Association for Behavior Analysis International

The effects of varying reinforcer rate and quantity on group and individual choice behavior was examined in three separate experiments. In each, five male Long Evans rats were tested in a free-ranging foraging procedure where food was delivered from two locations according to variable-time (VT) schedules. Relative rate and quantity varied over five ratios in each experiment either across components within a session, or across whole sessions. The Generalized Matching Law and the Ideal Free Distribution provided a good account of individual and group behavior, respectively. Individual and group sensitivity values tended to be similar and varied depending on the reinforcement dimension manipulated and level of variability in reinforcement contingencies. Competitiveness was assessed independently in two of the experiments and correlated with individual reinforcement rate and sensitivity. This paradigm provides a valuable tool for investigating determinants of group and individual choice and the relation between behavior at these different levels.

It is proposed to study the effect of the discriminative stimuli (DS) on rats foraging behavior in the radial arm maze on the floor. As a pilot study, it be used a T-maze to identify whether the DS and spatial changes (T-maze with two arms and without one arm) affect the choice of rats. After that, in a six arms radial maze on the floor, it will test whether DS and spatial changes (remove arms of the maze as condition of the study) affect the rats foraging behavior. In the pilot study the establishment of the lighting stimulus as DS was using a standard chamber of conditioning. The results of the pilot study in the T-maze with two arms, show an increase in the choice of the arm with the DS. However, in the T-maze without an arm, the choice of the arm with the DS decreases. Its possible that the T-maze configuration is the main factor for the choice of the rat. Those results are consistent with those obtained by Timberlakes research on locomotor search tactics. Those results suggest that the rats foraging behavior in the radial arm maze will be affected by the DS only if the radial arm maze has all arms, but if the maze does not have any arms the DS wont have effect and configuration of the maze could be the main factor for the rats foraging behavior.

An adaptation of the Sidman avoidance procedure was used with two male Betta splendens. The aversive stimulus consisted of 10 s of water flows delivered at regular intervals. The time elapsed between the presentation of consecutive water flows when no responses occurred was termed the flow-flow (FF) interval. The time elapsed between a response and a water flow was termed the response-flow (RF) interval. A response was defined as changing compartments in a shuttle tank. Avoidance responses were defined as changing compartments prior to the presentation of water flows, and escape responses were defined as changing compartments during the presentation of water flows. Data collection was carried out daily and sessions lasted 20 min. One fish received a number of sessions in which both the RF interval and the FF interval were 30 s; however, although escape behaviour occurred consistently, avoidance behaviour did not develop. Decreasing the FF interval to 5 s also did not produce consistent avoidance behaviour. However, when escape responses were punished with water flow there was a slight but consistent increase in avoidance behaviour. Currently, the second fish is receiving training with RF interval of 30 s and FF interval of 5 s. Results obtained up to this point show consistent escape, but very little avoidance responding. Thus, for both fish, shortening the FF interval produced no appreciable changes in avoidance responding. In the next stage for the second fish, escape responses will be punished with water flows. It is predicted that, as with the first fish, this will result in an increase in avoidance responding. In the final stage, punishment will be removed for both fish. Results will be discussed in terms of the interaction between escape and avoidance behaviour, and the effect of punishment of escape, on both of these types of behaviour in this species of fish.

Percentile reinforcement contingencies hold much promise as a tool for systematically shaping behavior in applied settings. When used to increase response duration or effort, however, percentile reinforcement contingencies may result in decreases in overall reinforcement rate as the duration of the response or the latency to respond increases. The decrease in overall reinforcement rate may undermine the effectiveness of the contingency. We are exploring if the effects of decreasing reinforcement rate can be offset by increasing reinforcement magnitude. Hold durations were reinforced with sucrose solution (10% vol/vol) if the duration of the response exceeded 16 of the previous 20 responses. The volume of sucrose solution delivered varied by condition over the following values: 56, 100, 300, or 560 l/presentation. The order of conditions was arranged according to a quasi-Latin square design and conditions were changed upon steady state performance. Preliminary data suggest that the magnitude of reinforcement has little or no systematic effect on hold duration, but has large effects on latency to respond. When shifting from a high magnitude condition (300 or 560 l) to a low magnitude condition (56 or 100 l) latency to respond increases drastically. Conversely, when shifting from a low magnitude condition to a high magnitude condition, latency to respond decreases drastically.

The Iterated Prisoner`s Dilemma Game is an instrument used in the study of social behavior. The game involves a situation in which two participants must simultaneously choose between two alternatives in each trial: cooperate and compete. The arrangement of the participants` responses generate different individual outcomes. This interdependency between the individuals` responses characterizes the social behavior. For the study of metacontingencies the INPDG has been used with the addition of a cultural contingency contingent on the emission of certain arrangements of responses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the cultural contingency on the selection of different arrangements of responses. The role of communication between participants and of sequential or simultaneous choices in the acquisition of the target arrangement has also been verified. For this purpose, four groups of three participants were formed: Group with Communication and sequential choices (CC-SQ), Group with communication and simultaneous choices (CC-SM); Group without communication and with sequential choices (SC-SQ), and Group without communication and with simultaneous choices (SC-SM). The results indicate the selection of the different culturants by all groups. It suggests that communication is the most important factor in facilitating the acquisition of the target culturant in all conditions.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the relationship between the hyperbolic curve and preference reversal using the discounting account, in which several equal delays have been added to two outcomes. The scope of this experiment was mainly to investigate preference reversal in a singular concurrent choice setting, in order to look at the actual delay-difference (in addition to the relative delay-differences), and relate it to the shift between rule-governed behavior and contingency-shaped behavior. The participants were grouped to 3 conditions, and tested individually on a portable PC. Their task was to collect points. Initially the participants received 1 point for a response to A, and 20 points for a response to B, either reward received after 0.3 sec. For every additional B-response the B-delay increased by an additional 0.3 sec. Hence, A represented a smaller-sooner alternative, and B a larger-later alternative. 14 out of 17 participants displayed a clear abrupt preference reversal as B reached a sufficiently large delay. The results support the idea that hyperbolic discounting in human subjects is related to preference reversal and a shift between rule-governed behavior and contingencies. Preferences seem to reverse as the delay difference between the options increase, regardless of the conditions of added delay.

