Association for Behavior Analysis International

Run with us from LOVE Park to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where we will recreate the scene from the 1976 movie Rocky by running up the Art Museum steps! Attendees should meet at the LOVE statue at LOVE Park at or before 7 AM (arrive before 7 AM for photo opportunities). LOVE Park is located a short walk past historic City Hall from the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown (7-8 minutes, .3 miles). The run to the Philadelphia Museum of Art begins promptly at 7 AM. Those walking the route should note it will take about 1 hour round trip.

Please meet at the LOVE statue at LOVE Park for the run.

Note: The Behavior Analysis in Health, Sport, and Fitness SIG supported the inclusion of this and other physical activity sessions.

Dr. Jomella Watson-Thompson is a professor of Applied Behavioral Science and a researcher affiliated with the Center for Community Health and Development. Dr. Thompson leads the Youth Violence Prevention Research Center- Kansas City, a Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Center of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention. Her research focuses on behavioral-community approaches to youth and community violence prevention, adolescent substance abuse prevention, and neighborhood and community development. She has examined the effects of community-based processes and behavioral-community interventions to promote mobilization and change in communities. Dr. Thompson also works with community collaboratives to examine social determinants or factors, including educational attainment and access to resources and supports, that may contribute to disparities experienced particularly for racial and ethnic groups and in underserved communities. She researches and promotes community-academic partnerships through community-engaged scholarship as an approach to foster sustainable change and improvement in communities. Dr. Thompson has received numerous funding awards and co-authored articles on community capacity-building, youth and neighborhood development, and adolescent substance abuse, and youth and community violence prevention. She serves on the Executive Council for the Association of Behavior Analysis International. She attained a Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology, a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Kansas, and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Jackson State University.

All convention registrants are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The growing number of children diagnosed with autism has resulted in an increased demand for effective treatments and evaluation. In the study we evaluated the effects of a center-based Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI) model for preschool aged children with autism. Outcomes of 25 children receiving IBI was compared to the outcome of 14 children receiving autism specific, eclectic, special education. Results suggest that preschool aged children with autism may make large gains in intellectual and adaptive functioning and improvement in autism severity with IBI, and that effects of IBI may be similar to that of EIBI. Persistent deficits in social referencing may interfere with the development of essential abilities such as language, symbolic abilities, and general social-cognitive processes in children. The Social Referencing Observational Scale (SoROS) was developed to assess deficits in social referencing skills in children between 2.6 and 5.0 years of age. The SoROS may have an advantage comparing to existing screening instruments in that it is based on direct observation. Other advantages of the SoROS are that it is quick (4-5 minutes) and that it can be conducted by preschool teachers.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication, social interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviors (World Health Organization, 2018). Research has shown that early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) has the best empirical support and may be effective in increasing intellectual and adaptive functioning. Meta-analyses studies have found a positive effect of EIBI compared to control conditions Furthermore, research has shown that eclectic interventions of the same intensity as ABA treatment may produce lower gains. In the current study we evaluated the effects of a center-based Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI) model. We examined whether IBI was more effective than an eclectic autism specific intervention for preschool aged children with ASD. Participants were 25 children receiving IBI and 14 children receiving eclectic autism specific intervention. A quasi-experimental design was employed, where participants were assigned to either the IBI group or to the eclectic autism specific group based on parental preferences. After 14 months of treatment, children from the IBI group improved significantly on standard scores in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior and had a significant reduction in autism severity compared to the children in the autism specific, eclectic, special education group.

An often-cited barrier to independent living in adulthood for individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) is the ability to procure and/or maintain gainful employment. Upon turning 21 years old, resources, support, and funding for individuals with DD are significantly reduced, resulting in what is colloquially referred to as a “services cliff”. This lack of quality supports often contributes to poorer outcomes in the realms of acquiring and maintaining employment, managing mental and physical health, maintaining social relationships, and developing skills that promote independent living (e.g., functional living, problem solving, and vocational skills). It is critical to the role of support providers in adult services to employ evidence-based procedures to better improve outcomes of independent living for adults with DD. Our three presentations intend to disseminate recent research in assessing and teaching problem solving, interviewing, social and vocational skills to promote independence for adults with DD. Guido D’Angelo’s study evaluated a training package of behavioral skills training (BST) and token reinforcement to improve job-related social skills in natural contexts. Courtney Butler’s study evaluated the effects of a BST package to teach job interview skills to adults with ASD. Erika Cruz’s study evaluated the effects of a decision-making model and a BST package to teach problem solving skills to adults with ASD.

This symposium is intended for behavior analytic professionals in the fields of adult service, education, and transition planning. Prerequisite skills for attendees include a knowledge of and/or experience utilizing behavior analytic assessments as teaching practices such as behavioral skills training and vocational assessments.

Despite the importance of employment, adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a lower likelihood of being employed compared to individuals with other disabilities and may experience challenges finding and maintaining employment regardless of intellectual and vocational. Adults with ASD experience challenges securing employment, which may partially explain overall underemployment or unemployment in this population. One of the first steps to obtaining employment is participating in a job interview. However, social communication deficits may interfere with an individual's ability to participate in a job interview. Our research included two university students with ASD who participated in a university support program as well as three adults with ASD in a community-based vocational support program. The goal of the training was to improve vocal interview skills as well as improve non-vocal behaviors. Data were collected to evaluate the effects of the various interview trainings. Results showed significant improvement from both participants in vocal behaviors in asking and answering questions. Results also showed improvement in head orientation, posture, and response. The preliminary results suggest that an individualized approach to training may be an effective strategy to help adults with ASD, with various support needs, to successfully navigate job interviews.

The opportunity to find and maintain employment may be challenging for individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) given the social challenges in the work place. Despite the importance of regular employment, just a handful of studies have focused on interventions to improve job-related social skills of individuals with NDD in countries outside of the United States. In this study, we replicated and extended prior research by evaluating the acquisition, generality, and long-term maintenance of job-related social skills with three individuals with NDD residing in Italy. The training components included a package consisting of behavioral skills training (BST) and token reinforcement. Results suggested that the intervention was effective for teaching the skills and promoting the transfer of these skills to real work contexts. Furthermore, social validity surveys indicated that the participants, caregivers of individuals with NDD, and professionals considered the skills and interventions to be acceptable. These findings have implications for improving employment outcomes for individuals with NDD across the globe.

Lora et al. (2020) effectively used activity schedules to teach a sequence of problem-solving responses during work tasks to adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Suarez et al., (2021) used a written flow chart to teach children with autism spectrum disorders to identify and find solutions for social problem solving. We partially replicated and extended this work by using a multiple probe design across three problem scenarios (unfamiliar task, broken items, insufficient materials) to determine the effects of a written decision-making model and components of behavioral skills training on the completion of problem-solving steps (i.e., identification of problems, identification of solutions, implementation of solutions) during vocational tasks in a young adult with autism spectrum disorder. With the implementation of the intervention, an adult with autism spectrum disorder was taught to use a written decision-making model evidenced by the percentage of problem-solving steps increased systematically across the scenarios over baseline levels to criterion performance.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex neurogenetic syndrome that is estimated to affect between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 30,000 live births (Butler et al., 2017; Cassidy et al., 2012). Despite the clear impact of behaviors of concern on the health, safety, and quality of life of people with PWS and their families, research into effective interventions for PWS related behaviors is very limited. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the historic use of behavior analytic interventions to target behaviors of concern associated with PWS. Following initial search procedures, 4,708 articles were identified, and 32 articles were included following a screening process. These 32 articles were then coded across a variety of variables. Results indicate that there are very few studies evaluating behavior-analytic interventions for PWS. Of the existing literature, many articles include procedural integrity and data collection concerns. Future research is needed to investigate behavioral interventions for the PWS population that address these concerns and expand interventions to a broader set of challenges and concerns.

Children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) often experience significant behavioral challenges, resulting in a pressing need for effective program to provide behavioral support to caregivers. PWS Smart-Start is a behavior-analytic caregiver training program developed specifically for caregivers of children with PWS aged 3-14. The purpose of the two current studies was to evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of the PWS Smart-Start program when delivered remotely over telehealth technologies. In the first, thirty-four families of children with PWS received the PWS Smart-Start training using online live video-coaching in order to assess feasibility and preliminary efficacy. In the second, 64 caregiver-child dyads received the program, and efficacy was evaluated across a variety of variables. Results of the first study indicated statistically significant improvements across primary and secondary variables. Study two is currently in progress, with full data available in April 2023. These preliminary results indicate that caregiver-implemented behavior analytic interventions have the potential to not only support children with PWS through behavioral challenges, but also to reduce caregiver stress and burnout, and to improve a variety of aspects of family life.

For the past several years, my colleagues and I have been developing models for a deeper understanding of factors related to the development and maintenance of severe behavior. The recent passing of my mentor and colleague, Brian Iwata, has set the occasion for reflection on the past decades of behavioral research specific to self-injurious behavior (SIB). I will provide some historical context of research and practice related to SIB, including some perspectives from Dr. Iwata’s lab and publications. I will summarize some of the key findings from the past several decades to date. But, in addition, I will make a case that there is a long path ahead to complete our understanding of SIB, and to continue Iwata’s work in developing effective interventions. I will suggest future research and practice in the following areas: a) a deeper understanding of negatively reinforced SIB, b) a deeper understanding of automatically reinforced SIB, c) translation of basic research on self-biting and aggression that may shed light on functional properties of SIB, d) the need for development of detailed and complex case studies, and e) the need for prevention science (and the conundrum that arises from our traditional methodology).

behavior analysts interested in research, history of the field, and assessment/intervention for SIB.

Supporting the needs of caregivers of children with disabilities is one of the most socially important problems behavior analysts address. While there are multiple methods to address this priority, since 2020 the importance of meeting the needs of caregivers remotely has been emphasized. Project ECHO is a data based virtual service delivery model that has been used to train professionals and paraprofessionals around the world. In this paper we describe Project ECHO and how we are using to support caregivers of children with disabilities who demonstrate challenging behavior at home and in the community. We will also discuss why Project ECHO is a useful tool for behavior analysts to disseminate successful interventions.

General

It is common for autistic children and those with learning disabilities to exhibit limited pretend play skills due to delays in their social repertoire combined with the tendency to emit stereotypical and repetitive sequences. Neurotypical children learn to play and develop related verbal operants by watching and engaging with others. Autistic children may have limited observational learning skills and if attending specialist settings may not access appropriate peer models. The current study took place in a special educational school with teaching primarily based on the scientific literature applied across repertoires with a focus on generalisation and novel responding. A multiple probe design was implemented to observe the effects of these evidence-based tactics on engaged play and social interactions in the playground. Overall baseline observations suggested that although some participants demonstrated pretend play responses and related verbal operants, these were limited. The study evaluated if activity schedules, scripts and modelling led to increased play responses and verbal operants or if a more intensive protocol was required. Implications of results are discussed with alternative approaches to further develop the impacts of the intervention highlighted.

This study looks to ascertain if it is possible to induce incidental bidirectional naming in Autistic young adults and begin to analyse a sufficient procedure. Specifically, the paper compared the effects of a peer-yoked contingency procedure and a multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) procedure on the acquisition of incidental bidirectional naming (Inc-BiN) and observational learning. Four autistic children with learning disabilities, aged 16 to 18, participated in the study and two were allocated to each procedure. Participants attended a specialist setting for pupils aged 3-19 years old. A pre and post probe design was used across participants to identify if incidental bidirectional naming and observational learning would emerge, and which pair of participants would acquire these cusps the fastest. Results showed that both multiple exemplar instruction and the peer-yoked contingency procedure were successful in inducing the missing cusp Inc-BiN with these four participants. The peer-yoked contingency procedure was shown to be the more efficient procedure for inducing these cusps. Procedural limitations and future research are also discussed.

When providing ABA services for learners with autism spectrum disorder, it is crucial that clinicians identify not only effective, but efficient teaching procedures. Procedures that result in rapid acquisition of instructional targets or promote generative learning to untaught targets may be particularly helpful in this aim. Such procedures can involve manipulation of antecedent and/or consequent components of instructional protocols (e.g., prompts, reinforcement, or secondary stimuli). This symposium will present research that evaluates the effects of various antecedent and consequent strategies that aim to improve instructional efficiency across a range of skill domains for learners with autism spectrum disorder. Presenters will discuss extra-stimulus versus within-stimulus prompts and differential outcomes procedure to teach conditional discriminations, and antecedent and consequent instructive feedback to teach tacts and intraverbals. Presenters will discuss clinical implications of the findings, including potential benefits and barriers to using the procedures in practice, as well as areas for future research.

At least BCBA-level clinicians and researchers; graduate students

Effective and efficient skill-acquisition procedures must be identified to support individualized behavioral programming for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To do this, practitioners and researchers may use assessment-based instruction. Prompts are a common teaching strategy to promote skill acquisition. The purpose of this applied study was to use assessment-based instruction to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of digital within- and extra-stimulus prompts to teach conditional discriminations to three children with ASD. We identified stimulus prompts using a survey of popular children’s games and conducted a tablet-based instruction readiness assessment. Stimulus prompts involved motion (within-stimulus) and pointing (extra-stimulus) to evoke correct responses in the presence of the discriminative stimulus. We used an adapted alternating treatments design with a no-treatment control condition to evaluate the effects of both prompt types across multiple sets of stimuli. Both stimulus prompt types were efficacious in facilitating skill acquisition for two of three participants. Little difference was observed in time to mastery with either prompt. Neither stimulus prompt was efficacious for the third participant. Assessment results were used to inform clinical programming to teach conditional discriminations to participants and contribute to research on designing and implementing assessments of skill-acquisition procedures.

Research has demonstrated the utility of instructive feedback (IF) as a method to produce emergent verbal behavior. Instructive feedback is a teaching strategy in which nontarget stimuli are presented in learning trials to increase the efficiency of instruction (Carroll & Kodak, 2015). Researchers have investigated differences in secondary target acquisition when inserting the secondary targets in different configurations of the learning trial (e.g., antecedent, consequence). Findings have shown minimal differences in efficacy irrespective of the configuration (e.g., Vladescu & Kodak, 2013). However, no studies to date have evaluated participants’ preference for feedback delivery. As such, the current study replicated previous research by comparing the efficacy and efficiency of IF when presented as antecedent or consequence feedback and included a preference measure for feedback delivery for two children with autism spectrum disorder. We included some procedural modifications such as incorporating probes throughout intervention to attempt to determine when secondary targets were acquired and measured participants’ echoic behavior to evaluate its role in the emergence of the secondary targets. Finally, we tested for the emergence of novel intraverbal responses following secondary-target acquisition. We discuss the clinical implications of our results related to past research, emergent verbal behavior, and participant choice.

Within the complex clinical context of neurodevelopmental disorders, there is a growing need for timely and effective rehabilitation interventions. To meet these challenges, the integration of evidence-based experimental programs and the oversight of expert behavior analysts, aided by researchers and technologists, are imperative in clinical practice. Building on these principles, our research team has undertaken projects that combine ABA methodologies and technology to enhance the well-being of individuals with autism. Our focus areas encompass challenging behaviors, selective eating, communication, personal independence, and practical skills. The first study outlines the initial findings from an applied research project that led to the development of a decision-making model for ABA interventions. This model strives to support and formulate personalized interventions based on an individual's phenotypic traits. In the second study, we explore the outcomes of incorporating assistive technologies with ABA-based procedures, highlighting their potential to significantly impact communication skills, personal autonomy, and functional abilities. The third and fourth studies represent extensions and adaptations of PFA and SBT protocols in severe cases of food refusal and severe problem behavior, respectively. The adjustments and integration with software applications have resulted in substantial reductions in problem behaviors and improved the quality of life for the family.

Audience members should have foundational skills in the area of behavior intervention, building interventions from assessment, program design, shaping, and an understanding of functional analysis

The role of technology in special education and rehabilitation has increased over the last 20 years. New interactive technologies, such as smart mobile devices, related applications (apps), wearable devices, and the Internet of Things (IoT), promote interaction between individuals and their environment, expanding opportunities to treat autism and other disabilities within the natural environment. Within the landscape of assistive technologies and software used for the treatment of autism, we present the Speech Platform for Autism Rehabilitation and Knowledge (SPARK), positioned within a theoretical framework that combines assistive technology with intervention strategies based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), all within an embodied approach. The current work presents the results of three multiple baseline across behavior design conducted on a total of nine patients (e.g. three each), using SPARK to teach three different intervention goals, as follows: (i) increase motivation for communication; (ii) teach self-care skills; (iii) teach functional skills. The results indicate that after 60 days of using SPARK, there is a significant improvement for all the domains. These findings suggest that the use of embodied ABA-based software, such as SPARK, can enhance the quality of life for individuals with autism and facilitate the work of clinicians.

Several forced feeding methods are often attempted with ASD children with food selectivity and food refusal. When there is a marked weight loss and malnourishment, tube feedings or intravenous therapy may be prescribed. Although alleviate temporary risk, forced or passive feeding methods do not correct the feeding problem and not increase voluntary consumption. In addition, these methods can increase the risk of generating trauma. To understand problem behaviors the Performance-based IISCA (Iovino et al. 2022) was used supported by IISCA APP. We applied a modified version of the Skill-Based Treatment (Hanley et al., 2014) in a five-week model protocol to treat food selectivity, food refusal and mealtime problem behaviors. Child with ASD, nasogastric (NG) tube, severe food selectivity, chronically refuse food was recruited for the study. This treatment was fully entirely supported by the National Health System. Parenting Stress Index was using to evaluate the magnitude of stress. Social validity was assessed using a 7-point scale. After the treatment, food repertoire increased, number of mealtime problem behaviors decreased, and the NG tube was removed. Treatment effects were successfully transferred to caregivers and other setting. Parents recognized the social validity of the protocol by reporting high satisfaction and lower stress levels.

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who exhibit problem behaviors may have experienced trauma during their lives (Darnell et al., 2019; Kerns et al., 2015). We will highlight how the core principles of TIC can be applied to improve the quality of services for assessing and treating problem behaviors, using PFA and some adaptations of SBT (Hanley et al., 2014) in a five-week protocol model. A child diagnosed with ASD and severe problem behaviors participated in this study. The treatment received full support from the Italian National Health System. To understand problem behaviors the Performance-based IISCA was used and SBT protocol was implemented by teaching communication, toleration and cooperation supported by IISCA APP. The protocol was immediately transferred and implemented by the child's parents, later extending to various settings. The Parenting Stress Index was employed to assess stress levels within the parent-child system and social validity was measured on a 7-point scale. The results indicated the protocol's effectiveness in reducing challenging behaviors while enhancing the child's communication, toleration, and cooperation and improving the quality of life of the entire family. Moreover, parents reported satisfaction and acknowledged the social validity of the treatment and reductions in stress levels after the treatment.

The symposium "Bridging the Gap: Behavior Analysts' Consideration of Medical Needs in Client Care" aims to explore the intersection of behavioral science and medical needs, showcasing the vital insights and practices that behavior analysts can contribute to improving the overall well-being of their clients. This symposium will feature a collection of presentations, each highlighting various aspects of the consideration of medical needs and collaboration between behavior analysts and the medical community. We will delve into the significance of considering medical conditions during assessment and when designing and implementing behavior intervention programs, thereby creating more comprehensive and effective strategies for individuals with diverse needs. Key topics to be discussed during the symposium include: 1. A review of existing literature on behavior analysis and the consideration of client medical needs, including common comorbid conditions, current recommendations, resources, and case examples. 2. The result of a recent survey focused on assessing the current practices of behavior analysts in the consideration of medical needs of their clients. 3. Examples of and considerations for relationships between client self-injury topography, function, and medical diagnoses. 4. Examples of and considerations for how to leverage the behavior analytic skill set to better understand possible medical influences on client behavior. 5. Ethical Considerations: Presentations will touch on the ethical obligations of behavior analysts in managing client medical needs and how to navigate potential challenges in this intersection.

Intermediate

In this symposium, authors reviewed empirical based literature to give an overview of key topics for practicing clinicians to consider throughout an admission. Spinks et al. conducted a literature review on the use of latency measurements in Functional Analysis and treatment of severe problem behavior and present a summary of the literature using latency to measure target behavior. In addition, will present clinical implications, strengths, and limitations to the empirical foundations. Research has demonstrated the use of multiple formats of preference assessments in identifying a hierarchy of preferred stimuli. Bryan et al. extended a review of literature based on the preference assessment literature review published by Tullis et al. (2011) and will further discuss their findings in guiding assessment and treatment. Boyle and colleagues will provide an overview of function-based approaches for providers to consider when addressing multiply controlled problem behavior as well as presenting strengths and limitations of published treatment approaches and strategies to mitigate limitations. Lastly, Dawson et al. will present an overview of literature that explores the differences and similarities when teaching a mand in the absence of replacing undesirable behavior and teaching an alternative response such as a functional communication response (FCR) to replace undesirable behavior. Dr. Joseph Lambert will provide comments on consideration for practitioners, clinicians, and supervisors, in clinical practice.

Participants will be able to discuss: 1. Use of multiple preference assessment formats for guiding assessment and treatment of challenging behavior 2. Strengths and limitations of the empirical foundations for latency based functional analysis 3. Approaches to addressing multiply controlled problem behavior, the associated limitations, and ways of mitigating those limitations 4. Differences and similarities when teaching a mand in the absence of undesirable behavior and teaching an alternative response, functional communication response (FCR) to replace undesirable behavior.

Research has demonstrated the utility of preference assessment methodologies in a variety of settings for individuals with severe to profound intellectual and developmental disabilities (Cannella et al., 2005; Lancioni et al., 1996). This paper is an extension of the Tullis et at. (2011) paper and reviews 90 studies conducted between 2011 and 2023 that were divided into five categories: (a) effectiveness of formats in determining reinforcing stimuli, (b) underlying mechanisms of preference and factors that may influence or change preference, (c) comparison of methodologies or components between preference assessments, (d) assessment for preference of stimuli, and (e) effects of using preferred stimuli. Results from these studies support previous research supporting the utility of multiple formats of preference assessments for identifying preferred and reinforcing stimuli for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These findings are discussed in terms of guiding services and interventions for individuals with severe to profound disabilities. Suggestions for future research are provided.

