be paradigmatic and lead to experimental analysis, goal-setting, and interventions for the asset or problem behaviors. The basic aim of the DSB is to lead to goal-setting and intervention that is relevant and specific for each of the ten main classes of behaviors included in the DSB (e.g., motivating operations or reinforcement problems). Through the DSB classification adequate goals and interventions may be formulated and implemented for behavior analysts to be able to achieve a comprehensive and effective outcome of the analyses. The DSB has been tested in behavioral supervision. Examples of chain analyses highlight the method.

Human behavioral pharmacology methods have been used to rigorously evaluate the effects of a range of centrally acting drugs in human beings under controlled conditions. Methods like drug self-administration and drug-discrimination have been adapted from non-human laboratory animal models. Because humans have the capacity to communicate verbally, self-report methods are also commonly used to understand drug effects. This presentation will provide an overview of these traditional human behavioral pharmacology methods, as well as more novel measures that have been introduced to the field. Representative data will be shared and the benefits, challenges and translational relevance of each method will be discussed. This session will cover guiding principles in the design of human behavioral pharmacology studies (e.g., using placebo controls, testing multiple doses) along with ethical (e.g., avoiding enrollment of individuals seeking treatment, determining capacity to consent) and safety (e.g., dose selection, pre-screening of participants for exclusionary health problems) that must be addressed when conducting these types of studies.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

This symposium will include three recently completed projects by the 2019 Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group (VBSIG) research and student grant competition winners. The VBSIG aims to support the advancement of verbal behavior research and to disseminate theoretical, empirical, and practical information about verbal behavior. These papers exemplify that aim. The first paper by Frampton, Axe, Covall, and Padmanabhan will describe procedures for teaching problem solving skills to answer novel intraverbal questions utilizing a mobile application. The next two papers focus on the emergence of untrained skills. Zaltzman, Parry-Cruwys, MacDonald, and Sweeney-Kerwin examined the use of observational learning in a young child with autism who was taught to engage in echoic, tact, and intraverbal behaviors following exposure to a model. The final paper, presented by Aragon, Rodriguez, McKeown, and Luczynski, describes procedures to facilitate the emergence of verbal behavior in the form of Intraverbal-tacts. The studies present results that may inform verbal behavior researchers and practitioners alike.

graduate students, researchers, clinicians interested in verbal behavior

Learning by observing others has great benefits as it allows an individual to learn new skills without directly contacting the contingencies. Results from previous research on teaching skills necessary to emit OL responses are promising but an analysis of OL using Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior (1957) is lacking. The purpose of the present study was to address the limitations of previous research by conceptualizing OL using Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior (1957) in the context of a replication and extension of DeQuinzio and Taylor (2015). After teaching one child diagnosed with an ASD to emit a chain of vocal verbal responses including an echoic, the statement of a rule, and either the same response as the echoic or the correction statement "I don't know" she was observed to correctly tact previously unknown pictures after observing a model. Interobserver agreement was collected for 35% of OL and tacting responses and for 34% of vocal response chain (VRC) responses and was 79% and 100% respectively. Future research should continue to analyze OL using Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior (1957) as it might lead to a more parsimonious and conceptually systematic analysis.

Failing to teach children with autism to leverage multiple control when making conditional discriminations may contribute to erring when required to emit intraverbal-tacts (i.e., answering different questions about a picture). For example, when shown the picture of a red square and asked, “What shape?” a child may answer, “red.” This study evaluated if a curriculum sequence inspired by a conceptual analysis of multiple control (Michael, Palmer, & Sundberg, 2011) would facilitate the emergence of intraverbal-tacts in children with autism. More specifically, children learned to tact the various elements in pictures (e.g., the shapes triangle, square, and circle), tact the categories the elements belong to (e.g., square is a shape), and list members of a category (e.g., triangle, square, and circle in response to, “What are some shapes?”). In the case that intraverbal-tacts did not emerge following mastery of these skills, the children learned a selection response in which they would attend to a picture (e.g., a red square) and a vocal stimulus (e.g., “Show me shape.”) and then select the correct element from an array of the various elements (i.e., different colors and shapes). We discuss the efficacy of this curriculum sequence in facilitating the emergence of intraverbal-tacts.

Meet presenters to discuss their research, ask questions, or just say "hi." Check back to see who will be participating.

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Successfully "training" a new dog is a function of mindfulness of their own behaviors by the dog's "people," and their ability to manage those behaviors in the context of the interactions with the dog, and in their interactions with other humans regarding the dog's behavior. Multiple behaviors, overt and private, must be emitted in the process of adopting a dog. Once adopted, the rituals begin of training the dog to emit or not emit targeted behaviors. Interactions with other humans can be a threat to consistency needed in the early phases of treatment Once the owner(s) has developed a postion regarding a behavior in various situations, it behooves the training process consistency to have a concise and clear plan to comminucate the desired behavior plan to those who might interact with the dog, and teach it to those humans. For example, if the owner prefers that the dog not be allowed to jump up onto a person when greeting, or not be given table food, those predeeences should be made clear to any human interacting with the dog. Other domains of human behaviors include interactions of persons with the dog regarding tricks, treats, greeting and petting, preferences for walking or holding the dog, and the essentials of communication between humans regarding dog behaviors. Interactions with other animals, and with owners of other animals, as well as the intersection of the dog and the enviormment...either at home or out in the world encountered when going for a walk become the real world of maintanance, generalization, and discrimintation of dog behavior, such as the interaction of the new dog with other dogs, other house pets, other humans, and wild animals. It is the owner to other human behaviors that lay the foundation of the dog's behavior. If the "owner" is a couple, there is an expotential inceease in behaviors human behaviors emitted, including "private" behaviors such as attitudes toward and understanding of basic behavior principles such as reinforcement and punishment, all of which which need to be defined and shaped. To the extent the owner understands principles of behavior, and can explain them to others in the context of increasing or decreasing specific dog behaviors, such as barking, chasing, marking, etc., it can help make for more consistent training for the dog, and less arguments for the people. This presentation will highlight domains of human behaviors which need to be shaped when adopting and training a new dog.

The WSD increases risk of developing chronic disorders including obesity and its associated metabolic diseases, and global consumption is increasing. This is particularly concerning in the context of early brain development as preclinical studies are accumulating evidence that maternal WSD (mWSD) perturbs fetal neurodevelopment. Using the Japanese macaque (n=36), we introduce a novel computational approach to assess temperament at three years of age in offspring exposed to a mWSD compared to controls. First, we clustered 37 individual measures of behavior using community detection. From the five communities (or groups) of behavior that were formed, temperament composite scores were created by summating individual behaviors within each community. Scores were used to investigate differences in temperament between offspring diet groups. These temperament composites encompassed individual behavioral profiles such as anxious, obsessive, and balanced and represent distinct temperamental characteristics. The anxious temperament composite was expressed highest in the HFD offspring, and also was significantly different between diet groups (p = .029). Results are consistent with the literature, showing that mWSD programs perturbations in fetal neurodevelopment resulting in offspring displaying increased anxiety-like behavior. This novel approach toward behavioral clustering provides a unique and empirical method for identifying behavioral classifications in high dimensional data.

Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) have been shown to increase social behavior in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this project has been to identify the mechanisms involved in the social-enhancing effect of dogs on adolescents with ASD. Participants are part of small groups in which either (a) the first 5 weeks will involve a therapy dog, (b) the last 5 weeks will involve the therapy dog, or (c) the class will not involve a therapy dog. We hypothesized (1) an integration of therapy dogs into group social skills instruction will result in reduced stress and improved social behavior compare to traditional group instruction; and (2) therapists will experience less stress, engage in more social and affiliative behavior towards the children, and deliver higher quality instruction during sessions that include dogs. Social behavior, stress behavior, heart rate, electrodermal activity, and salivary cortisol concentrations of adolescents and therapists have been assessed and compared across conditions. Preliminary data has shown a decrease in the student’s cortisol levels during classes when the therapy dog is present, and a maintenance in cortisol levels for the teachers, regardless of if the therapy dog is present.

We will present data pertaining to the properties of ethanol and with a purported “binge-mitigating agent” that being the compound known as MEAI, or more properly, 5-methoxy-2-aminoindane, using the invertebrate planaria as an animal model. The reinforcement and or aversive effects will be assessed using the environmental place conditioning procedure. Since planaria typically show behavior described as being light phobic, the ability to reverse this light-avoidance behavior after an illuminated environment is paired with a reinforcer makes environmental place conditioning fairly straightforward using this animal model. While ethanol has been shown, in one study to reverse light phobic behavior in planaria, MEAI has never been assessed for its behavioral effects in any animal model. There are only two peer-reviewed papers on the effects of MEAI, assessing it for toxicological effects, using a rodent model. These publications both refer to the anecdotal effects that MEAI consumption results in human’s reporting euphoric effects similar to ethanol but without the typical desire to continue consumption, hence, MEAI is a purported binge- mitigating agent.