Interest in temporal discounting (devaluation of future reinforcers as a function of delay) among researchers and clinicians is growing with the increasing recognition that a high rate of temporal discounting is associated with a range of unhealthy behavior patterns including, but not limited to, drug abuse, overeating, and gambling. However, the time required to accurately assess temporal discounting rate is limiting in some contexts. We developed a novel, flexible, and easily administered Abbreviated Temporal Discounting (ATD) task that accurately measures temporal discounting rate with just five questions. This task was administered to college undergraduates along with a more traditional adjusting amount task. We found high concordance between the two tasks and no significant difference in overall discount rate obtained. The ABT was much faster than the adjusting amount procedure with an average completion time of around 25 seconds. We also used the ABT to replicate the amount effect often seen with temporal discounting, finding that $1,000,000 was discounted at a significantly lower rate than $1000, which was discounted at a significantly lower rate than $10 (both p < 0.001). These data indicate the ATD task is an accurate and rapid measure of temporal discounting.

A stimulus can belong to two or more different classes according to the context. Sidman provided a theoretical account on how this process can happen in conditional discriminations. So far, there are little evidence that a stimulus can belong simultaneously to two classes according contextual stimuli. We provide a theoretical analysis of how this can happen and provide some data that show this phenomenon. Several adults learned contextually controlled stimulus classes in which a contextual stimulus indicated some stimulus relations (e.g., A1-B1-C1) and another contextual stimulus indicated different stimulus relations (e.g., A1-B2-C3). Subsequent emergent probes indicated whether the participants had formed simultaneously two classes. Some participants did, but other participants did not. Thus, the results indicated that the process is possible, but the outcome is due very likely to specific learning factors. We discuss how the learning procedures may result in contextually-controlled equivalence classes and how to improve the procedures to facilitate this phenomenon.

There are only a few studies on stimulus equivalence and short response latencies. All of them start baseline training without restrictions in available time. In the present study, three adults received initial training with rapid responding. Limited hold (LH) for both sample and comparison were titrated down to an asymptotic level in an identity matching-to-sample task. Afterwards, these short LH time windows were used in conditional discrimination training with arbitrary stimuli. A concurrent one-to-many training structure, three classes with three members, with 0 s delay was employed. This phase was terminated after 720 trials. The next phase was another titrating phase where errors below 90% increased the LH with 100ms to an asymptotic level. All calculations of LH and changes in LH during the experiment were done automatic by the software. All three participants reached steady state as defined by the software. One participant reached the asymptotic level. Results showed that none of the participants were able to form conditional discriminations with short response latencies conditions. When given more time to respond all participants established conditional discriminations. As can be seen in Table 1, only one participant passed the test for derived relations on the first test. One participant required two tests. And the last participant failed three tests for derived relations

Recent studies used a semantic differential (SD) to verify transfer of meaning across equivalence classes, each containing a meaningful stimulus, a face expressing an emotion. These studies provided additional evidence that stimuli in equivalence classes may differ in their degree of relatedness. The present study used an SD to verify relatedness as a function of amount of training and response topography. Participants learned AB, BC, CD, and DE conditional relations, with three sets of stimuli, where the B stimuli were pictures of faces expressing happiness, anger, and neutrality, respectively, and the remaining stimuli were abstract pictures. Seven college students selected stimuli using a mouse and six responded pressing keys on the keyboard. Three participants with the keyboard and four with the mouse had the number of training trials doubled. After showing equivalence class formation, they evaluated the D stimuli with an SD. Data confirmed previous results from our laboratory showing that overtraining increases relatedness for participants responding with the mouse. Surprisingly, however, results appeared to be reversed for participants responding with the keyboard. Further research is necessary to confirm the role of response topography in modulating effects of amount of training on relatedness of stimuli in equivalence classes.

The Responding by Exclusion (RE) may result in rapid acquisition of new arbitrary stimulus-stimulus relations and have important educational relevance. This study aimed to verify the occurrence of RE and learning outcomes of new relations between signs of the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) and pictures in deaf individuals with low verbal repertoires. Participants were seven prelingual deaf persons, 5-27 years old, enrolled in a program aimed to teach a conventional language (LIBRAS). An initial assessment evaluated receptive sign vocabulary trough a validated Brazilian test and several types of stimulus-stimulus relations through matching tasks. The main procedure was teaching a baseline of conditional relations between signs and pictures, followed by blocks of probing trials in matching format that evaluated RE, learning outcomes, and control trials. Probe trials also evaluated the emergence of gestural naming. All participants showed emergent matching in most exclusion trials. They showed high percentage of responding consistent with learning outcome in one type of learning trials (Type 1), but showed chance responding in the other two. For some participants, the performances in the naming probes indicated functional independence of both matching and verbal responding. These results extended previous findings on emergent mapping to deaf persons and sign-pictures relations.

