Association for Behavior Analysis International

"Motivation" is a topic many behavior analysts have mixed feelings about, despite all the literature on "establishing" or "motivational" operations. I argue that behavior analysts, particularly in their common treatment of reinforcement, are guilty of limited vision and in many ways still tied to traditional motivational concepts—where the light is better. This is illustrated by recent discussion of putative distinctions (or none) between positive and negative reinforcement as well as naive perspectives on so-called conditioned reinforcement. Most behavior, in fact, is controlled by consequences having little, if any, relation to motivational variables. In this treatment, I provide a definition of motivation and discuss some of the common variables said to control probabilities of action. I then discuss the strange implications of the positive vs. negative reinforcement controversy and the role of the history of contingencies in controlling the effects of consequences. Finally I review the place of feedback functions in the analysis of behavior. Behavior analysis needs to search beyond its current horizons where there may be even more light—certainly more enlightenment. [Resumen: La "motivación" es un tema sobre el que muchos analistas del comportamiento tienen sentimientos encontrados, a pesar de toda la literatura sobre operaciones "de establecimiento" o "motivacionales". Yo sostengo que los analistas del comportamiento, sobre todo en su tratamiento habitual del tema del refuerzo, han pecado de adoptar una visión limitada y en muchos aspectos todavía ligada a la concepción tradicional de la motivación, aplicando el viejo aforismo de aprovechar “donde la luz es mejor”. Esto es ilustrado por la reciente discusión sobre las supuestas diferencias entre refuerzo positivo y negativo, así como por perspectivas ingenuas sobre el denominado refuerzo condicionado. La mayoría de comportamiento, de hecho, está controlado consecuencias que tienen poca, o ninguna, relación con variables motivacionales. En esta presentación proporciono una definición de la motivación y discuto algunas de las variables que frecuentemente se afirma que controlan las probabilidades de acción. Entonces discuto las extrañas implicaciones de la controversia acerca de refuerzo positivo frente a negativo y el papel de la historia de contingencias en el control de los efectos de las consecuencias. Por último, reviso el papel de las funciones de retroalimentación en el análisis del comportamiento. El análisis del comportamiento tiene que buscar más allá de sus horizontes actuales, en los que puede haber aún más luz—sin duda más “iluminación”.]

Many high-functioning children with autism possess near normal cognitive and language abilities but lack the skills necessary for successful social interactions. This symposium begins by briefly reviewing the empirically-based literature on teaching social skills to high-functioning children with autism and discussing the importance of designing social skills interventions that consider the specific needs and abilities of these children. Then three studies examining interventions designed to teach high-functioning children with autism specific skills necessary to participate in social exchanges with peers. The first study used video modeling to teach high-functioning children with autism reciprocal conversation through humorous exchanges. The second study utilized advances in technology to teach children with high-functioning autism persistence in social initiations for play bids. The final study used athletic skills training and a rules intervention to increase high-functioning children with autism’s participation in competitive group games. The findings will be discussed in terms of their contribution to the literature and implications for future research.

Many high-functioning children with autism are of normal intelligence and language abilities but fail to develop age-appropriate social skills. These deficient social skills have negative implications for their social, emotional, and classroom development. The social deficiencies of high-functioning children with autism are of particular issue because of their inclusion with typically developing peers who are more aware of these deficits. Although there is an extensive body of literature addressing the effectiveness of social skills intervention programs for children with autism in general, much less research examines social skills interventions designed specifically for high-functioning children with autism. The current presentation draws upon recent literature to discuss the importance of identifying the specific needs and abilities of this segment of the autism population. Doing so will allow researchers to design social skills intervention programs that address their needs in ways that build upon the children’s many strengths and best facilitate success in their natural environments.

Common social skills interventions that focus on simple initiations and responses are well-researched and relatively easy to teach, but offer limited learning opportunities. Mastering more advanced social interactions such as expansion of conversational topic, establishing ‘to and fro’ speech, and maintaining a verbal exchange has the potential of expanding learning opportunities for children with autism (Charlop & Kelso, 2003). Little research is available on this subject. Joke-telling is a promising form of conversational dialogue that keeps the attention of a typical peer, is naturally reinforcing to both conversational partners, and increases the likeability of the person telling the joke. Humorous exchanges also enhance physical, cognitive, language and psychosocial skill attainment and promote experience-sharing relationships (Franzini, 2002; Robinson, 1991). This study investigated the effects of teaching child-initiated social skills in the form of joke-telling using video modeling on social behavior and appropriate speech for children with autism. Preliminary results indicate that the intervention successfully taught children to engage in joke-telling with peers. Further results will discuss generalization and ecologically valid social skill to children with autism.

Social interventions that incorporate technology are the new wave of the future for children with autism because they take advantage of the inherent visual strengths of these children, are motivating, and are socially acceptable among neurotypical peers. Interventions that incorporate technology are also becoming progressively more popular because they are economical, portable, and require minimal instruction to operate. In the present study, a portable video modeling technology (PVMI) was used to teach persistence in social initiations when making bids to others to play. Two hypotheses were tested. First, it was hypothesized that children with autism would effectively learn persistence in social initiations with typical peers by using a portable video modeling technology. Second, persistence in social initiations was hypothesized to generalize and be maintained across people, settings, and skills. Results indicated that high-functioning children with autism could learn persistence in social initiations through the PVMI. All three children also continued to engage in the target behavior 1 month after the PVMI and generalized the target behavior to at least one untrained setting. Potential implications are discussed in terms of the future of portable video modeling interventions for children with autism.