Impulsive behavior has been understood in two distinct ways: impulsive action and impulsive choice. Beyond their conceptual differentiation, several studies have shown a differential role of endogenous variables on this kind of behavior, corroborating its distinction. Among such variables one which stand out is the influence of sexual hormones. Several studies point to direct association between testosterone levels and impulsive action, but not impulsive choice. The influence of gonadectomy procedure on impulsive action has been analyzed in 8 wistar rats in comparison to 8 non-gonadectomized rats. Impulsive action was evaluated through a differential reinforcement of low rates schedule (DRL- 72s). Initially, subjects were submitted to DRL 18s for 10 sessions of 40 minutes, after that, the interval was increased to 72s, until 40th session or stability achievement. Response rate, reinforcement density and frequency of inter-response times distribution between groups were analysed. Preliminary data, first half of the sample, until the 20th session of DRL 72S suggests that gonadectomized rats responded less (Mean=42,0; SE=8,22 X Mean=95,0; SE=22,92) and had a higher reinforcement density (Mean=0,37; SE= 0,008 X Mean=0,15; SE: 0,002). Together data implicate testosterone hormone on the modulation of impulsive action.

Relative to non-drug reinforcers, illicit drugs may be more uncertain in terms of their availability, quality, and time and effort to obtain, and this may be an important component of drug taking that occurs at the expense of engaging in nondrug-related activities. We have shown that variable cocaine is chosen over fixed cocaine. However, drug vs. nondrug choice is more translational. Adult male and female rhesus monkeys chose between cocaine (0.01-0.1 mg/kg/injection) and food (4 pellets/delivery). In control conditions, both schedules were predictable, fixed ratios (FR). In variable cocaine or food conditions, the schedule on the cocaine or food lever was a mixed ratio (MR), respectively, while the other lever remained fixed. Thus far, at relatively large requirements, cocaine choice is greater under an MR than under an FR, resulting in a leftward shift in the cocaine dose-response function. With food, results have been somewhat mixed. On average, cocaine choice is reduced when food is available under an MR, and average cocaine dose-response functions are shifted to the right. Our findings suggest that variable cost could contribute to excessive allocation of behavior toward procuring drugs at the expense of more predictable, nondrug alternatives. In addition, variable nondrug availability may more effectively compete with cocaine compared with fixed nondrug availability, perhaps having implications for contingency management.

Wu et al. (2016) described an intertemporal choice (delay discounting) task employed to investigate the relation between procrastination, impulsivity, and brain activity. The current study was designed to provide a replication of Wu et al.’s experiment, to investigate the relation between performance in this task and other measures of impulsivity, and to extend this investigation to probability discounting. Forty university students completed the Irrational Procrastination Scale, Barratt’s Impulsiveness Scale, the delay discounting task, and a probability discounting task modelled closely on this. Electro-encephalographic recordings were made during the course of the discounting tasks, and event related potentials (ERPs) were extracted. Procrastination correlated positively with impulsiveness and negatively with the effect of delayed reward magnitude. No other correlations were found between procrastination, impulsivity, and delay or probability discounting. There were no differences in the ERPs recorded during delay and probability discounting tasks, and level of procrastination was not correlated with the amplitude of relevant components of the ERPs (P2 and P3). Although the intertemporal choice task employed here appears to hold promise for the examination of behaviour-brain relations, its implementation across different cultural and economic environments may present some difficulties for comparison of outcomes.

When faced with solving a complex, novel problem, understanding how the process works and being able to emit the skill of deconstructing it into components that can be adjusted allows one to solve such problems that others lacking such insight are not able to do. (Think of the person in the group who happens to know the basics of how some car systems work when yours wont start, or knows the basics of a computer app and answers your question, or how to figure out how many devices can be safely hooked up on one outlet. If you are old enough, think of "Maguiver." ) Many of the fundemental behavioral concepts and terms were derived from the natural sciences of biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. (Think "reinFORCEment, behavioral MOMENTUM). Think about resistance at synapses in a neural network. Understanding them in the context of their native disciplines affords those attempting to understand and adjust behavior a more complete tool box. The same natural science roots from which applied behavior analysis evolved have also lead to the disciplne of neuroscience, which is exponentially unlocking the "mysteries" of how the principles of behavior are manifest in the workings inside the brain which until recently, we could not observe directly, just as predicted by Skinner himself. Clinicians, and bench researchers, in "non psychology" disciplines such as radiology, biochemistry, neurology, and economics among others understanding snd applying neuroscience are already today solving complex, and basic, behavioral issues in recovery from addiction, developmental delay, stroke rehabilitaion, language aquisition, cognitive imparment and other areas in which the applied behavior analyst has, and still can, and shoud have an active participatory role, to the extent that the behavior analyst can understand and apply some of the old natural science concepts and their new neuroscience applications. Take the basic physics and biology courses. Classes teaching the fundemental natural science principles give those attempting solve issues in behavior additional tools with which to deconstuct the situation into components which can be adjusted to solve them. They can be the fodder for that "Ah hal!" moment, that epiphany! They can let those who understand the principles be the clinician who "fixes it," who sees the basic issue, can perform the needed adjustment, and makes that part of life a little bit better for the patient.

Novel object recognition (NOR) tasks are commonly used with rodents to assess aspects of learning and memory, and these tasks involve measuring the cumulative amount of time a rodent interacts with two presented objects. Many researchers use digital timers to score the total duration of interactions from recorded videos, but such an approach requires an assessment of reliability to determine the accuracy with which these data are collected, and reliability scores have rarely been reported. In the current study, we evaluated the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of total duration when used by five human observers to score object interactions using a repeated-measures design. During each session, participants watched a recorded NOR task and scored the cumulative amount of time a rodent interacted with two objects using two digital timers. We compared the exact number of seconds scored to criterion records and measured the total duration of scoring time to determine the participants’ accuracy and efficiency, respectively. Interobserver agreement was also calculated across all permutations of participants. Results supported the efficiency of total duration measures, but total duration measures produced low accuracy (M = 60%, range, 6%-100%) and reliability (M = 38%; range, 11%-82%) scores across participants.

The episodes that in ordinary language practices are identified as "comprehension" constitute functional contacts in which the person uses psychological reactive systems of a linguistic type, such as observing, listening or reading, and afterward acts in functional correspondence with what he has observed, listened or read. When these types of episodes are part of an educational practice, they are called habilitation. The analysis of the didactic discourse in its textual modality is related to what is traditionally known as “learning strategies” for reading comprehension. The purpose of this study was to identify the differential effect on learning that could be exerted by the use and variation of active linguistic modes such as student performance against textual study material. Eight randomly selected university students participated in fourth pairs. A design between subjects with three phases was used: pre-test, intervention and post-test. The results suggest that the active speaking mode acquires functional relevance when it constitutes a complex response pattern that includes the production of an educational discourse from contact with the text.

Effective quantification of behavioral data has been a goal of behavior analysts for decades. Carlin and Costello (2018) proposed a statistical effect size (RD) for single case designs that is similar to effect sizes used in between group research. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which RD’s proposed critical value (1.2) agrees with visual analysis from experts regarding a pairwise comparison. Visual analysis is the primary method of analysis in SCEDs, and quantitative analysis is a useful complement. Similar studies have been undertaken with overlap measures and found useful information regarding the limits of such measures.

In special education settings, prompts are often used in discrete trial (DT) programs. The efficacy of a card-sorting procedure to teach prompt definitions for 3 DT programs (receptive labeling, social questions, and motor imitation) was tested. Stimuli were cards with correct and incorrect definitions and graphics of prompts from the DT programs. Examples included more and less restrictive examples of gestural, vocal, and motor prompts for both initial trials and correction trials. In a pretest, undergraduate participants sorted cards from all programs based on examples of correct versus incorrect definitions for both trial types. Then, they studied a handout containing correct definitions from one program, followed by repeated card sorts for that program to 90% accuracy. A posttest with all the cards, training on second program, and a final posttest followed. Figure 1 depicts results from 8 participants, including 4 who did not complete the entire sequence. The number of training/sort cycles to reach criterion ranged from 1–6. Generalization to untrained programs in the posttest was variable, but suggests positive transfer. Although this procedure may effectively teach prompt definitions, refinements are needed to reduce training time and increase posttest accuracy. Maintenance of learning over time should also be assessed.