It is relevant to determine the best training structures to teach concepts or categories to humans with special learning needs. One important parameter that determines the training structure is the number of nodal stimuli. A node is a stimulus that is linked to at least two other stimuli during training; as the number of nodes increases the relatedness between emergent transitive relations decreases. Several studies have reported this effect by analyzing reaction times and accuracy; participants require more time to respond to more distant stimulus relations and more trials to master criterion during testing. We analyze different training structures with a neuro-computational model that works with one cortical layer and one hippocampus module to produce a mapping of the relatedness between the members of a class. The study by Spencer and Chase (1996) was simulated to evaluate the model fitness. The model simulated human performance by taking more cycles to respond to more distant stimulus relations, and provided a quantitative description of the relatedness inside equivalence classes. Lesioning the model produced a decreased capability for learning stimulus classes. The model can be used to predict the training structures that generate class formation with the highest relatedness between the class members.

In The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis (1938), Skinner stressed correlation as a substitute for cause. Skinner promoted a descriptive (a running account of a sample of behavior as it unfolds itself in some frame of reference) and experimental science of behavior. He recognized that prediction and control of behavior requires finding variables of which behavior is a function (functional relationships), that is, controlling variables. We use the mathematical distinction between relations and functions to illustrate the logic of experimentation and behavioral control and show how correlational data are indeterminate as a foundation for selecting behavior change conditions. Experimentally obtained functional relations, on the other hand, identify treatment conditions that yield more predictable outcomes and superior behavior control. We address implications for descriptive and experimental clinical behavioral assessment and stress that the purpose of functional assessment is to determine the probability of behavior and is not a guarantee that behavior will occur.

Accreditation, certification, and licensure are three ways to place and gauge certain standards on a program or individual. Often these standards are minimum requirements of education in a classroom or field setting. Educational standards strive to create consistency and transparency across programs and people, providing a way by which a discipline can assess its members and itself. Within the field of behavior analysis, there exists many accreditation, and certification standards for education. This study limits its scope to ABAI program accreditation, specifically education standards for behavior analytic theory and philosophy. Of the 25 ABAI accredited programs, six did not report requiring a course in theory or philosophy to earn a degree. To better understand what type of education behavior analysts are receiving and how this education is related to an overall interest and knowledge of this subject, an online survey was distributed to behavior analysts holding graduate degrees. The results of this survey have helped to elucidate the contact that graduate students have with theoretical and philosophical principles of behavior analysis. It remains to be seen if there is an association between academic standards and overall knowledge or interest in a subject.

John Broadus Watson promoted great changes in the psychology of his time and outlined the behaviorist approach, which remains until today a fruitful field in experimental psychology. The relevance of this research is based on the historical relevance of the work of John Broadus Watson and lies, more specifically, in a better understanding of his appropriation of the conditioned reflex and its impact to his theoretical propositions. Although introductions to John Broadus Watsons behaviorism may describe it as the psychology of conditioned reflex, it had not been so from the beginning. At the time of the publication of his 1913s treatise and in the next years, there were two major categories which accounted for the behavior of an organism: instinct and habit. Instincts were philogenetic (hereditary) modes of response, whereas habits were ontogenetic (acquired) modes of response. At first, Watson proposed that evolutionary mechanisms explained instincts and two factors called frequency and recency explained habit formation. The concept of conditioned reflex, which was first mentioned by Watson in 1914, was incorporated only gradually: initially as one among the existing experimental methods of investigation, then as the main method and finally as a more solid explanation to habit formation. As the conditioned reflex gained space, the proportion of behavior which Watson considered to be instinct decreased and he became much closer to the environmentalist position which behaviorism was and sometimes still is criticized of. This will be illustrated with a chronological comparison of Watsons quotations regarding conditioned reflex and themes which give rise to the debate nature versus nurture (such as talent and vocation).

Behaviorism is often regarded as the philosophy of the science of behavior. With this loose definition there is room for multiple systems to develop. In the current theoretical realm of the philosophy of the science of behavior there are several such systems. The current paper will address the critical features of each system and how they interact with the various other systems. The core features that are evident in each system will are presented and a demarcation line between behavioral versus non-behavioral philosophy is chased. A graphical display that outlines each system is presented; it is the hope of the authors that this graphic will become a tool for future students of behavior to interact with the theoretical/conceptual approaches that have shaped modern behavior analysis.

The purpose of the project is to conduct a multi-site efficacy trial of the Class-wide Function-related Intervention Teams Program (CW-FIT) for elementary school students including students with and at risk for Emotional/Behavior Disorders (EBD). The CW-FIT Program includes four elements designed from hundreds of empirical studies: (1) teaching socially-appropriate communicative skills, (2) differential reinforcement using an interdependent group contingency, (3) extinction or eliminating potential reinforcement (attention, escape) for problem behavior, and (4) Tier 2 using self-management, help cards, and functional assessment. The current study is based on strong prior evidence of the efficacy of the CW-FIT intervention in seventeen schools. Schools in Missouri, Utah, and Tennessee are participating. Initial findings from year 1 are similar to prior CW-FIT studies, and indicate improved on task and decreased disruptive behaviors for classes and students. Figures present data for classes at the Missouri site for four third grade, two first, and two kindergarten students during baseline and during the CW-FIT intervention. Data will be presented from the three national sites for fifteen intervention classrooms and for individual students.

This poster presents the effects of video modeling with iPod touch on verbal, play-related statements of four children with autism. Participants were three boys and one girl, aged four to five years, attending public preschools in Iceland. During video-modeling, participants were shown a one-minute video-clip on iPod touch where a peer model played with two peers using toys that typically were associated with frequent verbal play-related interactions in preschool children. Subsequently, participants were observed for 5 minutes in the same settings as shown in the video-clips. Single-subject-multiple baselines across participants showed that video modeling increased the frequency of play-related statements. When using video modeling the frequency of words increased on average from 8 to 49 words per five minute play session and the frequency of playsounds increased on average from 4 to 15 per five minute play session. Increased play-related statements generalized to play with other peers, to playing with a larger group of peers and to the typical preschool environment. Increases in verbal play-related statements were maintained six to seven weeks after the end of intervention. Results indicate that video modeling can be an effective and relatively simple way to increase verbal play-related statements of children with autism toward their typically developing peers.