Children diagnosed with autism tend to have much difficulty engaging in age-appropriate play with peers. The present study utilized a multiple baseline design to assess the effects of after-school interventions designed to improve 3 children’s play behavior during two competitive group games, handball and 4-square. During baseline, the participating children demonstrated low levels of group play. Treatment was composed of two phases. In athletic skills training, the children participated in sessions designed to teach them a sequence of progressively advanced athletic skills required to play the targeted games. During rules training, the children were instructed on and prompted to follow the rules of the targeted games. All of the children successfully mastered the athletic skills targeted for each game. Mastering the targeted athletic skills and rules training effectively increased the group play of children diagnosed with autism. Further, higher levels of group play were accompanied by increased speech. Although the children continued to demonstrate increased group play 10 to 12 weeks post intervention, the increased group play did not generalize to school recesses with neurotypical peers.

Many children with autism do not share and spontaneously seek enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people. This skills, typically referred to as joint attention, are often seen in children of typical development at approximately nine months of age. Joint attention skills play a fundamental role in language and social development. Although, many studies have assessed joint attention skills, only a few researchers have investigated teaching procedures. In the current study, a concurrent multiple baseline design with a multiple probe across four participants with autism was used to evaluate the use of prompting, reinforcement, and script fading procedures on the acquisition of a generalized repertoire of joint attention skills. Forty-eight stimuli from four different experimenter-defined categories were used to increase generalization of joint attention skills from trained stimuli to novel stimuli. Bids for joint attention systematically increased in the presence of both training and novel stimuli and settings for all four participants.

Many children with autism do not share and spontaneously seek enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people. This skills, typically referred to as joint attention, are often seen in children of typical development at approximately nine months of age. Joint attention skills play a fundamental role in language and social development. Although, many studies have assessed joint attention skills, only a few researchers have investigated teaching procedures. In the current study, a concurrent multiple baseline design with a multiple probe across four participants with autism was used to evaluate the use of prompting, reinforcement, and script fading procedures on the acquisition of a generalized repertoire of joint attention skills. Forty-eight stimuli from four different experimenter-defined categories were used to increase generalization of joint attention skills from trained stimuli to novel stimuli. Bids for joint attention systematically increased in the presence of both training and novel stimuli and settings for all four participants.

Interventions that teach spontaneous language are crucial for the social development of children with autism. Script fading procedures have been shown to be effective for teaching children with autism to initiate and participate in social interactions without verbal prompts from adults. Previous script and script fading research was not effective in teaching a generalized repertoire of verbal interactions with stimuli in the natural environment. In this study, four boys with autism were taught to initiate a conversation in the presence of a toy through the use of a script and script fading procedure with multiple exemplar training. Six training categories of toys were also used to increase the likelihood of generalization of verbal interactions across novel toys. A multiple-baseline with a multiple probe across-subjects design was used to assess the successes of this procedure to increase spontaneous, novel language. Script and script fading procedures along with multiple-exemplar training were demonstrated to be a successful technique for teaching individuals with autism to initiate and sustain verbal interactions under the control of stimuli present in the environment, as opposed to teacher-controlled stimuli. Additional research pertaining to the specific implementation of these procedures (e.g., fading procedures, script placement, and participant characteristics) is still needed.

An alternating-treatments design with initial baseline was used to compare the effect of two locations of auditory scripts relative to target discriminative stimuli on acquisition and maintenance of verbal initiations of interactions. Four boys with autism or PDD-NOS were taught to initiate interactions about a variety of toys. Button-activated recording devices used to play scripts were placed either on target stimuli or held out of view directly behind the participants. After devices were faded, performance was more robust for two participants in the device-visible condition, for another participant more robust in the device-not-visible condition, and no difference was observed for the remaining participant. The results indicate that fading an auditory script played out of view of a child may be equally as effective for establishing stimulus control by target items as fading an auditory script initially attached to items.

Given the vast number of students currently being served within Special Education programs diagnosed with Autism, direct educational services for these children must be provided by classroom assistants rather than licensed Special Education Teachers or Board Certified Behavior Analysts. As provided under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, properly trained paraprofessionals can play important roles in schools where they can magnify and reinforce a teacher’s effect in the classroom. Unfortunately, many school districts utilize individuals in these positions who have little or no formal training or experience in this role or with this population, or provide inconsistent training experiences that have no external validity. This symposium will discuss the advantages of a standardized training program that meets the federal regulations and allows students to receive appropriate educational services.

This presentation will describe the results of a Social Validity survey completed to investigate the utility of creating a standardized certificate program for ABA classroom teaching assistants. The results support such an effort. The presentation will further review the application of these results, with the goal of increasing the quality of educational services provided to students in public schools and reducing the costs to taxpayers for placements in private programs.

Meeting the needs of adult learners, typically working full-time at the same time they are functioning as students presents a series of demands on instructors to utilize empirically based approaches that are compatible to these unique pressures. Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), often know as the Keller Plan (1968) is one option that is both research based and meets many of the adult learner needs. The presentation will cover the history and research behind this unique educational approach, and will describe how such approach can be adopted to the education of Paraprofessional employees working in school and human service organizations.

This presentation will review the potential research questions to be answered in the validation of an evidence based certificate program used to train classroom aides in the use of ABA teaching approaches. Previous research on the subject, including a review of the PSI research literature will be covered, with a focus on potential future directions. The goal of the presentation will be to establish minimal standards for the field in the identification of a program that ensures competency on the part of its' graduates.

