Association for Behavior Analysis International

Companies are not effectively harnessing the tremendous power of human performance. Employees consistently report lacking the basic things needed to drive performance and feel good about their contributions (Gallup, 2020). According to Gallup, high performing, high engagement organizations put the focus on concrete, real-time performance management activities such as clarifying work expectations, collaboratively setting goals, getting people what they need to do their work, and providing ongoing, meaningful coaching conversations. The old-style command and control management style in companies is not working. The one-on-one OBM consultant approach is not scalable or sustainable. In today’s fast-paced modern workplace, a grassroots, digitally-enabled approach is needed to engage everyone real-time in addressing these needs to optimize human performance and help people succeed. This presentation will demonstrate how Performance Ally is addressing these issues and bringing OBM to the mainstream through the use of technology.

Anyone who works in an organization interested in OBM

This study used independent ABAB withdrawal designs to determine whether BPT increased parent fidelity of implementation of function-based intervention which then resulted in decreasing rates of child challenging behavior while increasing rates of appropriate replacement behavior. Four participants aged 8-17 were included in the study with their parents serving as interventionists. The routines of concern were mealtime, toothbrushing, and room cleaning with various topographies of challenging behavior impacting the quality of these family routines. Each parent achieved high treatment fidelity with one session of BPT and bug-in-ear coaching. Three participants had an immediate decrease in challenging behavior upon the introduction of the intervention. Three participants showed reliable reversals to their challenging behavior with the withdrawal of the intervention and corresponding decreases in challenging behavior when the intervention was reintroduced. All parents reported high acceptability, ease of use, and contextual fit pre- and post-intervention. Results and implications for practice and future research were discussed.

Staff turnover can pose a significant problem for human service organizations. For Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) service providers, turnover may be particularly problematic due to the resources required for training. Accreditation organizations such as the Behavioral Health Center for Excellence® (BHCOE®) collect large amounts of organizational data that can point to trends in ABA organizations and provide a basis for problem identification and intervention. In this study, we evaluated BHCOE® data to examine potential predictors of staff turnover as well as staff and caregiver satisfaction in ABA organizations. Results of multiple regression analyses suggest that high rates of turnover among job classes (i.e., technicians and supervisors) correlate with each other’s turnover. Behavior Technicians are also more likely to turnover when wages are lower and caregiver satisfaction wanes. Staff satisfaction was not a significant turnover predictor but was generally predicted by caregiver satisfaction. These findings suggest that turnover and satisfaction are multi-faceted processes worthy of examination; we provide broad recommendations for improvement and avenues for further study.

Providers serving individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at high risk of experiencing burnout. Burnout is of serious concern as it negatively impacts one’s physical/psychological health and quality of services. Research has focused on individual predictors of burnout; however, understanding organizational causes may elucidate targets for prevention. Study 1 surveyed 149 individuals providing direct-care services to individuals with ASD to examine the relation between areas of work-life and burnout using standardized measures. We found a high percentage of providers experience burnout. Workload, reward, fairness, and values emerged as the best work-life predictors of burnout but predicted little variance in burnout (Table 1), suggesting existing measures do not sufficiently capture organizational aspects that contribute to burnout. To better understand the unique experiences of this population, we recruited 11 providers to interview regarding experiences of burnout and organizational factors that affect burnout. Qualitative analysis revealed nine core themes. Workload, coordinating providers, supervision, and colleagues were frequently reported to contribute to burnout; whereas, social support from colleagues and supervision were frequently reported to mitigate burnout (Table 2). Findings suggest areas for prevention within organizations servings individuals with ASD and avenues for better measuring relevant work-life factors.