Student problem behavior probably presents the biggest obstacle to inclusion in Iceland. In this study, a function-based behavior support plan with increasingly higher performance goals was used to resolve persistent disruptive behaviors of an 8-yrs-old student in a general education classroom. Despite previous interventions, his behavior was so disruptive that he was spending an increasing amount of time in a segregated special education classroom and was to be placed there altogether. Several versions of the behavior support plan were implemented by the general education teacher, following of which the frequency of disruptive behavior decreased from an average of 43 to 2 per 20 minute observation intervals and on-task behavior increased from an average of 69% to 95% in the general education classroom. Interviews with student and teacher 6 months post intervention revealed great satisfaction with the process and that the student was nearly completely in the general education classroom, displaying few disruptive behaviors.

The current study evaluated the relative effects of two instructional design technologies on student performance in an introductory psychology class. The manipulation compared the effectiveness of two types of supplementary weekly quizzes, graded based on completion, on student performance during weekly chapter quizzes and the final exam. The supplementary quizzes were given in WebCampus or Learning Curve. The publisher of the psychology textbook developed the latter and the study was conducted under a contractual agreement to provide data-based recommendations on its effectiveness in improving student performance. Learning Curve was designed as an adaptive learning system, whereby questions were selected during the quiz based on student performance. Using an AB/A design, wherein section 001 received A (WebCampus) during the first half of the semester before exposure to B (Learning Curve) during the last half of the semester. Moreover, section 002 received A (WebCampus) throughout the entire semester as a control group. Results indicate that, though a fewer percentage of students utilized Learning Curve, the latter program seems to differentiate performance on weekly quizzes more than WebCampus. Learning Curve, though aesthetically appealing and adaptive in nature, marginally improved the weekly quiz performance of students when compared to WebCampus.

Behavior analytic research in Day Cares and Preschools and with Preschool-aged children has been conducted for over 40 years. While much of this research focuses on individual interventions and/or interventions targeted at children with disabilities, there is a subset of this research that targets the behavior of the entire classroom and attempts to improve the service delivery for young children receiving care outside the home. However, there is very little research to be found on how to transfer these technologies to the Day Care and Preschool providers and staff that could actually implement them in their classrooms, and by extension, very little data on the long-term effects, maintenance, and generalization of the skills taught using them. As an example, a search for Day Care or Preschool-based research in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis will be analyzed by topic, target population, year of publication, and dissemination and maintenance using mediators. This will illustrate that the breadth of knowledge regarding effective ways to run a classroom for Preschool-aged children is currently being either under-utilized or under-reported, and that steps should be taken to disseminate these technologies to those that can apply them.

The present study used a multiple baseline design across 5 participants, who are wards of the state, to determine if language skills would be increased by implementing Headsprout, an internet-based computer program for teaching reading. Participants experienced baseline conditions for varying amounts of time. Baseline included the Preschool Language Scale- 4th Edition (PLS-4) and the Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). Three participants were exposed to the Headsprout program for early readers. The PLS-4 was administered before intervention and at the end of intervention, and the DIBELS was administered before, during, and after intervention. Two participants only did the assessments without Headsprout intervention. The results of this study suggest that exposure to Headsprout reading programs may contribute to increased language skills in the areas of DIBELS percentile, correct initial sounds per minute, and number of words used per minute. The two participants exposed to baseline only showed little or no improvement in their DIBELS percentile, and little or no improvement in the correct initial sounds per minute and number of words used per minute.

Noncompliance is one of the most serious and frequent behavior problems to affect children (Christophersen, Barnard, Ford and Wolf, 1976). The role of compliance in the classroom is particularly important to ensure effective learning (Martens, Kelly, 1993). One's inability to comply can limit instructional opportunities (Martens, Kelly, 1993) and decrease academic learning time (Fisher et al., 1980), which can negatively influence academic achievement. One proven method to increase compliance is an 'errorless compliance' approach which is a systematic way of introducing daily classroom requests based on their probabilities of completion (Ducharme, Sanjuan & Drain, 2007) . High probability requests are introduced, and compliance to those requests are reinforced. As compliance with high probability requests improves more difficult tasks are introduced until the subject is able to comply with all given requests. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an errorless compliance approach within a classroom setting and determine if compliance will generalize to untargeted requests by conducting multiple probes prior to the initiation of each intervention phase. Participants were two boys with developmental disabilities in a transitional second/third grade classroom . Results showed that both participants were able to increase compliance from baseline to intervention phases. As successively lower probability requests were introduced across four phases, compliance remained high for both participants. Results from probes showed that generalization of compliance from targeted to untargeted requests were successful for participant 2, but not for participant 1.

The majority of children with autism receive skill acquisition programming through educational systems provided by professionals who are not trained to implement structured, behavior analytic teaching procedures. Behavior analysts working in schools often spend their time training special education personnel to implement these teaching procedures in order for students to receive quality programming to address skill deficits in language, communication, academics, and adaptive skills. Various training methods are employed to ensure high levels of procedural fidelity that will in turn result in efficient skill acquisition for students. In this study, public school teachers and paraprofessionals without prior training in behavior analysis received didactic and in-vivo training and consultation. A multiple baseline across skills design will be used to show procedural fidelity for each aspect of structured teaching trained in isolation. Data show that procedural fidelity with all aspects did not meet mastery criteria following didactic training alone; with in-vivo consultation focused on individual aspects of the teaching strategy teachers as well as paraprofessionals implemented the strategies with over 90% fidelity across skills. With all classroom staff effectively trained, including paraprofessionals, students received increased structured teaching time within their community educational system to address critical skill deficits.

