Association for Behavior Analysis International

On the surface, many industrial organizations have what look like good safety records; logging months, often years without accidents. But in many cases those accident-free streaks are based, at least to some extent, on luck. In most cases unsafe behaviors still exist at all levels of many organizations, therefore creating exposure. Until organizations adopt behavioral strategies to ensure the consistency of safe practices, they will continue to gamble with safety. This tutorial will review the critical role of leader behavior in safety improvement. The role of leaders has historically been poorly defined and is most typically described in vague terms such as �making safety a priority�, or �creating a safety culture�. In addition, few contingencies exist for leaders to engage in the high-impact behaviors that will lead to improvement. This tutorial will provide a behavior analysis of six common safety leadership practices that are ineffective. Examples of more effective leader behaviors will be presented along with a discussion of creating contingencies to support those behaviors.

This tutorial is suitable for introductory level and above. The tutorial will be presented in much the same way it would be presented to organizational leaders so audience members will see how behavior analysis is presented and used in applied settings.

When behaviour analysts are called to school settings as consultants they are often asked to "put out fires." They often arrive late on the scene, after the school has exhausted all other resources. Very often, the behaviour analyst's role is seen by the school as one that is briefly involved and only specifically focused on a behaviour problem of a specific, individual child. The behavior analyst may need to navigate multiple and sometimes conflicting priorities by different stakeholders. It's unheard of for a behaviour analyst to be requested by the specific child for whom s/he may be intended. This can create additional challenges for the school and the behaviour analyst, forcing reactive patterns, rather than allowing for proactive planning and solutions. This presentation will approach the application of behaviour analytic practice to the school setting as a system, identifying some of the tactics that have been used and sharing some of the lessons that have been learned.

Adults diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or related deficits face unique challenges as they transition to higher education and the workplace. The purpose of this symposium is to present results from a recent literature review and 2 experimental studies on the assessment and treatment of adults with ASD or related behaviors (i.e., organizational skills, relationship skills, conversation skills, and on-the-job performance).

A sizable literature exists regarding the social needs of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; see Rao, Beidel, & Murray, 2008; and Schreiber, 2011 for recent reviews); however, empirical literature pertaining to social needs of young adults with autism is lacking (Gerhardt & Weiss, 2011). Due to early identification and effective interventions for children with ASDs, a growing number of young adults with ASDs attend college or seek competitive employment (Howlin, 2005). College and work environments present a number of unique obstacles for individuals with ASDs (e.g., living independently or with a roommate; communicating effectively with professors, peers, employers, and coworkers; forming and maintaining friendships and romantic relationships) and obstacles to those who provide services for these individuals (e.g., difficulties with assessment, measurement, and reinforcer identification). In this paper we (1) review the literature on social needs of young adults with autism, (2) make suggestions regarding assessment and treatment techniques, (3) identify barriers to assessment and treatment and tactics to circumvent those barriers, and (4) provide recommendations for future research.

Although a large percentage of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (AS), high-functioning autism (HFA), or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), little research has targeted this population. As children and adolescents, their academic work and adaptive skills may be comparable to those of their peers. Yet, as adults, they have substantial difficulty obtaining and maintaining employment. Further research is needed on vocational training programs and career opportunities that meet the needs of this population. A potential unexplored vocation is serving as a behavior therapist for young children with autism. Individuals who provide behavior analytic interventionists receive structured, hands-on training, combined with on-going monitoring and feedback. The procedures applied by behavior therapists when working with young children are explicitly delineated, invariant, and highly structured. As such, the task seems well-suited for individuals with AS and HFA. The purpose of this study was to pilot a training program for adults with AS, HFA, or PDD-NOS, who were interested in learning the skills used by behavior therapists when working with young children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Four adults, aged 21 to 30 years, participated. Each participant was trained individually using verbal and written instructions, modeling, and role-play with feedback to teach2 basic skills to an adult who was role-playing as a young child with autism. Generalization of the teaching skills was evaluated by having the participant (a) teach the adult confederate2 additional targets that were not included in training and (b) teach a new skill to a young child with autism. Results indicated that3 of the4 participants rapidly acquired the teaching skills and that these skills generalized to new targets and to an actual child.

We used a multiple baseline across behaviors design to evaluate the effects of peer-mediated behavior skills training on the conversational skills of an undergraduate student diagnosed with a learning disability. Following treatment, we observed a decrease in interrupting and content specificity and an increase in questioning; results maintained with naive peers during unstructured conversations. We collected normative data on the conversational skills of typically-developing undergraduates, and after treatment, the participant engaged in conversational skills similar to his peers.

Children with autism are typically characterized by their profound deficits in social behavior and social competence. Perhaps as a result, substantial effort has been devoted to designing and evaluating interventions to facilitate development of these competencies. This symposium examines how a variety of social skills interventions can be used to enhance social skills in children with autism across the spectrum. The first study utilized advances in technology to teach children with autism persistence in social initiations. The second study demonstrated that video modeling can decrease perseverative behavior in children with autism. The final study examined the effects of a social skill group that employed a combination of social skill activities with neurotypical peers, naturalistic teaching strategies, video modeling, scripts, and modified incidental teaching sessions. Findings of these studies will be discussed in terms of future directions of the research and contributions to the social skills literature.

Many children with autism exhibit preoccupations with particular items or topics. These obsessions can hinder their social development and limit their appropriate play. The present study used a multiple baseline design across children to examine the effectiveness of a video-modeling intervention designed to decrease the obsessive behavior with specific items for three children with autism. Obsessive behavior was defined as the repetitive selection of a specific item (i.e., touching or staring at the object of obsession) and then using it to make repetitive motions. During baseline, the children were presented with the object of their obsession and four non-obsessive, developmentally appropriate toys to play with for five-minute sessions. During intervention, the children watched a video of a model selecting and engaging in appropriate play with the non-obsessive toys, although the obsessive item was present in the video. Then, the children were again given the opportunity to play with the obsessive and non-obsessive toys. Results indicated that during baseline, all the children demonstrated high levels of obsessive behavior with a particular item. After video modeling, all children substantially decreased their obsessive activities and increased play with the appropriate toys. These findings support the efficacy of video modeling in decreasing the obsessive behaviors of children with autism.

Social skills group interventions are commonly used to increase the social skills of children with autism. However little research has examined the efficacy of these interventions. The present study utilized a multiple baseline design across children to examine the effects of a social skills group intervention on the social skills of three high-functioning children with autism. Prior to participating in the social skills group intervention, the children with autism did not consistently demonstrate social behaviors during play sessions with other children. During social skills group intervention sessions, therapists facilitated social activities with groups of children with autism and neurotypical peers using naturalistic teaching strategies, video modeling, scripts, and modified incidental teaching. After participating in social skills group intervention sessions, the participating children demonstrated increased appropriate speech and cooperative play and spent less time engaging in solitary activity during play sessions. These findings indicate that group social skills interventions can be used to improve social skills with children with autism. Avenues for future research are discussed.

Enhancing the abilities of the persons directly responsible for implementing evidence-based teaching and clinical practices, such as those based on the principles of behavior analysis, are constant issues for many autism and related developmental disability service agencies. Research questions remain regarding effective practices for documenting, informing, and ultimately creating sustainable training models for the front line implementers of such evidence-based practices. This symposium will describe 3 models of staff training employed by 3 geographically different service providers committed to employing evidence-based practices. Measures of training effectiveness, efficiency, and implementation process will be highlighted as well as how resulting data was utilized to enhance front line and supervisory staff performance.

Data will be presented on the effectiveness of a competency based training package designed for teaching staff working with children with autism. Participants in the study are 34 direct teaching staff and 6 supervisory staff at a private, not-for-profit school serving students with autism. The beginning training package was conducted across the course of a 3-month period for all staff. This training consisted of independent completion of 11 video modules along with guided notes for each module that were used to determine staff's verbal behavior specific to basic behavioral practices. Quizzes on each topic served as a further assessment of staff's comprehension of basic principles. Large group staff trainings relevant to each video module were employed using a behavioral skills training package consisting of instructions, modeling, rehearsal and feedback. Three subsequent proficiency checks conducted by supervisory staff were performed during intervention sessions. Follow-up data will be collected at 3-month intervals. The intermediate training package will be implemented at the conclusion of the beginning training package. This package will focus on developing staff's skills replicating and extending current research. Data on effectiveness and efficiency of both components of the training package will be presented. Treatment data on the beginning component of the training package has been collected for approximately 2 months.

Research has long supported the use of intensive behavioral intervention for young children with autism; however there is a lack of evidence for the effectiveness of similar programming for school-age students. This study seeks to evaluate the effects of a comprehensive staff training package on the implementation of behavioral intervention and student outcomes. Participants in the study are 20 elementary teachers and aides, and 81 students (ages 5-11) at a private, not-for-profit school serving students with developmental disabilities. Prior to intervention all students were assessed using standardized and nonstandardized instruments to determine current levels of functioning. Baseline data were collected in each classroom on several measures including: student and staff engagement, communication, and evaluations of instructional and behavior change plans and implementation. Training includes direct instruction (lecture, modeling, role playing, etc), intensive in-classroom support, and assessment of skill mastery. The intervention is being evaluated using a multiple baseline across groups of classrooms design. Following the 3-week training period, data collection will continue in each classroom and additional individualized training will be provided as needed. At the time of submission baseline data have been collected in all classrooms for at least two weeks and the first classrooms are in training.

Every agency that serves children with autism contends with the issue of staff training. In order to be competent at delivering behavioral intervention, staff members are trained to present effective environmental arrangements and discriminative stimuli and consequences for correct and incorrect responses that facilitate the acquisition of appropriate behavior and reduction of problem behavior.

In a review of literature, Leblanc et al. (2005) found common threads across effective staff training protocols; 1. training should be practical and efficient, 2. training should be viewed favorably by staff, and 3. competencies should be maintained long-term (Ducharme & Feldman, 1992; Ivancic, Reid, Iwata, Faw, & Page, 1981; Parsons & Reid, 1995; Shore, Iwata, Vollmer, Lerman, & Zarcone, 1995). Given the financial cost of staff training and cost to the child when intervention time is not maximized, it is important for agencies to develop effective protocols that efficiently and effectively train and maintain staff performance.

The following presentation will focus on a set of staff training procedures used to maintain competent performance across time with direct service staff who passed their basic competency evaluation. The package involved differential reinforcement for the ongoing exhibition of mastered skill sets, covert evaluation, individualized retraining and ongoing feedback across 9 staff members. Checks for maintenance were conducted at one month intervals across four months. Results indicate effectiveness for skill maintenance. Data will be presented to support reliability, practicality and social validity.

The following presentations discuss current advances in the treatment of food selectivity and food refusal. Two intervention studies evaluate sequential presentation of preferred foods following acceptance of nonpreferred and novel foods. In one study, sequential presentation with repeated taste exposure is compared to sequential presentation with escape extinction. Another study examines the use of sequential presentation with and without feeder modeling. The third study evaluates the use of stimulus fading in the form of bolus size manipulation to increase acceptance of nonpreferred foods. The final study compares 2 methods of increasing volume of solids and liquids to increase caloric intake in children with feeding disorders.

Many children diagnosed with autism display severe and pervasive food selectivity and food refusal that impact their daily life (Ahearn, Castine, Nault, & Green, 2001). Interventions for these feeding problems are most often implemented in hospital and clinic settings (Williams & Foxx, 2007). Research has shown escape extinction, repeated taste exposure, and a Plate A/Plate B arrangement to be effective in treating feeding disorders (e.g., Paul, Williams, Riegel, & Gibbons, 2007). The purpose of the current study was to compare the effectiveness of the Plate A/Plate B intervention with and without taste exposure sessions for 2 children diagnosed with autism who also display severe challenging behavior. The intervention evaluation was conducted in an educational and campus residential setting. Preliminary results indicate that neither Plate A/Plate B nor Plate A/Plate B plus taste exposure intervention were effective. Increase in bite consumption occurred when escape extinction was added for all bite presentations. Possible explanations for the results obtained will be discussed as well as recommendations for future research.

The following study compared sequential presentation of preferred foods following acceptance of nonpreferred foods in a 4-year-old boy with food selectivity. Following acceptance of a bite of food on a plate of new and nonpreferred foods (Plate A), the child was presented with bite of food from a plate of preferred foods (Plate B). Child acceptance and disruptive behavior during the "Plate A-Plate B" intervention was compared with and without feeder modeling.

Stimulus fading procedures have long been documented to transfer the control of one behavior to that of another discriminative stimulus (Fields, et al., 1976). In terms of feeding behaviors, this has taken many forms. Antecedent manipulations have been shown to be effective in increasing positive mealtime behaviors by fading the texture of the food (Luiselli & Gleason, 1987; Shore, et al., 1998), the potency of food (Mueller, et al., 2004; Patel, et al., 2001), the utensil used (Johnson & Babbitt, 1993), and even the initial distance from spoon to mouth (Mueller; Rivas, et al., 2010). Another form of stimulus fading is the manipulation of the amount of food on the spoon. Little is known if this manipulation alone or in conjunction with other treatments can increase the consumption of nonpreferred foods and/or decrease any negative behaviors associated with feeding interventions. Additionally, research is thin regarding the proper method for successful fading in terms of efficiency. This current study looks at the use of bolus fading alone and in conjunction with other protocols to see if such effects occur in 2 young children who display disordered eating patterns. Discussion is made for the appropriateness of implementation in terms of time, cost, and positive benefits outside of acceptance.

Many children with feeding disorders are dependent on supplemental feeding (e.g., gastrostomy tube) or consume insufficient calories and nutrients for growth and weight gain. Investigators have described methods for increasing acceptance of solids and liquids for these children (e.g., Piazza, Patel, et al., 2003). What has not been described is a method for increasing volume (and calories) once the child is orally accepting solids and liquids. Therefore, the purpose of the current investigation was to identify the most efficient method for increasing volume in 2 children with food and liquid refusal once we had established acceptance of solids and liquids. First, we increased acceptance of solids and liquids. Currently, we are comparing 2 methods of increasing volume of solids and liquids. In one condition, we maintain the volume of food on the spoon or liquid in the cup (i.e., bolus size) and increase the rate at which the feeder presents the bites and drinks. In the other condition, we maintain the presentation rate and increase the bolus size of solids on the spoon and liquids in the cup. Preliminary findings suggest that the bolus size manipulation may result in the greatest increases in volume and calories.

In this symposium we present recent research regarding the treatment of stereotypical and challenging behaviors associated with individuals with developmental disabilities. The first paper examines the effectiveness of a multi-component treatment to reduce problem behaviors associated with behavior inflexibility. Behavior inflexibility can disrupt daily living and learning opportunities. In this study, functional communication training, extinction, and a signal to delayed reinforcement were effective in reducing such behavioral inflexibility. The second paper investigates the effectiveness of a treatment procedure to reduce a self-injurious behavior, which required daily medical treatment for a young child with autism. An attempt to match possible reinforcement properties of the self-injurious behavior resulted in an effective replacement behavior. The third paper evaluates the use of a latency functional analysis to identify the function of elopement among a young boy with an intellectual disability. Functional analysis of elopement is notably difficult due to confounding variables associated with participant retrieval during the assessment process. Latency functional analysis is explored as an alternative functional assessment methodology. Results of the assessment were verified via functional communication training

Insistence on sameness, stereotyped movements, and resistance to change constitute a core diagnostic characteristic of autism spectrum disorders (ASD, American Psychiatry Association, 2000). This lack of behavioral flexibility (Wahlberg & Jordan, 2001) generally interferes in the individuals functional life, and can lead to deficits in problem solving and coping skills (Grenn et al., 2007). If not treated, these inflexible behaviors disrupt the daily life of these children and their families and impede learning opportunities and generalization of skills (Green et al., 2007). Assessment of specific daily situations in which insistence on sameness occurs (Green et al., 2006) and functional analysis of these inflexible behaviors are important aspects to plan and implement an appropriate intervention to promote behavior flexibility. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of functional communication training with extinction and signaled delay to reinforcement on escape-maintained challenging behaviors associated with behavioral inflexibility in young children with autism. Preliminary results show the intervention was effective in reducing behavioral inflexibility and that participants generalized learned replacement behaviors across stimuli.

Elopement is a potentially dangerous problem behavior prevalent among individuals with developmental disabilities. However, functional analysis of elopement presents unique challenges including difficulties identifying and arranging idiosyncratic contextual variables and participant retrieval during functional analysis conditions. In the current study, we implemented a latency functional analysis with an eight-year old child with intellectual disability, in which the dependent measure was latency to elopement. Following the latency functional analysis, a functional communication intervention was developed and its effectiveness in decreasing elopement was evaluated using an ABAB design. Findings suggest that latency functional analysis may be a suitable methodology to identify the operant function of elopement.

Developing effective, efficient interventions for children with developmental disabilities is a primary focus in applied research. Particularly for receptive language programs, the establishment of faulty stimulus control is common among individuals with developmental disabilities. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of several procedures for either teaching receptive language skills or to remediate faulty stimulus control (e.g., blocked-trial procedure, "UCLA" method). However, relatively little research has evaluated different strategies for teaching receptive language in applied settings. In addition, there is a substantial gap in research comparing different strategies for teaching receptive language skills. The studies in the symposium are focused on evaluating commonly recommended and under-evaluated procedures for teaching receptive language skills (e.g., conditional discriminations) or comparing different strategies to determine the most efficient teaching procedure.

Teaching new skills to children diagnosed with autism sometimes results in the child errors or scrolling through various responses. Inaccurate responding suggests the new skills have not been brought under appropriate stimulus control. In past research, investigators have used a blocked-trial procedure to teach conditional discriminations to adults with developmental disabilities, usually resulting in responding coming under appropriate stimulus control. The purpose of the current research was to use a blocked-trial procedure to teach discriminations to young children diagnosed with autism. Children were taught receptive identification skills (e.g., touch head, touch foot) using a blocked-trial procedure. Results showed the blocked-trial procedure can be used to teach discriminations. Limitations and suggestions for using the blocking procedure will be discussed.

