Association for Behavior Analysis International

Parent training models have been shown to improve effectiveness of intervention for individuals with autism (Leaf, Cihon, Weinkauf, Oppenheim-Leaf, Taubman, & Leaf, 2017). Research has shown that various types of support, education, and training improved skills of both caregivers and learners with autism across domains. This symposium will present further evidence of applying evidence-based practices to effectively train parents to implement intervention procedures with their children with autism. One symposium will focus on sleep training, while the other examines effects of latency of video modeling to train a parent to accurately implement teaching procedures. Data presented will support treatment outcomes for both parents and learners, and procedural details will be provided through the use of descriptions and videos. Discussions of implication of results as they related to sleep training and using video modeling to train parents, as well as future directions, will be included.

Effective parent training procedures require competent trainers, extensive training time, and often occur in clinic settings. Video modeling has successfully been used for staff and parent training across various skills (Catania, Almeida, Liu-Constant, & Reed, 2009; Vladescu, Carroll, Paden & Kodak, 2012; Hancock, Kaiser & Delaney, 2002). Despite its effectiveness, the literature is limited, necessitating a component analyses to determine variables essential for most effective and efficient training that yield to generalization of caregivers' skills. The purpose of this study was to implement video modeling to train a grandparent to accurately teach new skills to her grandson with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Additionally, effects of increasing latency between watching the video model and implementing the teaching procedure on grandparent's accuracy of implementation in the home environment were studied. A multiple-baseline design across 4 skills was used to train a grandparent to teach reading, spelling, adding, and copying to a 5-year old. Data indicate increase in caregiver's performance and child's acquisition across skills. Generalization probes, treatment integrity, and social validity data will be presented.

Disturbances in sleep patterns for individuals with autism are commonly reported (Sweeney & Botts, 2008). Issues reported by caregivers include sleeping in bed with the child, frequent night waking, and higher rates of challenging behaviors due to lack of sleep. The purpose of this study was to enhance the establishing operations and discriminative stimuli for behavioral quietude and to weaken the contingencies for sleep-interfering behavior (Piazza & Fisher, 1991). An individualized treatment package was developed based on Jin, Hanley, & Beaulieu (2013). Components of the intervention included three antecedent strategies: reducing sleep onset latency by establishing a bedtime corresponding to natural sleep patterns; a period of highly stimulating activities (e.g. access to physical/verbal attention in the form of game play, screen time), followed by a period of quietude (bedtime routine including shower, tooth brushing and story time). Specific procedures/responses to sleep-interfering behaviors will be discussed. Data indicate a stable trend for sleep onset latency, and decreasing trend of duration.

Behavior analysts are frequently trained to implement specific procedures found within behavioral and educational journals. However, practitioners frequently encounter situations that do not exactly apply to this literature base. This panel will discuss how to ethically apply the science of behavior analysis using an evidence-based practice model focused on clinical expertise, the individual client, and the best available research. Panelists will discuss how they have successfully applied this model to address common barriers to learning such as weak motivation, escape maintained challenging behavior, prompt dependence, and developing instructional control. Each panelist has significant experience and expertise with applying the science of behavior analysis as a whole and determining the most effective intervention for each client based on the methods and principles of this science as opposed to broadly and generically applying popular procedures with each client. Audience members will be given the opportunity at the end of the panel to ask the panelists for their expertise in ethically addressing common barriers to learning.

This panel is most appropriate for intermediate level or higher behavior analysts who have been practicing for several years and wish to learn more about how to enhance the scientific application of behavior analysis within the practitioner setting.

The current symposium examines procedures for teaching social skills to children with autism and related disorders, including the utilization of group reinforcement contingencies, behavioral skills training, curriculum-based instruction, and the establishment of rules. The first paper is a data-based discussion regarding the use of an interdependent group contingency to increase the social interactions and motor skills of children with autism spectrum disorder and their typically developing peers during indoor rock climbing sessions. The second presentation examines the efficacy of behavioral skills training and group contingencies to teach various social skills to elementary-aged boys diagnosed with autism in a clinic setting. The third paper presents outcome data on the utility of curriculum-based, group training targeting age-appropriate social skills for children diagnosed with autism and related disorders. The second and third papers also will address data collection and experimental design challenges that may be encountered during group service delivery. The fourth paper is a literature-review, which will discuss recent research on rule-governed behavior in applied settings.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts, Registered Behavior Technicians, students in the field of ABA or related disciplines

Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often less physically active and involved in the community than their typically developing peers. This is a concern given the many detrimental outcomes of a sedentary lifestyle, as well as the consideration that individuals with ASD may face challenges with many forms of physical activity. Indoor rock climbing may be a good option for children with ASD due to the sport's physical and social characteristics. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to examine the effects of an interdependent group contingency on the social interactions of children with ASD and their typically developing peers. The dependent variable was the rate of positive, negative, and neutral social interactions between the participant and peer; the independent variable was the group contingency, wherein reinforcement was provided for the participant and peer reaching predetermined climbing goals. The participant's motor proficiency was also measured. Results suggest that participants engaged in more positive and neutral social interactions during the interdependent group contingency, and a brief reversal showed some generalization to a new peer in the absence of the group contingency.

Children diagnosed with autism generally present with deficits in social skills, including talking and playing with peers, making eye contact, and appropriately responding to the emotions and preferences of others (Centers for Disease Control, 2017). Behavioral skills training (BST) and group contingencies are evidence-based interventions used in treatment (Hood et al., 2017; Peter & Thompson, 2015; Speltz et al., 1982). Six males diagnosed with autism participated in an eight-week social skills group in which BST (i.e., oral instructions and rules, adult modeling, and practice with feedback) and interdependent and independent group contingencies were used to teach a variety of social skills. Most participants mastered the skills taught and all participants demonstrated improvements on a post-intervention skill assessment. Social validity questionnaires completed by the children's parents demonstrated that parents thought the group was helpful for their child and resulted in meaningful progress. Issues and limitations associated with using group contingencies with young children, forming social skills groups based on client age and skill-level, and employing experimental designs in a service-delivery setting will also be discussed.

Many individuals who demonstrate social delays participate in structured "play groups." Some play groups claim to target the development of social skills, but often are unstructured or over-reliant on contrived training opportunities. Unlike typical play groups, more formalized programs that aim to improve age-appropriate skills, are supported by Regional Centers and insurance agencies in California. There is a paucity of research on outcomes for these programs, however, and limited information about the extent to which they measure progress, promote generalization or maintenance, and provide caregiver training. Curriculum-based, group social skills training seeks to address these concerns across various domains including: having or joining conversations, using social media and the internet, or dealing with bullies. The purpose of this presentation will be to review the progress of 12 individuals with autism or related disorders who partook in a curriculum-based, group social skills program. Participants ranged in age from 6 to 16 years and demonstrated significant social delays. Outcome data from four groups will be presented, and the variables associated with group contingencies and rule governance also will be discussed.

A substantial amount of evidence from basic research has shown that rules can effectively control behavior, even when they conflict with actual contingencies of reinforcement. However, relatively few studies have evaluated rule-governed behavior in applied settings. This presentation consists of a literature review of research on rule-governed behavior in applied settings. The effects of interventions incorporating rule-governed behavior will be discussed, as well as their potential for creating behavior change that is generalized across populations and settings. Given the potential power of rules, it is surprising that rule-governed behavior has not received more attention in the empirical literature. The presentation concludes with recommendations for both practitioners and researchers.

The subdiscipline of behavioral science known as "operant behavioral economics" (hereafter termed simply "behavioral economics") integrates concepts from microeconomic theory and behavior analysis. Behavioral economics provides scientists, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers with unique insights into motivation and reinforcer efficacy. Of particular noteworthiness is the influence of behavioral economics in the domains of addiction, behavioral pharmacology, and empirical public policy. Central to behavioral economics' success is its unique demand curve analysis that quantifies the degree to which an organism/agency defends its baseline rate of consumption of a target commodity (i.e., its blisspoint). Recent advances in data collection for demand curve studies, as well as the quantitative modeling and analysis of subsequent data, have advanced both the theoretical interpretations and practical applications of behavioral economic principles. This symposium highlights these recent advances in both data collection for and quantitative analyses of demand curves. Contributors will provide data-based recommendations for best practices in this line of research.

Advanced; Researchers with an interest in behavioral economics or quantitative analysis.

In the application of behavioral economic principles to issues of societal importance, a critical unit of analysis is unit elasticity—termed Pmax—which represents the price value at which inelastic demand shifts to elastic. The Pmax price point may thereby serve as a target price for excise taxation, price regulation boundaries, or understanding how consumers value commodities against real-world market prices. Quantifying Pmax is dependent on quantification of demand to generate demand curve parameters. Recent advances in demand analysis have yielded competing models of demand, but the extent to which these models influence Pmax has not yet been explored—this is particularly alarming given the proliferation of Pmax applications to inform federally funded projects tasked with informing regulatory policy. This study extracted existing data from seminal articles containing demand curves for substances of abuse. The exponential and exponentiated demand models were used to generate best-fit parameter values, which were input into Hursh's (2014) exact Pmax equation, as well as slope-based Pmax values independent of a theoretical model of unit elasiticty. We identified alarming discrepancies in Pmax across the exponential and exponentiated models, suggesting the field must address modeling issues before proceeding with applying these analyses to inform policy-level decisions.

The alcohol purchase task has been considered a gold standard tool for measuring demand for alcohol. Although different alcohol purchase tasks have been used in many experimental studies, there is no research on the procedural differences between the different versions of alcohol purchase tasks that have been used to measure demand. The present study sought to examine the extent to which market price anchor placement in purchase task price sequences influence demand. We recruited 298 participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete an alcohol purchase task with four different possible price sequences. Price sequences represented standard, left, right, or center placement of market values. We stratified participants across the four different price sequences. Nonsystematic data were removed (trend: 8.7%; bounce: 3.0%; reversals from zero: 3.6%); we analyzed remaining data using exponential and exponentiated demand equations. Exponential analyses indicate no significant differences in demand between responses in any of the four price sequences; whereas exponentiated analyses indicate a significant difference between groups. This research is valuable in considering how purchase tasks are used to inform public policy and used to guide creation of clinical scales for alcohol demand. Implications for best practice will be discussed.

Behavioral economic demand offers a multi-dimensional evaluation of drug reinforcement and abuse liability. However, generating demand curves with self-administration is time consuming and costly. Human researchers sometimes use hypothetical drug purchasing tasks as quick, cost-efficient alternatives, in which a participant self-reports how many units of a described drug he/she would purchase at a range of prices. Two limitations of typical purchasing tasks are: 1) commodities are described rather than experienced, and 2) inability to control for expectancy (placebo effect). We developed the Double-Blind Drug Purchasing Task, a hybrid task in which we administered drugs and placebos in separate double-blind sessions. Participants then made hypothetical purchase decisions at the conclusion of each session in reference to the drug/placebo administered. We administered this task to 56 users of either cocaine, methamphetamine, or alcohol. Drug purchasing decreased reliably as an orderly function of price. Drug was reliably purchased more than placebo. Elasticity tended to be negatively correlated with clinically relevant variables: money spent on drug and use frequency. Ongoing research is comparing the novel task against operant laboratory demand methods in tobacco users purchasing/earning cigarettes. The DBPT may serve as an efficient method for determining drug demand under pharmacologically rigorous, placebo-controlled conditions.

Function-based treatments for problem behavior are well studied using single-subject designs, but there is less research using larger samples. While single-subject designs are an important cornerstone of behavior analysis, larger sample sizes allow us to answer different questions and disseminate results to novel audiences. Two of the studies in this symposium analyze resurgence and relapse in clinical populations. These concepts are well studied in basic research but the prevalence in applied settings is unclear. These studies used consecutive-case review designs to answer this question and identify the prevalence in patients undergoing treatment for problem behavior. The third study also used a consecutive case series design to analyze treatment results for inappropriate sexual behavior, which is an incredibly problematic, but understudied, topography. By using a large-N design, the researchers were able to assess treatment efficacy in a format that easily disseminates to professionals outside of our field. The last talk focuses on a literature review for automatically-maintained problem behavior. In using this large sample found in past research, they identified trends in assessment that may predict the types of treatment components necessary. The implications of use of large-N designs in these projects allowed for solving novel and important research questions.