To be an effective agent of change in an autism education program, there are clinical skills that all staff must acquire. Historically, there has been an emphasis on staff-training protocols that ensure clinicians demonstrate mastery of behavior analytic repertoires and effectively implement instructional strategies. These skills include, for example, delivering reinforcement, prompting effectively, delivering discrete trial teaching, and teaching language. Although adherence to behavioral procedures is necessary, it is not sufficient to produce staff members who collaborate, demonstrate compassion, and ensure instruction that leads to improved quality of life. Staff training must include the development of professional, compassionate, and culturally sensitive skills. A review of staff training practices that have been effective in promoting well-rounded, caring clinicians will be described along with data supporting effective behavior change agents that ensure consumer satisfaction and implement teaching programs to address the cultural needs and values of each consumer. In addition, strategies and procedures that promote parent trust and involvement, an understanding of individualized family life and values, and the development of action plans based upon knowledge of the consumer will be reviewed, along with data from programs that have implemented the same staff training model both nationally and internationally.

Psychopharmacological interventions are widely prescribed to address severe self-injurious and aggressive behaviors. One tacit assumption regarding ongoing psychopharmacological treatment for patients with severe behaviors is that such interventions are reducing or have reduced the frequency and/or intensity of the problem behaviors. Such assumptions are supported, in many cases, by randomized controlled trials for specific indications and decades of use. However, there are reasons to doubt psychopharmacological intervention efficacy for severe destructive behaviors. First, the dependent variables utilized to assess drug efficacy are often non-specific and do not directly assess problem behaviors frequency or intensity. Second, people with severe problem behaviors are often exposed to polypharmacy obscuring individual drug effects. Third, people with severe behaviors often have fragmented treatment records complicating assessment. Finally, patients with severe behaviors often receive continuous psychopharmacological intervention. On the other hand, systematic tapering and discontinuation of all medications rarely occurs. Here, we summarize real-world effects of psychopharmacological medication tapering on problem behavior frequency of over 750 patients with severe problem behaviors across 24 years. Our data suggest that in a comprehensive behavioral treatment program, approximately 70% of individuals demonstrated a decreasing trend in aggressive and self-injurious behaviors during and after psychotropic medication tapering.

Basic understanding of between group and single subject research designs.

Psychotropic medications are assumed to generally reduce the frequency and/or intensity of severe aggression and self-injury. The Judge Rotenberg Center employs an approach to psychopharmacological treatment where psychotropic medications are gradually tapered (often eliminated) in the context of comprehensive behavioral treatment. We believe this approach is atypical and most patients with severe behaviors receive continuous psychopharmacological intervention. Medication increases (dose and number) and cross tapering are commonplace. Systematic tapering and discontinuation of all medications is rare. Anecdotally as an organization, we have observed rates of problem behaviors often decelerate amidst and after the discontinuation of psychotropic medications. However, the effect has never been assessed through large scale analysis. Here, we present data spanning 24 years summarizing the general effects of medication tapering on over 750 patients with severe aggression and self-injury. We summarize basic demographic information associated with the patients and describe behavior frequency and trend before, during, and after psychotropic drug discontinuation. The results suggest that in 70% of cases, the frequency of aggressive and self-injurious behaviors decreased during and after psychotropic medication tapering.

Clonidine is frequently prescribed to reduce aggressive and self-injurious behavior in people with various mental disorders. An anecdotal observation by a psychiatrist noting clonidine discontinuation often led to improvements in self-injury, aggression, and other destructive behaviors inspired a literature review and retrospective analysis of clonidine tapering. The basic literature review revealed that high doses of clonidine were historically used to evoke self-injury and aggression in basic studies with mammals. Studies showing clonidine efficacy for problem behaviors utilized subjective dependent variables with diverse and numerous line items. Finally, a retrospective analysis of clonidine discontinuation was conducted using frequency of aggressive and self-injurious behavior frequency as a dependent variable. A molar analysis with 89 participants showed that across three time points (e.g. clonidine, clonidine taper, and post clonidine), the mean rates of problem behavior decreased as the drug was discontinued. A repeated measures statistical analysis will be presented. Individual celeration charts showed individual differences with clonidine discontinuation resulting in low rates with some exceptions. In addition, some patients showed temporary increases in problem behaviors following clonidine reductions.

Teaching and training procedures rooted in behavioral science have produced robust outcomes in the safety skills research literature. Performance based training, such as behavioral skills training (BST), has been implemented with individuals through the lifespan to teach skills related to firearm safety, abduction prevention, hazardous material avoidance, food allergen avoidance, and the implementation of safe infant sleep arrangements, to name just a few. This symposium will include four talks and a discussant related to using behavioral science in preventing injury of infants and children. More specifically presenters will share their research related to, training caregivers to perform infant CPR, training caregivers to identify potential choking food hazards, training caregivers to implement the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation for tummy time with infants, and training caregivers to implement correct infant car seat installation. Audience members will learn how to implement performance-based training programs with individuals to teach a variety of safety skills for parents and stakeholders.

Audience members should be familiar with behavior skills training and performance based training.

Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops beating causing blood flow to vital organs to cease. Cardiac arrest occurs more commonly in infants and children due to respiratory emergencies such as drowning, choking, sudden infant death syndrome, or heart abnormalities. With approximately 5,000 infants and children experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually, the aim of this study was to equip caregivers with the skill of performing infant CPR. Researchers extended Aciu et al. (2021) by incorporating the use of feedback technology during behavioral skills training. During training, form and performance of CPR were taught separately. That is, instructions, modeling, rehearsal, feedback, and no feedback were implemented when teaching the topography of CPR and when teaching the performance of CPR. Once participants demonstrated the criteria for both form and performance, feedback was removed to assess CPR. Results demonstrated that once BST was implemented, all participants met the mastery criteria for both form and compressions. All participants maintained responding during the post-test. During the extension phase, most participants demonstrated elevated levels of performance across longer durations of CPR. Social validity data were collected from each participant; limitations and extensions of this research will be discussed.

Choking is a leading cause of death in children under the age of 4. We evaluated the impact of two educational interventions on choking hazard detection in a naturalistic food preparation safety task (FPST) in parents of 0-to-24-month-olds. 66 parents completed an FPST, in which they were presented with photos of meals and asked to identify whether foods (a) were safe to feed their child as pictured, (b) could be made safe with modification, or (c) could not be made safe. Participants were randomly assigned to read a choking prevention pamphlet (n=32) or read the pamphlet and watch a brief video of parents modeling choking-safe food preparation (n=34). Afterward, parents repeated the FPST and answered questions. At baseline, parents made dangerous errors on an average of 32.2% of trials (0-33); 97.0% of parents made at least one dangerous error. Post-education, dangerous errors decreased to an average of 21.4% trials (0-29); 95.5% of parents made at least one dangerous error. More improvement was observed for the pamphlet + video group. Educational components involving video modeling appear more effective than text-only approaches, though there is a need for more effective educational approaches.

In North America, motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of unintended injury-related deaths among children under the age of 14. The primary cause of these deaths is the improper use of child passenger safety restraints (CPSR). Correctly installed CPSRs can decrease the risk of fatal injury by 45% to 95%. To date, no studies have used video prompting with embedded safety check to teach correct CPSR installation and harnessing in the absence of researcher implementation. We used a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effectiveness of a video-prompting procedure with embedded safety checks to teach four prospective parents and caregivers CPSR installation and harnessing skills. All participants learned to perform these skills and these effects maintained for 4 weeks. Further, this training produced an improvement on all participants’ performance of an untrained installation position, vehicle, and harnessing skill, and these effects largely maintained for 4 weeks.

Families with one or more children diagnosed with autism tend to experience higher levels of stress as compared to families with neurotypical children. It is widely believed that access to services, particularly applied behavior analysis (ABA) caregiver training, aids in decreasing stressors. In fact, caregivers who are highly stressed are less likely to seek services, less able to engage in learning behavioral strategies and, instead, research indicates stress often increases as a result of caregiver training alone. Additionally, this familial stress is not limited to parents and caregivers, but siblings of diagnosed individuals also tend to report decreased life satisfaction and increased likelihood of experiencing feelings of anxiety and engaging aggressive behaviors. Throughout this symposium the presenters will demonstrate the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), two behaviorally based therapeutic strategies, targeting parent engagement and sibling relationships. Results from these studies indicate these interventions may benefit overall family well-being, increase access to services, and improve fidelity with behavioral interventions.

This presentation is appropriate for graduate students or BCBAs with an interest in expanding their skillsets. ACT and PCIT are reliant on in the moment modifications to practice and, ACT in particular, is most effective when clinicians have a grasp of functional analysis of verbal behavior. Individuals with emerging to fluent skills in these are most likely to benefit from this presentation.

A growing body of literature demonstrates the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for improving parent stress and parent-child relationships. One potential use of ACT is through telehealth groups as a means to build support networks and increase accessibility. While curriculum has been developed and demonstrated effectiveness for individual intervention, in current practice we aim to determine if the same curriculum may also be effective in group intervention meeting via telehealth. To date, participants include 12 parents of neurodiverse children who participated in a 6-week virtual series to increase individually identified value-based behaviors. Outcomes measured include parent stress, mindful engagement, social validity of the intervention, and subsequent access to other evidence-based interventions and supports. Initial findings indicate an overall improvement in stress and mindfulness for most participants. Modifications to the curriculum based on social validity feedback and observed outcomes will be discussed. These results are encouraging that such interventions may aid in decreasing parent stress and ultimately increasing engagement in evidence-based practices to support the needs of themselves and their children.

One of the most important predictors of success for a child with a Neurodevelopmental Disorder (NDD) is the support from the family system. Siblings of a child with an NDD are often neglected from the conversation of support and treatment; however, challenging behaviors often associated with NDDs can have a significant impact on the sibling relationship, which could result in a compromised quality of life for all siblings. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) have both shown to be efficacious in producing positive outcomes for children with NDDs and their families.The current study expanded PCIT and ABA research to the NDD population, by documenting how siblings can effectively learn and utilize the Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) skills of PCIT to help strengthen the sibling relationship with a child with an NDD. Participants included two sibling dyads in which one sibling was Autistic, and their older sibling was neurotypical. Outcomes include neurotypical sibling’s correct implementation of CDI skills during ten-minute play sessions, and parent and sibling reports of feasibility and relevance of the sibling intervention. Findings suggest that sibling’s participation in treatment, and the impact on the relationship, can inform future sibling interventions for children with NDDs.

Applied behavior analytic interventions have been demonstrated as effective for assessing and intervening on behavioral excesses and deficits across a variety of populations and contexts. However, many at-risk and marginalized populations, such as youth in foster care and justice-involved youth (JIY) remain underserved. This symposium will cover a variety of assessments and interventions targeting challenging behavior and skills deficits displayed by underserved youth. The first two presentations describe studies of assessment of youth behavior. In the first presentation, researchers evaluated an online training to teach case managers to use an assessment for runaway behavior among youth in foster care. The second presentation evaluates differences among non-JIY and JIY in perceptions of eye contact among peers. The latter two presentations describe group-level interventions targeting skills deficits among JIY. In the third presentation, researchers evaluated the effect of financial literacy intervention on delay discounting among JIY. In the final presentation, researchers evaluated the effect of a nutrition intervention on demand for healthier alternatives among JIY. Implications and future directions for assessment and intervention with underserved youth will be discussed.

This symposium covers topics many behavior analysts may not have previous experience with such as working with justice-involved youth, evaluating severe behavior that is not directly observable, implementing group interventions, and statistical analysis. Thus, we believe this symposium is advanced instruction level.

Runaway behavior in child welfare has been associated with negative educational outcomes, a higher risk for future placement disruptions, and a higher risk for crime perpetration and crime victimization. Current interventions for youth who run from their placements repeatedly are either individual or family therapy; however, an individualized approach may better address the function for each youth’s runaway behavior. The Functional Assessment Interview for Runaways (FAIR) is a semi-structured interview that is to be used to develop individualized interventions for runaway behavior for youth in child welfare. The current study virtually trained case managers in two states to use the FAIR and develop individualized interventions to address the function of each youth’s runaway behavior. FAIR results and subsequently developed individualized interventions will be discussed for each youth. Additionally, any instance of runaway behavior following intervention implementation will be reviewed. Furthermore, future directions and potential adaptations to the FAIR will be explored.

Community-engaged research (CEnR) presents an opportunity for behavior analytic researchers to engage in research that centers the consumer and their communities at each phase of the research process. Despite a significant amount of literature detailing best practices for community-engaged research (CEnR), there remain gaps and challenges to conducting high-quality CEnR. We conducted a scoping review of the literature on CEnR best practices and convened a group of experts with diverse backgrounds and types of experiences in CEnR, including academic researchers, community-institutional research liaisons, and community members with leadership roles on CEnR projects. Through a combination of literature review and discussion among the group, we identified three major topic areas underrepresented in the literature, which all authors considered important. We then created a set of recommendations for addressing these gaps. This commentary represents a collaborative, iterative process of co-writing across diverse disciplines, research experiences, and identities. We provide an overview of CEnR, and discuss opportunities for structural, educational, and process-related changes that will enhance the quality and impact of CEnR conducted by academic institutions and communities.

a. Evidence-based practice (EBP) has been introduced as a framework to help reduce the “research to practice gap” by guiding practitioners to use research evidence, combined with client values and context and their own clinical expertise, in making clinical decisions (Contreras et al., 2021; Slocum et al., 2014). Discussions on EBP and the “research-to-practice gap” seem to focus primarily on how practice does not reflect the body of research; however, it is worth considering the extent to which the body of research reflects practice situations and how a “practice-to-research gap” might be important to examine. One area where such a “practice-to-research gap” seems to exist is in the use of assent procedures to ensure client participation in their own services (for those who are unable to give legal consent). That is, many practitioners are talking about and using assent procedures, despite an extremely limited literature base. In this presentation, we will discuss how practitioner expertise can be leveraged through community-engaged and practice-based research as a means to inform a research base on assent procedures that meets the needs of practitioners and clients. We will also discuss how community-engaged and practice-based research can be a means to address the research-to-practice gap (and practice-to-research gap) broadly.

Probes for the presence or absence of bidirectional naming was examined under two conditions. In one condition, participants were presented with three sets of stimuli under a naming condition in which both visual and auditory stimuli were presented simultaneously. After two hours following the naming experience, probes were conducted to test for the emergence of listener responses (point to) and speaker responses (tact and intraverbal). Three additional sets of stimuli were presented to participants in a naming experience that presented the auditory stimuli, saying the name of the picture, followed by a brief delay and then the presentation of the visual stimuli. Probes for untaught listener and speaker response were conducted after two hours. The auditory stimuli and then a delay of the visual stimuli was presented also during the probe sessions under this condition. Data were collected for 10 preschoolers with disabilities who demonstrated variability in their bidirectional naming responses but overall showed higher levels of responding under the simultaneous condition. For participants who demonstrated strong stimulus control for bidirectional naming correctly responded to untaught listener and speaker response under both conditions.

Young children who learn names as listener and speaker without direct instruction demonstrate stimulus control called Incidental Bidirectional Naming (Inc-BN), a verbal developmental cusp. After observation(s) of caretakers speaking the names of stimuli, identified as Naming Experiences, these children acquire names. Two experiments, with 11 toddlers demonstrating Inc-BiN, compared learning of names under Tact Instruction (TI) (i.e., baseline) versus NE conditions using alternating treatments designs. In Experiment 1, children mastered at least 100 words across NE and TI conditions. Mastery was two consecutive listener and speaker responses for a single operant. Mastered operants were replaced with new words until at least 100 were mastered. Participants learned verbal operants faster in NE conditions, accuracy maintained at high levels for both conditions with listener maintenance stronger. Given that TI necessitated longer duration of sessions, in Experiment 2 researchers doubled the words presented in the NE condition (16 words per session) compared to the TI sessions (8 words as in conditions in Experiment 1 for both). Children learned faster under NE even after the doubling; duration of sessions remained longer in TI, and maintenance of the stimulus control was strong for both conditions. Results suggest mechanisms for how children typically learn names as a continuum of stimulus control made possible by Inc-BiN which appears key to how children learn thousands of words without instruction. The authors speculate from existing related literature that the learned reinforcement for the phenomenon is parity or relational correspondence.

More complex forms of Incidental Bidirectional Naming (Inc. BiN) can join the basic Inc. BiN capability, a continuum of stimulus control for forming word-object relations. With additional interventions or experiences, this increase in complexity sets the occasion for the acquisition of more complex language and repertoires. In a multiple probe design across dyads, this study investigated the effects of the establishment of Inc. BiN for unfamiliar stimuli on multiple measures of reading comprehension. Participants consisted of 3 dyads of first graders who textually responded at or above grade-level and demonstrated the absence of Inc-BiN stimulus control for unfamiliar stimuli. Reading comprehension measures consisted of: (1) experimenter-derived passage comprehension probes, (2) read-do probe consisting of unfamiliar stimuli, and (3) Woodcock Johnson (WJIV®) subtests. Participants acquired Inc. BiN stimulus control for unfamiliar stimuli through a Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI) intervention across listener and speaker responses. WJIV® results demonstrated the greatest increases in Passage Comprehension performance, while marginal and educationally significant increases were observed across Reading Vocabulary and Reading Recall subtests. The results suggest a continuum of combinatorially entailed relational responding based on the complexity of Inc. BiN established.

Impulsive behavior is the preference of a smaller sooner (SS) reinforcer over a larger later (LL) reinforcer; the opposite is self-control behavior. Despite major advances in our understanding of factors that influence impulsive preference (e.g., fading, framing, and priming procedures to reduce delay discounting), there is a need to expand the assessment of relevant variables and procedures that affect impulsive choice to less studied contexts. The first presentation will discuss what the author calls a “peculiar” relationship between social distance and affection. Data from studies with college students that found a negative correlation between an affection rating and the positions in a social distance rank are presented. The second presentation discusses the findings of a systematic replication of Berry et al. (2014). Researchers tested if increasing observing responses to images of natural or built environments via a matching-to-sample task could further increase or attenuate the effects on monetary delay discounting. The third presentation discusses the findings of a study that tested a relationship between recently developed behavioral measures of academic procrastination (latency to turn assignments and to start working on assignments and time-to-deadline in hours) and performance during an academic discounting task (replication of Olsen et al., 2018). A fourth presentation discusses data on the relationship between behavioral patterns during an autoshaping procedure (sign-tracking, goal-tracking or indifference), and patterns of delay-discounting.

Audience should be familiar with the behavior analytic approach to self-control and impulsive behavior, procrastination, delay discounting, and social discounting.

Social distance has been considered an intangible quality of the relationship between an individual performing an altruistic act and possible recipients. As with the other varieties of discounting, namely delay and probabilistic, as the social distance increases, the amount of a commodity the individual is willing to forgo decreases hyperbolically. Though the physical concept of distance is a ratio measure with a zero point and values that increase infinitely in the negative and positive domains as occurs with delay, social distance is an ordinal measure of a multidimensional phenomenon. Affection is one of those dimensions. This presentation shows data from two studies that evaluated the correlation between a vague affection rating and the positions in a social distance rank. The correlation was negative. Furthermore, participants rated affection hyperbolically, as if they would have been forgoing money, and some participants gave negative ratings to distant people. As the social distance task requires that individuals put neutral people at the farther extreme, such as “an acquaintance or someone that they barely recognize,” negative affection ratings indicate that some participants might have been putting people they dislike at the farther extreme, which has implications for the social discounting research. It is also worth examining the role of people the individuals dislike in the social discounting research.

Berry et al. (2014, 2015, 2019) found that exposure to images of natural environments reduced impulsive choice during a monetary delay discounting task, as compared to exposure to images of built environments or geometric figures. Berry et al. proposed that attention might be one of the processes responsible for such effect. We tested this hypothesis in a systematic replication of Berry et al.’s (2014) procedure. College students were exposed to a matching-to-sample task aimed at increasing their observing responses to natural and built environments throughout the delay discounting task. Matching was expected to increase the effects reported by Berry et al. As predicted, participants who matched images of built environments (matching built) displayed steeper discount rates as compared to the equivalent non-matching group (replica Berry et al. built). Conversely, matching images of nature did not produce the expected further attenuation of discounting rate. Furthermore, the rate of discounting of participants exposed to a condition that closely replicated Berry et al.’s exposure to images of nature (no matching) was considerably higher, as compared to that of their participants. Lastly, participants’ self-reports regarding the time they spent in natural and built environments weeks before the experiment took place did not predict discounting rate. It is unclear why only matching images of built environments influenced discounting rates. Previous research has shown that aversive contexts increase impulsive choice (Flora et al. 1992, 2003; Hurtado-Parrado et al., 2023). It is possible that matching images during the built condition was more difficult than in the nature condition, and thus participants failed more often to find the correct comparison stimulus. This could have resulted in higher discounting rates. Future research should control correct matching responses to test this interpretation. Lastly, the lack of reproduction of some of Berry et al.’s findings adds to analogous reports from another laboratory (Johnson et al., 2017, 2018, 2019). More research is still needed to understand the mechanisms responsible for the effects of visual stimulation related to natural or built environments on impulsive choice.