Mohandas Gandhi often indicated that nonviolence was "a science," and he apparently meant this literally, but very little actual scientific work—almost none from a natural science perspective—has been done. In this paper, the author will outline and apply principles of behavioral systems science, an emerging data-based approach to understanding the dynamics of complex cultural systems, to the practice of effective nonviolent struggle. Behavioral systems science, which at its most sophisticated integrates autopoietic processes of internal self-organization with environmental selection, has the potential to contribute to social justice, human rights, and sustainability in ways that more mechanistic (allopoietic) cultural analytic approaches do not. It is widely accepted that strategic analysis and planning can optimize campaigns of nonviolent action and resistance, while lack of such analysis increases risks of failure and casualties. This presentation will analyze four major classes of strategic nonviolent action from a functional perspective, identifying the basic behavioral and behavioral systems dynamics involved with each, illustrating those dynamics with historical and contemporary cases. The four major classes explored here, in part adapted from work by Gene Sharp, are:(a) Constructive noncooperation; (b) Protest and persuasion;(c) Resistant noncooperation;(d) Nonviolent disruption Such analyses offer real advances to existing, largely ad hoc, understandings of effective nonviolent struggle, clarifying conditions supporting success as well as potential costs. Principles of behavioral systems science offer direction for real world experimentation, clearly an essential next step (although a challenging one to initiate). This presentation will also highlight important ethical questions that must be considered in bringing behavioral systems science to nonviolent struggle. Given the enormous human costs of violent strategies of resistance, insurgency and rebellion, and their poor record of sustainable success, the rigorous exploration of alternatives is a critically important direction for applied cultural analysis. [Resumen: Mohandas Gandhi indicó a menudo que la no violencia era una "ciencia", y al parecer afirmaba esto de forma literal. No obstante, se ha realizado muy poco trabajo científico en este ámbito; casi ninguno desde una perspectiva de la ciencia natural. En este trabajo, el autor expondrá y aplicará los principios de la ciencia de los sistemas conductuales, un enfoque emergente basado en datos dirigido a entender la dinámica de los sistemas culturales complejos, a la práctica de la lucha no violenta eficaz. La ciencia de los sistemas conductuales, que en su versión más sofisticada integra procesos autopoiéticos de auto-organización interna con la selección del medio ambiente, tiene el potencial de contribuir a la justicia social, a los derechos humanos y a la sostenibilidad de una forma que no lo hacen los enfoques analítico culturales más mecanicistas (alopoiético). Es ampliamente aceptado que el análisis estratégico y la planificación pueden optimizar las campañas de acción no violenta y resistencia, mientras que la falta de un análisis de este tipo incrementa los riesgos de fracaso y de víctimas. En esta presentación se analizan cuatro clases principales de acción estratégica no violenta desde una perspectiva funcional, identificando los sistemas dinámicos conductuales y los sistemas básicos de conducta implicados en cada uno, ilustrando dichas dinámicas con casos históricos y contemporáneos. Las cuatro clases principales estudiadas aquí, adaptadas en parte del trabajo de Gene Sharp, son los siguientes: (a) la falta de cooperación constructiva, (b) la protesta y la persuasión, (c) la falta de cooperación resistente, y (d) la interrupción no violenta. Tales análisis ofrecen avances reales respecto a las explicaciones existentes, en gran medida ad hoc, de la lucha no violenta eficaz, clarificando las condiciones que favorecen el éxito, así como los costes potenciales. Los principios de la ciencia de los sistemas conductuales ofrecen indicaciones para la experimentación en el mundo real, claramente un paso esencial (aunque un reto para sus pioneros). Esta presentación también pondrá de relieve importantes cuestiones éticas que deben ser consideradas en la aplicación de la ciencia de los sistemas conductuales a la lucha no violenta. Dados los enormes costos humanos de las estrategias violentas de resistencia, insurgencia y rebelión y su pobre historial de éxito duradero, la intensa exploración de alternativas es un área muy importante para el análisis cultural aplicado.]

Paper 1: Modeling longitudinal data of EIBI for autism in search of reliable predictors. Authors: Javier Virués-Ortega, Víctor Rodríguez-García Few studies have explored the effects of EIBI longitudinally. Longitudinal models allow identifying outcome predictors and factors of individual variation, which may in turn help to optimize intervention resources. Virués-Ortega and Rodríguez's paper will present a mixed-nonlinear model based on longitudinal data from an EIBI program in Barcelona. Paper 2: Predictors of reliable change in IQ and ABC scores following early intervention for children with autism. Authors: Sigmund Eldevik, Richard Hastings, J. Carl Hughes Abstract: We explored how age at intake, gender, cognitive and adaptive functioning and type of intervention may be related to positive outcome in a large sample (n=453) of children with autism. Positive outcome was defined as meeting criteria for reliable change in either IQ (+27 points) or ABC (+21 points) after about two years of intervention. Paper 3: Which children will benefit from early intervention? Authors: Lars Klintwall, Svein Eikeseth Abstract: A consistent finding in outcome studies is a large individual variation in response to treatment: some children exhibit huge gains whilst some children benefit little even with years of interventions. Apart from variation in therapy quality, some of these differences are likely due to child characteristics. Putative predictors such as age, IQ-scores, diagnosis and reinforcer repertoires are reviewed. Some implications for treatment emphasis are suggested. Paper 4: Long-term maintenance of EIBI effects. Author: Robert E. Remington Abstract: EIBI outcome research shows convincing effects at the end of treatment, but there is surprisingly little high-quality evidence that cognitive and behavioural changes are sustained following treatment termination. Remington’s presentation reports a 2-year follow-up of a controlled intervention study, the results of which raise critical questions regarding the long-term maintenance of immediate EIBI outcomes.

Few studies have explored the effects of EIBI longitudinally. Longitudinal models allow identifying outcome predictors and factors of individual variation, which may in turn help to optimize intervention resources. Virues-Ortega and Garcia's paper will present a mixed-nonlinear model based on longitudinal data from an EIBI program in Barcelona.

We explored how age at intake, gender, cognitive and adaptive functioning and type of intervention may be related to positive outcome in a large sample (n=453) of children with autism. Positive outcome was defined as meeting criteria for reliable change in either IQ (+27 points) or ABC (+21 points) after about two years of intervention.

EIBI outcome research shows convincing effects at the end of treatment, but there is surprisingly little high-quality evidence that cognitive and behavioural changes are sustained following treatment termination. Remington's presentation reports a 2-year follow-up of a controlled intervention study, the results of which raise critical questions regarding the long-term maintenance of immediate EIBI outcomes.