Professional clinicians and researchers in the field of psychology and behavior analysis who work with children who engage in problem behavior. I also believe this presentation qualified for psychology CEUS (PSY), but this was not an option listed above.

A consecutive controlled case-series design (Hagopian, Rooker, Jessel, & DeLeon, 2013) was used to examine resurgence of problem behavior during implementation of a multiple schedule of reinforcement and during subsequent thinning steps. Multiple schedules signal the availability of reinforcement by correlating a unique stimulus with the presence or absence of reinforcement following a targeted response (Saini, Miller, Fisher, 2014). Resurgence was defined as the occurrence of problem behavior at a rate that exceeded levels observed during baseline or the prior multiple-schedule thinning step in at least one of the next 10 sessions (Volkert, Lerman, Call, & Trosclair-Lasserre, 2009). Data were collected from clients of an intensive day treatment program over an eight year period whose treatment for problem behavior included a multiple schedule component. Resurgence was coded after the multiple schedule was introduced and following each subsequent thinning step. Data were collected on a variety of different participant characteristics including: age, topography of problem behavior(s) (e.g., aggression, self-injury, pica), and confirmed function(s) of problem behavior. Implications for thinning the schedule of reinforcement in a multiple schedule will be discussed.

This study used a consecutive controlled case-series design (Hagopian, Rooker, Jessel, & DeLeon, 2013) to examine the prevalence of renewal when treatments for problem behavior were generalized. Renewal is defined as the reemergence of a previously extinguished response when the stimulus context changes (Kelley, Liddon, Ribeiro, & Greif, 2015). For example, when renewal is applied to the treatment of problem behavior, problem behavior is initially observed in the home. Next, treatment is implemented in a different setting and problem behavior decreases or extinguishes. Finally, when treatment is generalized back to the home, problem behavior may reemerge. This treatment relapse effect has significant implications for clinicians generalizing treatments for problem behavior. Data were analyzed from all clients over a six year period who were admitted to a day treatment program for the treatment of problem behavior. Renewal was coded if problem behavior was observed at a rate in the first 10 sessions in the new stimulus context higher than that of the 10 sessions preceding generalization. Data were also collected on participant and treatment characteristics including: topography(s) of problem behavior, identified function(s) of problem behavior and treatment components. Implications for the treatment of problem behavior and generalization are discussed.

The research in behavioral gerontology is a small but important line of behavior-analytic research. A growing aging population with growing prevalence of diagnosed neurocognitive disorder means that this line of research is essential, and will help to identify the role that applied behavior analysis can play in treatment of behaviors associated with neurocognitive disorder. Successful treatment should result in increased quality of life for older adults diagnosed with the disorder. This symposium will include four talks across a range of topics including: Topic 1: Mand training for an older adults with a communication deficit Topic 2: The Effects of Reinforcement and Extinction on Responding by Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment Topic 3: Maintenance of matching-to-sample performance in a woman with neurocognitive disorder Topic 4: Reducing inappropriate spitting in an older adult with vascular dementia

The effects of extinction have been demonstrated in community dwelling older adults (Plaud, Plaud, & Duvillard, 1999), but to date, the effects of extinction have not been empirically demonstrated for older adults with neurocognitive disorder. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine whether withdrawal of a reinforcer from a previously reinforced behavior would result in behavior change for this population. Preferred stimuli (pictures) were identified prior to implementation through use of a preference assessment followed by reinforcer assessment. The effects of the schedules were assessed with a computer program on a tablet PC. Conditions were signaled by the presentation of various shapes along with the buttons. The effects of reinforcement were compared with extinction and/or non-contingent reinforcement schedules. The experimental arrangement consisted of a presentation of two buttons that (a) would activate a preferred picture; (b) produce nothing (in the extinction condition); or (c) produced nothing (but pictures were available on a time-based schedule). These data will be discussed with respect to the implications for both basic and applied research. This study is a replication of a previous study conducted by Baker, Seefeldt, Hathaway, Fairchild, Hood, Beattie, and Ringdahl (2013).

In the present study an 89-year old woman with the neurocognitive disorder, Alzheimer disease, participated. The purpose of the experiment was to study stimulus control issues and to study how the relations between stimuli were maintained over time. The participant was presented for different types of sorting tests and matching-to sample (MTS) training and tests for emergent relations. The stimuli used were pictures of her relatives, their names, and their family relation. Furthermore, the participant was presented for two follow-up tests. The first follow-up test nine months later including sorting tests. In the second follow-up, the participant was presented for both MTS training and tests, as in the conditions she was presented for one year earlier. The results from the follow-up tests showed that the percentage of correct sorting of stimuli decreased as a function of time. However, the results from the MTS training were maintained in the second follow-up condition.

In the presence of neurocognitive impairment, older adults often engage in behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD; verbal or physical aggression, wandering). To address these behaviors, researchers have implemented behavioral interventions to reduce BPSD (Baker, Hanley, & Mathew, 2006; Buchanan & Fisher, 2002); however, no study has implemented an intervention to reduce inappropriate spitting. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to reduce the frequency of spitting on the floor during meals. The participant was a 74-year old male diagnosed with vascular dementia and as deaf. Results from an antecedent functional analysis demonstrated a higher rate of spitting per minute when the participant had access to food and drink in the dining room. The effects of the intervention were evaluated using a reversal design. During this presentation, we will discuss the results and the clinical implications of this study.

Older adults diagnosed with neurocognitive disorder often have difficulties with communication. There is a growing literature base that is applying Skinners analysis of verbal behavior to remediate communication deficits among older adults with neurocognitive disorders. Previously, researchers have evaluated intervention strategies aimed at teaching this population picture-based (Trahan,Donaldson, McNabney, and Kahng, 2014) as well as vocal mands (Oleson & Baker, 2014). The efficacy of such training is likely predicated on identifying an existing repertoire or teaching a new repertoire to engage in the mand response. In the current study, we, sought to teach mands to an older adult with neurocognitive disorder. He was diagnosed as deaf, but had never been taught sign language. Additionally, he was reported to have no communicative responses as a result of a traumatic brain injury. During this presentation, we will discuss and review data on the assessment process that helped identified repertoires that we could then use for mand training. This presentation will also focus on the clinical implications for verbal behavior assessments that can inform interventions for older adults with neurocognitive disorders.

As demand grows for behavior analytic services so do requirements and standards from various stakeholders. Attracting, onboarding and retaining front-line staff is becoming increasingly complex. Given all of the relevant standards and expectations BCBAs/BCaBAs are expected to be familiar with (both within the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's [BACB's] scope and those of external groups), service provider organizations are uniquely positioned to provide support to their own team members. This group of professionals in Behavior Analysis, business and Human resources will review the successful implementation of recruiting, onboarding and credentialing Registered Behavior Technicians.

Behavior Analyst that oversees training and onboarding processes

Hiring and retaining talent is critical to the success of every organization. We have all heard the phrase "The War on Finding Talent" but we are fighting an even bigger war within our organizations in trying to keep our talent. When an employee becomes disengaged, they are less productive and start to look elsewhere for job satisfaction. Although turnover is inevitable, there are preventative strategies we can implement to reduce "agency hopping" and increase our employee tenure. Do you know which of your employees are engaged and committed to your organization? Do you have a plan for those who are not? It's more efficient to retain a quality employee than recruit, train, and orient a replacement. We will identify key drivers of employee engagement, retention and performance and develop a loyal and committed workforce. This presentation will give you 5 strategies you can implement immediately to increase engagement, decrease turnover, and maximize your contributions positively to your bottom-line.

Chair: Laurie Tarter, Psy.D., BCBA Presenters: Karelix Alicea, M.S., BCBA, Janet Vasquez, M.S., BCBA, Kimberly Woolery, M.S., BCBA Behavior analytic service delivery not only involves the participation of the client, but their parents and caregivers as well. There are several factors that impact the outcome of Applied Behavior Analysis services for clients. Some factors include various parenting styles, the level of buy-in, and the caregivers' willingness and availability to participate in Applied Behavior Analysis sessions. The panel will discuss the paramount role of parents and other caregivers within the Applied Behavior Analysis service delivery system from several different perspectives, including business policies, ethical considerations, method of service delivery (i.e., in-vivo vs. telehealth) and also incorporating the family systems perspective. Each panel member will address and present on a particular area of expertise, all while sharing personal stories and insights on their challenges and triumphs in working with caregivers in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis.

The target audience are those who supervise ABA programs for clients with caretakers or parents. It will also target those who might run an ABA agency from a business standpoint.

According to Gartner research, 5.5 million new devices will connect every day this year and contribute to the Internet of Things (IoT). An estimated 6.4 billion IoT devices were expected to be used globally in 2016 alone. With forecast estimates of up to 20.8 billion IoT devices by 2020, analytics and data science professionals will need new and improved tools to explore and make sense of these massive datasets. Similarly, Goldman Sachs reports that VR software development for healthcare alone is set to reach revenues of approximately $5.1 billion by 2025 and market adaptability set to begin at the enterprise level. Two areas that will be of importance to the world, and arguably the future of behavior analysis, are artificial intelligence and machine learning. Behavioral Science can contribute immensely towards these areas given our reliance on a coherent and systematic approach to philosophy, theory, experimental analysis, and practical applications to real-world issues. This panel seeks to address the potential avenues to pursue this future. The presenters will discuss their personal views and promising avenues for pursuit. Following will be an open discussion with attendees on inviting other perspectives and future directions and implications for the scientist-practitioner.

There are multiple health concerns linked to a poor diet and lack of physical activity, including diabetes and heart disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Furthermore, in the United States, people are failing to meet dietary and physical activity guidelines at an alarming rate. The field of Behavior Analysis has conducted some research to increase healthy eating and exercise but more work is needed. The current symposium will present recent advances in this area, including optimal uses of goal setting and reinforcement contingencies for exercise and utilizing gamification and stimulus exposure to increase healthy food selection and consumption. First, Hernandez et al. will present on the differential impact of a negative reinforcement contingency versus goal setting on step count. Peck's study will also target step count, but with adults with a mental health disability, and evaluate the effects of daily goal setting and positive reinforcement. The third study by Assemi et al. looks at healthy food selection, specifically at the effects of health information on shopping behavior and implicit and explicit measures of verbal responding. Finally, the study by Chavira et al., evaluates the effects of gamification and taste exposure on elementary school children's preference for and consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts and others working with adults or children on improving physical activity or healthy eating

In general, American adults understand that physical activity is good for their health, yet it has been estimated that less than 5% of adults actually meet CDC recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, an exertion level equivalent of a brisk walk. Contingencies that promote problematic behaviors make it difficult for individuals to engage in behavior that would benefit them in the long term. Thus, the application of contingency management strategies in which immediate consequences for healthy behaviors are contrived to compete with problematic competing contingencies, may be effective in increasing behaviors that produce positive cumulative effects. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of experimenter funded negative reinforcement contingency contracts and feedback with a goal setting with feedback intervention. A Fitbit Zip device was used to measure the frequency of daily step total goals met. Goals were individualized and calculated by averaging the steps taken during a screening period increased by a negotiated percentage of a minimum of 20-25% in experiment 1, and a minimum of 50% in experiment 2. Results indicated that participants met their daily step goals more often and on average had higher daily step counts during the contract condition. These findings support the use of negative reinforcement monetary contracts in physical activity interventions.

One of the greatest threats to the well-being of mentally-disabled adults is their sedentary lifestyles. In fact, approximately half of all individuals living in community settings do not engage in any type of regular leisurely physical activity (Draheim, Williams, & McCubbin, 2002). As such, research is needed to help increase activity engagement among this population. In 2014, LaLonde et al. increased daily steps of young adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder using goal-setting and contingent incentives. The current study aimed to replicate LaLonde et al. (2014)'s findings, and increase the daily steps of six adult individuals with a mental health disability. These adults ranged in age from 25-80 years. Participants were each given Fitbit tracking device, and tools to assist with tracking steps and preserving the Fitbit. After a baseline period with no goal in place, researchers set a goal based on each individual's average steps per day during baseline. Intervention consisted of setting a daily step goal, and then providing a reward and increasing the goal by ten percent each time it was met. Results showed that the majority of participants were able to double their average steps per week during the course of the study.