Most of the research on academic procrastination and its impact on educational outcomes implements indirect measures (questionnaires or self-reports) with conceptual and methodological approaches not entirely cohesive with a behavior analytic approach. The present study aimed to contribute to this gap by testing the relationship between performance in a systematic replication of the academic discounting task (ADT) designed by Olsen et al. (2018) and three different behavioral measures of academic procrastination designed in our lab: (a) latency to turn assignments in hours (LTA), (b) latency of starting to work on assignments in hours (LWA), and (c) time-to-deadline of submitting assignments in hours (TTD). An association between TTD and ADT k values, as well as an association between the three behavioral measures was found. Also, a significant difference in ADT k values between students who reported being employed versus unemployed students was observed. Lastly, a positive association between TTD and ADT k values, and a negative association between TTD and ADT AUC values was found; namely, high rates of discounting during the ADT predicted less postponement of assignment submission. These findings altogether overall provide additional support for the validity of the ADT as a measure of hyperbolic discounting of academic outcomes and the relevance of the three behavioral measures of academic procrastination. However, the somewhat counterintuitive finding that participants who submitted their assignments earlier displayed higher rates of academic discounting during the ADT do not support Olsen et al.’s prediction that delayed academic rewards are the key contributor to student procrastination. Alternatively, it seems that more research is needed to explore the role of aversive factors in procrastination (e.g., effort required to complete the assignment and/or difficulty of the assignment or probability that the hypothetical assignment would produce the related reinforcers, such as a good grade). The ADT shows great potential to that aim via adapting it to be more in line with the notion that academic procrastination entails choosing an immediate appetitive activity and the delay/avoidance of an aversive outcome (i.e., impulsive option), over a more valuable but also delayed reinforcer (i.e., self-controlled option; Zentall, 2021).

Autoshaping procedures in rats typically produce sign-tracking (e.g., lever pressing) and goal-tracking (e.g., nose poking in the feeder) responses. Individual differences in those responses predict addiction-like behaviors. It has been suggested that sign-tracking responses are initially conditioned responses, which later become controlled by operant-reinforcement contingencies. Previous studies have shown that rats with predominant sign-tracking responding show steeper delay discounting than non-sign trackers; however, it is unclear if the same behavioral mechanisms are involved in sign-tracking and impulsive performance during a delay discounting task. The present study explored the behavioral patterns of rats during an autoshaping procedure and a delay discounting task. Results show three distinct patterns of behaviors during autoshaping: (a) sign-trackers predominantly lever-pressed towards the end of the trial, (b) goal-trackers’ predominantly nose-poked towards the end of the trial, and (c) indifferent rats (i.e., no clear preference goal- or sign-tracking) nose-poked and lever-pressed throughout the trial. Response allocation in autoshaping for sign-trackers and goal-trackers resembles fixed-interval schedule performance, were the probability of responding increases near the time of reinforcer availability. During the delay-discounting task, goal-trackers overall had higher preference for delayed reinforcers than sign-trackers and indifferent rats. The fact that behavioral patterns during autoshaping differentiate responding during the delay discounting task suggests that similar behavioral mechanisms might be responsible for individual differences across these tasks.

RFT can be traced back to a 1984 conference presentation on rule-governed behavior. The study of rule-governed behavior in RFT has tended to be overshadowed by the study of relational frames. However, adequate analyses of rule-governed behavior and related complex phenomena, such as prejudice and political polarisation, arguably require the study of increasingly complex relational networks. A more intense focus in this regard has begun to emerge in recent years. This work has been underpinned, to some extent, by the emergence of a hyper-dimensional, multi-level (HDML) framework for conceptualising research in RFT generally. Specifically, the HDML has encouraged analyses of increasingly complex relational networks along four dimensions, including coherence and complexity. The four papers in this symposium will consider some of this work. Specifically, the four papers will consider (1) the impact of relational coherence vs incoherence in establishing rule-following for speakers from different experimentally established groups; (2) attempts to explore the impact of relative degrees of relational coherence on rule-following and speaker preferences; (3) recent experimental analyses of prejudice as involving transformations of functions through complex hierarchical relational networks; (4) how recently offered concepts within RFT may help advance conceptual analyses of complex social behaviors relevant to political polarisation.

A basic background in behaviour analysis is assumed

Previous experiments have revealed that different levels of relational coherence can affect rule-following behaviors. In addition, relational coherence may be under the control of conditional discriminations. For example, different speakers may generate different rule-following responses in the same individual with the same rule by manipulating the levels of relational coherence associated with the speaker. This presentation aims to address this research topic by presenting two experiments. Experiment 1 attempts to replicate previous experimental results exploring the impact of speakers established as relatively coherent (100%, 50%, 0% coherent) on participant rule-following. Experiment 2 is designed to perform a parametric analysis of different levels of relational coherence (90%, 80%, 70%, and 60%) in three different speakers and assess how participants’ speaker preference is affected. Overall, the initial results have been replicated, and the parametrical analyses involved in Experiment 2 have so far indicated that variability in rule-following increases as relational coherence decreases. The implications of these findings for developing a more detailed perspective of the variables that affect rule-following are considered, as are some next steps for the analysis of this complex human behavior.

Prejudice often leads to regrettable social effects, such as segregation and mistreatment. Derived verbal events underlie this phenomenon, regulating our interactions in the social environment and establishing functions to stimuli without a history of direct learning. A notable gap exists in the experimental study of more complex derived stimulus relations investigating racial bias. The present study investigated if hierarchical relations could affect biased responses. Twelve undergraduate students were trained to respond according to two contextual cues: “includes” and “belongs to.” These cues were used to form three hierarchical levels (top, middle, and bottom). Then, negative or positive functions were established, pairing adjectives to one of the middle-level category labels. The effects of the functions directly paired were inquired for all arbitrarily derived hierarchical levels, characters, and extra non-arbitrary related stimuli, checking for generalization of the responses. In the first experiment, five participants responded according to hierarchical relations, showing transitive and asymmetrical class containment and unilateral property induction. In a second experiment, with a broader testing phase, all participants responded according to hierarchical relations. Additionally, further undesirable effects of prejudice were observed on generalization based on physical traits or color.

There is a growing concern about political polarization in current societies. De Rose and Rocha (in press) suggested that RFT may provide useful elements to analyze the phenomenon of polarization. Political positions may be related in accordance with different patterns of relational responding, such as difference, hierarchy, comparison, or opposition. When positions are related in frames of opposition, transformation of functions result in highly polarized affective functions of the opposing opinions and attitudes, so that if one has positive valence the other will necessarily have negative valence. Recent developments in RFT may contribute to advancing this analysis, taking into account the orienting, evoking, and motivating functions involved in any given act of relating. As such, negative evoking functions may impair the mere contact with the arguments of opposed positions, and thus contribute to confirmation bias and motivated reasoning, to the point that political discussions and search for consensus becomes impossible. This presentation will elaborate on how current RFT developments may lead to refinements in the analysis of political polarization based on frames of opposition as derived relational networks and their differential functional properties.

Resurgence is the recurrence of previously extinguished target response following a worsening of conditions for a more recently reinforced alternative response following differential reinforcement of alternative behavior. Laboratory studies of resurgence examine the behavioral processes that contribute to relapse and provide further insight into this phenomenon. This symposium includes four presentations: First, Rodolfo Bernal-Gamboa will present data from a novel study demonstrating resurgence on domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). Next, Julian Velasquez and Matias Avellaneda will present data from two different studies with rats examining the effects of parameters of alternative-response reinforcement on resurgence. These include (1) multiple alternative responses with different topography (Velasquez), and (2) different qualities of alternative reinforcement (Avellaneda). Finally, Carla Martinez-Perez will provide a quantitative examination of the effects of rapid and repeated contingency reversals on resurgence using crowdsourcing. Theoretical and clinical implications will also be discussed throughout the presentations. The symposium will close with a discussion from Dr. Sarah E. Bloom.

The audience should have basic knowledge of (1) the study of resurgence, and/or (2) quantitative modeling of behavioral data. Researchers and clinicians are welcome.

One well-known example of reoccurrence of extinguished responses is resurgence. Although resurgence has been studied in different laboratory animals (e. g., rats, pigeons), as far as the authors know, it has not been systematically studied with domestic animals. Thus, the main goal of the present experiment was to explore whether resurgence can be found in dogs. An experimental apparatus was built to test domestic dogs in their homes. Therefore, during the initial phase (Phase 1) one response was reinforced (target response). Then, in the following phase (Phase 2) the target response was placed in extinction while simultaneously an alternative response was reinforced. Finally, during the Test Phase no reinforcement was available for either behavior. The number of occurrences of the target response were measured as resurgence. The results of this experiment indicated an increase of the target response during testing, suggesting that resurgence can be observed in domestic dogs. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.

Resurgence is the recurrence of previous reinforced behavior by the worsening of current alternative conditions (Lattal, 2017). While some studies have suggested that operant-expanded treatments might reduce resurgence, inconsistent findings warrant further investigation. Mixed results could be explained by attending to the type of training or the response topographies. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of different types of multiple alternative training on resurgence when each response had different topographies. Following reinforcement of the target response (i.e., chain-pull), three groups of rats were exposed to different alternative-response training procedures. For the within-session training group, two alternating alternative responses (i.e., lever-press and key-push) were reinforced across each session. For the between-conditions training group, each alternative was reinforced across separate conditions. For Single training group, only one alternative was reinforced. Once alternative reinforcement was removed, Single group exhibited greater resurgence, while Between-Conditions group showed reduced resurgence. Within-session training group did not show resurgence. The results of this study shed light of the effects of training multiple alternative responses as an approach to reduce resurgence. These findings might have implications in clinical settings for the design of successful behavioral interventions for the promotion of durable outcomes despite of treatment challenges.

Behavioral flexibility is a general term referring to adaptations that promote survival under the pressure of changes in the environment. Accordingly, one approach to evaluating behavioral flexibility is to examine operant-choice behavior under shifting consequences, such as when reinforcement contingencies reverse. A related effect demonstrating behavioral flexibility during changes in reinforcement contingencies is the resurgence of a previously reinforced behavior during extinction. We examined whether manipulations of repeated reinforcement-contingency reversals affect resurgence and whether the theoretical framework of Resurgence as Choice can account for the results. Preliminary analyses suggest greater target-response rates in groups arranging no reversals during Phase 1 (Late, Control), and faster decreases in groups arranging extinction of target reinforcement during Phase 2 (Early, Control). Furthermore, resurgence occurs across all groups, with greater resurgence observed for groups Early and Control, and less resurgence in groups that had repeated contingency reversals during Phase 2 (Late, Constant). The results of this study are discussed considering the Resurgence of Choice framework and we provide further insight into both clinical relapse and behavioral flexibility.

Renewal is a form of relapse wherein a previously reinforced response increases when aspects of the environmental context change. Typically, target behavior is acquired in Context A, extinguished in Context B, and then reemerges in Context A (ABA renewal) or a novel Context C (ABC renewal). Renewal has been demonstrated across many species in the laboratory and is prevalent in clinically relevant behavior. Renewal examinations have highlighted advantages of translating findings from basic research to inform development of behavioral treatment and, conversely, pulling from observations in applied settings to inform laboratory research. This bidirectional, translational approach deepens our understanding of behavioral processes involved in renewal while enhancing and refining clinical practice. The first presentation evaluates the role of discriminative stimuli in extinction processes during a renewal procedure with rats (Dr. Beatriz Arroyo Antúnez). The second presentation examines the effects of multiple-context training on ABA and ABC renewal via crowdsourcing (Kyleigh Montague). The third presentation assesses the role of effort disparity between target and alternative responses in a human-operant arrangement (Haleh Amanieh). The final presentation involves a retrospective analysis, examining renewal of challenging behavior following changes in therapist, setting, and work task (Alex Pauls). Dr. William Sullivan will serve as discussant.

Laboratory models of relapse (e.g., renewal, resurgence) offer techniques to assess challenges to behavioral treatments involving differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) with extinction. Resurgence emerges as conditions of reinforcement for desired behavior worsen, whereas renewal occurs during transitions away from a treatment context. Traditionally, target behavior is acquired in training Context A, extinguished in treatment Context B, then reemerges in Context A (ABA renewal) or novel Context C (ABC renewal). The current study recruited adult participants through the crowdsourcing platform Prolific to investigate the effect of conducting treatment in multiple contexts on the relapse of operant behaviors. Participants engaged in an online button-pressing task to earn points exchangeable for money, and contextual changes occurred through background image changes. Experiment 1 evaluated differences in relapse among participants who experienced DRA with extinction in three contexts (B, C, D) prior to experiencing extinction for both target and alternative responding in the training context, and Experiment 2 evaluated these differences in a novel context (E). Multiple-context training did not mitigate ABA renewal; however, previous literature suggests multiple-context training does mitigate ABC renewal. Results of the present study provide insight into behavioral techniques that best attenuate relapse of operant behavior following successful treatment.

This symposium addresses the relevance of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to the general education domain. Oftentimes ABA is thought of as only applicable to those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders, yet the application of ABA is appropriate for any socially significant problems such as those that arise daily in the general education setting. Presented in layman’s term and including both small and large group implementation, attendees will learn about ABA applications in education and be presented with clear examples of how to bridge the gap between understanding and application. With a focus on system implementation, this symposium will discuss topics such as Direct Instruction, Precision Teaching, and Equivalence-based Instruction. The symposium will also include applicable examples of implementation within the education setting so attendees will take away applicable strategies for implementing the ABA strategies discussed. The symposium is one of two presentations regarding incorporating Applied Behavior Analysis into the General Education Classroom.

An understanding of the general education classroom and the applications of behavior analytic applications outside of autism.

Classrooms are structured environments with carefully created rules; however, students may not always follow these rules, indicating the need for additional strategies to be implemented by the classroom teacher.Group contingencies are a type of intervention that can be particularly useful in a classroom setting as one strategy can be applied to multiple members of a group.Group contingencies are a group of strategies to change the behavior of a group and/or individual using specific sets of rules. This strategy ishighly applicablewithin a classroom of students in that only the group contingency must be learned and implemented rather than a variety of individual behavioral contingencies across students. There are three types of group contingencies, dependent, independent, and interdependent group contingencies, each of which has specific guidelines, benefits, and challenges.Overall, all three involve consistent components including organization, management, target behavior, a reinforcement system, criteria for meeting contingency, delivery of reinforcer, measurement, and a strategy to fade the contingency.The characteristics of each are summarized, how to implement each in a classroom is explained, and examples of each are provided.

Teachers and schools face many challenges as they aim to deliver the most effective instruction to their students. Equivalence-based instruction (EBI; Sidman & Tailby, 1982) provides a way to promote teaching efficiency through instructional sequences that foster the learner’s ability to relate stimuli through language. EBI expands on the concept of stimulus equivalence in which specific language-based relations are taught and then other relations or skills emerge that were not directly trained. Within the classroom, the use of EBI instructional arrangements such as match-to-sample training or teaching through logic puzzles can promote the underlying skill of language-based relating. This discussion will highlight how students may benefit from the increased efficiency gained by utilizing equivalence-based instruction and how teachers can create these instructional experiences. Multiple examples of how EBI can be incorporated within differing subjects and age ranges of students will be provided to demonstrate the value of applying equivalence-based instruction within the classroom.

As the behavior analyst relies on accurate and reliable data from sessions conducted with high procedural fidelity, effective training techniques on both data collection and treatment integrity carry high importance across staff and caregivers alike. The purpose of this symposium is to present several refinements to practices such as defining and measuring responses, training treatment procedures, and the durability of these trainings in the face of treatment challenges. Yassa and colleagues examined the relation between skill mastery and durability of these skills under specific challenges to treatment in registered behavior technicians. Najafichaghabouri and Joslyn examined the correspondence between on-task behavior and its effect on the completion of work tasks in middle school students. Sigwanz and colleagues compared undergraduate students’ live collection of discontinuous data to continuous data on sociability assessments. Mery and colleagues surveyed board-certified behavior analysts on questions related to the validity of caregiver-collected data and these data collection practices. The results and further implications of these studies will be discussed.

Graduate students (masters, doctoral), masters-level licensed clinicians, board certified behavior analysts

Behavior analysts rely on data to assess their clients’ progress and inform their clinical decisions. As such, the accuracy and reliability (i.e., integrity) of data obtained are vital to its utility. Caregivers may be asked to collect data to better monitor the frequency of the behavior and understand environmental causes. Further, a clinician may ask caregivers to continue collecting data to ensure that treatment has continued to be effective outside of the clinical setting. Unfortunately, behavior analysts do not always trust caregiver-reported data. The purpose of the current study was to determine variables that impact the integrity of caregiver collected data. An online survey was completed by Board-Certified Behavior Analysts who answered questions related to caregiver data collection practices and their perceptions of those data. Specifically, participants answered questions about their demographics (e.g., clinician education, populations clinician serves), caregiver data collection training, tactics used to address data collection issues, and concerns related to caregiver collected data. Outcomes and implications will be discussed.

Avoidance is a common target of intervention for the applied behavior analyst in clinical practice (e.g, Dymon & Roche, 2009). Typically characterized as maladaptive, escape and avoidance are described in terms of the negative reinforcement contingency (Hineline, 2022). The present symposium will explore several behavior analytic conceptual analyses of avoidant behavior and reexamine this phenomenon contextually through the lens of appetitive and aversive functional relations. This symposium aims to: (1) to explicate the adaptive roles avoidance can serve in particular contexts (2) to reexamine or reconceptualize common behaviors typically considered avoidant. The first paper will reexamine avoidance through a contextual viewpoint, specifically applying the concepts of appetitive and aversive functional relations. The second paper will discuss preference for solitude, otherwise known as enjoyment in aloneness (Coplan et al., 2019). The third paper will re-evaluate the classic phenomenon of learned helplessness through a modern behavior analytic lens with implications for applied clinical practice. The fourth paper will review misconceptions of what conditions facilitate and inhibit the emergence of a video gaming addiction with emphasis on opportunities video games might offer for broadening learning abilities.

Numerous research studies have employed response-independent schedules (i.e., noncontingent reinforcement; NCR) as control conditions or treatment for disruptive behavior. Moreover, stimulus control procedures are often employed in applied research aimed at decreasing disruptive behavior. The current symposium includes three presentations related to response-independent schedules and one examining the role of punishment on discriminated responding. The first presentation provides a brief history of the terms environmental enrichment (EE) and NCR and proposes a new conceptually neutral umbrella term. The second presentation examines the evidence from both laboratory and applied research that response-independent schedules produce adventitious reinforcement. The third presentation summarizes results of an experimental study which evaluated the effects of two procedural variations of NCR, rotating the effective competing stimuli and prompting functional engagement, on levels of automatically reinforced disruptive behavior. Finally, the fourth presentation consists of an experimental study comparing responses under the stimulus associated with the absence of punishment (hypothesized S?p) with responses under the stimulus associated with the absence of reinforcement (S?). The symposium concludes with thoughtful comments from the discussant.

Doctorate level behavior analysts Masters level behavior analysts

In 1948, Skinner described the behavior of pigeons under response-independent schedules as “superstitious,” and proposed that the responses were reinforced by contiguous, adventitious food deliveries. Subsequently, response-independent schedules have been of interest to both basic and applied researchers, first to understand the mechanisms involved, and later, to use as treatment, known as “noncontingent reinforcement” (NCR), to reduce challenging behavior. However, the potential superstitious effects produced by these schedules have been challenged, with some researchers arguing that antecedent variables play a significant role. This paper examines the evidence for adventitious reinforcement from both laboratory and applied research, the results of which suggest that antecedent, non-operant functions may be important in fully understanding the effects of NCR. An applied-basic research synthesis will be discussed, in which attention to potential non-operant functions could provide a more complete understanding of response-independent schedules. Further, the applied implications of the non-operant functions of NCR schedules will be covered.

Behavior analysts are commonly tasked with training a variety of stakeholders and non-behavioral professionals to implement behavior-change procedures. Given the integral role of technology in our everyday lives, the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has begun to integrate advanced technology into practice, specifically in the area of staff, caregiver, and educator training. The presenters will review recent advancements in training using multimedia technology. Presenters will expand upon the use of virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), video-based training (VBT), and behavioral skills training (BST) to train a variety of behavior change procedures. Across these studies, participants included caregivers, novice volunteers, experienced professionals, and university psychology students. Across studies, participants were taught to implement Functional Communication Training (FCT), Free Operant Stimulus Preference Assessments, and a Feeding Protocol. The researchers will examine the value, efficacy, and accessibility of innovative training modalities across skills. We will discuss the implications of new and existing technology advances and the implications for research and practice.

Functional communication training (FCT) is an effective approach to treating challenging behaviors in students with disabilities. Staff involved in behavior intervention often lack access to training in FCT, however. We evaluated behavior skills training (BST) in FCT featuring artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR). BST consisted of prerecorded lectures and models followed by AI-delivered systematic prompting and feedback within a VR simulation. Five doctoral-level students in psychology and education participated. Lessons involved behavior maintained by escape from demands (Studies 1 & 2) and access to tangibles (Study 2). Results across studies suggest correspondence between AI-assessment of movement and speech and human observation was high, but varied based on the condition and student facility with English. For Study 1, Weighted baseline corrected Tau (WTaubc) was consistent with a large effect (.81). For Study 2, WTaubc was consistent with a large effect (.67). Participants reported learning the procedure and found the training acceptable.

We trained 6 novice adults without prior experience implementing behavior-analytic procedures to conduct a free operant stimulus preference assessment using multimedia content with embedded instructions and modeling. We modified previously published training content to be presented at the seventh-grade level. Also, we translated the training content so people could be recruited and participate in Spanish. We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across-participants design to evaluate acquisition and demonstrate experimental control. We scored participants' performance before and after training. After training, participants responded to a social acceptability questionnaire and provided information about the quality of their training experience. The training procedure resulted in robust and immediate improvements in performance, regardless of the language the content was presented in. In addition, participants expressed high satisfaction with the multimedia content and the overall training experience. We discuss the importance of creating training content that is more accessible regardless of education level and directions for future inquiry.