Understanding and following verbal commands or instructions is an important and adaptive behavioral function. Comprehension is related to the ability to arbitrarily group stimuli in classes, a prominent feature of symbolic behavior. The stimulus equivalence paradigm, as a model of symbolic behavior, may explain the origins of the comprehension of instructions. The present research aimed to evaluate whether vocal English instructions (verb and object) included as members of a class of equivalent stimuli acquire the same meaning as the other stimuli in the class (videos and abstract pictures), and whether participants would follow instructions using the same sentences and recombined sentences. The procedure, conducted with three children, included: 1) teaching conditional discriminations between dictated English phrases and actions filmed on videotape; and teaching conditional discriminations between spoken sentences and abstract pictures, 2) probing for class formation, and 3) testing for instructional control. All children comprehended the English phrases, relating, through equivalence, the actions and abstract pictures. Two children followed the spoken instructions, but none did so for the abstract pictures and neither followed new instructions (spoken or pictorial). Results replicated previous findings indicating that class formation could promote instruction-following behavior, but that recombinative performances may depend on other teaching conditions.

Experiments have shown that equivalence-based instructions may be used to teach academic skills. Fienup et al. (2010) exposed university students to 16 conditional discriminations with stimuli showing different areas of the brain, its function and the effect a damage to the respective area would have. Then, they tested for emergence of four 5-member stimulus classes. Training of the baseline relations took only about 15 minutes and all participants formed the experimenter-defined classes. Current study replicates the procedure by Fienup et al. Furthermore, two sets of stimuli were used to study the effect of the complexity of the stimuli on class formation. The results from the first 10 participants showed rapid acquisition of the baseline conditional discrimination with seven participants responding in accordance with equivalence. The preliminary results showed minimal effect of the different stimulus sets on stimulus equivalence class formation.

The nodal distance hypothesis suggests that responding in accordance with emergent conditional discrimination decreases as a function of an increasing nodal number. This present study investigated (a) the nodal number effect as a function of a simultaneous matching-to-sample (MTS) protocol or a simple-to-complex protocol, (b) the concordance of the nodal number effect during MTS tests and responses in accordance with nodal structure during a sorting test, and (c) the concordance of the nodal number effect during a post-class equivalence test and responses during sorting tests. Twenty participants were exposed for an MTS procedure to establish 3-class 5-member stimulus equivalence classes. Ten participants were assigned to an MTS simultaneous protocol, a sorting test, a post-class equivalence test, and a second sorting test. Ten other participants were assigned to an MTS simple-to-complex protocol, a sorting test, a post-class equivalence test, and a second sorting test. The results show that more individuals which were exposed for the simple-to-complex protocol produced the nodal number effect. However, the results show a greater nodal number effect for participants which were exposed for the simultaneous condition, when that the sum of participants responding which were exposed for the same sequence of conditions was measured.

Attention has been used as a sort-of “catch-all” term often in behavior-analytic research to describe social interactions between two individuals (Allen, Hart, Buell, Harris & Wolf, 1964; Barton, 1981; DiCarlo & Reid, 2004; Duffy & Nietupski, 1985; Gable & Shores, 1980; McLaughlin, 1982; Poulson, 1983; Rheingold, 1956; Schutte & Hopkins, 1970; Thomas et al, 1968). When authors write about “attention,” they may be referencing vocal-verbal interactions (e.g., praise, conversations, reprimands), physical contact between two individuals (e.g., hugs, pats on the back), or even changes in facial expressions (e.g., smiles, winks, frowns). There has been much previous research demonstrating the reinforcing effects of attention for increasing desirable behavior (e.g., Gable & Shores, 1980; McLaughlin, 1982), as well as undesirable behavior (e.g., Fisher, Ninness, Piazza, Owen-DeSchryver, 1996; Kodak, Northup, & Kelly, 2007; Lovaas & Simmons, 1969; Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994) in many populations across settings. Previous researchers have also demonstrated that different topographies of attention (i.e., eye contact, praise, physical, conversation, and reprimands) affect an individual's responding differentially (e.g., Fisher et al., 1996; Kodak et al., 2007), and some types of attention (i.e., praise, physical attention, and conversation) are more preferred and/or reinforcing than other types of attention (e.g., Clay, Samaha, Bloom, Bogoev, & Boyle, 2013; Harper, 2014; Nuernberger, Smith, Czapar, and Klatt, 2012). However, in the current literature, the therapist or researcher has remained constant, and it is possible that the different ways in which attention is delivered may affect preference hierarchies and reinforcing efficacies. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to determine if different types of attention are consistently preferred across different adults and if those preferences are consistent with the reinforcing efficacies both within and across adults.

The ability to make choices between various items throughout a session may allow children to access items based on moment-to-moment – or trial-to-trial – changes in motivating operations (MO), particularly when edible reinforcers are being used. Changes in MOs have been shown to affect the amount of responding allocated to reinforcer (Vollmer & Iwata, 1991); therefore, preferences for choice opportunities may be the result of participants accessing reinforcers based on momentary fluctuations in preference (i.e., momentary fluctuations in satiation and deprivation; Ackerlund Brandt et al., 2015). Therefore, it is possible that choice may be less preferred in situations in which immediate access to reinforcers is not available (e.g., token economies) and therefore, changes in MOs based on satiation and deprivation would be less likely to occur. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether children’s preference for choice-making opportunities would be affected by the immediate provision of edible reinforcers vs. token reinforcers during a session.

In order to examine flexible decision making, operant manipulations of reinforcer amount, delay, and probability have been used for animals such as rodents. Zebrafish are becoming a popular vertebrate animal model for many biomedical and behavioral investigations. However, equivalent procedures have not been developed for zebrafish. We have developed a procedure capable of measuring behavioral sensitivity to reinforcer amount in adult zebrafish, based on an appetitive automated Go / No-Go task. The test session consisted of 16 forced-choice trials and 16 free-choice trials. In the forced-choice trials, a trial was initiated when fish passed through an observing gate and only one of two choice windows was illuminated. If fish entered through the illuminated window, either a large or small amount of reinforcer was presented based on the assignment; otherwise timeout was implemented. In free-choice trials, both windows were illuminated, and entering the first side of the windows was reinforced by either a large or small amount of reinforcer assigned to the window. Choice rate to a window increased when the reinforcer amount increased (p < .04). The present result indicates that zebrafish are sensitive to reinforcer amount.

Anxiety disorders represent the most frequently diagnosed mental health problem among American college students. Impulsivity has been linked with an anxiety as a potential risk factor. Impulsivity is defined as choosing smaller, sooner rewards, over larger, later rewards and is commonly measured with delay discounting tasks. It has been suggested that the delay discounting e?ect, i.e., the tendency to value less delayed rewards, in anxious individuals is driven by their intolerance of uncertainty. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is defined as how acceptable uncertain situations are. In the current study, it is hypothesized that those with higher levels of anxiety will exhibit more delay discounting and higher intolerance of uncertainty than those with lower levels of anxiety. Preliminary analyses of 29 participants currently reveals no significant relationships between anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty and impulsivity measures (i.e.. computerized delay discounting and impulsivity tasks). Data collection is ongoing. This study will increase our understanding of anxiety which could lead to an improvement in the treatment and prevention of anxiety.

The effects of varying the probability of reinforcement of reversion responses on choices in a delay-discounting and in a delay-of-gratification procedures were assessed. Reversion responses were defined as the first response to the smaller immediate reinforcer during the delay period to obtain the larger later one. Both procedures consisted of series of choices between the delivery of a relatively large amount of water after a delay or a smaller amount of water delivered immediately; the delay of delivery of the larger reinforcer varied between 0 and 32 s. In Experi-ment 1, five rats were exposed to each of the procedures in three blocks of 25 ses-sions each. In Experiment 2, ten rats were exposed to six consecutive experimental conditions, in which the probability of reinforcement of a reversion response varied from 0.00 to 1.00. In all delays tested, the proportion of reversion responses decreased as the probability of reinforcement of these responses increased. This finding suggests that delay-discounting and delay-of-gratification procedures are part of a continuum of the probability of reinforcement of reversion responses.

The present study investigated the self-control and impulsiveness in elementary school children with the delay discounting and self-control tasks. In the delay discounting task, children were presented with a series of choices between an immediate smaller reward and a delayed larger reward in a booklet. The immediate smaller reward was consistently “200 yen now”. The delay time to the larger reward was different ranging from 30 minutes to one year in each question, but the amount of reward was consistently “500 yen”. In the self-control task, each participant was presented with a comic illustrating a parent and child’ conversation regarding children’s self-control in daily life. Participants were presented with a choice between one toy now and two toys ten months later. Choosing the one toy now is regarded as impulsiveness, whereas choosing the two toys later is regarded as self-control. Preliminary analysis of 647 children, ages 6-12 years, suggests that children’s impulsiveness in the delay discounting task decreased as a function of age. In the self-control task children’s impulsiveness decreased from 6 to 7 years-old, but increased from 7 to 12 years-old. The relationship between children's choice and their teachers’ ratings will be also discussed.