As the rates of Autism Spectrum Disorders rise, so does the demand for trained treatment providers of behavioral intervention methods, yet few formal training programs are available for paraprofessionals. This study evaluated portions of an online training program that included video demonstration of discrete-trial training methods, as well as simulation exercises that allowed practice with a virtual onscreen child. The objective of the study was to determine whether online-training knowledge acquired by seven experimentally naive college-student participants would translate into proficient live skill performance. During baseline, participants were required to teach an object identification task through several simulated discrete-trial training sessions, with an experimenter acting as a confederate child. Following baseline, participants completed online training that focused on the key components of discrete-trial training methods. During the post-training phase, participants conducted six more simulated discrete-trial training sessions. The dependent measure was the percentage of correctly performed components within each discrete-trial training session. The results showed dramatic improvement from the baseline to post-training phases, as evaluated with a multiple-baseline-across-participants design. This study suggests that video- and simulation-based instruction may be an effective tool for establishing skill-based performance in those learning to implement discrete-trial training.

Many human service agencies incorporate methods, and procedures of applied behavior analysis (ABA) due to its effectiveness in reducing disruptive behaviors (Eldevik et al, 2009; Jahr, 1998; Lindsley, (1996); Newsome, & Rincover, 1989; Rogers, & Vismara, (2008). However, staff members working with persons with intellectual disabilities may resort to applying a wide variety of treatments to reduce their client's self injurious behaviors or other undesired behaviors without the integrity, or accuracy of the required skills (see Austin, Carr & Agnew 1999). In spite of the recognized increase advances in staff training techniques and methods, shortcomings are revealed when staff members are observed in their regular work environments on regular basis (e.g., Crow & Synder, 1998; Parsons et al 1993; Richman et al 1988; Repp et al 1987). Too often, staff may start their jobs with minimum or in some cases without sufficient training preparing them to perform their jobs with integrity and reliability (e.g., Demchak & Browder, 1990; Wolery, 1991; Wareen et al., 1986). Consequently, several researchers (e.g., Lovaas, & Smith 1998; Dibs , & Sturmey, 2007) have suggested a greater emphasis on developing more effective staff training programs. Jarr,. (1998), Reid and Green (1990) and, Reid, Parsons, Green, & Schepis, (1991); have stressed that the importance of staff training is "one of the most critical determinants of the effectiveness of human service systems" (1991, p.71). Discrete trial teaching (DTT) is an example of one common ABA procedure that has been shown to be an effective teaching method for children diagnosed with autism or other developmental disability (see Leaf, & McEachin, 1999; Smith, 2001; Sundberg, & Partington, 1999). However, training programs and protocols that are time and cost consuming, or labor intensive and require several hours of oversight are unlikely to be adapted by most human services. This requires a constant search on the part of some of human agencies to find efficient training methods that are cost effective and at the same time attain rapid changes and results. Therefore, to achieve the best results, training should be practical, effective and efficient for both the trainer and trainee. This poster will evaluate the conceptual concerns addressing the integrity of discrete trial training, and will propose some potential avenues for future investigations.

The development of equivalence classes and the role of the echoic repertoire were tested in pupils with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The study tested whether participants could pass match-to-sample stimulus equivalence tests using contrived stimuli. For those who failed to demonstrate match-to-sample relations (that is, demonstrate the emerging relation without direct instruction), the role of the echoic repertoire was reviewed (the participants were taught to tact a common name to each member of a stimulus class outside the match-to-sample format, then were required to echo the name of the stimuli whilst matching to sample). Upon mastery of the echoic responding the equivalence relations were tested. All participants were tested for symmetry of the contrived stimuli (B to A and C to A); some participants were tested for transitivity (B to C and C to B). The role of the echoic within the area of stimulus equivalence and the development of untrained conditional relations are discussed.

Relational Frame Theory provides a modern, data-driven account of human language and cognition that stems from the concept of derived stimulus relations. In order to bolster the claim that the act of framing events relationally is generalized operant behavior, the current study utilized multiple exemplar instruction implemented intraverbally with typically developing children. Comparative frames of faster-than/slower-than and bigger-than/smaller-than were probed during the pretest. During the instructional phase, only comparative frames of faster-than/slower-than were trained. Posttest probes tested for the emergence of novel responding with bigger-than/smaller-than comparative frames.

Multiple exemplar training involves teaching one exemplar to mastery and probing for generalization across untrained stimuli. Training with additional exemplars continues until the results of generalization probes indicate high levels of correct responding across all untrained exemplars. Pervious research shows that multiple exemplar training produces stimulus generalization after teaching just a few exemplars. However, it remains unclear whether this procedure is more efficient than teaching multiple exemplars at the same time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the most efficient instructional method that produced stimulus generalization. In one condition, we trained three exemplars of a stimulus simultaneously and probed for generalization to three untrained exemplars. In a second condition, we trained one exemplar at a time and conducted probes to measure generalization to not-yet trained exemplars (i.e., multiple exemplar training). We compared mastery and generalization across conditions within an adapted alternating treatments design embedded within a modified multiple probe design with on child diagnosed with autism. The results showed that training multiple stimuli simultaneously was more efficient instructional strategy than multiple exemplar training.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of escape extinction on the number of bites accepted by a two-year old boy with acid reflux. The effects of escape extinction on oral intake and refusal behavior was compared both pre- and post-fundoplication. The results indicated no significant difference in the effects of escape extinction pre-fundoplication compared to post-fundoplication. Escape extinction was effective at increasing the number of bites consumed by the participant while simultaneously decreasing the participants refusals and negative behavior. Escape extinction was conducted along with texture fading. We began with pureed food and moved to fork-mashed foods. Results will be discussed in terms of conducting this type of feeding intervention in different environments with the parent as the therapist. Interobserver agreement was collected for 54% of the sessions with an average of 99.2% agreement.