Several EIBI Manuals recommend the use of a simple/conditional discrimination training procedure in which training begins with simple discriminations and gradually introduces more difficult discriminations over time. Lovaas (2003) outlined a 9-step procedure in which simple discriminations are established in isolation using massed trials. As the learner progresses through the training protocol, the steps involve presenting two -or three stimulus -array conditional discriminations. Grow, Carr, Kodak, Jostad, and Kisamore (2011) noted that such procedures might foster faulty stimulus control and result in specific error patterns that inhibit correct responding. Despite this observation, the simple/conditional discrimination procedure remains common practice in EIBI programs. Moreover, Grow et al.s research suggested that a conditional-only procedure that involves establishing conditional discriminations from the onset might be more efficient than the simple/conditional procedure. The present study sought to extend Grow et al.s findings by a) examining the use of errorless training procedures employed in the both the simple/ conditional and conditional-only methods, and b) evaluating the methods in a child with autism under the age of three.

Several procedures are recommended and used for teaching receptive labeling skills (i.e., conditional discriminations) to children with developmental disabilities (e.g., blocked-trial procedure, conditional only). Previous research suggests that sequentially introducing new targets is effective for teaching receptive language skills(Saunders & Spradlin, 1989; Williams, Perez-Gonzalez, &Queiro, 2005). However, there are clinical variations in the way in which targets are sequentially introduced during training (e.g., Lovaas, 2003, Saunders & Spradlin, 1989. The purpose of the study was to compare the blocked-trial procedure with the procedure described by Lovaas (2003). One child with an autism spectrum disorder participated in two comparative evaluations. Results indicated that the procedure described in Lovaas (2003) was a more efficient procedure than the blocked-trial procedure. Results will be discussed in terms of implications for teaching receptive language skills in applied settings.

The experimental analysis of human behavior provides the foundation for applied research and clinical practice. While most research is clearly categorized as either basic or applied in nature, bridge research that combines basic experimental preparations with applied populations to examine behavioral phenomenon is a valuable contribution. The presentations in this symposium will review findings from basic experimental research with children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and provide discussions about the practical implications for treatment. Individuals with ASD display unique characteristics that may influence basic learning processes. As such additional bridge research is needed. The first presentation in this symposium will include research on a pairing procedure to establish tangible and social stimuli as conditioned reinforcers under progressive-ratio reinforcement schedules. The second presentation will include research on habituation and dishabituation in operant conditioning with a variety of social, visual, and edible reinforcers with young children. The final presentation will examine the concept of self-control established through video modeling. A discussion of the basic and applied implications will be included.

The pairing procedure is a standard means of conditioning neutral stimuli as effective reinforcers. As a result, practitioners often pair effective reinforcers with neutral stimuli (e.g., social praise, new toys, etc.) to establish these stimuli as conditioned reinforcers. However, little research exists on establishing conditioned reinforcers with young children with autism, particularly when effective reinforcers are paired with preferred stimuli that do not function as reinforcers. This study evaluated the reinforcement effects of highly preferred edible, tangible, and social stimuli and utility of a pairing procedure to enhance the reinforcement effects of weak reinforcers. Results indicate that the pairing procedure can enhance reinforcer effectiveness of preferred stimuli. However, the effects of the pairing procedure were not very robust, with only marginal increases in the reinforcer efficacy for moderately-preferred stimuli and no increase in reinforcer efficacy for less preferred stimuli. Interestingly, the pairing procedure substantially enhanced the reinforcer efficacy of the most preferred stimulus.

Recently, habituation has been evaluated within the operant conditioning paradigm and evidence suggests that habituation may occur with repeatedly presented reinforcers. While the role of habituation in reinforcer effectiveness has obvious applied implications, much of this research is limited to nonhuman animals. The purpose of this study was to examine habituation and dishabituation in operant responding. Participants included young children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well as children of typical development. Following a decrease in responding under original reinforcer conditions, a novel reinforcer was briefly delivered with a subsequent return to the original reinforcer for the final 2 minutes of the session. Additionally, some participants were exposed to control conditions in which a novel reinforcer was not presented. Results demonstrate response patterns indicative of habituation and dishabituation when novel stimuli are interjected into the experimental session. The current study has applied implications for preventing habituation and producing response recovery during operant conditioning.

Self-control is often examined within a concurrent-choice procedure. In this preparation, selection of the larger, more delayed reinforcer is considered demonstrative of self-control. In contrast, impulsive behavior is characterized by the selection of the smaller, immediate reinforcer. Previous research has demonstrated that individuals who frequently make impulsive selections during baseline can be taught to select the larger, delayed reinforcer, thereby demonstrating self-control. However, this shift in preference typically follows a gradual progression in the delay to the larger reinforcer. In the present study, the utility of a video peer modeling procedure to increase the frequency of self-control selections was evaluated with children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The antecedent-based instructional techniques did not involve manipulation of the delay to reinforcement or reinforcer value. Results suggest that video peer modeling may enhance self-control choice in children with autism. Results from this study are discussed in terms of basic behavioral processes underlying self-control, potential clinical implications, and directions for future applied research.

With increasing emphasis globally in education on the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) along with a heightened need for accountability in education and requirements to use evidence-based practices, it is imperative that online instruction be developed using rigorous, scientific methods that result in valid, effective outcomes for students. This symposium will discuss the identification of successful strategies and implementation practices that integrate technology tools and instructional design into global markets. Dr. Osnes will describe a survey of major education markets worldwide and the approach that countries in those markets use to guide instruction. Effectiveness and education standards, who controls instructional content in the schools, and how end users access and use content will be reviewed. Dr. Leons presentation will address the instructional design that has been revolutionized by the learning scientists at Headsprout that has resulted historically in effective, online reading instruction for thousands of students internationally. Lastly, Dr. Berenfelds presentation will describe the GlobalLab program, an online program that allows students to collaborate internationally on science projects. He will also discuss the utilization of education technology in Russia, Mexico, and the U.S. Implications for behavior analysis in the global, education marketplace will be examined.

Adequate achievement of educational outcomes by primary- and secondary-aged students is a global need. However, developing instructional programs in the U.S. for the global marketplace requires both language translation and localization of instructional content to adapt the instruction for non-U.S. nations and cultures. The expense of translation can be prohibitive for companies who compete globally, and often the methods used to identify and prioritize countries for localization are subjective (i.e., self-report of company employees). To determine the countries in the global marketplace in which to prioritize localization of instructional content, a more objective method of identifying participant countries than the self-report process was sought. This presentation will describe the research that was conducted to yield a priority list of countries with the potential to obtain and implement online, instructional content that was developed by a team of instructional designers who were trained in behavior analysis. To be presented will be: the process of developing the research and rolling it out to global participants; the utility of the results to identify the top priority countries in which to invest company resources in translation and localization; and the challenges associated with the endeavor.

Several nations are expressing a common concern over the education of their citizens and making active attempts at improving it, in what seems to be an international movement toward clear and relevant education standards. The growing emphasis on science, mathematics, and technology as valuable knowledge for learners around the globe opens another opportunity for international cooperation in the education field. At the same time, new challenges arise when developing instructional materials that are to be used across different countries. Even though the fundamental learning principles are the same across individuals, modifications to instructional programs are needed in order to accommodate differences in language, teacher preparation level, learner entry repertoires, and other variables that impact program effectiveness and adoption. This presentation will provide an overview of the approach to instructional design that has been revolutionized by the Headsprout learning scientists and will describe and exemplify the ways that global needs are considered when designing instructional programs aimed at international audiences. In particular, the discussion will address how content localization for global audiences is approached and will provide specific examples for the countries (identified in the first presentation) in which behavior analysts are likely to have the most impact.

Dr. Berenfeld has been involved in innovative education and research solutions internationally for decades. He holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics and has a passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education. His most expansive projects, GlobalLab and GlobalLab Jr. are programs that emphasize student use of interactive classroom technology tools and research-based instruction in the pursuit of demonstrable skill acquisition in life sciences. The GlobalLab program is an online program that allows students to collaborate internationally on science projects and establishes an online community of practice toward that end. GlobalLab has been widely recognized by the Clinton Administration, Fortune, Wired, and Science magazines as an exemplary education initiative. In addition, UNESCO has called GlobalLab the Worlds biggest science class. Dr. Berenfeld will demonstrate the GlobalLab and GlobalLab Jr. programs and discuss the opportunities and challenges of implementing multi-national education technology solutions in Russia, Mexico and the United States. He will also share his vision for expanding student and classroom collaboration internationally and across subjects.

One of the enterprises of a science of behavior is to generate an end product (data) that faithfully represents a quantitative description of natural or imposed variability characteristic of events. Our success at this over the years is undeniable and has served as the basis for describing the emerging practices from the science as "evidence-based". The manner in which we "announce" our evidence falls under the rubric of data display, the process of transforming data from investigation or treatment effects into stimuli whose function is to influence interpretive behavior. The behavior analyst is in a unique position to assist other professionals in interpreting their own body of facts so that they can reap the benefits of their respective science and practice. During early developmental stages, applied behavior analysis utilized cumulative curves to describe important relationships between independent and dependent variables. Examples from these early reports serve as powerful demonstrations of an emergent technology of behavior (Wolf, Risley, & Mees, 1964). Oddly enough, the practice of presenting cumulative curves to describe data has virtually disappeared in applied behavior analysis, and our departure from this practice seems to have occurred without notice or discussion—a premature and perhaps a regrettable outcome of steady state research. In this symposium, three papers are presented in which data are reported using cumulative curves. A close examination of these curves reveals behavior-environment interactions that may have been neglected using traditional graphing procedures. The implications of using cumulative curves will be discussed, as well as further directions in function-based treatments, and in applied behavior analysis, in general.

Professionals have a vested interest in the display of behavior graphs in as much as they can demonstrate the relative contributions from various interventions. Behavior analysts developing treatment plans often work closely with psychiatrists who are addressing behaviors pharmacologically. Medication adjustments involve manipulations of independent variables and these effects are of paramount importance to the outcome of treatment. This presentation addresses the use of cumulative graphing techniques to determine the effects of medication adjustments on aggressive behaviors that are concurrently treated by withdrawing attention contingent upon aggressive behaviors (e.g.,: attention), and providing contingent delivery of conditioned reinforcement for alternative behaviors. Three subjects between the ages of 35 and 50 were admitted for treatment of aggressive behaviors after suffering a brain injury. Functional behavior assessments suggested that aggressive behaviors by subjects had been shaped and maintained by attention delivered following these behaviors. Differential reinforcement procedures were developed and implemented approximately 24–72 hours after admission, and remained in effect throughout the reported treatment period. Medication adjustments also served as independent variables. Figure 1 shows a graph using a more traditional plotting method in which aggressive behaviors were recorded daily. Figure 2 presents these same data plotted in a cumulative graph. The2 curves are generally negatively accelerated, and contain within them "mini" extinction curves, which developed primarily when medications were decreased. Two other subjects received the same general treatment and medication adjustments, and cumulative curves generated were essentially the same in shape. Implications will be discussed, both from the perspective of a behavior analyst and a psychiatrist.

Social networking websites are becoming more popular and more easily accessible for all populations. The online social networking provides difficulty for a controlled environment to directly address inappropriate attention-seeking behavior. The research in this study is relevant to this population as individuals are being provided with attention for making inappropriate posts; such as, threats of self-harm, solicitation of sex, and inappropriate false reporting of caregivers. The subject of this study was a 26-year-old individual with a diagnosis of acquired brain injury. A multielement treatment reversal design with cumulative graphing was utilized during the study. The present study introduced3 confederates who were already established as caregivers and members of the subject's social networking website (Facebook). The confederates were provided simple instructions of how to implement differential reinforcement of alternative behavior within the confines of Facebook. In the presented research, evidence supports a treatment effect for reducing the number of inappropriate attention seeking behavior and increasing the appropriate attention seeking behavior through the establishment of confederates trained in providing differential reinforcement of alternative behavior in a social networking website.

Behavior treatment plans often use differential reinforcement strategies that withhold reinforcement for target behaviors, and provide reinforcement for alternative behaviors. The relation between the specific target behaviors and designated alternative behaviors are usually derived from functional assessment or functional analysis procedures. The alternative behaviors identified in these relations have been referred to as "replacement behaviors," but this term has not been adopted uniformly byapplied behavior analysispractitioners and there are compelling reasons to discard this term. In this presentation,2 case studies are presented in which behaviors targeted for reduction were determined to be related to attention from caregivers. Cumulative graphs were used to analyze differential reinforcement interventions. Following apparent early treatment success, negatively accelerating trends for target behaviors reversed abruptly following inadvertent positive reinforcement (attention) for target behaviors; however, positively accelerating curves for alternative behaviors remained unchanged. Figures 1 and 2 show cumulative responses for both subjects. Such a reversal is not uncommon, but rather reveals that differential reinforcement contingencies can be transient and brittle, often reflecting ongoing fluctuations in competing reinforcement contingencies. Under these circumstances, the term "replacement behaviors" is misleading and could generate misconceptions about the enduring nature of ABA treatments. Other terms are suggested and the use of cumulative recording is encouraged to track changes in competing reinforcement contingencies.

Analogue functional analysis methodology is an eloquent direct observation assessment that allows for relatively rapid assessment of broad classes of antecedents and consequences that evoke and maintain topographies of aberrant behavior. Functional analysis outcomes are then used to (a) rule-out broad classes of treatment options that will likely have counter therapeutic effects, and (b) prescribe broad classes of treatments that are matched to the function of aberrant behavior and likely to reduce it while increasing adaptive behavior. The focus of the current symposium is to add to our understanding of methodological modifications to analogue functional analysis methodology. Two of the talks will present single-subject experimental analyses documenting the clinical utility of using functional analysis to assess idiosyncratic sources of reinforcement and to a novel topography (i.e., crying). The final talk will detail methodological modifications of functional analysis to longitudinal analysis of changes in topography and functions of aberrant behavior exhibited by very young children at risk for chronic aberrant behavior. Finally, Jennifer Zarcone will serve as a discussant to integrate findings across the3 talks in relation to historical and contemporary applications of functional analysis methodology to assessment and treatment of aberrant behavior.

The utility of functional analysis (FA) to assess behaviors displayed by persons with emotional disturbances (e.g., bullying) has been understudied; however, other studies have attempted to address this population with supplemental methods to a functional analysis (e.g., Neef, Mace & Shade, 1993). Although functional analysis is the gold standard for assessment of the function of challenging behavior the typical conditions do not always lend themselves to behavior that is difficult to define. Therefore, behavior analysts must try to identify the specific variables to be assessed and the conditions necessary to test the hypotheses. An individual with a diagnosed emotional disturbance participated. Initial assessment of invading personal space, under traditional FA conditions, led to the hypothesis that invading space was one behavior within a response class of behaviors, rule breaking. Therefore, the FA was modified to assess rule breaking behavior. Additionally, 2 attention conditions were assessed (positive and negative attention) in addition to the typical conditions. Results of the functional analysis indicated that attention was maintaining the rule breaking behavior, with a bias toward negative attention. A program, based on LeBlanc, Hapopianand Maglieri (2000) was developed to teach appropriate boundaries. Results of the analysis and boundaries program will be presented.

Crying has yet to be systematically examined in isolation from other problematic behaviors such as aggression or tantrums; therefore, the utility of applying functional analysis methodology to crying remains unclear (Hanley, Iwata, & McCord, 2003). Identifying variables that may maintain crying is especially important for populations who are often susceptible to psychiatric interventions (i.e., individuals who have intellectual disabilities and communication deficits). The current study extended functional analysis methodology to crying with an adolescent male diagnosed with intellectual disabilities. Based on results of descriptive data, a 3-min emotionally charged (e.g., children crying) video was created and played across all sessions. Six experimental conditions were evaluated in a multielement design and data were collected on the duration of crying per session. Results suggested that crying was maintained by caregiver attention delivered in a sympathetic manner. Reliability data were collected for at least one-third of observations and averaged above 80%.

The National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Research Grant No. HD 060500 funds a current study analyzing risk and protective factors for the development of chronic aberrant behavior (CAB) exhibited by children 4- 48 months old at high risk for developing CAB due to specific neurodevelopmental disorders. One component of HD 060500 includes longitudinal home-based and parent-implemented analogue functional analyses of (1) aggression, (2) self-injury, (3) property destruction, (4) stereotypy, and (5) tantrums. Seventeen children with the mean age of 32 months (range of 17 - 41 months old) in Lima, Peru participated in brief analogue functional analysis observations (i.e., Control, Attention, Escape, and Alone conditions) repeated every 6 months for up to two years. Preliminary functional analysis results (see Figure 1) suggests all participants exhibited multiple topographies of CAB (17 children with 76 topographies) and that the most common function was automatic (17), followed by negative reinforcement (14), positive reinforcement in the form of attention (6), and undifferentiated (39). Data is still being collected and will be discussed in terms of other relevant risk and protective factors for CAB.

There is a need for efficient braille training methods for instructors of the visually impaired. This study evaluated the use of a computer-based program intended to train the relation of braille characters to English letters using a matching-to-sample procedure with 80 sighted college students. Participants mastered matching visual depictions of the braille alphabet to their text counterparts with an average of 99% accuracy and demonstrated improvements in braille reading ability following an average of only 24 minutes of training. Follow-up sessions showed adequate maintenance of the letter matching skill at 7–14 days. In addition, the study conducted a direct comparison of multiple-choice vs. constructive responding to assess differences in skill acquisition and maintenance.

