Association for Behavior Analysis International

This symposium features three studies on training undergraduate students and service providers to implement behavior analytic assessments and interventions. First, Karie John will present on the use of video modeling to teach undergraduate students to conduct trial-based functional analyses, and the results suggest the use of video models produced high treatment fidelity and social validity ratings. Second, James Maraventano will present on a pyramidal training model to teach job skills to staff supporting adults with autism in a community setting, and the results suggest improved performance observed during behavioral skills training generalized to in situ probes with clients. Finally, Kerri Peters will present on teaching behavior analysts and occupational therapists to conduct a structured mealtime assessment using behavioral skills training, and the results suggest improved protocol integrity posttraining across all participants. All three studies improve our understanding of efficient and efficacious training procedures that maximize impact.

Basic understanding of behavior analytic principles and components of behavioral skills training

The training of human services staff in behavior change methods is often a labor-intensive function of the supervising behavior analyst. The pyramidal application of behavioral skills training (BST) has been demonstrated an effective means for promoting the acquisition of skills related to behavior analytic treatment, while increasing the efficiency of the individual behavior analyst’s training efforts. As BST has potential for broad application, we extended a pyramidal BST approach toward job skills training for service recipients enrolled in a program providing support for adults with autism in the community setting. During pre-training assessments, 10 staff members were instructed to role-play BST using given task analyses. Following BST-based instruction in the application of BST (a pyramidal paradigm), participants demonstrated improved performance of BST component skills in the role-play setting, relative to baseline levels. High performance levels were also observed during subsequent on-the-job assessments of staff conducting BST with service recipients in the generalization setting.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display feeding problems such as consumption of a limited variety of foods (Schreck, Williams, & Smith, 2004). It is also common for these children to be enrolled in early and intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) services for comprehensive treatment (Roane, Fisher, & Carr, 2016). Combined, these factors make it possible that behavior analysts will have a role in a child’s clinical care related to feeding. In addition, children with ASD are often attending regular appointments for occupational therapy (OT) and on occasion those providers are targeting feeding problems. However, given that the etiology of pediatric feeding disorders is complex and multifactorial (Peterson & Ibanez, 2018), OT providers and BCBAs should ensure they have sufficient training and a setting that is appropriate for assessment and treatment. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of a training package, including instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback, for training BCBAs in an EIBI setting and OT providers to conduct a structured mealtime assessment. Training resulted in increases in their integrity of protocol implementation, and we observed replication of these effects for all participants