Association for Behavior Analysis International

In recent years, behavior has been recognized as an essential piece in the constellation of components critical to the care of animals housed in zoos and aquariums. The science of learning has many applications in these settings, and behavior analysts have contributed to the advancement of evidence-based practices particularly in the areas of husbandry training, environmental enrichment, and animal welfare. In this presentation, I will describe some examples of the role of behavior in multiple aspects of animal care. Along the way, I will highlight some key questions for the application of behavior analysis in zoological settings, some examples of work that addresses these questions, and some areas in need of further development.

This presentation is appropriate for behavior analysts interested in the application of behavior principles to behavior management across settings, and particularly in zoos and aquariums.

Dr. Christy Alligood received an M.A. (2003) from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a Ph.D. (2007) from West Virginia University. She is also a doctoral-level Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D). Dr. Alligood is a Lecturer at the University of Florida, where she teaches undergraduate courses in behavior analysis. In addition, since 2007 she has worked at Disney's Animal Kingdom® in Orlando, Florida. Much of her initial work focused on a multi-faceted conservation program for Key Largo woodrats, which received a Bean Award for Significant Achievement in Captive Breeding from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (2009) and a Federal Challenge Grant (2010) in collaboration with the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge for population monitoring work on Key Largo. Dr. Alligood now works with the Science Operations Team, where she focuses on using the science of behavior to enhance animal care. She is the secretary of the Southeastern Association for Behavior Analysis and has recently served as At-Large Representative to the ABAI Executive Council, Coordinator of the ABAI Special Interest Groups Board, and co-coordinator of the ABAI Applied Animal Behavior Program Area.

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, typically developing children, 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.

Formal stimulus preference assessments are widely used to determine which stimuli are likely to function as reinforcers during intervention. However, the relationship between preference and reinforcement needs further examination. This study used a procedural variation of the multiple stimulus with replacement (Windsor, Piché, & Locke, 1994) preference assessment where the distance to each preferred item was parametrically manipulated. Five stimuli identified as preferred using a paired choice assessment (Fisher et al., 1992) were presented on a line about 4 inches in front of the learner. Stimuli were immediately replaced when selected. During the distance manipulation phase, each time a stimulus was selected it was replaced at a line three inches further from the participant until stimuli were almost out of reach. Four children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated. Data were collected on the cumulative number of selections of each stimulus as well as the distance from the learner when selected. Results suggest that the effort of the response—measured in terms of stimulus distance from the learner—affected how participants allocated responding to the stimuli. Results are discussed with reference to affordances (Gibson, 1979) and the benefit of incorporating the organism (Killeen & Jacobs, 2017) into behavior analysis.

There are an estimated 300,000 students attending schools in Qatar. A regional study in Qatar placed the number of people with ASD at 1 in 87. Due to Qatar’s requirement that all schools be inclusive, many of these students attend independent or private schools. Educators often find it difficult to support students who display behaviors similar to students who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. During this panel we will discuss some of the student service model that allow for the provision of support for students regardless of a formal diagnosis.

Teachers, Practitioners

Health professionals often recommend the use of medical devices to assess the health, monitor the well-being, or improve the quality of life of their patients. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may present challenges in these situations as their sensory peculiarities may increase refusals to wear such devices. To address this issue, the current study systematically replicated prior research that implemented interventions to increase compliance with wearing different medical devices (Cook et al., 2015; Richling et al., 2011). More specifically, we examined the effects of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) to increase compliance with wearing a heart rate monitor in 2 children with autism. The intervention increased compliance to 100% for both participants when an edible reinforcer was delivered every 90 s. The results indicate that DRO does not require the implementation of extinction to increase compliance with wearing a medical device. More research is needed to examine whether the reinforcement schedule can be further thinned.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents and teachers have faced the unique challenge of quickly teaching children with ASD to tolerate face masks, so they may continue therapy, attend school, or otherwise participate in community spaces, such as retail stores. We used a DRO procedure within a changing criterion design consisting of no-mask breaks and tangible reinforcers to teach four children with ASD of varying abilities to cooperate with wearing face masks for up to one hour. Additionally, one participant was taught over telehealth, with the aid of a Spanish-language interpreter. We included video models that were also narrated in Spanish within a behavior skills training procedure for the parent. During baseline, none of the children were able to meet the one-hour criterion. Results demonstrate that systematic fading of latency criteria across trials was successful in teaching all children to cooperate with keeping their masks on for at least one hour. Further, all participants were able to wear masks across consecutive one-hour periods (with brief no-mask breaks), and two participants that attended an inclusive classroom were able to keep their masks on for the full duration of the school day without any programmed no-mask breaks.