The use of restraint as an has come under increasing legal, regulatory, legislative, media, consumer, and activist scrutiny in recent years. Restraint—used either as a planned procedure or as an emergency intervention to briefly suppress dangerous behavior—has for decades generally been considered to be highly restrictive and therefore to be avoided in most circumstances, current focus on the dangers and potential abuses of restraint have made it particularly critical to take active steps to prevent the need for restraint whenever it is reasonably possible to do so. This symposium will focus on several topics relevant to restraint beginning with the ABAI prepared position statement on Seclusion & Restraint, followed by preventing the need for restraint use, including the collection, aggregation, and analysis of incident data; functional analysis of the behavior of the person being restrained and the individuals engaging in restraint; and application of organizational behavior management principles to changing the behavior of groups of staff working with individuals who might engage in behaviors that might require use of restraint as an emergency safety intervention.

The presentation will review The Association for Behavior Analysis International Position Statement on Restraint and Seclusion (2010), Timothy R. Vollmer, Louis P. Hagopian, Jon S. Bailey, Michael F. Dorsey, Gregory P. Hanley, David Lennox, Mary M. Riordan, and Scott Spreat. The task force was authorized by the Executive Council of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), which generated the position statement concerning the techniques called Restraint and Seclusion. Members of the task force independently reviewed the scientific literature concerning Restraint and Seclusion and agreed unanimously to the content of the statement. The Executive Council accepted the statement and it was subsequently approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the general membership. The position statement now constitutes official ABAI policy.

Although the use of physical restraint is generally acknowledged as an occasionally necessary intervention for very dangerous behaviors, it is infrequently examined as a class of behaviors in itself. The speaker discusses various potential antecedent and consequent effects related to the use of restraint. The various stimuli associated with the use of restraints and their potential evocative and abolishing effects are also discussed. The antecedent, consequent, and motivational effects are examined both in terms of the restrainers and the person being restrained. The importance of tracking trends not only in the target behaviors of consumers, but also for the trends in restraint use across individual staff and individual consumers is discussed. The importance of the use of these data, along with other behavior assessment tools, to obtain functional relation data on behaviors associated with restraint is then discussed. Although not typically meant as a consequent intervention, the use of restraints is considered for its potential reinforcing, punishing, and motivational effects over time and this consideration is applied to a functional analysis of the behavior of trained staff and consumers.

The use of physical restraint in educational and treatment settings has come under significant scrutiny in the past year, forcing administrators to review and possibly work towards changes in organizational policy and practices. Effecting change in restraint practices at schools, institutions, and other settings typically involves primarily, if not solely, focusing on staff training sessions in the topics of regulations, rights, and, perhaps, de-escalation. Unfortunately, restraint practices in these types of settings are often part of and supported by the larger culture and history of an organization—and, as may be inadvertently supported through various administrative conventions, peer reinforcement contingencies, and training practices, to name a few. However, much like other attempts to change organizational practices and direction, effecting a change in restraint practices of an organization must influence and be influenced by many levels of the organization. The current presentation outlines the critical elements of a system-wide restraint prevention program utilizing organizational behavior management (OBM) principles and strategies including obtaining organizational commitment, establishing valid and practical data collection, comprehensive training, and system-wide interventions

This lecture will present an overview of the CABAS® (Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling) system, its implementation and the effects it had on the students, parents and educators throughout Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina. CABAS® system is continually advancing the science of Applied Behavior Analysis and Education through its extensive research and application of scientific-based tactics to advancing children’s verbal behavior development from infancy to complete independence. These science driven educational “best practices” are employed every day across general, inclusion, early intervention, and special education CABAS® classrooms throughout the USA, England, Italy, and now B&H and Spain, to teach children with and without developmental delays ranging form pre-listeners and pre-speakers through readers, writers, and self-editor levels of verbal behavior. We will try to provide an analysis of the introduction of the evidence-based instructional model to classrooms in Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and focus on the procedures that have been identified as crucial, foundational requirements for the success of a learner in an inclusive setting. We will provide data on the protocols for inducing important verbal capabilities, such as Naming and Observational Learning, in the classroom settings. Also, we will discuss the significance of these data in terms of advancement of behavior analysis and scientific pedagogy across Europe.

In 2 years, we applied CABAS for 10 preschoolers who did not have the prerequisites to be included in regular education classrooms and measured the impact of the implementation of a scientific model for education as students, parents and teachers outcomes. The experience raised controversial questions about the social politics of the country and produced opposite reactions: families started to advocate to have CABAS trained professionals included in their childrens educational environments, while Public School representatives working in the surrounding areas refused to discuss with researchers about the critical outcomes of teaching as an art and full inclusion as a rule. Most of all, the CABAS Pilot Project demonstrated to be a unique training opportunity for teachers. For this study, nine teachers performances were measured following 200 hours of training in a Public School classroom, in a learning centre using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and in a CABAS classroom. The teaching performance was measured based on 5 repertoires identified as the features of the best expertise in education (Greer, 2002; Heward, 2003). Data suggested that training teachers in a comprehensive ABA environment tremendously improved teachers performance and that CABAS was the most efficient training system compared with regular education and ABA-based general training . We will discuss the significance of these data in terms of advancement of behavior analysis and scientific pedagogy.

