Association for Behavior Analysis International

An organizational approach to psychopharmacology in a behavior analytic residential treatment program is discussed. Our treatment teams and psychiatrist collaborate to reduce psychotropic medications, when clinically appropriate, for individuals with severe problem behavior. Our clients have typically attended previous residential treatment facilities, have been rejected from other placements, and are admitted to our program on a variety of psychotropic medications. We discuss changes in major problem behaviors following medication reduction and discontinuation. In many cases, we are able to successfully discontinue the use of psychotropic medications while concurrently implementing a comprehensive and intensive behavioral treatment program. Effective, program-wide behavioral interventions are reviewed. Several case studies highlight various level and trend changes observed when titrating psychotropic medications. Subsequently, a retrospective analysis examines the impact of clonidine withdrawal or discontinuation on the frequency of aggressive and self-injurious behavior. Aggressive and self-injurious behavior decelerates following clonidine discontinuation for the majority of the sample. Treatment providers should also be aware of temporary increases (i.e., agitation withdrawal) in problem behavior following medication reduction. Ethical considerations surrounding boundaries of competence, consultation, treatment efficacy, and least restrictive procedures are discussed.

behavior analysts, psychologists, behavioral scientists

Behavior Analysis has enjoyed a long tradition of successful demonstrations of individual behavior change as evidenced by the now 50+ year history of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, the number of new publication outlets for applied research, and the demand for services (particularly for individuals with autism spectrum disorder). However, the individuals we support are also a part of a culture or social environment(e.g., families, schools, organizations, communities). Social environments serve as the networks of contingencies that maintain much of our individual behavior. Culturo-behavior science adds to our understanding of individual behavior change, explores the contingencies that arise when one or more individuals are engaging in behaviors dependent upon one another (e.g., interlocking behavioral contingencies or socio-interlocked behaviors), and seeks to understand how to bring about social and systemic change. The goal of this Professional Development Series Panel is to introduce attendees to the types of research and the range of applications - organizational, social, and community systems - representative of culturo-behavior science.

Early intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder has historically been rooted within two distinct theoretical foundations: behavioral and developmental sciences. Proponents of each discipline have traditionally held opposing views toward treatment, with little collaboration. A recent shift in autism intervention has led to the emergence of a group of interventions that incorporate elements from both developmental and behavioral science. These naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) have been used effectively in a variety of settings with improvements in child and family outcomes. This symposium includes a series of presentations describing the application of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions across a range of settings, with a focus on describing the integration of developmental and behavioral science in each. The first presentation will provide a broad overview of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions, including a description of its core components. The second presentation will describe the implementation of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions in a hospital-based clinic setting, including data related to the characteristics of children enrolled in the program. The third will describe child outcomes from a group-based delivery of naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention for preschool-aged children. The final presentation will shed light on the actual use of naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention strategies within community settings by describing the self-reported utilization of developmental and behavioral strategies from a large sample of applied behavior analysis providers.

Behavior analysts, behavior therapists, early intervention providers

Group-learning models for young children with autism provide environments rich with opportunities for teaching social communication and interaction skills. Comprehensive preschool programs that incorporate naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) strategies have produced improvements in children’s social communication skills, social engagement, and core ASD symptoms (Stahmer & Ingersoll, 2004; Strain & Bovey, 2011). This presentation will provide an overview of an NDBI treatment model delivered within a group program for preschool-aged children with autism. A description of the treatment model and subsequent changes in children’s social communication skills for 20 preschool-aged children enrolled in the program will be discussed. Staff fidelity was measured using a direct observation fidelity tool designed to measure the core components of a group-based NDBI model. Fidelity was high and averaged over 87% accuracy across all NDBI components. Changes in children’s social communication were measured at baseline and following six months of intervention using the Social Communication Checklist, a curriculum-based measure of social communication. Improvements were observed across all domains, with significant improvements in the group’s overall social communication score (p < .05), social engagement (p <.01), and play skills (p <.05). Implications for research and practice incorporating naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions into group-based treatment programs will be discussed.

Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs; Schreibman et al., 2015) are a class of early interventions for autism spectrum disorder with growing empirical support, however, their similarity to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as delivered in the community is unknown. This online survey-based study characterized the self-reported utilization of developmental and behavioral intervention techniques in a large sample of ABA providers (n=368) and explored what aspects of provider background predict utilization. Respondents rated the extent to which they used each of a number of intervention techniques in a recent session with a specific child. ABA providers self-reported less use of developmental techniques than behavioral techniques, t(356)=-26.35, p<0.001. Providers with greater self-reported competency in NDBIs reported more frequent use of developmental techniques (Table 1); NDBI competency was not related to use of behavioral techniques, which were reported at high levels across providers. Point-biserial correlations indicated some trending relationships with training background such that providers with a background in psychology reported greater use of developmental techniques and those with backgrounds in ABA and special education reported less use (Table 1). Results suggest that further research on the similarities and differences between NDBIs and ABA delivered in the community is warranted.

This symposium presents some of the latest developments in behavioral variability research. The opening paper outlines a comparison of video-modelling (VM) and VM plus lag schedules to increase variability of intraverbal responses to social questions among adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Issues with generalization and maintenance of intervention outcomes and how to measure same will be discussed. The next study used lag schedules to increase variability in toy selections of children with ASD. There was an associated increase in appropriate play and decrease in stereotypy, while multiple generalization probes revealed generalization across people and settings but not stimuli. Next is a long-awaited investigation into the level of variability in activities of neurotypical preschoolers that details a novel measurement system. This study provides important information for those working on increasing variability in play and other activities in children with developmental disabilities; these are increasingly frequent topics of applied variability research. The final paper describes a basic study investigating generalization of reinforced variability in rats. In the applied field, researchers are striving to understand generalization effects of variation across multiple repertoires; this study adds to our understanding of these processes. This set of papers, together with our Discussant, the leading expert in this field, aims to address some of the many interesting questions that have been raised as more and more researchers identify behavioral variability as an important field of study.

BCBAs, BCBA-Ds, anyone interested in variability in basic or applied fields.

This study investigated the effects of video modelling alone (VM) and video modelling plus a lag 2 schedule of reinforcement (VM + lag 2) on the variability of intraverbal responses to social questions for two adults with autism. It used an alternating treatments design with embedded multiple baseline. The questions ‘How are you?’, ‘What do you like to do?’, and ‘Can you tell me something about you?’ were targeted in this study, with different questions being randomly allocated to either VM, VM + lag or best treatment conditions. Variability in responding was measured by calculating, for each session, the mean number of responses from which each one differed. For both participants, variability was higher in the VM + lag 2 condition, hence, this was used in the best treatment condition. Novel responses emerged in both treatment conditions so, while variability did not increase in the VM alone condition, participants did learn new responses from the video models. A one-month maintenance check revealed that responses to questions targeted with VM+ lag 2 were more variable than those targeted by VM alone. During generalization sessions in novel settings, variability was concordant with that observed in the training location for all questions.

Sexual behavior is a complex and wide-reaching topic. And though sexual stimulation is considered to be a primary reinforcer for most, there is frequently shame and stigma associated with sexual behavior, leaving it under-discussed within our field. This symposium examines an array of ethical considerations pertaining to sexual behavior, from direct client interventions and supports around assent and noncompliance, to scholarship and theory on sex and risk, to legal considerations in sex education and censorship, to dissemination of behavior analytic analysis as it benefits pleasure-based sex education at large. Presenters will discuss resulting data and their implications as applicable, and will discuss recommendations for future research, instruction, and applied projects.

Practicing BCBAs and BCaBAs

Functional analyses (FAs) aim to identify reinforcers related to problem behavior and provide a baseline context for treatment evaluation. In this symposium, the first paper presents a review of the literature on compliance with mands, which is a behavior function sometimes demonstrated by individuals with moderate to advanced language repertoires. The second paper describes a controlled consecutive case series (CCCS) for the escape from attention function, which, while common as a possible behavioral phenotype in some genetic conditions, is not traditionally assessed in FAs. The third paper illuminates the heterogeneous nature of aggressive behavior (e.g. severity, topography, function), with an emphasis on response patterns that occur across FA test and control conditions. The final paper describes a CCCS analysis of two methods for thinning multiple schedules to derive more practical and efficient treatments. A terminal probe method, designed to minimize unnecessary steps in the schedule thinning process, is compared with the more traditional progressive thinning method. Across papers, we illustrate how FA provides context for innovation in the assessment and treatment of problem behavior. This context can inform a fined-tuned assessment approach that is generalizable across a wide range of populations and derives effective interventions.

