Association for Behavior Analysis International

ABAI is pleased to offer a Leadership Training Session for officers of ABAI affliated chapters for the purpose of providing strategies for guiding the growth of chapters and providing services to members and constituents. Althought this training is free for up to three officers per chapter, advanced registration is required and attendance is by invitation only. Presentations will include:

How Can Affiliate Chapters and Universities Join Forces to Promote Behavior Analysis to the General Public? INGUNN SANDAKER (Oslo and Akershus University College)

Interactions Between State Licensing Boards and Affliated Chapters ROBERT ROSS (Massachusetts ABA and Beacont ABA Services), MICHAEL DORSEY (Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Hunam Services Professions and Endicott College), GRANT GAUTREAUX (Louisiana Behavior Analysis Association and Nicholls State University) and others

Breakout Sessions

Following presentation, presenters will be available for toical breakout group discussions, focused on the presentation topics.

ABAI is pleased to offer a Leadership Training Session for officers of ABAI Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for the purpose of providing strategies for guiding the growth of SIGs and providing services to members and constituents. This training is for SIG leaders only. Although the SIG training is free for up to three officers per SIG, registration is required. This event is closed; attendance is by invitation only.

TRAINING AGENDA

Introduction to the SIG Board and ABAI Resources for SIGs (Christy Alligood)

Choosing the Right Technology for Your SIG (Amanda Kelly, Mark Mattaini, Matt Brodhead, Josh Pritchard)

This discussion will focus on how to choose between the many available communication technologies (websites, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) based on SIG communication goals. Panelists will share their experiences in this regard, including pros and cons of different technologies, and recommend goal-oriented strategies.

Creating Collaborations and Sustaining Momentum

-Strategies for sustaining momentum between ABAI conventions (Christy Alligood)

-Collaborating with ABAI chapters on additional conference participation (Heather McGee)

-SIG/SIG collaborations (Ben Witts)

-SIG/ABAI Program Area collaborations (Cindy Anderson)

This panel will focus on ideas for creating different types of collaborations amongst SIGs and other entities, as well as setting contingencies for sustained momentum within SIGs.

Breakout Sessions

Following the panel discussions, the panelists will be available for two topical “breakout group” discussions, focused on the panel topics.

Parents and other caregivers of individuals with special needs as well as professionals and students are attending the ABAI convention in increasing numbers but may have questions about how to make the most of the experience. Furthermore, an event as large as ABAI may seem overwhelming to newcomers. Parents, professionals and students who may be attending ABAI for the first time are encouraged to participate in this convention orientation and visit our webpage at www.AutismPPPSIG.org. We will provide an overview of ABAI and its convention and highlight the types of events that parents, professionals and students will encounter

Life as a behavior analyst for Dr. Sigrid Glenn began some 30 years after B. F. Skinner’s momentous publication of The Behavior of Organisms. In 1970, the history and status of behavior analytic work could be summarized in 19 chapters in Honig’s Operant Behavior: Areas of Research and Application (1966). And a two-volume compendium of reprinted articles provided easy pre-Internet access to 98 original works on concepts, principles, methods, and applications of behavior analysis (Ulrich, Stachnik, and Mabry, 1966 and 1970). Further, as a new graduate student she could reasonably set out to read all 12 volumes of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the one volume of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis that then existed. Most exciting to Dr. Glenn, Skinner’s newly published Contingencies of Reinforcement offered a coherent worldview that replaced a muddle of incoherent ideas. Behavior analysis was very different then. Looking back on the subsequent 45 years, Dr. Glenn will recount a few of the events that seem to capture the changes she has seen, and reflect on the relevance of those changes to the future of behavior analysis as a coherent whole. Finally, a brief survey of several future paths behavior analysis may take is followed by a recommendation for one that seems best to support disciplinary coherence.

A severe shortage of training courses exists across Europe to prepare professionals to meet the needs of parents whose children are diagnosed with autism. To address this concern and the resulting myths about applied behavior analysis that have sprung up, Leonardo, a former part of the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme, supported two projects to further development of an innovative multimedia program first developed in Northern Ireland by local charity Parents' Education as Autism Therapists (PEAT) and behavior analysts from the Ulster University. Called Simple Steps, this multimedia program uses video material in the form of parental testimonies, animations, demonstrations, and textural material to teach the principles of applied behavior analysis. The projects funded by Leonardo were each called STAMPPP and included partners from the United Kingdom, Norway, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, and Germany; another group from Portugal obtained funding independently to develop the program. For some partners, this was the first time they had access to material on behavior analysis in their own language. In this presentation, Dr. Keenan will show examples of the resources that were developed and encourage others to think about the importance of moving beyond static images when teaching about something dynamic such as behavior.

Sustainability, education, workplace safety, language development, addiction, autism ... the list goes on and on. Behavior analysis applies very broadly indeed, and is inherently interdisciplinary. How can we best get our scientific principles recognized, valued, and used in all the areas they apply? One approach is to reach out to the public directly. In The Science of Consequences, Dr. Susan M. Schneider sought to cover the full range of our science and its applications, simultaneously highlighting many connections with other fields. This inclusive approach seems valuable for the sake of both science and dissemination: We now know how fully operant principles interact with others in the large and complex nature-and-nurture system, for example. Can we do better at getting the word out about all that we have to offer? In this presentation, Dr. Schneider will explore this continuing challenge as well as celebrate our progress.