A potential symptom exhibited by individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an inability to acquire functional communication skills at a pace comparable to that of typically developing peers of the same age (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). As such, children with ASD may engage in challenging behavior of varying topography and function. Individualized behavior analytic interventions and treatment programs address such challenging behaviors, and a potentially crucial component to ensuring lasting treatment effects is the training of caregivers familiar to the individual of focus. Parents have been successfully trained to implement a variety of behavior reduction and acquisition procedures. The current study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of Virtual Reality Behavioral Skills Training (VR BST) by conducting FCT training within a VR BST modality. Caregivers were exposed to an immersive virtual reality (VR) simulation in which they were tasked with conducting FCT with a simulated child. After successfully completing training by meeting the predetermined mastery criterion, parents/caregivers were tasked with conducting in-vivo FCT with their own children. We will review and discuss the results obtained and the implications for future research regarding the effectiveness and validity of VR BST in parent/caregiver training of behavioral intervention implementation.

Relational Frame Theory (RFT; Hayes et al., 2001) proposes that (1) derived relational responding occurs across multiple frame families, (2) derived relations can transform the function of environmental stimuli, and (3) derived relational responding is a generalized operant. These assumptions are tested across a series of translational and applied studies with learners receiving ABA services and translational analyses with college student participants. The first presentation evaluates the interdependency of skills targeted in the LIFE assessment (Dixon, 2020) that incorporates relational learning, and results suggest that skills emerge within interconnected relational networks across for autistic and neurotypical learners. The second presentation isolates the emergence of relational frames using a Relational Density Theory framework embedded within play-based instruction (Dixon, 2014-2016), with results supporting the use of a selection-based multi-dimensional scaling procedure. The third presentation demonstrates the use of an experimental analysis built on Relational Density Theory to isolate relational framing patterns that participate in adaptive behavior repertoires for autistic learners in a series of clinical cases. The final presentation expands the discussion of interdependent learning to neurological activity that co-occurs with derived relational responding, highlighting the role of interdependent neural systems within relational responding.

behavior analysts and practitioners. no prerequisite skills.

Relational Frame Theory (RFT) is a contemporary behavior analytic account of human language and cognition. Emerging evidence suggests that relational training procedures can uniquely produce changes in overall cognitive abilities as measured by IQ among both neurodivergent (Dixon et al., 2023) and neurotypical (Cassidy et al., 2011) participants, whereas conventional methods failed to produce such an effect. One potential explanation lies in the underlying neurological correlates and the functional changes produced by relational training procedures. The current study extended prior work on stimulus equivalence and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; e.g., Hinton et al., 2010; Ogawa et al., 2010) by incorporating non-equivalent relational frames, refining parameters of the behavior task, and investigating the changes in functional connectivity among areas involved in relational responding after exposure to a relational training protocol. In study 1, a group of neurotypical participants completed a relational responding task that consisted of a set of 60 randomly selected questions, distributed across six relational frames and between two levels of difficulty. Results established a baseline of responding and the parameters to be used during the fMRI task. Results also indicated statistically significant differing response time between arbitrary and non-arbitrary stimuli, and among different relational frames. In study 2, a different group of neurotypical participants initially completed the same relational responding task during fMRI, and subsequently completed a week-long relational training protocol. Participants then completed the same relational responding task during fMRI as a follow-up. Implications on relational training and its neurological correlates will be discussed.

The evolutionary theory of behavioral dynamics is a computational model of behavior that integrates Darwinian rules of selection and reproduction to study the behavior of artificial organisms animated by the theory. A considerable body of research shows that the behavior of artificial organisms is indistinguishable from the behavior of live organisms under concurrent arrangements, and supports the theory for modeling a wide array of behavioral phenomena. In the past decade, studies have evaluated the degree to which the behavior of artificial organisms corresponds to live organisms under novel conditions. The purpose of this symposium therefore is to discuss several of these novel applications and future research in this area. The first presentation provides an introduction to the evolutionary theory of behavioral dynamics with an overview of supporting evidence. The second presentation discusses the correspondence between the behavior of artificial organisms and live organisms under delay discounting arrangements. The third presentation reviews conceptual and methodological considerations on the application of the theory to clinical phenomena, such as severe behavior in treatment-resistant populations. Finally, the fourth presentation discusses how the theory be applied to investigate patterns of responding during reversal learning tasks in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Collectively, these presentations describe novel applications of the evolutionary theory of behavioral dynamics and how it can be used to investigate issues of social importance.

Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by the occurrence of rigid and repetitive patterns of behavior. One way this has been evaluated is using reversal learning tasks in which the behavior of individuals with autism has been found to adapt less quickly to unpredictable changes in the contingencies of reinforcement. We attempted to replicate and extend research in this area by incorporating preferred, individualized reinforcers. We failed to replicate the findings of previous research: our clinical evaluation yielded much more extreme inflexibility than has been previously documented. We applied the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics to investigate potential causes of this replication failure. First, we developed several models and artificial organisms animated according to each model were exposed to a reversal learning task. Second, we identified models that most closely corresponded to the findings of previous research as well as our clinical evaluation. Third, we exposed selected models to reversal learning tasks with varied reinforcer values to model the effects of including generic versus individualized, preferred consequences. Results indicate two distinct patterns of responding during reversal learning tasks, both of which are negatively impacted by the use of higher value reinforcers. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

This session looks back on the 50-year career of the Association for Behavior Analysis with an eye to its future. The first presentation is focused on the development of ABA as organization, describing the challenges it has faced and overcome throughout its history. The second presentation looks at the mission of ABA and its role in the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic plan. The evolution of the science of behavior analysis, as reflected in ABA conference presentations over its history, is provided in the third presentation. The fourth presentation describes ABA’s longstanding commitment to the preparation of successive generation of behavior analysts as evident in its efforts to develop and sustain quality education programs. Following these presentations, the speakers will participate in a discussion with the audience, focusing on these and related issues as well as the aims and objectives of the Association for Behavior Analysis International going forward.

I have had the honor and the privilege of serving ABAI for over 30 years as Executive Director/CEO. Since its inception and especially, during the last three decades, the field of behavior analysis, like other disciplines, has been impacted by significant socio-economic changes. ABAI has successfully adjusted to those constantly evolving vicissitudes, while remaining committed to preserving, developing, and disseminating the science of behavior with the ultimate objective of contributing to the well-being of society. With that vision in mind, ABAI has grown from a small membership association to the largest in our field; from producing a convention and a journal to offering a great variety of products and services; from having no employees to establishing a competent and caring team. This presentation offers an inside perspective of ABAI’s growing pains, conflicts, and successes—an account that only a few members in its leadership have benefited from living firsthand. As well, it offers some reflections for future directions.

The mission of the Association for Behavior Analysis, International is “to contribute to the well-being of society by supporting, developing, and enhancing the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis.” Indeed, the statement of our mission has remained a relative constant since ABAI’s inception in 1974, even as the field of behavior analysis has grown in number, diversity of interests, and professional and educational identifications. For this increasingly complex and varied discipline, it is essential to ensure the strength of, and support for, scientific behavior analysis and the philosophy that underlies it. As ABAI has worked to balance the many, and sometimes competing, priorities of its constituencies, our mission has provided the compass. This presentation will: 1) describe ways in which major challenges for ABAI throughout its history have often involved pressures to deviate from its central mission; and 2) review the role of our mission in determining content and implementation of the organization’s strategic plan as well as the decision-making of its Executive Council over the past 50 years.

A science is identified by the products of its scientists as these are presented at its conferences and appear in its journals. The status of a science at any given time is especially evident in its conference presentations because these ordinarily (and ethically) precede their published appearances. The aim of this address is to examine the identity of the science of behavior analysis as revealed in the conference presentations of its scientists over the past fifty years. A retrospective analysis of these products, categorized in accord with present day program areas, will be presented. Changes to submission procedures, speaker invitations, and other relevant administrative actions will be noted as they occurred. The aims of these actions will be described, and their outcomes assessed to the extent possible. Some comments on the status of behavior analysis as a scientific enterprise at the present time will be offered along with some thoughts about its possible futures.

The vitality, development, and growth of behavior analysis depends on many factors. Perhaps most important is the quality of the educational programs that prepare successive generations of behavior analysts. ABAI’s commitment to education started early in its history with the establishment of the Education and Evaluation Committee in 1977 (just the fourth year of the association’s existence), progressed to the accreditation of graduate and undergraduate programs and, in collaboration with the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, verification of graduate course sequences. This presentation will focus on the development of the accreditation system, the challenges it faces today, and the role that ABAI accreditation plays in securing a future for behavior analysis as a science and profession.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, behavior therapists slowly transitioned – mostly – from offering interventions intended to alter a client’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Some, with the encouragement of those within the LGBTQ community like the late Dr. Charles Silverstein, realized that continuing research and clinical practice in this direction contributed to a climate of bias. Others failed until much later to recognize that the work was harmful to individuals undergoing it – some clinicians may still be learning this lesson. Conversely, behavioral strategies were slow to be advanced in the service of mitigating the effects of anti-LGBTQ bias. Funding and institutional support in this direction has also appears to have been slow, relative to the support of historic change efforts. How do we reconcile the goals of behavioral science that advocate for social justice and improvement of the human condition with its history of neglecting the perspectives and voices of marginalized people? How must our field continue to grow and change to reduce the likelihood of causing such harm in the future? Particular attention will be paid in this exploration of the relationships between behavior therapy, sexual orientation, and gender toward how ongoing bias in the field creates a context that maintains and supports harm in a global context.

Behavior analysts, students, practitioners, researchers.

The transition to college can be uniquely difficult for autistic students. In addition to the academic demands of higher education, students are often living on their own for the first time. Autistic students may struggle with interpersonal demands, executive functioning, time management and other skills that independent living at college requires. In the current paper, we will present a description of a two-year college preparation program designed for autistic high school students. Through collaboration with an autistic consultant and current college students, best practices in transition planning were incorporated into a comprehensive curriculum designed to teach high schoolers critical skills to be successful in college. The curriculum arranges targeted skills into 6 pillars of success: self-advocacy, health, wellness and safety, interpersonal skills, community engagement, independent living, and executive functioning. Each pillar includes specific learning objectives and activities designed to enhance engagement and build sustainable skills. We will describe successes and challenges with developing lessons that are authentic, relevant, and evidence-based for autistic adolescents. Preliminary data has indicated that the program is effective and well-liked by both participants and their caregivers.

Humans are biologically adapted for cooperation and cultural life in ways that other primates are not. Humans have unique motivations and cognitive skills for sharing emotions, experience, and collaborative actions (shared intentionality) that emerge in human ontogeny at around one year of age. Our nearest primate relatives do not seem to have the motivations and cognitive skills necessary to engage in activities involving collaboration, shared intentionality, and, in general, things cultural.

For Everyone

Behavior analysts are working in a time in which the manualization and protocolization of assessments and intervention procedures is ever intensifying. At the same time, behavior analysis courses seem to be resulting in technical, uncritical repertoires: behavior analysts seem to lack skills to assess data and explanation present in conceptual and empirical studies. The purpose of this symposium is to present how instructional design can support behavior analysts in designing, building, implementing and monitoring teaching and assessment procedures. In the first symposium, learners will describe (a) overlaps between Instructional Design and Behavior Analysis; (b) contingencies that might prevent behavior analysts from looking at procedures from different instructional design approaches and (c) possible consequences of the separation between different niches within behavior analysis. In the second symposium, a specific example on how instructional design might inform teaching procedures for children with autism spectrum disorders will be presented. The differences between concept teaching and multiple exemplar training will be presented and behavior analytic research that aimed at concept teaching for children with autism.

Intermediate. Pre-requisite skills. Prior to the symposium, the audience should be able to (a) define instructional design; (b) define behavior analysis; (c) define and describe contingencies

Instructional design and behavior analysis have a long history together. Overlaps between these areas include, but are not limited to, setting measurable, observable learning objectives, analyzing what needs to be taught in order to reach the objectives, designing and implementing effective teaching procedures, choosing stimuli, monitoring and assessing results, and making data-based decisions. However, studies that bring together these areas, empirical or theoretical, are sparse. This presentation aims at presenting some of the overlaps between these areas and possible contingencies that might be responsible for a detachment between them. Financial contingencies, professional recognition within behavior analysis, increased probability of publication and funding are contingencies that could be responsible for the separation. In addition, consequences of this separation such as the creation of several verbal communities within behavior analysis, which might result in communication difficulties and probably in the misuse of several intervention packages by those who do not consume technical and scientific behavior analytic knowledge through analytic lenses, based on conceptual consistency will be discussed. Suggestions for future theoretical and empirical research that might bring the fields closer will be presented.

Concepts can be defined as a class of stimuli that share critical, essential or “must-have” features. The members of a class also have varying or “can-have” features that can vary across the members. It is important to highlight that concepts cannot be aprioristically defined; they are dependent on the verbal community. For example, some exemplars of a class might belong to other stimulus classes in another verbal community. The boundaries of a given concept might be difficult to teach through discrimination procedures, so not only multiple exemplars are necessary; the features of each exemplar must be carefully selected to improve chances of boundary discrimination. And members of one class cannot belong to another class being taught. Based on this XXX, the purpose of this presentation is to present a literature review of behavior analytic studies that taught concepts to children with autism. Criteria for inclusion were: a) studies with people with autism spectrum disorders; b) applied empirical studies; c) that aimed at teaching concepts; d) instructional design had to be mentioned in the title or in the abstract. Six studies were found. Their analysis is presented and suggestions for future theoretical and empirical research are discussed.

A rapidly growing literature supports training models with remote components, given their potential cost-effectiveness, convenience, and accessibility; however, most studies target relatively simple procedures (Gerencser et al., 2020). This symposium includes three presentations focused on remote or hybrid training, each featuring distinct methods and aims, for a more complex repertoire: implementing practical functional assessment and skill-based treatment (PFA/SBT; Hanley et al., 2014). The first presentation reports the findings of a randomized controlled component analysis of an asynchronous computer-based instruction program on the skill-based treatment integrity of behavioral service providers serving in diverse roles and contexts (n = 78), informing conclusions about efficacy at the group level, or for the “average” trainee. The second presentation features a large-scale hybrid training model for school staff implementing PFA/SBT and includes social validity and student outcomes as reported by school staff, facilitating examination of training effectiveness at the group level. The final presentation examines effectiveness at the individual level, featuring parent treatment integrity and child outcomes in a series of three applications of teleconsultation to support in-home, parent implemented PFA/SBT. Collectively, presentations demonstrate the potential of remote technology for preparing and supporting individuals responsible for implementing complex behavior intervention packages such as PFA/SBT.

Intermediate

Using computer-based instruction to train intervention implementers may require substituting alternative interactive activities for direct skill rehearsal, although little is known about what activities are most efficacious (Gerencser et al., 2020). In this study, an underpowered randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the relative impacts of two alternative activities on behavioral service providers’ integrity to and mastery of skill-based treatment procedures (Hanley et al., 2014). Implementation was assessed at two time points for a total of 78 total participants randomly assigned to a no-training control, complete computer-based instruction, or one of two partial computer-based instruction groups each characterized by a missing interactive activity (i.e., multiple exemplar training or treatment integrity evaluation) to facilitate component analysis. Mann-Whitney U and Chi-Square tests revealed significant effects on treatment integrity and mastery, respectively, for all training groups relative to the control group. Differences among training groups were not statistically significant, however descriptive data indicated greater changes in treatment integrity for the treatment integrity evaluation, complete, and multiple exemplar training groups, respectively. Findings suggest a variety of interactive activities may support treatment, warranting further research. Future directions include further examination of the contributions of interactive activities, training efficiency, and potential moderators of response.

Relational skills training interventions are increasingly popular among basic and applied relational frame theory (RFT) practitioners. In particular, RFT has shown that arbitrarily derived relational responding (ADRR) is operant behavior and that the operant acquisition of various patterns of relational framing is crucial to cognitive and linguistic development. This symposium will present two applied research and one theoretical paper exploring the applications of RFT: Paper 1 describes a series of ongoing studies aimed at using relational skills training to improve cognitive performance in children, healthy young adults, and older adults with self-reported cognitive complaints. Previous research using such relational skills training has been criticized for the absence of active control conditions, small sample sizes, and lack of preregistration; these studies are aimed at ameliorating these issues and providing the most rigorous test of relational skills training to date. Paper 2 will discuss an RFT-based protocol for training analogical and metaphorical relations to autistic children in order to increase emotion regulation. Paper 3 will also discuss the ramifications of understanding the connections between RFT and ACT in clinical practice.

The road to the application of relational frame theory (RFT) to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can be steep, particularly if you are not coming from a behavioral analytic background. The connections between ACT and RFT are not readily apparent until you are deep into the material, and only then do the true ramifications of RFT begin to shape your practice as an ACT practitioner. In this paper, I will discuss the role of shared attention in developing empathy in the therapeutic relationship; explain the challenges that transitioning between arbitrary and non-arbitrary relations pose to ACT interventions; and, describe the implications of reinforcement density on metaphor development and the construction of ACT interventions. My hope is that I can share some insights from this journey, so that you are either inspired to take the journey yourself or can borrow some of the hard-won insight for the benefit of your clients.

Vital Behaviors are the select powerhouse actions that propel groups to astonishing success when consistently practiced together. When a core percentage of a population collectively adopts the critical few Vital Behaviors, a tipping point is reached, and the culture shifts – the new habits become "just the way we do things around here." Do you need that to happen for your project, initiative, or organization? Do you want to establish Vital Behaviors as habits on a large scale across your organization or work unit, or maybe even in the populations you serve? This presentation will walk through the foundations for building a Vital Behavior Network and real life stories of how this approach has transformed organizations.

Leaders and influencers in an organization who want to increase behavioral consistency on a large scale.

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have difficulty interacting both vocally and physically during conversations. Not responding with an appropriate word coupled with an absence of body language could compromise social opportunities. The literature lists scores of studies implementing human video modeling to increase skills of people with ASD but not much research has been conducted using cartoon video modeling. This study compared human video modeling to cartoon videos to teach vocal responding, facial expression, and body language to eight children with ASD. Seven of the eight participants acquired the target behaviors with one or both methods to some degree. Two participants demonstrated more of the target behaviors with the human video, three demonstrated more with the cartoon, and little difference in learning was observed for three participants. One participant only demonstrated behaviors targeted by the human video and another only demonstrated behaviors target by the cartoon video, suggesting that both methods could be effective and neither was conclusively superior.

Experimental analysis of behavior paved the way for concept formation and behavioral theory that comprise the foundation of applied work. However, there has been ongoing concern about the growing divide between basic and applied branches of our field (Marr, 2017; Rider, 1991). As the divide between many facets of applied and experimental work continues to grow, basic laboratories are becoming harder to find and fund, forcing the development of clever and adaptive solutions. Specifically, the price of operant chambers is between $2,000 and $5,000 which limits opportunities for institutions to foster student engagement in work that is the basis of our field (Devarakonda et al., 2016). Despite minimal funding, educators can create and expand their research opportunities using the methods presented in this symposium. This presentation will focus on: (1) the benefits of creating a lab in an applied program and how to do so with limited to no funding; (2) the use of open-source coding to develop data collection systems; and (3) the use of a low cost 3D printed operant chamber that can be used to promote Generative Learning, in the game of “Rasketball”. This *One Stop Lab Shop* will demonstrate how to advance your student’s learning, how your educational experience can be enhanced through lab work, and how to reduce costs in existing labs.

The cost of operant chambers used to teach students basic concept and principles of behavior analysis and learning has increased across time, adding a barrier for instructors who wish to incorporate animal models within their laboratory courses, instead using virtual and analog models. Recent researchers have begun to investigate the use of 3D-printed operant chambers in laboratory classes as a low-cost alternative to traditional operant chambers. The current paper extends the literature on low-cost alternatives and provides an overview of the methodology to create and use 3D-printed operant chambers designed to function as basketball courts. In addition to specific instructions to assemble these boxes, we present a rationale as to how instructors can use these chambers in assignments designed to teach concepts and principles of operant conditioning, while establishing novel topographies of behavior not commonly seen in rats (i.e., placing basketball in hoop). We present sample data from the course assignment to highlight the utility of these chambers. It is our hope that researchers and instructors can use these methods to replicate this novel extension of traditional operant conditioning procedures to behaviors not commonly established in operant conditioning laboratories.

B.F. Skinner (1956) documented the importance of utilizing available resources during his time at Harvard, especially the opportunity to collaborate with other science departments to develop operant chambers and devices to discover basic principles of behavior. At a graduate school in Chicago, whose primary focus is on educating students across various psychological disciplines, the Respondent and Operant Animal Research (ROAR) lab was not as equipped with engineers to support in building operant chambers and data collection devices. However, with the power of the internet along with software and open-source coding that allows us to access the creativity of millions, the ROAR lab has developed sensors to measure responding of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches (i.e., an invertebrate species) at an inexpensive and accessible cost to the lab with the use of Arduino boards and associated sensors. As a result, the growth of automated ways of observing, recording, and data collecting can occur with limited precursor skills related to technology for building out stimulus context and measurement systems within operant chambers.

It is clear that collaboration between family members and ABA providers is essential as it can help maximize the effectiveness of treatment and improve client outcomes. Without meaningful family collaboration, intervention plans may be more difficult to implement effectively. This panel presentation will outline best practices in building strong family involvement and use of compassionate care to best support all family members. Panelists will share strategies about how to effectively build trust and rapport. Strategies will also be shared on how to increase family buy in of ABA strategies to facilitate greater generality of practices outside of ABA sessions. Topics related to the navigation of dealing with more difficult family concerns and how to support family members struggling to support their child will be discussed. This presentation is applicable and beneficial for any providers in collaboration with families. Family collaboration across home service and center based programming will be discussed.