It was suggested that the formation of a stimulus class may emerge through indirect teaching (Stomer, MacKay, & Remington, 1996). Instructor feedback is an indirect teaching procedure involving the presentation of an additional, nontarget stimulus to the consequence event of a discrete trial. In this study, investigators evaluated the effects of instructor feedback of the category name to which a stimulus belongs on the emergence of derived categorical relations in children diagnosed with autism. Using a multiple probe design across category sets, investigators directly taught the identification of a stimulus using stimuli from various categories. In addition to direct teaching, investigators presented instructor feedback as part of the response consequence) during each discrete-trial. Following direct teaching, investigators tested the emergence of expressive and receptive identification of the category as well as category matching under baseline conditions. The data show that participants demonstrated the emergence of categorical relations, however, some relations were more susceptible to extinction effects and required the addition of direct reinforcement to maintain responding. The implications of these results will be discussed further during the presentation.

Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of relational frame theory protocols in establishing repertoires of relational responding (see Barnes-Homles, Barnes-Holmes, Smeets, Strand, & Friman, 2004). A majority of the applied studies on derived stimulus relations have examined frames of coordination, or sameness; however, many educational standards require learners to respond to relations of comparison, opposition, and distinction (Rehfeldt, 2001). The current study evaluated the effects of an intensive multiple exemplar instruction intervention on establishing frames of comparison with academically-at-risk 5–7 year-olds living in a rural impoverished region of the Midwest. Specifically, a match-to-sample protocol was used to establish frames of coordination between holidays and months. Following coordination training a match-to-sample protocol was used to establish frames of comparison (before and after) using the holiday stimuli. Preliminary data indicate that multiple exemplar instruction may not be necessary for all of the participants in this target population for facilitating the emergence of derived coordination and comparison relations.

Communication deficits are a marked feature of autism spectrum disorders. In order to address communication deficits, intensive behavioral intervention programs for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities often incorporate the conceptual analysis from B.F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior (1957) into their intervention strategies (Love, Carr, Almason, & Petursdottir, 2009). Therefore, the investigation of procedures to assess and develop verbal behavior in children with autism is needed. This symposium will present data from three studies which investigate the use of procedures to assess and develop verbal behavior. Phillips and Vollmer examined the potential roles of blocking and over-shadowing in the acquisition of textual responses when sight words were presented as compound stimuli consisting of the word plus a picture. Bowen, Shillingsburg, & Delfs examined a procedure to increase intraverbal behavior via direct teaching while embedding visual stimuli as nontargeted information into instruction. A final study (Valentino, Shillingsburg, Conine & Powell) compared differential reinforcement and the cues-pause-point procedure on the effectiveness of reducing echolalia of discriminative stimuli during echoic training. Results are discussed in terms of the application of these procedures to the treatment of communication deficits in children with autism.

Individual with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other Intellectual Disabilities (ID) often fail to acquire the textual response when sight words are presented as compound stimuli consisting of the word plus a picture (e.g., Didden et al., 2000). It is often assumed that this is the result of blocking; however, it is possible that the effect may be due to over-shadowing. This study replicates the previous research and examines the potential roles of blocking and over-shadowing. Four elementary school aged boys with ASD are participating. For each, 12 unknown sight words were identified, half corresponding with a known tact and half with a novel tact. For each of these categories, half the words were presented as a word alone and half as a compound stimulus consisting of the word embedded in a black and white line drawing. This resulted in three targets in each of four experimental conditions: known simple (control for blocking), novel simple (control for over-shadowing), known compound (test for blocking), and novel compound (test for over-shadowing). To date, although three of four participants show the picture-word effect, only one participants performance indicates a blocking effect. These procedures suggest a simple test for optimal sight reading stimulus presentation.

Identifying efficient procedures for teaching language to children with autism spectrum disorder could have a significant impact on intervention. One way to achieve efficiency is to utilize procedures to promote incidental learning during instruction. Incidental learning allows students to acquire information that is present in the instructional context but for which there are no programmed contingencies (Stevenson, 1972). Embedding nontargeted information into teaching procedures is one method to promote incidental learning and may provide learners with the opportunity to acquire additional skills without requiring additional instructional time. The current study examined a procedure aimed to increase intraverbal behavior via direct teaching while embedding visual stimuli as nontargeted information into instruction. A constant time delay was used to teach intraverbal behavior. Acquisition of tacting behavior was assessed for the embedded stimuli. One male diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder completed the study. Data show that the participant acquired all directly taught targets and was able to effectively tact visual stimuli that were embedded into intraverbal instruction without any direct teaching.

Previous research on children with autism has demonstrated that the cues-pause-point procedure is effective in decreasing echolalia when it interferes with the development of the intraverbal repertoires. Previous research did not separate the effects of differential reinforcement and the cues pause point procedure. In addition, previous research did not extend the procedure to verbal operants other than the intraverbal. Therefore, the purpose of the current investigation was to determine whether differential reinforcement alone would be as effective as differential reinforcement combined with the cues-pause-point procedure in reducing echolalia and increasing correct responding in the echoic repertoire in two children with autism. A multiple probe across behaviors design was used to isolate the effects of differential reinforcement from the cues-pause-point procedure in two participants with autism. Results indicated that differential reinforcement alone did not decrease echolalia and the full cues-pause-point procedure was necessary. For one participant, components of the procedures were systematically faded.

Information technology permeates our everyday lives. Until recently, it has been relatively neglected as a medium to deliver contingencies of reinforcement to change behavior. In this talk, I will discuss a variety of methods to harness technology to change problem behavior such as cigarette smoking and medication non-adherence. I will discuss methods to deliver contingency management to promote smoking cessation at the national level and to high-risk groups, reduce the costs associated with treatment, and integrate social consequences to promote and potentially sustain behavior change. These innovations may address many of the limitations (access, cost, sustainability, dissemination potential) inherent in traditional contingency management delivery models. Information technology offers unprecedented and rapidly expanding opportunities to facilitate behavior change.

Methods to support students' competencies often target isolated contexts or activate individual treatment agents. Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC; Sheridan, Kratochwill & Bergan, 1996; Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2008), on the other hand, is an indirect intervention focused on the attainment of students? goals through (a) collaborative and consistent implementation of evidence-based interventions across home and school settings, and (b) data-based problem solving with parents and teachers as partners. CBC is an indirect intervention wherein family members and school personnel work with a consultant to promote social-behavioral and academic competencies through coordinated problem solving, co-constructed intervention plans, shared responsibility for plan implementation, and progress monitoring of children's goals. Empirical investigations over the past two decades have documented CBC's efficacy for promoting behavioral, social-emotional and academic competencies among children facing a range of developmental and learning challenges. This presentation will chronicle the research base that has established the efficacy of the CBC intervention, including studies using single case experimental methods and randomized control trials. Outcomes at the child, parent, and teacher levels will be presented. New directions in the CBC trajectory will be discussed, including recent findings uncovering mechanisms responsible for its effects and conditions under which desired outcomes are maximized.

School-based researchers and practitioners, psychologists and behavior analysts working with children and families.

• Define conjoint behavioral consultation
• Differentiate between CBC and other methods of school-based consultation
• Describe data sources used in CBC
• Describe the empirical support for CBC 5. Explain possible mechanisms underlying effects of CBC

Behavioral challenges underpin our most significant global issues. As a result, non-scientific "behavior change" methodologies are being branded by a multitude of sources at a pace never experienced by Behavior Analysts' and they appeal to a broader market than we have ever imagined. Even though ABA continues to be the most evidence-based approach to achieving sustainable behavior change, we have been ineffective in establishing a "brand" that differentiates us from other providers, except in a few specialized areas such as Autism. A model will be presented for creating a paradigm shift among the general public in how Behavior Analysis is viewed relative to other behavior change methodologies. We will illustrate how other comparable cultural paradigms have been created and evolved globally, including Strategy, Six Sigma, American Cuisine, etc. We then will present a straw model of an updated cultural brand for ABA, showcase the results of testing that brand across a broad group of Behavior Analysts and their clients, gain feedback from the audience, and present the components of a brand strategy plan that could be used to reposition Behavior Analysis in the very near future.

This event is open to all behavior analysts interested in the branding of behavior analysis.

• Describe how other cultural brands have evolved and how the variety of people who delive against those brands benefit on a daily basis
• Discuss the power of behavior analysis using terms, principles, and values that attract today's end-users
• Identify 2-3 actions they can take immediately to help build a more contemporary brand for behavior analysis

The last century has given birth to numerous influential paradigms which have evolved to the point where they have become cultural brands that are recognized globally (e.g., American Cuisine, Six Sigma). The development of these brands follows a typical pattern, from first being invented by 'disruptive gurus' to being positioned effectively in the market by pioneers, to becoming embedded in educational institutions as the 'way to do things,' to eventually becoming global and well-respected. This pattern of brand development will be applied to illustrate one powerful way to create a paradigm shift among the general public in how behavior analysis is viewed relative to other behavior change methodologies. A new, contemporary model for behavior analysis will be presented, based on the applications of key learnings from how other paradigm shifts occurred globally.

The results of a "social networking test" of the newer, more contemporary model for behavior analysis will be presented. Volunteer behavior analysts have agreed to test the model in the first quarter of 2012, across a variety of constituents and clients to see if the terms, positioning, and value proposition for a "contemporary" view of behavior analysis resonate. The premise is that nothing is wrong with our science; the trouble lies in how we talk about it and how we discuss the brand promises. The results of this test will be presented, and the audience will be asked to provide further input and data.

A branding professional will help us understand the path forward. He will describe the components of a brand strategy plan to reposition behavior analysis in the value context of today's market. Such a plan will deliver a profile of the re-positioned, re-valued brand and will suggest communications plans for delivering the new brand message. He will help us understand what we would need to do to support such a collective effort, and what the benefits will be for all behavior analysts.

All public schools are required to provide students with disabilities with a free and appropriate public education. The use of behavior-analytic assessment and intervention for students presenting with chronic and severe problem behaviors in public schools however, have been limited due to a multitude of factors. This symposium will present data showing that empirically-based, short-term, intensive, and effective behavioral intervention can be implemented in the public school setting and can have profound effects on student progress similar to controlled, clinic settings. The first presentation will be a case study using both DRO and DRA with competing items for a student who engaged in high intensity, high frequency SIB. The second presentation will be a comparison of DRO and DRA in treating SIB maintained by automatic reinforcement and access to tangibles. The third presentation will compare direct observation data with the scores obtained from the Aberrant Behavior ChecklistCommunity (ABC-C) during baseline and intervention phases to determine the inter-method reliability and to assess the impact of the intervention. Recommendations for future research and discussions related to school-based practice will also be presented.

A combination of positive reductive procedures based on differential reinforcements is often used to produce a more potent outcome in reducing problem behaviors such as self-injurious behavior (SIB) (i.e., Beare, Severson, & Brandt, 2004). Differential reinforcement involves reinforcing one response class while withholding reinforcement for another response class, often for the absence of problem behavior (i.e., differential reinforcement of other behavior, DRO) or the occurrence of another, more desirable behavior (e.g., differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, DRA). In the present case study, DRO and DRA were implemented in an attempt to decrease chronic, high-intensity and high frequency SIB using an A-B design. The DRA consisted of delivering a secondary reinforcer (a token) for appropriate on-task behavior. The DRO consisted of delivering highly preferred items on a fixed interval contingent on the absence of SIB. The competing item consisted of the student carrying a task-related item during activity transitions. Treatment began in isolation and later generalized across various people and settings. Teaching staff and parent trainings were also conducted in the classroom to promote consistency and generalization, increasing ecological validity. The results indicate that a combination of DRA and DRO with competing items suppressed SIB significantly during 3 months of intervention.

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) are 2 commonly used procedures for reducing self-injurious behavior (SIB) in individuals with developmental disabilities (Cowdery, Iwata, & Pace, 1990). The implementation of DRO and DRA involve establishing reversal contingency for the occurrence of SIB. Previous research has evaluated these procedures for SIB maintained by only 1 function, typically conducted in controlled settings. It remains unclear whether 1 treatment would be more effective or efficient in addressing SIB maintained by multiple functions in more natural settings. In the present case study, functional analysis (Iwata et al., 1982/1994) conducted in the classroom revealed that a students SIB was maintained by automatic reinforcement and access to tangibles. DRO, then DRA, were implemented successively to alter the reinforcement contingency maintaining the SIB. Results indicate that DRO did not lead to reductions in SIB. The DRA, however, was more effective in reducing SIB. Similar findings were reported previously (i.e., Tarpley & Schroeder, 1979). Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.

An important component in measuring behaviors in students with autism and developmental disabilities is the method of data collection. Objective data provide the most sensitive and accurate analysis of the target behavior. However, the sample may represent only a fraction of the students day while requiring teachers effort and time. Ratings scales offer an alternative method of gathering global information on the teachers perceived severity of the students behavior and the impact of the intervention. Yet heavy emphasis is placed on direct observation and both methods are seldom combined to evaluate the effects of an intervention (Valdovinos et al., 2002). The current study was conducted in various public schools. Direct observations and the ABC-C (Aman & Singh, 1986) were conducted during baseline and intervention phases to determine the inter-method reliability and to assess the impact of the intervention. The results indicate that while the objective data more accurately measured the changes in the target behavior, these changes were not always reflected in the rating scales completed by the staff. Ratings scales such as the ABC-C may be a useful adjunctive tool in assessing the global perceived impact of the behavior intervention.

Feeding problems in children has become an increasing concern; such problems may include, food selectivity, food refusal, and excessive mealtime durations. The current symposium describes research evaluating treatments designed to address some of these problems that have received little attention in the literature. The first presentation describes a sequential component analysis of various components designed to increase the pace of self-feeding; the second presentation describes a treatment for food selectivity in which a high-probabiity instructional sequence is combined with low-probability demand fading in an effort to increase consumption of novel food; finally, the last presentation reviews the relevance of flavor conditioning research in the understanding of feeding problems in children

Few studies have examined the effects of the high-probability instructional sequence in the treatment of food selectivity, and results of these studies have been mixed (e.g., Dawson et al., 2003; Patel et al., 2007). The present study extended previous research on the high-p instructional sequence by combining this procedure with low-probability demand fading, with two boys with autism (9 and 10 years old) who had a history of food selectivity and engaged in active food refusal behaviors when presented with novel foods. Response requirements were gradually faded from responses the child would tolerate (e.g., touching the food) to the final requirement of chewing and swallowing the food. The antecedent-based intervention was implemented in the absence of escape extinction and was effective in increasing food consumption for both participants. Possible mechanisms responsible for the effectiveness of the intervention are discussed along with directions for future research.

Experimental psychologists have long been interested in the development of flavor preferences. A great deal of research on conditioning food preferences has been conducted using rats as subjects. Results from this line of research have identified several variables that have an effect on the conditioning of flavor preferences that may have implications for the development of food preferences for individuals with feeding difficulties. For example, four methods of developing food preferences have been identified (as cited in Capaldi, 1996); a) mere exposure, b) medicine effect, c) flavor-flavor learning, and d) flavor-nutrient learning, that may be incorporated in the treatment of feeding disorders. What is most interesting is results from research on these methods have produced outcomes that may at times be counter-intuitive to common practices in behavior analysis. While this research has obvious implications for the understanding of feeding problems, it also may contribute to our understanding of developing flavor preferences more generally, a growing concern in our culture. This presentation provides a brief overview of some of the research on flavor conditioning, describes several implications, and suggests areas for further research in behavior analysis.

Joe Lalli (1952-2001) was a productive researcher in the areas of applied behavior analysis and developmental disabilities. His work led to the development of many procedures that have become common practice in the field. Examples of his work include his research on behavioral momentum, competition between positive and negative reinforcement contingencies, descriptive assessment, response class hierarchy analyses and noncontingent reinforcement, among others. This symposium will focus on Dr. Lallis lasting impact on the field of applied behavior analysis. The first presentation describes an extension of Dr. Lallis method for evaluating response class hierarchies during the treatment of destructive behavior. The second presentation will describe Dr. Lallis development of activity schedules and the application of this procedure to decrease problem behavior in a clinic setting. The third presentation will focus on Dr. Lallis work examining competition between positive and negative reinforcement contingencies and the use of positive reinforcement as an abolishing operation for escape-maintained behavior. Professor F. Charles Mace, Joes former advisor, colleague, and long-time friend will serve as discussant and will provide a synthesis of these studies relative to Dr. Lallis contributions to the field of applied behavior analysis.

The term response class refers to a set of response topographies (e.g., self-injury, aggression) maintained by the same reinforcer (e.g., attention). Some topographies may occur more frequently than others, and their relative probabilities are influenced by variables such as response effort and rate and immediacy of reinforcement. Lalli et al. (1995) developed an approach to assess hierarchical relations between members of a response class (i.e., lower probability responses occurring primarily when higher probability responses are extinguished). Treatment in such cases often involves differential reinforcement of an alternative response combined with extinction of destructive behavior. In the current investigation, functional analysis methods were used to demonstrate that the various topographies of destructive behavior formed response classes for two participants. Following the procedures developed by Lalli et al., we then determined that the topographies of destructive behavior occurred in a hierarchical manner. In addition, when topographies of destructive behavior were placed on extinction, we observed the emergence of previously undetected prosocial responses which were then subjected to differential reinforcement in order to maintain decreases in destructive behavior. These findings will be discussed in terms of the extensions to the response class hierarchy identification procedures developed by Lalli and colleagues.

Prior investigations have shown that a promising approach to the treatment of destructive behavior maintained by negative reinforcement involves the delivery empirically derived, positive reinforcers contingent on appropriate, alternative responses, such as communication or compliance (Lomas, Fisher, & Kelley, in press). This approach is especially useful for situations in which extinction of destructive behavior is impractical (e.g., tasks requiring vocal responses that cannot be physically guided) or the target response is potentially dangerous (e.g., increases in severe SIB due to extinction bursts). In the current presentation, we will discuss data from a series of investigations illustrating the role of positive reinforcement in establishing and abolishing the effectiveness of escape as reinforcement for destructive behavior during assessment and treatment. We will show that in some cases, the termination of ongoing positive reinforcers at the start of an instructional session can establish escape as effective reinforcement for destructive behavior. We will also show that in some cases destructive behavior reinforced by escape decreases with the introduction of positive reinforcement because the participant prefers the positive reinforcer over the negative reinforcer. Finally, we will show that in other cases the positive reinforcer functions as an abolishing operation (AO) that lessens the aversiveness of the demands, thus reducing destructive behavior. Results will be discussed in terms of the effects of positive reinforcement on escape-reinforced problem behavior.