Behavior analysis is a powerful tool that could ameliorate many of society’s problems. One of the first problems seriously addressed with a behavior analytic approach was the treatment of autism. Although a behavioral approach yielded promising results from the start, it took many years before the behavioral approach was accepted as the treatment of choice for autism. Although promising data also have been obtained from applications of behavioral technology to other social problems, these applications have not yet been widely accepted or disseminated. B. F. Skinner envisioned behavior analysis as a technology that would address a wide variety of societal challenges. Initially, behavior analysts were highly enthusiastic about society adopting our approach in areas such as education, but many people already working in these fields were resistant to a behavioral approach. This paper will examine a number of areas where behavior analysis could make a difference, and explore ways to overcome obstacles and accelerate the acceptance of our approach.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.

Behavior analysts are committed to reliance on scientific knowledge. Increasingly behavior analysts are utilizing technology to assist in their delivery of service in the applied settings including in the K-12 educational setting. Many educational technology companies claim that their products are evidence-based, however, the term evidence-based is not clearly defined nor are their guidelines how this term can be applied in association with educational technology products. In other fields (e.g. medicine) significant work has been done to develop an evidence-based review process for products and a clear notation of the approved use of said products. These other systems may or may not be relevant to the field of behavior analysis but they do provide an opportunity for compare and contrast. This session will explore the strategies several educational technology companies, whom are all grounded in the field of applied behavior analysis, currently use to ensure their products are grounded in scientific knowledge as well as the challenges the product development process experiences in attempting to garner an evidence base for their technologies.?

This symposium will include data-based presentations that describe the use of functional communication training (FCT) as part of a treatment package. The first study used a brief-functional analysis in developing a Social Story that matched the function of the target behavior for two participants with autism. The function-based Social Story plus FCT was effective in decreasing the target behavior and increasing the target mand for both participants. The second study evaluated the effectiveness of multiple schedules to maintain treatment gains when generalized to a naturalistic setting for two participants with developmental disabilities who engaged in severe problem behavior. Discriminated mands maintained with both participants while problem behavior remained low in new settings. The third study evaluated the effects of token economies following acquisition of a break response to increase rates of compliance for two participants who engaged in problem behavior maintained by escape from demands. Following FCT, token economies were introduced. The token economy resulted in increasing rates of compliance, while maintaining low levels of problem behavior and break requests. These studies support the use of FCT as part of a treatment package for decreasing problem behavior and increasing appropriate mands.

The process of change leads to growth not only in the science of our field but in our personal selves as well. In the process of life and work, we learn all our lessons, some of which stay with us forever and become personal truths. These lessons or personal truths shape how businesses are run, how leaders lead and how an industry grows. This panel presentation will offer the opportunity to hear from experienced and successful company leaders about some of the lessons they have learned. Panel participants will each discuss five to ten lessons learned from their time working in the field of developmental disabilities and growing their perspective organizations. Panelists represent a small, mid- and large size organization.

Quantitative models of behavior are precise and succinct descriptions of functional relationships between behavior and environmental events. The purpose of this tutorial is to foster an appreciation of how quantitative models of behavior can be used to guide conceptually systematic analyses of behavior. The intended audience is academic applied behavior analysts and practicing board certified behavior analysts who are curious to learn how quantitative models of behavior can inform research and practice, but who may be a bit intimidated by the mathematics or may see quantitative models as too esoteric to inform solutions to socially significant behavioral problems. We will review examples from the literature on choice and decision-making, consumer demand analyses, matching theory, and other topics in order to demonstrate how quantitative models of behavior can be useful in framing questions about behavior and generating solutions to practical problems.

We investigated the effects of a cultural consequence on interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBCs) in a task in which a response of clicking the mouse was free to occur. Two studies compared arrangements in which there was no conflict between operant and cultural contingencies with those in which meeting cultural contingency resulted in getting less individual reinforcers. Undergraduate students, in triads, performed the task on a computer. Operant contingency: responses produce reinforcement on a VI or VR schedule. Cultural contingency: when the interval between participants' responses was larger than x s, a "bonus" was presented. Study 1 focused on selection of IBCs in a closed group. Two conditions were programmed in a reversal design for two triads: Condition A, only operant contingency was in effect; Condition B, cultural and operant contingencies in effect. Study 2 involved two groups of six participants and two phases: cultural selection and transmission (replacement of participants). Results showed the selection and transmission of IBCs, both in an arrangements in which the cultural contingency not conflicted with the operant contingency as in a conflicting situation. We discuss the contributions of a procedure analogous to the free-operant to the study of cultural selection.

The present paper asked about the effect of social variables over learning mechanisms in the illusion of control. Learning mechanisms emphasizes the effects of coincidences between probability of responding and non contingent outcomes. On the other side, social experimental psychology suggested that illusions might play an adaptive role to protect self-esteem and to maintain motivation to act. To contrast this views, we present a series of data obtained in a common task. Participants engaged in a computer-based task, in which points were presented in a session with two alternated periods of 45 seconds each: in one, points were presented independently of participants' responses; in the other, points were not presented. Two conditions differed. In the first, the participants received points that were not exchangeable for anything. In the second condition, points were exchangeable for photocopies at the end of the sessions. The results showed that conditions when points that were exchangeable for photocopies produced a higher frequency of responses positively correlated with higher estimates of control over the non contingent points. The effect of instruction can be understood as a motivational effect that increase the probability of superstitious behavior. The consideration of social variables that increase or decrease the probability of responses can be a key aspect in the integration of contributions from social experimental psychology and recent contributions from behavior analysis and learning perspectives to illusion of control.