Our understanding of the development of simple and conditional discriminations has accelerated over the last two decades because of innovations in the procedures we use to arrange and study behavior-environment interactions. This symposium presents four more examples of innovations in the study of stimulus control. The first paper, by Braaten and Arntzen, describes the development of selective attention during identity matching training with compound stimuli. The results document the development of selective attention under different training conditions. The second paper, by Ayres-Pereira and Arntzen, examines the effects of two different training structures on the development of large (9-member) stimulus equivalence classes. They report that training structures are differentially effective in producing equivalence relations. The third paper, by Niland and Vaidya, asks if common reinforcers in two-term, stimulus-reinforcer and response-reinforcer, arrangements are sufficient to produce emergent simple discriminations. The results are related to Sidman's theory of equivalence relations. Finally, the fourth paper, by Wiist and Vaidya, asks if differential outcome procedures are more or less effective than nondifferential outcomes in establishing audio-visual conditional discriminations in children with diagnoses of ASD. The results are interpreted in terms of Sidman's theory of equivalence relations.

This experiment compared the outcomes of two training structures, One-to-Many (OTM) and Many-to-One (MTO), on the emergence of three 9-member equivalence classes in college students. Forty-two adults participated in the experiment, half of them were exposed to the MTO and the other half to the OTM training structure. Both groups trained 24 baseline relations and were tested for the emergence of 192 derived relations under a simultaneous protocol. The OTM group trained the baseline relations AB, AC, AD, AE, AF, AG, AH, and AI, and the MTO group trained BA, CA, DA, EA, FA, GA, HA, and IA. The test evaluated the emergence of symmetrical and equivalence relations, and the maintenance of baseline relations. All participants responded in accordance with stimulus equivalence, wherein one showed delayed emergence after the MTO and three showed delayed emergence after the OTM training structure. Preliminary analysis did not show significant differences between groups in the average number of trials required to learn the baseline relations, but in the number of correct responses in the test (see Table 1). Participants in the MTO group scored significantly more in equivalence test trials, than participants in the OTM group.

By most accounts, a stimulus must be correlated with reinforcement for a response in order for the stimulus to acquire discriminative function; however, sometimes stimuli acquire control over responses which have never been reinforced in their presence. How and why does this occur? Morse and Skinner (1958) demonstrated that a stimulus can acquire some discriminative properties when a response-independent reinforcer is provided in its presence and later that same reinforcer is presented contingent on a specific response in the absence of that stimulus. The purpose of this study is to systematically replicate Morse and Skinner (1958) to explore the possibility of emergent simple discriminations with human subjects. Preliminary data from six subjects indicates that when the stimulus and response share a relation to a common element, response rate and resistance to extinction in the presence of that stimulus is greater than rate and resistance in the presence of a stimulus which does not share a common element with the response. These results lend themselves to a discussion of how and why some stimuli acquire discriminative function and provides some evidence for the argument that reinforcers and responses are members of the equivalence class and can facilitate emergent behavior.

The differential outcomes effect (DOE) refers to an observed increase in rates of acquisition of simple or conditional relations when the contingencies of reinforcement arrange for reinforcers to be uniquely correlated with a particular stimulus or response relative to conditions where the reinforcers are not uniquely correlated with either stimulus or response. This effect has been robustly documented in the literature with nonhuman subjects. This study asked whether the DOE would be observed with children with ASD learning audio-visual conditional relations. Two participants learned two sets of 3 audio-visual conditional relations. For one set, the training conditions arranged for each of the three conditional relations to be uniquely correlated with a particular reinforcing stimulus (hereafter, the DO condition). For the second set, the training conditions arranged for the same reinforcer to be used for all three audio-visual conditional relations (hereafter, the NDO condition). Early results show that audio-visual conditional relations were acquired faster under the DO condition relative to the NDO outcomes condition (accuracy in DO condition was 30.8% higher on average than in NDO condition). These data suggest that differential outcomes should be more thoroughly investigated with children with diagnoses of ASD.

Undergraduate student success and preparedness are top priorities in higher education. Behavior analysis has a clear home in the college classroom, but experimental analyses in this domain are relatively rare. The current symposium highlights several innovative approaches to the application of behavior analysis in the college classroom and presents data on their efficacy. First, Dr. Debra Berry Malmberg will provide an overview of the manner in which gamification was applied to a large, online course in the psychology major. Second, Jose Solares will present the outcomes of a study comparing a traditional online section to a gamified online section of that same online psychology course. Third, Dr. Kristy Park will present a study on group contingencies and the use of a digital scoreboard in a special education teacher preparation course. Fourth, Elizabeth Krulder will present a study evaluating the gamification of an electronic voting system in an undergraduate history of psychology course. The symposium will conclude with a discussion from Dr. Gregory Madden.

Despite the steady growth of online courses in higher education, debates persist regarding the impact of this platform on learner outcomes when compared to traditional face-to-face courses. Published research on this topic has occurred largely outside of the behavior analytic community. However, the incorporation of educational strategies rooted in behavior analysis undoubtedly influence the efficacy of online instruction. Gamification is one strategy based on behavioral principles that has been used in various contexts with great success (e.g., health, sustainability), though little research exists on its application in higher education settings. Gamification is using elements of games in non-game contexts, and we identified key elements of gamification that could be used in an online course: narrative, choice, levels, badges, goals, challenge, and enhanced feedback. In this project, we designed these elements within a learning management system to provide a gamified asynchronous online course. This presentation will review these applications and positive findings of social validity from students in the course.

This symposium will describe how behavior emitted by practitioners and their clients follows fundamental laws of behavior discovered in the basic laboratory. The presenters take a radical-behaviorist approach to explaining interesting behavior of their clients, as well as of themselves and other practitioners, in the context of applied practice. The purpose of this symposium is to illustrate the utility of conceptualizing behavior in terms of basic concepts, and of applying those concepts in conceptually systematic ways to applied problems. Such practices can lead to more efficient treatment and better outcomes for clients, yet many practitioners do not follow this approach. Instead, they use techniques based on topography and function, without necessarily considering the context in which behavior occurs, or they follow rules about techniques they should and should not use, such as differential reinforcement and punishment, respectively. Many practitioners are fluent in function-based approaches but do not consider behavioral concepts that are less salient for them, such as the Matching Law, conditioned motivating operations, complex schedules of reinforcement, adjunctive behavior, response generalization, and Skinner's (1953) analysis of emotion. Specific conceptualizations, applications, and case studies will be presented, and implications of a contextual, fundamental approach to practice will be discussed.

Masters-level and doctoral-level behavior analysts who are applied practitioners or who are interested in how basic concepts apply to human behavior; behavior analysts interested in basic, applied, and translational research; radical behaviorists

In 1960 Isaacs, Thomas, and Goldiamond used behavior-analytic techniques and chewing gum to get two "psychotic" patients to speak after 14 and 19 years of not speaking at all. The report was amazing, yet one behavior analyst reader reacted that there were a lot of limitations: there was no preference assessment or functional analysis or control over other variables in the environment. The authors had effected socially significant behavior change using behavioral techniques and gum, that likely improved the patients' lives immeasurably, yet the reader was concerned that they did not follow the rules that this reader had been taught to follow. This presentation will argue that going back to basics, to basic laboratory findings and to the early days of behavior modification, can significantly improve the practice of applied behavior analysis. Interesting behavior that is difficult to explain in a technological and conceptually systematic way will be conceptualized in terms of basic behavioral processes, and effective treatments based on that interpretation will be presented. The take-home point is that unexpected, inexplicable behavior is simple—it follows the laws of behavior. Sometimes it follows obscure laws and sometimes lots of them at the same time, but it is lawful nonetheless.

Philosophical doubt is one of the core attitudes upon which science should be based...and yet, we often hesitate to question what "is" within our field and science. The present symposium provides preliminary investigations to common practices within our field and provides analyses as to their viability in a field geared towards efficiency couched in evidence-based practice.

The target audience is RBTs and BCBAs who are beginner-moderate in their levels of experience specific to behavior-analytic practice.

Traditional video modeling and prompting accounts often supplement said interventions with stimulus and response prompts to promote the acquisition of some behavior. The present study investigated the extent to which video clip length alone impacts the acquisition of a novel skill via video prompting (i.e., in the absence of additional prompts). Results suggest that longer durations of clip length facilitated skill acquisition, yet gains were diminishing as the response requirement increased in the absence of additional prompts for four of four participants. The implications of video prompting are discussed.

Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) uses principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and applies it to the fields of business and industry. Within the human services field, there tend to be many skills deficits in direct support staff members. The use of strategies derived from behavior analysis and organizational behavior management can be applied to aid the performance of staff members within this field. In the current study, OBM strategies were used to increase daily data completion of several direct support staff members in an adult supported living organization in central Missouri. A multiple baseline across participants experimental design was utilized. Staff members increased daily data collection completion to near 100%, following antecedent and consequence interventions by behavioral staff members. Staff were provided with personally selected reinforcers for appropriate data completion. Keywords: organizational behavior management, human services, and direct support workers

The purpose of the study was to extend the research on Differential Negative Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DNRO). The procedure involved the removal of a stimulus (i.e., glasses in this case) contingent on the absence of a behavior that increases the probability of those alternative behaviors occurring in the future. Results indicate that the implementation of DNRO alone didn't facilitate acceptance of glasses-wearing behavior but required an additional reinforcement-based component to increase said behavior. The implications and viability of DNRO procedures alone are discussed.

Research has demonstrated that only roughly 63% of students beginning college complete a bachelors degree within 6 years (Berkner, He & Forrest Cataldi, 2002). Some proposed explanations of these data resort to blaming the types of students enrolled in college, stating that more high school students with lower achievement are being accepted into university settings (Berliner & Biddle, 1995). To better help educators, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U; 2007) specified goals and objectives for undergraduate educational outcomes. Behavior analysis poses a solution to this problem by offering a variety of methods that have demonstrated increases in academic achievement in higher education (Bernstein & Chase, 2013). The first presentation will focus on analyzing instructional content and arranging teaching strategies to promote concept learning in higher education. The second presentation will discuss the effects of SAFMEDS on college students performance as compared to practice multiple-choice questions, demonstrating one way to include fluency based instruction in the classroom.

The target audience for this symposium is any professional in the field of behavior analysis who is interested in or currently teaching behavior analysis, either at the university level or training level.

Techniques aimed at building fluency are thought to promote efficient learning and retention (Quigley, Peterson, Frieder, & Peck, 2017). One method for gaining fluency is a specialized method of studying flashcards called Say All Fast a Minute Every Day Shuffled (SAFMEDS). The aim of the current study was to evaluate the extent to which using SAFMEDS affected performance in a traditional college course. We compared exam grades of students assigned to study SAFMEDS to those of students assigned to practice multiple-choice questions. The participants were undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course on behavior principles. Students were assigned home and in-class practices of either SAFMEDS or multiple-choice questions, and they were graded on fluency and accuracy during in-class performances. Nearly three times as many students enrolled in the multiple-choice sections received low exam grades (D or F letter grades) compared to students enrolled in the SAFMEDS sections. These differences occurred despite no significant differences in the GPA or academic standing of participants across groups. This research demonstrated a meaningful outcome of using SAFMEDS with college students and presents one method for arranging fluency activities in a traditional college course.

More than five decades of research have documented the effectiveness of applied behavior analytic (ABA) treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The ABA service delivery industry has proliferated accordingly and various models of ABA treatment have been largely influenced by the research and practice sites where they originated. As clinical practices have spread, many traditional practices that have been components of larger models have maintained, regardless of whether research has shown those individual components to be crucial. This symposium brings together two presentations that reevaluate traditional practices and discuss directions for future research and practice. The first presentation, by Lisa Stoddard, discusses the concept of purpose-driven understanding at the level of the direct implementer ABA therapist. The second presentation, by Erin Herbe, is a program evaluation of the effects of transitioning from all-trials data collection to first trial data collection in a multiple baseline across three children with autism. The symposium concludes with a discussion by Dr. Amanda Adams.