Single-case designs have been central to the development of a science of behavior analysis. However, other health and social sciences have not embraced their adoption as widely as behavior analysts. Potential explanations for this lack of adoption include the complexity of analyzing single-case data objectively as well as the limited consideration of group data. The purpose of our symposium is to present recent research that addresses the aforementioned limitations. The first presentation will describe a script designed to automatically analyze functional analysis data based on previously published rules. The second presentation will examine whether artificial intelligence can accurately make decisions using AB graphs. The third presentation will discuss the validity of using nonoverlap effect size measures to aid clinical decision-making. The final presentation will introduce hybrid designs, which involve a combination of single-case and group methodologies. As whole, the presentations will provide an overview of innovations in the use of single-case methodology for both practitioners and researchers.

BCBAs BCBA-Ds

Single-case experimental designs often require extended baselines or the withdrawal of treatment, which may not be feasible or ethical in some practical settings. The quasi-experimental AB design is a potential alternative, but more research is needed on its validity. The purpose of our study was to examine the validity of using nonoverlap measures of effect size to detect changes in AB designs using simulated data. In our analyses, we determined thresholds for three effect size measures beyond which the type I error rate would remain below .05, and then examined if using these thresholds would provide sufficient power. Overall, our analyses show that some effect size measures may provide adequate control over type I error rate and sufficient power when analyzing data from AB designs. In sum, our results suggest that practitioners may use quasi-experimental AB designs in combination with effect size to rigorously assess progress in practice.

Maximizing student learning outcomes is a goal at every level of instruction. For undergraduate and graduate students in behavior analysis, the stakes may be even higher given the clinical implications and leadership roles BCaBAs and BCBAs take on immediately following graduation and certification. Therefore, it is critical to identify evidence-based approaches to engage students with course content, not only to pass the certification exam, but also to enhance client outcomes. The four studies in this symposium describe ways in which to do just that. The first study evaluated the effects of active student responding and competition among on-campus undergraduate students. The remaining three studies were conducted with graduate students in a fully online asynchronous program. This included two intervention studies, one examining choice of practice activity and the second evaluating the effects of self-monitoring on quiz grades. The final study examined academic procrastination using a delay discounting task with the aim of identifying possible interventions to decrease procrastination. Taken together, these research findings expand the scope of effective instructional strategies in both the face-to-face and online classrooms.

Behavior analysts who teach undergraduate and graduate students

Self-monitoring is an evidence-based intervention that has been shown to be widely effective in addressing a range of target behaviors (Weston et al., 2019; Wills & Mason, 2014). In the academic context, it has demonstrated increases in the performance of elementary, middle, and high school students both with and without disabilities (Graham-Day, Gardner, & Hsin, 2010; Wolfe, Heron, & Goddard, 2000), but there is limited information available regarding use of self-monitoring among graduate students. Graduate students struggle with time management given the many competing contingencies they are faced with (Hanshaw, Mason, & Loh, 2019). This study evaluated the effect of self-monitoring on quiz grades among graduate students in a fully online, asynchronous behavior analysis course. There were three conditions that were evaluated including instructions only, instructions with self-monitoring, and control wherein there were no expectations stated for daily engagement with the course content. Students allocated more time across days during the self-monitoring condition and performed better on quizzes in comparison to the instruction only condition. Results will be discussed with regard to social validity and implications for instructors.

Discrete trial teaching (DTT) is a commonly used approach to teach a variety of skills for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two studies will be presented within this symposium that involve comparisons of different approaches to DTT. The first study compared equivalence based instruction (EBI) to DTT using an adapted alternating treatments design with typically developing adult participants and children diagnosed with ASD. The second study utilized a group design to compare the effectiveness of conventional and progressive approaches to DTT when teaching tact relations (sometimes referred to as expressive labels) to children diagnosed with ASD. Both studies will be discussed with respect to their strengths, limitations, and potential future directions by the discussant.

This symposium will be beneficial to all behavior analysts especially those interested in maximizing teaching methodologies for individuals diagnosed with ASD.

Research has continually found equivalence-based instruction (EBI) to be effective and efficient, with recent research extending these findings to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). EBI has also been compared to more traditional approaches to teaching, such as traditional lectures, reading assignments, and video lectures. However, the authors are unaware of any comparisons of EBI to other similar, behavior analytic approaches such as discrete trial teaching (DTT). The purpose of this study was to compare EBI to DTT using an adapted alternating treatments design with typically developing adults and children diagnosed with ASD. The two teaching approaches were evaluated with respect to mastery of trained relations, emergence of untrained relations, and participant preferences. The results will be discussed with respect to their implications for practice and research.

There are a variety of recommendations or guidelines for interventionists when implementing discrete trial teaching (DTT) for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These guidelines typically involve a protocol being the main source of control for the interventionist’s behavior that outlines what instruction to give, reinforcer to use, and when to use and fade prompting strategies. However, recent research has demonstrated strategies in which the main sources of control for the interventionist are relevant to the learner’s behavior and involves in-the-moment assessment, or clinical judgement, when making decisions to modify variables within intervention. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of conventional and progressive approaches to DTT when teaching tact relations (sometimes referred to as expressive labels) to children diagnosed with ASD. The effectiveness and efficiency of each approach was evaluated across several dependent variables. The results of a randomized clinical trial will be discussed with respect to implications for clinical practice and future research.

The field of Applied Behavior Analysis has experienced tremendous growth since its inception. According to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board®, between the years 2016 and 2018, the total number of certified behavior analysts has increased by over 30%, and the total number of registered behavior technicians® has nearly doubled. An essential component for obtaining and maintaining these certifications include supervision hours. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board® has provided task lists regarding the items and topics required for adequate supervision; however, no components of cultural responsiveness and awareness are included. With the increase of behavior analysis within culturally diverse populations, it is imperative that our field develop new and innovative ways of including cultural competency into the Board Certified Behavior Analyst® and Registered Behavior Technician® supervision experience. Many behavior analysts have reported not receiving sufficient training within the areas of diversity and cultural responsiveness and feel unprepared to serve diverse clients and communities adequately. This workshop is designed to address the gap in formal training specific to the lack of diversity and cultural responsiveness across the supervision continuum.

Registered Behavior Technicians; Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts; Board Certified Behavior Analysts

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a commonly used term in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA); however, disagreement or misunderstanding regarding what EBP is and how to engage in evidence-based decision making persist. In this symposium, we will attempt to clarify the definition of EBP in ABA and we will discuss the role that EBP plays in different domains of ABA and ethical practice. First, Dr. Bethany Contreras will discuss the definition of EBP and will offer specific suggestions on how practitioners can use EBP to guide their decision making. Next, Dr. Audrey Hoffmann will discuss how EBP may be embedded within coursework and supervision in order to improve ethical decision-making in novice behavior analysts. Finally, Dr. Shanun Kunnavatana will discuss challenges to EBP in clinical practice, and potential solutions to promote EBP.

Practicing BCaBAs, BCBAs, supervising BCBAs, and behavior analysts involved in higher education and the training of BCBAs.

EBP provides a useful framework for teaching decision-making skills and ethical practice to novice behavior analysts. This presentation will provide a brief introduction to EBP and go over the importance of including EBP within training programs for behavior analysts (both in higher education and in supervised practice). Suggestions for embedding EBP into course sequences and supervision practices will be provided as well as discussing potential barriers to training a complex behavioral repertoire such as ethical evidence-based decision-making. The presentation will highlight the importance of novice behavior analysts basing decisions on the best available research evidence, considering the client values and context, and improving and appropriately utilizing their clinical expertise as behavior analysts.