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorders are enrolled in specialized private schools due to challenging behavior or specific learning difficulties. Job responsibilities in these settings can be stressful for staff employed in direct-care positions. Previous research suggests that high-quality supervisor relationships can moderate staff stress and burnout for direct-care staff in specialized ABA schools (Gibson et al., 2009). Literature suggests that improving Board Certified Behavior Analysts’ (BCBA) use of corrective feedback, empathetic statements, and reinforcement could contribute to improved supervisory relationships. To date, no research has presented the use of behavioral skills training (BST) to teach BCBAs supervisory skills, and the current study sought to fill this gap in the research. Two BCBAs were taught two essential supervisory skills: corrective feedback and empathetic statements. Both participants mastered each skill following BST. A third skill, reinforcement, met mastery criteria for both participants before BST was implemented. Staff ratings of perceived supervisor support did not support the hypothesis that ratings would improve following BCBA mastery of target skills. Staff ratings were initially high during baseline and remained stable following BCBA training. The results of the present study suggest that behavioral skills training is an effective tool for teaching supervisory skills to BCBAs.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of over 1.5 million people across the world and have changed the lifestyle of humanity, possibly, for years to come. In this context, specific behaviors that had received minimal or no attention in the past have been moved up the social validity scale overnight. In this symposium we will evaluate various interventions addressing some key COVID-related behaviors. Online teaching and internet use has exploded during the pandemic. The first study looks at the potential role of social media in facilitating academic performance during online university-level courses. There are essentially no experimental analyses in the literature evaluating whether social media engagement (in the context of closed Facebook learning groups) could be an important channel for multi-component behavioral interventions. The second study presents a telehealth mask-wearing training program for children with autism presenting mask-induced problem behavior. The study evaluates a caregiver-delivered intervention among an international sample of participants from Belgium, India, Mexico, and Costa Rica. In the final study we turn to face touching. Face touching is thought to account for tens or hundreds of thousands of Sars-CoV-2 infections across the world due to physical contact with contaminated surfaces. It has been suggested that face touching, a high frequency behavior, may limit the protective role of hand washing, which occurs inevitably at lower rates. In this third presentation we evaluate the suppressive effect of contingent vibrotactile stimulation on face touching in a group of typical adults as they go about their daily lives. In addition to the treatment evaluation side of the study, it also provided an opportunity to conduct a thorough quantitative and descriptive analysis of face touching in ecologically relevant settings. Overall, these studies give a perspective of the diversity of behavioral applications that can be brought to bear in order to mitigate the effects of the current pandemic.

Students, practitioners and applied researchers.

SARS-CoV-2 is the virus causing COVID-19 and is spread through close person-to-person contact. The use of face masks has been described as an important strategy in the combat to contain and slow down its transmission while a vaccine is not made widely available. We evaluated the effects of telehealth training for caregivers to teach mask wearing to children with ASD. Six participants with a history of challenging behavior associated with mask wearing were recruited from different parts of the world, and trained using a combination of graduated exposure, shaping and contingent reinforcement. By the end of the intervention all participants wore a face mask for a target period of 10 min without exhibiting challenging behavior, and generalized the skill to a novel mask and a community setting. The findings support previous tolerance training treatment evaluations in children with developmental disability exhibiting resistance to healthcare routines. Clinical recommendations and areas for future research are discussed.

Facial contact behavior is a high frequency, high duration behavior that contributes to the transmission of communicable diseases by interaction with contaminated surfaces. Studies indicate that the Sars-CoV-2 virus remains viable for hours on surfaces such as paper, plastic, or metals. Hand-face contact has a long history among mammals and primates and is likely maintained by sensory consequences. It is estimated that thousands of infections may be mediated by hand contact with contaminated surfaces with pathogens being subsequently transferred to mucous membranes by hand contact with the mouth, nose, or eyes. We used contingent vibrotactile stimulation as an intervention to reduce hand-face contacts in ecological settings. Ten consecutively recruited adults wore one or two bracelets that delivered vibrotactile stimuli following face touching. Stimuli were delivered through Bluetooth-connected devices that were calibrated for each participant. We also evaluated the social validity of the intervention and how various environmental events were related to the level of face touching. In addition, the study provides an opportunity to discuss the quantitative characteristics of face touching. The results indicated that the face touching can be reduced considerably with this simple intervention.

