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| Establishing Generalized Outcomes through Precision Teaching: The Benefits of Standard Measurement Practices |
| Sunday, May 25, 2008 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| Williford A |
| Area: EDC/TPC; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Kimberly Nix Berens (Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.) |
| Discussant: Kimberly Nix Berens (Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.) |
| CE Instructor: Kimberly Nix Berens, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: It is a common misconception that Precision Teaching is synonymous with fluency-based instruction, where an already established behavior is built to optimally high frequencies. The three papers included in the current symposium will attempt to clarify this misconception by illustrating the utility of Precision Teaching practices for the establishment of a broad-range of behavioral repertoires. Similarly, each paper will illustrate how, through frequency-based measures and standard charting practices, generalized or emergent effects on untrained repertoires can be easily evaluated. The findings of each paper will be discussed in relation to current behavior analysis research and practice. |
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| Using Precision Teaching Methods to Establish Generalized Instructional Control with an Autistic Learner. |
| TIMOTHY C. FULLER (University of Nevada, Reno & Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.), Kimberly Nix Berens (Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.), Kendra L. Rickard (University of Nevada, Reno & Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.) |
| Abstract: It is common knowledge that establishing generalized instructional control with autistic learners poses a challenge to educators. Many procedures used for establishing such control involve discrete trials methods, which may limit generalization and require lengthy training times to produce effects. The current paper will describe how Precision Teaching methods were used to effectively and efficiently establish generalized instructional control with an autistic learner. The clinical implications of such findings will be discussed in addition to directions for future research. |
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| Rate of Responding as a Generalized Operant. |
| KENDRA L. RICKARD (University of Nevada, Reno & Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.), Kimberly Nix Berens (Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.) |
| Abstract: In education, students’ rates on visual discrimination tasks are often used to predict the likelihood of future reading problems. However, these assessments do not generally lead to interventions to improve students’ rates of discriminations. The current presentation will discuss a procedure used to increase students’ rates of responding and the transfer of these effects to other academic tasks that involve visual discriminations. Furthermore, rate of responding as a generalized operant class will be discussed. The clinical implications of such findings will be discussed in addition to directions for future research. |
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| Establishing Fluency of Arbitrarily Applicable Derived Relational Responding: An Application of Relational Frame Theory to Vocabulary Building with Children. |
| NICHOLAS M. BERENS (University of Nevada, Reno & Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.), Steven C. Hayes (University of Nevada, Reno), Kimberly Nix Berens (Center for Advanced Learning, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Conventional procedures for strengthening students’ vocabulary often focus on rote memorization or context learning. These procedures typically lack a focus on the core language abilities that allow for novel vocabulary words to be integrated into individuals’ repertoires. With this oversight, conventional procedures also fail to evaluate student improvements in applying new vocabulary to contexts outside of the training situation. The current ongoing investigation has identified procedures that: 1) builds the fluency of a core operant that has been related to language ability, 2) efficiently improves individuals’ vocabulary, and 3) trains novel vocabulary words that are incorporated into individuals’ repertoires in such a way that it generalizes to multiple situations. Data will be presented demonstrating the establishment of fluency in arbitrarily applicable derived relational responding across multiple frames with correlated improvements in analogical reasoning tasks. |
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