Previous applied studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the stimulus equivalence paradigm in teaching skills such as fractions, reading, and U.S. geography. Additionally, researchers have confirmed the utility of match-to-sample procedures and tact training in the formation of equivalence classes. The following three studies showed the formation of equivalence classes with a variety of stimuli and across two different populations. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of tact training on the formation of equivalence classes with a 10-year old male with autism. Results showed that following tact training, the participant demonstrated the emergence of derived auditory-visual and visual-visual relations. Experiment 2 examined at the use of equivalence-based instruction to teach four, 4-member classes representing functions of behavior to 10 undergraduate and graduate college students. Results showed that all participants acquired both trained and derived relations. Finally, in experiment 3, equivalence classes were established for the fifth grade science concepts, liquid, gas, and solid through the use of match-to-sample conditional discrimination training with students with autism spectrum disorders.

The stimulus equivalence paradigm has been well documented within the applied literature over the past four decades. Many researchers have shown that following the direct training and reinforcement of specific stimulus-stimulus relations untrained relations have emerged. Match-to-sample procedures have been frequently used in training however, some research has suggested that having an established naming repertoire for a particular class of stimuli may be sufficient for the formation of equivalence relations. The current study evaluated the formation of 3 equivalence classes following tact training using geography-based stimuli (state shape, state abbreviation, state flag). The participant was a 10-year old male who held a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The nine visually dissimilar stimuli were separated into three different classes (i.e. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine). The participant was taught to tact each of the nine stimuli as Connecticut, Massachusetts or Maine. Results showed that following tact training, the participant demonstrated the emergence of untrained relations through auditory-visual and visual-visual match-to-sample tests.

Determining the function of behavior through the interpretation of data is a critical skill for any behavior analyst. The present study evaluated the use of equivalence-based instruction to teach four, 4-member classes representing functions of behavior to 10 undergraduate and graduate college students. Computerized equivalence-based instruction along with multiple exemplars of stimuli were used to teach the classes. A pretest-training-posttest design was used to evaluate performances on computer-based tests and written multiple-choice tests (selection-based responding), as well as oral tests (topography-based responding). All participants acquired both trained and derived relations during computer-based match-to-sample instruction. Testing scores improved from pretest to posttest on both selection-based tests (i.e., computer-based and written multiple-choice) and the topography-based tests (i.e., oral) for all participants following equivalence-based instruction. Finally, test performance maintained two weeks after equivalence-based instruction was completed. The present study demonstrated that equivalence-based instruction can be used to effectively teach the function of behavior and that a selection-based teaching protocol administered on a computer can promote the emergence of responses to a selection-based testing protocol using multiple-choice and to a topography-based oral test.

Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968) audaciously aspired to making a difference. Modestly, however, they encouraged a "self-evaluating, discovery-oriented" process. This learning stance helps to enable the dreams of Dr. Judi Komaki. She'll talk about just two. Curious how an inner city public high school managed to maintain a graduation rate of 95%, Dr. Komaki shadowed a gifted principal for three semesters. She saw how he stealthily created a safe, supportive climate, which enticed the students to attend and their dedicated teachers to remain. Just as critical, however, she learned how the chancellor created a supportive climate, empowering and establishing full-throated organizational metrics and incentives for principals. Currently, Dr. Komaki is trying to prevent sexual assault in the United States Army. Initially stymied, she finally figured out how we as behavior analysts reduced workplace accidents by reinforcing the positive (safety). If cultures could be created in which team members ferociously protect one another, assaults would drop. Team culture clearly needs to be bolstered. But just as important, given the severe under-reporting of assault, the challenge is to help busy commanders motivate junior officers by providing timely information and feedback about whether their team is on the right track. Imagine if we could ensure that only leaders successful at building positive climates were promoted.

Master's and post-masters behavior analysts and psychologists.

There are currently 19 states in the United States that have passed bills related to the licensure of behavior analysts. Establishing state licensure involves navigating a legislative system that may be unfamiliar to the practitioners and scientists who comprise our field. This process involves numerous steps, and requires behavior analysts to communicate effectively with legislators and professionals from other disciplines. Once state licensure is established, there are additional challenges as rules and procedures are established for the new credential. During this panel discussion we will learn about this process from three panelists who have been in the forefront of getting licensure bills passed. They will talk about strategies they found useful in achieving state licensure, and specific roadblocks they have come across in different states. The implications of their experiences for behavior analysts in other states considering licensure will also be discussed.

Behavior analysts take great care in observing and recording data. Line graphs form the main device used to interpret the rigorous collected data. However, the care with which the field of behavior analysis uses when publishing data varies greatly. Behavior analysis relies on nonstandard linear (or equal interval) graphs to determine the effects of almost all times series data. Due to the nonstandard nature and the limitations of linear graphs behavior analysis must continue to face inveterate limitations of non-quantification and shifting slopes due to arbitrary decision of graph creators. The science of behavior analysis would improve at least 10x with standardization, quantification, and vastly improved information for time series behavior. The present symposium provides data from a study showing the state affairs for line graphs in behavioral journals. The symposium also presents and alternative to nonstandard linear graphs in the form of a superior visual display, the Standard Celeration Chart.