A recurring issue in the literature on resurgence of operant responding in humans is lack of sensitivity to reinforcement contingencies and extinction. In the 1950s, Holland demonstrated that vigilance tasks could be useful to show systematic effects of reinforcement schedules on human operant responding. Participants pressed a button to observe the state of a pointer on a dial (vigilance response). The pointer deflected on a variable interval (VI) schedule and served as reinforcement for the vigilance response. When a deflection was detected, pressing another button produced points exchangeable for money. In the present experiment, Holland’s procedure was used in a resurgence three-phase procedure using a console with four buttons. During Phase 1, presses on a target vigilance button were reinforced. During Phase 2, presses on an alternative vigilance button were reinforced and presses on the target button were extinguished. In Phase 3, presses on both buttons were extinguished. During all phases presses on a control button showed the state of the pointer but were not reinforced. Resurgence of the target-vigilance response was observed in the four participants. Additionally, responses apparently induced by responding on the target button were observed on the control button only during the resurgence phase.

Automatically-maintained self-injurious behavior (SIB) is often difficult to assess and treat due to several variables. Two of these evaluated in past research include difficulties associated with SIB that is multiply maintained by both automatic and social reinforcement and SIB that is associated with self-restraint. In the current study, we evaluated these variables with a child with autism spectrum disorder who was exhibiting severe automatically-maintained SIB. First, we present data on multiple functional analyses conducted to determine the relationship between self-restraint and self-injury. We found evidence of no functional relationship between self-restraint and SIB (i.e., self-restraint was not negatively reinforced by the removal of SIB, self-restraint was not maintained by access to SIB, and SIB was not maintained by access to self-restraint). Next, SIB was further evaluated to determine if social reinforcers also played a role in maintaining the behavior. Through a series of functional analyses including conditions with and without sensory extinction, we identified that SIB was multiply maintained by attention in addition to automatic reinforcement. The results from this participant are discussed in relation to the past research on these topics and recommendations for clinicians.

Token reinforcement procedures are robust interventions for producing positive behavior change. Token reinforcement is especially amenable to investigating the conditions under which an organism will accumulate reinforcers prior to using them. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the effects of the token production schedule, exchange production schedule, and token generality, on accumulation. Five participants completed up to nine experimental conditions over approximately 30 days. Participants worked on a computerized paint by number task and earned one token for between 100 and 300 responses and could exchange their tokens at any time during the experiment. The travel distance required to make the exchange, effort required to earn a token, and the generality of the token was manipulated across conditions. The primary dependent variable in this study was the number of tokens accumulated at each exchange period. Overall, as the token production schedule increased, accumulation decreased, and as the exchange production schedule increased, accumulation increased. Both findings were consistent with previous research. For three of the five participants, accumulation increased as generality increased. Future research should investigate the extent that token generality disrupts the relationship between token production, exchange production, and accumulation.

Previous research indicates cockroaches will press a lever to access reinforcement; however, laboratory observations suggested the reinforcer is not always consumed, bringing into question the function of such lever-pressing behavior. Subjects in this study were male Madagascar hissing cockroaches (MHC). Methods were based on a reinforcer assessment by Dixon et al. (2016). Frequency of lever-pressing, and consuming sucrose solution were recorded. During the experimental phase, two MHC received access to sucrose solution contingent on lever-pressing on a fixed ratio one (FR1) schedule. An ABAB withdrawal design was used for two MHC, with A being baseline, and B being FR1 schedule. Another subject’s access to sucrose solution was yoked to a different subject’s sucrose consumption. That subject was then placed on an FR1 schedule. Data on cumulative records indicate MHC increased lever-pressing during the FR1 schedule, but consumed solution less than half of the times it was presented. Responding ceased after an extinction burst during the return to baseline conditions. Responding ceased completely on the FR1 schedule when directly following the yoking procedure. These results not likely explainable via place preference, higher ground preference, or satiation accounts of responding. Observing response, foraging, sign tracking, and induction are discussed as possible explanations.

The literature pertaining to the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach is lacking in several areas. One such area fit for study involves the conditioned place preference regarding floor texture and preferred versus nonpreferred solutions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between these stimuli to determine if a conditioned place preference should occur when a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach is in a state of deprivation. Four male cockroaches were used to investigate this association. Cockroaches experiencing exposure to the solutions displayed an inclination towards inactivity. Preferences shifted from one of the available floor textures to the center area in which the cockroaches were initially placed, the preference change displayed through their lack of movement. Although this inactivity provided a change in place preference, data were inconclusive as to why this change occurred. Potential factors leading to this change are discussed. Future research has many areas that could provide evidence as to which components may be more important the change displayed.

Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) or Aversion (CPA) were assessed in the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa). The scent of .1 ml of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol was paired twice with 60 grit sandpaper or AstroTurf after texture preference and smell preference were determined. Single trial learning was potentially demonstrated, although evidence does not support CPP or CPA taking place under these specific conditions.

Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968) identified and described seven dimensions of applied behavior analysis (ABA): applied, behavioral, analytic, technological, conceptual systems, effective, and generality. These dimensions are what separates applied behavior analysis from the experimental analysis of behavior, and provides practitioners with the information necessary to deliver effective and ethical treatments and services to their clients. Using specific definitions of the seven dimensions and a coding tool, we evaluated and assessed various elements of these seven dimensions across 47 volumes of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), from 1968 to 2014. The data suggest that research articles generally satisfy the requirements for being behavioral, analytic, and conceptually systematic. In recent years, research in JABA has been gradually improving in the technological dimension. The data also suggest that the research articles in JABA could improve in the applied, effective, and generality dimensions. The trends in the use of the seven dimensions of ABA should be taken into consideration when planning future applied research and future directions in the field. Are the seven dimensions still current and relevant to applied research? If so, researchers would benefit from building their research methodologies with generalization, technology, and efficacy in mind.

The guiding principle of inclusive education is all children, regardless of perceived differences, have equal opportunities to quality education. Closing the gap between the guiding principle and practices at school has been widely researched and still no optimal inclusive approach has been found to address diversities. While studies on inclusive education indicating that successful inclusive practice must consider personal traits of both students and teachers, there is a dire need to equip mainstream classroom teachers with the knowledge and skills in developing personalized inclusive education practice that cater the needs of both teacher and students in their classrooms. This study presented a A-B single subject design study to investigate 1) how would applied behavior analysis (ABA) and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) contributes to professional development in mainstream teacher in developing effective inclusive practices, and 2) the conducive factors in facilitating the emergence of personalized inclusive practices in a mainstream classroom. The findings revealed that ABA and DRO training in teachers that enable them to identify and manipulate IV are needed in developing effective inclusive practices. Support by professionals leads to empowerment in teachers in integrating the newly constructed knowledge and skills into existing repertoire into a cohesive whole.

Previous Studies examined factors that lead to division among minority college students that resulted in bias and discrimination in the acceptance and retention of students of color. Hagedorn et.al (1996) looked at achievement outcome among diverse demographics of students at a four year university. Furthermore, dropout behavior in minority students was largely attributed to lack of social interactions and mentoring opportunities. In the current study we examine the enrollment of students at Indiana University-South Bend is 72.8% White, 9.73% Hispanic or Latino, 6.68% Black or African American, 3.02% two or more races. There is a decreasing trend over the last 5 years in the enrollment and graduation of African American students. The total degrees awarded recently White Female 470 degrees awarded, White Male, 243 degrees awarded, Black or African American Female 41 degrees awarded and 31 degrees African American males. There is a need to increase the enrollment of minority students across regional colleges as they struggle with outreach to underrepresented students, retention and graduation efforts. Cipani (2017) offers behavior analytic methods to examine problems and present them in a scientific way that can then be utilized to offer real life applications.

Many individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) fail to acquire manding repertoires sufficient for success in a range of environments. Further, those without this essential repertoire may exhibit increased levels of problem behaviors to access reinforcers or escape aversive stimuli. Since school plays a critical role in the lives of most children with DD, educators are responsible for ensuring all students receive adequate instruction in the effective use of mands. Unfortunately, many educators may be unfamiliar with procedures for implementing mand training and may not see themselves as responsible for communication instruction. To more strongly advocate for the inclusion of mand training procedures in schools and in teacher preparation programs it is important to better understand the literature related to mand training in schools. In the current poster, the presenters will provide data related to mand training for students with DD in school settings across a range of variables including school demographics, change agent characteristics, staff training procedures, intervention procedures, technology, dosage, and range of instructional targets. The presenters will discuss implications for research and practice.