For over 30 years CABAS (Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling) model has been serving the students, parents and educators throughout the world and is continually advancing the science of Applied Behavior Analysis and Education. CABAS today serves students with and without disabilities and continues to promote high standards of educational practices and overall scientific approach to teaching in USA, England, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Spain. It is a comprehensive system of teaching as science, that produces hundreds of experiments each year, disseminates the findings and applies the same across all classrooms it serves across the world. These science driven educational "best practices" are employed every day across general and special education CABAS classrooms to teach students ranging form pre-listeners through readers, writers, and self-editors levels of verbal behavior. Papers presented will focus on how CABAS model affected the educational practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The CABAS model provided a modern, effective, evidence-based, and research-driven opportunity to help children in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and provided the evidence based pedagogy as a systematic solution to the education crisis in BiH. A Pilot Project, based on the experiences of the 30 years of research at The Fred S. Keller School, and other CABAS schools around the world, was started in 2010 and the first data suggest the Bosnian classrooms can successfully replicate the American outcomes

This paper will present effective strategies for teaching language functions to preschool and school aged students with and without developmental delays. Recent research suggests two components in the acquisition of Naming as a verbal developmental cusp— the bidirectional component that allows children to be taught the listener component directly resulting in the emergence of the speaker (and occasionally vice-versa), and the component that also allows children to learn new words for things as listener and speaker without any direct instruction (the source for the explosion in language in young children). I will present several papers including results from the implementation of protocols to induce Naming with 3-dimentional objects with 2 and 3-year olds, as well as induction of bi-directional and full Naming with preschoolers.

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of a peer-yoked contingency game on the acquisition of observational learning, Naming, and spontaneous speech in children ages 6 to 8 year old with diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder and other developmental delays. Six students, 3 males and 3 female, served as the participants for this study. None of the students were able to learn through group instruction due to missing verbal capabilities, but due to the nature of their classrooms and the schools' curriculum the use of known protocols while working 1:1 to induce the missing capabilities, was not practical. Through a delayed, multiple baseline design, we sought to demonstrate the effects of a combination of protocols on the acquisition of 3 missing verbal capabilities: observational learning, Naming, and spontaneous speech. The results demonstrate the peer-yoked game board with an MEI component was effective at increasing Observational Learning, Naming and spontaneous speech capabilities in all 6 participants.

The neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) is involved in motor and motivational aspects of behavior. Dopamine is also linked to motivation for stimuli causing pleasure, impulsiveness, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), leading some theorists to suggest that DA acts as a reward system mediating the hedonic effects of pleasant stimuli. The identification of factors maintaining drug addictions and those impairing motor functions will contribute to developing new treatment strategies and therapeutic practices. Research programs aimed to explore these ideas in systematic ways are needed. In the laboratory choice situations are prepared to assess self-control, an important aspect involved in substance abuse. This talk presents the findings obtained with a novel procedure designed to study impulsive behavior and self-control. Subjects faced a choice between two response alternatives, one providing a small-sooner (SS) amount of food contingent upon responding, and the other delivering a larger-later (LL) amount of food after a delay that increased in a systematic way (0, 5, 10, 20, 40 or 80 s) within sessions. While impulsive subjects preferred the former alternative, the self-controlled subjects preferred the latter alternative. Baselines of impulsive and self-controlled choice were used to assess the effects of drugs targeting DA receptors (D2) on the choices of subjects with DA deficiencies and subjects without DA deficiencies. The implication of present findings to develop models of ADHD and substance abuse will be discussed. [Resumen: El neurotransmisor dopamina (DA) está involucrado en los aspectos motores y motivacionales de la conducta. La dopamina también está vinculada a la motivación hacia los estímulos que causan placer, en la impulsividad y en los desórdenes de déficit de atención e hiperactividad (TDAH), lo que ha llevado a algunos teóricos a sugerir que la DA actúa como un sistema de recompensa mediando los efectos hedónicos de estímulos agradables. La identificación de los factores de mantenimiento de las drogodependencias y de aquellos implicados en las funciones motoras dañadas contribuirá al desarrollo de nuevas estrategias de tratamiento y prácticas terapéuticas. Son necesarios programas de investigación destinados a explorar estas ideas de forma sistemática. En el laboratorio las situaciones de elección están preparadas para evaluar el auto-control, un aspecto importante involucrado en el abuso de drogas. Esta conferencia presenta los resultados obtenidos con un nuevo procedimiento diseñado para estudiar el comportamiento impulsivo y el auto-control. Se enfrentó a los sujetos a una elección entre dos alternativas de respuesta, una proporcionaba una pequeña cantidad de alimento inmediata tras la respuesta, y otra en la que se entregaba una cantidad mayor de alimento pero demorada, cuyo retraso se incrementó de manera sistemática (0 , 5, 10, 20, 40 o 80 segundos) a lo largo de las sesiones. Mientras que los sujetos impulsivos prefieren la primera alternativa, los sujetos con auto-control prefieren la segunda alternativa. Se utilizaron las líneas de base de la elección impulsiva y con autocontrol para evaluar los efectos de fármacos dirigidos a los receptores de DA (D2) en las elecciones de los sujetos con deficiencias DA y sujetos sin deficiencias DA. Se discutirá la implicación de los resultados obtenidos para desarrollar modelos de TDAH y de abuso de drogas.]

The stimulus equivalence paradigm has provided a basis for carefully controlled laboratory study of novel or emergent behavioral relations for over two decades. Sidman’s more recent (1994, 2000) theoretical treatments of stimulus equivalence have expanded original conceptualizations considerably in that all elements of a reinforcement contingency (e.g., conditional stimulus, discriminative stimulus, response, and reinforcer) are held to be members of an equivalence class. Many important developments in conceptual, experimental, and applied behavior analysis have followed from this work. This talk will review stimulus equivalence methodologies, and describe a translational series of experimental and applied studies from my lab that provide additional support for the suggestion that the reinforcer can function as a member of the equivalence class.

Data from typically developing children and those with autism show that when multi-element class-specific reinforcers (i.e., auditory and visual conditioned reinforcers, edible primary reinforcers) are employed in either simple or conditional discrimination training, each element of the reinforcer compound will function independently as a nodal class member. The practical importance of these findings is illustrated by data from equivalence teaching programs used to establish basic math skills with young typically developing children, as well as those with developmental disabilities. These results have significant applied implications with respect to efficient technologies of teaching, in addition to their theoretical relevance.