Board certified behavior analysts working with children with autism and interested in staff training and data collection issues

Procedural integrity has been emphasized as a critical piece of applied behavior analysis (ABA) service delivery and research, since the beginnings of our field. Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968) emphasized the importance of ABA procedures being described with technological precision, so that they can be replicated by others. Accordingly, the need for consistency is almost universally emphasized when training entry-level ABA therapists. A common practice across service delivery agencies has been to train entry-level ABA therapists to implement treatment protocols with a high degree of precision but training entry-level therapists on the overall purpose of individual programs may be less common. This presentation will revisit this common practice and discuss potential strengths and limitations. A behavioral conceptual analysis will be made in terms of therapist attending behavior and what various training practices may inadvertently result in (e.g., therapists paying more attention to data collection than to the teaching interaction, etc.). Potential directions for research and practice will be discussed.

The symposium will outline a brief history of behavior analysis and emphasize the broad scope of its philosophy, its science, and its practice. While early behavior analysis aspired to find solutions for virtually all matters of human concern, modern behavior analysis has been subdivided into clinical, applied, and basic domains, and current research and training of behavior analysts tend to be focused on service provision in autism spectrum and other developmental disorders. Consequences of such narrow training will be discussed, first in terms of curriculum design and training missions, and then in terms of the practical implications of narrow training. To preserve ABAI's mission to contribute to the wellbeing of society, behavior analysts need training consistent with the regulatory frameworks supporting a broad scope of practice and the tools necessary to effectively address contextual factors that impact science and practice with diverse populations. The symposium is relevant to students, practitioners, and researchers who have an interest to train, practice, or study the philosophy and the science of behavior analysis broadly.

The symposium is relevant to students, practitioners, and researchers who have an interest to train, practice, or study the philosophy and the science of behavior analysis broadly.

While behavior analysis can be applied to all areas of human concern, it is difficult for behavior analysts to obtain training consistent with professional standards and regulations that govern working with clinical presentations other than Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (IDD). It is a tragic irony that the majority of evidence-based behavior therapies for psychological disorders have their roots in behavior analysis, yet it is rare for Association for Behavior Analysis International or Behavior Analyst Certification Board accredited training programs to produce graduates eligible to legally and ethically use these therapies. These training limitations reflect the failure of early leaders in our field to track professional practice metacontingencies, and it will take a substantial and coordinated effort by the behavior analysis community to realign our training programs with the demands of the regulatory environment. An overview of the regulatory landscape for broad scope of practice service provision will be provided and the essential elements of training programs for behavior analysts to be qualified to work in diverse settings and diverse clients as clinical psychologists will be described. Changing training programs will come at great cost, but will be necessary for behavior analysis to thrive beyond ASD and IDD.

In 1967, the year of the Detroit riots, Martin Luther King Jr. emphasized that behavioral science plays a role in social movements. He challenged attendees of the American Psychological Association's annual conference to examine their assumptions about what constitutes "maladjustment" in social conditions that demand change rather than complacency. He asked whether a failure to adjust might not be the contextually appropriate response. More than half a century later, we propose it is time for behavior analysts to heed MLK's call and investigate how social contingencies might influence and skew our views of "inappropriate" or "maladaptive" behavior and inadvertently perpetuate assumptions or practices that are inconsistent with the science and the philosophy of behavior analysis. Unexamined assumptions might affect how we treat people with marginalized identities, among them older adults and people with disabilities, people with persistent mental health diagnoses, women, ethnic and racial minorities, members of the LGBT community, and people with lower socioeconomic status. We suggest that broad training in behavior analysis is required to safeguard the field's humanism, and we will give clinical/applied examples to support our argument.

Prompt-dependency is a common problem amongst individuals with developmental disabilities. Individuals who are “prompt-dependent” often appear to simply wait to be prompted rather than engaging in the target behavior, regardless of the power of the reinforcement available to them for completing said behavior. Because practitioners cannot simply allow the individuals they work with to wait indefinitely, prompting often becomes a necessary component in these situations. In this symposium, presenters will posit that we should re-examine the way that we look at prompts and instead of only treating them as an antecedent to the target behaviors, should also explore their impact as a consequence for the behaviors occurring during this “active-waiting” period. Is it possible that the prompts being used to encourage the performance of a target behavior are actually reinforcing the active-waiting behaviors that precede them? Presenters will discuss ways to analyze and treat prompts as consequential stimuli, or reinforcers, and the types of treatment procedures that may be informed by this re-labeling.

Practitioners

Prompt maintained behavior is a commonly reported concern for individuals receiving intervention services (Hume, Loftin, & Lantz, 2009). Reliance on adult prompts can contribute to poor long-term outcomes for adults with autism. This study will evaluate the use of signaled extinction (removal of adult prompts) with the use of a work alone card to promote independence and reduction of emotional responding during various activities in which the participant had demonstrated mastery. The intervention was selected following a functional analysis on prompt maintained behavior. Signaled extinction versus a control condition will be evaluated using multielement and reversal designs across different activities with an adolescent with autism in a school setting. The results are discussed in terms of the utility for adolescents and young adults with histories of prompt maintained behavior.

Traditionally behavior analysts have evaluated prompts in terms of their stimulus properties as antecedent stimuli that evoke a desired response. Indeed, Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2007) defines them as "supplementary antecedent stimuli used to occasion a correct response in the presence of an SD that will eventually control behavior" (p. 287). However, prompts, specifically their termination or presentation, can also be consequences of behavior. For example, the termination of prompts is often an element of the "demand" condition in functional analyses, which have been studied extensively (see Hanley, Iwata, & McCord, 2003 for a review). Moreover, prompts can be delivered as an element of error correction. However, research has not yet investigated whether prompts, apart from other procedures, can function as negative or positive reinforcers. Thus, the current set of experiments evaluates the effects of prompt presentation and termination on tantrum and choice behavior.

Recent graduates and current graduate students working out the world have found innovative ways to communicate the science of behavior with a large ranging audience. These are there stories.

undergraduates, graduate students, teachers, practitioners

The purpose of this symposium is to promote teaching the history of behavior analysis (HoBA) across the curriculum by giving it away. Many behavior-analytic curricula could be strengthened by teaching a stand-alone HoBA course or by systematically integrating HoBA with the content of other courses (e.g., on research methods, principles, application, theory, ethics). Few instructors, though, are historically trained to teach a stand-alone course or to integrate HoBA into their courses. This symposium is designed to help. It will consist of four presentations: (a) one on teaching HoBA as a course unto itself and one each on teaching HoBA in courses on (b) the conceptual foundations of behavior analysis (e.g., radical behaviorism), (c) the experimental analysis of behavior (i.e., basic principles, processes), and (d) applied behavior analysis (e.g., dimensions, interventions). The latter three presentations will address teaching HoBA as a one-week stand-alone unit in their courses and/or as integrated into the courses' other units (e.g., operationism, reinforcement, social validity). All four presentations describe assigned and recommended readings and rationales for including them. [Footnote: The symposium's title was inspired, in part, by George Miller's 1969 presidential address to the American Psychological Association.]

Instructors of behavior analysis courses wanting to integrate the history of behavior analysis into their curriculum and courses.

In recent years, emphasis has been placed on bringing the experimental and applied branches of behavior analysis together. Translational research helps to bridge the gap between basic and applied research. Translational research can take a number of forms, from extensions to humans and proof of concept research, to experimental analysis of applied practices to understand underlying mechanisms. The present symposium presents a range of studies from three different labs connected by the theme of translational research. Researchers will present work form the following areas: factors involved in token reinforcement effectiveness (Weyman), training structures that may reduce resurgence in differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (Diaz-Salvat), discrimination difficulty as a moderator for the effectiveness of the differential outcomes procedure, which uses specific reinforcement to enhance conditional discrimination learning (McCormack), and applications of the differential outcomes procedure to teach verbal behavior (Perez-Bustamante). These studies provide examples of research along the spectrum of translational research, consisting of extensions to humans, human operant studies, and clinical extensions of basic processes.

Pracitioners in ABA.

The differential outcomes procedure has been shown to enhance conditional discrimination learning in human populations, especially in clinical populations with learning or memory impairments. In animals, the effects of the procedure are more pronounced when subjects are pre-exposed to the stimulus-outcome pairings before training. In this study we compared the effects of pre-exposure to differential outcomes on tact acquisition of six primary school children with developmental disabilities. Differential outcomes pre-training was embedded in a receptive-to-expressive training structure similar to that used in early intensive behavioral interventions based on the UCLA model. That is, participants were exposed to the differential outcomes procedure prior to tact training via matching-to-sample listener training. Most participants showed faster acquisition of tacts when pre-exposed to the differential outcomes pairings, when compared to non-differential outcomes training. Additionally, participants also showed improved maintenance and generalization to a novel therapist. The study provides evidence for the effectiveness of the differential outcomes procedure in teaching verbal behaivour, as well as potential effectiveness of the differential outcomes procedure in teaching lasting and generalized behavior changed.

For decades, functional analysis and treatment has been the gold standard for identifying environmental causes of problem behavior and developing function-based treatments in human applied settings. While the extension of functional analysis and treatment of nonhuman animals is not new, it is also an area with unlimited opportunity for demonstrating species generality. This symposium presents data-based evidence of successful functional analysis, treatment, and extensions for compulsive behavior in a border collie, feather-plucking in a black vulture, and undesirable vocal behavior in a guinea pig. This symposium presents continued empirical evidence of the utility and feasibility of functional analysis and treatment to nonhuman species.

This symposium is geared toward any animal care professionals as well as professional behavior analysts working with animals (pets or exotics) or having an interest in applied behavior analysis in animals.

Feather plucking (FP) is a maladaptive behavior observed in captive avian species. This self-injurious behavior results in damage to and removal of feathers and skin tissue, resulting in animal welfare and financial consequences. The etiology and maintenance of FP have been hypothesized through medical and environmental processes, yet a definitive solution has not been found. The current study investigated the environmental variables maintaining the FP of a Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), as well as evaluated a function-based treatment for this behavior. The behavior was found to be maintained by positive reinforcement in the form of contingent attention. Treatment consisted of noncontingent reinforcement followed by schedule thinning to shape up a treatment schedule more compatible with caretaker's schedules. Results further demonstrate the validity of function-based assessment and treatment with captive animals.

In an initial study, a guinea pig's loud squeaking (sometimes called "wheeking") was subjected to a functional analysis assessment and treatment. Loud squeaking occurred in the presence of an auditory stimulus of the rustling of plastic bags followed by food pellet delivery. A functional analysis was inconclusive, but indicated a possible automatic function. Treatment involved differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) that led to progressive reductions in loud squeaking. In 1-year follow up probes, occurrences of loud squeaking following bag rustling remained low. Subsequently, loud squeaking began to occur in previously unobserved conditions (i.e., opening of the refrigerator door). The current study examined procedures to assess and reduce loud squeaking in the newly observed conditions. Results from the previous and current study, as well as the practitioner's experiences on assessing and treating non-human animal problem behaviors are discussed. Implications are also discussed, including extending applied technologies to guinea pig owners, increasing satisfaction with guinea pig ownership, and reducing surrenders. Additionally, procedures and results indicate utility for functional analysis and behavior interventions for non-humans in a home setting.

Early intervention literature recommends the use of pairing at the onset of treatment and as a component of ongoing therapy. Pre-session pairing is designed to function as an antecedent intervention to improve the therapeutic environment by decreasing interfering behavior during structured teaching (e.g., discrete trial teaching). Pre-session pairing consists of multiple types of interactions between a therapist and client in an unstructured format (e.g., play) and procedures are described as a therapist delivering preferred tangible items and/or activities to a client prior to introducing demands. Given the frequency with which pre-session pairing is utilized in clinical practice, the empirical support for the procedure is limited. It is currently unknown how pre-session pairing functions as an antecedent manipulation. The current symposium aims to further clarify the procedures effect on motivating operations and behaviors that are evoked by said motivating operations. The first study examined how pre-session pairing affects motivating operations for social positive and social negative reinforcement through the use of a progressive-ratio schedule. The second study examined how three therapeutic conditions (pre-session pairing, free play, and DTI-only) implemented as antecedent interventions can affect rates of acquisition of skills commonly targeted in early intervention programming.

Practitioners and individuals in academia are the target audience for this talk.