The methods of applied behavior analysis (ABA) have been incorporated into the field of education to produce socially significant and practical change in public school settings, particularly to improve the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs). Despite the fact that providing free and appropriate education to children with disabilities has been a public responsibility since 1975 (PL 94-142, IDEA, 2004), multiple barriers interfere with implementation of EBPs in school settings. This panel discussion will focus on current challenges behavior analysts face across different school districts in Virginia. The discussion will provide suggestions to prepare future behavior analysts and consider ways to retain current BCBAs in school settings. The targeted audience for this panel discussion are those currently working in public school settings and those supervising future behavior analysts in the public school setting. Identifying and discussing barriers to implement behavior change as well as possible solutions provides the field a basis to address wellness strategies and ensure behavior analysts are effective in supporting public schools.

The prerequisite skills fall within professional practice guidelines related to service delivery in the classroom, school, and system levels for students with disabilities in public schools. Audience should have competencies in the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code specifically in the guidelines as a Supervisor and Ethical responsibilities to the profession of behavior analyst and to the BACB. Supervision provided within defined area of competence and perform to advance the values and ethics of the profession of behavior analysis (6.01).

Behavioral fluency is defined as responses that are easily demonstrated whenever required, adeptly performed for as long as needed, not readily distractible, and performed proficiently in new environments. These outcomes are more likely to occur when responses are accurate and performed at high frequencies. SAFMEDS (Say All Fast Minute Every Day Shuffled) cards were developed as a practice procedure to help learners foster fluency. SAFMEDS are often used to help learners become fluent with definitions and concepts. Historically, SAFMEDS were created using cardstock and manipulated physically. In this symposium, however, we will introduce a new tool, the Fluency Flashcard App, that allows users to create fluency flash cards and run a SAFMEDS-like procedure electronically. Results from practice are displayed visually within the app on a quasi-Standard Celeration Chart in order to augment effective decision making. The first presentation will describe research related to behavioral fluency and SAFMEDS. The second presentation will highlight the role the Standard Celeration Chart plays in displaying data and making decisions. The third presentation will introduce the Fluency Flashcard App, provide demonstrations, and describe its development. The fourth presentation will depict an implementation of the app in a supervisory setting for students preparing for an exam.

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A body of research exists that demonstrates fluency building, via building accurate and high frequency responding, is an effective way for instructors to enhance learner outcomes. In particular, when element skills are taught such that learners can emit them at high frequencies, those elements may then be more readily combined to enhance the likelihood that more complex skills will emerge. Many of these complex skills often require verbal discriminations in order for them to be emitted with ease. For example, one must often be able to adequately define terms and concepts in order to write effective treatment plans in clinical and instructional settings. SAFMEDS (Say All Fast Minute Every Day Shuffled) is a practice procedure that systematically builds the frequency of saying terms and definitions in a flashcard-like arrangement. Employing SAFMEDS using evidence-based frequency building procedures may result in the emergence of fluent skills. Research, and the related outcomes and limitations, pertaining to fluency building and SAFMEDS will be discussed.

What makes Fluency FlashCards so innovative? Individuals are used to studying in various ways. One popular method is using a common flashcards arrangement. Often, however, flashcards do not give the learner the results of fluent performance, but instead it is a quick cramming resulting in information overload. What information should go on a card? How does one make decisions about one's learning? How does one know when their studies are finished? The foundation of Fluency FlashCards is that it is not just a practice tool for learning like typical flashcard arrangements, rather it is a practice and decision making tool that builds skills to fluent performances. The foundation of the decision making is the Standard Celeration Chart. This presentation will take you into the inner workings of the app. It will describe what the Standard Celeration Chart is, what makes it different than ordinary graphs, and it’s benefits. It will describe how the daily per minute and timings charts are integrated into the app. It will also explain how the app uses frequency aims and celeration to aid in decision making.

Developing competent behavior educators for the next generation takes a multifaceted approach consisting of a well-designed board certified behavior analyst course sequence, effective supervision curricula, fluency building, competency, and application components. Our presentation will explore a model for developing future behavior analysts with these evidence-based practices. System examples will include the dual applied behavior analysis and Competent Learner Modell Certificate Program in partnership with Clarion University, consisting of a uniquely crafted scope and sequence curricular design with emphasis on component-composite analysis. Additionally, the Competent Learner Model’s Center of Excellence Supervision Curriculum will highlight a wrap-around supervision model and curriculum that provides an extension of the dual applied behavior analysis and Competent Learner Model coursework. The Fluency Flashcards App is an integral tool embedded in both of these systems to build fluency of verbal associations. Competency assignments then build skill acquisition around the verbal associations mistreated. Design development, usability, application, and limitations will be discussed at the system level. Individual uses and feedback from board certified behavior analyst supervisees will be highlighted.

