Association for Behavior Analysis International

Only few studies have assessed effectiveness of mobile applications for promiting walking behavior. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of three commonly used applications(Cashwalk, Fitmoney, Walker). 48 college students were recruited and randomly assigned to 3 application groups and one Control group. After collecting the baseline data for one week, participants in 3 application groups used the assigned application for 66 days. Results for repeated-measures ANOVA showed no significant differences in step counts across four groups. Additionally, bootstrapping was used to compare the confidence intervals of the mean of step counts for each individuals before and after using an application. The results showed that 30.77% of Cashwalk group, 9.09% of Fitmoney group, 14.29% of Walker group and 10% of Contorl group showed significant increase of their step counts on post test. These findings showed that 3 applications are not effective for facilitating walking behavior, suggesting the effectiveness of applications are limited.

Regular exercise is proven to decrease a person's risk for disease and other physical health problems, as well as serious mental health issues including depression and anxiety. The United States Department of Health and Human Services suggests that adults get 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week at minimum, and according to the Center for Disease Control only 23% of Americans are meeting this recommendation. While a commonly known barrier to regular exercise is a lack in self-management skills, poor body image as well as unclear values and focus may also limit an individual's willingness to engage in prolonged exercise. Self-management combined with reinforcement systems have proven to be successful in targeting healthy behaviors, including increasing physical activity. The research on the utility of mindfulness interventions (i.e., meditation) is growing, and shows that mindfulness training can increase executive attention across various tasks. There is little research to suggest whether proactive mindfulness interventions impact the duration of an individual's exercise. In this study, a multiple treatment reversal design is used to determine whether a supplemental pre-exercise mindfulness component to a self-management exercise program impacts the duration of exercise compared to self-management alone.

I am a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) that focuses on providing behavior analytic services to first responders, couples, parents, animal owners, those who may need assistance with health and fitness, businesses...basically anyone! This is NOT talk therapy or psychotherapy. It’s a simple plan, with measurable goals and accountability. I teach the use of self management strategies (F-01) to meet an overall goal of identifying and making environmental changes (G-08) to best support you and your needs. During the initial assessment and interview, I will make recommendations regarding behaviors that must be established, maintained, increased or decreased (I-06) to reach your overall goal(s). ? Additionally, we program for maintenance (J-12) so learned behaviors are maintained. Our intervention strategies are based on client preferences (J-04), clients current repertoire (J-05), supporting environments (J-06) and best scientific evidence. I have always supported individuals with some sort of diagnosis and ALWAYS BELIEVED behavior modification could benefit ANYONE, not just those with a medical diagnosis! I have written hundreds of effective behavior modification/support plans and am passionate about working with people and teaching them the tools needed to realize their full potential. I do this by creating a step by step plan to help people, JUST LIKE YOU, reach their dreams...and it is what I DO BEST!

A Therapeutic Workplace is a contingency based intervention designed to help individuals with drug addictions by providing them with the necessary skills to obtain an office job. Contingent on completing their work, Therapeutic Workplaces provide participants with vouchers that can later be exchanged for services and goods. This study would examine the extent to which a Therapeutic Workplace will affect the sustainability of abstinence for young adults with an addiction to opiates. Participants will be randomly assigned to Therapeutic Workplace (n=4) or Methadone Maintenance Treatment control group (n=4). This study will also compare base pay to productivity pay. In the productivity pay condition, participants will earn $12.00 per hour for attending the workplace and providing an opiate-free urine sample; they can also earn up to a $2.00 bonus based on performance. In the base-pay condition, participants will be paid $14.00 per hour for attending the workplace and providing an opiate-free drug sample. It is hypothesized that participants in the Therapeutic Workplace condition will achieve longer durations of abstinence than participants in the Methadone Maintenance Treatment condition. It is also hypothesized that participants will prefer the base pay condition over the productivity pay condition.

Childhood obesity is a serious public health challenge (WHO, 2018). One of the factors that contribute to this problem is inadequate nutrition. In a previous study we showed that stating rules for food intake may decrease the amount of unhealthy food ingested by children (Donadeli & de Rose, 2018). The present work investigated how to maintain over time a low amount of unhealthy food ingested by children. Seven children participated. In each session, nine pieces of healthy and unhealthy foods were displayed. Children were given a rule stating that they could eat how many pieces of healthy food they wanted and only one piece of unhealthy food. Differential consequences were contingent on following or not following the rule. Consequences were presented initially in a continuous reinforcement schedule (CRF). Subsequently, they were presented in variable ratio schedule (VR3) and then they were withdrawn. The rule was effective for reducing unhealthy food intake for all children when it was present in both CRF and VR3. After withdrawal of consequences, reduced ingestion of unhealthy foods was maintained for five children. Results indicate that rules and differential consequences may reduce intake of unhealthy food and reduction may persist after gradual withdrawal of differential consequences.

Dog bites are a major health and welfare issue for both children and dogs. The child’s behavior around the dog can be a key precursor to a bite. Little research has assessed the effectiveness of educational interventions teaching children safe behaviors around dogs. Whether safe behavior generalizes from the training setting to the application setting depends on a match between the training and application contexts (Miltenberger, 2015). This match has been absent from much dog-safety training (Shen et al., 2017). The current project examines which of a series of training experiences result in children behaving safely around live dogs. Three children 4 years of age progressed through a series of TAGteach training sessions, alternating with assessment sessions including novel, live therapy dogs. The initial training sessions were in a classroom, and subsequent sessions were successively more like the everyday situation of meeting a leashed dog outdoors. Training to proficiency in the classroom setting did not result in children behaving safely in the everyday context. These results agree with previous behavioral research on safety skills training and suggest that educational interventions aimed at modifying children’s behavior around dogs should take place in the most naturalistic setting possible.