Quality of life may in part be measured by the extent to which our time is filled with satisfying work and leisure experiences. Development of independent broad leisure and vocational repertoires for individuals with developmental disabilities may require a range of interventions. This symposium will review a series of behavior analytic procedures used to enhance leisure and vocational repertoires and subsequently improve quality of life for individuals with ASD. The first paper will present on the effects of a procedure for transferring stimulus control over initiating leisure from a verbal directive to natural cues in the environment. The second paper will examine methods for increasing preference for leisure activities. The third presentation will review a case study in which behavior analytic technologies were used to produce job skills and ultimately to arrange for job placement. Clinical implications and areas for further research will be discussed.

BCBA's

Teaching leisure activities to mastery is an important first step in providing individuals with developmental disabilities with a broad-based leisure repertoire that can provide enrichment during periods of low structure. However, unless engaging with the newly acquired activity arranges new reinforcement, independent sustained participation in the activity may be unlikely absent arbitrary reinforcers. The purpose of the present study was to, in Study 1, evaluate whether teaching a leisure activity to mastery resulted in increased preference for the activity. Participants included two adolescent young men diagnosed with ASD. Preference was assessed using an engagement-based preference assessment, the Brief Response Restriction (BRR). If teaching the skill to mastery was ineffective at elevating preference for the activity we evaluated, in Phase 2, we evaluated the effect of embedding an existing reinforcer that would typically co-occur with the activity. We taught complex leisure skills to mastery for both participants and increased preference of all trained activities. Implications for development of broad-based leisure repertoires will be discussed. IOA was collected in 33% of sessions with an agreement score of 91%.

The job market provides unique challenges for individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as evidenced by poor outcomes with job placement (i.e., unemployment rates as high as 90%) and job compensation. Currently, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has provided limited contributions to more optimal outcomes, despite having an ideal technology. That is, there are a plethora of data showing the effectiveness of skill acquisition procedures pertaining to basic vocational skills (e.g., folding laundry, sweeping, envelope stuffing, etc.). By contrast, there is relatively little data on the effect of ABA therapy on job placement and job compensation. The purpose of this case study will be to outline how ABA technologies were utilized to establish both essential job skills (e.g., table setting, table cleanup, restaurant navigation, accepting feedback, etc.) and job placement for a 22-year-old male diagnosed with an ASD. Further, we will outline a model for managing the unique nature of job placement. The model provided will review employment matching, goal development, collaboration between service delivery teams, employee trainings, and transition planning. The outlined approach was shown to be successful across two job sites (i.e., a pizza shop and a coffee shop), as the participant has sustained employment with minimal support at the time of this study at both locations.

Behavior analysts shy away from addressing behaviors related to psychopathology, callousness and unemotionality, and anxiety. These diagnoses and their symptoms involve private events and are therefore difficult to operationally define, observe and measure. However, Friman and others have suggested that behavior analysts should not ignore these important areas because they will then be studied only by non-behaviorists. Unfortunately, non-behaviorists view aberrant behaviors in individuals with psychiatric disorders as symptoms of underlying constructs and use the diagnosis as a reason for these behaviors, proposing more global treatments such as therapies or medications. On the other hand, behaviorists view those behaviors as serving an environmental function that can be replaced with a more acceptable behavior serving the same function. The behavioral perspective would also include an analysis/understanding of establishing operations in the form of private events, physical sensations, bio-behavioral states, psychological feelings, covert tacts/mands and learning history with particular discriminative stimuli for reinforcement or punishment. The presenters in this symposium will present their analyses of these areas from a behavioral perspective and provide treatment strategies or research methodologies that are based on these analyses.

Behavior analysts, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, teachers, direct care staff, administrators

The development of anti-social behavior may be due to a decreased sensitivity to certain types of social reinforcement, as well as social punishment. One class of stimuli that is especially relevant to the development of prosocial interaction is signs of damage. Skinner proposed that aggression is primarily reinforced by inflicting harm, and that the reinforcement utility was learned, as well as innate. Signs of damage, such as screaming, crying, or the sight of bruises or blood, are said to function as such reinforcers. However, these signs typically occur at the end of a confrontation, and may instead be functioning as discriminative stimuli for preventing further attack. Interestingly, response similarities have been demonstrated between children with callous and unemotional (CU) traits, and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We consider work that has investigated the reactions to social reinforcement and signs of damage among children diagnosed with ASD and CU traits, and discuss the relevance with regard to the development of antisocial behavior, diagnostic classification, labeling, and treatment.

Up to 80% of children and youth with ASDs experience clinically significant anxiety (Leyfer, Folstein, Bacalmen, et al., 2006). Individuals with ASDs and comorbid anxiety are at increased risk for displaying externalizing behavior problems, social avoidance, and difficulties establishing/maintaining peer relationships across environments (Davis, Hess, Moree et al., 2011). New research is beginning to investigate the effectiveness or wearable biosensor devices to measure physiological indicators of stress and anxiety in naturalistic settings (Lakudzode & Rajbhoj, 2016). The purpose of this presentation is to describe how physiological information obtained from wearable devices can be used to alert clients or practitioners to the need for interventions and relaxation techniques aimed at recognizing the body's anxiety response. We will also provide case study examples to illustrate how these devices can be used to teach the individuals to self-regulate or use coping and/or relaxation strategies, which in turn could improve the ability of individuals to navigate life demands with greater effectiveness.

Technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate and is likely to continue to progress in a global society with high demands for efficiency. As technology evolves, new devices and new applications are emerging, which allow behavior analysts to develop more efficient, accessible, and personalized systems. The members of this panel bring considerable knowledge and experience in this content area and will advise on how various technologies (e.g., computer applications, e-learning, virtual reality, robotics, telehealth) can be leveraged to enhance application and dissemination of behavior analysis.

Behavior analysts that function as practitioners, supervisors, educators, innovators, and researchers.

This panel will consider the application of behavior analytic principles to clinical problems occurring in developmentally normal, free-feeding adolescent and adult clients. The members of this panel have investigated widening the scope of behavior analysis to attend to a broad range of philosophical and clinically important behaviors less frequently considered in our literature. While the panel will be conversational and include interaction with the audience, several important issues seem to merit discussion. Among those are concerns about the dramatic reduction in work on rule-governance or verbal control and how verbal control interacts with contingencies of reinforcement over time. Issues will be discussed concerning the units of analysis that characterizes research in verbal behavior and how it might miss or underestimate the complexity of real-world verbal behavior, especially as it pertains to personal narratives and the development of extended patterns of behavior over time in pursuit of abstract values. The panel will also raise issues about the use of middle-level terms to explain behavioral principles to the practice community, as well as how this impacts many behavior analysts’ opposition to behavior-behavior relations in causal analysis. At an applied level the panel will discuss the role of direct contingency control in areas such as incontinence, Tourette’s Syndrome, sleep disorders, disruptive behavior, and delinquency. The role of contingent control in interpersonal interactions will be discussed, and the challenges in the use of natural interpersonal contingencies in promoting the development of complex social behavior will be considered.

Adolescents and young adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) frequently have the content knowledge and vocational skills necessary to participate with typically developing peers in educational and employment settings. Their full integration in these settings, however, can be negatively impacted by differences in how they participate in verbal communities and resolve both social and non-social problems they encounter. We will present two empirical studies conducted with adolescents with HFA, one in which we taught problem-solving strategies that participants then successfully applied to solve novel problems in the natural environment. In the second study, we applied a stimulus equivalence framework to intraverbal interactions, to describe a novel outcome measure for assessing derivational stimulus control over intraverbal behavior. In addition, we reviewed literature on altering the prosody behavior of individuals with HFA. We will provide recommendations for clinicians on how to develop problem-solving and social skills in individuals with HFA, and for researchers interested in furthering our scientific understanding of these topics.

We will be making recommendations appropriate for practitioners and researchers, particularly relevant to those who work with individuals with high-functioning autism.

To be successful in educational and vocational settings, individuals with disabilities must be able to use problem-solving strategies to determine effective and socially acceptable responses to problems that arise. We investigated the effects of teaching individuals with high-functioning autism (ASD) to discriminate problem and non-problem situations, and apply a problem-solving strategy in response to problems. During training sessions, participants were exposed to non-problem scenarios, problem scenarios they were not directly involved in, and problem scenarios including both social and non-social solutions. Participants learned to discriminate problems from non-problems, classify whether they were directly involved in the problems, and generate solutions to the problem scenarios during interviews that followed each training session. In addition, during in vivo scenarios that we staged prior to and throughout training, both participants successfully applied the problem-solving strategies learned to solve novel problems in educational and vocational settings. Data collected thus far suggest that it may be beneficial for clinicians to apply these procedures to teach other adolescents or young adults with autism an effective problem-solving strategy.

Conditioning stimulus control over intraverbals, the operant class of social behavior, is a primary function of the verbal community. Addressing intraverbal deficits, however, continues to be a challenge for researchers, due to the lack of precise measures, as well as practitioners, because of the sparse literature on establishing discriminations between various verbal stimuli. Applying a stimulus equivalence framework to intraverbal interactions, this paper describes a novel outcome measure for assessing derivational stimulus control over the intraverbal behavior of adolescents with high-functioning autism. Using two-sentence affordance narratives, we evaluated the relative control of reflexive, symmetrical, and transitive stimuli over participants' responses to who, what, and where questions. Results show a derivation gradient analogous to the generalization gradients described by Guttman and Kalish (1956). Across the three variations of Wh- questions, reflexive questions generated the strongest responding, while transitive questions provided the weakest levels of stimulus control. Error analyses show response prepotencies across each level of derivation. Implications for future research and practice will be discussed.

Differences in prosody behavior between individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their typically developing peers have been considered a central feature of ASD since the earliest clinical descriptions of the disorder (e.g., Kanner, 1943). Differences in prosody pose a particular concern for individuals with high functioning autism (HFA) who operate in environments designed for typically developing people. The purpose of this review is to examine the state of the literature focused on altering the prosody behavior of individuals with HFA and to provide recommendations for researchers who are interested in contributing to the scientific understanding of prosody.

The acquisition of conditioned reinforcement for academic stimuli and subject areas is a critical educational objective—particularly conditioned reinforcement for reading and writing. When established, conditioned reinforcement for reading serves as an academic function, including increased reading comprehension repertoires. There are also academic benefits to establishing the reinforcement value of writing, as reinforcement for writing and the ability to write to communicate may not develop incidentally. Research has established conditioned reinforcement for writing through an observational procedure—specifically observing a writer communicating with his or her reader. It is also necessary to develop a functional writing repertoire, in which students come under the functional reinforcement of writing to affect the behavior of a reader. Functional writing can extend to other types of writing (i.e., writing math algorithms), where students contact the natural consequences of writing effective math algorithms and acquire functional reinforcement for solving new types of math problems. The purpose of this panel is to provide an overview of the protocols used to establish conditioned reinforcement for reading and writing and procedures for teaching functional writing repertories, as well as to explain the significance of such reinforcement value and repertories in the general education setting.

The target audience for this panel includes teachers as strategic scientists, as well as those interested in learning more about the application of behavior analysis in the general education setting.

Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) is an area of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) which uses behavior analytic principles to improve employee performance, staff training, and management strategies (Reid & Parsons, 2000). The field of OBM is moving towards taking on a systems perspective when analyzing possible solutions to organizational problems (Abernathy, 2008, 2014; Brethower, 2001; Diener, McGee, & Miguel, 2009; Methot et al., 1996; Tosti & Herbst, 2009) including when attempting to improve employee performance. This approach emphasizes aligning leader behavior to organizational goals to improve organizational outcomes. Additionally, use of OBM strategies included in training procedures have been shown to effectively produce overall changes in employee behaviors (Langeland et al., 1997; Methot et al., 1996; Shapiro & Kazemi 2017). Panelists will discuss an intervention to train organizational leaders in departments consisting of several levels of management to improve outcomes on measures related to service line strategic goals. Similar to the study conducted by Szabo et al. (2012), the intervention consisted of didactic training paired with modeling and role-play with feedback, regularly scheduled meetings and use of performance scorecards. Specifically, panelists will discuss an overview of the scorecard system implemented in a human services organization and the leadership training package designed to increase associates use of that scorecard system. Additional discussion will include how performance assessment tools were used to further evaluate regional needs in implementing interventions to improve management strategies related to targeted organizational measures on the scorecard system.