N/A

Individuals with developmental disabilities display deficits in social, academic, and other functional skills throughout their lifespan. Participants included in this symposium had developmental disabilities and ranged in age from preschooler to adult. Skills targeted across the three studies included attending and accuracy during academic tasks, identifying sensations that could be indicative of a medical problem, and memorizing a script for a theatrical performance. To increase eye contact and accuracy during academic skills, a high-probability (high-p) instructional sequence was compared to presentations of only low-probability (low-p) tasks. To mimic potential medical problems, stimuli were applied with verbal prompting and a time-delay procedure to teach reporting of those sensations. A script fading procedure was used to teach memorization of a theatrical script. Experimental control was demonstrated. Two studies used a multiple-baseline design and one study used an alternating-treatments design. Graphs will be presented to demonstrate that the procedures used were responsible for teaching the target behaviors. These studies extended the literature by providing novel applications of procedures previously shown to be effective. Given the success of these teaching procedures, the impact of presenting these data will be relevant to service providers who may want to incorporate them for individuals with similar needs.

Pre-requisite skills and competencies: Distinguish between dependent and independent variables. Identify and distinguish among single-case experimental designs (e.g., multiple-baseline, and alternating-treatments design) Critique and interpret data from single-case experimental designs (i.e., graphs)

Individuals with autism often have difficulty with attending skills such as making or sustaining eye contact (Chukoskie et al., 2018). Poor eye contact may adversely affect the educational gains of children with autism, due to the relationship between eye contact and attending to the teacher, and instructional demands (Greer & Ross, 2007). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a high-probability (high-p) request sequence can be an effective procedure for increasing attending skills, such as eye contact, during discrete trial teaching. Additionally, this study investigated if increases in attending would result in higher accuracy in responding. To date, no study has investigated the use of the high-p instructional sequence to increase attending in individuals with autism. An alternating-treatments design was used to compare the effects of a high-p instructional sequence to the presentation of only low-probability (low-p) tasks on attending, defined as eye contact, of a 3-year-old with autism. In the high-p condition, eye contact was measured when three high-p tasks were presented, prior to delivery of a low-p instruction. In the low-p condition, eye contact was measured with only low-p tasks presented. Results showed that the high-p condition increased eye contact and accuracy more than the low-p condition.

Teaching individuals with disabilities to express private events is important for independence and safety (Devine et al., 2021). Perceptions of health-related issues may vary, therefore teaching descriptions of sensations may be more accurate. This study aimed to enhance the expressive repertoire of reporting sensations that could be indicative of a medical problem. A 20-year-old woman with multiple disabilities participated. A multiple-baseline-across-sensations design was used to evaluate the effects of applying sensations, and verbally prompting using a time-delay procedure. She was taught to expressively label, and then verbally initiate the labels for three novel sensations. Initiations also included expressive labeling of body parts to which the sensations were applied, using multiple stimuli. The target sensations were mastered. Two of the sensations generalized across a novel stimulus and a novel setting, and were maintained. For the third sensation, responding to a novel stimulus and in a novel setting needed to be taught. Responding to a novel body part did not generalize, and needed to be taught for all three sensations. This research extends the private events literature teaching children to report arbitrary private events.

A script fading procedure (SFP) was used to teach a performing arts social/leisure skill to an adult woman with autism. The participant had previously demonstrated a skill deficit for memorizing lines of a theatrical script. Although the SFP has been effectively used to teach a variety of skills, previous research did not use dramatic scripts, defined in this study as contrived conversational exchanges between two or more individuals that are performed for an audience. Using a multiple-baseline-across-scripts design, the words of three scripts were taught and systematically faded. Following the SFP, the physical scripts were faded entirely. The participant maintained her ability to recite her lines in all three scripts after the SFP was concluded. She was also able to generalize her performance to novel settings and theatrical partners. Through all steps of script fading, generalization, and maintenance, the participant successfully recited the script correctly with nearly 100% accuracy. This suggests that the SFP was effective in teaching the skill of memorizing lines. This study was the first to examine the effect of a behavior analytic approach on teaching a performing arts skill.

The Picture Exchange Communication System- PECS- protocol has been described in the behavioral literature for over 30 years. A variety of review bodies has viewed the protocol as an evidence-based strategy. Early research involved highly training practitioners in controlled setting. Research continues to demonstrate the range of settings in which the protocol can be faithfully implemented by a wide range of trainers, including caregivers and special educators. Research on PECS also continues to reflect its international appeal. The first talk will describe a brief- one week- introduction of PECS in a camp setting by caregivers in Canada, indicating both temporal and setting generalization. The second talk, using a multiple baseline across learners, examines the introduction of the first 4 Phases of PECS within home settings, measuring fidelity of implementation and generalization. The final talk will describe expansions of PECS use beyond common mands, including attributes, tacts, and a variety of sentence starters within a school program in Delaware as well as a preschool program in Poland.

Intermediate

One of the three diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes delayed or disordered development in the areas of social communication and social interaction. Children with ASD often have deficits with functional communication, behavior that is directed towards another individual who provides direct or social rewards. One widely used communication system for children with communication deficits is the Picture Exchange Communication System. PECS is a communication system that utilizes the power of picture exchange for a child to communicate what they want, what they feel, or add descriptions. The purpose of this study was to expand on previous research and assess whether caregivers can learn to effectively implement phases 1-4 of PECS to their child with ASD in their home environment. This study used a multiple baseline design across participants and a changing criterion design across PECS phases within each caregiver. Results indicated that the caregivers were able to efficiently and effectively learn and teach their children the first four phases of PECS with their child demonstrating high levels of PECS acquisition. Results were discussed in terms of effectiveness of home-based training and the extent which generalization occurs with picture exchange systems.

The proposed symposium will include three empirical papers to refine skill acquisition outcomes for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. In the first paper, Kacie McGarry will first describe a method to assess prerequisite skills (i.e., scanning, auditory conditional discrimination) and then present a comparison of differential observing responses (DOR) on skill acquisition of receptive identification tasks for three participants. Results showed differences in effectiveness between the DOR types and that the pre-assessment can be used to inform the most effective DOR. In the second paper, Skye Nelson will present a study on the effects of automated speech output on the acquisition of listener and speaker skills. Results showed faster acquisition when speech output was provided. In the third paper, Jennifer Stracquadanio will present a study on the effects of a novel representation and modeling error correction procedure on the acquisition of matching skills in children with ASD. All participants acquired the matching task using the novel error correction procedure.

BCBAs who program skill acquisition for learners with autism and other developmental disabilities

Previous research has shown that speech output technology is beneficial at increasing communication skills in individuals with developmental disabilities (Chavers et al., 2022). Fewer studies have evaluated the role of speech output technology on acquisition of receptive identification skills, specifically in individuals with ASD. In a preliminary investigation, we employed a single-case, multielement design with multiple baseline probes to evaluate differences in teaching receptive identification with a speech output (SO) versus no speech output (NSO) condition across three sets of stimuli for two participants. Results showed faster acquisition and maintenance for the SO condition. Additionally, we conducted pre and post tact probes and found that more untrained tacts were observed in the SO condition. Furthermore, we conducted a treatment preference assessment and both participants preferred to SO condition. Next, we will compare synthesize SO to therapist feedback to better isolate the unique contributions of the SO condition. Results will be discussed in terms of potential consequent effects of the SO condition.

Observing responses have been used in skill acquisition programs to promote attending to relevant aspects of a task. For example, in receptive identification (e.g., matching a vocal stimulus to a picture), an instructor may prompt an individual to engage in general observing responses (orienting) or differential observing responses (DOR) to highlight a specific stimulus or instruction. Two types of DORs are identity matching and repeating instructions. While both types of DORs may be effective, responding may be idiosyncratic. To date, no assessment exists to guide selection of DORs. The purpose of the present investigation is to conduct an assessment to identify prerequisite skills for certain DORs. Three individuals with autism participated. We assessed participants’ ability to scan and track visual stimuli as well as conditionally respond to auditory stimuli. Next, we compared the effectiveness of two different DORs using a multi element design on acquisition of receptive identification tasks. Overall, results showed correspondence between the prerequisite assessment and effective DOR for all participants. That is, participants who engaged in correct responses in the visual assessment acquired the skill fastest in the visual DOR condition.

In the current study, we analyzed the effects of re-presentation and model-based error correction with differential reinforcement across blocked trials in a matching task. The study included three students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) aged 7 to 11 years old in a self-contained Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) classroom in a public school setting. Each student had a history of slow progress on individualized programming as well as inconsistent maintenance and generalization of skills. Students were taught to match three different stimuli to sample using an error correction procedure where upon incorrectly touching the matching stimuli, the materials were re-presented up to three times or until the student selected the correct answer independently, whichever came first. When the student did not correctly select the matching stimuli, the correct answer was modeled for the student. Responses were differentially reinforced. The sessions were run in nine blocked trials. All three participants acquired the match-to-sample task in the intervention set.

Aggressive behavior is a prevalent and challenging issue in individuals with autism, especially for those who have limited verbal ability or intellectual challenges. This presentation investigates whether changes in peripheral physiology recorded by a wearable biosensor and machine learning can be used to predict imminent aggressive behavior before it occurs in inpatient youths with autism from 4 primary care psychiatric inpatient hospitals. Research staff performed live behavioral coding of aggressive behavior while 70 inpatient study participants wore a commercially available biosensor that recorded peripheral physiological signals (cardiovascular activity, electrodermal activity, and motion). Logistic regression, support vector machines, neural networks, and domain adaptation were used to analyze time-series features extracted from biosensor data. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) values were used to evaluate the performance of population- and person-dependent models. A total of 429 naturalistic observational coding sessions were recorded, totaling 497 hours, wherein 6665 aggressive behaviors were documented, including self-injury (3983 behaviors [59.8%]), emotion dysregulation (2063 behaviors [31.0%]), and aggression toward others (619 behaviors [9.3%]). Logistic regression was the best-performing overall classifier across all experiments; for example, it predicted aggressive behavior 3 minutes before onset with a mean AUROC of 0.80 (95% CI, 0.79-0.81). Further research will explore clinical implications and the potential for personalized interventions.

Individuals with autism, caregivers of individuals with autism, health care providers, researchers, insurers, and policymakers.

Recent criticisms of those providing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy have shed light on areas where behavior analysts may be lacking when it comes to training and service delivery. For example, there has been an increased focus on the development of a “compassionate care” repertoire of skills for behavior analysts working with patients and families (e.g., Taylor et al., 2018). Survey data has suggested that behavior analysts may not be receiving adequate training in essential relationship-building skills that may enhance the level of care they are providing (i.e., Leblanc, Taylor, & Marchese, 2020). Similarly, behavior analysts are often criticized for poor collaborative and consultative skills, particularly when working with those in other professions (e.g., Critchfield et al., 2017). While these skills have not historically been emphasized in behavior analysis, they are prominent in the field of psychology. Thus, this symposium will acknowledge our historical and theoretical roots in the field of psychology and discuss the relevant and necessary skills from psychology that can serve to enhance our practice as behavior analysts.

Behavior analysts within their first 5 years of practice, practitioners, supervisors, and senior leaders.

Behavior analysts are often required to work with a variety of individuals: clients, caregivers, and relevant stakeholders; however, very few behavior analysts receive training in basic therapeutic techniques from the field of psychology. According to the 2022 Annual Accreditation Report conducted by ABAI, only two of the nine accredited PhD programs in Behavior Analysis included practical training opportunities in mental health (ABAI, 2022). Similarly, of the 30 accredited Masters programs, only two included practical training opportunities in mental health or psychology. Therapeutic techniques can be used to establish and maintain therapeutic relationships and improve patient outcomes (Bachelor et al., 2010). These techniques can supplement and elevate traditional behavior analytic techniques, allowing practitioners to better conceptualize and plan for client intervention. A brief historical review of therapeutic techniques and their evidence base, including person-centered therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, solution focused therapy, motivational interviewing, transtheoretical model of behavioral change, group therapy, and family therapy will be discussed. Finally, specific psychological therapeutic techniques that behavior analysts can use that combine the psychological and behavior analytic perspective will be provided, including methods for establishing therapeutic alliance, basic cognitive behavioral therapy skills, solution-focused therapy questions, motivational interviewing, and behavioral family therapy will be provided.

The dimension of “applied” requires behavior analysts to utilize the principles of behavior to effect socially important behavior change (Baer et al., 1968; 1987) that improve client quality of life. Effective dissemination of ABA is limited less by our ability in the field to assess or intervene using the principles of behavior and more by our difficulty in effectively involving others to promote a socially valid assessment and intervention process. Collaboration and consultation represent the bridge between our science of behavior analysis and its socially valid application with consumers – we are better when we work together. Yet, behavior analytic training and supervision often fail to adequately prepare behavior analysts to develop and sustain therapeutic relationships, engage collaboratively with others (Taylor et al., 2018), and explicitly teach consultation repertoires, and disciplinary centrism (Kirby et al., 2022) often alienates us from our prospective collaborators and partners within service delivery. Barriers relevant to effective consultation and collaboration including power and historical harms will be discussed. Guidance to foster relationships, promote effective communication, and engage in reflective, culturally humble behavior analysis will be discussed and Models of collaboration and consultation that can be applied with our clients, consultees, and other professionals will be outlined.

While the topic of mindfulness-based interventions has surfaced in fields such as psychology over the last few decades, it is now also garnering more interest and attention in behavioral-analytic research. Mindfulness-based parent/caregiver training has gained traction in the current literature and preliminary results appear promising for decreasing maladaptive behaviors and increasing socially important ones. Parent/caregiver training is a crucial component for the success of behavioral-analytic services and this training could potentially benefit from brief mindfulness trainings to help parents/caregivers alleviate some of the negative behaviors that may arise as a result of parenting/caregiving. Accordingly, this study assesses a brief mindfulness parent training and Muse meditation package as an intervention to decrease parental screen time and maladaptive parental behaviors and increase socially appropriate behaviors that may enhance parent-child bonds and increase happiness indices. Three parents participated in this study. The results of this study suggest that the IV and DV is approaching a functional relationship but will need further assessment of the components involved in the study. However, no functional relationship was determined concerning screentime and the intervention. Future studies could further hone the procedures to expose the connections between mindfulness training and overt parental behavioral changes.

Considering behavior analysis as a healthcare discipline will be a critical factor for the success of our profession. Although our science has contributed tremendously to the treatment of individuals with developmental disabilities, it is imperative to embrace the role of behavior analysis in the healthcare ecosystem in order to achieve genuine behavioral health integration and to establish models of care that lead to positive patient outcomes. Categorizing behavior analysis as a healthcare discipline will innovate our practices and evolve our profession into one that is more widely known and respected by the public. Public health authorities attribute almost half of an individual’s quality of health to behavioral determinants. However, mainstream medicine does not have a true basic science foundation upon which to rest an integrated approach to understanding and treating behavioral conditions. As professionals who work within the profession of behavior analysis, it is our obligation to partner with our healthcare colleagues in a collaborative way and to productively engage with one another with the interest in those we serve at the forefront.

The applied behavior analysis subspecialty of primary care behavioral pediatrics, despite being well-established scientifically, currently represents but a nascent career path for behavior analysts. This presentation offers an introduction and overview of this exciting area of practice serving predominantly neurotypical children and their families, covering its early development, its current niche within the helping professions, the clinical problems typically addressed, and pathways to training and practice. Dr. Chris McGinnis will also describe his treatment model outlined in his new book, Introduction to Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics: A Guide for Behavior Analysts, geared to making outpatient behavioral treatment of common problem behaviors of childhood effective, efficient, durable, and socially valid. This model features behavior-analytic problem conceptualization and a case formulation process based on the prioritized treatment of sleep problems, behavioral noncompliance, poor toleration of denial and delay, and weak functional communication skills. Treatment adherence considerations and multidisciplinary collaboration will also be discussed.

In this panel, Nasiah Cirincione Ulezi, BCBA, Ed.D and Dana Meller, MA, BCBA have been consistently meeting for a Saturday morning Zoom coffee date. In this panel, the two women will come together to share the realizations and lessons from those intimate coffee dates. They will reflect on how they have navigated a friendship in this complicated time. The conversation will include a discussion on race, intersectionality, and the importance of a partnership between black and white women. As two friends and colleagues, Nasiah and Dana have watched each other navigate predominately black and white spaces, and they have built a relationship based on honesty, compassion, self-awareness and mutual respect. In this panel they will approach tough topics with the necessary honesty, complexity and empathy, while sharing their unique perspectives: Nasiah, as a thought leader on compassion and inclusivity; Dana, as an ally and advocate. This conversation aims to create a brave space for women to learn from and empower one another, with the ultimate aim of addressing the difficult barriers of a truly inclusive world.

no necessary prerequisite skills needed. professionals, stakeholders and students at any level

Behavior analysts working to address systemic social-cultural problems need a thorough understanding of the multi-level context in which the issue is embedded, knowledge that almost always is found in disciplines other than behavior analysis. This PDS panel, sponsored by Behaviorists for Social Responsibility SIG, brings to the attention of behavior analysts three new books of social importance, with the goal to both inform and prompt further interest in the target social problems. Each panelist will offer commentary on one book. Mark Alavosius will reflect on “The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science of Denial” by David Lipsky. Jonathan Krispin will discuss "Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Rich Rakos will comment on “Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food” by Chris van Tulleken. Each of the panelists will present a brief overview or summary of the book’s main thesis, identify its strengths, offer critiques, and suggest links with or relevance for behavior analysis and Culturo-Behavior Science. Panelists will limit their commentary to 10-12 minutes each, leaving time for panelist interaction and audience participation.

Parents of children with developmental disabilities often require support to teach critical skills, including communication, social interaction, and daily living skills. However, barriers to service often leave many parents without adequate support to teach their children foundational skills. Telehealth has emerged as a promising mode for providing training and coaching to parents of children with developmental disabilities across various skill domains. Previous research has shown that tele-delivered parent coaching can lead to improvements in both parent and child behavior. This symposium will present data related to two single-case experimental studies that examined telehealth parent coaching programs to teach parents to enhance their children's communication and daily living skills. Both studies showed that tele-parent coaching positively affected parent and child behavior. The results provide additional support for telehealth as an effective mode for providing training and coaching to parents and caregivers. Major findings and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Intermediate. Prerequisite skills include: knowledge of applied behavior analysis intervention across populations, knowledge of single-case experimental design and methodology, knowledge of conducting or consuming clinical research

1. 1. At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to:
      1. Identify 2 or more approaches to recruiting diverse participants in research. For example:
         1. Recruitment through social media
         2. Diversifying research team
      2. List key components in SCED using MBL to analyze behavior change. For example:
         1. Minimum baseline data points
         2. Use of Tau-U
         3. Importance of visual analysis
      3. Define at least 5 intervention approaches. For example:
         1. Modeling
         2. Prompting
         3. Time Delay
         4. Response Interruption and Redirection
         5. Reinforcement

Despite a wealth of evidence-based intervention research, many families do not receive any support for their children with and at-risk for developmental disabilities (DD). When services are available, they can be limited by lengthy wait-lists, require high effort on the part of the family, or be ignorant of cultural adaptations. Promoting Reciprocal Relationships with Flexibility, Coaching and Teaching (PRRFCT Match) intervention package incorporates a virtual coaching protocol to teach parents how to implement evidence-based, applied behavior analytic (ABA) techniques to increase engagement with their child experiencing DD. Using a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants, parent-child dyads (N=10), were paired with graduate student clinicians and coached to use ABA technologies to increase child engagement during play. Results include visual analysis, with Tau-U, distal and non-experimental (pre-, post-test) outcomes for parents (stress, parent self-efficacy) and children (inflexible behaviors, adaptive behavior). Implications for science and practice in early intervention will be discussed.

Daily living skills (DLS) are a critical domain of adaptive behavior necessary for age-appropriate independent functioning and transitioning into adulthood (Baker et al., 2021; Smith et al., 2012). Many individuals with IDD continue to live at home after high school, making parents the primary individuals teaching independent living skills. The purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of parent-created and parent-implemented video prompting instruction with error correction on DLS with adolescents and adults with IDD. Two individuals with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and ID and their mothers participated in the study. The mother-child dyads parents selected three DLS goals (e.g., wash laundry). The researchers created an online tutorial to teach mothers how to develop video models on an iPad application. Pre- and post-evaluation demonstrated the online tutorial was successful in teaching both mothers how to create video models for their children. After developing the video models, a BCBA provided ongoing coaching to support mothers in implementing the teaching package in their homes. The teaching package included the use of video modeling and subsequent least-to-most prompting, when necessary. Results indicate that parent-created and parent-delivered video modeling is a viable model for teaching DLS to increase independence. Limitations and areas for future research will be discussed.

There is increasing recognition that the ability to respond arbitrarily according to various kinds of stimulus relations (Penn et al., 2008) and to derive new stimulus relations based on previously learned stimulus relations is central to human cognitive abilities (McLoughlin et al., 2020). Simultaneously, there is extraordinary growth in research on artificial intelligence and producing machines that learn and think like humans (Lake et al., 2017). However, little work has brought these ideas and aims together. This symposium presents efforts at producing relational responding with artificial agents that draw heavily on behavior-analytic work on equivalence relations (Sidman, 1994) and arbitrarily applicable relational responding (Hayes et al., 2001). Paper 1 describes a reinforcement learning agent capable of completing the procedures described in Steele & Hayes (1991) in a manner highly comparable to humans exposed to the same procedure. Paper 2 introduces the Non-axiomatic reasoning system (NARS; Wang, 2013) and demonstrates its capacity for learning relations in a variety of environments and compares NARS and reinforcement learning and performance of agents based on these systems. Paper 3 demonstrates that when given training of the kind suggested by relational frame theory the NARS demonstrates relational responding in accordance with symmetry.

Relational Frame Theory is but one of many theoretical perspectives that consider relational reasoning a central aspect of human higher cognition. Despite spectacular advances in recent years, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence is still challenged by the uniquely human capacity for arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR), responding to relations between event not defined by their physical properties, but by the context. Furthermore, the mainstream reliance on a (big) data-driven approach to train such models highlights differences with the speed and flexibility by which humans develop this ability. In a seminal publication, Steele & Hayes (1991) demonstrated the arbitrary, flexible and generative nature of AARR. We present simulations of an artificial agent exposed to this procedure, and show that its hardcoded relational learning mechanisms are sufficient to reliably solve derived relational responding test problems. Furthermore, we fit the model to behavioral data from human participants (N = 175), showing the model’s capacity to predict participants responses. This represents the first step towards the development of a computational model of AARR. Such a model would allow us to simulate study the development of AARR with less practical limitations, and could be used to test the effects of relational training interventions.