Food selectivity has been reported in individuals diagnosed with autism. Food selectivity can lead to decreased food consumption during mealtimes. Differential reinforcement and escape extinction are common behavioral treatments used to decrease food selectivity (Allison et al., 2012; Anderson & McMillian, 2001) and increase food consumption. Although, the use of a visual cue, to increase or decrease a variety of behaviors, has been well-documented in the literature (Waters, Lerman, & Hovanetz, 2009), the use of a visual cue to increase food consumption and decrease food selectivity has been under reported in the literature. A changing criterion design was used to decrease food selectivity and increase food consumption in an individual diagnosed with autism. A reinforcer following consumption of a specified number of bites and bite board signaling the required number of bites, to be consumed comprised the treatment package. Following stable and increased bite consumption, a component analysis was conducted to determine whether the reinforcer, visual cue, or both were the active components in the treatment package.

Delayed introduction of regular texture solid foods may compromise the development of a child's oral-motor skills. The opposite may also apply: a child's ability to consume higher texture foods depends on her oral-motor skills level (e.g., strength of chewing, tongue lateralization, swallowing ability), and children with poor oral-motor skills may not be able to consume regular texture solid foods. In this presentation, we will discuss data from 2 children that were solely consuming liquids and pureed foods prior to treatment. Janie was 2 year and 7 months old at the onset of treatment. She had a history of severe gastroesophageal reflux and most of her caloric intake was from a high calorie beverage (Bright Beginnings®) and a calorie booster (Duocal®). Janie also consumed a few stage 1 jarred baby foods and smooth yogurts. Janie engaged in packing behavior even with smooth foods and liquids. She also retracted her tongue at the presence of the spoon. Samuel was 3 years and 8 months old when treatment was initiated. Most of Samuel's caloric intake was from a high calorie beverage (Ensure® Plus). He also consumed pureed oatmeal, pudding, and yogurt. Samuel had a history of severe gagging and gagged frequently with these 3 foods he consumed. Furthermore, he was not able to perform multiple swallows prior to treatment. Both children consistently consumed all regular texture foods (including mixed textures) at the end of 18 months (Janie) and 17 months (Samuel). Foods were introduced using a developmental progression and oral motor skills were increased by various oral motor exercises. Foods introduced per month per child will be displayed.

Job training for adults with disabilities to become competitively employed is a growing field of interest for behavior analysts and other professionals who support individuals with disabilities. Within the field of job development there are several approaches to assisting and training consumers to attain jobs. Many programs attempt to train job searching skills to their consumers. The current project aimed to train job searching skills to the consumers in the context of a 30 hour per week job training program that lasted for 12 weeks. A self-management program was used to assist the consumers in learning how to manage their own job search. The data and limitations to the current program will be discussed. The importance of empirically addressing the benefits of self-management for the population of developmentally delayed adults and future directions will also be discussed.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders have a higher prevalence of comorbid sleep disturbance as compared with non-disabled children of the same age (Liu et al., 2006). Although evidence-based behavior-analytic interventions can be readily implemented by parents and caregivers in the home setting, direct observation data is often difficult to capture for a variety of reasons. Caregiver sleep-checks are not only demanding on their own sleep schedules, but can inadvertently cause sleep interference for the child. Video monitoring and recording via an internet-integrated webcam system offers the potential for non-intrusive real-time data-collection for intervention evaluation and progress-monitoring. In this study, an infrared webcam programmed to detect motion and sound was utilized to monitor the sleep behavior of an eight-year-old child with autism with frequent night wakings, including disruptive behavior (e.g. screaming, throwing items, leaving bed, leaving room). A multi-component treatment package including sleep hygiene supports and a bedtime pass was implemented by her parents through a conjoint behavioral consultation model. Implications for the clinical utility as well as the experimental rigor of using web-based video monitoring to evaluate behavioral treatment of sleep disorders will be discussed.

People diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) typically have deficits and delays related to cognitive function and language, both receptive and expressive (DSMIVTR; 2000). A number of interventions based upon the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) have been shown to be effective in the acquisition of communication skills and developmental improvement (Jensen & Sinclair, 2002. In some children, the difficulties in acquiring communications skills may be exacerbated by the fact that the family may speak more than one language in the child's home. The present study sought to determine if there are differences in acquisition of receptive labels when taught in Spanish, English, or using a combination of the two languages. An errorless teaching strategy was used in all conditions and data on the acquisition of target responses were evaluated in two children with autism (ages 2.7 & 2.10). Results indicated that the language targets taught separately (one language) were acquired at roughly the same rate. However when targets were taught across languages (both English and Spanish), nearly twice as many instructional sessions were required to meet mastery criteria.

This presentation will explore a model that utilizes single subject methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of medications on behaviours commonly associated with ASD including aggression, self-injury, stereotypy, and disruption. The model presented is the outcome of multiple case studies over the course of 12 months. Successes and pitfalls will be highlighted with an eye toward improving collaboration between ABA providers and physicians.