Paper 1 summarizes effects of exemplar training on the emergence of combinatorial entailment in children lacking stimulus equivalence. Paper 2 summarizes effects of establishment of audience control via conditioned reinforcement on social verbal interactions in nursery school children who lacked audience control. Paper 3 summarizes effects of multiple exemplar training on the emergence of metaphors in fourth graders. Paper 4 summarizes effects of establishment of reinforcement control of print on the emergence of untaught visual match to sample responding and conditioned reinforcement for books in children with autism. The papers extend our understanding of preverbal and verbal behavior developmental cusps. Together the papers address key preverbal foundational cusps (conditioned reinforcement for observing responses and cross-modal stimulus equivalence), the role of the audience in verbal episodes, and the emergence of metaphors.

The source of certain emergent relations has been theorized to be a biological given, brought about by reinforcement contingencies for conditional discriminations, or by a history of relational responding within the context of cues in the environment. The participants in the experiment were 4 children diagnosed with autism who demonstrated significant cognitive and language delays, who were unable to demonstrate equivalent, combinatorial relations during baseline. However, following mastery of a frame of coordination with training stimuli via multiple exemplar instruction, 3 of 4 participants demonstrated stimulus equivalence through the transitive relation, also referred to as combinatorial entailment.

Using a nonconcurrent multiple probe design we tested whether the establishment of conditioned reinforcement for observing print stimuli resulted in the emergence of generalized match-to-sample (MTS) for 77 identical print stimuli and 77 abstractions and book preference (conditioned reinforcement for looking) by 3 kindergarteners with autism diagnoses. Consistent with other evidence on conditioned reinforcement for observing response our data showed that conditioning stimuli controlling observing responses results: (a) in the emergence/acceleration of discrimination learning, and (b) affirmation of reinforcement for observing responses as behavioral developmental cusps. Conditioned reinforcement for observing responses reduces or eliminates the necessity to use stimulus prompts and can result in a class of responding. The findings suggest that conditioned reinforcement for observing responses to print stimuli is a preverbal foundational developmental cusp. These findings add to the evidence that conditioned reinforcers may serve as critical developmental stages that result in accelerated learning or the emergence of new stimulus control made possible by the establishment of conditioned reinforcement for observing responses.

Using a nonconcurrent multiple probe design controlling for maturation and history we tested the effect of the social reinforcement protocol (the social listener reinforcement protocol) on the emergence or increases in conversational units and sequelics initiated and received by4 typically developing nursery school children who emitted few appropriate social verbal episodes with peers prior to the intervention. Participants were selected from a nursery school for typically developing children. Following the social reinforcement intervention we found that the 4-stage protocol (mastery of games involving 20 questions, I spy, and an empathy procedure) resulted in increases, or the emergence of, complex socially appropriate verbal episodes between the target children and peers, replacement of nonvocal interactions (physical mands) with social verbal exchanges, and significant increases in accurate choral responding during group instruction. The findings suggest that the protocol resulted in the establishment of a social verbal behavior developmental cusp that replaced inappropriate behavior and accelerated academic learning.

Intwo studies with fourth-grade students from an Accelerated Independent Learner (AIL) classroom we tested if metaphors could be taught using multiple exemplar instruction. In the first experiment, using a nonconcurrent multiple probe design, during baseline participants selected and produced metaphors for 10 target words that were in repertoire for literal usage. The intervention involved the rotation across behavior topographies to construct and select metaphors for a second set of words presented as words and pictures. The results showed a significant increase in correct metaphorical responding across all 3 participants. In the second experiment with 4 other students from another fourth-grade class, also an AIL class, we tested the role of the tact in acquiring metaphors. Baseline procedures remained the same as used in Experiment 1. The intervention involved students alternating with the experimenter to make metaphors for 3-dimensional objects. A yoked contingency game board was used as an establishing operation throughout the second study. The second experiment is still in progress.

Individuals with autism often engage in rigid or stereotyped patterns of behavior. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to examine the effects of an across session (second-order) lag schedule on the choice of leisure activities of three elementary students diagnosed with autism. During baseline, two participants showed low levels of response variability when choosing a leisure activity and one participant displayed a pattern of frequent within session switching. Variable responding across sessions increased for all participants following the implementation of the across session lag schedule of reinforcement. During a non-treatment follow-up, one participant continued to respond according to the Lag 2 schedule and one participant engaged in reparative responding. This study supports the use of lag schedules of reinforcement to increase response variability in students with autism. Additionally, it addresses the limitation of frequent within-session switching by utilizing an across session schedule.

Prior research has demonstrated that when positive reinforcement is presented contingent upon response variability, organisms will increase the degree to which they vary their behavior (e.g., Page & Neuringer, 1985). However, relatively little research has been conducted on the relationship between negative reinforcement and variability. Although positive and negative reinforcement operate similarly (Michael, 1975; Perone, 2003), some have suggested that negative reinforcement may restrict an organisms behavioral repertoire (Sidman, 2001). We evaluated the effects of a schedule in which negative reinforcement was contingent upon response variability. Several college students enrolled in an introductory course in special education served as participants. They played a computer game in which a high-pitched tone was played through earphones, and clicking on one of nine buttons on the screen could terminate the tone. In successive conditions, termination of the tone depended on the current response differing from the previous 3 responses (lag 3) or repeating one of the previous 3 responses (rep 3). Distinctive background colors were associated with the lag 3 and rep schedules. A subsequent series of manipulations assessed the extent to which these background colors exerted stimulus control over responding. All participants responded more variably under the lag 3 condition. Half of the participants also demonstrated stimulus control.

Basic behavioral literature suggests that behavioral variability is a dimension of behavior that can be increased with operant reinforcement and controlled by discriminative stimuli (Page and Neuringer, 1985). In the current study, a multiple schedule was first used to establish stimulus control over repeated and variable responding in the presence of two different colored cards in 2 college students. Reinforcement was available on an FR schedule of reinforcement during the REPEAT component and on a Lag schedule of reinforcement during the VARY component. Once discriminated responding was observed, a novel task was introduced and repeated and variable responses during the novel task were measured during an extinction component in the presence of the previously acquired same discriminative stimuli. The presence of the discriminative stimuli evoked variable responding both participants, even when reinforcement was removed for all components.

Functional assessment has become the cornerstone of intervention practices in the field of applied behavior analysis. The methods by which we disseminate and train practitioners in the use of functional assessment is important for clients, students, and staff. As such, a careful consideration of learning prerequisite knowledge and skills, objectives, content, method, and outcome of efforts to teach this domain is required for anyone teaching new or developing students and practitioners. A review of the research literature and available instructional materials (e.g., textbooks, software, videos, online resources) was conducted to identify existing approaches for teaching functional assessment to psychology students and staff. A summary of the instructional methods that currently exist and the research evidence on their effectiveness will be presented and evaluated. The accomplishments, missing links and possible avenues to be explored will be discussed.

Graduate students hoping to secure an academic or research position face employment opportunities that increasingly require pursuit of external funds to support their work. The ability to prepare high-quality grant proposals depends on not only a deep knowledge of an area of inquiry and of research design methodologies, but also an understanding of and ability to critically evaluate proposals according to the scoring criteria against which they will be judged (e.g., how the National Institutes of Health or the Institute of Education Sciences instruct reviewers to score proposals). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of a grant-writing class on graduate student ability to critically review grant proposals according to federal guidelines. Graduate students from a College of Education reviewed and scored a grant proposal using IES guidelines on the first day of class and again on the last day of a summer-semester grant-writing class. We compared their pre-post performance along several dimensions of skill including the ability to identify issues and problems with the significance, methodology, personnel, and resources specified in the proposal.

The use of the standard celeration chart as the primary means of data collection and visual inspection of clinical data can be a challenge at times. The papers in this syposium address a few areas of research needed to continue integrating the chart into everyday practice for behavior analysts. The first paper will address the issue of time required to teach trainers to chart. The second paper in this syposium will provide actual clinical data, which was retroactively charted and then compared to the line graphs that were used to make clinical decisions. The third paper is an actual case study in precision teaching where the chart will be used to view self-monitoring data. Warning: These presentations contain images of extremely graphic scientific content.

Two groups of direct care staff were trained using a behavior skills training (BST) approach to collect data using the standard celeration chart. Both groups received the same training packagethat included instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback sessions, which lasted 3 hours. All participants were permitted to practice charting and test for competency at some point following training. The only difference between groups was the competency criteria. Group 1 was required to meet an 80% correct criterion to chart a data set. Group 2 was required to meet a minimum fluency of 16 marks per minute before they were considered competent. As a control, Group 1's fluency with the chart were also documented during training and follow-up sessions. All individuals that were given the same data set to test for competency in both groups. Data sets were created to allow participants several attempts if needed to reach competency. Maintenance of charting accuracy was recorded over the course of 6 months for both groups.

There are benefits and limitations to both traditional data collection methods for discrete trial training and fluency-based measures in clinical practice. In the current study, actual clinical data from a day treatment facilityin the areas of skill acquisition and reduction of target behavior was evaluated and transferred to a Standard Celeration Chart when applicable. These cases were overseen previously by behavior analysts who were not trained in the use of standard celeration charts and therefore did not utilize them for decision making. Discrete trial acquisition targets were moved to frequency measures and evaluated and reinforced based on fluency criterion in place of percent correct criterion. An evaluation of retention, fluency, and accuracy was performed. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the benefits and limitations of the percent correct, equal-interval data analysis, and the standard celeration chart by comparing them when interpreting and collecting data. Despite consumer familiarity and therefore demand of the standard line graph for presenting data there are considerable best practice reasons for behavior analysts to utilize the standard celeration chart as the basis for treatment decision making in clinical settings.

This study examined Precision Teaching outcomes for Irish nonidentical twin 7-year-old boys with autism. The target behaviors were tacting food items and animals in French. Two learning channel sets were practiced for 3, 1-minute timings5 days a week for4 weeks: see picture/say French word and see French text/say English word. The first hypothesis was that when students self-recorded their data it would result in a higher number of correct responses emitted per minute than when the data was recorded by their tutor. The second hypothesis was that learning outcomes would generalize across3 untrained learning sets: hear English word/write French word; hear English word/say French word; and hear French word/say English word. Results showed that both participants scored 0 correct in all timed baselines probes. The first hypothesis was supported. Both participants achieved greater results when they tabulated and graphed their own data (a maximum of 62, 45, 34, and 28 correct responses per minute versus 57, 38, 28, and 23 correct responses per minute). One-month follow-up probes also showed that the data for the self-recorded targets were maintained at a higher rate than those that were tutor-recorded. The second hypothesis was also supported, whereby the results generalized across3 novel learning channels. The implications of these results are discussed.

Teaching young children skills in a manner that produces the emergence of additional, untrained skills can reduce the overall amount of instructional time necessary to teach a variety of targets. However, a paucity of research exists on effective teaching strategies that will reliable produce the emergence of untrained skills (Grow & Kodak, 2010). Programming for the emergence of untrained verbal behavior is of critical importance when working with individuals with developmental disabilities to reduce time spent in instruction and bridge the gap between these individuals and their typically developing peers. The collection of studies in this symposium will describe potential behavioral mechanisms responsible for emergent relations (e.g., Naming) and evaluate the effects of teaching strategies to increase the likelihood of the emergence of untrained verbal operants. First, Charlotte Carp will present on the effects of visual class formation on the emergence of intraverbals. Second, Amber Paden will describe the relationship between echoic behavior during listener training and emergent speaker skills in children with autism. Third, Nitasha Dickes will present a study evaluating the emergence of bidirectional intraverbals following intraverbal training. Finally, Caio Miguel will discuss interesting components of each study, and describe future areas of research on emergent verbal behavior.

The purpose of the current investigation was to evaluate the effects of visual equivalence class formation on the emergence of novel intraverbals. Four typically developing English-speaking children ages 4–6 were first taught vocal tacts for pictures of states, birds, and flowers. Following tact training, they were exposed to matching-to-sample training with the pictures where they were first taught an A-B (i.e., state to bird) relation and an A-C (i.e., state to flower) relation, then were exposed to an equivalence test probing 12 B-A, C-A, B-C, and C-B emergent relations. Immediately following the equivalence test, an intraverbal test was conducted that probed intraverbal relations between the pictures (e.g., "Florida goes with which bird?"). If performance criterion was not met on the equivalence test, additional rounds of both tests were administered requiring children to overtly name the sample stimulus during the equivalence test. Three out of the4 participants met the performance criterion on the intraverbal test: 2 following equivalence testing without overt naming, and1 following equivalence testing requiring overt naming. Results are discussed in terms of intraverbal naming as proposed by Horne and Lowe's (1996) Naming Hypothesis as a possible mechanism for the formation of equivalence classes.

Early intervention curriculum manuals provide recommendations regarding the sequence of various types of instruction. One instructional sequence recommends teaching receptive identification prior to expressive identification. Receptive identification targets listener skills such as touching or pointing to stimuli. Expressive identification targets speaker skills such as naming pictures of common items. Additional research is needed to evaluate the necessity of sequencing instruction in this manner and to identify any specific repertoires that may result in the emergence of speaker or listener skills in the absence of direct training. The current study compared the efficiency of receptive and expressive identification training with4 children diagnosed with autism. We also measured echoic behavior during receptive identification training to examine whether this behavior corresponded with the emergence of speaker skills. The results indicated that expressive identification training was either as or more efficient than receptive identification training. In addition, the results showed that high levels of echoic behavior during receptive identification training were associated with the emergence of untrained speaker repertoires in3 participants. The fourth participant's results did not show the emergence of speaker behavior, and this participant rarely engaged in echoic behavior during receptive identification training.

Intraverbal behavior plays an important role in conversational skills and early social interactions. Children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often lack intraverbal repertoires. Thus, it is important to emphasize the acquisition of intraverbals during treatment. Previous research has examined procedures to increase intraverbal repertoires in individuals with developmental disabilities; however, the literature is limited on the types of procedures that will result in reversibility or bidirectionality of intraverbals. The current evaluation replicated and extended the findings of Perez-Gonzalez, Garcia-Asenjo, Williams, & Carnerero (2007) by evaluating whether teaching sets of original and reverse intraverbals from the same category resulted in the emergence of novel, reverse intraverbals. Participants were 3 children diagnosed with an ASD. We used a multiple baseline across conditions design with a constant-series control (for 2 participants) to evaluate the effects of training original and reverse intraverbals on subsequent trained and untrained, reverse intraverbals. All participants in the current evaluation mastered sets of original intraverbals in a relatively small number of training sessions; however, training did not result in the emergence of untrained reverse intraverbals. Our results did not replicate previous findings, and we will discuss our results in terms of implications for future research.

One skill area receiving increased attention in the behavior-analytic literature involves teaching conditional discriminations to children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An auditory-visual (A-V) conditional discrimination requires the individual to attend to and discriminate between auditory stimuli (e.g., spoken words), scan an array of picture cards on the table, discriminate between important features of picture cards, and imitate the teachers model (if the teacher points to the correct picture in the array). Thus, skills such as scanning, imitation, auditory discriminations, visual discriminations, and matching may be critical prerequisite skills to the development of conditional discriminations. Despite the importance of teaching conditional discriminations and the large amount of time focused on teaching these skills, there are few assessment tools that predict whether children have important prerequisite skills to begin conditional discrimination training. The current investigation evaluated an assessment tool to measure prerequisite skills for A-V conditional discrimination training. We validated the results of the assessment tool by comparing acquisition of conditional discriminations in individuals who did or did not demonstrate mastery of prerequisite skills. Eight children diagnosed with an ASD participated in the investigation. Results indicated that the assessment of prerequisite skills accurately predicted whether children acquired A-V discriminations.

Children with autism and other intellectual disabilities may struggle in the development of conditional-discrimination repertoires. Previous research has suggested that presenting teaching trials in blocks in which the instructor presents the same sample stimulus repeatedly across trials in lieu of randomly alternating targets across trials and then fades the number of trials in each block, can facilitate the acquisition of these discriminations. We examined the use of a blocked-trials procedure in teaching three conditional discriminations to a child with autism using a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design and evaluated the necessity of fading the block size. Our results indicated that blocking trials resulted in the acquisition of these conditional discriminations. In addition, systematically fading the block size was not necessary in order to maintain that discriminated performance. Based on our findings, this blocking procedure may be a beneficial tool for teachers and practitioners in the instruction of conditional-discrimination tasks to persons with autism and other intellectual disabilities.

Because most dogs live inside people's homes where they are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to observe for extended periods of time, they are generally inaccessible to most of the standard methods of behavioral measurement. It is therefore necessary to develop different kinds of measurement techniques in order to study or evaluate their behavior. These techniques fall into two main categories: Behavioral tests that record dog's responses to specific sets of standardized stimuli, and questionnaire surveys that record indirect behavioral information provided by the dog's owner or handler. This presentation describes the development of one such survey method, The Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), and its various applications. Since its initial deployment in 2006, the C-BARQ has come to be widely used by working dog organizations, animal rescue groups, trainers and applied animal behaviorists, dog breeders, and behavioral researchers as a means of measuring individual differences in the behavior of dogs. Examples of some of the advances in our understanding of canine behavior that have emerged from this work will be presented and discussed.