This talk will first address what is currently known about the genetic underpinnings of autism, and how these overlap with susceptibilities to other neuropsychiatric conditions. The impact of genetic susceptibility to autism on children’s sensitivity and response to the environment will be discussed, with implications for approaches to behavioral support at respective stages of development. Next, the treatment of psychiatric comorbidities and their effect on adaptive functioning in autism will be reviewed. Finally, the goals for a next wave of research on the frontiers of genetics, early mind/brain development, and behavioral neuroscience will be discussed, specifically with respect to the promise of higher-impact intervention for affected children.

Keller and Schoenfeld (1950) offered a unique behavioral perspective on conceptualization and categorization, one that has proven to be dramatically out of step with mainstream cognitive theory. Keller and Schoenfeld's behavioral approach has inspired Dr. Wasserman's research into conceptualization and categorization by nonhuman animals. Using a system of arbitrary visual tokens, Dr. Wasserman and his colleagues have built ever-expanding nonverbal "vocabularies" in pigeons through a variety of different discrimination tasks. Pigeons have reliably categorized as many as 500 individual photographs from as many as 16 different human object categories, even without the benefit of seeing an item twice. Their formal model of categorization effectively embraces 25 years of empirical evidence as well as generates novel predictions for both pigeon and human categorization behavior. Comparative study should continue to elucidate the commonalities and disparities between human and nonhuman categorization behavior; it also should explicate the relationship between associative learning and categorization.

This study investigated the use of the iPod Touch and the application Letter School in the acquisition of letter writing in three preschool aged children diagnosed with a developmental disability, using a multiple baseline across letters design. Additionally, the generalization of the acquisition of letter writing from the iPod Touch and stylus pen to paper and pencil was evaluated. Finally, participant preference for instruction using the iPod Touch with a stylus pen or paper and pencil was assessed. The results indicated that all three participants acquired the ability to write letters using a pencil and paper, following instruction using the iPod Touch and application Letter School. For two of the three participants instruction incorporating the iPod Touch and application Letter School was preferred, while one participant demonstrated a slight preference for paper and pencil instruction.

Previous research has demonstrated the efficacy of lag schedules of reinforcement to increase variability in verbal responding (Lee, McComas, & Jawor, 2002). Therefore, lag schedules may be an effective intervention for increasing variability in verbal initiations, such as with conversation initiation by commenting or asking a question about relevant stimuli. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the conditions under which a lag schedule of reinforcement increased novel initiated verbalizations for a participant with developmental delay (male, age 13) who engaged in frequent perseverative language that interfered with his clinical programming. Following a functional analysis of the perseverative language, a lag schedule was used to reinforce varied appropriate verbalizations initiated to an interventionist. All perseverative verbalizations were on extinction. Results indicated an attention function for perseverative language, and preliminary evidence of increased variability with initiated verbalizations during intervention. These data are discussed with implications for intervention to increase response variability, with particular relevance to individuals who engage in repetitive, or perseverative verbal behavior.

ABA is often misconstrued as a 1:1 educational intervention, but the principles and procedures can equally be applied to teaching groups of students. Single case design and the low frequency of research directed towards group teaching methods fuel this misconception, yet group instruction is an educational reality for the vast majority of mainstream students and for a high proportion of children with special educational needs. This study will review the principles, processes and pitfalls of teaching social skills to small groups of children with autism. Over a three-year period, we delivered and evolved our practices based on different measures, procedures and students. The adaptation of goal setting, data collection and teaching activities; alongside the involvement of siblings, typical peers and parents will be form the foundation of the paper. The effectiveness of individual and group contingencies (e.g. the Hero Procedure), the use of the Teaching Interactions format and data on the acquisition of social skills will be analysed and discussed. The broader issue of disseminating behaviour analytical principles in group teaching and general education will conclude the talk.

Deficits in social skills are a defining characteristic of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that persist into adolescence and adulthood. Few studies exist that examine the effectiveness of social skills interventions implemented within the public school setting, where a majority of adolescents with ASD and intellectual disabilities (ID) receive instruction. This paper summarizes a series of three interrelated and experimental studies examining the efficacy of video-based group instruction (VGI) to teach social skills to adolescents with ASD within the public school setting. Multiple probe across behavior designs were used to assess VGI when administered daily by a special education teacher to groups of 4 or 5 adolescents (n=9) with ASD and/or ID. Results of the three studies indicate VGI was effective in teaching a range of social skills to 7 of the 9 adolescents, with mixed results for 2 participants. Results of all three studies support the social validity and use of VGI as a part of a daily high school curriculum for some adolescents with ASD and/or ID.

In the field of behavior analysis a great deal of emphasis is placed on the direct management of contingencies in order to promote appropriate behavior while suppressing maladaptive behaviors. While strategies such as these have shown great efficacy in decreasing problem behavior among children and those with intellectual disabilities, these same methods have often been met with resistance when applied to verbally capable populations. Furthermore, many of the mental health difficulties encountered by these verbally capable populations are the result of acting upon verbal contingencies rather than the ones imposed by the non-verbal environment. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a behavioral approach to talk therapy, may help behavior analysts to bridge this verbal gap between actual contingencies and those imposed by our verbal behavior by helping individuals to become aware of their current environment while decreasing the saliency of negative verbal construction and increasing their ability to identify and act upon appropriate patterns of behavior. The purpose of this symposium will be to introduce the behavior analytic foundations and methods of ACT-based therapy among populations of clinical importance to behavior analysts. Specifically, these presentations will stress the importance of observable measures of behavior, overt verbal behavior, and choice allocations that demonstrate changes in psychological flexibility, discuss the influence of ACT-based exercises on impulsivity, indicate increases in adaptive behavior, and how ACT-based treatments may influence employment sustainability.