We will present Non-Axiomatic Reasoning System (NARS) for advanced reasoning and decision making in adaptive intelligent agents. We present this reasoning system particularly as an alternative formal model to Reinforcement Learning. The system works under the Assumption of Insufficient Knowledge and Resources which demands both open-ended adaptation and real-time operating capabilities under strict computational resource constraints, which imposes strong constraints on both its memory and inference control mechanism which we will briefly describe. Then, we show data-efficient adaptation of a NARS-controlled agent in a Non-Markovian domain, where we demonstrate inherent advantages over a Q-Learner, in addition to being significantly less dependent on hyperparameter tuning. Furthermore, we present the system’s ability to plan ahead sequences of actions which have previously not been experienced in that particular order, which is particularly important when novel outcomes should be accomplished by the agent. This capability is particularly useful in combination with learning cause-effect and other relations directly from streams of input events, as it can make agents more autonomous and less dependent on human-provided knowledge, while at the same time being able to utilize it effectively when available.

In this talk, we will demonstrate how the Non-Axiomatic Reasoning System (NARS; Wang, 2013) can learn symmetry within the context of matching-to-sample via multiple-exemplar training. NARS is a adaptive reasoning system that can operate with insufficient knowledge and resources. This exemplifies our research approach where we focus on evaluating psychological abilities of NARS, with increasing complexity, using methods from behavioral psychology. Our previous research has involved demonstrating that NARS can learn through classical and operant conditioning, and also that it can learn generalized identity matching. This particular research aims to demonstrate how NARS could learnin symmetry. First, we show how the matching-to-sample is encoded with NARS and how NARS is able to learn from repeated interactions with the procedure. Then, we will explain how the different mechanisms of NARS combine to enable the system to learn symmetry through multiple-exemplar training. Future directions of this work, and the implications of a system like NARS for behavioral psychology research will also be discussed.

Computer technology, artificial intelligence, and machine-learning are not new tools to behavior analysis, especially in the experimental realm. However, there is incredible untapped potential for these tools to aid both basic and applied scientists in their understanding and treatment of behavior. One primary area of interest to incorporate computers and artificial-intelligence is in data-recording. In the basic realm, programming technology to provide continuous streams of data allows for a finer-grain analysis of the impact of different schedules of reinforcement on animal and human behavior. In the applied realm, relinquishing data recording of problem behavior to a computer or artificial intelligence allows for direct-support staff to focus more on treatment implementation. This symposium describes three studies that either create or extend computer programming and artificial-intelligence as tools to record animal or human behavior. The first two studies describe the creation and application of computer programming to investigate human relational behavior during a transposition task and interindividual spatial behavior with rats. The second study attempts to reverse engineer existing technology (anomaly-detection cameras) and extend it to the detection and recording of problem behavior in children with autism.

Audience members who are interested in artificial-intelligence applications to the science of behavior will benefit from a basic understanding of computer-related terminology. Audience members with a basic understanding of transposition tasks and methods to study relational behavior will enjoy this talk.

Operant studies of interactions between individuals have focused on evaluating the effects of reinforcement schedules based on discrete responses, with little attention to the impacts on interindividual spatial dynamics or the use of spatial responses relevant to establishing interindividual behavior. Using real time recording of organisms’ movement, our lab has reported that individual spatial dynamics are sensitive to reinforcement schedules based on spatial features, such as travel distance, which suggests that interindividual spatial dynamics may also be affected by reinforcement schedules based on spatial features, such as distance between subjects. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if a schedule of reinforcement, based on distance between conspecifics, would affect interindividual spatial behavior. Using a real-time sensing system, water reinforcement was delivered under a Fixed Distance (FD) 15 cm between subjects schedule, for six Wistar water-deprived rats. The results indicated an increase in approach responses between subjects during the FD15cm schedule, whereas it decreased when food was absent or presented independently of distance. We discuss our findings in terms of their contributions to advancing the study of inter-individual behavior, the utilization of new technologies for continuous sensing and response recording, and the translational implications for the field of social behavior.

Behavior frequency data is collected for individuals with autism to monitor progress and inform decision making by behavior analysts. This data impacts important life decisions, such as restrictive procedures fading, psychotropic medication prescribing, and residential placement (Vollmer et al. 2008). Studies have demonstrated exorbitant training and monitoring hours are required from a behavior analyst to ensure this data collected by direct care staff is accurate (Mozingo et al. 2006; Reis et al. 2013). If an artificial intelligence (AI) camera software can be programmed to detect the rate of target behaviors from individuals served, this will likely increase the accuracy of behavior data and inform better treatment, while also reducing the workload of direct care staff. This project will extend Lesser, Luczynski, & Hood’s 2019 study which used an AI camera to detect sleep disturbances in learners with autism. In that study, all movements exhibited by the participants were recorded by the camera. This extension aims to program the camera to discriminate successive approximations of analog topographies of gross motor movements such that the camera will calculate instances of head directed self-injury but will ignore other topographically similar movements, such as hand waving.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), has witnessed significant changes in the licensure and credentialing of professionals. This transformation is crucial for being able to address the growing demand for effective, evidence-based behavioral services for individuals affected by autism and related disorders. How can we be certain that a behavioral services provider possesses the knowledge and experience required for effective, evidence-based services? The historical development of behavior analysis credentials reflects the need for standardized qualifications. Credentialing emerges as a critical process that verifies these qualifications and establishes a standard against which professionals in the field can be evaluated. Accreditation provides a third-party verification that specific, relevant standards have been met. This shift in the field has led to some confusion regarding credential and job title, which has significant consequences, impacting legislators, insurance funders, service providers, and the individuals and families affected by autism. In conclusion, accreditation plays a crucial role in ensuring that qualified professionals can provide ABA services to those in need. Access to these services is a right that families deserve, and by addressing these challenges, we can work towards a more inclusive and effective system of care for individuals affected by autism and related disorders.

ABA therapists ABA service organization leaders

This symposium addresses the relevance of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to the general education domain. Oftentimes ABA is thought of as only applicable to those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders, yet the application of ABA is appropriate for any socially significant problems such as those that arise daily in the general education setting. General education teachers don’t always have the tools or resources to work with children with behavioral needs. As ABA tends to be used with more “classified” students, this symposium shows that ABA methodologies can be used with any student. Though functional behavior assessments are an important part of targeting socially significant behaviors, the field of ABA has much more to offer than only a reduction of maladaptive behavior. This symposium will highlight three chapters from the book, Incorporating Applied Behavior Analysis into the General Education Classroom, to further discuss ABA’s impact within the educational setting.

This symposium comprises a series of presentations offering a comprehensive exploration of the Practical Functional Assessment (PFA) and Skill-Based Treatment (SBT) model. These interventions are discussed within the context of public schools that face limitations in behavior analytic services. While existing literature predominantly supports the application of this assessment and treatment model for individuals with developmental disabilities, this symposium underscores its adaptability for students both with and without formal diagnoses, including those with Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and neurobehavioral disorders associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (FASD) who exhibit challenging and potentially hazardous behaviors within the public school system. Central to this approach is a commitment to safety, televisibility, dignity, and rapport, with a focus on skill enhancement in communication, toleration of denials, and cooperation with adult-led instruction, particularly in contexts historically linked with severe problem behavior. The presenters will not only illuminate the theoretical underpinnings of the PFA-SBT process but also provide real-world insights into its practical application in public school settings, showcasing how it effectively mitigates problem behavior and fosters cooperation within the educational environment. This symposium offers valuable knowledge for educators, practitioners, and professionals seeking to empower students and enhance their educational experiences.

This presentation provides an in-depth examination of the Practical Functional Assessment (PFA) and Skills-Based Treatment (SBT) Model. The focus is on a 5-year-old male student diagnosed with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Neurobehavioral disorder associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (FASD) who exhibits challenging and potentially hazardous behaviors within the public school environment. This approach places a premium on the safety, televisibility, dignity and rapport building in the therapeutic process. The fundamental principle of this approach is to mitigate problem behavior by explicitly teaching essential skills to students, including communication, tolerance, and contextually appropriate behaviors. The treatment was administered by two Behavior Analyst Teachers, involving over 550 trials conducted over a 13-week period. The acquired skills were then generalized across different instructors and settings, resulting in the student consistently demonstrating success in the general education classroom. Throughout this presentation, experts in this functional model will illustrate how the PFA-SBT framework can be effectively implemented in public school settings to provide support for all students grappling with challenging behavioral issues. This innovative approach holds the potential to enhance classroom safety, foster student well-being, and offer valuable insights to educators and professionals seeking effective strategies for behavior management and skill development.

There is a breadth of research describing the effectiveness of the practical functional assessment (PFA) and skill based treatment (SBT) to assess and treat challenging behavior exhibited by individuals with autism and related disorders (Hanley et al., 2014). This study extends the research by examining the application of the PFA and SBT within a public school setting and with a student without a formal diagnosis. This student was referred for assessment due to significant rates of unsafe behavior that disrupted the learning environment. A PFA was conducted and following the analysis, SBT was immediately implemented. Treatment included teaching appropriate communication, acceptance of delays or denials, and engaging in contextually appropriate behavior. This student worked on taking turns while playing a game, engaging in independent activities, and following an adult’s instructions within an academic context. Treatment consisted of 225 trials across seven months. This student exhibited zero instances of unsafe behavior and low rates of warning signs in the form of a raised voice, resistance to an instruction, and/or complaints. At the conclusion of the school year this student appropriately took turns during a game, quietly engaged in independent work and followed academic instructions for up to 5 minutes.

Behavior analysts demonstrate some of the highest rates of employee burnout within clinical settings (up to 72%; Slowiak & DeLongChamp, 2022). This is problematic as burnout negatively affects provider well being, reduces the quality of services, and can harm organizational health (e.g., via provider absenteeism, tardiness). Other fields take a syndromal approach wherein mentalistic burnout symptoms are measured on an individual basis and then person-centered approaches are applied (e.g., stress management training; therapy). A behavioral framework, informed by OBM, has promise for informing novel ways to identify and mitigate burnout in a manner that addresses the actual workplace variables maintaining burnout. In this panel, we discuss burnout across the perspectives of experts in OBM, supervision within clinical care, and burnout research. Panelists will discuss how burnout may be understood through a behavioral framework and how supervisors and administrators may modify the workplace environment to optimally support highly engaged staff and high quality service delivery. This panel will also provide opportunities for the audience to engage with panelists to drive meaningful conversations surrounding how to combat burnout in clinical settings.

Basic

Organizational Behavior Management involves the application of behavioral principles in the workplace in order to change employee behavior and achieve sustained improved business outcomes. This symposium focusses on research aimed at advancing our knowledge and understanding of the basic behavioral principles involved when implementing interventions commonly used in the workplace, such as feedback, incentives, and group contingencies. Toussaint Bernard-Pantin will present the results from a study that assessed the efficacy of and preference for corrective feedback and a combination of positive and corrective feedback. Wine will detail a study that was conducted to determine effective magnitudes of incentives when administrative staff completed a filing task. Newcomb will describe research that involved comparing the effectiveness of identified and anonymous preparations of dependent group contingencies when applied to direct care staff responsible for graphing data at the end of the workday. The results from each study allows for preliminary recommendations regarding best practice within organizational settings.

Intermediate (Background and/or education in ABA/OBM, familiar with single-subject research methodology, understanding of group contingencies and incentive magnitudes)

While the parallels between the science of life and the science of behavior are abundant, each field has developed unique systems for observing and recording data. Whereas ecologists focus on the richness and evenness of taxonomic relations, behavior analysts examine the frequency and duration of functional relations. Yet the scientific underpinnings and similarity in subject matter may allow for metrics to be applied across fields. Here we utilize common measures from the field of community ecology for the analysis of human behavior. Different environments support a range of distinct biological communities, and quantifying such biodiversity provides an understanding of how and why different biological communities are distributed. Ecologists define beta diversity as a measure of the degree of community differentiation in relation to environment gradients. The ratio between gamma and alpha diversities, beta diversity quantifies the effective number of distinct ecological communities within a region. In this symposium, we extend the concept of beta diversity to the field of behavior-analytic intervention for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Across three papers, we show how beta diversity can be used to sample the frequency and variety of destructive behavior, stimulus preference, and verbal behavior. We demonstrate the utility of beta diversity for measuring behavior change over time, and discuss the implications of calculating beta diversity as a measure of efficacy.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts (Doctoral) and researchers who are interested in studying complex behavior-environment interactions. Attendees should have working knowledge of different types of functional analyses and stimulus preference assessments.

The availability of inexpensive do-it-yourself electronics and 3D printing has been the catalyst for the maker movement, often defined as the involvement of individuals in the construction of objects, tools, and electronic devices that include a variety of sensors and actuators. This tutorial will describe how, for over a decade, my research group has focused on using and teaching how to use these new technologies to build inexpensive equipment to record and control behavior in operant research. One of our first objectives was to construct an operant conditioning chamber for rats that could be controlled with an inexpensive but reliable interface capable of recording responses with high accuracy under different schedules of reinforcement. Over the years, we have improved the designs and created new devices to include fixed and retractable levers, nose-poke sensors, food and water dispensers, as well as light and tone generators. Adhering to an open-source policy, we have made our designs, files, and programs freely available to those interested in building custom-made operant chambers. The possibility of building custom equipment could inspire researchers to ask questions involving complex settings and eliminate the restrictions frequently stimulated by available commercial equipment.

The tutorial is intended for graduate students and new researchers.

Boyce and Hineline created an in-classroom methodology called “InterTeaching,” originally for the purpose of getting students to interact more in class. Since then, it has been investigated across many different settings, learners, and content areas. Since Interteaching is an educational intervention derived from behavior analytic technologies, it is important to continue to evaluate not only its impact on learning, but to learn what components of the InterTeach methodology is most impactful. The current study compared the effects of interteaching and discussion forum activities on quiz performance in an asynchronous master's level course using an alternating treatments design. Six participants engaged in interteaching in half of the weeks and contacted the discussion forum in the alternate weeks. Participants generally scored higher on quizzes in the interteaching condition (M = 96.9%) than in the discussion forum condition (M = 75.95%). The mean difference between conditions was -20.95 ± 3.4. Results of this analysis indicate statistically significant differences between the two conditions at P < .0003. The efficacy of various instructional strategies in online learning environments is discussed.

While standard procedures for SAFMEDS are widely accepted for improving fluency, procedural variations have emerged over time. For example, multiple practice drills per day have been shown to improve fluency and multiple exemplar training has emerged as a potentially advantageous variation for improving generalization. The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, an alternating treatments design was used to replicate previous studies evaluating the impact of multiple exemplar training within a SAFMEDS procedure on graduate students’ fluency, retention, and generalization of behavior analysis terms. Second, the study extended from the previous literature by including technical and precise everyday language definitions within the multiple exemplar procedure and evaluating participants generalization by asking students to create novel, everyday definitions that could be used to explain behavior analysis terms to stakeholders. Findings will be discussed in reference to best practices for training future behavior analysts to fluently identify behavior analysis terms and to translate those terms into user friendly explanations accessible to clients and stakeholders.

Forty-three percent of the world’s population is bilingual, and yet research focused on the identification of optimal procedures to teach one or more foreign languages is limited. Such research can benefit children with developmental disabilities, who generally have language deficits that require effective and efficient teaching procedures. This symposium describes research aimed to determine (a) whether learning tacts in one language is better than learning tacts in two languages, (b) whether learning tacts and listener responses in two languages simultaneously is better than sequentially, and (c) what role preference plays in the acquisition of tacts in a foreign language. Across studies, we examined and compared multiple learning outcomes (e.g., effectiveness, efficiency, and the emergence of other verbal operants). Child participants learned tacts in one language more efficiently than in two languages. Child participants learned tacts simultaneously more efficiently than sequentially; the sequential condition was more efficient for adults learning listener responses. The simultaneous procedures produced higher levels of emergent bidirectional intraverbal compared to sequential procedures. Finally, child participants learned tacts of preferred items more efficiently than tacts of nonpreferred items. The preferred condition also produced higher levels of emergent bidirectional intraverbals. These findings can inform foreign language instructional design.

Basic knowledge of verbal behavior and stimulus control.

The population of the United States is becoming more diversified culturally and linguistically. Bilingualism has been shown to have positive effects in neurotypical children’s development (e.g., Bialystok, 2010). However, there are little known on how to best teach and support children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to learn a second language and if teaching a second language might hinder and confuse their language acquisition. Previous studies examined the effect of tact and listener responses on the emergence of bidirectional intraverbal relations with six neurotypical Brazilian children and found that tact training was more effective in producing bidirectional intraverbal responding. The present study examined the optimal procedures for teaching two languages using tact training to children with ASD. We compare the effectiveness of acquiring a small set of tacts when (a) teaching two languages simultaneously, (b) teaching two languages sequentially, and (c) teaching one language only (i.e., control). Results showed that simultaneous procedures were more efficient in teaching two languages and effective in promoting conditional discrimination. All participants acquired one language much more efficiently than two languages. However, all participants acquired a small tact vocabulary in two languages. Overall, simultaneous procedures produced higher levels of emergent intraverbal compared to sequential procedures.

Purchase one of the many available titles at the bookstore and stop by to have it signed by the author!

• Dr. Ruth Anne Rehfeldt
• Dr. Erin Rasmussen
• Dr. Traci Cihon
• Dr. Abigail Calkin
• Dr. Juda Axe
• Dr. John M. Guercio
• Dr. Darlene Crone-Todd
• Dr. Andresa De Souza
• Mr. Mark Gil Caparros
• Dr. Monica Gilbert
• Mrs. Jamie Salter
• Dr. Katharine Croce

Come to the lounge area and meet presenters to discuss their research, ask questions, or just say "hi." Authors:

• Nipa Bhuptini
• Matthew Skinta
• Jessica Jackson
• Lisa Toenigges

Cat strollers offer new avenues for cat owners to interact with their cats, and for shelters to provide enrichment to their cats and publicize their adoptable cats. However, to date, no research exists on cats’ behavior in strollers. It is possible that training cats to approach and hop in the stroller might result in them showing fewer stress-related behaviors when in the stroller. In this study, we trained 10 adult cats and 20 kittens from a local shelter to approach and hop in a stroller. After training they were taken on stroller rides (three 15-minute rides for adult cats; one 10-min ride for kittens). We divided our training into 33 criteria and recorded highest criterion reached on each trial. We observed acquisition of the behaviors for approaching and/or hopping into the stroller, however there was substantial individual variation in highest criterion reached. We also saw variation in performance within a cat across training sessions, which is not surprising given the unpredictable environment in which they lived. We compared trained cats’ and kittens’ behavior in the stroller to equivalent groups of cats/kittens that did not receive training and discuss our results in terms of the impact training had on stroller behavior.

Previous presentations on addressing behaviors to be taught when training a dog have highlighted that key behaviors that must be addressed, are actually those of the dog's OWNER, and other humans interacting with the dog. The dog's behaviors tend to follow in line consistent with the degree to which the OWNERs behaviors are adaptive. While other presentations have addressed the wider breadth of human behaviors (overt observed behaviors as well as "private" behaviors of knowledge, attidudes, opionions, etc). this presentation is instead focused in depth on the behaviors of the owner specifically related to the aquistion and intial year of a newly aquired puppy. The unique nature of the puppy's new presence, and the pattenrs of behaviors inherent in xxxx the puppy change, have highlighed enough human behavior change specific to training and nurturing a puppy to warrant a separate presentation. systejmatically identifying and Highlighting specific Behavioral pr9incples and highlighting BEhaiovr approaches to addressing the consistency of the human behavior change required to then effect the training behavior change of the puppy, affords the opportunity to not only improve the quaility of training and life for both the puppy and the owner, but also allows for the dissemijnation of the information and the value of the understanding and applications of the principles of behavrior, and the discipline called Applied Behavior Analysis, to the mainstream psychological and dog owning world.

Rich-to-lean transitions have been shown to function aversively for several species, including humans, rats, and pigeons (e.g., Perone & Courtney, 1992). In the current study, pigeons pecked under a multiple fixed-ratio fixed-ratio schedule in which ratios ended in a large/rich or small/lean amount of grain, creating four types of transitions that were each signaled by a different key light color. Pigeons paused approximately twice as long as or longer during rich-to-lean transitions than during other transitions, consistent with previous literature suggesting that pausing functions as a way to escape an aversive situation. As an extension of Langford et al., (2021) that found that chlordiazepoxide differentially decreased rich-to-lean pauses, buspirone, an anxiolytic, was administered acutely (0.3-10.0 mg/kg). At least one dose decreased pauses during rich-to-lean transitions for three out of four pigeons. In contrast, at least one dose of morphine (0.3-1.0 mg/kg) increased rich-to-lean pauses for all pigeons. Finally, results were also compared to those found with chlordiazepoxide for pigeons that were involved in both studies. The current study adds to the rich-to-lean literature and further characterizes the functions of these transitions and their associated stimuli.

Report of neurofeedback program in one Philadelphia school. Description of biofeedback as a form of Applied Behavior Analysis! Neurofeedback is biofeedback with brainwaves. Image of morphing fractal images reflecting brainwave characteristics. Training protocols are derived using Artificial Intelligence. Ease of use. Behavioral growth areas of 4 students. Self-report of degree of resolution on quantitative descriptors of personally salient issues such as attention, anxiety, obsessionality, behavior, etc. Graphs will summarize subjective data collected through client report throughout participation in biofeedback sessions conducted between February and June 2022. This program was provided free of charge to participants. Data collected for 4 participants will be summarized as: - Percentage score provided based on client report. Client report was recorded after participation in 10 sessions, 20 sessions, and 30 sessions. A total of 4 clients participated in all 30 sessions. - Ratings are based on scale ranging between -100 to +100 relating to frequency, intensity or duration of issues most impacting the quality of life.