Managers Supervisors Company Owners

Experimental functional analyses are generally underutilized in practice settings given concerns regarding the time required to complete an experimental analysis. Trial-based functional analyses developed in recent years can address this concern, however, the time required to train practitioners to conduct such analyses can also contribute to underutilization. The first study in this symposium presents instructional methods that can be used to efficiently train practitioners to implement trial-based functional analyses. The second study in the symposium addresses a common practitioner concern of encountering an extinction burst when the identified reinforcer for a problem behavior is first withheld. Data on the prevalence of extinction bursts in applied behavior analytic research between the years of 2000 and 2017 are presented and implications concerning behavior intervention plans are discussed.

practitioners and researchers

This study examined the effectiveness of detailed written instructions (WI) and a task analysis data sheet (TA DS) in training three undergraduate students with no previous coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to conduct trial-based functional analyses (TBFA). This study extended previous research by using instructional materials that were written using conventional language and did not include information on the principles of ABA or the underlying rationale for functional analysis methodology. Although the WI and TA DS produced significant increases in performance and reliable data collection on the targeted problem behavior, small-group performance feedback training was necessary to achieve mastery across all trial types. Results offer a socially valid training package to teach paraprofessionals to conduct TBFAs in applied settings.

An extinction burst is a temporary increase in the rate of a previously reinforced behavior when extinction is first implemented. Previous research has suggested that extinction bursts may be less prevalent than is commonly believed by practitioners (Lerman & Iwata, 1995). The current study is a replication of Lerman and Iwata’s 1995 review. We analyzed 100 cases of extinction in peer reviewed publications between the years of 2000 and 2017 and found that only 14% of cases demonstrated an extinction burst, a number even lower than the 24% reported by Lerman and Iwata. Furthermore, only 8% of the cases we analyzed implemented extinction alone, compared to 50% in the Lerman study. Changes in conceptions of what constitutes a complete behavior intervention plan are discussed, as are implications for practitioners.

The field of applied behavior analysis has numerous evidence-based interventions that facilitate effective teaching among individuals with developmental disabilities. In selecting and developing interventions, a component that is important for researchers and practitioners is the efficiency of procedural implementation. As such, the purpose of this symposium is to present efficient procedures, varying in topic, that have been effectively evaluated among individuals with developmental disabilities. This symposium is comprised of four studies. The first study will present a web-based program that was developed for the purposes of identifying video preferences and reinforcers among individuals with developmental disabilities. The second study will present findings of a systematic matrix training literature review for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The third study will present a 'bug-in-ear' coaching intervention for paraprofessionals working with children with developmental disabilities. Lastly, the fourth study will present the findings of a parent coaching treatment package that was implemented with a parent/child dyad. The authors will address the importance, efficiency, and limitations of their respective procedures.

The target audience for this symposium are practicing behavior analysts, program coordinators, and educators.

Matrix training is an intervention that systematically programs for the occurrence of generative outcomes, mostly in the area of language (Goldstein, 1983). A literature search was conducted to identify studies that have implemented matrix training for individuals with ASD. Twelve studies were reviewed and analyzed for four research questions: To what extent has matrix training been used with individuals with ASD? What skills were taught with matrix training? What matrix designs and accompanying evidence-based teaching strategies were used? What percentage of learning occurred through direct teaching and recombinative generalization? Overall, findings suggest that matrix training produced on average about 69% learning without any direct teaching in the areas of language, play, sentence construction, and spelling.

As the prevalence of children diagnosed with autism continues to rise, the need for high quality parent coaching practices to ensure generalization of skills targeting in early intervention services is pronounced. This study investigated the results of implementation of a parent coaching treatment package developed in alignment with adult learning and education theory, seeking to increase quality of life for families affected by autism. A multiple baseline across behaviors research design was used with a parent/child dyad. Results suggest that this intervention may be an effective and socially valid intervention for parents of children who engage in high rates of challenging behavior at home, and has the ability to increase parent implementation of target behavior skills taught in intervention. Parents identified intervention as having high acceptability and identified parent coaching treatment package as a highly effective intervention. Individual results discussed, as well as implications of this intervention as a whole.

In the moment feedback by a skilled coach can be an effective method of teaching educators to implement evidence-based behavior analytic strategies. Research suggests that immediate feedback results in more efficient learning than does delayed feedback, where the educator receives feedback hours, days or weeks after an observation. However, real-time feedback has historically required the coach to be at the site of the learner. If target educators are not geographically near the skilled coach, this may require a great deal of travel, bringing the true efficiency of the coaching strategy into question. Technology now provides the tools to observe and provide real-time feedback over the Internet, reducing or eliminating the need for the coach to travel. This study examined the effects of distant "bug-in-ear" (BIE) coaching on four paraprofessionals' implementation of incidental teaching, an evidence-based behavior analytic strategy, to teach novel communication phrases to children with developmental disabilities. Distant BIE coaching was associated with immediate, increased rates of correctly implemented incidental teaching components and an increased number of incidental teaching trials by the paraprofessionals, with corresponding increases in rates of target student communication phrases.

The current symposium will include studies that cover a variety of based and applied issues in the area of relational responding. In the first study, the experimenters evaluated whether the formation of equivalence classes of pictures of faces portraying happiness, neutrality, and anger in individuals with depression, and tested for transfer of function using a semantic differential. In the second study, the experimenters compared "direct" and "derived" extinction of avoidance responses in equivalence classes. In the third study, the authors assessed whether participants used verbal behavior to develop frames of comparison. Finally, the fourth study will review studies related to the application of relational training with individuals with autism.

Researchers and practitioners

A recent experiment with undergraduates verified that equivalence classes comprised of abstract stimuli and faces portraying happiness were more stable over time and exhibited stronger transfer of evaluative functions of faces to abstract stimuli, compared to classes with neutral or angry expressions. The present study is an ongoing replication with undergraduates with a high score in the Beck-depression scale. The Experimental Group (EG) learned matching-to-sample (MTS) relations to establish three four-member equivalence classes. Familiar stimuli from each class were pictures of faces portraying happiness (A1), neutrality (A2) and anger (A3). Remaining stimuli were abstract forms. After MTS tasks, participants evaluated the abstract D stimuli using a Semantic Differential (SD). A 30-day follow-up equivalence test and another evaluation of the D stimuli using the SD will be conducted for the EG. Preliminary results show that nine of the sixteen participants of the EG attained criteria for equivalence class formation. These participants rated D1 as more positive than the evaluation of A1 by the Control Group (participants with low score in the Beck-depression scale) and D3 as more negative than the evaluation of A3 by the Control Group. The maintenance tests are yet to be conducted.

Roche et al. (2008) compared "direct" and "derived" extinction of avoidance response in same/opposite derived relations. They found that "derived" extinction with C1 stimulus was more effective than "direct" extinction with B1 stimulus. However, C1 was presented in extinction more times than B1 and this could explain the observed effect. The present study compared "direct" and "derived" extinction of avoidance responses in equivalence classes, but with the same number of B1 and C1 presentations. In Phase 1, twelve undergraduate students established two four-member equivalence classes (A1, B1, C1, D1 and A2, B2, C2, D2). In Phase 2, B1 was paired with an annoying sound. In Phase 3, participants learned to emit an avoidance response to B1. In Phase 4, the other stimuli were presented to evaluate whether avoidance response would be transfer to stimuli of the same equivalence class. In Phase 5, participants were allocated in the "direct" or "derived" extinction group. Finally, the others stimuli were presented in the extinction transfer test. Only the "direct" extinction group showed transfer of extinction. These results differ from the Roche et al. (2008) findings. Future studies should control the number of stimuli presentation to compare "direct" and "derived" extinction.

The self-emergent properties of human language and cognition can be described in terms of a theory of relational density, with immediate implications for children with autism and related disabilities. The theory postulates that verbal networks demonstrate mass as a function of the molar properties of network volume (i.e., the number of relations) and density (i.e., the strength of relations). Consistent with Newtonian classical mechanics, mass exerts force that operates along with environmental events that can accelerate learning of new verbal relations. We will describe the utility of the theory with this population and present data from several studies that support its application. First, that the acquisition of new verbal skills can be modelled as a function of the volume and density of prior established verbal relations. Second, that by teaching new skills (i.e., increasing network volume and density), the acquisition of later skills is correspondingly increased. Third, that relating in general also exhibits greater acceleration through the direct reinforcement of multiple relational exemplars, or increases in overall relational network volume. We will conclude by describing immediate implications for how language development programming can be conducted considering new data, to accelerate learning through use of established behavior analytic training technologies.

Classrooms are complex environments that require teachers to implement a variety of management strategies to minimize problem behavior and maximize learning time. Given the difficulty of selecting and implementing behavioral interventions in the school setting, there is a need for interventions that are contextually fit with the school environment. This symposium presents findings from three papers on improving individual student classroom behavior in elementary school classroom settings, using interventions that teachers can easily implement with fidelity. The first study evaluated the use of the Class Pass Intervention to decrease problem behavior and increase academic engagement of three students with disabilities in three classrooms. The second study focused on comparing the impact of student-chosen versus teacher-chosen group contingency criteria on disruptive behavior and academic engagement in using the Caught Being Good Game with four students with problem behavior in two classrooms. The final study examined the use of computer-assisted instruction to decrease transition times for three students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who engaged in problem behavior during transitions between activities. All three papers reported positive outcomes when using the interventions for students with and without disabilities engaging in problem behavior during classroom activities or routines.

BCBA

One intervention that is easy to implement and requires minimal school resources is the Class Pass Intervention (CPI). The CPI is used as a class-wide or secondary level intervention to decrease escape-maintained disruptive behavior in the classroom. The purpose of the study was to extend the literature on the CPI by further evaluating the impact of the CPI on disruptive behavior and academic engagement of elementary school children with disabilities who are engaging in disruptive behavior. Three students and their respective teachers participated in the study. A multiple baseline across participants design with an embedded reversal was used to demonstrate the impact of the CPI on student behavior during a targeted problematic classroom activity. The results indicated that the CPI was effective in decreasing disruptive behavior and increasing academic engagement for all participating students. Results were maintained for one participant while fading the magnitude of the intervention. Students and teachers rated CPI as effective and acceptable.

The Caught Being Good Game (CBGG), a variation of Good Behavior Game, is an interdependent group contingency that focuses on giving students points for engaging in appropriate, rule-following behavior. The present study aimed to expand the literature on CBGG by targeting students in general education classrooms and comparing the impact of student-chosen versus teacher-chosen contingency criteria on disruptive behavior and academic engagement. Four students who were at-risk for developing emotional disorders in two general education elementary classrooms were targeted in the study. A multiple-baseline across participants design with an embedded alternating treatments design was used to evaluate the intervention outcomes. Results indicated that the CBGG intervention resulted in decreased disruptive behavior and increased academic engagement for all four students although data demonstrated limited experimental control. Moderate differences in improvement in classroom behavior were observed when comparing teacher-chosen and student-chosen contingency criteria; however, the teacher-chosen criteria condition led to overall lower levels of disruptive behavior and higher levels of academic engagement. Social validity assessments indicated that both the teachers and the students found the intervention to be acceptable.

Transitions within the school setting have been a challenge for school staff when working with students that have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Students with ASD typically have a difficult time transitioning frequently throughout a school day, and problem behavior can be more apparent during this time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a similar computer-assisted instruction (CAI)-based intervention to decrease latency to on-task behavior during transitions in a classroom with students diagnosed with ASD. Two different transitions that occurred within a classroom were compared using the CAI-based intervention with three student participants. Results indicated that using the CAI-based intervention in collaboration with teacher input decreased latency to on-task behavior for all three participants for both transitions without the use of a group contingency or reinforcement component.

The utility of behavior analysis is vast. Behavior analytic technologies may be used to improve a myriad of behavioral excess and deficits, and have been demonstrated to be effective across a wide variety of populations, including individuals with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities. While much of the research within the field of behavior analysis targets interventions for individuals with an autism spectrum disorder, it is important to also recognize the efficacy of behavior analytic interventions with other populations, including individuals with comorbidities and individuals without intellectual disability. The purpose of the current symposium is to provide a sampling of research conducted across different populations to address various skill deficits. All research presented in the current symposium was conducted in applied settings, to address the unique needs of individuals in these settings. Research reviewed will include utilizing behavior analytic methodology to increase exercise behavior in middle-aged women who are overweight, the application of equivalence-based instruction to teach a child with hearing impairment and cochlear implants to communicate, and improving accuracy of preschool-aged children during delayed multi-step listener tasks via teaching a rehearsal response.