Behavioral parent training is a fundamental aspect during treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities. However, practitioners often find that rule-governed parenting represents a significant challenge to the effectiveness of the intervention. An approach to addressing this challenge and enhancing treatment outcomes is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). With vast empirical evidence targeting different variables, ACT is promising for caregivers of individuals with ASD. However, the integration of ACT within behavior-analytic services may be insufficient, as values within the cultural context are seldom considered. In an effort to increase cultural responsiveness, the present panel will inform on the awareness, knowledge, and approaches of behavior analysts that have primarily worked with Latinx caregivers. Specifically, ACT work with Latinx caregivers will be explored from a cultural perspective, as well as the current state of the literature in culturally adapting behavior-analytic approaches for the Latinx community. Panelists will discuss how others who work with Latinx caregivers may overcome barriers that topographically resemble non-adherence but are in fact behaviors that align with Latinx cultural values. Moreover, recommendations for adjusting treatment and methods for increasing success with treatment will be provided.

Students, practitioners, and researchers with knowledge or competency in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Differential reinforcement procedures involving behavior contracts and token economies are implemented program wide at a residential treatment facility for students with severe problem behaviors. The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) serves 138 school-aged students and 143 adults with ages ranging from 9 to 61 years old. Approximately 77% of clients have developmental and intellectual disabilities and the remaining 23% of clients have emotional and behavioral disorder classifications. We serve many individuals with limited verbal behavior, yet all clients have individualized behavior contracts with differential reinforcement of other, alternative, or incompatible behavior. Behavior contracts are set for specific times of day (overnight, transport, school hours, evening hours), settings (school, residence, or community), and include various response criteria (academic or adaptive tasks and withholding dangerous and disruptive problem behavior). The majority of school-age students also utilize token economies using conditioned reinforcers. We describe the programmatic implementation of large scale, yet individualized differential reinforcement procedures, and their impact on academic and adaptive behavioral functioning.

Audience should have some working knowledge of behavior contracts and token economies.

Behavioral contracts, interchangeable with contingency contracts, are widely utilized in the field of applied behavior analysis. The use of which has been primarily associated with individuals who have a specific set of verbal and conceptual prerequisite capabilities (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2020). The purpose of this discussion is to denote the efficacy of behavioral contracting with individuals regardless of their level of functioning, verbal behavior, or diagnosis. Each of the clients we serve, from non-verbal clients with limited receptive language repertoires to fully verbal clients with emotionally disturbed classifications, benefit from differential reinforcement in the form of behavioral contracts. This is evidenced by the often immediate deceleration of target problem behavior and increase in appropriate replacement behaviors following contract implementation. Clients with limited verbal repertoires may take longer to discriminate the contingency, but repetition and contact with reinforcement generally leads to the desired outcome. The data collected show a direct correlation between the implementation of behavioral contracts with a wide array of individuals and the subsequent decrease in aberrant behavior. System-wide use of behavioral contracting fosters programmatic consistency, ease of implementation, and systematic replication.

Behavior analysts may assist with the development of academic goals and implementation of programs to improve academic performance and adaptive behaviors. A token economy is one procedure used by many behavior change agents to improve various topographies of behavior. Token economies can be used for a single topography for one client, such as attending behavior during brief sessions (Tarbox, Ghezzi, & Wilson, 2006) or for a large group of individuals and various response criteria, such as 600 mine operators without individual or within group injuries (Fox, Hopkins, & Anger, 1987). A carefully managed token economy can be inexpensive, applied across multiple students in a classroom, and effective. Here we review the system-wide use of a token economy in place at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC), a residential treatment facility. Students earn red and blue tickets (tangibles) as well as academic money (digital currency) for the successful completion of academic tasks and for engaging in positive, replacement behaviors. The use of a ticket system provides immediate conditioned tangible reinforcers for target behavior and helps improve academic performance across classrooms. We outline the implementation of the program wide token economy and demonstrate improvement for both academic and behavioral performance.

The difference between curricula and pedagogy is highlighted best when we consider what we teach versus how we teach it. There exists an interaction between development and instruction such that instruction can only be effective if the educator considers the learner’s level of verbal development. The ways in which we teach must cater to the current verbal developmental cusps found within the learner’s repertoire. While the progression of instructional objectives targeted within a curriculum will change as the learner acquires the necessary prerequisite skills to move forward, attention should be placed on modifying the ways in which we teach those subsequent objectives. Research in the field of verbal behavior development has proven time and time again that the acquisition of skills can be accelerated if the method of teaching is consistent with the capabilities that the learner exhibits, i.e. the presence of verbal developmental cusps within their repertoire.