Behaviorists often eschew explanations of performance (response rates and locations) that are based on psychological constructs (learning, preference, memory, impulsivity, etc.), for such constructs often lead to dualisms, homunculi, and pseudoexplanations. Their primary interest is in explaining behavior. For many others, however, this diet is too lean. Neuroscientists, for instance, often invoke psychological constructs to interpret performance. Their primary interest is psychological constructs, not behavior. Can there be a principled integration of these approaches? The conventional solution is to operationalize constructs (e.g., define preference as proportion of choices, memory as percent successes), but this often results in arbitrary and misleading indices that constrain commensurability to "procedure fetishism." An alternative solution, advanced in this talk, consists of identifying constructs with hidden parameters, states, and processes defined with quantitative precision in generative models. These models specify random processes that generate instances of performance, thus providing the basis for explaining performance from psychological constructs, and for reverse engineering the principles that govern behavior. Basic psychological research, according to this approach, should focus on developing and testing generative models, and on estimating the sensitivity of model parameters to relevant manipulations. Empirical research on memory, learning, and impulsivity in animal models illustrate these ideas.

Researchers

Delivering behavior analytic services to individuals with disabilities does not come without its challenges. With a growing population (many of whom are entering adulthood), a shortage of trained personnel, and budget cuts at the state and federal level, many service providers are turning toward technology to maximize the impact of the services they provide. With the advent of the Internet, video streaming, telemedicine, smart phones and tablet computing, the avenues by which behavior analytic assessment, intervention, and training can be delivered to this complex group of individuals is rapidly expanding. Organizations can use such technological tools to improve staff training, data collection, organizational management, curriculum design and implementation, student/client independence and communication. Panel members will discuss available technologies that may help service providers increase their impact on those they serve. A brief review of the literature on utilizing technology in ABA programs will also be given.

Dr. Stone's presentation will focus on early identification and early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders. Her research involves the characterization of early-emerging behavioral features of autism, with the dual goals of understanding the core deficits and mechanisms underlying development of the disorder, and designing targeted interventions to prevent or attenuate the expression of symptoms. Her presentation will address the social-emotional development of infant siblings of children with autism, the identification of social-communicative markers in children under 24 months, and the evaluation of a parent-implemented intervention for young children at risk for autism. She has studied several aspects of early social-communicative development, including social orienting, motor imitation, and prelinguistic communication, examining their contributions to later behavioral and diagnostic outcomes. She is particularly interested in identifying developmental pathways and risk/protective factors that contribute to variability in social, learning, and behavioral outcomes for children at elevated risk for autism.

Graduate students, faculty, professionals, practitioners, academics and researchers

• Describe assessment techniques in early childhood detection of developmental disorders and autism and the course of development.

The profession of Applied Behavior Analysis is currently the subject of an unwarranted hostile take-over by both organizations and individuals representing the profession of psychology. Recent actions of the American Psychological Association (APA), along with those of numerous state APA affiliated chapters, suggest that they have identified a need to lay claim to the field of applied behavior analysis, which they claim is unique to the profession of psychology. These actions by APA are correlated with the recent rise in popularity of behavior analytic treatment techniques, especially with children diagnosed with autism. Given the recent reduction in fee structure of Psychologists for more typical "psychological services" by many of the major members of the insurance industry, their demands to require that those practicing applied behavior analysis work under the supervision of a psychologist appear to be 'guild' in nature, motivated by concerns related to the financial implications for Psychologists. This has been exacerbated over the past few years with the number of states that have passed not only behavior analyst licensing bills, but also autism insurance mandates that require providers of ABA services to be Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs). The paper will review the history of the development of the field of behavior analysis in relation to that of psychology, specifically noting factors that support the hypothesis that behavior analysis is an independent and unique profession that should not be assumed to be subordinate to Psychology. Data supporting this hypothesis will be presented, along with a review of the changes in the relationship between the professions of Psychology and Behavior Analysis over the past 20 years in which the members of the profession of psychology has distanced itself from behavior analysis. Additionally, the paper will attempt to respond to many of the criticisms raised by members of the profession of psychology concerning the inadequate training of applied behavior analysis to serve as independent practitioners. Finally, the negative impact on both consumers as well as the insurance industry, if such a take-over is successful, will be reviewed.

Clinical psychologists, BCBAs, practitioners, administrators, students

• Identify the stance that the American Psychological Association has had in payment for ABA services and how it is at odds with ABAI.
• Describe the history that the field of psychology has had in relation to Behavior Analysis and how it is now an independent and unique profession that should not be subsumed under the field of psychology.

Skinner and other behavior analysts appear to have conceded that the conceptual system of behavior analysis is 'merely descriptive,' perhaps to evade the disputes that might arise from claiming explanatory status for our unconventional approach to psychological science. In contrast, I propose that our approach is at least as explanatory as any other. My basic premise is that all explanations are descriptions, but that not all descriptions are acceptable as explanations. Technically, the descriptions arise as tacts with adduction of additional functions that have been identified with naming. Then: What are the characteristics that result in a description being viewed as an explanation? First, it must be generic, a criterion that often is conflated with that of familiarity. Carefully construed, however, generality includes the important characteristic of parsimony. Second, separate (or basic) descriptive concepts must be interrelated to comprise a network that, along with generality, breaks the constraints of circularity. These characteristics are most commonly achieved through reductionistic strategies, while behavior analysis is best implemented through a multi-scaled approach, whereby the same principles can apply irrespective of the size of the behavioral unit.

All who are interested in the nature of behavior-analytic theory and in its defense against alternative viewpoints. Academic Level: I shall try to supply something for beginners as well as advanced theorists: For example, beginners are likely to have been told in psychology lectures that the concept of reinforcement is circular and therefore trivial. I will document the point that most any scientific theory includes (indeed, is based upon) fundamental principles that are circularly defined. The reinforcement principle's circularity is not problematic, for that principle is interrelated in a network of additional concepts or principles. For the advanced theorist, we can dispense with determinism, and even with the conventional, almost moralistic defenses of parsimony (which have been successfully ignored by cognitivist theorists, at their ultimate peril), by adopting a conceptually clean exposition of behavior-analytic concepts, that is consistent with behavior-analytic terminology while still using mainly ordinary language.

Outcomes vary widely across children with autism who receive early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI), yet reliable predictors of differential response are unavailable. This study reports new findings on predictors from three independent research projects. The first presentation examines intake chronological age (CA), IQ, motor stereotypy, and social communication as predictors for children with autism who entered EIBI in publicly funded community agencies in New York at age 2-4 years. Children were assessed at pretreatment (N = 71) and followed up after one year (N = 67) and two years (N = 64). The second presentation compares children receiving one year of EIBI (N = 35) to children receiving treatment as usual (N = 24) in Norway. For a subset of the EIBI group (n = 17), the investigators tested whether treatment gains were associated with the number and type of stimuli that function as reinforcers. The third presentation focuses on skill acquisition in the first 6 months of intervention as a predictor of outcome for children with autism (N = 40, age 2-4 years at treatment onset) who participated in EIBI for >2 years from university-run and publicly funded programs in the United Kingdom and Norway between 2007 and 2011.

Outcomes vary widely across children with autism who receive early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI), yet reliable predictors of differential response are unavailable. We examined predictors in children with autism who entered EIBI in publicly funded community agencies at age 2-4 years. Children were evaluated at pretreatment (N = 71) and followed up after one year (N = 67) and two years (N = 64). Predictor variables included intake chronological age (CA), IQ, motor stereotypy, social approach, preverbal communication (joint attention and social orienting), and imitation. Outcome variables were IQ (Mullen Scales of Early Learning), adaptive behavior (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales), and autistic behavior (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule). A multiple regression was performed for each outcome measure, entering intake CA and IQ first. In preliminary analyses, pretreatment CA predicted Year 1 IQ ( = 0.35, p = 0.02) but not other outcome variables. Pretreatment IQ and motor stereotypy did not predict any outcome variable. Social approach, preverbal communication, and imitation formed one factor and predicted Year 1 IQ ( = 0.40, p = 0.005) and adaptive behavior ( = 0.51, p = 0.002), though not autism symptoms. Year 2 data have all been collected and will be presented.

Although Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) for children with autism is well established in university-based studies, its effectiveness of EIBI in community settings remains under-researched. This study compared children receiving one year of EIBI (N = 35) to children receiving treatment as usual (TAU; N = 24). At intake, the groups did not differ significantly in chronological age or adaptive behavior. After one year of treatment, the EIBI group scored significantly higher on all scales of adaptive behavior than the TAU group. Moreover, the EIBI group showed significant improvements in adaptive behaviors, maladaptive behaviors, and autism symptoms, and this change continued into the second year of treatment, albeit to a lesser degree. For a subgroup of 17 children, we investigated whether treatment gains were associated with the number and type of stimuli that function as reinforcers. Results showed that treatment gains positively correlated with the number of socially mediated reinforcers and negatively correlated with automatic reinforcers. These two dimensions taken together explained 61 % of the variation in treatment gains for children after one year of EIBI. Limitations of the study include lack of independent assessments of children receiving EIBI, and lack of random assignment of participants to treatment groups.

The study involves children with autism (age 2-4 years at treatment onset) receiving intensive (20- 40 hours/week) and long-term (>2 years) behavior intervention from university-run and publicly funded programs between 2007 and 2011: Southampton Childhood Autism Programme; SCAmP) in the United Kingdom (N = 14) or Akershus University Hospital in Norway (N=26). At intake, Year 1, and Year 2, all children underwent comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessments of both medical and developmental functioning including cognitive, communicative and adaptive functioning, using standardized and norm-referenced assessment tools. In addition, all children were measured on a uniform assessment of skills (ASK) covering basic, intermediate and advanced areas at intake, and after 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. Preliminary data analysis of the UK sample indicates possible division into three groups in terms of progression emerging at 6 months and remaining on all subsequent assessments. Furthermore change on the skill assessment after 6 months was strongly associated with changes in IQ and adaptive (Vineland) skills after 12 and 24 months. Improvement on certain skill areas of the ask were significantly related to later improvement on both the assessment and the standardized measures. Analysis on the Norwegian sample remains.

Three papers will be presented. We will highlight the results of data based efforts to provide an analysis of interventions for young children with autism. Herriott and Schwartz will offer a paper examining the effects of different physical activities conducted during circle time on the on-task behavior during a journal-writing activity held immediately after circle for kindergarten children with autism. Garfinkle will describe her project examining findings from Montanas Childrens Autism Waiver project. Schnell and Sainato will present the outcomes of a study examining the effects of generative play instruction on pretense play behavior and restricted stereotypic behaviors in young children with autism spectrum disorder. This study implemented a least to most prompting strategy using one-to-one instruction embedded in a matrix for teaching symbolic play to four children with ASD. Finally, McLaughlin will provide discussion of these papers. Implications for service delivery and future directions for research will be discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different physical activities conducted during circle time on the on-task behavior during a journal-writing activity held immediately after circle. The participants of the study were three male kindergarten students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who attended a full day integrated program. During the last five minutes of morning circle, the entire class, including the target participants, engaged in five minutes of activities with that required different amounts of physical exertion (e.g., yoga, dance party, or book reading). An alternating treatment design was used to evaluate the effects of the different intervention conditions. Data on the on-task behavior of the participants were collected during the first five minutes of the subsequent activity (journal writing). Results found that, in general, movement (yoga and dance party) prior to journal led to higher levels of on-task behavior during journal writing, with more vigorous activity (dance party) yielding the highest average of on-task behavior.

Play is an integral part of typical development. It is composed of a multitude of increasingly complex skills. Symbolic play represents a developmental cusp during which typically developing children demonstrate increasingly advanced social, communicative, and cognitive skills. Play skills in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders are limited, typically including smaller play repertoires composed of basic play skills. Direct instruction of play supports the acquisition of play skills as well as related behaviors, including social skills, adaptive skills, and communication. The generalization of play skills is intrinsic to typically developing infants, though may require intentional programming by interventionists for children on the autism spectrum. This study implemented a least to most prompting strategy using one-to-one instruction embedded in a matrix for teaching symbolic play to 4 children with ASD in the school setting. Increased Play With Pretense Behaviors were demonstrated, using a multiple baseline design, across trained and untrained toy sets and across participants. Limitations in research design and implementation will be discussed, with an emphasis on the continued exemption of programming for generalization. Recommendations for programming for generalization and specific collateral effects of play-based intervention constructed using behavior analytic strategies are presented.

The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an evidence-based intervention for working with young children with Autism. It is a behavioral and developmental approach that aims to reduce the severity of ASD symptoms while simultaneously accelerating rates of skill acquisition in all domains of development. The model promotes such efficient learning through play based teaching, capturing attention & motivation, creating a framework through joint-action routines, and planning for generalization. As a result of the recent publication of the curriculum and training certification being offered, professionals and centers across the United States are beginning to attempt to implement the strategies within this approach in 1:1 and center-based settings. This symposium focuses on: (1) Providing an overview of the developmental and behavioral framework for the Early Start Denver Model, (2) Analysis of creating context for teaching through joint-action routines, and (3) A discussion of how a non-profit center, Firefly Autism House, is implementing the ESDM model in a group setting.

The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an evidence-based intervention for working with young children with Autism. The model is intensive and comprehensive in its scope addressing all domains of development. It is an approach that is supported by applied behavioral analytic principles as well as developmental psychology and teaches within a play-based, social communicative context. The strategies within the Early Start Denver Model aim to reduce the severity of ASD symptoms while simultaneously accelerating rates of skill acquisition in all domains of development. This type of efficient learning is accomplished through strategies such as embedded teaching, capturing attention & motivation, creating a framework through joint-action routines, social relationships and adult sensitivity, data collection, and planning for generalization. Recent research demonstrates that the Early Start Denver Model is a promising curriculum for young children with Autism in that it shows gains on standard assessments, adaptive functioning, and improved diagnostic status.

The Early Start Denver Model uses a variety of strategies to embed teaching into every activity. One organizing principle is to create frames for teaching through the use of Joint Activity Routines. Within joint action routines an adult is a response play partner that capitalizes on child motivation, interest, and attention. This responsivity allows the adult to imitate, elaborate the play, arrange the environment to promote learning, and begin to take turns with the child. Increased sensitivity to child cues throughout activities encourages a more sustained, socially engaged interaction where efficient and effective learning can occur. Developing these play activities into joint action routines encourages engagement by two active participants, child and adult, working and playing together within cooperative activities. Such active learning creates meaningful contexts for learning through social relationships and typically developing routines. This presentation will discuss the steps to becoming an attentive play partner as well as ideas on how to create joint action routines to create a framework for teaching children with a variety of functioning levels.

The Early Start Denver Model involves a set of teaching procedures outlined in the curriculum that allow for learning within a variety of group settings. Implementing the ESDM within a center-based setting encourages learning within 1:1 interaction in a group environment as well as learning within small and large groups of peers and adults. When arranging individual instruction inside a group setting with the ESDM curriculum, thoughtful planning will create a learning environment that contain materials for children with varied skill sets, individualized supports available for each child, as well as planning a group schedule that address individual as well as group needs. When running small or large group activities within an group setting, the ESDM curriculum focuses on following routines and transitions, active participation, intentional communication, purposeful play, personal independence skills, and meaningful interactions. In planning group activities, strategies to embed individual child objectives as well as maintain group participation and peer learning are discussed. The potential for students to acquire, maintain, and generalize skills through the implementation of the Early Start Denver model in a center-based setting is encouraging and worthy of further discussion into the modifications and planning necessary to implement the model with treatment integrity.

Over the past decade, behavior analysts have developed a variety of procedures to assess and treat pediatric feeding disorders. These talks will present data that extends the knowledge base on such treatments and will provide outcome data on the long-term efficacy of behaviorally based procedures. The first talk will describe the use of a sequentially arranged behavioral hierarchy procedure that was used to assess different feeding skills in2 children who were selective eaters. Once assessed, these outcomes were used to develop effective procedures for increasing food variety. The second study describes data for2 participants in which negative reinforcement contingencies were implemented to bias responding toward self-feeding as opposed to being fed by a caregiver. The final study will present outcome data for 34 participants who received service in an outpatient clinic that specializes in the treatment of pediatric feeding disorders. These data will describe outcomes for oral acceptance and decreased tube feedings. The results of all3 investigations will be discussed in relation to the existing literature on the assessment and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders.

A feeding disorder is characterized by restricted food intake, limited variety, and the presence of inappropriate behaviors (e.g., screaming, batting at or blocking food presentations). Unfortunately, the diagnosis and symptoms of a feeding disorder does not dictate which treatment options will be most effective for a particular child. Thus, a key to effectively treating feeding disorders is conducting assessments that will provide information necessary for developing effective treatments. For example, paired-choice preference assessments can be helpful in determining preferred and non-preferred foods that can be used in positive or negative reinforcement-based treatments. Yet, pairedchoice preference assessments do not always produce reliable results. In the current investigation, a behavioral hierarchy assessment was used to determine relative food preferences. Specifically, two participants responded differentially to sequentially arranged hierarchal steps (e.g., smelling food, holding food in mouth) across different foods. These response patterns were then used to determine which treatments would be most useful for increasing food intake. Data will be presented on the assessment, treatment, and generalization of food intake for individuals with pediatric feeding disorders. Results will be discussed in terms of how supplemental assessments can inform treatment development and recommendations for successful generalization will be provided.

Children with feeding disorders often do not independently acquire self-feeding skills. Negative reinforcement has been demonstrated as a useful tool to increase consumption (Kelley, Piazza, Fisher, & Oberdorff, 2003) for children with feeding disorders. Only one study to our knowledge has increased self-feeding using a negative reinforcement-based procedure (Vaz, Volkert, & Piazza, in press). Within this study, response effort and quality of reinforcement were manipulated to favor self-feeding. In the current investigation, we used similar procedures to increase self-feeding in two children with a feeding disorder. Initially, we provided the participants the option to self-feed one bite of target food or have the therapist feed an increased number of target or non-preferred food bites. After these manipulations were unsuccessful in increasing self-feeding, we incorporated the use of a swallow facilitation procedure in an attempt to shift responding to self-fed bites. That is, the child could self-feed one bite of target food to avoid being fed one non-preferred bite and contacting swallow facilitation with a Nuk if packed or the child could self-feed one bite of target food to avoid being fed the target bite using a flipped spoon presentation. Results showed that these manipulations increased self-feeding for both children.