BCBAs, BCBA-Ds, BCaBAs, licensed behavior analysts, other related professionals (masters and doctoral level)

The acquisition of language allowed individuals to access further complex skills, different environments, and become more independent. The stimulus equivalence research has demonstrated effective results in teaching skills, especially language. The present study evaluated the establishment of listener behavior in one child with autism and hearing loss, and tested the relationship between the speaker and listener behavior as becoming part of an equivalence class. Three communication modes (i.e., symbolic pictures, American Sign Language, ASL, and the participant's voice output device) were evaluated in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of those modalities in skill acquisition. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of using visual stimulation in establishing listener behavior, as well as the class formation between listener and speaker behaviors. However, ASL was not an effective mode of communication and transfer of stimulus control did not occur in this study. Limitations, confounding variables, and contributions were discussed in the discussion section.

Children with autism often exhibit deficits in verbal and non-verbal behaviors. Researchers within the field of autism and other developmental disabilities often study language, and how language is acquired. Understanding how one acquires language can lead to more effective interventions when teaching this population of individuals. The current study looked at the effects of teaching a rehearsal response on participants' ability to emit a multi-step listener response when a delay interval was imposed. Six students with autism served as participants in the study, four males (ages 4-5) and two females (age 4). Students were first taught to tact or select novel pictures. Following mastery of the tact or listener response, probes were conducted to see if participants could emit the corresponding listener behavior, consisting of a multi-step selection response following a delay. Participants who were unable to accurately emit the listener behavior were then taught to rehearse the directive across the imposed delay. Preliminary results for one participant suggest that accuracy for multi-step listener responses may be improved when the directive is rehearsed over the delay interval. The efficiency of this procedure when teaching individuals with limited language repertoires and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Behavior analysis in Brazil had its initial development centered in experimental and theoretical research. Nowadays, its applied branch is expanding, especially dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder. These matters have prompted the behavior analytic community, who discusses the need for clear parameters about academic curriculum, professional experience and performance standards. This presentation will address these points, a) considering the challenges and possibilities of an intervention in Brazil that takes in the dimensions discussed in Baer, Wolf, and Riesley; b) analyze the importance of theoretical reflections for an intervention with the conceptual dimension, as when using concepts like "executive functions", imported from the cognitive-behavioral therapy, whose meaning to the behavior analyst has to be understood through the analysis of the smaller units that compose this concept, and without mentalist interpretations; c) To compare and consider how the behavior analyst has worked with intervention models like the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) and Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT), its terminologies, and the importance of these models for naturalistic teaching and consequent reach of the dimension of the generalization of abilities.

Behavior analysis in Brazil had its initial development centered in experimental and theoretical research. Nowadays, its applied branch is expanding, especially dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This development has produced questions in the social community, to witch the perception about the behavior analyst work is that ABA is only the application of certain techniques, the "ABA Method." These matters also have prompted the behavior analytic community, who discusses the need for clear parameters about academic curriculum, professional experience and performance standards. This presentation will address these points, considering the challenges and possibilities of an intervention in Brazil that takes in the dimensions discussed in Baer, Wolf and Riesley: how to make a conceptual-based work when the courses in psychology target a generalist coursework; how to make a intensive care, but with accessible cost to the population; how to make an intervention based on scientific principles, with a clear methods, with data taken and collected, when these skills are not taught in the traditional graduation - or understood only as academic requirements; and, without all this, how to deliver socially relevant consequences.

Executive function (EF) is a broad term that refers to the cognitive processes that help us regulate, control and manage our thoughts and actions. It includes planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, initiation of actions and monitoring of actions. Most people on the autism spectrum have some degree of impaired executive function. Because executive function is such a complex concept, it can it can negatively impact success at school, home, the community and work. It is challenging to translate such a cognitivist conception into behavioral terms. First, behavioral psychology is not concerned with mentalistic causes of behavior and instead focuses on the behavior itself. Behavioral psychology is interested in behaviors and their relationship with the environment. Second, EF as a complex ability must be analysed into different behavioral units related to verbal behavior and rule-governed behavior. The understanding of such ability in behavioral terms will lead in techniques increasingly clear.

Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) do not speech due presenting motor speech issues (Apraxia of Speech). Because of the importance of the intervention focusing on the speech and language abilities for nonverbal children with ASD this study aims to describe two interventions that have been widely applied: The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) and Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT). The ESDM is an early intervention for children with ASD the suggest a in individualized curriculum focussing on the current child ability, using naturalistic teaching strategies, based on Applied Behavior Analysis and also developmentalist theories. PROMPT is a technique that has as its final goal to re-establish the patient speech motor control through fiscal and gestures prompts for each phoneme. In the discussions, the importance of the research about interventions models for language is brought back, showing the efficiency of the studies. Both models have in their assumptions similarities and differences, but both use naturalistic teaching. It is essential that the evaluation and planning establish which techniques should be used, aiming language abilities teaching through interaction or through the oral motor abilities teaching. It is important to emphasize the importance of an integrated teamwork.

The likelihood of abusers being punished when incidents of rape or sexual assault are reported is less than desired. Behaviors that could be considered precursors to sexual assault, such as are often dismissed as genetic, attention-maintained, or "inherent." Outdated gender roles that can be harmful to cisgender men are also selected and reinforced across generations. Morality culture dictates that rape is the result of the behavior of victims, not their abusers. Often, victims experience feelings of guilt or shame, and these covert behaviors are reinforced by their verbal community. This can lead to victims not reporting their assault, or the latency between the occurrence and reporting of the incident being quite long. Meanwhile the likelihood of aversive consequences for a perpetrator is quite less, if any at all. This talk will examine how behavior analysts can teach our clients about the patterns of this cultural phenomenon in order to influence how people view abusers and victims, potentially leading to systemic change in behavior.

As a field, behavior analysts have seen much success in working with individuals with challenging behaviors in the home, private school, and clinic settings. Public school systems, however, generally do not have rigorous behavior analytic programs, and when available, these behavior analytic services are provided in a limited capacity. Effective implementation of applied behavior analysis in public schools and fidelity of implementation of behavior plans can be a difficult task, due to various reasons, including: lack of regulations with regards to credentials required for individuals in "behavior specialist" roles, vague criteria for what constitutes an appropriate functional behavior assessment in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004, school district- employed Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) working administrative and program specialist positions rather than in direct supervision roles, and insufficiencies in training for district 1:1 aides as well as in the staffing ratios necessary to provide effective 1:1 ABA instruction to students. In this symposium, we demonstrate how Non-Public Agencies (NPA) who practice rigorous applied behavior analysis programming can successfully support districts in working with their most challenging cases in a systematic step-by-step manner. Effective staff training and instructional tactics will be discussed.

BCBAs, BCaBAs, behavior specialists in public school settings, and other educators or professionals who work with individuals with problem behaviors

We examined the efficacy of conducting Functional Analysis Assessments (FAA) in public school settings, and training school staff to implement behavior plans with fidelity based on FAA findings using a multiple single-subject AB design. The independent variable was the implementation of applied behavior analysis (ABA) services delivered by a non-public agency (NPA) which occurred as follows: 1) conducting an FAA and developing a behavior intervention plan based on FAA results, 2) NPA aide implementing the behavior plan 1:1 with the student until identified maladaptive behaviors decreased to target levels, 3) using a fidelity of behavior plan checklist to train district aides to implement the behavior plan and Teacher Performance Rate and Accuracy scale (TPRA) feedback to train accurate instruction for replacement behaviors, and 4) systematic fading of NPA aide to consult services only once district aide demonstrates mastery of behavior plan and instruction, and low levels are maladaptive behaviors maintain across transitioning of staff. The dependent variable was the level of support required by the student, measured as restrictiveness of placement on an intensity scale, and the frequency of occurrences of maladaptive behaviors. Data indicate a functional relationship between NPA ABA intervention and improvements in restrictiveness of placement, and decrease in maladaptive behaviors for all participants.

Despite the widespread adoption of single-case designs by behavior analysts, there is still considerable debate as to how to use, analyze, and report the data. Research on the topic is important to develop guidelines and criteria that are empirically derived, which should support practitioners and researchers in their decisions. The purpose of the symposium is to address some of these issues by examining recent advances on the use, analysis, and validity of single-case designs in practice and research. The first presentation will examine guidelines for reporting the results of multiple baseline designs and to what extent these guidelines have been adopted by applied researchers. The second presentation will describe implicit criteria that are used by single-case researchers to determine the effects of independent variables within AB and multiple baseline designs. Finally, the third presentation will review previously published data to examine whether using AB designs in practical settings may be appropriate. Altogether, the presentations will provide an overview of recent research on the use and analysis of single-case designs.

Practicing behavior analysts and researchers

Behavior analysts have widely adopted single-case experimental designs to demonstrate and replicate the effects of treatments on behavior. However, the withdrawal of treatment, which is central to most of these designs, may not be desirable, feasible, or even ethical in practical settings. To address this issue, we extracted 501 ABAB graphs from theses and dissertations to examine to what extent we would have reached correct or incorrect conclusions if we had based our analysis on the initial AB component only. In our first experiment, we examined the proportion of datasets for which the results of the first AB component matched the results of the subsequent phase reversals. In our second experiment, we calculated three effect size estimates for the same datasets to examine whether these measures could predict the relevance of conducting a replication. Our results indicated that the initial effects were successfully replicated at least once in approximately 85% of cases and that effect size may predict the probability of replication. Overall, our study suggests that practitioners may not need to conduct replications when the implementation of an empirically-supported treatment produces (a) clear change with a large effect size or (b) no clear change with a small effect size.

Although the benefits of routine physical fitness and activity are well documented, there is limited behavioral research on this important repertoire. Additionally, the gym environment contains multiple potential health hazards, such as unclean gym surfaces that can cause infection. The behaviors related to both physical performance and gym safety could be improved using behavior analysis. This symposium presents a series of successful interventions that improved behaviors related to physical performance and gym related safety with different populations. The first presentations showcases a treatment package of teaching with acoustic guidance, modeling, and feedback, and was successful in teaching a golf swing to a novice golfer without disabilities. The next presentation discusses how a physical activity routine was taught to three people with severe intellectual disabilities. Results of this study indicated moderate success using the simultaneous and least to most prompting package. We end with a presentation on the use of an antecedent intervention package to increase cleaning gym equipment post-use . Results of this last study indicated that a combination of a visual prompt and accessibility to cleaning supplies were needed for the greatest increase in cleaning behavior. The results of these presentations will be discussed as will the potential for behavior analysis in this non-traditional are of applications.

Practitioners, graduate students, and researchers interested in the application of behavior analytic principles in the field of physical activity

People with intellectual disabilities are at higher risk for obesity and associated disease. Often they do not engage in enough physical activity. By teaching people with intellectual disabilities how to engage in physical activity, there are not only health benefits but also the potential to develop a new leisure activity. Previous literature has shown that evidence-based practices are needed to teach people with intellectual disabilities physical activities. The purpose of this study was to teach three adolescents with a severe to profound intellectual disabilities how to engage in three different exercises a. Three multiple probe across behavior designs were used and results indicated that using this prompting package was only moderately successful. Future research is needed to find best practice techniques for teaching physical activity to people with intellectual disabilities. Furthermore, examining the effects of fluency training, compliance training, and gross motor assessments has on teaching physical activities to this population would be beneficial.

Teaching with Acoustical Guidance (TAGteach) was used as a treatment package along with modeling, feedback, and error correction procedures to train a novel male golf. Using a multiple baseline across behaviors probe design with a two-week follow up, the participant met mastery in all six skill sets and behavior maintained for all skill sets that entered maintenance. During a two-week follow-up, four of five skill sets eligible for follow-up remained at mastery during all five attempts, and the fifth skill set met mastery criteria during the final three attempts. Limited research is available on Teaching with Acoustical Guidance (TAGteach) methodology and skill acquisition in sports, but results from the current study add to the available literature.