Educators, Practitioners, and Researchers

The evidence-based practice (EBP) movement in human services has increased interest in the quality research and synthesis of literature bases. In the early days of the EBP movement, there were no standards for evaluating the quality of research using single case designs (SCDs). As a consequence, evidence based on these designs were excluded from systematic reviews and meta-analyses on effective interventions. In 2013, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) finalized standards for SCDs. In this symposium, we examined the impact of these standards on research involving single case design in Applied Behavior Analysis. We reviewed all articles published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis to determine if there was a change in the research practices in the five years after the standards relative to the five years prior to their publication. The first paper in this session reports the method and results of this review. The second paper discusses limitations of SCD research in JABA and limitations of the standards. We will also outline suggestions for future research so that it is included in systematic reviews and meta-analyses and can contribute to the knowledge base.

basic

Goals are often touted as a relatively inexpensive and easy way to increase performance. For organizations, goals and incentives often go hand-in-hand and thus it is difficult to know the true impact of the goals on employee performance. This talk will begin by summarizing the different types of goal-setting strategies before delving into the concept of tiered goals and the reasoning behind their potential efficacy. It will then discuss the methodology of a laboratory study that focused on the effects of tiered goals and piece-rate pay, both alone and in combination. The results will then be discussed, the findings from which could change the way that organizations use goals and piece rate pay as a means to improve the performance of their employees. At a minimum, tiered goals could add another tool to the performance improvement toolkit within an organization – one that is an advancement over the common goal-setting methods.

Monetary incentive systems are an extremely popular area for research and discussion in both the business and academic world. For good reason, these systems receive an intense amount of interest including the attention of Nobel Prize winning researchers. Salary and wage expenses typically account for 25% - 50% or more of a businesses expenses. Understanding how best to deploy such resources in a business represent tremendous opportunity for cost savings and performance improvement. The present case study will examine the application of various monetary incentive systems in an applied setting, including commission pay, wage pay, and bonus systems. Comparisons will be drawn between experimental studies and the results of these applied studies. Audience members will gain a deeper understanding of monetary incentives through real-world examples, including successes and failures. Applying laboratory research to the real world can be a messy affair, and sharing these attempts with others helps the field advance.

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.

What patients, their parents/guardians, insurance providers, and the community at large have in common with direct care staff, clinical supervisors, and ABA service organizations is that each stakeholder cares about quality services. To assureall stakeholders that quality services are being provided, a neutral entity must set standards to define what is considered quality. Such standards are typically based on the scientific literature, and where research may fall short, subject matter experts provide guidance based on best practice. Then, to determine if services meet these standards, an objective entity conducts thorough evaluations using reliable assessment methods. In this symposium, we will share how Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE) has developed a quality assurance system with a focus on our accumulated data collected over the past five years. The first presenter will discuss the value of quality assurance and best practice recommendations for conducting quality assurance. The second presenter will discuss outcomes assessments and why they are important for determining the value of behavioral interventions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The third and fourth presenters will share the results of evaluations with patients and staff. All presenters will discuss the implications of their findings and future steps.

Audience members should have a general understanding of assessments such as the VB-MAPP and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales as well as concepts such as social validity, treatment fidelity, and organizational systems.

The passage of a licensure law is by no means the end of the road for the behavior analysis community in states that have just reached this milestone. The local chapter that supports behavior analysis activities should immediately begin to identify potential members of the licensing board that can be nominated and ultimately will be put in place to serve on the board. This panel will enable those that are on the brink of implementing licensure to be equipped with a step-by-step protocol by which to fully participate in this process. A number of things need to be identified that help to maintain the momentum that led to the passage of the licensure law in the first place. These catalysts will be identified and outlined for interested Behavior Analysts in states that are at this process step in their licensure law.

An overview will be provided of the range of activities that behavior analysts should consider for maximizing the likelihood of behavior analyst licensure adequately protecting the public and supporting the profession of behavior analysis. Elaboration of particular strategies and tactics for doing so will be tailored to address questions raised by attendees.