This symposium presents both theoretical analyses and data showing that behavioral developmental stage and value of reinforcers obtained can be combined to form a new theoretical model that explains behavior more powerfully than looking at reinforcing value alone. First, we illustrate how behavioral developmental stage on one hand and value of reinforcement interact. One way this happens is that the stage required for contingencies between one's own behavior and the consequences to be discriminable may exceed the stage of performance of the person. A second way is that stage has an influence on the effective value of events. This new integrative theory is then illustrated using data from a study of peddlers, in which it is shown that there is an empirical relationship between behavioral stages of development on economic tasks and the income people obtain (value). A third paper makes predictions about how investors might do in the stock market, given different behavioral stages of investing (lower stage investors net lower values). Finally, a fourth paper a study of how attachment entities change with development, with children reporting attachments mainly to people, pets, and objects, while adults report attachments to more abstract entities, such as ideals. These changes are shown to conform to the theory of behavioral developmental stages.

Old questions in moral development concern why individuals might act morally and why they might act in a caring way with others. Two seemingly alternative answers to these questions have been that these actions are based on justice judgments (Kohlberg, 1981 1984) or on relational concerns, such as caring (Gilligan, 1982). Here the notion of moral attachment is used to show how these notions fit together to address these questions. Notions of moral attachment, in fact, explicitly combine the caring aspect of relationships with the eventual development of moral judgments (Kohlberg & Kiessner, 1991). Attachment is a form of valuing the source of reinforcement. Based on work of Commons (1991), and more recently Miller and Commons (2011), it is shown that attachment develops in terms of: a) objects that attachment behaviors are directed toward (from one or two parents, to others in the family, to those outside the family, to groups, to pets, to objects, to abstractions, and so forth); b) the processes or contingencies that attachment behaviors develop within, c) attachment behaviors themselves, and d) verbal explanations of attachment relationships, among other aspects. These processes are shown to change due with behavioral stage, changes in responding to immediate versus delayed outcomes of different choices, and interactions of these two factors. The development of moral attachment and moral judgments based on the basic stages of attachment will be sketched out using this model. For example, at behavioral developmental stage 2, touching, holding, feeding are the major attachment processes. Those who are associated with consoling infants, typically the parents, become conditioned, comforting stimuli. Here, the groundwork for the infant's eventual attachment to the parents, and then their eventual behavior of approval seeking and internalization of moral values is established. Behavior at this stage is most responsive to immediate consequences with little tendency to delay. These early developments will be contrasted with those at later stages to give a more complete and detailed account of how stage and value determine moral action.

Two experiments with college students were carried out to examine whether learned variability on two dimensions of a behaviour would generalise to a third dimension that occurred simultaneously using Ross and Neuringer"s (2002) rectangle drawing task. The dimensions being measured were the sizes, shapes and the locations on the screen of the rectangles. Performances of a group receiving reinforcement independent of the variability of all three dimensions and another group receiving reinforcement contingent on the variability of two of the three dimensions were compared. Results showed that overall, the variability in the shapes and locations of the rectangles was higher when these two dimensions occurred with other two dimensions that were required to vary; however, no difference was found for the variability in sizes between the two groups. The results suggested it was likely there was generalization from reinforcing variability on sizes and locations to shape and from reinforcing variability on sizes and shapes to locations. U-value as a measure of variability was also examined, with simulated data and data collected from one of the experiments. Limitations of the measure were identified. The attentions needed to report U-values would be discussed. Cautions needed when interpreting U-values as a measure of variability would be highlighted.

The importance of kind and type of professional training and related direct services activities are receiving ever greater attention. This is evidenced by the expansion and growing influence of the BACB and concomitant rapidly evolving certification requirements. Within this growing attention, is focus on recommended practice when documenting the behavioral characteristics of effective behavior service delivery, and form and function of effective treatment in direct service delivery settings. Of professional challenge, is transitioning recommended applied behavior analytic data gathering and analysis methodologies to these professional activities. This presentation will provide applied summary of user friendly software tools designed to collect and analyze discrete and time-based behavioral data for a wide range of evaluation and feedback applications in direct observation client settings. Data based support for software tool use will also be provided. Presentation information should be of particular appeal to a graduate students, behavioral psychologists, BCBA professionals engaged in assessment and behavior plan activities, and research analysts -- all interested in analyzing complex configurations of behaviors which are emitted at high rates and oftentimes overlap in time. Recommendations for professional practice include introduction to (a) recommended procedures when collecting time-based data in the live setting, and (b) computer generated behavior descriptions, graphic displays, statistical analyses and reliability comparisons of data files when engaged in data analysis and data based feedback.

