Association for Behavior Analysis International

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

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

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

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