The endogenous opioid hypothesis sheds light on plausible biochemical bases for self-injurious behavior (SIB), lending to its perceived clinical applications. However, few studies exist on the relationship between endogenous opioid antagonists and changes in self-injurious behavior (SIB) Endogenous opioids have chemical structure similar to opium derivatives, indicating they can produce a similar property dependence to that of narcotics. Importantly, consistent release of these peptides can heighten one’s pain threshold overtime, resulting in decreased pain perception. Additionally, for patients who engage in SIB, pain responses may be elicited more frequently, thus triggering an endogenous opioid response. Opioid antagonists such as Naloxone andNaltrexone Hydrochloride, block endogenous opioid transmission, and some prior studies suggest that acute administration of Naloxone may reduce SIB. These findings suggest that opioid antagonists may represent a viable treatment for certain populations that engage in SIB. Thus, the current study was conducted via a retrospective consecutive case series of 17 patients with SIB who were prescribed Naltrexone Hydrochloride during their inpatient admission. Our study aims to highlight consecutive demonstrations of the behavior-altering effects of Naltrexone Hydrochloride on behavior in treatment-resistant populations.

The common herbicide glyphosate, available for home and garden use, has attracted much recent attention as a carcinogen. However, the behavioral toxicology of glyphosate is currently lacking. The purpose of the present study was to examine the acute and sub chronic effects of glyphosate in adult male and female rats responding under a Fixed Interval 60 second (FI-60”) schedule of water presentation. Acute oral gavage administrations of glyphosate reduced the rate of responding at the lowest concentration tested (0.56 mg/kg). Intermediate to high concentrations (1.0 – 3.0 mg/kg) generally elevated response rates relative to vehicle and non-chemical controls. Sub chronic oral administrations of glyphosate (3.0 mg/ml) administered in the rats post experimental ration of water prior to the deprivation period. Sub chronic administrations marginally suppressed response-rates only after the second day of exposure. On the third day the response rates returned to control values. These current data suggest that minimal exposure to glyphosate may engender previously undetected behavioral disruptions.

While much is known about patterns of responding on basic schedules of reinforcement, less is known about the transitions from one kind of schedule to another. Fixed-interval schedules lead to a scalloped pattern of responding with a relatively long post-reinforcement pause, while variable-interval schedules produce a shorter pause and a constant rate of responding. In the current experiment, pecking of four pigeons was maintained on a baseline of either a fixed-interval or variable-interval schedule. Across conditions, an increasing or decreasing number of reinforcers were delivered following a variable interval. These conditions included 0%, 10%, 30%, 60% and 100% variable-interval reinforcers. Over the course of the experiment, the programmed schedules transitioned from entirely fixed-interval to entirely variable-interval, or vice versa. Post-reinforcement pauses were shortest when all reinforcers were delivered following variable intervals, longest following fixed intervals, and intermediary when a combination of fixed and variable intervals resulted in reinforcement. Implications about the nature of responding on fixed- and variable-interval schedules will be discussed.

Previous research in transitive inference (TI) has suggested that the expect preference B>D could be explained by regarding the indirect value acquired by B stimulus in comparison to the indirect value acquired by stimulus D. This hypothesis holds under de assumption that A (from A+ B-) was always reinforced, whereas C was partially reinforced (regarding B+C- and C+D- pairs). Under this rationale, Zentall and Sherburne (1994), employed a series A+B-, C±D- during training and testing the BD with continuous reinforcement. Zentall and Sherburne obtained a preference 64.6% for B stimulus and a 78% of preference for B during their second experiment. Nevertheless, it remains unclear if a reinforcement probability of .5 prevents value transfer or just reduces value transfer. The aim of the present study is to determine the effect of probabilistic reinforcement with probability values above and below the chance level (e. g., .3 and .7). With this manipulation it would be possible to evaluate a S+ with high value transfer values (p = .7) versus a S+ with low value transfer values (p = .3). If a C+ with high transfer value is paired with D-, it would be expected a lower B>D preference or indifference during test.

Measuring delay discounting may have important implications in clinical settings for substance use disorders and may function as a dependent measure in assessing various treatment interventions. In the current study we investigate whether contextual differences influence participants choices on a delay discounting task. A group design (N=42) assigning participants to one of two different groups, either completing the task in a traditional lab condition (n=20), or in a classroom condition (n=24), was conducted. Delay discounting data were assessed using the adjusting amount procedure presented in Dixon (2006), collecting data through a web-based software. Indifference points and delay discounting measures were extracted from participants scores on the task. All participants in the lab condition completed the task, whereas two participants did not complete in the classroom condition. In addition, three participants in the lab condition and ten participants in the classroom condition were excluded due to predetermined exclusion criteria. Results indicate that contextual arrangements influence participants scores, yielding elevated reaction times and more reliable task completion in lab conditions, though delay discounting measures did not differ between groups. Hence, measuring delay discounting in clinical settings should emphasize stable conditions when assessing clients degree of delay discounting.

According to relational frame theory transformations of functions are contextually controlled by stimuli defining the kind of stimulus relation involved (i.e., Crels) and stimuli specifying the function that is transformed (i.e., Cfuncs). The transformation of the functions of particular stimuli is a prerequisite to consistently fulfilling a reinforcement contingency within function transformation tasks (e.g., Finn & De Houwer, 2021). These tasks present Crel and Cfunc stimuli to specify transformations of functions and provide a means for investigating the establishment of contextual control of transformations of functions by particular stimuli. This poster presents the results of experiments with human adults in which various parameters influencing the establishment of Crel and Cfunc control were manipulated. Specifically, the experiments manipulated whether the Cfunc stimuli were presented in pre-training designed to establish Crel control, whether one or two stimuli served exerted Crel and Cfunc control, and size of the inter-trial differences in the properties of the stimulus serving as the source of the transformations of functions. Results indicate that these parameters have a significant impact on how readily contextual control over transformations of stimulus functions was established.

Stimulus equivalence researchers usually seek to isolate critical variables to enhance the probability of equivalence class establishment. However, this highly controlled environment diverges from the contingencies of daily life. The present experiment assessed whether participants learn and derive arbitrary stimulus relations under a less stringent experimental arrangement. Furthermore, we assessed how familiar stimuli affect the learning process under this condition. Sixteen undergraduate/graduate students were assigned to one of two experimental conditions and performed successive Matching-to-Sample training-testing cycles. A 27-trial training block taught nine baseline relations (AB, BC, CD, for Classes 1, 2, 3). Regardless of participants’ performances in training, they advanced to a 54-trial testing block that assessed 15 emergent relations (BA, CB, CA, DB, DA) and the maintenance of baseline relations. In Condition 1, all stimuli were abstract pictures; in Condition 2, Set A included familiar pictures (a bee, an airplane, a house). Participants repeated the training-testing cycles until they achieved 100% accuracy in testing, or up to two hours of experiment. 3/8 participants in Condition 1 and 5/8 in Condition 2 achieved the mastery criterion. Participants’ accuracy improved across the cycles. Familiar stimuli seemed to facilitate the acquisition of baseline relations and, consequently, the emergence of stimulus relations.

In most Pavlovian conditioning studies, the spatial dimension of behavior is often overlooked, with experimental subjects typically being immobilized. However, it has been reported that freely locomoting organisms exposed to Pavlovian contingencies form a Conditional Response that incorporates their spatial behavioral patterns, such as displacement and orientation toward sources of stimulation. This study presents an experimental setup and recording system designed to observe domestic dogs with unrestricted movement under Pavlovian contingencies. In one condition, we paired tones with food delivery using a FT 60-second schedule using an automated dispenser equipped with an integrated buzzer, while in a second condition, food was not presented. We continuously recorded locomotion patterns, orientation toward food, the owner, and other locations, as well as contacts with the stimulation source. Our results revealed distinct behavioral patterns in each condition. This research discusses the importance of including continuous spatial behavior recording in Pavlovian contingencies and demonstrates the feasibility of using domestic dogs as experimental subjects.

Rats were exposed to a two-choice conditional discirmination procedure in order to explore transposition. Conditional signals were pairs of lights flickering at differet rates (.25 s, .30 s and .35 s) and between groups reinforcement was contingent upon pressing the lever below the light with the higher or the lower flickering rate. After 60 traning sessions, flickering rates of each pair of lights per trial were increased (.05 s, .10 s y .15 s) or decreased (.45 s, .50 s y .55 s) during additional three sessions. For all rats accuracy of the performance remained at the chance level across the experiment despite: a) contigency criterion; b) increases in lenght and variability of the intertrial interval; and c) increases and decreases in flickering rates during test sessions. The results were the same in additional two experiments in which signals during training were .20 s, .30 s y .40 s or 20 s, .25 s, .30 s, .35 s and .40 s. These results suggest that flickering is a poor dimension for conditional stimulus control as well as for transposition.

Delay discounting is a quantitative measure of self-control, whereas social discounting is that of altruism. Steeper delay and social discounting are related to various maladaptive behaviors. Previous research reported that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) discount delayed rewards more steeply than typically developing children, while children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) discount delayed rewards at the same level as typically developing children. Several delay discounting tasks have been developed to measure children's delay discounting. However, previous efforts to study social discounting in children have used a task that is developed for adults. The present study aimed to measure delay and social discounting in children ages 9-12 years with ASD and ADHD using new tasks specifically developed for children. In the delay discounting task, the children chose between immediate or delayed rewards across 11 trials. In the social discounting task, the children chose between sharing or not sharing rewards across eight trials. These tasks had less trials and smaller amounts of rewards than tasks for adults. Hypothetical food and money were used as rewards. The applicability of the tasks and the effects of the reward condition are discussed.

The term comprehension refers to the act of grasping the meaning of something. This notion explains why this term has been traditionally studied as a series of processes internal to the organism. The purpose of the present study, from a different conceptualization, is to analyze socially relevant behavioral changes based on the functional contact of complementary modes with objects or events in the environment. Psychological reactive systems constitute forms of behavior occurrence organized in three generic behavioral modes: sensory, motor, and linguistic. First-year students from a secondary school in the Educational System of the State of Veracruz, Mexico, participated in the study. A within-subject design was used to analyze the facilitation of performance in three active linguistic modes – pointing out, speaking, and writing – based on exposure to the reactive reading mode on an emigration text. The results suggest that the functional level achieved by the participants is related, mainly, to life experiences regarding the topic of emigration, exposure to the reactive mode of reading and its simultaneous enablement of the three active modes and to the morphological characteristics and means of occurrence of the different modes of language.

Conformity can be understood as an increased probability of adjusting to a social norm. Some behavior analysts point that conformity is the result of extensive reinforcement for conforming and punishment for not conforming. Even discussed theoretically, few empirical data can be found in behavior analysis. The present study investigated the effects of feedback on a task as a reinforcement for conforming or not to a group standard in a single-subject design. Eight undergraduates participated in the study. Each were grouped with four confederates in a task of analyzing the prevalence of black or white in images, but all the images had the same proportion of black and white. An ABACA design was programed for four participants and an ACABA design for the other four, in which A is a baseline, B is reinforcement of nonconformity (the experimenter announced the same color announced by the participant as correct when she has not conformed) C is reinforcement of conformity (the correct answer announced was the same when the participant conformed). The results showed that contingencies for conformity were more effective than contingencies for nonconformity and that after a history of reinforcement for conformity participants didn’t adjust to contingencies for nonconformity.

The Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA) is a functional analysis format that comprises five main components: a single test condition, informed procedures, synthesized contingencies, matched control, and an open-contingency class. Although the IISCA has been supported as an efficacious functional analysis format for identifying contingencies and informing function-based treatments (Layman et al., 2023), some modifications have been made for other practical considerations (Metras & Jessel, 2021). One such modification is the latency-based IISCA, which changes the measure of the problem behavior from rate (i.e., count per specific period of time) to latency (i.e., time from initial stimulus to first response). We conducted 18 IISCAs (9 latency-based and 9 rate-based) to assess the problem behavior exhibited by nine autistic children. All IISCAs were conducted by Brazilian professionals, and each child experienced both formats. All IISCAs, regardless of measure (rate or latency), were differentiated and identified a socially mediated function for problem behavior. The results show that the latency-based IISCA can demonstrate control over problem behavior as effectively as the rate-based IISCA. The research concludes that it is possible to identify socially mediated contingencies using the latency-based IISCA, similar to the rate-based IISCA.

This study evaluated effects of response effort on acquisition and maintenance of avoidance and escape using a human-operant arrangement. Participants attended three laboratory sessions. Each session was divided into three 30-min periods. In each period, participants played a computer game in which they defended a small sum of real or in-game money. Money losses occurred on a free-operant Sidman avoidance schedule unless participants made avoidance responses on one of three moving targets (the active target). Alternatively, participants could make separate escape responses to produce 10-s timeouts from the avoidance schedule on a progressive-ratio schedule. Avoidance response effort was manipulated by (a) changing the size of the moving target (diameter = 150, 100, and 50 px) across the three periods of each session and (b) changing the response-loss interval (2, 8, and 16 s) of the avoidance schedule across sessions. Results suggest that response effort manipulations were successful: Avoidance occurred primarily on the active target, avoidance was sensitive to the response-loss interval, and behavior was allocated to the targets as an inverse function of target size. Progressive-ratio breakpoints suggest that reinforcing effects of timeout were unchanged by manipulations to response effort. Possible implications and limitations of the results will be discussed.

Designing environments that promote walkability supports societal objectives such as improving public health and having successful public transport systems. This study measured the likelihood of completing a hypothetical walking task to a grocery store and restaurant based on distance and weather by using a novel approach of an economic demand framework to analyze demand, choice, and consumption. Undergraduate participants were given six hypothetical walking tasks, varying by weather condition and destination setting, and asked to rate on a scale of zero to ten of how willing they were to complete the walking task as distance increased by one block. We were able to apply the demand framework to a new topography of socially conscious behavior. It also looked like a number of factors moderated the demand framework. This study could further impact the development of sustainable cities and accessible environments using novel and effective analysis to increase walking as a fundamental mode of transport.

Transitions can be a major source of problem behavior for individuals with intellectual disabilities (Schmidt et al., 2000). Research on transitions suggests that problem behavior may occur more frequently when transitioning away from a preferred activity to a lesser preferred activity (Schreibman et al., 2000). A less well studied area within the context of transitions is disruptions to planned, upcoming activities. This study reports on an assessment designed to evaluate problem behavior to transitions that were disrupted by unplanned activity for two boys who were admitted to an inpatient facility for assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior. In some cases, the unplanned activity was relatively higher preferred, and, in some cases, they were relatively lesser preferred. For both participants, problem behavior occurred when the unplanned activity was relatively lesser preferred but did not occur when the unplanned transitions were to a relatively more highly preferred activity. These data suggest that intervening on a transition that is lesser preferred can reduce problem behavior for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The clinical application and considerations for treatments are discussed.

Wright et al. (2010) proposed a set of operational definitions human observers could apply to spectrograms when attempting to visually discriminate the ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) produced by rats. However, the degree to which human observers can accurately apply these definitions is unknown. In response, we evaluated three common techniques for teaching visual discriminations. Study 1 used a multiple baseline design to assess the effects of multiple-exemplar training, simplified definitions, and live training on the accuracy of three observers’ categorizations of randomly selected USV spectrograms. Sessions involved scoring 10 spectrograms with varying instructional approaches. Participants in BL (Wr) and BL (New) sessions used the Wright et al. and simplified definitions, respectively. ME (Wr) and ME (Wr+Ppt) sessions included printed and digital visual examples of the Wright et al. definitions, respectively, with post-session feedback. ME (New) sessions mirrored ME (Wr+Ppt) sessions except examples matched the simplified definitions. Live training sessions were like ME (New) sessions but included trial-by-trial feedback. Accuracy scores were lowest when participants used the Wright et al. definitions and highest following live training. Study 2 replicated these findings with three additional observers, emphasizing the efficacy of simplified definitions and live training in enhancing USV scoring accuracy.

Resurgence is the recurrence of a previously extinguished response with the worsening of alternative conditions. Some studies indicate that the presentation of stimuli related to alternative reinforcement during the test phase may reduce the resurgence of the target response and increase the persistence of the alternative respondent. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of alternative reinforcement-related stimuli in groups of Wistar rats when delivered contingently, but with differential pairing histories. In phase 1, press target lever was reinforced. In phase 2, target response was in extinction and press to an alternative lever was reinforced, accompanied by a stimulus (i.e., light) depending on a probability (0, 0.5, and 1). In phase 3, the alternative reinforcer was discontinued, and the stimulus was presented contingently to alternative response . Differential levels of resurgence were noted across groups, with more resurgence being showed for subjects without a history of association with the stimuli. Alternative responding was not maintained with the stimuli presentation for neither group. Expanding the investigation of this manipulation would allow us to understand the conditions under which the effect reported in the literature becomes robust.

Burnout is a pervasive phenomenon that affects individuals across various professions and industries. However, in the field of behavior analysis, the issue of burnout is particularly salient given the high demands and intense nature of the work. Board-certified behavior analysts are required to provide evidence-based interventions to individuals with a wide range of developmental disabilities, often within complex environments. The stress and pressure associated with behavior analytic work can have significant negative consequences on the well-being and job performance of board-certified behavior analysts. This poster aims to explore the concept of burnout in the context of board-certified behavior analysts. Specifically, it seeks to understand the prevalence, risk factors, and impacts of burnout on board-certified behavior analysts, as well as the strategies and interventions that may help mitigate burnout in this population. By examining these issues, this review will contribute to a better understanding of the unique challenges faced by board-certified behavior analysts, and help identify effective ways to support their well-being and job satisfaction.

As of 2021, around seven million children in the United States have been diagnosed with a disability. Of these children, almost 12% of these students are also categorized as an English Learner (EL). Although research in the area advocates for bilingual education to accommodate the evolving student body, the language of instruction in schools across the United States remains primarily English, and parents are advised to speak only in English at home to their children. Further, while many children with disabilities display challenging behaviors, breadth of research on heritage-language instruction and challenging behaviors for children with disabilities remains narrow. Few studies examine this relationship, and no formal critique of these interventions exist. In this literature review, I review and critique four articles for the following research question: Is there evidence to suggest that heritage-language instruction decreases rates of challenging behaviors in early elementary-aged children with disabilities? In the review, selected single case research studies are described and evaluated in terms of internal and external validity, and recommendations for future research and current practice are discussed.

Special education teachers and paraeducators have reported barriers to effective training for training and coaching paraeducators. Built-in time for teacher-paraeducator collaboration with specific training and feedback have been requested by key stakeholders. Practice-based coaching (PBC) is a job-embedded coaching model and incorporates a non-hierarchical and collaborative relationship between the coach and coachee. ParaImpact is a multi-component professional development (PD) package. The package includes online instructional modules and PBC framework with teacher-as-coach to increase implementation fidelity of evidence-based practices by paraeducators. ParaImpact is designed to support the ongoing training of special education teachers to coach paraeducators to implement systematic instruction with high fidelity. We evaluated the effectiveness and accessibility of the ParaImpact PD package in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a treatment and control condition. We utilized pre-post measures for teacher and paraeducator cohesion and improvement of IEP. Additionally, we measured 4 waves of outcome data for paraeducator and target student behavior. Two-level multilevel modeling (MLM) was used to analyze repeated data. Multiple regression model was used to analyze pre-post measures with the pre-test scores as a covariate. We measured the social validity of ParaImpact from treatment teachers and paraeducators. Implications for future research and practice will be discussed.

Training opportunities allow the workforce to enhance career growth, develop skills and knowledge, and deliver excellent service for individuals they serve. Traditional training such as lecture, group discussion, and role playing have typically been the most widely used formats (Grampesheh, et. al., 2010). ELearning training has become more mainstreamed which can be both challenging (Bughun, et.al., 2018) and innovative. Online training allows trainees to customize their trainings based on individual time and location. Due to the development of information technology and the Internet, people are replacing traditional training with eLearning to better manage their workforce (Lim, et.al., 2007). If planned appropriately training programs can provide important benefits to organizations which can include an increase in job satisfaction, better morale among the employees, increased motivation, better understanding of concepts, reduce turnover, and enhance company image (Gutterman, 2023). The focus of this research is to provide a literature review on the impact of eLearning trainings within applied behavior analysis programs.

Research has shown that positive feedback can increase students' on-task behavior and reduce problem behavior in the classroom. The aim of this study was to examine the rate of teachers' verbal feedback in one school in Iceland and measure its association with students' on-task behavior. The participants in this study were 31 teachers and approximately 650 students of theirs, aged five to 16 years. Direct observations were carried out three times during the school year. Ninety-two measurements took place in classes from the first to the tenth grades. The main results were that students received more negative feedback than positive. Most of the negative feedback was on social behavior and positive on academic performance. Positive feedback on social behavior was rarely given. The students' on-task behavior was 83%, a higher proportion than in the previous study in Iceland. Peer distraction was the most common reason for students being off-task. The study results showed a significant positive correlation between positive feedback on academic performance and students' on-task behavior and instructions, explanations, expositions, and on-task behavior. A significant negative correlation was between negative feedback on social behavior and students' on-task behavior.

Regulation and self-management are two essential factors for young children's readiness for the expectations and demands they face in kindergarten and school, and for coping with the world. Self-management is a cluster of learned skills that are mediated, modified and encouraged in early childhood through parents. An activity schedule is an intervention strategy developed to promote children's self-management, and to increase independent engagement in completing activities. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of the use of an electronic activity schedule on the independent completion of a morning routine. The participants were two sisters, aged 4.5 and 6.5 years. The dependent variable, independent completion of the morning routine, was directly observed and measured using event recording and graphically presented as percentage of steps of the morning routine completed independently. Social validity data were collected from the participants and their mother. The findings showed that independent completion steps of the participants were low and variable during baseline and immediately improved to 100% during intervention. The participants were satisfied with the intervention's procedures and findings. The study concluded that an electronic activity schedule may improve the quality of the morning routine.