The effectiveness and acceptability of applied behavior analysis (ABA) for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has not been systematically examined in African American (AA) families, leaving generalizability to this group largely unknown. In this study, three AA mothers of children with ASD and difficult behavior were taught to implement behavior management strategies based on differential reinforcement (DR) at home during a difficult daily routine. Children were ages 7, 15, and 17 and behavior problems included tantrums, off-task behavior/prompt dependence, and rapid eating. Each mother was taught to implement a DR-based intervention with her child. The effectiveness of the interventions was assessed in a multiple-baseline-across-participants design, while acceptability of interventions was assessed through rating scales and qualitative interviews. The data indicate that the DR-based interventions were effective in reducing problem behavior; however parents maintained interventions with varying degrees of fidelity. Interviews generally support the acceptability of the interventions from the perspective of AA mothers of children with ASD with some feedback for how the interventions could be made more acceptable to families.

A Peer Model Education Curriculum (PMEC) has been developed to teach neurotypical peer models strategies for coaching social skills in peers with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The aim of the curriculum is to increase interactions with peers with ASD, prompt targeted skills, and praise successful application of these skills. This study examines the relationship between the use of the PMEC and corresponding changes in targeted skills for middle school peer models. The skills include initiating verbal interactions, prompting, and delivering verbal praise. The peer models learn the skills during small group instruction and then have opportunities to interact with peers with ASD during periods of unstructured playtime. A consolidated score of peers behavior is tracked using direct observation with a multiple baseline design across target behaviors. Peer models receive performance feedback based on their performance in the three behaviors. In addition, the participants scores on the Social Skills Improvement System are assessed at the beginning and the end of the study. Implications for practical application in schools and clinical settings and directions for future research are discussed.

This paper described a six months' action research of applied behavior analysis for 4 prekindergarten children with ASD and a 11-teachers team in Chongqing, China, and a professional team in Taiwan. The research presents an operation model which a professor and 3 senior specialists from Taiwan support to promote ABA to the autism research center in Mainland China. The purpose of this action research was to explore the problems occurred during the process of development of ABA in mainland, China, and to find out scientific-based strategies to solve the problems. The results of this research were discussed in five perspectives. And the training skills improvement of the team in Chongqing Normal University, and the achievement gains of four children would also display in this research.

The aim of this study was to show the effect of using video modeling and reinforcement procedures to train perspective-taking skills to adolescent whit autism. We replicated and extended Leblanc, Coates Daneshvar, Charlop-Cristy, Morris, & Lancaster (2003) study. Particularly we trained generalization skills using multiple exemplar training. A pre-post design was implemented. Initially a pre-assessment with the Basic Language and Learning Skills Revised (ABLLS-R) was conducted to select the participant. During the pretest phase the Sally and Anne task was conducted to evaluate the perspective taking skills. Then participant was trained on the perspective-taking using the hide and seek and smarties tasks with different stimuli followed by generalization training and posttest. The dependent variable was perspective taking skill as measured by the performance on different trials with the two experimental tasks presented randomly. During training the participant was exposed to the video that contain the two tasks with the different stimuli; then the correct response was modeled by the experimenter followed by participants independent response. The criterion for training was 80% in both tasks. Immediately after the participant was exposed to the generalization test with a new set of stimuli. Finally a posttest was presented to evaluate the perspective-taking skills. Preliminary results replicated LeBlanc et al. (2003) study. In the conclusion we discuss the findings of the study and the benefits on multiple exemplar training for perspective-taking skills.

There are a variety of communication devices shown to be effective for increasing the (functional/adaptive) communication of individuals with developmental disabilities. However there is little research investigating how to identify an individuals preference for a specific communication modality. The current study examined methods for determining preference between three picture-based communication systems (i.e., pictorial communication board, electronic communication system, and functional communication cards) for an adolescent diagnosed with autism; the participant had no prior history of communicating independently with the devices. Initially, a multielement design was used to evaluate the participants levels of independent responding for each modality; following communication training sessions the devices were offered concurrently to evaluate preference when response effort was low (i.e., required only one step to receive reinforcement). After the participant showed variability in responding for selecting each device, the level of response effort was increased (i.e., required two steps to receive reinforcement) for each device, and the communication devices were again offered concurrently to evaluate how the participant distributed his responding. With the response effort increase the participant showed a clear preference for one communication device. Findings and limitations as they related to identifying preferences for communication devices among individuals with disabilities are discussed.

We evaluated the effects of a punishment based behavior intervention to reduce the frequency of oral self-stimulation including various topographies (i.e. mouthing non-edible objects and body parts) with four children diagnosed with severe developmental delays. Prior to the intervention, baseline data indicated all four subjects were engaging in a high frequency of mouthing behavior. This study used an oral taste aversion behavior intervention to reduce the frequency of oral self-stimulation. The punishment procedure included swiping the inside bottom lip with natural taste aversive substances- using a multiple baseline across subjects design. The data shows that with the intervention in place, the frequency of the mouthing behavior significantly decreased to lower levels. This gave evidence to suggest that the taste aversion intervention effectively functioned as a form of punishment, reducing oral self-stimulatory behavior in the form of mouthing. This study did not take into account the systematic altering of the natural taste aversives or alternative methods of delivery.

Students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) showed some difficulties about social interaction especially the emotional expression. In recent year, some researchers argued that no difference between students with ASD and students with typical development in the emotion understanding tasks. We thought that students with ASD were not reinforced to express emotion words in daily situation. In this study, two students with ASD participated, who had difficulties to express emotion words. We developed some four-frame cartoons included change of feeling situation. These students were required to tact each frame as many as they could. In training phase, we introduced (1) the list of emotion words as prompt, and (2) the graph that shows the number of emotion words they said. As results, all students said more emotion words about four-frame cartoon in probe than baseline. Moreover, the number of new emotion words that are not included in the list was increased.