Acceptance and commitment training (ACTraining) is a third wave, empirically supported behavioural intervention that has been demonstrated to improve the quality of life across numerous populations. ACTraining differs from Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), as ACT focuses on the therapeutic delivery in the psychotherapy realm. Comparatively, ACTraining focuses on providing individuals with the tools to implement ACT in their daily lives. With increasing interest in ACTraining within the field of behaviour analysis, this symposium explores its diverse application across a variety of populations. Presenters will explore the use of direct measures of overt behaviours when training mediators to facilitate ACTraining, the delivery of ACTraining in a group format for caregivers of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and the implementation of ACTraining in an individual format with caregivers, staff, and individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Discussion also includes the delivery of ACTraining within the scope of behaviour analysis, adapting the delivery of ACTraining to a telecommunication format, gaps in the ACT literature, and potential future directions.

Designed for: Students, researchers, and Clinicians

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a contemporary approach to dealing with unhelpful private events and improving psychological flexibility (Hayes et al., 2006) that is often used in psychotherapy (Szabo, 2019). Non-psychotherapeutic uses of ACT have been referred to as Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACTraining; Moran, 2011, 2015; Szabo, 2019), which refers to the use of six processes: present moment attention/mindfulness, values clarification, committed action, self-as-context, defusion, and acceptance (Hayes et al., 2006), implemented in the context of a training method.Recent interest in ACTraining within the behavior analytic community has led behavior analysts to question whether ACTraining is truly useful to the field and whether it’s within their scope of practice. Tarbox et al. (2020) have proposed that the use of ACTraining is within the scope of practice of behavior analysts and aligns with the seven dimensions of ABA as outlined by Baer et al. (1968). Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide a review of single-case research designs measuring the behavioral effects of ACTraining components conducted with individuals with ASD/DD, their parents, and/or their staff and to inform clinicians/researchers about what variables have been evaluated and what gaps still exist.

While research on the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with individuals with autism has been increasing in recent years, it remains true that there are limited data demonstrating its effectiveness on generating overt behavior change for this population in the applied clinical context. The current presentation reviews a series of treatment evaluations which used multiple baseline designs to analyze the effects of ACT interventions on overt behavior change for children with autism as a part of their clinical ABA treatment. Based on an initial analysis of the participants indirect acting contingencies, multiple exemplar training was used to teach one of the six behavioral repertoires outlined on the ACT Hexaflex (acceptance, present moment, self as context, defusion, values, or committed action). Results of these evaluations suggest that ACT strategies can produce socially significant behavior change in this population with generalization to direct care staff. Maintenance data and social validity data were also collected and will be discussed.

Caregivers of people with neurodevelopmental disabilities often experience greater psychological distress than other caregivers. Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) has been shown to decrease this psychological distress. Limited research has measured a core component of ACT (committed actions), which could be crucial in understanding how ACT can improve life satisfaction. In two separate studies, we asked caregivers in an in-person ACT-workshop (N=11) and caregivers in a virtual adaptation of the ACT-workshop (N=14) to complete standard psychological measures and self-monitor their frequency of committed actions pre-, post- and 1-month follow-up. Post-ACT, the in-person group average frequency of self-monitoring committed actions increased from 0 in baseline to 3.9 days per-week across four weeks, which returned to baseline levels in follow-up. Statistical analyses indicated therapeutic trends for all psychological measures, with decreases in parenting stress scores approaching statistical significance. Post-ACT, the virtual ACT-workshop results for self-monitoring increased from 0.33 in baseline to 3.56 days per-week across seven weeks. Statistical analyses indicated significant results for decreasing parenting stress, depression, anxiety and stress. Follow-up results are currently being collected. Results may help inform how self-monitoring committed actions may impact or relate to self-reported measures of psychological distress and impact the overall ACT experience for caregivers.

Multiple randomized control trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment training (ACT) for improving the quality of life of numerous populations, including caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. However, little research has been conducted on effective methods to train facilitators to lead ACT experiential exercises in general, with even less research incorporating caregivers as co-facilitators. To increase potential facilitators’ access to ACT facilitation training and reduce geographical barriers, a telecommunication format may be leveraged. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of providing behavioural skills training via telecommunication to caregiver and clinician facilitators across Canada that had already received a manualized, group-based ACT facilitation training to prepare to facilitate ACT workshops themselves. This study included a total of five caregivers and three clinicians, where quantitative data on fidelity and confidence was collected at baseline, post-training, and at 1-month follow-up using a multiple-baseline design. The results from this study suggest that implementing behavioural skills training to teach facilitators to provide ACT greatly improved the facilitators’ fidelity implementing three ACT exercises. Increasing the number of competently trained facilitators