Ethical and effective practice requires behavior analysts to be able to make complex decisions that evaluate not only the evidence for certain interventions but also determine whether critical components of the intervention will be possible given an individual’s context and values, as well as those of other stakeholders involved. This approach requires behavior analysts to be both analytical and flexible in their decision making. Although, EBP provides a framework for navigating these decisions, the process is often perceived as daunting and not utilized to its full potential. This presentation discusses the potential reasons why EBP is not yet common in clinical practice and how individuals and organizations may overcome some of the challenges to move toward EBP and better clinical decision making.

Behavioral economic methods are increasingly applied in various disciplines and areas of human and non-human research. Although these approaches have good support across populations and disciplines, relatively few researchers have extended this approach and perspective to assessments and interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities (e.g., autism). Such extensions are both timely and warranted for Behavior Analysts, as behavioral economic approaches have been particularly suited to evaluating complex response-reinforcer relationships under complex, real-world conditions. The papers invited for this symposium have been selected to provide a broad, scoping review of the current state of applied behavioral economics in assessments and interventions developed for individuals with developmental disabilities. Particular emphasis is based on the behavioral economic concept of demand and novel extensions of token economy procedures. The behavioral economic concept of demand is presented here in the context of individualized reinforcer assessments and functional communication training undergoing schedule thinning. Novel extensions of the token economy are also reviewed, evaluating the effects of loss aversion on responding.

Master's level behavior analysts

Methods for evaluating individual preference and choice are regularly included in Behavior Analytic research and practice. A variety of methods have been put forward to evaluate preference though these methods rarely evaluate choices under effortful, treatment-like conditions. A fundamental disconnect between these contexts invites the possibility that stimuli identified may not be preferred in treatment-like conditions and this can jeopardize the effectiveness of otherwise appropriate treatment. Recent attempts to address this disconnect have incorporated elements of Behavioral Economics. In this study, we systematically review the scope and range of Behavioral Economic procedures that have been formally evaluated in the literature. Studies were included in the review if Behavioral Economic elements were incorporated into assessments and interventions designed for individuals with developmental disabilities. Results indicated that the level of support for assessments and interventions incorporating Behavioral Economic elements is still emerging and additional research continues to be necessary.

Matching (Herrnstein, 1961) has been demonstrated with appetitive and aversive stimuli, including when appetitive and aversive stimuli are simultaneously presented (Farley & Fantino, 1978). Interestingly, in contexts where a single response produces both reinforcement and punishment, some research has demonstrated that a punisher subtracted more value than a reinforcer added (Rasmussen & Newland, 2008). We assessed the purported asymmetry of reinforcement and punishment for three individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). We established tokens as reinforcers and evaluated the effects of simultaneous token gain and loss schedule in a progressive manner. Losses gradually became denser to identify a schedule at which the individual would not respond. Finally, we demonstrated that the loss contingency was directly responsible for the cessation of responding, as responding maintained when an equal density of reinforcement was available for gain without the loss contingency. Mixed findings were obtained; however, these results suggest that an asymmetry between punishment and reinforcement is present for some individuals with ID. Suggestions for future research and implications for practitioners will be discussed.

Recent behavior-analytic efforts to the competent dissemination of acceptance and commitment training (ACT) have dramatically increased. The current symposium seeks to add to the ways in which practicing behavior analysts may more confidently-equipped to use ACT within their practices. The first presentation investigates the extent to which coherence between values and self-management strategies may improve treatment outcomes in a college population.We then empirically explore practical applications of ACT within an ASD population. Finally, we introduce evidence of the success of ACT via the AIM curriculum with a rather unique population. Implications to the overall successes and utility of ACT in daily practices, as well as ways to increase positive outcomes, are discussed.

beginner-intermediate behavior analyst

This presentation describes the development of a custom-made “ACT for Kids” workbook and the initial phases of testing its effectiveness for decreasing challenging behaviors and increasing self-management skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The study is still currently in the data collection phase and initial data suggest it is effective. In this presentation, we will describe in a practical manner the steps that were taken to transform the ACT Hexaflex and Matrix into stimuli that children with ASD would be able to consume and respond to independently. Results from the one participant completed thus far showed that the “ACT for Kids Workbook” decreased the participant’s maladaptive behaviors while consequently increasing his use of ACT-based self-management skills in his daily life. Findings from the social validity interview revealed that parents of this participant saw a significant increase in independent self-management skills across settings and environments, when ABA team members were not present.

Children receive psychotropic medications for many reasons, including the management of hyperactivity or attention deficits and the reduction of aggressive or destructive behavior. These problems are frequently amenable to behavioral interventions. Many children seen by applied behavior analysts are on psychotropic medications. Ideally, the behavior analyst can work closely with prescribers to balance behavioral and pharmacological interventions, to the child’s benefit, and terminate medications when they are no longer warranted. Often, however, psychotropics are overused and collaborations with prescribers are difficult to forge. In this symposium, we address psychotropic medication use for behavioral problems from three perspectives. Annette Griffith will discuss the ethical and practical considerations for behavior analysts who work with clients on psychotropic medication. Jennifer Zarcone will discuss the emergence of state and national policy surrounding the use of psychotropic medication. Chris Newland will examine the practice of “deprescribing,” namely, how long a prescription lasts once it is initiated. Together, these speakers will provide an in-depth view of psychotropic drug use in children that will be of value to the practitioner who works with individual clients as well as to the researcher interested in coupling behavioral and pharmacological interventions rationally.

The target audience is applied researchers and practitioners who are interested in the relative contribution of behavioral and pharmacological approaches to managing clinical syndromes. Practitioners will learn practical guidelines when working with clients on medication, their ethical obligations, and the role of state policy guidelines. Applied researchers will learn about different kinds of psychotropic medications and how they might be used. All will learn about how long prescriptions can be active once they are initiated.

There are many factors that influence policy at the state and national level when medication is prescribed for children and other vulnerable individuals. For these individuals, medications are often prescribed “off label” once approved by the FDA, before dosing and side effects profiles have been developed. Many professional groups have practice parameters that guide providers in their prescription practices as they relate to specific diagnoses and conditions (e.g., The Work Group on Quality Issues, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1997). Many states have begun to enact policies and regulations around prescription practices that result from legal issues. For example, Massachusetts has a policy for adults who are unable to consent to treatment called the Rogers Guardianship. The guardian can authorize “extraordinary” medical treatment for the adult, usually related to the use of antipsychotic medication. While the policy has the best of intentions, there are many factors that limit how effectively it is implemented. In this review, state and national policies related to prescription practices will be reviewed and the positive and negative impact of these policies will be discussed.

An overwhelming evidence base exists in support of derived relational responding as an overarching generalized operant. To date, however, fewer investigations of the extent to which frames of coordination serve as a foundation upon which other relational responding occurs has not been thoroughly explored. Further, the degree to which relational training approaches catalyze derived relational responding across sensory modalities, frame types, and non-linear training approaches has yet to be explored. To that end, the present symposium sought to expand the reach of derived relational responding as a generalized operant to more complex relational frames and investigates the ways in which we might both train and test for derived relational responding across sensory modalities and frame types.

intermediate-advanced

Abstract: Since first published (Iwata et al., 1982), the process of Functional Analysis (FA) has profoundly changed the process and effectiveness of Applied Behavior Analytical (ABA) treatment for individuals with challenging behaviors. Across ages and diagnoses, ABA has provided empirically validated evidence based treatment for behaviors maintained by attention, escape from demand, or tangibles. Yet in the years that have followed, the identification of automatic (assumed to be sensory) or undifferentiated findings has not kept pace, and this has left Behavior Analysts without a clear approach to treatment. This often results in needing to rely on default technologies that are often controversial, and less effective. In this symposium, we will discuss the potential significance of behavioral history on understanding the individual’s idiosyncratic function(s) of behavior; Looking at biological variables as potential motivating operations in further clarification of the function(s) of behavior; and working toward moving to more environmentally mediated variables informed by fine grained analysis of automatic reinforcement maintaining the behavior. Practical suggestions regarding more effective practice and research to address challenging behavior will be included.