Behavior analysis functions within a non-foundational theory of truth and embraces a pragmatic view of truth and values. This means that our focus on what works is a guiding principle in practice and in the development of our field as whole. Historically our scope of influence has been most visible in the field of autism, but at times our focus conflicts with dominant views. We examine the implications of this conflict for our practices. Similarly, behaviorally oriented psychotherapists are faced with treatment decisions with a view towards what works. Behavior analysis offers strategies for determining and evaluating interventions based on context-driven pragmatic values; we illustrate with substance abuse treatment. Our final two papers concentrate on illustrations from higher education and focus first on the historical dualism in healthcare that has devalued behavioral health and privileged physical disease. This appears to be changing and moving towards an integrated bio-behavioral model that will require behavior analytic training programs to adopt an intra-professional practice model befitting our pragmatic orientation. Finally we endorse Dewey's pragmatic liberal education and his insistence on cooperative work and review a developing program in behavior analysis and public health.

Healthcare in the United States has traditionally involved a dualistic system that devalues behavioral health problems while privileging physical disease. The rise of chronic disease (i.e., heart disease, COPD, diabetes, etc.) and the failure of the healthcare system to adequately address behavioral health problems has resulted in an increasing recognition of the importance of behavior in health, so much so that the medical field has been said to be in the midst of a paradigm shift from a dualistic biomedical model to an integrated bio-behavioral model. This paradigm shift is well aligned with behavior analysis pragmatic values, and presents behavior analysts with an unparalleled opportunity for effective action within the medical system, a community from which we have largely been excluded. A key to successfully incorporating behavior analysis into an increasingly integrated model of care involves the development of behavior analytic training programs that adopt an intra-professional practice model. This presentation will examine this paradigm shift in the context of Deweys pragmatism and present a training model for the next generation of behavior analysts that retains these pragmatic values while fostering the inclusion of behavior analysis in the intra-professional integration of the healthcare system.

Children with autism spectrum disorders are characterized by deficits in expressive language. Matrix training is a procedure that has been used to teach expressive language and evaluate re-combinative generalization of targets. In the current investigation, a multiple-baseline design across targets design was used to teach a child with autism to tact three-digit numbers. The matrix consisted of the hundreds and tens position on the first axis (120 - 190) and ones position (2 - 9) on the second axis producing 64 three-digit numbers. Pre-treatment baseline probes showed zero levels of independent responding for all numbers in the matrix. Eight three-digit numbers (produced along the diagonal of the matrix) were taught using a chaining and progressive prompt delay procedure. The chaining prompt involved presenting flashcards with each the three-digit, two-digit, and one-digit numbers; building the number from hundreds to ones (e.g., 100 presented, then 20 presented and 3 presented for 123) while simultaneously vocally modeling the correct number. Post-treatment baseline probes showed correct responding for all untrained three-digit numbers in the matrix.

There are currently 13 states that have school districts outlining science curriculum either allowing or not allowing intelligent design (creation science) to be considered. Of those 13 states, 7 allow creation science to be taught at the high school level. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a review of the literature associated with the role of religion in education, and addresses the significance for behavior science. More specifically, our discussion will focus on how behavior science describes, studies, and adapts its associated technology to a global community that is religious.

Autism is a complex developmental disability involving behavioral challenges and delays in communication, social interaction, and play. The disorder affects 1 in 68 individuals nationwide. The need for well trained professionals to work with individuals with this diagnosis is high, as ABA training models are not producing trained personnel at a rate that can meet the demand for services. Online instruction may provide a solution to this problem given the efficiency associated with this type of instruction. Studies in support of online instruction exist, however results are not conclusive and guidelines on how this training format is best utilized have not been identified. This paper will provide audience members with the following information; 1. An overview of the published research associated with ABA as well as other disciplines. In doing so, the need for a coordinated research effort will be highlighted. 2. A review of current concepts associated with online instruction that may guide future research efforts. 3. A large scale study involving the use of a between groups, repeated measures design and associated outcome data, will be presented as a starting-off point for further research, that may produce a set of guidelines involving the use of online instruction in ABA training models.

Behavioral disinhibition is the reappearance of extinguished behavior when a novel stimulus is introduced into the environment (Brimer, 1970a). This phenomenon may be responsible for some types of treatment relapse when problem behavior returns after the introduction of a novel stimulus despite extinction procedures being held constant. Several basic researchers have attained experimental results supporting this type of effect with animals (e.g., Brimer, 1970a; Brimer, 1970b; Gagn?, 1941; Yamaguchi & Ladioray, 1962) but only two studies to date have attempted to experimentally study disinhibition in human participants (i.e.., Baumeister & Hawkins, 1966; Warren & Brown, 1943). The current study sought to determine if behavioral disinhibition would occur with 3 participants with Autism Spectrum Disorder who were taught a simple lever pull response. Results showed that lever pulls increased for two of three participants when we introduced novel stimuli (i.e., a light and a buzzer) to the environment after extinction. These findings suggest that disinhibition may account for some instances of response recovery after extinction and that this study?s preparation may be beneficial to the further study of disinhibition and the variables that affect its occurrence.