The typical elementary schooldays are filled with examples of behavioral concepts, terminology, and phenomena. Students, teachers, and parents (indeed, all of us) are constantly living a breath and depth of behavior more robust than any textbook can capture, but rarely are those experiences captured, labeled, defined, or described in behavioral terms. This presentation highlights various domains in which one could classify these behavioral phenomena and terms. These categories overlap and include but are not limited to those involving interactions between students and staff, students and other students, and students and other aspects of their antecedent state milieu. Among them are behavioral momentum, successive approximations, shaping, chains of behaviors, reinforcement, things that decrease likelihood of future behavior emission (punishment), token economies, latency, and over correction, among many others. Elementary school students and staff engage in behaviors throughout the day but are unlikely to capture them, label them, or understand them in behavioral terms. Yet any time behavior changes, by definition, those involved have followed the principles of behavior even without realizing it. Particularly with terms and concepts deemed to be societally sensitive, such as punishment, the greater exposure, done well, might lead to less misunderstanding, and greater acceptance of behaviorally based approaches. Highlighting the most clear cut examples of such could be used to help understand and modify behavior, and done well, could serve to increase awareness of Applied Behavior Analytic practices, and perhaps contribute to a greater acceptance of, and less resistance to, the discipline and its approaches.

Applied behavior analytic methods have been used to effectively train individuals to utilize a variety of individualized instructional approaches (e.g., Discrete Trial Training) with learners with developmental disabilities. However, limited research exists that has evaluated the effectiveness of training methods for use with special educators to utilize complex instructional practices aligned to grade level content for learners pursuing a diploma in a small group instructional setting. The current study included an evaluation of various training components (e.g., bug in the ear, guided lesson planning, behavioral skills training) to increase the curricular treatment integrity across two curricula as delivered by career English/Language Arts teachers. Curricular treatment integrity included a complex instructional repertoire that included components such as teacher think alouds, use of explicit instruction model, use of scaffolds during independent practice opportunities. Results will be evaluated at the conclusion of the studies. Early findings highlight the need for additional research for this population of students pursuing a diploma in a group instructional environment.

Despite the need for effective approaches to training new teachers given the current teacher shortages, few researchers have evaluated training approaches for instructional practices to be used in a small group instructional setting for learners pursuing a diploma. The current study included an evaluation of a training package to increase the complexity of instructional demands delivered by early career teachers during small group science instruction. Instructional demands were evaluated across the following domains: demand complexity (e.g., know vs. application), type of response (e.g., recall, fill in the blank, open ended), and active student method (e.g., choral, Turn and Talk). Training included pre-requisite instruction on the domains described above, supported lesson planning, development of scripts to be used during instruction, and en vivo coaching. Results will be evaluated via single subject design at the conclusion of the study. Expected findings highlight the need for ongoing research in this area to inform efficient training practices for early career teachers who will be delivering group instruction to learners with developmental disabilities.

Effectively using data to guide decision making has been identified as the most powerful educational strategy at educators' disposal (Hattie, 2008). Recent data from large scale studies and program evaluations reveals three key findings about the state of data within K-12 education: 1) educators have access to more data now than ever before, 2) effective decision-making models exist to guide educators' use of these data, and 3) data are not typically being used effectively in schools. This study experimentally tests the effects of a newly developed professional development package targeting Academic Team-initiated Problem Solving (AcTIPS), on the decision making process used by the reading supports team (consisting of 5 members) in one elementary school. The primary dependent variables were the team’s use of effective problem solving procedures as indicated by the percent of points earned on subscales of the Decision, Observation, Recording and Analysis (DORA-II) tool. Data from a concurrent multiple baseline across skills design indicate that the professional development package was successful in changing the decision making behavior of data team members across the three fundamental domains of team-initiated problem solving performance: Meeting Foundations, Problem Solving, and Implementation & Adaptation. At each stage of the multiple baseline design the team documented immediate and sustained improvement in functioning following delivery of the AcTIPS package. Data were analyzed using visual analysis and non-overlap of all pairs (NAP). Both analyses indicated clear and compelling effects of the training package on team members' decision-making behavior.

Social-communication skills impact academic achievement, social-emotional development, and relationships with others. Therefore, early interventions that support and promote the development of these skills are needed for young children with disabilities who have delays or deficits in their communication skills. To date, in Israel, there are limited training materials in the native language for caregivers related to practices that support social-communication skills of young children with disabilities. Access to quality training is very restricted due to a shortage in native-speaking qualified experts in this area and the cost of such training. Online self-paced, self-directed training modules, developed in the US, which include information on evidence-based behavioral practices for promoting children's' social-communication skills were translated and culturally adapted to address the needs of caregivers in Israel. The purpose of this project was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the online training modules, based on the ecological validity framework. Satisfaction questionnaires and focus groups with caregivers and professionals were conducted and are currently being analyzed using qualitative methodology. The poster will include a description of the process and framework used to inform the ecological validity of the culturally and linguistically adapted modules and the data collected from different stakeholders during the process.

Although the number of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) is increasing, there is still a critical shortage of BCBAs in many areas. As a result, individuals may be employed as behavior therapists despite a lack of training in applied behavior analysis (ABA). Without additional training, the services provided by these therapists might not be ideal. This presentation reports the results of a study conducted with behavior therapists enrolled in a Master of Special Education program in the southern United States. The course was part of a Verified Course Sequence, and all participants provided ABA services to clients with autism. The purpose of this research was to improve the skills of the behavior therapists through video analysis, an intervention which requires the participants to record and view videos of themselves delivering ABA services to clients for the purpose of self-improvement. To improve the social validity and generalizability of the study, the participants self-selected target behaviors to improve and implemented all steps of the single-case study independently. The results of the study were positive and indicated that all participants were not only able to improve their skills in ABA but also maintain these skills and generalize them to a second target behavior.

To the extent possible, research results should be clear and free from bias. Bias is introduced when superfluous wording exaggerates anticipated or attractive results and hides or minimizes unanticipated or unattractive results. This study was conducted in two phases. In Phase 1, pilot work was conducted to determine 19 superfluous words suspected to be common in overselling results. In Phase 2, we analyzed the results reporting practices of every experimental article in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis for 2018. The analysis was conducted by 3 behavior analysts (one BCBA-D, two master’s-level students) and agreements are reported. Our results suggest that superfluous results reporting occurs in JABA.

The Online and Applied System for Intervention Skills (OASIS) Training is a manualized training program using a combination of web-based instructional tutorials and live coaching. Previous studies (e.g., Heitzman-Powell, Buzhardt, Rusinko, & Miller, 2013) from the authors have demonstrated the effectiveness of the OASIS program in teaching skills and strategies based on applied behavior analysis to parents of children with autism. An effort has been made to increase the availability of certified OASIS coaches while ensuring their training fidelity. The current study seeks to describe the criterion-referenced OASIS coach training conducted both through in-person and via telehealth and the coach training evaluation. OASIS coach trainees are required to meet the criteria for both knowledge on ABA and coaching skills, and to provide OASIS training to a family. Five cohorts composed of 17 people completed the OASIS coach training, 13 (76%) of which were master-level therapists. Results indicated that all coach trainees were able to demonstrate a high level of coaching competency and implementation fidelity.

Staff performance on safety habits have been studied in an organizational manner for many years. When working with individuals who exhibit challenging or dangerous behavior, including specialists who work with individuals diagnosed with autism, training must be provided to ensure safety for all involved. Amongst the variations of this type of training Safety-Care ™ training has been one that focuses on prevention and evidence-based intervention when disruptive or dangerous behavior arises (QBS, Inc). In order to train the staff on these procedures Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is presented as a technique to introduce new skills. These techniques used in BST have been studied and have found to improve staff performance. The procedures consist of instruction, model, practice, and feedback till mastery (Parsons, Rollyson, & Reid, 2012; Nigro-Bruzzi & Sturmey, 2010; Sarokoff & Sturmey, 2004). Even though BST is the primary way to teach when introducing new skills, it is not the only option. Clicker training is another form of feedback that has been presented when teaching novel responses. This type of training provides an auditory feedback as a conditioned reinforcer to determine a targeted goal when learning a new skill. This was first introduced to train new responses with porpoises (Pryor, Haag, & O’Reilly, 1969). Since then, more researched has surfaced using clicker training on a variety of animals like goats, horses, and dogs (Ferguson & Rosales-Ruiz, 2001; Langbein et al., 2007; Pryor, 1999); it has been used to facilitate physical performance in sports like golf, football, and track (Fogel et al, 2010; Harrison & Pyles, 2013; Scott et al., 1997); also has been used in reducing toe-walking in a child diagnosed with autism (Persicke et al., 2014; Hodges et al., 2019); and has been used to improve performance on using surgical techniques for medical students (Levy, Pryor, & McKeon, 2016). Types of clicker training have evolved to introduce a curriculum. For example, TAGteach uses the WOOF criteria (what you want, one thing, observable, five words or less) to establish an auditory stimulus known as a “Tag” to reinforce the targeted behavior (TAGteach International, 2004). This auditory feedback is used as a conditioned reinforcer to establish when a correct response was emitted. It has been shown to improve golf swings (Fogel et al., 2010) dance movements (Quin et al., 2015) and beginner yoga poses (Ennett, Zonneveld, Thomson, Vause, & Ditor, 2019). One study showed the use of clicker training to improve behavior-skills change in practitioners who work with children diagnosed with autism (Herron, Lotfizadeh, & Poling 2018). These results indicated that the clicker training showed an increase in opportunities in which practitioners correctly engaged in selected ABA strategies used in the study. Even though there are many published articles on using clicker training to improve sports performance and animal training, not much has been studied on human services. The purpose of the study is to utilize clicker training during Safety Care ™ to gather a percentage of correct responding for movements utilized during the training. If practitioners on average are mastering the skill at a faster rate and obtain fluency by the end of the training, then they are more likely to utilize these skills with their clients during a crisis situation.