BCBAs and BCBA-Ds

The field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) was dramatically influenced by Iwata and colleagues (1982/1994) when they established a systematic method to analyze and understand challenging behavior through standard functional analysis (FA). In the years that followed, the field of ABA has greatly progressed. With the hundreds of published studies demonstrating the value of FA in developing function-based treatment, has also come clarification of limitations and areas where the FA process as initially described was not as effective. Rather than an end in-and-of itself, FA as originally described was intended as a starting point. Dr. Michael Dorsey (2018) reminded us that the purpose of their seminal work was to go toward a functional analysis of self-injury, indicating that additional revision and contribution would be expected. Unfortunately, some behavior analysts have elevated the standard FA as the only and final method for assessing and treating challenging behaviors; the “gold standard”. As the field has progressed, FA results leading to inconclusive results, or not effectively conceptualizing establishing idiosyncratic evocative events in the individual’s natural environment have been identified. Additionally, despite a significant literature base supporting biological components of complex behaviors, little behavioral research has been done in this area in recent years, and little has been incorporated into functional analysis methodologies. This presentation will propose the synthesis of biological and environmental variables when analyzing function. Possible methods of incorporating diagnostic characteristics of developmental disorders and physiological correlates of problem behavior into the functional analysis process will be discussed.

Behavior interacts with its environment both during an organism’s lifetime, through operant selection, and across generations, through natural selection. The radical behaviorist’s attempt to explain the former usually both depends upon and denies the implicit, hypothetical process of reinforcement by response strengthening. In this symposium, we discuss what is problematic about strengthening by reinforcement and suggest how the interaction between behavior and the environment is better described without this unfalsifiable concept. In our talks, we put forward an assembly of alternatives, all replacing response strengthening by approaches questioning the traditional distinction between consequences and antecedents. These alternative explanatory approaches, namely, induction, signaling, and selection, not only explain food-maintained behavior, but also shock-maintained behavior. They explicitly connect behavior analysis and evolutionary theory and do not rely on hypothetical constructs. We will show data supporting our conceptual arguments and indicating that our alternatives to strengthening by reinforcement might not only improve conceptual cohesiveness but might also benefit both our basic science and our technology of behavior.

Research suggests that behavior depends on likely future environmental conditions, as generalized from past experience and present environment. We assessed how generalization across the various dimensions of important events – reinforcers – affects the degree to which behavior tracks changes in likely future reinforcer availability. Pigeons worked on a concurrent-choice task in which one response was more likely to produce a reinforcer before a stimulus change, and the other was more likely after the stimulus change. We manipulated the nature of the stimulus (time or number) and the nature of the response (e.g., to a location, color, or flash duration). Regardless of the nature of the stimulus and response, choice was well described by a model that assumes that control by the structure of the environment is weakened by generalization across the various dimensions of a reinforcer (or other important events). We suggest that generalization contributes substantially to the degree of control by likely future events.

Derived relational responding (DRR) has a seat at the operant table. The present symposium seeks to extend the reach of DRR and relational training procedures to populations not often targeted using methods not often implemented. First, we explore relational training efforts within an elderly population and discuss implications of DRR as it relates to neuroplasticity. Second, we discuss the novel ocular observing responses and their relation to DRR. Finally, we take an inside look to PEAK-Life by exploring both basic and applied implications of its pending release.

intermediate-advanced

As the Baby Boomer Generation ages, the number of individuals affected by dementia and cognitive decline will increase dramatically.As these rates climb and no cure in site, interventions are needed to help aid in the wide-ranging impact dementia will have.Relational Frame Theory (RFT), a contemporary behavior-analytic account of complex human language and cognition, offers an avenue to develop interventions designed to strengthen behaviors conventionally regarded as memory.The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of a set of procedures based on RFT for dementia severity and memory. Experimenters obtained pre-training and post-training performances by administering the M-ACE and WISC-IV memory tests to a control group and an intervention group. Following pre-training assessment, the intervention group was exposed to a series of relational training phases, in which the participants were required to respond in accordance with arbitrarily applicable relational responding across a series of relational tasks. Following training the participants in the intervention group showed improvement in memory and a decrease in dementia severity, whereas those in the control group did not. This studyaddsto the growing literature supporting the use of RFT-based interventions to address those areas of concern for individuals affected by dementia and cognitive decline.

There are a number of applied studies demonstrating how to effectively supervise and teach clinical skills in autism service provision such as data collection, behavioral assessment, and intervention (e.g., behavioral skills training). However, there is a paucity of research on how to teach professional behavior such as communicating effectively to different audiences, establishing healthy boundaries, and prioritizing time-sensitive tasks. As professors and clinical supervisors in the area of autism spectrum disorder, we use principles of behavior analysis and applications from organizational behavior management to teach our supervisees clinical and professional skills. A panel of faculty from academic programs and directors from an autism service provider will discuss the following topics: (1) the critical skills and behaviors of supervisors and supervisees used to support professional behavior, (2) how applications from organizational behavior management can be used to establish effective supervisory systems and processes, and (3) how the panelists have established, evaluated, and maintained effective supervisory systems in their own organizations.

Practitioners in autism service provision, professors in academic settings, leaders of organizations providing autism services

This symposium presents three applications of the science of human behavior to the improvement of eating and health-related behaviors. First, a social media-based group contingency related to meal preparation will be discussed, followed by a conceptually-systematic model of how to use online video to change meal preparation behaviors. Finally, the presenters will demonstrate how supervisors can adapt the 5th edition BACB task list to help supervisees serve individuals with ineffective eating and activity repertoires.

The target audience for this event is advanced practitioners, supervisors, and teachers of behavior analysis.

The number of students enrolled in behavior analysis programs has been increasing exponentially over the past ten years. As part of the educational preparation for the BCBA exam and certification, these students must accrue supervised experiences in which they apply their classroom-based skills to real world behavior change. As previously noted (Luke, Carr, & Wilder, 2018), many instructors and students have mistakenly interpreted the supervised experience requirements to be specific to the field of Autism service provision. This paper presents a model of how supervision of fieldwork and concentrated fieldwork could include experiences that address problematic eating and activity-related health behaviors in neurotypical populations. The model is intended to assist supervisors of behavior analysis students by giving specific suggestions for how students could accrue supervised experience in this growing subspecialty (Behavior Analysis in Health and Fitness, 2019; Normand, Dallery, & Ong, 2015).

The current symposium is a synthesis of efforts at various points in the Relational Training System assessment and curriculum. The first talk provides a conceptualization as to how we might make better-informed decisions relative to program selection and intervention approaches in the context of PEAK using a case conceptualization tool. The second talk investigates relationships between derived relational responding and executive processing deficits in children. Finally, we highlight pre-post change scores relative to the PEAK Comprehensive Assessment for children diagnosed with autism given exposure to PEAK in a special education context. Implications and utility of these findings are discussed.

beginning-intermediate behavior analysts

The PEAK Relational Training System contains a comprehensive assessment and curriculum designed to target global language and cognitive skills in children with autism and related disabilities. Although research on PEAK has grown considerably, more research is needed within applied contexts in which this tool is likely to be utilized. We conducted PEAK at a special education school over the course of 3 months with 5 children with autism. PEAK instructions was systematically embedded within their school day for up-to 2 hours, supplementing other instructional strategies. The efficacy of PEAK instruction was evaluated using a multiple baseline across skills experimental design, replicated across the 5 children. We overview how this design can be embedded within any applied setting, allowing for the on-going experimental analysis of behavior within sacrificing assurance that children are receiving on-going effective education. In addition, we conducted the PEAK Comprehensive Assessment at the onset of the study and following 3 moths of training, where the PCA provides an estimate of global repertiores across direct training, generalization, equivalence, and relational learning skill sets. Results suggested a significant increase in PCA scores across all participants.

Advances in Relational Frame Theory have begun to allow Applied Behavior Analytic treatments for children with autism to focus on higher-order or global repertiores of behavior. Executive functioning deficits are common in children with autism that can severely impact quality of life in several domains. We review three studies that speak to the importance of targeting executive functioning deficits in children with autism using relational training and testing procedure. The first study provides a comprehensive literature review comparing functional neurological activity when completing traditional executive functioning tasks and when deriving combinatorially entailed relations. Results suggest that common neurological processes are involved in the completion of both tasks. The second study provides another systematic review that shows an exponentiation of research utilizing derived relational responding technologies to teach new skills to children with autism within the major behavior analytic journals. The third study empirically evaluates the construct validity of the PEAK Comprehensive Assessment (PCA) as a tool to measure verbal operants and relational operants that may be related to executive functioning processes. Convergent and divergent components of the PCA are discussed in the context of developing treatments for children with autism from a Relational Frame Theory account.