With almost 31 states requiring licensure in behavior analysis and over 42,000 Board Certified Behavior Analysts (hereafter behavior analysts), the demands on our growing field could not be greater. Less than half of those behavior analysts have been certified 5 years or longer leaving few experienced supervisors to train the next generation of behavior analysts. Moreover, very few behavior analysts receive training in how to supervise. At best, behavior analysts complete the BACB required 8-hour training prior to providing supervision. Luckily, future behavior analysts will receive formal training as part of the new coursework requirements for the 5th Edition task list (BACB, 2017). Given the importance of and need for quality supervision, this symposium on will focus on current research, ethical issues, elements of effective supervision, and considerations when conducting remote supervision. Disclaimer: This session will not prepare you to become a supervisor but may be used in conjunction with additional training and experiences to become a supervisor.

Senior behavior analysts, Behavior Analysts thinking of becoming supervisors, and Supervisors

The Registered Behavior TechnicianTM (RBT®) credential has resulted in over 80,000 individuals being certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) since its creation in 2014. RBTs provide direct service to individuals receiving Applied Behavior Analysis services, which has resulted in individuals with this credential becoming the face of the field, which many families and clients work with the majority of their treatment time. It is imperative that the training of individuals who hold the credential of RBT receive high quality and effective training. Empirically validated training packages can be used to train a variety of topics essential to the core competencies of the RBT credential. This symposium will present applied research that has investigated effective training focused specifically on individuals who are certified as an RBT. Training topics include the writing of effective session notes, treatment integrity of RBT implementation of preference assessments and discrete trial training, and RBT session feedback delivery to families of clients.

Intermediate

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using Teaching Interaction Procedure (TIP) in order to remotely train RBT certificants to write objective session notes. Session notes are a required component for each behavior analytic session conducted by an RBT. This requirement is present for acquiring and maintaining the certification as well as necessary for many funders of behavior analytic services. It is imperative that session documentation presents information in an objective format in order to accurately detail client progress. Behavior analysts can utilize proven training techniques in order to increase the fidelity of documentation of services completed by RBTs. A multiple baseline design across participants was employed with 3 RBTs. RBTs’ session notes during in home behavior analytic sessions were used as probes. Each RBT received the training, which implemented the TIP remotely, detailing how to write narrative sections of session notes objectively. Results indicate that all participants met mastery criteria within 3-4 teaching sessions and maintained these results across maintenance probes.

Our verbal behaviour is an essential skill for navigating our social world and our inability to understand the value of the words we use can contribute to social conflicts, aggression, racial bias, prejudice, discrimination, and many other social issues. In an effort to combat these societal limitations and move towards an inclusive culture in which everyone’s individuality is championed; our language must be explored and compassion, perspective-taking, and empathy must be promoted. In this panel we will discuss a behavior-analytic description of perspective-taking and its role in establishing compassion skills and utility in social justice, overcome the deeply ingrained societal gender binary system in favour of a compassionate, gender expansive society, and how our language establishes and can topple societal prejudice. Behaviour analysis can replace current behaviours around social relations and replace them with compassion. The anticipated result would lead to impactful acquisition of social justice rights for those from marginalized populations.

Intermediate - BCBAs and BCBA-Ds ~ A discussion on verbal behaviour and ways in which our language informs our social world and the need to see the value of the words we use as it relates to social conflicts (e.g., aggression, racial bias, prejudice, discrimination, and many other social issues).

Behavior analysts are expected to lead treatment teams by training and supporting staff. However, many behavior analysts were not formally trained for such leadership positions. In this talk, I will address some of the common barriers supervisors face in their leadership roles and provide practical tips for efficient, effective leadership and supervision of staff.

Board certified behavior analysts