Defining features of evidence-based practices (EBPs) include using the best available evidence and designing a system that allows practitioners to collect their own data on procedure efficacy and efficiency in their own contexts. Among the features that might contribute to EBPs are interobserver agreement (IOA) and treatment fidelity (TF), since they increase data reliability. This study analyzed the presence of IOA and TF in studies published in behavior analytic Brazilian journals and was conducted in two phases. In Phase 1, 290 studies were analyzed according to 6 categories (i.e., published between 2013 and 2017, accessible online, written in Portuguese, human beings were the only participants in the study, the study was experimental, and there were pre-intervention measures). Thirty-five articles were approved for Phase 2, which analyzed the presence of IOA and TF. Among these 35 articles, 10 described IOA and 2, TF measures. We discuss possible implications of these results for practitioners looking for EBPs and how they might, on their own, start using IOA and FT measures to start transforming their practice into a data-based process.

Cultural competency and diversity are topics within the field of Applied Behavior Analysis that are actively being built upon due to the current state or lack thereof, in the science. African Americans are by far underrepresented within the ranks of Board Certified Behavior Analysts and to effectively address this problem we must first identify potential causes across all settings of the field. The purpose of this poster will be to extend the conversations started from the author of a recent blog post, who directly spoke to the issues with respect to cultural competency. This poster will present a critical analysis of the current status of African Americans within the field of Applied Behavior Analysis and identify solutions to address areas of concern. This may serve as a foundation for a new approach to handling issues of diversity within the promotion, dissemination and advancement of the science of Applied Behavior Analysis specific to African American populations.

Disparities in health care have received much national attention recently, but few studies have focused on disparities among young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Early interventions in children with ASD improve outcomes. Although all young children with ASD are eligible to receive early intervention (EI) services, 51-60% do not. Study goals were to determine which demographic and psychosocial characteristics are associated with early diagnosis and utilization of services. Data was sourced from The National Survey of Children’s Health (2018) and then Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis (2011) and Services. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in age at diagnosis and utilization of early intervention services. Significant racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities exist in the recognition and diagnosis of ASD. The analyses suggest that children of low SES face considerable challenges in receiving early intervention services. Eliminating disparities requires systemic efforts to promote health equity, social planning, and policy change.

Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Management study many of the same phenomena despite developing from disparate scientific paradigms. Industrial/Organizational Psychology relies on cognitive and social psychology to understand and predict organizational phenomena using statistical analyses, while Organizational Behavior Management contextualizes behavior into contingencies to design interventions on these same phenomena (Bucklin, Alvero, Dickinson, Austin & Jackson, 2000). Successful post-intervention behavior change validates behavioral analysis. This study proposes a framework for translating eleven conventional I/O Psychology constructs, ranging from diversity & inclusion (West, Tjosvold, & Smith, 2003) to self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), into effective behavioral interventions. The framework consists of several steps: (1) identify a construct of business relevance, (2) pinpoint behaviors that capture the essence of the construct, (3) analyze related contingencies, and (4) develop a contingency design for intervention. Practitioners of both fields can benefit from this translational process to implement more effective interventions: Industrial/Organizational Psychologists benefit by applying behavior analysis and Organizational Behavior Management practitioners benefit by leveraging covert psychological processes. The researchers offer a scientific critique of this translational process to encourage continuous improvement of knowledge sharing between the fields of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Management.

Performance feedback consists of providing information about past performance and indicating how to improve future performance. Feedback is one of the most frequently used procedures for changing behavior within organizational settings. However, despite its successful application across a variety of organizational settings, much remains unknown about how it acts to change behavior and increase performance. Previous research involving computerized work tasks has shown that inaccurate feedback can delay or impede skill acquisition. Such studies typically only assess the detrimental effects of inaccurate feedback when acquiring new skills; very little is known about how inaccurate feedback affects skills that have been mastered. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of varying feedback accuracies following skill mastery in undergraduate students when completing a computerized match-to-sample task. Participants initially completed 250 trials with 100% accurate feedback before completing an additional 250 trials with varying levels of feedback accuracy (i.e., 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, and 20%). Data show that the mean number of correct responses per condition during the additional 250 trials decrease as the proportion of trials with inaccurate feedback increases.

This study examined the effects of feedback accuracy on performance under two different work conditions. Under one work condition, participants could clearly see the outcome of their performance (i.e., visible condition). Under the other condition, they could not clearly see the outcome of their performance (i.e., non-visible condition). The independent variable consisted of three feedback conditions: accurate feedback, tripled inaccurate feedback, and one-third inaccurate feedback. Both the tripled and one-third inaccurate feedback were generated based on the actual performance from the previous sessions (i.e., inaccurate but partially contingent) and delivered at the beginning of the next sessions. One hundred sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to the six experimental conditions and asked to perform a simulated work task. The effects of the accurate and tripled feedback on performance were comparable but they were higher than the effect of the one-third inaccurate feedback under the visible work condition. Under the invisible work condition, however, the three feedback conditions did not produce differential impacts on performance.

This study compared the effects of accurate feedback, non-contingent exaggerated feedback, and no feedback conditions on performance under two different work conditions. Participants under on work condition could clearly see the outcome of their performance (i.e., visible condition), but those under the other work condition could not clearly see the outcome of their performance (i.e., invisible condition). The non-contingent exaggerated feedback was generated by (1) yoking the feedback to the performance of the participants in the accurate feedback conditions and (2) multiplying the yoked feedback by two. One hundred sixty-nine participants were randomly assigned to the six experimental conditions and asked to perform a simulated work task. The accurate and exaggerated feedback conditions produced higher levels of performance than the no feedback condition under both work conditions. The exaggerated and accurate feedback produced similar levels of performance under the invisible work condition. Under the visible work condition, however, the exaggerated feedback was less effective than the accurate feedback.

Staff working in residential treatment programs are often assigned trainings to complete to help them perform their jobs more effectively. When staff do not complete trainings employers frequently provide corrective feedback to them. However, such feedback may not have the desired effect of increasing staff participation. In the current study, staff were provided verbal and written feedback during baseline if they did not complete their assigned trainings by agency due dates. During the intervention phase, staff were offered incentives for completing quarterly trainings before a specified deadline. Once staff completed the assigned training, they were entered into a randomized drawing for gift cards to popular locations. Staff could earn more entries into the drawing for completing training earlier in the quarter. The results indicated that incentives increased the number of staff that completed the quarterly trainings. The implications of using incentives in a human service organization is discussed.

As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, I know simple additions to our environment can encourage follow through of intended behavior change. The more apparent something is and the easier it is to access the information, the more likely someone is to retain the information. Additionally, I know there are simple and effective behaviors one can implement daily to reduce the effects and injuries caused by stress and trauma. We have the information; we just need to get it to the right professionals. This is where I can assist… As a Fire Wife, I know the importance of providing this information to first responders, law enforcement, military and hospital staff. I also know that while resources are becoming readily available, not all will feel comfortable seeking help or voicing that they are struggling with their mental health. This is why I feel an alternative is needed. An alternative that individuals can implement on their own without asking for help, as asking for the help is often the barrier to receiving help. It is imperative and as they say in the field, we cannot leave anyone behind. I have created simple “Stress Sheets” that will be available to departments, hospitals and agencies so their employees can retain the information and practice on their own, as needed. I am excited to have found a simple way to disseminate the information and help those that spend their lives helping others. To do this, I teach the use of self management strategies to meet an overall goal of identifying and making environmental changes to best support the needs of a first responder, law enforcement or hospital staff. During the initial assessment and interview with the department, hospital team, agency, etc. I will make recommendations regarding behaviors that must be established, maintained, increased or decreased based on the current needs, call volume, requirements of the job, etc. Additionally, I program for maintenance so learned behaviors are maintained. The intervention strategies are based on client preferences, client’s current repertoire, supporting environments and best scientific evidence. Most importantly, Professionals can benefit from the tools outlined without reaching out to anyone else. I feel peer support is the best support and want to teach these strategies in new hire trainings as additional support.