Promoting Emergence of Advanced Knowledge Relational Training System (PEAK) is a four-volume curriculum targeting Direct Training, Generalization, Equivalence, and Transformation. Research to date has shown behavioral skills training (BST) to be effective at training staff to implement PEAK. While timely, little is known about the extent to which staff’s self-efficacy (or verbal behavior about one’s competency) influences implementation of PEAK. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to determine if a thorough case conceptualization model (CCM) can increase implementer self-efficacy. The CCM was developed to establish problem solving opportunities for implementers and supervisors to use during feedback sessions. Three implementer-child dyads were subjected to a multiple-baseline design wherein implementers were first trained how to implement PEAK before starting treatment as usual (baseline). Next, participants were handed the CCM tool during the instruction phase but were not given any specific feedback on how to use it. Finally, during the feedback phase, all implementers were instructed on how to use the CCM and how to derive feedback from it. Throughout all phases, client PEAK scores, implementation scores from staff, and self-reported self-efficacy Likert rating scale was assessed. Overall, all participants showed increase self-efficacy scores following CCM feedback. Implications will be discussed.

Value-based healthcare or value-based care (VBC) represents a healthcare delivery model where providers receive payment based on outcomes. With VBC agreements, providers in the healthcare space are preferentially rewarded and compensated for helping clients improve their health, decrease the incidence and effects of chronic disease, and live healthier lives with evidence-based approaches. When applied to behavior analysis, VBC means providers in the behavioral healthcare space will be preferentially rewarded and compensated for helping clients improve their behavioral outcomes, decrease the incidence of chronic challenging behaviors, and live more productive lives with evidence-based approaches derived from the science of behavior. VBC has not yet arrived in behavior analysis but when it does, it will fundamentally shift the relationship between service provision and reimbursement. Providers will achieve greater efficiencies by spending more time on new, prevention-based services, thus leading to a reduction with time devoted mainly to chronic challenging behavior. The following symposium will offer different presentations each approaching VBC and how it can impact behavior analysis.

BCBAs, BCBA-Ds, clinical directors

Value-based healthcare (VBC) will change the way behavior analysts provide care. New delivery models will stress a team-oriented approach to client care and the sharing of data with an emphasis on coordinated care and easily measured outcomes. The present study builds VBC by examining whether Precision Teaching (PT) would enhance the quality of care already demonstrated by behavior analysis (BA). The study examined the following: (1) Pinpointing behavior - using a standard framework for precisely labeling target behaviors; (2) Element-compound analysis - analyzing constituent behavioral elements for a behavioral compound and applying the analysis to existing curricula and other data targets; (3) Dimensional measurement - applying universal and absolute metrics that quantify behavioral measures; and (4) Standard visual display - implementing a graph that quantifies behavior change, maintains visual consistency from analyst to analyst, reduces interpretative errors, facilitates pattern recognition, and offers the most accurate model for present data. Decision making data comparing the two groups indicated a marked increase in decisions made in the BA + PT group. Furthermore, when examined outcome measures for the BA + PT, the Vineland and Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist showed substantial gains. Also, social validity scores also point to satisfaction with the experimental procedures of PT added to BA.

Value Based Healthcare (VBH) has been a model within the medical field for the past decade. Due to the complexities of measuring behavioral health outcomes, however, VBH is only now moving into the behavioral health field. Health Resource Services Administration is starting to connect behavioral health providers reimbursements to their ability to deliver quality services through an efficient treatment model. ABA providers will need to overcome idiosyncratic approaches to measuring outcomes in order to qualify for preferred reimbursement within the expanding VBH model. This paper will review outcome data from an ABA treatment model using a precision measurement system aimed at accelerate client outcomes. This model includes training RBTs to make data-based decisions, teaching foundational skills to fluency to ensure skills are retained and generalized, and by implementing an instructional curriculum that allows for new skills to be learned without direct training. Finally, discussion will include how insurance companies have responded to our approach to solve the VBH application to ABA services for children with ASD.

As downward payor pressure affecting reimbursement rates and hours continues to build, behavior analysts must precisely and objectively quantify value delivered as a function of time invested. Behavior analysts have at their disposal varying degrees and dimensions of clinical data with which to describe value. These include but are not limited to the number of learning opportunities, goals attained, decisions made, percent growth per pinpointed skill or percent reduction in targeted maladaptive behaviors, change in variance over time, a projected time window of when goals may be met, percent of skills that return to maintenance or intervention post mastery, and how well skills have generalized into the home, school, and community environments. Access to and inclusion of the aforementioned methods of describing value per function of time varies based on three facets of clinical service delivery: 1) the sophistication of the clinical service delivery model including supervisorial rigor; 2) the tooling deployed to assist the clinician in the collection and analysis of data; and 3) the educational and experiential histories of the clinician and supporting care team. This presentation will explore how present day and near-term future technologies may assist in each of the three facets to automate, standardize, and reliably document, analyze, and communicate value in a multidimensional quantitative model.

In this symposium, different interdisciplinary approaches to the understanding and efficient intervention in social contexts will be presented. The so-called "social progress" has been identified through the development of living conditions that affect society in various fields such as urban development, economic and working conditions, living conditions, which imply an improvement in the quality of life of individuals who participate in social groups. However, this development has some repercussions that are identified as “social problems”, that can paradoxically represent a negative impact on individual quality of life such as coexistence problems, corruption, bullying, drug abuse, social inequality. In this presentation a prescriptive framework of the applicability of psychological knowledge is discussed taking into account four features that are considered by Ribes (2018) for the development of a technology-based on scientific knowledge: a) a theory of individuation; b) formulation of interface concepts associated with the circumstance identified as problematic; c) design of methods and procedures for the transfer of scientific knowledge into social problems, and; d) identification of the social criteria that guide the meaning of the intervention.

By living in groups that are conventionally structured, shaped, and maintained, humans face behavioral challenges to maintain their own individual environmental adjustment and the cohesion of their groups. That is to say, humans strive to maintain an often-delicate balance between their individual needs and those of the group. Social problems arise when this balance does not obtain. A major aim of Psychology is the analysis of individual behavior and its interaction with its environmental conditions. A key assumption in pursuing this aim is that behavior allows the individual to adjust to its changing environment. In the case of humans, a substantial part of their environment is conventional in character. Due to this character, shared social practices are stronger determinants of humans’ adjustments to their environments than the physicochemical or ecological aspects are. As a part of an interdisciplinary approach, Psychology could supply a conceptual basis for how individuals interact in groups, identifying the variables that affect social coexistence processes. Similarly, such knowledge could be used to design interventions oriented to behavioral change in different social contexts, such as bullying at school and workplaces, public security issues, traffic and use of public spaces, and addictions.

Interbehavioral Psychology, as the discipline entrusted with studying the relation between the individual and its functional environment, can contribute knowledge towards the solution of problems in education as long as a general process theory is linked the before-mentioned knowledge. Psychological understanding, as applicable knowledge, can only result as an outcome of theory and technological investigation that adapts analytical knowledge from basic (general) science to the situational circumstance that the technology entails. In this respect, the notion of didactic interaction, as the functional unit of the teaching-learning process, has allowed the examination of the appropriateness of relationships between teacher, student and object referent. Thus, contributing to a pertinent formation before the new requirements that the context to discipline and social establishes.

This symposium includes three talks describing procedural variations for the establishment of stimulus control and equivalence classes. The first talk describes an applied go/no-go procedure to establish simple discriminative control over selection responses in two children with autism. The second study describes an alternative method for the establishment of conditional relations between auditory-visual stimuli involving a go/no-go procedure with successive matching. Finally, the third study explored a specific parameter of matching-to-sample training in which the incorrect trial was repeated, suggesting that such procedure enhances maintenance of skills. Overall, these data have directly implications for both basic research and clinical practice

Researchers and clinicians

The current study investigated the conditions necessary for stimulus to acquire control of skill acquisition. Two learners diagnosed with autism, ages 7 and 9, both with long history of little to zero rate of skill acquisition in their ABA programs. Skinner’s (1938) successive method, “Go and no-go” stimulus control training was used to teach pre-mand training with the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). The successive method was then followed by “Go-right/go-left successive procedure” developed by Harrison (1984), and then Go-right/go-left with simultaneous stimulus presentation (Harlow, 1950). The results show that participants acquired initial discrimination of PECS icons in approximately 88 sessions and maintained the skills 3 months after the introduction of first discrimination method.