According to the US Employment Demand for Behavior Analysts: 2010- 2018 (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2022) the annual number of job postings requiring or preferring a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst has increased 1942% between 2010-2018. That number is likely even higher today. As the need for behavior analysts grow, behavior analysis educational programs have also increased to meet that need. A review of the Board-Certified Behavior Analyst Examination Pass Rates for Verified Course Sequences hints at that growth. In addition to the inception of these programs themselves, the mode of instruction has also evolved. A review of only those programs that possessed an ABA course sequence outside of its first four years of operation resulted in a total of 165 educational programs globally (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2019). Out of those eligible programs, 37 (22%) of them offered some type of instruction remotely in 2014. By 2018, that number increased to 80 (48%). It is hypothesized that that number is substantially higher today. At Manhattanville College, our NY-state approved and verified course sequence offers all classes in person and fully online. Stop by and say hi.

Recently, applied behavior analysts have invested greater resources in promoting interdisciplinary collaboration in clinical practice (Boivin et al., 2021; Bowman & Weiss, 2023; Slim & Reuter-Yuill, 2021), particularly through decision-making models (Brodhead, 2015; Newhouse-Oisten et al., 2017). However, no such model currently exists to guide the inception and development of interdisciplinary research collaborations in applied behavior analysis. We address this gap in the present paper by proposing a six-step decision-making model informed by the authors’ experiences in collaborating with music educators to disseminate an immersive learning curriculum to children with autism and other educators. Conceptual analysis of effective interdisciplinary collaboration is supplemented with four pre-requisite skills to consider prior to pursuing this type of work. Discussion includes barriers to interdisciplinary applied behavior analytic research, implications of deficient collaboration for the future of the field, and considerations for expanding the impact of behavior analysis to novel contexts, behaviors, and social problems.

The field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has evolved significantly since its inception (Baer, Wolf, and Risley, 1968). Considerable re-focus on ethical standards in the field of ABA have occurred recently based on targeted analysis and feedback from inside and outside the field. This feedback indicated a need to understand the role compassionate behavioral-based skills influence practitioners and how to teach these skills explicitly. Previous research used BST to teach compassionate care skills such as basic skills when interacting with parents (Rohrer et al., 2022) and cultural responsiveness in the content of conducting assessments (Gatzunis et al., 2023). This research extended the findings of teaching compassionate care skills by exploring the effectiveness of teaching the compassionate care-based skill related to receiving feedback from clients, caregivers and colleagues through using modified versions of behavioral skills training (BST) in an effort to analyze if all components of BST are required in order to successfully teach a the compassionate care skill, or modifications to the trainings can be made without sacrificing efficacy of skill development to improve the rate of skill acquisition. The research used a Brief Experimental Analysis (BEA). Results indicated increases in all skills from baseline measures.

This systematic review sought to update and expand knowledge about the relevant variables for the effectiveness of peer-mediated intervention (PMI) in teaching social skills to people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. A comprehensive search was conducted across the Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases using the term "autism*" in combination with the terms "peer mediated*", "peer interaction*", "peer training*", and "peer mentoring". This search strategy yielded a total of 70 relevant articles for further analysis. In each article, various aspects were analyzed, including but not limited to: characteristics of participants and peers, experimental environment, PMI procedures implemented, integrity measures of teaching procedures, and acquisition, generalization, and maintenance results. It was found that most studies 1) were conducted in schools, with children with typically developing peers; 2) implemented the PMI using teaching packages consisting of Instructions, modeling, prompt, role-play and feedback; 3) showed effective or partially effective acquisition results, especially when measures of the integrity of the procedure implementation were performed. It was suggested the need for further studies to evaluate the effect of PMI on generalization and maintenance of social behaviors and its effect to establish or increase these behaviors in adolescents and adults with ASD. Additionally, some limitations to be addressed in future reviews on this topic are discussed.

The present study is a systematic replication of a study that evaluated the use of optional prep guides added to lecture-centered teaching (Gayman, Rost & Jimenez, 2020). That study found that the addition of ungraded prep guides did not increase exam scores in the absence of other components of interteaching. The present study evaluated the effects of adding graded prep guides to lecture-centered teaching. Participants were undergraduate students (N=126) enrolled across three sections of a nine-week asynchronous online psychology of learning course. The study used an alternating treatments design. A Latin-square counterbalance was used to determine the order (ABCABC; BCABCA; CABCAB) of the three lecture conditions across weeks in the three course sections: (a) interteaching; (b) lecture-centered teaching; and (c) lecture-centered teaching with a graded prep guide. Total average weekly exam scores were lowest under the lecture-centered teaching condition (M = 72.16), and highest under the interteaching (M = 75.63) and lecture-centered teaching plus graded prep guide condition (M =75.64). This same pattern is observed on the total final exam scores taught under each condition (M = 72.78, M = 75.63, M = 73.57). Our findings suggest that adding graded prep guides to lecture-centered teaching positively impacted exam scores.

INTRODUCTION: The competent practice of ABA requires legal and ethical knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary for a person to present himself as a behavior analysis professional. Such a professional is required to possess and demonstrate Knowledge, Skills, and Application Ability in the context of presenting behavioral challenges in an age appropriate and functional way. BODY: In recent times, the practice of the Science of Behavior Analysis has come under attacks in terms of its efficacy from different professional bodies, service consumers in the community, the insurance, and the government. This development has necessitated the need to examine areas of practice deficits with a view to ensuring the utilization and effective transfer of the practice skills required by the professionals to match up with service demands. CONCLUSION: At the end of this presentation, the participants will learn to match classroom knowledge with the practical ability to conduct intervention to strengthen the quality of services being provided to the community.

Functional communication training (FCT) is an evidence-based intervention commonly used for challenging behaviors. This intervention involves teaching an alternative response (e.g., touching a card) that provides access to the same reinforcement as a challenging behavior. Reinforcement is then only provided by alternative behavior. FCT is commonly implemented with children with developmental disabilities, including autism. However, professionals that work with these individuals are often not adequately trained on the procedures. The current study aims to analyze the effects of behavioral skills training (BST), an evidence-based training strategy, on staff implementation of FCT. An electronic search on the usage of BST, or trainings using the four components of BST, to teach staff FCT was conducted using multiple databases. Two independent reviewers conducted an abstract and full-text review to identify studies that met criteria for inclusion. All disagreements were resolved via discussion. Forward and ancestral searches were done on all articles found through the full-text review. Identified studies (n = 16) show promise for the use of BST to teach staff FCT. The lack of large-scale research and reliance on unstandardized measures may limit the dissemination of an apparently effective technique. Implications for practice follow a description of the findings.

PRIDE skills (praise, reflection, imitation, description (behavior), and enjoy) originate from parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT). A PCIT intervention targets improving the parent-child dyad and utilizing positive attention skills (PRIDE) in response to the child’s behavior. PRIDE skills are involved in the child-directed interaction (CDI) phase of PCIT in which the child takes lead during play. Since the development of PCIT, teacher-child interaction training (TCIT) has been created to target the teacher-student dyad. TCIT also utilizes PRIDE skills on a class wide and individualized level. The present study will include an intervention on PRIDE skills with two public school teachers. The intervention will follow a behavioral skills training (BST) model, in which the primary researcher will instruct, model, rehearse, and provide feedback on each skill. Teachers will utilize the PRIDE skills in a group-based play time in which student behavior will also be monitored utilized partial interval recording. The present study will use a multiple baseline across behaviors design, in which the PRIDE skills will be implemented sequentially in pairs. The hypothesis of the primary researcher is that as teacher PRIDE skill acquisition increases, student challenging behavior will decrease.

Child welfare professionals are tasked with protecting and supporting children and families experiencing abuse. Problematic biases related to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) impact this work to deleterious effect. The literature evinces malleability of IPV-related biases. This research is limited by reliance on self-report measures, which are suspectable to response manipulation and may not reliably capture more inceptive responding. We measured IPV-related bias evidenced by child welfare professionals using a multi-method protocol. Participants completed a topic-specific version of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP-IPV), a validated explicit measure, and an IRAP-IPV analog. We administered measures before and after exposing participants to a brief mindfulness intervention. At baseline, the IRAP-IPV reflected moderate pro-healthy parent bias and neutral anti-abused parent bias. Post intervention, the experimental group showed moderate pro-healthy and neutral anti-abused parent biases. The control group showed weak pro-healthy and neutral pro-abused parent bias. Implicit and explicit measures diverged across Abused Parent sub-scales. We discuss findings in terms of interactions between pre-experimental history, contextual variables related to child welfare and IPV, and characteristics of the measurement tools. Our results enhance a functional-contextual understanding of IPV-related biases within child welfare.

Researchers have employed explicit and implicit evaluative measures to detect anti-Black bias and assess the effectiveness of interventions. However, within the context of behavior analysis, few studies have focused on identifying and intervening in racial prejudice. Furthermore, no studies have utilized repeated implicit behavioral measures to confirm the effectiveness of interventions. Therefore, this study aims to identify implicit and explicit anti-Black racial prejudice in a sample of children and examine the stability of these measures over three repeated trials. Thirty-four children (mean age = 8.60 years, 24 female) evaluated images of Black and White faces using a five-point Likert scale. The Function Acquisition Speed Test (FAST), an implicit measure, assessed how fluently participants categorized Black and White faces with positive and negative images. Results indicated the absence of explicit racial bias in the examined sample. However, findings regarding implicit bias revealed a slight anti-Black bias. Concerning the repetition of measures, there were no significant differences in group performance on the implicit and explicit measures across the three repetitions. These findings suggest the absence of mere exposure effects, supporting the feasibility of utilizing these measures repetitively.

The most common type of child maltreatment is neglect. Children who are neglected are at a health and developmental risk, therefore they are in great need of help and protection. It is no less important to assist parents to acquire the skills that will make it possible for them to care for their children appropriately and provide a home and environment that will allow them to grow and develop normally. The aim of this study was to use the CLEAN checklist (Greene, 2017; Watson-Perczel et. al, 1988) developed in Project 12-Ways (Lutzker et. al, 1984; Lutzker & Rice, 1984; Lutzker, 1990) with two families receiving services from Child Protection in Reykjavík. This was only the second time that the list was used in Iceland. A behavioral intervention was used to help both participant families to make progress in cleanliness and tidiness as measured by the CLEAN list. The intervention included modelling, clear instructions, goal setting and assignment of tasks, performance feedback, and positive reinforcement for progress and achievement of goals. The intervention effects were evaluated with a multiple baseline across areas in the home with each participant. Unprecedented progress was made with both participants. Social validity scores were high.

Macrobehavior is the topographical similarities of behaviors by many people within a group. The present study investigated the effects of feedback on a task as a reinforcement for being part of the minority or being part of the majority in a single-subject design. Forty undergraduates were divided in 5-person to analyze the prevalence of black or white in images, but all the images had the same proportion of black and white. An ABACA design was programed for four groups and an ACABA design for the other four, in which A is a baseline, B is reinforcement for the minority (the experimenter announced the same color announced by those who announce colors opposite to the majority) and C is reinforcement for the majority (the correct answer announced was the same of the majority). Only one group showed more frequency consensus when the reinforcement was contingent to being part of the majority and no consensus within a group were observed in higher frequency for all conditions, but analyzing individual performance, in general, most participants were more part of the majority then part of minority.

A study conducted by Mizael et al. (2016) successfully reduced negative evaluations of Black faces and minimized the valence differences between ratings of Black and White faces by establishing equivalent relations that conflicted with racial bias. We replicated this procedure in a Repeated Measures design, and included the Doll Test and an Implicit Test to investigate generalization. Nine children who demonstrated negative evaluations of Black faces were trained to relate a positive symbol (A1) to an abstract stimulus (B1), and B1 with images of Black faces (C1). Racial bias measures were repeated twice a week and 15 days after the intervention. Eight participants formed an equivalence relation between Black faces and the positive symbol that maintained two weeks after intervention. Before the intervention, there was a significant difference between the evaluations of White and Black faces; after the intervention, there was no significant difference. Two out of three participants with implicit racial bias showed reduced bias post-intervention, and one of the four participants with racial bias in the doll test displayed intervention generalization. Overall, our findings replicated the results of Mizael et al. (2016). However, the lack of correspondence between the selection and generalization measures posed challenges in understanding the generalizability of the intervention. Further research is necessary to explore the potential for broader generalization and address the limitations of our study.

Pairing, sometimes called rapport building, is a recommended procedure in behavior analytic practice to build therapeutic relationships and help establish instructional control with clients. Pairing has been described as mutual consumption of the reinforcing activity (e.g., enthusiastically narrating the activity; Sundberg and Partington, 1998). However, until recently, pairing skills have not been explicitly described or empirically trained. Lugo et al. (2017) operationally defined therapist behaviors to promote rapport building and examined a procedure to increase therapist use of those skills. Other studies (e.g., Gormley et al., 2020) replicated this procedure to assess its impact on different client skill outcomes. One area that has not been examined is optimizing this procedure for the implementing staff. Given that ABA service environments are often regarded as inherently stressful in ways that may impede performance, Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) has been used to bolster training and other performance management interventions (e.g., Little et al., 2020). Training in rapport building could be enhanced similarly and result in beneficial outcomes for staff performance. Also, the benefits of ACT have been rarely examined outside of an intervention package. Thus, the present study examined the enhancing effects of ACT on therapeutic relationship building skills and, if needed, behavioral skills training (BST). A multiple probe design across participants was used to evaluate the impact on three of the rapport building skills across two clients per therapist. Results suggest that ACT alone may result in temporary performance boosts, but most participants required additional support through formal BST. Limitations and future suggestions are also described.

Through its utilization of ecological, teaching, reinforcement and reactive strategies, the multi-element behavior support (MEBS) paradigm has been shown to decrease the frequency and severity of problem behavior for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The aim of this poster is to provide a framework for the utilization of the MEBS paradigm in human service employment settings where employees’ challenging behavior serves as a barrier to their competence, confidence and credibility. Utilizing environmental, educational and compensation strategies, solutions to common performance problems for direct support workers will be discussed. Further, using a culturally attuned approach, recommendations will be made for functional, effective and non-aversive reactive strategies for safe rapid control over workplace problems, aimed at decreasing the episodic severity and increasing the dignity of workers and management when such episodes arise. Employee wellbeing will also be discussed within the context of quality of life as both an outcome variable and support strategy for direct staff and management.

Burnout is reported to be an issue in many fields, and applied behavior analysis (ABA) is no exception (Jimenez-Gomez et al., 2021). Some ABA clinics have reported attempts to decrease burnout and increase morale and productivity by having fun work events such as pajama days, amongst other things (Tagg, 2022). However, it is unclear whether these attempts to decrease burnout and increase morale are effective. Said another way, “are morale-boosting activities effective?” The purpose of our study was to assess the effects of pajama days, potlucks, and other “morale-boosting” activities on reported burn-out (Kristensen, Borritz, Villadsen, & Christensen, 2005) of employees in a Severe Behavior and an Early Intervention clinic using a multiple-baseline across clinics design. During baseline, we conducted “business as usual,” with no planned “morale boosting” activities. During the intervention, 2-5 “morale boosting” activities were conducted throughout the week, ranging from pajama days to spirit week. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.

Employee of the month awards are often believed to decrease employee turnover and increase employee job satisfaction. However, several managers at Holding Hands Inc. in Los Angeles County, California have hypothesized the opposite: that their employee of the month award is making staff quit after they win. They have cited anecdotal evidence that some behavior technicians were quitting shortly after winning the award. We argue that this must be an evidence-based practice. The author did an observational study, using existing data on employee tenure for award winners and non-winners, and dates of awards to evaluate this hypothesis. Overall, statistical analysis of the data did not show evidence for a causal relation between winning the employee of the month award and resigning from the company. However, there was also no evidence shown that the award decreases staff turnover or improves staff retention. Future studies within and outside of Holding Hands Inc. can further evaluate aspects of the award that affect staff retention.

The Competent Learner Model (CLM) System of Team-Based Professional Development Tools addresses four complex, interrelated realities faced by most educators in most schools anywhere in the world. 1) Increasing numbers of students with autism and other significantly complex learning and behavioral challenges related to neurodiversity are included in general education settings. 2) Complex student needs require school-based multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) to work together to design and deliver evidence-based behavioral interventions and instruction with consistency. 3) Insufficient training and support to use empirically validated interventions with fidelity. 4) Lack of tools and training to implement programs to achieve and sustain intended effects. As we know, an evidence-based program is never enough to ensure effective use, implementation, and sustainability in practice. Along with the interest to adopt behavioral interventions in various systems across the world, there has been increased interest in utilizing a behavioral package of instructional tools. To meet that need, the Competent Learner Model System™ is built on the principles of Organizational Behavior and Change Management as the foundation of a dissemination infrastructure that includes university certificate programs, licensing, standardized instructor, coach and coordinator training processes, ongoing continuing education requirements and a quality assurance integrity check system to go along with the Competent Learner Model™ instructional tools for learners.

Dentists report difficulty in completing routine dental examinations for neurodiverse patients due to behavioral differences (Chandrashekhar & Bommangoudar, 2018). Many dental clinics therefore rely on the use of sedation and/or restraint to complete exams, despite the increased risk of adverse health outcomes for neurodiverse patients using sedation (Soldani et al., 2010), and negative associations with medical providers, lack of bodily autonomy, and trauma for neurodiverse individuals with repeated use of restraint. St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children (SCHC) established a collaboration between the behavioral health and dental clinic to create a sensory-friendly dental program (SFDP), aimed to reduce the use of sedation and restraint for neurodiverse patients by integrating behavioral health practitioners (psychologist and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapist) to teach cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and ABA-based techniques in-vivo to dental residents. This study examined the acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness of the novel SFDP as reported by patients n=7, caregivers n=18, and dental residents n=9. Surveys included Likert scale and open-ended responses. Feedback from respondents was analyzed, then used to inform the development of a formal behavior skills training program that will teach dental residents at SCHC to independently engage in sensory-friendly, CBT, and ABA-based exam practices with fidelity.

Difficulties associated with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder can have a significant impact on family systems. The relationship between parents and children with autism spectrum disorder is complex and is likely to vary per child. As behavioral therapists have an important role in supporting the learning and well-being of children with autism spectrum disorder, a better understanding of the role parents can play in implementation of services can be helpful in tailoring and implementing individualized treatment and behavior plans. Given these premises, the purpose of this poster was to explore the extant literature on parental stress and parental efficacy in families with children with diagnosed autism spectrum disorder. The thematic literature search identified 30 papers that will be presented in a poster format as a resource that interventionists and psychologists can use to increase their understanding of family system factors involved within parenting an individual with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.

Rule-based insensitivity to contingencies has been suggested to form the basis of psychopathologies, although conclusive evidence is lacking in clinical population studies. This study investigated how programmed consequences influence rule-following in 51 university students with different levels of depressive symptomatology. Participants were assigned to one of two conditions (i.e., point gain or point loss) and instructed to perform a matching-to-sample task, comprising four blocks with 20 trials each. In Gain Groups, the objective was to gain points, while in Loss Groups participants should avoid losing points. In Blocks 1 and 3, contingencies were correspondent to the presented rule, in Blocks 2 and 4, contingencies were reversed and became inconsistent with the rule. Median correct responses were measured. Results showed that all participants followed the rule in Blocks 1 and 3. In Blocks 2 and 4, participants in the Loss Groups presented significantly more correct responses than those in the Gain Groups, indicating that rule-following is more likely to be abandoned when it produces loss of reinforcement compared to extinction conditions. Importantly, there were no differences between high and low depressive symptom participants, suggesting that depressive symptomatology did not exacerbate rule-based insensitivity to contingencies in this context.

Although the rate of new HIV infections in the US has declined from its peak in the mid-1980s, HIV still remains a serious public health challenge in the US. A safe and effective HIV vaccine will be particularly vital in reducing the incidence of HIV infections locally in the US and globally. As exemplified with smallpox, polio, and more recently, COVID-19, the development of a preventive HIV vaccine can provide long-lasting protection and community immunity for a wide range of people, while also eliminating many of the problems currently associated with HIV treatment including high costs, delayed onset of treatment, drug resistance, adverse side effects, poor adherence, and stigma. However, as we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine efficacy is not the only constraint on vaccine acceptance behavior. Personal, interpersonal, contextual, and vaccine-dependent factors can also impact people’s valuations of a vaccine, as well as their intentions to accept them. To better understand how these factors can influence and interact with each other to affect vaccine acceptance, my research project aims at using simulated markets to safely model and rapidly evaluate demand for HIV vaccines among at-risk population groups in the US. By exploring the factors facilitating or hindering HIV vaccine acceptance in the US, the proposed research endeavor has the potential to inform public health interventions and public policies on HIV vaccines when they eventually become widely available in the US.

The current study examined the use de-escalation techniques with the availability of physiological data by employees in an analogue work environment on work related task with six employees at a congregate care facility. The participants were taught how to read the physiological data obtained through the EliteHRVTM device and how changes in those data may impact their performance at work. During the training, the participants were taught to perform two different de-escalation strategies (i.e., diaphragmatic breathing and applied muscle relaxation). Following the acquisition of these skills, participants were exposed to an agitating task (i.e., Stroop effect test) and a sequencing task (i.e., SimonTM). The dependent variables were the number of correct responses on the sequencing task, a self-report survey during each condition, and their physiological data (i.e., heart rate and heart rate variability). The participants demonstrated differential performance and differential physiological data on the sequencing task following one or both de-escalation techniques, and provided initial evidence to support that spending time to train staff on personal de-escalation techniques was beneficial in an analogue setting. Limitations, confounding variables, future research, and contributions to the field were discussed.