While music is integrated into almost all facets of life (e.g., adults soothe infants with song and teach children nursery rhymes as a mechanism to learn simple tasks and facts, jingles help transfer positive emotional effects to businesses and products, and a single melody may evoke powerful memories), there is little behavior analytic research exploring music as a behavior change mechanism or its effects on operant and respondent conditioning or derived responding. This review summarizes 21 studies published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) from 1968 to 2019 in which music is part of the independent or dependent variable. We further classified music within the four-term contingency: motivating operation (MO), antecedent, behavior, and consequence. The number of articles with music in the title, abstract, and/or keywords has increased in the past decade, indicating an acceleration of interest in this area. We suggest that music merits further attention by behavior analysts and that the JABA might appropriate outlet for this line of work.

It’s widely known that humans can learn through verbal behavior. Since the first Skinner’s conceptualization of verbal behavior, great number of studies had been conducted to analyze it in experimental settings. However, efforts still need to be made to fully understand how verbal behavior works in natural settings. This study tries to make a little step in that direction. Our purpose is to analyze verbal interaction patterns between client and clinician during psychological treatment. Thus, 16 sessions of psychological treatment were recorded. The client was an adult diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder; the clinician was a psychologist trained in behavior therapy. A coding system based on functional properties of verbal stimuli was used. Two trained observers coded the verbal behavior independently (k= 0.71-0.86). Using descriptive statistics of the data, we found that the frequency per hour of generalized discriminative stimuli (e.g. how are you feeling today?) diminished trough the treatment; or that instructions’ frequency increased after the fourth session. Sequential analysis allowed us to find positive correlations between client’s pro-therapeutic verbalizations (e.g. achievement or wellbeing verbalizations) and clinician’s reinforcement of this verbalizations. These results are useful to analyze the behavioral change processes that are set up during psychological treatment.

Crack use has become a severe health problem in Brazil, the country being reported among the largest crack markets in the world. Located in downtown São Paulo (Brazil most populated city) Crackland emerges as a public space where thousands of crack users living under extremely vulnerable conditions gather to consume crack openly in the streets. In this pilot study we evaluated the feasibility of incorporating Contingency Management (CM) to a public ambulatory treatment located in the heart of crackland to treat currently homeless crack users. Methods: After up to 6-month of inpatient treatment a total of eight participants received 12 weeks of housing, food and ambulatory treatment (control condition) and 12 participants received 12 weeks of housing, food, ambulatory treatment and vouchers contingent to cocaine abstinence (experimental condition). All treatment procedures were conducted by treatment staff. Results: Treatment staff found CM easy to understand, easy to apply and found that CM helped patients maintain abstinence. All participants found CM easy to understand, liked receiving CM and believed it helped them during treatment. Preliminary findings are also presented. Conclusion: CM was well assimilated by treatment staff and participants suggesting the feasibility of incorporating CM in public treatments for crack use disorders.

Youth soccer players are at higher risk of suffering from concussions. One cause of concussions in soccer are incorrectly performed headers. Quintero et al. (2019) reported about a study that used a task analysis of correctly executed headers and behavioral skills training as an intervention to improve the headers of 3 female youth soccer players practicing soccer in a school setting. The current study is a systematic replication of Quintero et al. with youth soccer players in Germany. The task analysis had to be adapted to the German settings. Subjects were three youth soccer players (1 female, 2 male) practicing in a soccer club. All subjects mastered the correct heading technique, although additional video feedback was necessary to reach the mastery criterion. Limitations of the study as well as differences between the original study and the replication study are discussed. Further research should focus on the practicability of the intervention in typical training situations.

Caregivers of people with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) may experience greater psychological distress than other caregivers. Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) has been shown to increase psychological flexibility and decrease psychological distress for these caregivers. Limited research has measured a core component of ACT (committed actions; CAs), which could be crucial in understanding how ACT can improve life satisfaction. We asked caregivers (N=11) to self-monitor their frequency of CAs (related to their values) and send their weekly results one week before and four weeks after a group-based ACT-workshop (Lunsky et al., 2018). Caregivers also completed standard psychological measures of depression, anxiety, general stress, parenting stress, and values and CAs measures. Post-ACT, 10 of 11 caregivers demonstrated increases in CAs and the group average increased from 0 in baseline to 3.4 CAs per week. All self-report data indicated therapeutic trends, with scores on parenting stress general stress, and depression approaching statistical significance. One-month follow-up data is currently being analyzed. Additional workshops will be conducted to increase statistical power. Results may help inform how self-monitoring CAs impacts the frequency of CAs in relation to measures of psychological distress, CAs, and values.

Research shows that restricting/ denying access to items/activities often trigger disruptive behaviors for children with low frustration tolerance (Mace et al., 2011). Teaching tolerance to access restrictions requires time and resources that may not be available to all clinics and families, reflecting a significant need for briefer treatments. Delay and denial (DnD) tolerance training involving functional communication training (FCT) has been found to be effective in reducing disruptive behaviors in children with developmental disabilities. Research on the effectiveness of this treatment in outpatient clinics with typically developing children is limited. The current study utilized a brief (8 session) DnD tolerance treatment protocol with a typically developing child (4 yrs) in an outpatient clinic. Results revealed a significant reduction in disruptive behaviors and an increase in appropriate requesting and wait time. The current study extended the literature by demonstrating that the procedures utilized in previous studies can be modified to be more feasible for use in an outpatient clinic that serves an underrepresented population. Future research should focus on integrating formal preference assessments and developing relapse prevention plans that include other important settings of the child.

Historically, consultation training has emphasized acceptance of the consultee's belief system. In fact, consultees often have beliefs based on disproven or unproven information and ultimately cannot be providing best practices for the client. Rather than accepting their perspective, this presentation proposes that, in order to provide evidence-based-services for the client, we must correct misinformation and and bring the consultee to an awareness of best practices. Communication methods that emphasize nonconfrontational and respectful strategies will be presented.

Promoting physical activity is a crucial public health priority. Interventions that use applied behavior analytic procedures (ABA) such as contingency management and self-management have shown promise for facilitating physical activity. However, additional research is needed to advance innovation, particularly with respect to interventions that work through indirect-acting contingencies. Among these innovative models of behavior intervention, Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) has received increased attention and empirical support. Previous research has provided evidence that ACT can increase exercise but previous ACT studies have generally used group designs, which makes it difficult to carefully consider the effects of the intervention at the level of the individual participant, the level at which ACT trainers and therapists work. The present study evaluated a bilingual, five-week, one-on-one ACT-based coaching program for increasing exercise in bilingual international university students. After receiving the ACT intervention, all four participants increased their average daily steps, frequency of gym visits, and duration of gym visits significantly and gains maintained after intervention was terminated. The results of this study suggest that an ACT-based bilingual coaching program of moderate duration may be effective for increasing exercise in bilingual university students.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is commonly used at the individual level to treat anxiety disorders, depression, and other common psychopathology. An emerging application of ACT is at the larger group, even entire community level. This is a promising extension of ACT work because it has the potential to affect change at a larger level than psychologists or behavior analysts can do when working with only one person at a time. Promising applications have included sheltering women from violence, slowing the spread of the Ebola virus, and preventing gang violence in the country of Sierra Leone. At a broader scale, the Prosocial movement has attempted to combine ACT with principles form cultural anthropology to effect change across the globe. This poster will review such large-scale applications of ACT and make practical suggestions for how behavior analysts can make their own service delivery organizations more compassionate and values-oriented.

The current study employed two experiments to examine the effects of pyramidal training on implementation of paired choice preference assessments with training as normal and Behavioral Skills Training (BST) by RBT-level staff in a clinic setting. The first experiment utilized an AB design to examine the use of BST as an intervention for training a Registered Behavior Technician, as the Tier 1 participant, to implement BST to train Tier 2 participants. In the first experiment, the Tier 1 participant was provided written instructions on a paired choice preference assessment and BST. In the baseline phase the Tier 1 participant trained the experimenter to the “best of their ability” on implementation of a paired choice preference assessment with the written information alone. After the baseline phase, the Tier 1 participant received training on BST and the paired choice preference assessment from the experimenter. In the second phase, the Tier 1 participant was again provided the instructions for the paired choice preference assessment and BST, and then was prompted to again train the experimenter to the “best of their ability”. The second experiment used a multiple baseline probe design to examine the effect of training, provided by the Tier 1 participant, on the accuracy of implementation of the paired choice preference assessments by Tier 2 participants when compared to written instructions alone (baseline), training as normal (phase 2) and BST (phase 3). The design consisted of three phases. In the baseline phase, the Tier 2 participants were provided with written instructions for a paired choice preference assessment, 1 minute to review the instructions, and then instructed to implement the preference assessment to the “best of their ability”. Data was collected on accuracy of implementation. After the baseline phase, the Tier 1 participant was instructed to train the Tier 2 participants as usual with the written instructions provided to all participants and data sheet. After training, Phase 1 started. Data was collected on Tier 2 participants accuracy of implementation after receiving “training as normal” from the Tier 1 participant. For the final phase, phase 3, the Tier 1 participant had received training on BST from the experimenter. The Tier 1 participant trained the Tier 2 participants on a paired stimulus preference assessment using BST. Data was collected on accuracy of implementation of the preference assessment. Results indicated that pyramidal training was effective in increasing accuracy scores when compared to the baseline phase. The results also indicated that training using BST resulted in a more accurate implementation of the paired choice preference assessments by Tier 2 participants, when compared to training as usual.