Behavior analysts work in diverse settings including clinics, centers, schools, hospitals, and other large, community-based "systems". Behavior analysts also work with a diverse population of clients (e.g., those with developmental disabilities, mental health disorders, comorbid diagnoses) and employees (e.g., direct care staff, nurses, doctors, teachers, behavior technicians, behavior analysts, administrators). Providing high-quality orientation, onboarding, and training experiences to employees with diverse experience and education requires significant development, implementation, and evaluation of these "staff training" systems to ensure the best outcomes for clients and their staff. Using a behavioral systems approach, each of the authors in this symposium will describe the orientation, onboarding, and/or training systems within their large systems while discussing the evaluation required to further inform system development.

Behavior Analysts, Supervisors, Administrators

While much of the early research in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) focused on individuals with mental health disorders and individuals with developmental disabilities, more recent history in ABA with individuals with developmental disabilities has flourished while its active role with those with mental health diagnoses has diminished. Additionally, there is a proliferation of comorbid diagnosis of mental health conditions for individuals with developmental disabilities such as ASD. There is also a focus on utilizing psychotropic medication as either a primary or supplementary treatment component for behavioral excesses. The current paper describes an in-service staff training model aimed at orienting psychiatric nursing and support staff to the field of Applied Behavior Analysis, and how ABA can be an integral part of a multidisciplinary approach to assessment and treatment in an acute in-patient psychiatric unit for children and adolescents. Melding a psychiatric nursing model aimed at both acute behavioral stabilization and medication assessment and management with a functional behavioral approach and the resulting barriers to integration will be discussed.

Being sensitive and understanding one’s emotions and the emotions of others is considered critical to social behavior. Some may fail to adequately develop such sensitivity and understanding without direct intervention. One such intervention is to help a learner to tact private stimuli arising from their body as a particular emotion. Such training relies upon inferring what stimuli might be accompanying certain “emotional behavior.” This approach assumes that there are readily identifiable unique private stimuli associated with such behavior. The task is to help a learner identify and name (tact) these stimuli. Another approach is to help children to identify emotions that others are experiencing based upon facial expression. It is assumed that there are readily identifiable facial expressions linked to consistent private emotions. Analysis of data from hundreds of neuroscience studies and thousands of subjects suggest both of these approaches may be flawed. This symposium will first present neuroscience data which challenge the assumption that there are unique private stimuli or brain circuitry associated with emotion, and that suggests there is no evidence that facial expressions reflect emotion. It will then suggest a formulation and interventions consistent with both these data and a consequential contingency analysis.

Professional involved in the teaching or behavioral intervention with those who may be developmentally challenged, and those involved with clinical behavioral intervention.

Credentialed behavior analysts are expected to follow the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code (BACB, 2014). The Code itself provides general and specific guidance on acceptable behavior. As the practice of behavior analysis continues to expand (i.e., number of credentialed behavior analysts, breadth of applications of the science, and depth of application within a practice area), discussion of how the Code applies to various situations and variables is important. An area of need is understanding how credentialed behavior analysts and support personnel (e.g., finance, human resource) perceive the application of the Code in practice. Understanding these perceptions can guide the profession, organizations, and individual practitioners in developing preventive and responsive ethical practices. Additionally, current practice situations (i.e., rural practice and international dissemination) warrant specific discussion and relevance to specific Codes. The purpose of this symposium is to share survey data of employees from a mid-sized human service agency regarding ethical perceptions, discuss practice of behavior analysis in rural areas, and the ethical international dissemination of behavior analysis.

Practice organization administration, practitioners, university personnel responsible for training behavior analysts, supervisors of students completing fieldwork requirements, and students.

The practice of Applied Behavior Analysis in rural communities provides ample fodder for unique situations and ethical code violations. Surveys were sent to Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) in the state of Oklahoma, a state with only 103 certified individuals, regarding ethical codes most observed to be violated. In addition to few practitioners in the state, almost 80% of Oklahoma’s certificants live within a 20 mile radius from two main hubs of service delivery. This leaves a small number to provide services for the rest of the state's mostly rural areas. Results of the survey indicate multiple relationships, poor supervision and boundary of competence as the greatest areas of concern. Aside from the short supply of supervisors putting a strain on the supervisee: supervisor ratio, other possible variables that contribute to these violations include a lack of resources within the schools, physical distance to other BCBAs for referrals, working in tight knit communities, and within a culture that defaults to the use of punishment procedures. Knowing the most violated codes within a particular community allows preventative strategies to be implemented. In this case, having a network of mentors, holiday gift reminders, and strict practices for social media are a few of those suggested for our rural practioners.

Behavior analysis can bring together multidisciplinary teams responsible for effective programming for diverse clients with concurrent mental health and medical diagnoses. Even so, the early experiences of many ABA program participants and supervisees are characterized by exposure to only a small slice of the many client populations who could benefit from ABA. This panel assembles professionals, professors, and practitioners spanning community practice, medical and university environments to address audience questions on the intersection between behavior analysis and treatment of behavior related to mental health. Discussion points will include answers to recent questions posed by community members and students to university professors and those disseminating behavior analysis on social media, including: What ethical considerations are involved as I treat behavior in a person with concurrent mental health diagnoses? How do we form effective collaborations in mental health and medical hospital settings? How does behavior analysis look in an interdisciplinary environment, and how can I expand my boundaries of competence related to more diverse settings?

Intermediate skill behavior analysis level

Novice teachers and unlicensed classroom staff (aides or paraprofessionals) may not have sufficient training in evidence based practices to instruct, assess, and engage diverse learners. High teacher and staff turn-over negatively effects students and is costly to schools across the country. There is a high cost associated with finding, hiring, and training a new staff (Milanowski & Odden, 2007). School districts need to identify evidence-based strategies and provide effective training to keep novice teachers in the classroom. Teacher preparation programs provide limited instruction on classroom management strategies and school districts are left with the challenge of providing thorough and on-going professional development. Additionally, there is often limited time or opportunity for paraprofessionals to receive training in evidence based teaching and behavior reduction strategies, which puts time at a premium for any training which paraprofessionals do receive (Giangrecco, Suter, & Doyle, 2010). Schools need efficient and effective means to train classroom staff in evidence based practices. This presentation provides 3 examples of effective and efficient procedures for training school staff novel skills. First, we will review data from a study that used Behavior Skills Training (BST) and alternating methods of objective and evaluative feedback to increase the rate of behavior specific praise with novice teachers. The next presenter will examine the effects of BST for paraprofessionals on prompting and contriving communication exchanges with students who use augmentative and alternative communication devices. Finally, we will share the results of a workshop that included lecture, a card game, and video modeling to teach paraprofessionals how to conduct three conditions of a functional analysis.

Practitioners, graduate students, and teachers

Many assessment tools have been developed to assess a specific range of behaviors with specific populations. In addition, they often have a substantial body of research supporting their effectiveness to do so. Two examples of this are Functional Analysis (FA) methodology and the Performance Diagnostic Checklist (PDC), with the former most commonly used with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to assess significant behavioral excesses, and the latter most commonly used with adults in organizations to assess barriers to effective work performance. Such tools may have greater utility outside of these immediate areas and this symposium will present two examples of such expansion. The first presentation will discuss the use of FA procedures with 10 individuals on a simple data-entry task. Results suggest that the various antecedent and consequence variables presented were not differentially effective and that goal setting and rule-governed behavior may be responsible for the maintenance of behavior. The second presentation will discuss the use of the PDC to improve the health behaviors of four athletes. The resulting interventions produced some mixed results and the implications and future directions will be discussed. The symposium will conclude with some comments and thoughts from our esteemed discussant.