Behavioral interventions have proven to be an effective method for treatment of problem behavior particularly when intervention is preceded by a functional analysis (Heyvaert, Saenen, Campbell, Maes, & Onghena, 2014). Despite the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in this domain some topographies (e.g., pica and elopement) and functions (e.g., escape from noise) have received less attention and therefore more research is needed in these areas. The current symposium will present data assessment and treatment data. Assessment data will evaluate the utility of differentiating bolting from wandering when conducting functional analysis of elopement. Treatment data will focus on the use of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (e.g., throwing the pica item away or handing the item to a therapist) with schedule thinning to effectively reduce pica. In addition treatment data will be presented on antecedent manipulations (e.g., noncontingent reinforcement) used in conjunction with timeout, without the use of extinction, for the treatment of problem behavior maintained by escape from noise. Data will be discussed in terms of the clinical utility of these assessment and treatment procedures as well as implications for future research.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often present with problematic behavior in the form of pica, or ingesting nonedible items. However, research on the treatment of pica to date is limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a differential reinforcement of alternative (DRA) behavior treatment of pica for two individuals with ASD using a multiple-baseline across subjects with an embedded reversal design. The two subjects were taught an appropriate response to replace pica (e.g., throw the pica item away or hand the item to a therapist) through a least-to-most prompting sequence. A marked decrease in the rate of pica and an increase in the level of the appropriate response occurred during the treatment phases for both subjects. Furthermore, this effect maintained with increased response effort for one subject (see Figure 1) and a thinned schedule of reinforcement for the other (see Figure 2). This treatment serves as an example of an acceptable treatment that can be implemented to reduce the potentially life-threatening behavior of pica while teaching an appropriate, alternative response.

A problem in self-control arises when an organism chooses between one activity strongly induced by short-term reinforcers and a second activity weakly induced by long-term reinforcers but more beneficial in the long term. The short-term, strongly induced activity is called impulsivity, and the long-term, weakly induced activity is called self-control. Impulsivity and self-control have usually been studied as they affect discounting: delay discounting, probability discounting, and social discounting. Although discounting affords measures of impulsivity relative to self-control, discounting as a representation of real-world choice is unrealistic, because discounting applies only to discrete events like receiving a sum of money or a cigarette. Real-world consequences like good health or sobriety occur over long periods of time, not at specific moments. A more realistic, molar, view of impulsivity and self-control takes them as bad and good habits extended in time. Seen this way, a good or bad habit may be described as a conflict of time frames: Consequences evaluated in a short time frame are opposite to consequences evaluated in a long time frame. The molar view may be more useful than discounting for treatment--that is, discouraging bad habits and encouraging good habits.

Challenging behavior continues to plague both primary and secondary schools, despite a raft of educational and governmental policies to tackle it. The need for practical, relevant, and evidence-based strategies for analyzing and treating these behaviors has never been more pressing than it is today. Behavior analysis certainly has much to offer with regard to helping schools solve problems and achieve the goals set for both students and teachers. However, our literature has tended to focus less on applications of our science to typically developing children and adolescents, so there is still much we don't know about the nuances of working with these populations. This presentation will address some of the challenges associated with applying functional analysis and intervention strategies in mainstream classrooms, as well as delineating some possible solutions derived from both research and clinical practice. Further, it will suggest some research questions that may be important if behavior analysis is to fulfill its promise to mainstream students, their parents, and their teachers.

This talk will provide a summary of results obtained from a Maternal and Child Health-funded project in which functional analyses and functional communication training (FCT) were conducted in the homes of young children with autism who engaged in problem behaviors. All procedures were conducted by parents with live coaching from applied behavior analysts. Functional analyses were conducted within multielement designs, and FCT was conducted within reversal designs and as part of a randomized clinical trial. Inter-observer agreement was conducted on 30% of sessions. The talk will begin with a brief summary of previously funded inVIVO and telehealth projects using the same procedures and will then focus on the current in-home telehealth procedures. Video clips will highlight individual cases and group summaries will be provided for the assessment and treatment results.

Practitioners and applied behavior analysts.

Recent advances in the cognitive science of learning have important implications for instructional practices at all levels of education. For example, cognitive research has identified one strategy that promotes complex learning called retrieval practice: Practicing actively reconstructing one's knowledge while studying has potent effects on long-term learning. Yet, when students monitor and regulate their own learning, they often choose to engage in inferior strategies like repetitive reading, and the ultimate consequence is poor learning. This talk provides an overview of Dr. Karpicke's research program on retrieval-based learning. In recent work, they have extended retrieval practice to meaningful learning of complex educational materials, converted existing classroom activities into retrieval-based activities, and developed new computer-based learning methods for implementing retrieval-based learning. Incorporating retrieval practice into educational activities is a powerful way to enhance learning.

With a multitude of choices for possible treatments for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is important to understand parental perceptions of the reasons they report for choosing ASD treatments for their children. A mixed methods approach was used in an effort to identify these reasons. The quantitative analysis (Fischers Exact test) results indicated there were no correlations between the ASD diagnosis, length of time with an ASD diagnosis, or parents education and the ASD treatments parents reported selecting. Five themes emerged from a qualitative analysis: 1) Parents were overwhelmed with the enormous amount of information about ASD treatments; 2) Information about ASD treatments was confusing and conflicting; 3) Parental input and desired outcomes were significant factors when determining the types of goals selected for ASD treatment(s); 4) Concerns about safety, ability to use a treatment, or the necessity of a treatment largely contributed to treatments parents reported they did not select; 5) Encountering problems when selecting or implementing an ASD treatment affected the selection of or continued use of a treatment. This mixed methods approach was an initial step toward future research that may delve into a more scientific causal analysis of parental treatment choices for ASD.