Behavior analysts have long argued that we can and should be doing more to contribute solutions to the world's most pressing problems. Most social issues involve human behavior; therefore, the natural science of behavior has much to offer. Despite an increase in university-based training programs in the last decade, there is still limited application of our science to address broad and diverse social issues. Through the MATRIX Project, the Behaviorists for Social Responsibility Special Interest Group is identifying barriers to involving various societal sectors in applying behavior analysis to address social and global issues. The MATRIX Project seeks to identify practices that support the utilization of behavior analytic and behavioral systems approaches. This symposium focuses on exploring feasible practices identified for both university-based training programs and faculty including: incorporating coursework and lectures around applications of behavior analysis to social issues; including cultural/behavioral systems level content particularly with emphasis on social issues in curricula; and encouraging students to enroll in related coursework in other disciplines. Each presentation in this symposium provides an example of how social issues have been incorporated into coursework and training in an effort to expand the reach and impact of our science.

University faculty

Rittel and Webber (1973) outlined 10 characteristics of "wicked problems". Some might argue that 40 years later these problems have shown an exponential shift toward the worst rather than improving on any measurable dimension. As society falters and people become exasperated with the problems facing them daily, we might ask if behavior analysts are well positioned to work toward the development of solutions for "wicked problems." Further, we might begin to wonder if there are enough behavior analysts to make a cultural shift. Undergraduate studies, for many students, are a time of mass exploration. Introducing undergraduate students to the philosophy of radical behaviorism could prove particularly impactful. In this study, experimenters explored the effects of a behavior change project on undergraduates' identification of functional relations and behavior analytic explanations of their behavior over the course of three semesters. The results suggest that the behavior change project was successful at assisting undergraduates in adopting a behavior analytic worldview. The results are discussed in the context of how behavior change projects might encourage undergraduate students to adopt the philosophy of radical behaviorism. More adopters of this philosophy may prove influential in the quest toward applying behavior analysis to improve the human condition.

A multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach may contribute to solving problems of societal importance by modifying environmental and social conditions that support widespread behavior change and improvements across a range of outcomes (e.g., youth development, substance abuse, public safety, income inequality) (Fawcett, Schultz, Watson-Thompson, Fox, & Bremby, 2010). Training in behavior-analytic educational programs and courses may promote behavioral research and action that advances student learning by occasioning conditions for students to contact rewarding multidisciplinary experiences through course activities including community engagement and service-learning opportunities. The presentation shares a gradient of feasible activities for university staff and behavior analysis programs interested in starting or expanding current practices to address societal issues through course and program activities. Examples of undergraduate, graduate, and university-level educational practices will be provided to integrate a behavior analytic perspective for training students to address population-level social issues. A guiding framework will be presented to support a process for providing training in addressing social issues through the use of resources including the Community Tool Box (www.ctb.ku.edu). To produce students and future community-behavior analytic researchers and practitioners working to solve issues of societal importance, conditions can be created for multidisciplinary and service-learning contingencies from the classroom to the community.

An increasing literature outlines empirically supported criteria related to treatment components shown to produce the most robust outcomes for children participating in ABA programs. Larger scale analyses of ABA outcomes with children have been heavily focused on examination of intensive behavioral intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) delivered in home-based settings. This literature has been a primary contributing factor to the introduction of insurance reform laws in a majority of states mandating coverage of ABA intervention for individuals with ASD. The accessibility of ABA intervention has grossly increased as a result of funding made possible by insurance reform. Treatment outcomes for ABA involving provision of services in alternative settings such as public schools are much less prevalent in the literature. Similarly, outcome analyses related to intensive behavioral intervention for children with developmental delays other than ASD are sparse. Replication and presentation of outcomes is necessary to support further funding and access to ABA across populations, needs, and settings. The current symposium examines delivery of ABA in home, specialized education, and general education settings. First, an analysis for children enrolled in either focused or comprehensive ABA home-based programming will be presented in related to skills acquired and outcomes achieved with varying levels of service. Next, various outcomes including skill acquisition rates within and across developmental domains and for children with ASD as well as other delays enrolled in a public school program in which they were provided intensive ABA will be discussed. Finally, the outcomes obtained for general education students exposed to a treatment package involving goal setting and daily feedback will be discussed.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts. Graduate Students approaching certification

The practice of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in the treatment of children with autism has been widely accepted as an empirically validated treatment, therefore many health insurance carriers now provide funding for such services. Reporting on learner treatment outcomes as a result of participating in these programs, however, may often be limited to mastery of treatment goals or other insensitive assessment measures. The current paper seeks to discuss and examine learner outcome data such as skill acquisition data in relation to variables such as standardized assessment and reassessment results, age, duration enrolled in the ABA program, proportion of recommended treatment hours received, and treatment goals met across multiple participants enrolled in either a focused or comprehensive ABA insurance-funded treatment program. Results are discussed in terms of the potential relationship between the proportion of recommended treatment hours received and reassessment results and overall learner outcomes. Moreover, recommendations and rationale toward additional measurement and analysis beyond the standard skill or goal mastery are provided. In short, the outcome data presented provide continued support for insurance funded ABA treatment while providing a unique conceptualization of learner outcomes.

Intensive behavioral intervention based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) has been repeatedly shown to be effective for children with autism spectrum disorder as well as other developmental delays. The literature outlines an empirically-supported criteria related to the treatment components that have shown to produce the most robust outcomes for children participating in ABA intervention programs. Many times, ABA intervention programs that meet the outlined recommendations involve provision of services within the child's home or in private school settings. The current paper presents various outcome data collected for periods extending up to 3 years for students receiving behavior analytic intervention within a public school district. The classrooms involved are a result of multiyear collaboration between a public school district and an ABA organization. In particular, outcomes related to rates of skill acquisition, maintenance and generalization of acquired skills, and undesirable behavior will be presented for students with a range of developmental disabilities including autism spretrum disorder, downs syndrome, and cerebral palsy. The implications of these data as well as future directions related to student progress and methods for measuring and evaluating outcomes will be discussed.

This study examined the effectiveness of goal setting, performance feedback, and a reinforcement contingency on goal mastery for general education students ranging from the elementary to high school levels. Fifteen students and their primary classroom teachers were involved in goal setting. Students received daily written feedback related to their goals via a paper form or text message depending on grade level and participated in a brief weekly meeting with a "coach" during which they received feedback via a graph of their performance toward their goals. Students earned access to entry in a weekly lottery conducted at each school campus contingent on each daily goal met. Measures of social validity were collected for students and teachers pre and post participation in the study to examine intervention acceptability as well as concerns, attitudes, and information related to student performance. Results indicated that the intervention was effective in increasing student's performance on goal related tasks. Teacher and students responses on the post participation questionnaires were consistent with student improvements observed in the data.

The effective and sustained application of behavior analysis to safety is characterized by intervening on active response classes for both personal protection and the protection of others in industry and communities. Behavioral safety systems in these contexts rely on tactics discovered through translational research including direct behavioral observation, data collection, and analyses paired with prompts, social contingencies in the form of feedback, and systemic environmental change. Behavior analysis has been able to translate its research in safety into effective programmatic processes through the involvement of industry and community partners. In this symposium Wirth & Ludwig introduce the behavioral standards through which the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies (CCBS) Commission on Behavioral Safety Accreditation uses as criterion for partnerships in industry documenting their best translational practices. Hebein, Alavosius, & Houmanfar analyse 45 field site assessments by the CCBS Commission using Gilbert's Behavioral Engineering framework. Dagen discusses the application of behavior analysis in catastrophic incident prevention in high-hazard industries. Finally, Van Houten will explore how the motivating operation to increase acceptance and sustain changes in the safety culture of a community.

Behavior Analysts interested in translational research in the real world

Safety culture and climate have become important concepts for addressing occupational injuries and fatalities, and they are almost always cited as important factors responsible for work-related injuries, fatalities, and industrial disasters. Most definitions of safety culture refer to individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that relate to an organization's commitment to health and safety. These involve several factors, including management decision making, organizational safety norms and expectations, safety practices, policies, and procedures that together serve to communicate organizational commitment to safety. Recently, the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies Commission for Behavioral Safety Accreditation has revised its standards used as criterion for their assessments. The new standards are organized across ten different focus areas that span the behavioral processes and organizational features that are necessary to sustained and effective safety program. This presentation will show how an empirically effective and comprehensive behavioral safety program, as espoused by the CCBS's accreditation standards, fulfills many of the purported organizational requirements for establishing a strong, positive safety culture while demonstrating sustained reduction in injuries.

The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies (CCBS) has accredited behavioral safety programs since 2003 completing 45+ site assessments. Via accreditation, CCBS commissioners guide organizations toward safer systems. Each site assessment is a case study demonstrating the impact of safety behavior management with recommendation to enhance results. The CCBS accreditation process encourages and shapes safety best-practices within multiple industries. Accreditation entails analysis of principles of behavior and interlocking contingencies within effective behavioral safety systems that control deviation from safety standards and result in industry leading safety results. Assessments offer insight to science-based methods applied by safety managers within high performance sites. One coherent methodology to assess sources of behavioral variation and guide system interventions within organization comes from Thomas Gilbert's book Human Competence, first published in 1978. Gilbert's (1978) behavior engineering model, a 6-box matrix designed to focus analysis on "improvements in behavior efficiency" within organizations provides a framework to inventory the CCBS safety accreditation recommendations provided since 2003. A meta-analysis of accreditation recommendations reported by CCBS commissioners across 45 site assessments using the framework of Gilbert's behavior engineering model provides data to illustrate evolution of the CCBS accreditation process and reveal safety trends emerging in accredited organizations.

The impacts of catastrophic incidents are often felt on a global scale. For example, many people are familiar with high-profile catastrophic incidents such as Chernobyl, Space Shuttle Columbia, and Deepwater Horizon. The interdisciplinary efforts of countless professionals have significantly reduced the likelihood of catastrophic incidents in many industries (e.g., aviation). Behavioral science has an opportunity to make an important contribution in further driving down the likelihood of these incidents. This talk will explore behavior analysis in the context of a global business operating in a high-hazard industry. Specific areas of focus will include catastrophic incident prevention methods, the human element of process safety management, and leadership development in dangerous contexts. Suggestions will be made for applying our science to the global challenge of understanding and preventing catastrophic incidents in high-hazard industries.

ABA has made a name for itself as a treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders, while excluding itself from being viewed as an accepted treatment of psychiatric disorders or to promote general behavior change in typically developing individuals. Behavior Analysts have a unique, valuable perspective to contribute regarding behaviors associated with psychiatric disorders and widespread behavior change. ABA need not be limited to the treatment of individuals diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD). A review of the subjects in JABA articles from 1968-2013 will be presented, with an analysis of current trends in ABA licensing. Additionally, data will be presented on the effective use of ABA to treat typically developing children diagnosed with PTSD, ADHD and ODD. A discussion of future directions for ABA applications, such as analyzing meta-contingencies to address group behavior and expand potential populations served, climate change, increasing healthy behaviors, and so on.

Basic to intermediate level BCBA or BCaBA practitioners.

ABA as a profession is growing rapidly, largely due to the rising number of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. As BCBAs grow in number to meet this need, research and application of ABA to behaviors associated with psychiatric disorders and general behavior change with typically developing individuals has been largely ignored. A review of journal articles published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis was conducted to evaluate trends in ABA research and subjects of interest. Behavior Analysis has a unique, valuable perspective to contribute regarding these behaviors. ABA need not be limited to the treatment of individuals diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD). However, if we are to expand our scope of practice beyond Autism, we must do it quickly as our profession matures.

While students with Autism diagnoses are likely to have ABA consultation and services included in their IEPs, students with Social-Emotional Disabilities and related psychiatric and mental health disorders are often only provided counseling services to generate behavior change. Typical school interventions include CBT and Psychotherapy, with OT interventions becoming more popular in recent years. As ABA works to improve its public perception, there are many valuable contributions to be made in both general and special education with the growing number of Emotionally Impaired students. Data will be presented showing an effective use of the Good Behavior Game to decrease out-of-class time in a therapeutic classroom for students who have diagnoses of PTSD, ODD, ADHD, as well as mood and other conduct disorders. Further implications for use of radical behaviorism to create efficacious interventions for children and adults with trauma histories, as well as improve general education practices, are discussed.