Practicing BCBAs, BCBAs who are administrators or supervise others, BCBAs practicing in areas of health behaviors or in the areas of sports performance

Behavior Analytic therapy centers use the assistance of hiring directors and recruiters more and more to find Registered Behavior Technicians to provide medically necessary treatment to individuals with Autism. The use of these positions are becoming more ubiquitous as our field continues to scale. Although helpful, recruiters and hiring directors have little to no experience with the day to day tasks of an RBT. This session will discuss the use of Virtual Reality exposure simulations in the use of disseminating what ABA treatment is, who this therapy can assist (e.g., individuals with target behaviors for reduction) and what are some of the expected soft and technical skills needed for this position. Also, this technology can be used as a training tool for new RBT recruits. Virtual reality allows for training directors to test and train new RBT recruits on the technical and soft skills used within a therapy setting, prior to placing said RBT on a case. The panel will also discuss the ethical ramifications when using this technology during the training and recruitment process and provide suggestions for future simulation creation and future case uses of this emerging technology within a clinical setting.

BCBAs, BCaBAs

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1 in 160 (0.6%) children around the world has Autism. Based upon prevalence rates published by a small number of countries around the world, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the autism prevalence rate for international markets may range from 1% to 2%. Applying the conservative WHO estimate of 1 in 160 to the 2.2 Billion children in the world (per Unicef), there are nearly 14 million children in the world with autism. Adding adolescents and adults to that figure may be as high as 20 to 30 million people in the world living with autism. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the globally agreed-upon gold standard for autism intervention. There are less than 40,000 Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA), who are experts in implementing behavior analysis in applied settings in the world. According to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), the international credentialing body that governs practitioners of Applied Behavior Analysis -- BCBAs (including BCBA-D and BCaBA) and RBTs -- less than 10% of BCBAs (et al.) practice outside the U.S. The current reality is that there are less than 4,000 BCBAs available to serve the needs of nearly 18 to 19 million people with autism living outside the United States. Faced with these seemingly insurmountable numbers, it would be very easy for international BCBAs to throw treatment integrity out the window. However, a great majority of international BCBAs are committed to preserving the integrity and efficacy of ABA services. International BCBAs with a dual objective of maintaining treatment integrity while helping the masses are faced with a herculean task, some of which can be tackled with a scalable Global Supervision Framework. During this panel discussion, we will introduce the Global Supervision Framework, the foundation of which relies on a group supervision model designed to maximize existing resources to scale while maintaining treatment integrity. The panel, comprised of BCBAs whose primary practice is located in India; a BCBA who builds sustainable clinical capacity with fifteen pre-existing centres in thirteen different countries as well as two international verified course sequences;; and a faculty member whose primary body of work includes providing support to BCBA practitioners who support individuals with autism across the lifespan. As part of the discussion, we will present results of a research study conducted in partnership with Stepping Stones Center and Bingham University on the positive impacts of systematically incorporating structured journal assignments (i.e. Journal Club) in group supervision settings with behavior technicians / RBTs as a means to increase clinical competency. We will close the discussion by presenting examples of group supervision models with demonstrated efficacy in center-based (in-person) and remote (telehealth) settings. Upon the conclusion of this panel discussion, learners will be able to: (1) Explain the demand for ABA services in international markets; (2) Discuss 3 to 5 key challenges to maintaining treatment integrity when providing ABA services in international markets; (3) Discuss 3 to 5 key barriers to providing effective supervision in international markets; (4) Explain the Global Supervision Framework; (5) Discuss the benefits of incorporating a Journal Club to group supervision; (6) Become familiar with effective group supervision models used in international markets for both in-person supervision and telehealth supervision.

BCaBA, BCBA, BCBA-D

Behavior Analysis is a fast growing field, not only in the US, where it originated, but also around the world. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) has become a widely accepted certification body both within the US and in many other countries. This not only creates opportunities for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) to find employment in various parts of the world, but also for professional organizations from around the world to standardize basic requirements for individuals who practice behavior analysis. The increasing acceptance of the BCBA certification abroad is reflected in the growing number of BCBAs practicing outside of the US as well as in the fact that the BCBA exam is now offered in an increasing number of languages. In addition to the BCBA certification, there are many other professional organizations who regulate the practice of behavior analysts in countries other than the United States. The profession of Behavior Analysts in various countries is shaped by variables such as local laws, licensure or certification processes, and funding sources. This panel will provide an overview of the field in Poland, Ecuador and Armenia.

BCBAs, BCaBAs, and other certified or licensed professionals

In this symposium, the authors will discuss topics related to both private and public verbal behavior. The first presenter compared skill acquisition rates across two different conditions: similar versus different response topographies across operants. Results showed that the participants acquired skills in fewer trials during the similar-responses teaching condition when compared to the different-responses teaching condition. The second presenter will discuss a literature review examining three types of private events--emotions, non-pain sensations, and pain--studied in six behavior analytic journals. Studies were coded according to the publishing journal, a decade of publication, population, dependent and independent variables, nature of privacy, and data collection methods used. The final presenter will discuss mnemonic recognition from a behavior analytic perspective. He will argue that the relevant response is covert, more specifically a discriminated sensory/perceptual response, and that such responses can acquire divergent stimulus functions, both 1) functioning as a reinforcer and 2) changing the probability of emission of subsequent responses.

Clinicians interested in Verbal Behavior

The phenomenon of behavioral correspondence has been studied in different areas of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and has been defined by Lattal & Doepke as a generic label describing a relation between actions of the same individual occurring at different times. In studies with humans, one of these behaviors is verbal and another is non-verbal, and the investigations typically focus on how the verbal behavior influences subsequent non-verbal behavior (say-do correspondence) or is influenced by the previous non-verbal behavior (do-say correspondence). Combinations of these sequences, such as say-do-report have also been investigated. The phenomenon has been also studied in non-humans, where a modified conditional discrimination simulates "say-do" correspondence in rats. This symposium covers different ways to study correspondence, from basic animal research to the clinical area, including also studies of both do-say and say-do correspondence with children. This view of different procedures, populations and tasks in the investigation of correspondence aims to show the extension of the phenomenon, from basic animal research through translational human research and extending to applied clinical research.

Historically, the main purposeof the different lines of research that deal with the phenomenon of Say - Do - Report correspondence had consisted on studying the different processes of behavior modification in educational environments with children. Taking into account the importance of opening this line to other types of populations, it was considered relevant to extend the studies to the adult population. In order to do this, a pilot study was carried out with a double objective: to make a first approximation to the phenomenon of correspondence in the adult population and to design a new methodology suitable for this purpose. Based on the methodological difficulties and mistakes that became evident during the study and once the results were obtained (see examples: figure 1 and figure 2), we set ourselves the aim of correcting these mistakes by developing a more accurate methodology.This study is the result of the redesign of this methodology applied in a seminatural context with non-experimental tasks: new results will be shown and also the conclusionsextracted from them.

Behavioral medicine is an area of research that integrates behavior analysis and biomedical sciences to change behaviors associated with health and disease states. Behavioral medicine targets may focus on disease prevention, treatment to improve health and disease states, programming to facilitate maintenance of health behavior change, and treatments targeting adherence to medical regimes. As experts in functional analysis and behavior change, behavior analysts are well-equipped to work in the area of behavioral medicine. However, only a small percentage of articles published in behavior analytic journals focus on behavioral medicine research. There is a need for behavior analysts to produce more research in the area of behavioral medicine. One of the goals of the Behavioral Medicine Special Interest Group of ABAI is to provide opportunities for students to disseminate research. The purpose of the current symposium is twofold. First, research in two different areas of behavioral medicine (i.e., increasing physical activity in sedentary adults and improving sitting posture in adults with reported low back pain) will be presented to demonstrate how doctoral students and other researchers may effectively contribute innovative applications of behavior analysis to the field to address behaviors related to pain and wellness. Secondly, a discussion will follow, which will specifically address how to begin doctoral work in behavioral medicine, and provide suggestions and guidelines for future or current students who are interested in working in the area of behavioral medicine.