A body of literature exists in applied behavior analysis that establishes some empirically supported treatments for pediatric feeding disorders (Kerwin, 1999; Sharp et al., 2010). Research on the outcomes of various service delivery models utilizing these treatments is warranted. We examined the outcome data for 34 children who received treatment for a range of feeding problems in an outpatient behavioral clinic at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics between 2006 and 2010. Services involved daily 3-hr visits over 2 to 3 consecutive weeks and subsequent monthly follow-up visits. A second observer reviewed the records of 35% of the participants and agreement of the outcome measures was above 80%. Outcome data indicate that bite/drink acceptance increased and refusal decreased after 2 to 3 weeks of intensive outpatient therapy for over 90% of the children. Treatment effects resulted in tube feed reductions for children dependent on enteral nutritional feeds after intensive therapy and throughout follow-up. The variety of foods consumed increased for 100% of children exhibiting food selectivity. The advantages of an intensive outpatient model for behavioral treatment of pediatric feeding problems will be discussed.

The rate of biodiversity loss, degradation of the atmosphere, global warming and other human-induced changes to our environment are accelerating and exceeding planetary boundaries for sustained human development. Governance and management of human behavior is needed to go beyond sectoral reduction of negative externalities and now extend to protecting and restoring a global habitat fit for humanity. This invited symposium presents three provocative papers describing roles for behavior analysts in preparing us for what lies ahead and to be resilient in the face of coming challenges.

People interested in a sustainable planet

• Describe the many opportunties for behavior analysts to work to improve our planet for humanity.

For decades scientists who study the Earth's atmosphere, waterways, and the ground have issued fact-filled warnings about our planet's declining health and its ability to continue to sustain human activity. Human behavior is responsible for the Earth's rapidly changing climate and the depletion of some ofits limited resources to dangerously levels. While behavior analysts have contributed to at least partial solutions to many problems faced by society—improving education, helping people achieve healthier life styles, making highways and factories safer, caring for people exhibiting challenging and life-threatening behavior, and treating individuals with autism to name just a few—our field has paid scant attention to the impact of human behavior on the environment. But this is changing. Behavior analysis is uniquely poised to contribute to a broad range of interventions to promote the husbandry of our planet's resources, restore damaged eco-systems, and perhaps prepare us to adapt and be resilient in the face of inevitable changes to come. This talk will survey some of the initiatives developing within the behavior analysis community in response to climate change and challenges to sustaining a healthy planet for future generations.

'Sustainable' consumer choices pose a paradox. A sustainable choice may pay off in the future but most likely has no immediate positive impact. Punishing 'non-sustainable' consumer choices through taxes and surcharges is politically unpopular, regressive and often unfeasible. Instead, the challenge for motivating sustainable consumption choices is to make the payoff for these choices fairly immediate and fairly certain. These payoffs may not necessarily be monetary or material; they can also be social. The Behavior Perspective Model differentiates between informational and utilitarian reinforcement; an important concept in understanding and motivating sustainable consumer choices. Strategies involved in increasing the immediate informational reinforcement of consumer goods, immediate economic incentives or 'green choices' and manipulating motivating operations for such choices are promising beginnings. The challenge here is to develop 'set and forget' interventions that will nudge consumers towards sustainable choices. Interventions based on a behavioral economic analysis of consumer choice, combined with a deft use of technology will lead the way in changing consumer choices from destructive overconsumption to constructive sustainable choices.

The problems of sustainability are deeply woven into the fabric of modern society. Current attempts to address problems like climate change and energy depletion are mainly centered on making energy use more efficient and maintaining an economy of perpetual growth on a planet of finite resources. An alternative set of solutions emerges from cultural reinvention in which work time is reduced and noneconomic reinforcers assume greater individual and societal importance. This type of cultural reinvention is inherent in B. F. Skinner's WaldenTwo, Tibor Scitovsky's proposal for an arts-based society, Paul Schafer's call for a cultural renaissance to supplant our current economic age, in the voluntarysimplicity movement, and in bohemian subcultures. Potential examples of behavior-analysis applications and research to facilitate cultural reinvention are provided.

Functional analyses have become standard of care for the treatment of problem behaviors exhibited by individuals with developmental disabilities. Functional analyses have allowed behavior analysts to isolate the reinforcers that maintain problem behaviors; thus, resulting in more effective behavioral interventions. Since the early 1980s, there has been tremendous growth in the amount of research on the evaluation, refinement, and extension of functional analyses methodology. The purpose of this symposium is to present four studies that have examined extensions of functional analysis methodology. The first two set of papers will examine methods of expediting the evaluation of behavioral function. One study examined a method of quickly determining if problem behaviors are maintained by automatic reinforcement. The other examined if latency measures could be used to elucidate escape-maintained problem behaviors. The third paper examined a method for refining functional analyses by evaluating test-specific control conditions during functional analyses. The final paper examined methods of identifying idiosyncratic variables that may maintain problem behavior.

A typical functional analysis (FA) includes a series of 10-min conditions that identify different sources of reinforcement for problem behavior (Iwata et al. 1994/1982). Results of several studies suggest that shortening session durations, reducing the number of sessions, or limiting the number of comparisons might be considered as assessment options when time is limited (Derby et al., 1992; Kahng & Iwata, 1999; Northup et al., 1991; Wallace & Iwata, 1999). A general finding in previous research is that behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement persists in the alone condition, whereas behavior maintained by social contingencies extinguishes. Thus, initial exposure to only the alone condition may represent an efficient screening procedure when maintenance by automatic reinforcement is suspected. We conducted a series of 5-min alone sessions with individuals who exhibited varied topographies of problem behavior and subsequently conducted complete FAs to verify initial predictions based on results of the screening. Results to date indicate that the screening procedure is a useful and extremely efficient assessment tool when time is limited.

Although research has been conducted that evaluated an efficient method of identifying a task preference hierarchy (i.e., used latency to the first problem behavior as dependent measure; Call, Pabico, & Lomas, 2009), a direct relationship between response latency and rate as measures of problem behavior has not been evaluated. In the current study, a demand assessment and subsequent demand analysis were conducted with 6 participants who were admitted to an inpatient unit for the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior. The demand assessment was conducted to identify a task preference hierarchy and to evaluate the relationship between response latency and rate. Less aversive (i.e., tasks associated with the longest latency, [LA]), and high aversive (i.e., tasks associated with the shortest latency, [HA]) tasks were identified and included into a demand analysis. For 5 of the6 participants, an inverse relationship between response latency and rate during the demand assessment was shown. Additionally, the demand analysis yielded differentiated levels of problem behavior per LA and HA task condition for3 of the6 participants. These results suggest that response latency may be predictive of response rate, providing an efficient measure of problem behavior when identifying a task preference hierarchy.

Functional analyses of problem behavior typically include a play condition to control for the effects of both positive and negative reinforcement. However, results of2 studies highlight the potential advantage of using different, test-specific conditions to control for each source of reinforcement. Fischer, Iwata, & Worsdell (1997) compared responding in the attention, play, and alone conditions for 36 individuals with attention-maintained SIB; responding was lowest in the play condition for 31 individuals. Kahng and Iwata (1998) compared responding in the demand, play, and alone conditions for 55 individuals with escape-maintained SIB; responding was lowest in the alone condition in every case. We compared responding across4 potential control conditions (alone, ignore, play, and DRO) for individuals with problem behavior maintained by either positive or negative reinforcement. Results to date suggest that the play and DRO conditions best suppress problem behavior maintained by attention, whereas the alone and ignore conditions best suppress problem behavior maintained by escape. Additional tests will be conducted to determine whether test-specific controls are better than a common control in a pairwise functional analysis when the function of problem behavior is unknown.

By conducting a functional analysis, clinicians can identify behavioral function and develop effective treatment. Although functional analysis (FA) often results in clear outcomes, it sometimes yields ambiguous response patterns that cannot be interpreted. When this occurs, clinicians may need to modify functional analysis conditions to include idiosyncratic antecedent or consequent events. To date, a systematic strategy for identifying variables to include in modified conditions has not been reported. In this study, we evaluated a systematic progression of indirect and descriptive analyses for identifying idiosyncratic variables to test following an initially ambiguous FA outcome for4 individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. We conducted2 indirect assessment formats across multiple respondents to identify reliable idiosyncratic antecedent and consequent variables to test. We also conducted descriptive observations to confirm the occurrence of these events in the natural environment. We used the results from these assessments to inform modified FA conditions that were subsequently evaluated. For all participants, a differentiated outcome was observed during the modified functional analyses, illustrating the utility of this method for identifying idiosyncratic events.

This symposium will focus on the use of simple discrimination procedures to establish stimulus control and arbitrary classes. These findings have implications for instruction with individuals with minimal repertoires (e.g., disabilities) as they inform on the mechanisms underlying stimulus equivalence and other forms of symbolic behavior. Disruptions to expected stimulus-stimulus relations and their likely causes will be highlighted. The first paper will show effects of simple discrimination training when stimulus functions are reversed (A+ to A-). This reversal learning set repertoire would be required for an individual to form equivalence classes; thus additional training was used to reduce variability on performance of the children with ASD that participated. The second paper will present data on the establishment of functional and equivalence classes via simple discrimination training with young children. Go/no-go procedures with compound stimuli were utilized to test for emergent conditional relations; implications for the role of stimulus function within training and testing will be discussed. Lastly, the effects of verbal responding within a simple discrimination procedure to establish equivalence-equivalence and equivalence class formation will be shown. The adult participants successes, and failures, during testing for emergent relations implicate the role of covert behavioral repertoires within testing conditions.

Children with ASDs show marked variability in communication and discrimination abilities and are often described as behaviorally inflexible on a variety of set-shifting tasks. For example, our recent work has shown substantial variability on tasks that involve stimulus function reversal—a prerequisite skill for matching-to-sample and other symbolic behaviors. We investigated whether management of stimulus control development improves outcomes on reversal learning set (RLS; i.e., "learning to learn"). Eleven children with ASD were trained on simple discrimination between2 stimuli (A+, B-), followed by a series of discrimination reversals (A-, B+). Children who did not show evidence of RLS were given specific training to (a) to attend to and select the S+ and (b) to attend to and reject the S- (s/r training). An additional4 reversals were then conducted. All sessions were recorded and at least 50% were scored for reliability. Thus far, the data replicate previous reports in that some children show development of RLS and others do not. S/r training may reduce variability in reversal acquisition for some of these latter children. Reducing outcome-variability on these types of tasks may increase children's capacity to demonstrate more complex forms of symbolic behavior.

This study investigated whether a simple discrimination procedure would produce functional classes and equivalence classes evaluated using the go/no-go procedure with compound stimuli or the matching-to-sample (MTS) procedure. Eight typically developing children aged between3 and6 years were submitted to training. Response 1 was reinforced only when emitted in the presence of A1, B1, and C1 and Response 2 was reinforced only in the presence of A2, B2, and C2. After training new responses to A1 and A2, functional classes were evaluated with tests that verified if the new responses would be emitted in the presence of B1, B2, C1, and C2. Emergent conditional relations were tested using the go/no-go procedure with compound stimuli in which correct compounds (e.g., A1B1, A2B2, B1C1, B2C2, A1C1, A2C2) and incorrect compounds (e.g., A1B2, A2B1, B1C2, B2C1, A1C2, A2C1) were successively presented. Six children showed functional class formation. Performances indicative of equivalence class formation were demonstrated by2 children with the go/no-go procedure and by3 children only with the MTS procedure. One child did not show equivalence class formation with any of the procedures. Future research should investigate procedural parameters that would reduce between-subject variability found in the present study with children.

Analogical reasoning refers to one’s ability to derive the relation between stimuli, a process necessary for completing Aristotle’s proportional analogies, A:B::C:D. Two 3-member classes made up of abstract figures (A1-B1-C1 and A2-B2-C2) were presented to6 adult participants via computer software. In a simple discrimination procedure, participants were trained to tact AB and BC pairs from within the same class as “same” and pairs from different classes as “different.” Tact and analogy tests with these relations followed. In an "analogy" (equivalence-equivlance) test, selecting the comparison with “same” terms was correct when the sample had “same” terms, vice versa with “different.” This testing sequence was repeated across the compounds consistent with symmetry (BA and CB) and transitivity (AC and CA). Equivalence class formation was tested with the figures presented individually in a conditional discrimination task (e.g., selecting B1 in presence of A1 when told “Select same”). Two of the6 participants passed all presented tasks, supporting the viability of this procedure. The failures of the remaining four participants have implications for the inclusion of verbal responses in simple discrimination procedures. The emergence of equivalence-equivalence following tact training with compound stimuli was shown across all participants, extending the research in the naming operant.

Treatment integrity refers to the degree to which a procedure is conducted as planned. Treatment integrity may influence treatment outcome. Recent research on treatment integrity has examined effects of reduced integrity on treatment outcome, evaluations of naturalistic treatment integrity, and methods to improve treatment integrity. This symposium highlights recent developments in all3 areas, but specifically focuses on the evaluation of variables associated with treatment integrity in educational or academic contexts. Integrity is an important concept for education because reduced integrity decreases desired performance (skill acquisition; Pence & St. Peter). The choice of intervention (e.g., noncontingent reinforcement or differential reinforcement) can influence integrity, with interventions that require active monitoring of behavior having lower levels of integrity than those that do not (Leon-Enriquez, Gregory, Watts, & Ribiero). When integrity is low, it can be improved through performance feedback and directed rehearsal, which in turn improves intervention outcomes (Pugliese, Kearney, Houvouras, & Harvey).

Mand (request) acquisition is a vital component for successful language development during childhood. Mands allow children to request access to items, activities, and information. Within the natural environment, errors in the training procedure can interfere with mand acquisition. Such errors may include a delay between the mand and the delivery of the item, the delivery of the item independent of the mand occurring, and delivering an incorrect item (e.g., the child asks for milk and the listener gives them juice). These kinds of errors impede the acquisition of academic-related skills (e.g., Noell, Gresham, & Gansle, 2002; Worsdell et al., 2005). This study examined the occurrence of errors on rates of mand acquisition using nonsense names for highly preferred toys with3 children. Four levels of program integrity were evaluated (errors occurred on 0%, 30%, 60%, or 100% of opportunities) with each participant. More frequent errors were detrimental to mand acquisition. Implications for mand-acquisition programming are discussed.

Behavioral Safety has been a success story of the successful application of behavior analytic principles in the workplace. This symposium focuses discussion on the management practices associated with behavioral safety programs that achieve reductions in at-risk behaviors that lead to injury through data-based reviews of case studies and expert evaluations. The first presentation by Grainne Matthews, a consultant with extensive experience implementing behavioral safety programs, will present a case study on two companies who had large differences in management involvement. The second presentation by Timothy Ludwig reviews a case study based on his work with the non-profit Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies Commission on Behavioral Safety Accreditation. In this case, he will describe a behavioral safety program managed by the very employees the program targets. The final presentation will be delivered by Judy Komaki whose seminal work on operant approaches to leadership will inform her review of management practices in safety programs for this symposium. The discussant, Cloyd Hyten spent many years as a researcher in Organizational Behavior Management before becoming a behavioral safety consultant.

This paper will compare the results of Behavioral Safety in two companies in the effect of management behavior on the success of their process in reducing injuries. The two companies, a municipal utility and a surface mine, followed the same steps to implement Behavioral Safety: (a) assess status of current safety management system to identify missing or ineffective components of a performance management system, (b) lead a peer-nominated team of employees through the process of planning Behavioral Safety, (c) train all employees and management to conduct observations and provide feedback, (d) train employee-led teams to maintain the new process, and (e) train all management in their role in supporting the Behavioral Safety process. Both companies significantly reduced the frequency and severity of injuries to employees. The utility fell from an average of ten Occupational Safety and Health Authority recordable incidents per year in the four years prior to implementation to less than three in the two years following implementation. The rate of Occupational Safety and Health Authority recordable incidents at the mine fell from 6.0 per 200,000 hours worked in the five years before implementation to 2.5 in the five following years. However, there were important differences in the rate at which the rate reductions occurred which may be a result of the degree of involvement of management at the two companies. The involvement of management will be described and its impact on a measure of the process health, voluntary participation in conducting observations and providing feedback, will be explored.

This talk will present a data-based case study of one of the world-class behavioral safety programs accredited by the Cambridge Center for Behavior Studies. This petrochemical refinery has substantially decreased their injury rates to levels significantly below industry average associated with the maturity of their Behavior-Based Safety program called the Circle of Safety (C.O.S). What makes this facilitys BBS program a best-practice is the fact that the C.O.S. process is completely managed by trained hourly union employees. This group not only promotes C.O.S. observations and peer-to-peer feedback but also own the resulting data which they use for action planning and communication. They run contractor meetings to share lessons from the data and have a voting seat at management safety meetings. The success of this approach is demonstrated not only in their substantial reduction in injuries but also in a 91% increase in voluntary employee observers.