In behavior analysis, the study of rule-governed behavior and instructional control has gained importance in recent years. The first analyzes the relationship between thinking and problem solving and the second clarifies the functional role of instruction in the control of nonverbal behavior. There have been attempts to distinguish between rule-governed behavior and following instructions. From this distinction, some analysts study the variables involved in why humans can transmit knowledge and experience to other humans. We have no evidence that nonhuman species can carry out the behavioral process of transmission, and so it is assumed that verbal behavior plays an important role. For this study, in addition behavioral performance, verbal request has been used to gather evidence of the verbal component that governs or controls the nonverbal behavior. The aim is to show an overview of research in these areas and their impact on transmission of human cultural practices. Data included from our laboratory shows the effects of the interaction between instructional history and the consequences for following instructions. Finally, we analyze how the instructional control is related to education, history and culture and as behavior analysts how we can help in understanding this relationship. [Resumen: En el análisis de la conducta, el estudio de la conducta gobernada por reglas y el control instruccional ha ganado importancia en los últimos años. El primero analiza la relación entre el pensamiento y la solución de problemas y el segundo clarifica el papel funcional de la instrucción en el control de la conducta no verbal. Ha habido intentos de distinguir entre la conducta gobernada por reglas y el seguimiento de instrucciones. Desde esa distinción, algunos analistas estudian las variables implicadas en por qué los humanos pueden transmitir conocimiento y experiencia a otros humanos. No tenemos evidencia de que las especies no humanas puedan llevar a cabo los procesos conductuales de transmisión, por lo que se asume que la conducta verbal juega un importante papel. Para su estudio, además de la ejecución conductual, las peticiones verbales han sido utilizadas para reunir evidencia sobre el componente verbal que gobierna o controla la conducta no verbal. La intención es mostrar una visión general de la investigación en esas áreas y su impacto en la transmisión de prácticas culturales humanas. Los datos incluidos de nuestro laboratorio muestran los efectos de la interacción entre la historia instruccional y las consecuencias para las siguientes instrucciones. Finalmente, analizamos como el control instruccional está relacionado con la educación, historia y cultura y cómo en calidad de analistas de conducta podemos ayudar en la comprensión de esa relación.]

Infants are phenomenal creatures that can learn amazingly fast. I will discuss how operant-learning principles have been used effectively to investigate social and cognitive phenomena in infancy. I will highlight the type of infant responses and classes of reinforcing stimuli we have tested in the laboratory, as well as procedures that researchers can use effectively to investigate infant social learning phenomena. Among the phenomena studied are: attachment and separation anxiety, join attention, social referencing, early fears (fear of the dark and fear of strangers), the role of maternal vocal imitation and motherese speech in infant vocal conditioning, and treatment of depression in infancy via couching mothers. Some recommendations for early interventions with infants "at risk" of developmental delays are offered.[Resumen: Los niños son seres excepcionales que pueden aprender sorprendentemente rápido. Voy a hablar de cómo los principios del aprendizaje operante se han usado de forma eficaz para investigar fenómenos cognitivos y sociales en la infancia. Voy a destacar el tipo de respuestas infantiles y las clases de estímulos reforzadores que hemos probado en el laboratorio, así como procedimientos que los investigadores pueden usar eficazmente para investigar fenómenos de aprendizaje social en a infancia. Entre los fenómenos estudiados están: el apego y la ansiedad de separación, atención conjunta, referencia social, miedos tempranos (miedo a la oscuridad y miedo a los extraños), el papel de la imitación vocal materna y el habla maternal en el condicionamiento vocal infantil, y el tratamiento de la depresión en la primera infancia a través del asesoramiento a las madres. Se ofrecen algunas recomendaciones para la intervención temprana con niños “en riesgo” de retraso en el desarrollo.]