BCBA BCBA-D licensed behavior analysts

b. Optimal health outcomes are positively correlated with regular exercise, yet nearly one-quarter of adults in the United States reportedly do not participate in physical activity during their free time. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of gradually faded behavioral coaching for increasing physical activity frequency and duration during the study and once the intervention ended. Participants were divided into two groups and matched according to age and body mass index. The Faded Coaching group received behavioral coaching sessions once per week for the duration of the intervention, and the other group participated in gradual fading of behavioral coaching over the course of the intervention. Results for Continuous Coaching group showed increased duration and frequency of physical activity from baseline to end of intervention. During maintenance for the Continuous Coaching group, frequency and duration of exercise decreased. Results from the Faded Coaching group showed participants increased duration and frequency of exercise while they experienced weekly coaching calls, with less of a decrease in duration and frequency of exercise when coaching sessions were faded. Interobserver agreement data were collected on weekly duration goals set during coaching sessions.

This PDS features the editors of ABAI journals discussing the peer review process, its importance in science in general, and for consumers of scientific information. Panelists will describe the peer review process from article submission to addressing reviewer comments and understanding editorial decisions. The protections against misinformation that peer review offers are emphasized in this PDS.

All individuals interested in the publication process.

With its growth, the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) is encountering practice issues ranging from negotiating insurance reimbursement, developing formal treatment guidelines, and gaining the trust of consumers. One controversial practice issue is the use of non-compete clauses (NCC’s) in employment contracts. NCC’s have the potential impact how, when, and who practitioners can serve. NCC's are used in some fields and banned in others (i.e., law practice, some human services/medical fields in some states). Although widely used in ABA businesses, to our knowledge no discussion of NCC's has occurred in our own field. Results of a recent survey and personal experiences of the panelists and audience will be used to engage the attendees in discussing practical and ethical issues related to the use of NCC's in ABA.

All BACB certificants (RBT's, BCaBA's, BCBA's, BCBA-D's), individuals who work in agencies services individuals with autism or other developmental disabilities, and owners of businesses providing services to individuals with disabilities.

The 2019 report of the National Academy of Medicine, Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development in Children and Youth: A National Agenda, calls for a mobilization of the research and practice communities to address the problems of neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage. The report documents the fact that urban and rural neighborhoods of concentrated poverty have multiple problems that contribute to high levels of inter-generational poverty. The report recognizes that efforts to promote healthy development of children and youth in the U.S. will be limited if we do not address the multitude of problems in these neighborhoods. This symposium is intended to advance efforts to study how conditions in these neighborhoods can be addressed both through more interdisciplinary research and through the adoption of policies that foster more nurturing conditions in these neighborhoods. We will describe the nature of these neighborhoods, he state of research on these neighborhoods, and the public policy needed to advance research and practice on this problem.

Researchers

t has long been hypothesized that some individuals with developmental delays exhibit signs of prompt dependency. That is, they will engage in behaviors to be prompted or are reluctant to move on in skill training when prompts are faded. One hypothesis is that prompts, which are often described as antecedent stimuli, are , in fact, consequent stimuli in that they are contingent on errors or behaviors that are maintained by prompts. However, there little research has been done exploring prompts acting as reinforcers. By assessing for prompt-maintained behavior, our research has shown that prompts act as positive reinforcers for errors in skill acquisition programing. This research project replicated a previous study done by the authors and expanded the research to include more participants than in the original study. This study also expanded on the previous one by including different skill acquisition programs, rather than simple functional communication training.

This panel discussion is for practicing behavior analysts who wish to enhace the effectiveness of their services by understanding the role of prompts in maintaining errors and other similar response classes of behavior

This symposium will cover two data-based presentations teaching to adults with acquired and developmental disabilities. The first study evaluated the effects of a video prompting strategy to teach adult women to shave their legs. All participants acquired and maintained the skill. The second study replicated and extended Gross, Fuqua, and Merritt's Verbal Behavior Assessment Battery (2013). They piloted this function-based assessment to guide language programming for adults with acquired brain injury (ABI). This population differs from the original population of adults with dementia as adults with ABI may experience complex changes in their verbal behavior. Following revisions to the assessment, the authors completed the study with five participants with ABI and five matched control participants.

BCBAs, practitioners, graduate students, and researchers interested in or working with individuals with Acquired Brain Injury or other

Goal setting has utilized across populations and settings to promote behavior change. An extensive literature documents the effectiveness of goal setting to increase a myriad of desirable behaviors including physical activity, academic responding, vocational task completion and beyond. Relatively fewer studies have involved the use of goal setting to decrease or eliminate responding. Performance feedback has been demonstrated to enhance the effects of goal setting. The current symposium examines utilization of goal setting and performance feedback with varied populations and target behaviors. First, a study examining the impact of goal setting and text message feedback on daily step counts of participants employed by a behavioral health organization will be presented. Next, the outcomes obtained for general education students exposed to a treatment package involving goal setting and daily feedback will be discussed. Finally, an analysis of the effectiveness of goal-setting combined with performance feedback and differential reinforcement of diminishing rates of behavior for decreasing challenging behavior exhibited by students with autism in a school setting will be discussed.

Behavior Analysts and students

This study examined the effectiveness of goals setting, behavioral contracting, performance feedback, and a reinforcement contingency on goal mastery for general education students ranging from the elementary to high school levels. Each of the 13 participants had ended the preceding school year with a failing grade in one more core academic subjects. In addition to a failing grade, participants were identified by school site team administrators as students of ‘concern’ due to poor attendance, limited classroom engagement, and/or failure to complete homework. During the initial intervention phase, participants worked with a ‘coach’ to set a goal related to performance in a specific core academic subject. Participants received daily feedback related to their goal via paper, email, or text message depending on grade level and each attended a brief weekly meeting with a ‘coach’ during which they received feedback via a graph of their performance relate to their goals. Goal specific measures included percentage of weekly assignments submitted, percentage scores on homework submitted, and overall grade percentages. A component analysis was initiated with 3 of the final participants to examine the effects of each component of the intervention package. Overall results indicate that this relatively low-cost and minimally invasive intervention was effective in increasing student performance on goal related tasks.

This symposium will feature two presentations; Evaluating Access and Outcomes of Advanced Tier Supports in Schools and Using OBM to Maximize Effectiveness of Educational Coaches & Consultants. Behavior analysts have a significant role to assist schools with the implementation of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework for both academic and behavioral interventions. However, behavior analysts often lack the training and experience in systems development to be as effective as possible. This symposium will address how to utilize school-level data sources to evaluate dis/proportionality across the tiers, with specific emphasis on a) access and outcomes, b) overlooked subgroups, and b) advanced tier interventions. Additionally, for individuals who oversee educational trainers/coaches/consultants who facilitate interventions within and across school settings, a Total Performance System (Abernathy, 2000) that has been implemented state-wide for over 5 years will be presented, highlighting how OBM can be successfully implemented with public education employees. The success of this TPS system in conjunction with training educational professionals who have diverse professional backgrounds and varying licenses/endorsements to work efficaciously to achieve common goals will be shared.

Behavior Analysts, School Psychologists, Licensed Education Professionals who work, consult, or provide services in K-12 school settings

As accountability of school policies and practices rise, schools in the United States are focusing on educational reform. However, there is little research focusing on coaches who engage in implementation strategies geared towards school reform (Mayer et al., 2015). This presentation will showcase the technology and outcomes utilized over the past 5 years in schools to help district-level consultants/coaches supports school sites in training, intervention implementation, and evaluation. The coaching system is a method of employee management based on Abernathy’s (2000) Total Performance System (TPS). The highlighted TPS structure includes (1) observable, measurable strategic objectives are cascaded throughout the organization, (2) personal scorecards with specific measures and goals drive the organizational strategy, (3) assistance in pinpointing improvement opportunities and designing improvement plans, (4) employees share in the organization’s success. The success of this TPS system in conjunction with training educational professionals who have diverse professional backgrounds and varying licenses/endorsements to work efficaciously to achieve common goals will be shared.

The ways in which Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is made accessible for individuals within mainstream ABA are predominantly couched in the ACT "hexaflex". The current panel discussion will highlight other, potentially viable conceptualizations of facilitating competence regarding ACT's core processes for practicing behavior analysts. Further, we aim to tether objective process and outcome measures to the core processes such that practitioners may be better equipped to confidently use ACT within their efforts to promote habilitation in the individuals with whom they work. Finally, we seek to demystify stigma around ACT as being unethical in behavior analysis.

Beginning-Advanced BACBs/behavior analysts; graduate students of behavior-analytic programs