Thirty plus years ago, I set up motivational programs to improve such critical but difficult-to-detect tasks as preventive maintenance, customer service, and safety. But I quickly learned that without the proper management support, the program, no matter how well designed, would be doomed to failure. Hence, I began listening aboard racing sailboats and in executive suites to the nimble, back-and-forth exchanges of those in charge. What effective managers actually said and did was my focus (Komaki, 1998). In looking from a leadership perspective at the behavioral safety literature, I see experiment after experiment resulting in dramatic improvements in employee safety performance and subsequent reductions in injuries. With few exceptions, however, the emphasis is on the worker. When behavior analysts identify desired middle and upper level management practices, some but not all of the steps are included. To illustrate, we will practice analyzing safety practices introduced in a manufacturing plant in Mexico by Hermann, Ibarra, and Hopkins (2010). Using the 3 steps as our guide, we will assess such practices as safety performance objectives for superintendents and supervisors and weekly safety reviews in which superintendents and selected managers meet to review statistics (lost-time accidents) by department and shift. Perhaps just as important, we will discuss how these common practices can be bolstered to include the 3 critical steps of specifying, measuring, and reinforcing desired performance.

The use of functional behavior assessments is mandated in special education settings. The development of functional behavior assessments, including the functional analysis methodology outlined by Iwata et al. (1982/1984), has provided behavior analysts with valuable tools for managing severe problem behavior. Functional behavior assessments allow clinicians to accurately identify the function(s) of problem behavior, and subsequently, identify treatments that map onto the identified function(s). Although functional behavior assessments are essential to developing effective interventions, little is known about how skilled behavior analysts and related professionals are at conducting them. The current symposium will explore the functional analytic skill level of recently credentialed Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) working within a private school setting. Next, the skills of related professionals will be explored within the context of state-wide training program designed to establish competency of functional behavior assessment skills. In addition, methodologies for the practical and efficient delivery of functional analytic services will be discussed, including a comparison of trial-based functional analysis methods and traditional functional analysis methodology across analogue and natural environments.

The current project examined the functional analysis (FA) skills of newly credentialed Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) prior to, and following, formal training. Skills examined included appropriately carrying out the functional analysis conditions outlined by Iwata et al. (1982/1994), interpreting multielement FA graphs using the methodology outlined by Hagopian et al. (1997), determining next steps when FA data is undifferentiated, and selecting function-based interventions once FA data is conclusive. The performance of three participants was examined within a multiple baseline design across subjects. Although performance varied, baseline skill level was inadequate prior to intervention across subjects and skill areas. Skill acquisition was attained for all subjects within four to eight training sessions, the acquired skills were demonstrated effectively during generalization trials, and skills were largely maintained during a 3 month follow-up. The findings suggest that individuals who are board certified in behavior analysis may require additional training prior to conducting functional analyses.

The use of Function-based assessments (FBAs) are mandated in special education who exhibit challenging behavior. The purpose of this project was to assess state challenging behavior specialist (CBS) consultant's specific skills whose job descriptions included the provision of FBAs for the development of appropriate Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP). Preliminary data indicated that the consultants self-reported low levels of skill and high needs of training in FBA and BIP development. A training program to teach these skills was evaluated that utilized: hands-on training with experience professionals in FBA and BIP, and a coursework sequence. Dependent variables included: (a) self-assessment ratings, (b) scores on a knowledge examination, (c), direct observations of the consultants implementing FBA's, and (d) scores of sophistication of FBA and accuracy of BIP match to FBA results. Group data from the participating CBS consultants will be evaluated using pre- and post-time series data. The results demonstrate that training produced improvements in CBS consultant's skills of FBA implementation and BIP development. The outcomes of this project illustrate two major findings: (a) that consultants are often insufficiently trained in FBA technologies, and (b) that the training model implemented significantly improved state consultant skills. Discussion of how the project impacts the state's ability to improve services for children with challenging behavior will also be discussed.

The use of prompting hierarchies (Lovaas, 1987; Ogletree & Oren, 2001) in early intensive behavior intervention programs is effective in promoting skill acquisition; however, it is debatable which settings are most beneficial in the implementation of such programs(Smith, Buch, & Gamby, 2000); (Weisz, Weiss, Donenberg, 1993). Clinic-based treatments offer such advantages as consistent supervision and more frequent modifications to interventions and treatment plans, while home-based treatments offer teaching in the natural environment and more opportunities for generalization. The purpose of the current investigation was to combine clinic and home-based programs in which parents were trained to implement clinic-based procedures in an incidental teaching approach. Participants included 3 parent-child dyads. We collected data on the percentage of accurate responding for each target skill in both home and clinic settings. In clinic settings, a trained paraprofessional served as both therapist and data collector. In home settings, parents served as both therapist and data collector. Results indicated consistent skill acquisition across clinic and home settings.

The National Research Council stresses the importance of creating early intervention goals that facilitate independence and responsibility. Which means, for a young child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), these early intervention goals should help them integrate into a classroom setting and in social situations. Despite this recommendation, many early intervention services are delivered in a 1:1 format, which does not fully prepare young children for a classroom setting. Social skills and school readiness behaviors are more appropriately targeted in a small group setting that mimics a typical classroom. Participation within a classroom requires particular skill sets that include, but are not limited to, attending to the teacher, appropriately following receptive instructions, transitioning, sitting with a group of peers, toileting, and interacting with peer. This presentation will discuss the importance of these skills. A description of the behaviors targeted within the early intervention classroom as well as data collection techniques will be provided. The author will also discuss the feasibility of continuing to incorporate and collect data on a variety of individualized targets.

Errorless prompting strategies have been shown to be effective when teaching children a variety of skills. However, in a classroom setting, errorless prompting can prove difficult. Training teachers to fade prompts within discrete trial training sessions and collect data that meet the teachers needs and aid in program implementation may be challenging in the school environment. In the present study 3 classroom teachers and 3 paraprofessionals working in self-contained autism classrooms in both rural and metropolitan public school districts were trained by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in methods of implementation and data collection associated with a modified errorless teaching strategy. Procedural fidelity data were collected to ensure that the teachers were mixing and varying easy vs. difficult tasks, using the correct materials, employing the correct prompt hierarchy, and collecting data correctly during 1: 1 discrete trial instruction. Data will be presented to show procedural fidelity of all trained steps in the modified errorless procedure developed for use in public school classrooms.

In the present study 3 classroom teachers working in self-contained classrooms for students with autism in both rural and metropolitan public school districts were trained by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in methods of implementation and data collection associated with discrete trial training. The teachers were also trained to make data-based decisions according to specified rules for making changes in program targets and for adding or fading prompts used during teaching. The training model included a 3 years post-training consultation with decreased intensity across years given high rates of fidelity with the overall program objectives. A first year classroom involved intense supervision and guidance for decision making. Year 2 and 3 classroom teachers received progressively less direct supervision. The teachers experience in using these methods ranged from 1 to 3 years. Data will be presented showing the types of teacher decision making errors. Data on differences between years of experience and errors will be shown to demonstrate stability or increase in proficiency with the methodology across the years of training.

With the increasing need for certified behavior analysts, there is also an increase in the development of BCBA certification programs nationally and internationally. As a result of this increase the number of individuals requiring BCBA supervision also continues to be on the rise. Meeting the needs of these candidates while maintaining ethical and clinical standards requires a delicate balance. There are many challenges faced when trying to provide quality supervision to these individuals related to the standards upheld in the field of behavior analysis. As clinicians, the expected outcome is for candidates to have a meaningful experience. This experience will enable them to become active contributors to the field and for them to provide quality services to the individuals they serve and those they may ultimately supervise. This panel will discuss the trials and tribulations often faced when attempting to develop and implement a comprehensive supervision program for candidates in the field of applied behavior analysis.

Many students with autism are able to be taught large vocabularies of tacts, listener discriminations, and intraverbal responses; however, for many children, these responses remain rote in the sense that novel respondinggenerative verbal behaviordoes not emerge. In two nonconcurrent multiple baseline studies, we examine the use of multiple exemplar training for establishing mutual and combinatorial entailment for emergent tact/listener and intraverbal relations. Students with autism were prescreened for inclusion on the basis of VB-MAPP and standardized language assessment scores indicating their ability to learn tact, listener discriminations, and intraverbal responses, but not demonstrating novel/untaught intraverbal responding. The Training and Assessment of Relational Precursors and Abilities (TARPA), a computer-based assessment and training tool, was then used to assess students relational framing skills. Intervention consisted of training in the form of a game teaching the names and sounds of crazy animals (abstract shapes), and generalization to tabletop activities was then tested. Depending on their assessed skills, students either received multiple exemplar training to establish combinatorially entailed derived intraverbal responding, or to establish mutually entailed derived tact responding.

The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of multiple exemplar instruction for teaching perspective-taking skills to young adults with autism. Using a multiple probe design, participants were trained and tested using protocols evaluating the deictic frames of I-You, Here-There, and Now-Then. All trials in the current protocols were derived from scenarios depicted in the Social Language Development Scenes therapy materials, which are cards designed for teaching social skills to children with autism (LinguiSystems, 2011). Two standardized assessments used in the assessment of pragmatic language were administered as pre and posttests in order to measure if improvements on the perspective-taking protocol correlated with change in pragmatic language. Generalization of perspective-taking skills to the natural environment was also assessed. Preliminary results show that participants do not respond appropriately to questions involving deictic relations prior to multiple exemplar instruction.

In the early days of behavior analysis, extinction was seen not as failed maintenance following from discontinued reinforcement but as an active inhibition of responding. Pavlov had treated respondent extinction in inhibitory terms. In that tradition, extinguished operant behavior was viewed as "there all the time but inhibited." What was inhibited was clear enough but what did the inhibiting was inferred and unmeasurable. This way of talking persisted partly because phenomena like spontaneous recovery, often accompanying extinction, had not been adequately analyzed. Later, when extinguished responding in one component of a multiple schedule increased responding in the other unchanged component, the phenomenon, called behavioral contrast, was attributed to an excitatory side-effect of inhibited responding in extinction. Skinner criticized this concept of inhibition and this inhibitory interpretation. But a different variety of inhibition operates within sensory and other biological systems, as when increased neural firing produced by one photoreceptor reduces the firing of neighboring cells. Recasting schedule interactions as inhibitory effects of reinforcement rather than excitatory side-effects of extinction makes operant interactions analogous to receptor interactions within sensory systems. The language of inhibition and contrast remains appropriate but the direction of effect is inverted, and the interactions become consistent with similar ones in concurrent schedules, typically seen as reductions of one response by increased reinforcement of others. Experimental explorations of contrast and related effects illustrate the productivity of this approach but imply that behavioral contrast does not work as assumed when it is used to increase responding in applied settings.

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Some children have difficulty learning to read despite phonics instruction. Considerable progress has been made in identifying the prerequisite and component skills that underpin success. I will characterize these skills in terms of the stimulus control involved, and tie this characterization to effective instructional programming. The critical skills are in two domains, auditory and visual. In the auditory domain, there is incontrovertible evidence that children who demonstrate "phonemic awareness" are more likely to succeed in learning to read. Phonemic awareness is the abstraction of individual sounds from spoken syllables, for example, recognizing that "can," "cut," and "cod" all begin with the same sound, or that "cat" and "cab" have the same middle sound. Phonemic abstraction does not automatically result from typical phonics instruction, yet it is crucial to success. In the visual domain, the number of printed letters that a child names at the beginning of reading instruction is a strong predictor of instructional success, as is the speed with which letters are named. Although these facts may seem prosaic, they are sometimes overlooked. Moreover, a child may have difficulty discriminating printed words despite mastery of individual letters. Ample evidence supports the explicit instruction of these auditory and visual skills.

There were 2 purposes of this study: (a) to quickly evaluate the effects of various self-management strategies on task completion of academic tasks within an outpatient clinic, and (b) to determine the childrens preference for the strategies. For this abstract, I present one case example. Ali was a 5 year old girl with a brain injury who engaged in problem behavior during academic tasks. She was evaluated within a 90-min outpatient clinic. Interobserver agreement was assessed for 89% of sessions and averaged 99%. During Phase 1, an antecedent analysis was conducted within a multielement design to evaluate the effects of task completion during 1-step versus 3-step vocal instructions. During Phase 2, an antecedent analysis of 2 self-management strategies was conducted within a multielement design to determine the effects on task completion. During Phase 3, a concurrent operants assessment was conducted to determine Alis preference for the self-management strategies. In Figure 1 (left panel), results showed that task completion decreased with 3-step instructions. In the middle panel, both self-management strategies showed improvement on the same task. In the right panel, self-management strategies were chosen more often than no strategy, and task completion maintained at high levels during 3 of 5 trials.

Several empirical studies have suggested that self-monitoring can be an effective strategy to increase appropriate behavior in children and youth with autism (e.g., Coyle & Cole 2004; Ganz & Sigafoos 2005) when implemented by highly trained research personnel. From a social validity perspective, an important applied issue is whether such programs can be successfully designed and implemented by classroom teachers and under more typical classroom conditions (Horner, Carr, Halle, McGee, Odom, & Wolery, 2005). We designed the present study to investigate the effects of a program to support teachers in the use of self-monitoring interventions for improving student classroom behavior. Participants were 4 classroom teachers and 4 students with autism aged 5 years from a school for children with communication disorders. Data were collected within a multiple-probe design across teachers with pre and post generalization probes. A reversal phase was also conducted for the first two participants. The results suggested the program was effective in supporting teachers in the design and implementation of self-monitoring interventions and that the self-monitoring intervention was associated with improvements in the students classroom behavior. The teachers generalized the use of self-monitoring interventions, and social validity measures indicated that teachers valued the program.

Students with autism spectrum disorders typically receive social skills instruction in adult-facilitated formats, limiting the number of practice opportunities available to students. This presentation will discuss the results of an investigation involving the addition of self-management strategies (i.e., self-evaluation, self-recording) to social skills training typically used in public school settings for elementary students with autism spectrum disorders. This study sought to provide a comprehensive intervention model addressing concerns related to the generalization of social skills, a chronic concern in the field of social skills, by asking participants to utilize the self-management package in generalized settings (i.e., not the training setting). Two elementary-aged students diagnosed with ASD participated in the study. Results from this study indicate an increase in social behaviors when the self-monitoring strategy is in place. Information from this study can be used to direct future research in the area of social skills interventions for individuals with ASD and Aspergers, including strategies for increasing the effectiveness of social skills training and generalization of social skills.

A significant amount of research has demonstrated that early intensive behavioral intervention is an effective treatment for children with autism. Furthermore, teaching social behaviors is a major focus of such intervention. While a large amount of research supports the use of behavioral intervention for establishing social repertoires in children with autism in general, many areas of social behavior have not previously been the subject of research. This symposium consists of three studies addressing such areas. The first presentation consists of a study on teaching children with autism to be able to respond appropriately (rather than literally) to sarcasm. The second presentation consists of a study on teaching children with autism to engage in socially appropriate forms of deception, commonly referred to as white lies. The third presentation consists of a study that used a videogame system to teach good sportsmanship. The symposium concludes with a discussion by Dr. Higbee.

Many studies have demonstrated that children with autism respond in an overly literal manner to non-literal language (e.g., irony, sarcasm, deception, humor, and metaphors). Irony and sarcasm may be especially difficult for children with autism because the meaning is the opposite of what is stated. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of multiple exemplar training to teach children with autism to detect and respond appropriately to sarcastic statements. Participants were 3 children with autism. Multiple exemplar training was effective for teaching detection and appropriate responding to sarcastic statements, and generalization was obtained across novel exemplars, settings, and people.

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may not develop the ability to tell a white lie when socially appropriate without explicit teaching. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a protocol for teaching three children with autism to tell white lies in two different situations. The first situation was when receiving a non-preferred item as a gift and the other seeing a person whose appearance is non-preferred. A treatment package consisting of rules, role-playing, reinforcement, and corrective feedback was used. Treatment was effective and generalization was observed across people and novel gifts and appearances.

Impaired social skills represent a fundamental deficit for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In addition to deficits in social reciprocity skills, children with an ASD may have motor deficits that can reduce the likelihood of sports participation. Consequently, many children with ASD fail to develop appropriate social sportsmanship skills required for successful athletic participation. The present study assessed the effectiveness of a social skills group intervention that focused primarily on improving sportsmanship skills in seven males with ASD between the ages of 7 and 11 years old. Wii Sports games were used for modeling and rehearsal of three sportsmanship skills (i.e., compliments, taking turns, and saying good game) and skills were taught using a behavioral skills training model. The intervention was effective at increasing the three sports-related social skills in all of the children. Generalization was demonstrated across children, although skills did not appear to generalize to other Wii games for all participants.

The refinement of techniques to produce accurate and reliable data represent an important applied endeavor. The presentations included in this symposium are directed toward ensuring the highest levels of accuracy in measuring the frequency, duration, and magnitude of behavior.

Behavior analysts have sought to develop effective methods of producing observation samples that reflect overall dimensions of behaviour across the whole time of interest. Little research has been conducted in behavior analysis in how to obtain representative samples, although it has been demonstrated that as sample length decreases, error increases, with greater error in the sampling of low-duration behaviours (Mudford, Beale, & Singh, 1990). Work sampling (a method in time and motion study) is used to determine how people spend their time in work settings in an efficient way and thus may assist behavior analysts to empirically determine the length of samples required to produce representative data. In the current study, full time-of-interest (a full school week in a special school) direct observations of several behavioral and environmental categories in children with special needs were conducted. Formulae used in work sampling were then applied to determine the length, number, and time of samples required for the data to be representative. Staff reports and preliminary observations were used in the work sampling formulae to calculate the initial number of observations to be conducted for a representative sample of each category. Findings and the utility of work sampling methods in behavior analysis will be discussed.

Applied behaviour analysis typically uses interobserver agreement (IOA) algorithms as a measure of our confidence in the quality of the data. Other natural sciences use calibration to assess the quality of the data produced by their measurement systems. The current study conducted calibration analysis and three IOA assessments (block-by-block, exact agreement, and time-window analysis) for novice recorders using different recording methods (laptop computer, handheld touch screen computer, and events within intervals using pen and paper). The presentation will discuss the strengths and limitations of IOA and calibration based on the data from 15 observers. Recommendations for selecting and evaluation measurement systems in applied behaviour analysis will be made.