This presentation will report a behavior-analytic research program, conducted by a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, multi-regional network, which focuses on behavioral science and technology addressing symbolic functioning and functional deficits, particularly in children. Symbolic processes are central to human cognition. The use of symbols implies that, under certain circumstances, symbol and referent substitute for each other. Symbolic relations result from arbitrary relational learning, such as that involved in relating words and world events. Functional deficits in symbolic functioning represent a substantial challenge for affected individuals, their families, and their larger communities. The main goal of our program is the scientific analysis of symbolic function and its determinants, including: (a) identification of the necessary and sufficient conditions for development of age-appropriate symbolic functioning; (b) development and/or refinement of specific procedures for managing challenges of inter-individual variability in response to educational and/or therapeutic procedures, including those designed to improve function and also those to manage symbolic function deficits; (c) investigation and development of methodology for establishing symbolic functioning in educational and therapeutic settings. The Institute's research activities are organized into three main tracks: (a) basic, (b) translational, and (c) applied science. Broad basic science projects include studies of visual and auditory information processing in symbolic tasks, methods for effectively directing attending to relevant information in such tasks, and animal models of symbolic behavior and its prerequisites. Methods and findings from these studies are in turn translated to guide research projects investigating topics such as the development of symbolic behavior in infants and toddlers, speech perception and symbolic functioning in users of cochlear implants, development of academic skills in children with learning challenges, and evaluation of neurological status of individuals whose communication skills have been compromised due to congenital or acquired neurodevelopmental disabilities. Applied science projects focus on the development of delivery systems to foster high-quality evidence-based practices in the classroom, clinic, and other settings focusing on improvement in functional communication skills. [Resumen: Esta presentación expondrá un programa de investigación analítico-conductual, llevado a cabo por una red de trabajo multidisciplinar, multi-institucional y multi-regional, centrado en la aplicación de ciencia y la tecnología de la conducta al estudio del funcionamiento simbólico y los déficits funcionales, sobre todo en los niños. Los procesos simbólicos son fundamentales para la cognición humana. El uso de símbolos implica que, bajo ciertas circunstancias, el símbolo y su referente pueden ser sustituidos el uno por el otro. Las relaciones simbólicas son el resultado del aprendizaje relacional arbitrario, como el que está implicado en relacionar las palabras con eventos del mundo. Los déficits funcionales en el funcionamiento simbólico representan un importante desafío para los individuos afectados, sus familias y su comunidad. El objetivo principal de nuestro programa es el análisis científico de la función simbólica y sus determinantes, incluyendo: (a) la identificación de las condiciones necesarias y suficientes para el desarrollo de un funcionamiento simbólico apropiado para la edad, (b) el desarrollo y / o perfeccionamiento de los procedimientos específicos para afrontar los desafíos que plantea la variabilidad interindividual en la respuesta a los procedimientos de enseñanza y / o terapéuticos, incluyendo los destinados a mejorar la función y también aquellos otros que tratan de contrarrestar los déficits en la función simbólica, (c) la investigación y el desarrollo de una metodología para establecer el funcionamiento simbólico en entornos educativos y terapéuticos. Las actividades de investigación del Instituto se organizan en tres áreas principales: (a) básica, (b) translacional y (c) ciencia aplicada. Amplios proyectos de ciencia básica incluyen estudios sobre el procesamiento de la información auditiva y visual en tareas simbólicas, métodos para dirigir con eficacia la atención hacia la información relevante en dichas tareas, y modelos animales de conducta simbólica y sus pre-requisitas. Los métodos y las conclusiones de estos estudios son a su vez utilizados para guiar proyectos de investigación sobre temas como el desarrollo del comportamiento simbólico en bebés y niños pequeños, la percepción del habla y el funcionamiento simbólico de los usuarios de implantes cocleares, el desarrollo de habilidades académicas en niños con problemas de aprendizaje, y la evaluación del estado neurológico de personas cuya capacidad de comunicación se encuentra afectada a causa de alteraciones del desarrollo neurológico congénito o adquirido. Los proyectos de ciencia aplicada se centran en el desarrollo de sistemas encaminados a fomentar la aplicación en el aula, en la clínica y en otros entornos, de prácticas de alta calidad basadas en la evidencia, haciendo hincapié en la mejoría de las habilidades de comunicación funcionales.]

The Pyramid Approach to Education was developed by Bondy (2011) as a way to integrate behavior analysis and functional communication in public (and private) school settings. The model looks at elements related to what and how to teach within a data-based system and encourages integration from different areas of expertise typically found in school settings. We will describe the model, how it can be implemented and outcome data for students over several years.

This talk will describe the base of the Pyramid Approach to Education which involves four elements. The first involves issues related to selecting functional activities and materials for students. The second element involves motivational factors associated with using powerful, visually mediated reinforcement systems. The third element deals with the establishment of functional communication for both expressive and receptive skills. The last element addresses issues associated with contextually inappropriate behaviors and the functional analysis necessary to understand them. We will describe its application in a school in France.

Abstract: Once the Base issues of the Pyramid Approach are in place, then we describe the elements related to How to teach. These four elements include: 1) Generalization, 2) Types/formats for lessons, 3) Teaching strategies using prompting and shaping, and 4) Errorless strategies and error-correction strategies. All elements are evaluated through a data-based decision model.

The Pyramid Approach has been implemented in many classrooms in different countries. We will review the outcome for preschool and school-aged children within a state-wide public school system in the USA. Outcomes in terms of placement, language development and long-term community based changes will be described.

The Pyramid Approach blends broad spectrum behavior analysis with an emphasis on functional communication. This talk will describe how to train staff to implement the model. We will describe an ABC analysis of how staff training can utilize the basic Pyramid principles to help all staff successfully implement the model. We will describe data on gradual staff performance changes.

Since 1979, Project 12-Ways has served families with a history of child abuse and neglect in rural southern Illinois. Services are evidence driven and occur predominantly in the families own homes. Services are based on assessment protocols that we have developed and validated to address various facets of child maltreatment such as environmental neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and domestic violence. Intervention typically occurs in a hands-on fashion directly in families' homes at timed when their clinical history suggests that they are at greatest risk for further maltreatment. Sessions with families may initially occur frequently (e.g., several times per week) and last for extended periods (e.g., several hours). Over time, the frequency and duration of sessions is typically faded in a systematic manner. In this series of papers we will present: an overview of the Project, a description of its evolution, illustrative case studies, data reflecting its impact over several years, our staff training and quality control procedures, and our experience at undertaking a direct replication in Canada. Strategies for replicating the Project in other countries will also be discussed.

An overview will be provided of Project 12-Ways' history, its clientele, staffing configuration and service tactics. The presentation will provide demographic detail of the clientele that is served, the manner in which we have developed protocols that are sensitive to various facets of abuse and neglect and how these protocols guide clinical service and decision making in the child welfare system. Specific case examples will be featured. In addition, the training and management of personnel on the Project will be described. Finally, the short and long term impact on families will be presented which indicates that a majority of the recipients of our services do not engage in any further instances of maltreatment that the state has detected.

The successful dissemination of an evidence based practice or program requires much more of an agency than merely acquiring the technical manuals of a program and undertaking in-service training with staff. Successful dissemination is actually a matter of replication which requires that the conditions essential to the success of the original program are re-created in an environment that may not necessarily be prepared to support that replication. This presentation describes an effort to replicate Project 12-Ways in Canada. The conditions that proved essential to make that replication a success and to sustain it will be described. In addition, the evidence for the success of the replication will also be presented. Finally, the obstacles to the replication will be described and how these might be overcome in future replications will be discussed.