Teaching with acoustical guidance is a teaching procedure that uses an acoustical stimulus to provide immediate feedback to a learner (Quinn, et al., 2017) and has been used to increase a variety of skills, such as football skills (Harrison & Pyles, 2013; Stokes et al., 2010), precision shooting (Konttinen et al., 2004), dance movements (Carrion et al., 2019) and appropriate walking (Hodges et al., 2019). TAGteach also uses an acoustical stimulus to provide immediate feedback to learner, but also includes several other components (TAGteach International, 2004) and has been used to increase a variety of similar skills such as appropriate walking (Persicke, et al 2014), dance movements (Arnall, et al., 2019; Quinn, et al., 2015), rugby skills (Elmore, et al., 2018) and a golf swing (Fogel, et al., 2010). Given the similarities between these procedures, there seems to be some ambiguity regarding these terms in the literature. Therefore, this poster will examine the current literature on teaching with acoustical guidance and TAGTeach, discuss the procedural differences between these procedures, and provide directions for future research.

People with intellectual disabilities/developmental disabilities in the United States are living longer in recent decades. People 65 and older are in better health than previous decades due to more awareness of the beneficial effects of a healthy diet, preventative medical care, and physical exercise. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are living longer as well. However, this presents challenges in meeting the needs of this population. This paper details the results of a survey developed to assess several areas of services, including social engagement, health-related services, group home environment, and staff training and development, were evaluated to identify areas in need of improvement. Participants consisted of 95 direct care staff working for a not-for-profit agency providing residential services to adults with intellectual disabilities/developmental disabilities. The results of the survey indicate that need for improving social engagement opportunities for older adults residing in the community and more training on working with older adults with intellectual disabilities/developmental disabilities for direct care staff in a residential setting.

Gendered behaviors can be expressed as verbal behavior. Having access to self-editing behaviors can provide additional information about a verbal episode. A software that is an experimental analogue of social media model represents a promising avenue for studying verbal behavior. A multielement design was employed to investigate the effects of female and male audiences (i.e., independent variables) on gender biased verbal behavior and self-editing using an analogue online chat. Dependent variables included self-editing, disagreeing, interrupting, and pressuring. A software program was developed. Participants were 28 typically developing adults. They were instructed to interact with confederates by playing cooperative games. Differentiated responding across genders for disagreeing, interrupting, and pressuring was observed for 19, 14, and 13 participants, respectively. Covert disagreeing was emitted more frequently in the presence of male confederates. Covert pressuring was emitted more frequently in the presence of female confederates.

There is limited research on teaching individuals how to actively listen and then use this information in subsequent conversations. Listeners must discriminate topics the conversation partner is interested in and enjoys discussing, and to avoid topics that elicit or evoke emotional responses or may otherwise be aversive. First, we conducted a descriptive assessment of conversations among 16 neuro-typical individuals across 1:1 conversations with a friend and 1:1 conversations with a novel conversation partner. Topics most commonly discussed were work and movies. We also conducted a structured-descriptive assessment to identify how individuals respond to their conversation partner when they initiate conversation on topics with preferred or aversive properties. Data from the structured-descriptive assessment suggest that individuals make less comments related to a topic they find aversive. Individuals make more comments, smile more frequently and lean in toward their conversation partner when preferred topics are discussed. These data may inform research and practice for teaching individuals complex social skills that contribute to an established speaker and listener repertoire that may impact their overall interactions and quality of life.

Children with cochlear implants (CIs) who are readers usually produce more accurate speech when textual behavior than tacts. Equivalence based instruction (EBI) and matrix training can promote auditory comprehension, speech accuracy in tacts and verbal productivity, from a minimum set of sentences taught. The present study evaluated the effects of an EBI module on equivalence relations (between pictures, and dictated and printed sentences), accuracy in tacts, and recombinative performances, in six children with CI, readers and who had inaccurate tacts. Three sets of sentences were phonetically-balanced, arranged into subject-verb-object matrices and planned in progressive difficulty (regular and irregular words, and pseudo-sentences); nine sentences in the diagonal were taught, and 25 were evaluated in recombinative probes. The teaching module was organized into three steps and multiple probes evaluated all relations in EBI-network. In each step, were directly taught matching pictures to dictated sentences (AB) by MTS and by exclusion teaching; and construction of sentences under dictation (AE) by CRMTS. According to multiple baseline between sets, all participants learned the taught relations (AB-AE), increased the accurate tacts (BD), and produced both equivalence and syntactic (intra-intersets) relations. The results subsidies a broader curriculum of sentences for the rehabilitation of children with CI.

During study 1 we taught an adolescent with ASD to pass a “false belief” task using multiple-exemplar training (MET) and prompting and fading. During baseline we presented three different role playing scenarios (RPS) adherent to the “Sally and Ann” test but using preferred characters; the student failed to provide the correct perspective-taking (PT) response. During the training phase we presented novel RPS interspersing oral scenarios (OS), teaching the student to tact the controlling variables of his own behavior and the behavior of the character before providing the PT response. During post training the student correctly provided PT responses for the same scenarios presented in baseline, for three novel OS and for a novel “false belief” task (unexpected contents). During study 2 we probed a problem solving response that implied an applied PT response in the natural environment in a social situation. Consistently with previous researches the student failed to generalize the PT response in an applied setting. Then we taught, using MET and prompting and fading, the problem solving response in the natural environment chaining the PT response to the problem solving response. During post-training the student provided the problem solving response without engaging overtly in the PT response.

We evaluated procedures for teaching one student with ASD a component of perspective-taking: identifying their own knowledge based on sensory information, using prompting, fading and reinforcement. During the intervention we taught him to tact the verbal or non-verbal stimuli that evoked his response and to discriminate between known or unknown information based on the verbal statement provided by the experimenter. Specifically, after presenting a verbal statement with or without salient stimuli to the student, we taught an autoclitic frame (e.g. “because I see/hear/touch” or “because I don’t see/hear/touch”) in response to the question “why do/don’t you know?” We evaluated the clinical efficacy of the teaching procedures using a multiple baseline across test conditions design. After no response in baseline for the three test conditions, we used a different set of stimuli during the teaching phase. After reaching mastery criteria we presented again, as post training, the same set of stimuli used in baseline. The student reached mastery criteria for the untaught sets in each test condition. We discuss how this skill may be related to more advanced perspective taking skills, based on Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior.

Following instructions is an important tool that children need in their repertoire to be able to participate in their community. However, many children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum disorder have difficulty following instructions involving multiple steps. Joint control training is an effective way of teaching children to follow complex instructions and has been shown to generalize across instructions (Causin, Albert, Carbone, & Sweeny-Kerwin, 2013). Joint control occurs when a response is emitted from the control of two separate, but simultaneously available, stimuli. When an instruction is given, the individual engages in a rehearsal response while simultaneously tacting stimuli in the environment. Once the rehearsal and the tact have point-to-point correspondence, a selection is made (Lowenkron, 1998). Joint control training with 3-step instructions was evaluated with a 5-year-old with autism. The participant was taught to rehearse the instruction prior to responding. Following training, novel instructions were given. Results confidently demonstrate that upon implementation of joint control training, the participant was able to accurately follow trained instructions and novel instructions. Joint control training has the potential to add a skillset into a child’s repertoire that can be used daily in the community. Keywords: Joint Control, listener responding, direction following, self-echoic

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of requiring echoic responses during an auditory visual discrimination training on the emergence of tacts in a five years-old boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), using an adapted alternating treatment design with pretest and posttest probes. In the auditory-visual discrimination training, the first set with three stimuli (set A), echoic responses were not required during the auditory visual discrimination training, while for the second three stimuli set (set B), echoic responses were required during the auditory visual discrimination training. After meeting mastery criteria on the auditory-visual discrimination training, tact responses were assessed for the six stimuli. The results showed full emergence of tacts in both conditions, although the participant needed less training sessions to master criteria on the condition in which echoic responses were required. The procedure is currently being applied to another children in order to verify generality.