This multiple baseline design across participants study uses a prompting hierarchy intervention to increase responses to protodeclarative joint attention bids in young children with autism. The discrete trial intervention, as described in Whalen and Schreibman (2003), occurs during unstructured time where the childs attention is directed toward an object with which they are not currently engaged. Ten prompting levels are utilized, including putting the childs hand on object, tapping object, showing object, pointing to object and having the child follow a gaze toward the object with and without a verbal prompt. Baseline data were collected for two weeks prior to intervention, and a minimum of 8 data points for each prompting level was collected for each participant. During baseline, rates of responding ranged from 63-100% accuracy, with a mean of 90.6% accuracy across all participants for the highest-prompted condition. For the gaze-directed, least-prompted condition, rates of responding ranged from 0-25% accuracy, with a mean of 2.7% accuracy. Preliminary analysis of intervention data shows increased successful joint attention across prompting levels when reinforcement is incorporated. Interrater reliability and generalization with the childs natural caregiver data will be obtained prior to the conclusion of this study.

The current study investigates the occurrence of specific challenging behaviors evoked during treatment of children with autism as potential examples of adjunctive behavior. Adjunctive behavior has been defined as behavior maintained indirectly by reinforcement of another response class (Mace and Wacker, 1994) and has included characteristics such as excessive quantity and post-reinforcement temporal regularity (Reid and Staddon, 1982), being neither elicited nor directly reinforced (Kupfer, Allen, and Malagodi, 2008), but rather maintained indirectly by the typical controlling variables of another behavior, rather than by its own controlling variables (Foster, 1978). The goal of the current research project is to extend previous research by Lerman, Iwata, Zarcone, and Ringdahl (1994) and Dardano (1973). The current research used Progressive and Regressive Ratio schedules of reinforcement of a general academic task in order to examine the frequency of challenging/adjunctive behaviors (stereotypic or automatic reinforced behavior) as functionally related to both ratio requirements and inter-reinforcement times for a concurrent operant task. Results suggest that for two of three participants the criteria for adjunctive behavior were met in that frequency of challenging behavior was a direct function of the ratio requirements and challenging behaviors occurred predominately in the post-reinforcement period.

Abstract Oral hygiene is vital in promoting health especially for children with autism due to their preference for sweet things. If unchecked, this often leads to tooth decay. It is therefore important for the child to learn brushing teeth independently, as early as possible. In light of this, a tooth brushing program was prepared for a six year old child with autism. The purpose of this was to promote independence of tooth brushing. A task analysis was used, whereby the steps involved were broken down in a simple sequential order. The instructor went through the program and conducted a base line to assess the level of skill of the subject. A most to least prompt fading procedure was used. As the child progressed, the level of independence increased while physical assistance decreased. Through the study, it is observed that breaking down any learning program into steps, makes teaching and learning easier for both the instructor and the student. In addition, this form of learning promotes permanence, especially for autistic children, as their strengths lie in mastering patterns.

Prior research has shown video modeling to be an effective intervention for children with autism to increase a variety of skills. These include sociodramatic play, reciprocal conversation, imitative skills, and vocational skills. Recent technological advances, such as the IPad and IPod Touch, may increase access to video-modeling techniques because of their ease of use compared to older technologies such as VCR/video-tapes and DVDs. The current study used a multiple-baseline-across-participants experimental design to examine the effectiveness of presenting a video-model using the IPad to teach three children with autism to set the table. During baseline, an instruction was presented to Set the table. No further assistance was provided. During treatment, the instruction was delivered followed by prompts to navigate the IPad to watch a video of each target response. Prompts were faded across sessions. The results showed that video-modeling using the IPad was an effective means of increasing independent table-setting for each participant. The results are discussed in terms of transfer for stimulus control and prompt efficiency.

Token economies have wide support as an effective method for behavior change. With substantial research supporting the benefits of token economies, there has been little research to date on the delivery method of the tokens to the participants. In this study, a nine-year old female diagnosed with PDD-NOS received tokens under an established Behavior Intervention Plan. The five inappropriate behaviors aimed at reduction included non-compliance, tantrums, eloping, off-task passive behavior, and self-talk. An alternating treatment design was used with four conditions of varying token delivery: Full Attention (student self-delivered tokens), No Attention (student did not see or hear token delivery), Auditory Attention (student was verbally informed of token delivery), and Visual Attention (student was shown token board as tokens were delivered). It was found that the No Attention condition produced the most substantial behavior change as compared to the baseline condition, decreasing the occurrence of three of the five target behaviors. In the three other conditions, the behavior either increased or did not change. These results suggest that the method in which a token is delivered may have an impact on behavior targeted for change.

Children with asperger disorder have difficult for social interaction so as to be likely to have trouble with classmates in regular class situation (inclusive education). The purpose of this study was to examine effect of self- monitoring procedure to improvement inappropriate verbal behavior for aspergers child in regular class situation. A participant was a boy (eight years old) belonged to regular class. His problem behaviors were mainly inappropriate verbal behaviors during class (for example; abusive language and irregular language). In baseline, we observed his verbal behavior during class at his school. The observer was not known (unfamiliar person) by the participant. Then, we made a list of inappropriate verbal behaviors that had been observed in baseline. In self-monitoring condition, the participant evaluated his own verbal behavior and checked the list by himself after school every day. He was presented backup-reinforcer according to evaluation of his checked list by a therapist in clinical setting every two weeks. The verbal behavior during class observed the same procedure as baseline. As a result, inappropriate verbal behavior decreased in self-monitoring condition. We discussed the effect of specific target behavior checked by the participant, quick and simple making up the behavior list, and the effect of self-monitoring for complex verbal behaviors in inclusive education.