One factor that contributes substantially to the risk of child maltreatment is domestic violence between parents or adult partners. In most instances of domestic violence, the mother or female is victim; the father or male is perpetrator. Attempts to treat or counsel victims are often unsuccessful as evident by their continued association and reliance upon the perpetrator. Indeed, it is often impossible for service providers to predict which victims will escape the relationship and which will remain vulnerable. This study demonstrates the utility of a diagnostic tool, the CARE, at measuring and predicting a woman's vulnerability to domestic violence. Women in two groups were assessed: those with a history of domestic violence, and those without. The CARE involves presenting a woman with 25 scenarios, some are typical of domestic violent situations and some are "neutral". The women is asked to describe how she would respond to the situation and her response is scored and rated for the extent to which she is able to 1) identify a problem, 2) describe why it may be a problem (insight), and 3) describe a viable solution. Initial studies support the discriminant validity of the CARE. That is, the profies and scores of women with a history of domestic violence were significantly different from those of women who had no history of domestic violence. In addition, the study demonstrated how the results of the assessment can be used to formulated a targeted intervention in specific cases of domestic violence.

This symposium involves three presentations that explore unique issues in the area of verbal behavior. While behavior analysts have long discussed and debated the topic, many interesting issues are yet to be fully considered. This group of papers addresses ongoing discussion and debate surrounding the definition of verbal behavior, encouraging a consideration of its unique features, the role of verbal observing responses and their participation in the development of complex perspective taking repertoires, and finally, the essential role of verbal behavior in religion. All three of the presentations will emphasize the unique features of verbal behavior and encourage behavior analysts to appreciate the complexity involved in psychological events which involve verbal participation.

Several movements in the area of verbal behavior have criticized and/or extended upon Skinners (1957) definition of verbal behavior. In response, advocates of Skinners analysis have recently suggested that a definition of verbal behavior is not important, suggesting that one could study language without defining it. In this presentation I will review the critical aspects of definitional acts in science, and then provide some specific implications for making progress in the area of verbal behavior. It will be argued that definitions, when properly understood as constructions, are necessary for isolating aspects of the subject matter. If behavior analysts are interested in verbal behavior, it might do us some good to consider what it is that we are so interested in.

Perspective-taking has been defined as the capacity to infer anothers thoughts, feelings, or internal states of knowledge. This is a particularly complex phenomenon, as the perceiver must take into consideration his or her own past behavior and how anothers behavior may be the same, but also notably different in various circumstances. The demonstration of the most complex form of perspective-taking is when the perceiver accurately predicts anothers behavior in novel situations. This study examines the factors involved in the initial acquisition of this repertoire with young children. It aims to determine if verbal behavior is a critical factor in the initial acquisition of perspective-taking, as had been seen to be important in the demonstration of this skill in adults.

Despite the fact that spiritistic beliefs -- whether they be organized as conventional religious dogma, dispersed as idiosyncratic notions of a higher power, or suspended in the absence of "proof" -- are incompatible with the premises of behaviorism, a great many so-called behaviorists hold such beliefs. Regrettably for these behaviorists, the arguable contention that scientists are able to abide by contradictory sets of fundamental premises so long as these sets apply to different domains of knowing does not apply when the science at issue is behavior science: In this particular case the domains are the same. It will be argued that supernatural entities are reifications of non-referential verbal constructions and that believing in the existence and power of such non-entities reflects a lack of familiarity with the premises of behaviorism as well as an inadequate understanding of verbal and other forms of complex human behavior. Further, given that the persistence of incompatible beliefs in the repertoires of a great many behaviorists adversely impacts the validity and significance of behavior science, it will be argued that these reportorial inadequacies are in need of remediation.

The most obvious way to study relationships between environment and behavior is to express a response measure, R, as a function of some physical magnitude, S. This simple approach often fails, however, and most researchers find it necessary to express behavior not as a direct function of S but as a function of an intervening variable, ψ, which is itself a function of S. Explaining behavior in terms ofψ is a fundamental task of psychophysics, whereψ is referred to as an internal sensation or subjective magnitude. Similarly, models of timing such as scalar expectancy theory express operant behavior not as a function not of physical time but of subjective time (ψ), and most theories of discounting refer to quantities such as the subjective value of reinforcement (ψ). In all cases,ψ variables have proved not only useful to the design of stimulus interventions but also fully necessary to the quantitative analysis of behavior. In this talk, I sketch an alternative interpretation ofψ variables that locate them in the objective environment. This reinterpretation is then brought to bear on a number of quantitative models of behavior, including timing, signal detection, and recognition memory. [Resumen: La manera más obvia de estudiar las relaciones entre el medio ambiente y la conducta es la de expresar una medida de respuesta, R, en función de alguna magnitud física, S. Sin embargo, este sencillo enfoque falla a menudo, y la mayoría de los investigadores consideran necesario expresar el comportamiento no como una función directa de S, sino en función de una variable interviniente, ψ, que a su vez es una función de S. Explicar la conducta en términos de ψ es una tarea fundamental de la psicofísica, donde ψ es referido como una sensación interna o magnitud subjetiva. Del mismo modo, los modelos de tiempo como la teoría de la expectativa escalar expresan el comportamiento operante no en función del tiempo físico, sino del tiempo subjetivo (ψ), y la mayoría de las teorías del descuento se refieren a variables cuantificables como el valor subjetivo del reforzador (ψ). En todos los casos, las variables ψ han demostrado ser no sólo útiles para el diseño de intervenciones, sino también totalmente necesarias para el análisis cuantitativo de la conducta. En esta charla, esbozaré una interpretación alternativa de las variables ψ que las ubica en el ambiente objetivo. Esta reinterpretación será trasladada a una serie de modelos cuantitativos de la conducta, incluyendo el “timing”, la detección de señales y la memoria de reconocimiento.]