Data on problem behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury, stereotypy) are typically collected by direct observation using predetermined operational definitions. These definitions are subjective, somewhat arbitrary, and only those behaviors that are directly observable can be recorded. Furthermore, objectively assessing the magnitude (i.e., strength, force, or intensity) of a problem behavior by human observation alone poses significant challenges. The purpose of the current study is to explore the extent to which acceleration data collected from small sensors worn on the wrists and ankles can be used to automatically detect and quantify specific types of problematic behaviors. Data has been collected from an individual who simulated high intensity aggressive, disruptive, and self-injurious behavior while wearing the sensors, as well as with3 individuals who attend a day treatment program for individuals with disabilities who engage in problem behavior. Preliminary analyses of some of the data showed that, when sensor data were compared to data collected by a human observer, the sensors identified instances of problem behavior with 97% sensitivity (true positives) and 84% specificity (true negatives).

The papers in this symposium range from teaching individuals to avoid abduction (Sanchez) to treating high-risk behavior of sex offenders with intellectual disabilities (Walker, presented by Joslyn). In the first paper, a procedure is described to teach individuals with developmental disabilities to prevent abductions (Sanchez). In the second paper, variables influencing children's responses to interview questions in a simulated forensic interview will be described (Sparling, presented by Boyle). In the third paper, in vivo assessments of appropriate versus inappropriate (child related) magazines are followed by variable time supervision as intervention for sex offenders with developmental disabilities (Walker, presented by Joslyn).

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) for teaching abduction prevention skills to adolescents with disabilities. The participants were4 adolescents, ages 18–24, diagnosed with intellectual disabilities. Five BST sessions were conducted for each participant using instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Following BST in situ assessments took place at the participants' school to assess acquisition of the skills. The data showed that none of the participants reached criterion level following BST although some of the participants improved their score from baseline. In situ training was then implemented until the participants reached criterion level.

Previous research has shown that certain interviewer behaviors can evoke inaccurate answers by children. In the current study, we examined the effects of approving and disapproving statements on the accuracy of3 children's answers to questions in an interview (Experiment 1). We then evaluated3 questioning techniques that may be used by interviewers during a forensic interview in which a child provides eyewitness testimony (Experiment 2). All participants responded with more inaccurate answers when approving statements followed inaccurate information and disapproving statements followed accurate information in Experiment 1. During Experiment 2, 1 participant responded most inaccurately when she was re-questioned after providing an initial answer, whereas the remaining 2 participants responded most inaccurately when the interviewer provided co-witness information and suggestive questions.

Historically, the assessment and treatment of sex offenders (including those diagnosed with intellectual disabilities) has focused on evaluating and decreasing arousal to inappropriate stimuli (e.g., pictures and videos of prepubescent children wearing bathing suits). Although decreasing arousal to inappropriate stimuli is a critical component of any behavioral treatment plan, a comprehensive treatment plan necessitates assessments and treatments designed to address other (operant) features of offense related behavior. Previous research has shown that sex offenders with intellectual disabilities will engage in high-risk behavior (e.g., stealing pictures of prepubescent children) when they believe that they are alone. The purpose of the current study is to replicate and extend previous research by evaluating the effectiveness of variable-time supervision. To date, results have shown that periodic unpredictable supervision has been successful in decreasing occurrences of high-risk behavior.

This symposium will include 4 presentations that blend direct instruction with precision teaching to maximize generative learning. Presentations include 3 teachers from the base laboratory school, Morningside Academy, a school for struggling general education learners; and the director of a school program catering to pervasively delayed learners that partners with Morningside Academy to adapt and transfer Morningside's instructional model to their population. The first presentation by Shiloh Isbell will describe the effects of adding standard celeration charting to typical writing rubric scoring upon students' persuasive essay writing performance. The second presentation by Marianne Delgado will extend that work to writing performance in reading, science, and math; as well as show the effects of charting data from a delayed prompting procedure on reading comprehension. The third presentation by Paul Meng examines motivational variables involved in school lunch and recess procedures. The fourth presentation by Bill Helsel describes technology transfer to a partner school catering to students with pervasive delays.

We will present different uses of the standard celeration chart in tracking essay writing across the curriculum: student response journaling to recreational reading in literature; essay questions and lab report discussion sections in science, position papers in writing, and "how to" expository essays on Math. We will also present a group chart on the oral acquisition of reading comprehension skills using delayed prompting. The celeration chart excels in tracking output over time. Unique ways of tracking efficiency of writing, writer's engagement, acquisition of expository skills and fading of teacher prompts, by using symbols charted "below the floor" will be explained. We will present pre- and post- measures and student work samples across curricula and describe application uses at parent/teacher/student conferences.We will add this year's data to the presentation.

School scheduling parameters have been shown to affect student performance in terms of both academic behavior and problem behavior. Many motivating variables change throughout the school day based on scheduling, and thus, this issue may be best understood by applying a behavior analytic perspective. Recess/lunch is one period of the day that provides a rich source of such variables. By using Michaels (1982; 2001) concept of the motivating operation we may analyze the effects of such scheduling decisions on subsequent academic performance and problem behavior. The present study evaluates the motivating effects of recess schedule variations on student academic performance and problem behavior, in addition to examining the effects of such alterations on total instructional time. Procedures include academic evaluations native to Morningside Academy; count recording of problem behavior, and latency of instruction following the recess period. Conditions were alternated rapidly using an alternating treatments design. The attached file of last years preliminary findings indicates that a recess schedule can be modified to impact student academic and problem behavior. We will add this years data to the presentation.

Early behavior analysis of instructional design such as Markle's and Tiemann's (1967) "System of Instruction" and their later Learner Outcome table (Tiemann & Markle, 1990) provides a roadmap to teaching necessary complex academic relations for the most pervasively delayed learners. Learners 3 to 14 years of age diagnosed with a pervasive developmental delay learn to read, write, and compute numbers through well-established Direct Instruction programs combined with Precision Teaching. After teaching key differentiated relations for "how" and discriminated relations for "when" to respond, the systematic detailed instruction and practice of Language for Learning, Expressive Writing, and Connecting Math Concepts are used to teach the "wow" responding of complex extended relations. Standard Celeration Charts chronicle this evolution from "how" to "when" to "wow" responding. Such histories will be shown across several learners whose performances have been carefully monitored over several years and dozens of types of learning as well as data for overall program evaluation. Knowing of an existing roadmap and how to follow it offers an opportunity for teachers to guide their learners with pervasive delays to better affect their world through demonstrating understanding of concepts, operations, and equivalence.

Dr. Bill Hopkin's career is a model for sustained dissemination of behavior analysis. His enduring lifetime contributions, unsung by Bill, provide many examples of large-scale applications of behavior analysis that span decades and hemispheres. This session describes his substantial contributions to organizational behavior management, occupational safety, community development, university instruction and more. His skillful promotion of our science and its applications stands as a model for the next generation of unsung heroes that will continue expansion of behavior analysis and build on the foundations laid down by our pioneers.

ABA supervisors, Administrators, Behavior analysts, Behavioral consultants, Behavioral psychologists, Educational service providers, Educators/teachers, Students, Psychologists, Researchers

Bill Hopkins was an accomplished overt and behind the scenes leader within the OBM culture. Upon reflection I can see that his work with and contributions to our culture were presaged by his history of work with a "mental" health hospital. His contribution to Control of Human Behavior: From Cure To Prevention (Ulrich, Stachnik & Mabry, 1970) entitled The First 20 Years Are the Hardest leaves no doubt that Bill "cared" for the quality of life among others and the effects of large scale institutional practices on the quality of those lives. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Bill used his expertise in applied behavior analysis (aka OBM) to create large scale high impact contingencies of reinforcement resulting improved rates of safe behavior among working people and thereby reducing accidents and injuries among them (Fox, Hopkins, and Anger, 1987). I believe, based on Bill's interests expressed in JOBM that Bill's interest in large scale interventions arose from (among other reasons) a belief that improvements in organizational members' productivity should be fairly shared among members of formal organizations. If so, then pay plays a role in the OBM "equation." And Bill saw to it that we paid attention to the issue of pay practices (Hopkins & Mawhinney, 1992). In this talk I review and express my appreciation of Bill's unique contributions to the OBM culture in the pages of JOBM as well other venues (e.g., Cambridge Center for Behavior Studies), time permitting.

Bill Hopkins began to be a reference for the Italian OBM community since the early 1980s. His article on “Managing Behavior for Productivity” has been a must for the very few OBM’ers (B.L. Hopkins & J. Sears, in “Handbook of Organizational Behavior Management”, edited by L.W. Frederiksen, 1982). Nevertheless, the growth of Behavior Analysis applied to the workplace became suddenly wide and pervasive starting from his speech at the 2nd European Conference on BBS, on 2007. Surely, as an invited speaker, Bill delighted an audience of entrepreneurs with his colloquial, simple and direct approach. However, nobody knew how much its contribution would be huge after the conference, much more than during it! During his sojourn, he simply planned to change the world of safety in Italy. Consequently, he asked to meet the people active in the field of Behavior Analysis in Italy and the most prominent authorities, able to change the widest contingencies insisting on the European safety managers and consultants. He managed in order to be in touch with the local committees involved in safety and in making decisions about it, and he agreed on becoming a member of some of these committees. Further, he compelled the Italian ABA community to change its view in marketing BBS, e.g. warning the Italian behaviorists to train engineers, not the psychologists. Simultaneously, he began to support the development of regulations and legislative initiatives based on the principles of behavior, aware of the fact that teaching and presenting, in itself, would only pale antecedents, leading to a small number of apostles, and nothing more. Finally, he understood the local environment and culture, prompting and mentoring the Italian colleagues in order to get a rigorous BBS accreditation and certification being careful to avoid abuses and misconceptions. As a result, Italian Association for Behavior Analysis got two medal by the President of the Italian Republic for spreading BBS, and the Senate asked for a formal presentation of the principles of our science applied to the work safety. Bill was great in evaluating the effects of large scale institutional practices and in arranging circumstances for a broad dissemination of OBM and BBS, as nobody else. Its ability to look ahead and prepare the conditions to change the culture of an entire nation has been incredible. The fruits of his strategic mind will continue to be for many years to come.

SuperValu’s Advanced Logistics MDRC’s Illinois distribution center has been accredited by the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies since 2005 for application of behavioral principles within management of worker safety. The accreditation was earned after MRDC successfully implemented SuperValu’s Critical Activities Management (CAM) program, which uses systematic feedback and positive reinforcement to strengthen safe workplace practices. Following CAM implementation, MRDC noted a reduction in OSHA frequency rates from 13.1 to 0.0 and a reduction in severity rates from 1.6 to 0.0. This extraordinary achievement was enabled by the many efforts of Dr. Bill Hopkins who advised and mentored us. His work with the Commission for the Accreditation of Behavioral Applications to Safety within the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies guided our efforts to develop safety management at the Advanced Logistics MDRC’s Illinois distribution center. Since 2005, Bill's extensive volunteer efforts with SuperValu went far beyond the distribution center outside Chicago. More sites within SuperValu's vast supply chain are following the lead of MRDC. In 2010, Dr. Hopkins organized and led a think-tank on disseminating innovation throughout SuperValu (180,000 employees) that was attended by 20 corporate executives. His actions have made a lasting impact on our organization.

A 14-month randomized clinical trial was recently completed to evaluate the effects of behavior skills training (BST) and psychoeducational training (PET) for parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder. The BST used PCMAs BehaviorToolsTM curriculum and included didactic lectures, live and video modeling, rehearsal and feedback. The PET used a combination of several current parenting programs (e.g., The Incredible Years; 1, 2, 3, Magic; Parenting with Love and Logic) and was conducted in a group therapy format. Performance using behavior management skills and parenting stress levels were compared for parents in the BST group, the PET group and the Control group. Although parents in both training groups showed a reduction in stress levels from pre to post-training, only parents in BST group demonstrated improvements in behavior management skills. Training curricula will be briefly described, outcome data will be displayed, results will be discussed and implications for future research and clinical applications will be suggested.

This project investigated the effectiveness of the BehaviorToolsTM training in reducing coercive parent-child interactions and increasing positive parent-child interactions for parents of children with developmental disabilities. Using an AB single-subject, parametric design, the level of role-play practice offered in the BehaviorToolsTM training was varied. Acquisition of behavior management skills was measured through pre- and post-training role-play assessments. In-situ positive and negative parent-child interactions were measured using partial interval recording. Outcome data demonstrated increases in positive parent-child interactions and decreases in negative parent-child interactions for all subjects. Results revealed no relationship between participants who engaged in repeated practice versus single practice, as is standard in the implementation of the BehaviorToolsTM training. Four types of parents emerged from this study: those who interacted positively before the training and demonstrated even more positive interactions and a reduction in negative interactions post-training; parents who engaged minimally pre-training and increased positive interactions post-training; parents who interacted more negatively than positively pre-training and demonstrated a dramatic shift post-training; and parents who were undifferentiated pre-training due to the control of the child in the environment. These parents learned the skills necessary to pivot away from junk behavior, resulting in significant changes in parent-child interaction post-training.

In order for foster parents to be prepared to manage problem behavior and develop a positive relationship with a child in their home, local foster care agencies require these parents to attend parent training classes. Unfortunately, even foster care agencies that offer empirically validated BST type parent training courses are unable to prevent the parents performance from decreasing over time (Cowart, Iwata, & Poynter, 1984; Forehand & King, 1977; Mueller et al., 2003). However, researchers have created booster training sessions to counteract this issue. Booster training sessions allow participants to attend a brief usually one day refresher course on skills they have previously learned. Another intervention that has been successful with skill acquisition is video modeling. Video modeling requires less response effort and is not as time consuming compared to other training methods like didactic teaching. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of booster training sessions using video modeling for foster parents who completed a parent training class that was based on basic behavior analysis principles.

The use of reinforcement in the clinical arena has typically employed a number of treatment strategies. Response classes have been acquired by human subjects using delayed reinforcement. The studies compiled in this symposium will detail the use of positive reinforcement as a treatment strategy in the applied setting. An investigation of the effects of both immediate and delayed reinforcement will be examined with respect to dually diagnosed adults in a residential treatment facility. A comparison of the effects of schedule based presentations of positive reinforcement compared to delays of reinforcement that were extended up to one week. Data will be presented that demonstrates the efficacy of both immediate and delayed reinforcement in the goal setting behavior and functional behavior of adults with severe developmental disabilities and psychiatric conditions. A similar methodology will be reported for children using a self-control procedure and progressive delays to reinforcement. Each of these applied studies will demonstrate this powerful behavioral technology in the treatment of both adults and children with special needs.

This project involved an investigation into the effects of changing schedules of reinforcement on functional goal completion in adults with dually diagnosed developmental disabilities/psychiatric issues and extensive histories of high risk aggressive behavior. Initially, each individual was placed on positive reinforcement contingencies using an FI 1 schedule of reinforcement for the absence of aggressive responding. Data were taken on the weekly frequency of aggressive behavior and reinforcement made available contingent upon passage of a pre-determined interval criteria for absence of the behavior. This was followed by the individuals being placed in a weekly goal setting program, which introduced a delay of reinforcement of 1 week. Finally a token system in the form of a coupon exchange system was put into place that further extended the response requirements and replaced tangible and social reinforcement with conditioned reinforcers. Data showed that individuals in the study displayed significant increases in functional goal completion scores and self-reported mood scores, as well as concomitant decreases in aggressive responding.

The present study extends previous research on self-control procedures and the transformation of stimulus functions. Experiment 1 consisted of 3 participants who had been diagnosed with developmental delays between the ages of 6 and 8 years old who participated in a multiple baseline design. They were exposed to a preference assessment, a naturalistic baseline, and a choice baseline before the relational training and testing was implemented. Re-exposure to the choice baseline after the conditional discrimination training occurred to support the transformation of functions. Experiment 2 replicated the procedure with children with brain injuries from the ages of 9 to 14 years old. Results showed the alteration of preferences from the small, immediate reinforcer initially, to the larger, more delayed reinforcer following the intervention in both experiments.

Within in any relationship between humans, there exists a certain functional status quo concerning the partys interactions. This status quo is maintained by a mutual differential reinforcement of each partys responses. A disruption of this condition occurs when one of the parties engages in an offensive response that negatively affects the other party. As a result of this behavior, the responses of both parties contact altered consequences. The offended partys response to this behavior creates a socially aversive condition for the offending party. The termination of this aversive condition now has reinforcing properties and any behavior that has effectively terminated this condition is more likely to occur. This behavior is an apology. Upon further analysis, an apology can be conceptualized as a verbal response declaring pain. Commonly, the verbal stimulus of declaring pain terminates the aversive condition for the offended party. In essence, pain relieves pain. In this presentation, the author will discuss the conditions under which apologies occur and the maintaining consequences for such behavior. Additionally, the similarities between apologies and revenge will be discussed in attempts to shed light on one of the most common behaviors emitted in a relationship.

Children and adults with disabilities may be exposed to various safety threats in their lifetimes. These include the threat of abduction, sexual abuse, firearm injury, poisoning, and pedestrian injuries to name a few. This presentation will discuss best practices in assessment and training of safety skills for the various safety threats faced by individuals with disabilities. Topics covered in this tutorial will include strategies for valid and reliable assessment of safety skills with an emphasis on the use of naturalistic or in situ assessments; the selection of target behavior and stimuli needed for successful training; the successful use of behavioral skills training procedures and variations for the acquisition of safety skills; and strategies for promoting generalization and maintenance of the safety skills to the environments and circumstances where the safety skills are needed. Finally, issues of cost, efficiency, and accessibility of training will be discussed.

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• Describe the safety threats faced by individuals with disabilities and the safety skills needed to respond safely to these threats 
• Describe the strategies for assessing safety skills
• Describe behavioral skills training and in situ training for teaching safety skills
• Describe strategies for promoting generalization of safety skills