This paper features a technique/methodology which has proven to be fast, stable, and effective in the autism client base. It will explain the basic method of helping clients through unanticipated, novel or urgent health procedures and situations. Using components of SATS (Syn Alia Training Systems) as developed by Kayce Cover, such as bridging, using targeting, naming and explaining situations in real time, and presenting progressively more intense cycles of a stressor, it is possible to aid individuals with severe autism through difficult transitions, sensory integration difficulties, and health emergency situations with full cooperation of the learner. SATS is an operant conditioning based technique, which integrates cognitive teaching and information exchange, to optimize learning rate and retention and augment the learners experience with relevant information in order to enhance his performance under stress or environmental pressure. Using this technique has proven fast and effective with individuals with autism, providing structure, comprehension of expectations, and reinforcement for complying and participating in procedures necessary to the individuals health and safety.

Theoretical models of drug addiction assert that drug cues come to be associated with drug-taking and the rewarding effects of the drug. These cues are said to have acquired conditioned reinforcing properties, much like the drug itself, and increase approach to the associated drug. It is known that individuals who attribute heightened degrees of conditioned reinforcement to drug stimuli are more vulnerable to drug abuse-related behavior in that said cues can precipitate or prolong use once an episode has begun. However, the exact mechanisms underlying the operation of conditioned reinforcers and their translation to drug abuse are not well understood. To this point, translational research on how conditioned reinforcement contributes to abuse through learning and memory mechanisms will be discussed from both pre-clinical and clinical perspectives. Collectively, the data presented demonstrate: 1) the utility of a new-response acquisition for studying drug-conditioned reinforcement, 2) substance abuse vulnerability may be related to propensities to learn stimulus-reinforcer relationships during drug-taking which accrue value and persist despite negative consequences, 3) drugs may potentiate the conditioned reinforcement of stimuli associated with their acquisition and use and 4) potential processes by which drug memories and responses are acquired/conditioned that can influence drug-taking.

This paper presents a review of mathematical operations and terms that are commonly used in Matching-To-Sample (MTS) during Stimulus Equivalence experiments. Most articles uses various mathematical operations atributing them to Set Theory. Many of those operations and concepts are not pertinent to that Set of Knowledge. Some operations belongs to Geometry and others to Graph Theory. On the same way, various terms used on articles about Stimulus Equivalence belong to other Mathematical areas of knowledge. The correct use of operations and terms helps to understand the psychological phenomena and may include other important aspects that could be the object of future studies. Studies of complex networks, with many sets interconnected in different ways may use properties that typical of Analitical Geometry or Graph Theory, such as nodal distance, or the strategies of teaching as SaN or CaN. Although MTS might be considered an Addiction Operation in some Mathematical areas, other operations such as Multiplication or Composition are not found in the Stimulus Equivalence literature.

The results of single-case design studies in behavior-analytic research typically rely solely on visual analyses for reporting findings, often without any consideration of difference-testing or inferential-statistical processing. Although graphical methods are appropriate, there are instances in research using small samples where non-parametric analyses may be useful, or indeed warranted. Examples of such occurrences may be: 1) When agreement on the trend in data is not apparent using graphical methods, 2) To aid in the identification of possibly significant differences among participants or behaviors, and 3) To bolster the assertions of the experimenter with respect to predictions indicated by visual trends. Additionally, advances in computing have enabled resampling techniques based on Monte Carlo methods to be used effectively for small samples in both difference and prediction testing. Visual analysis alone may be insufficient to extricate the findings, and a combined approach using appropriate statistical techniques is suggested. Various methods and their respective benefits are discussed.

This presentation will begin by reviewing the origins of applied behavior analysis in the late 1950s in successful studies teaching skills and reducing problem behaviors in persons with psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia. It will then examine problems in the DSM-5 definition of schizophrenia including reliance on questionable data, arbitrary criteria and categorization, inadequate precision for assessment and treatment evaluation, and omission of information on historical and current environmental factors that might have caused and might now maintain aberrant behavior. Alternatives to the DSM-5 will be discussed including continuous recording of individual clients specific behaviors, and functional assessments and functional analyses. The presentation will then provide a brief historical overview of harmful and debilitating biomedical interventions for psychotic disorders, evidence showing that current drug treatments follow this early pattern of iatrogenic medicine, and faulty assumptions underlying the biomedical hegemony over mental health services.

Comparison studies have the potential to do as much harm as good in the field of applied behavior analysis. The following review identified 62 studies in the past five years that compared which of two treatment parameters was better for individuals with autism (e.g., massed trials vs. interspersed trials; picture exchange vs. manual signs; etc.). In nearly half of those studies, all participants progressed further with one treatment procedure. In the other half of the studies, results were mixed. Some clients progressed further with one treatment procedure while other clients progressed further with the other treatment procedure. While the former studies are interesting, this paper argues that the latter studies (with mixed results) do more to advance the practice of behavior analysis. In addition, this paper explores a) which procedural components have most commonly been compared, b) potentially relevant client characteristics associated with different results, and c) discrepancies between treatment in the research and treatment in practice. Dr. Lovaas once advised, "If a child cannot learn in the way we teach, we must teach in a way the child can learn." Rather than focusing on which treatment is superior, this paper encourages more nuanced practice decisions from behavior analysts.

The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) supports the growth and dissemination of behavior analysis throughout the world. As a result, behavior analysts, through multiple efforts, seek to establish ABA services in regions where minimal or no services exist. Through their individual and affiliate work, the members of this panel have all participated in global dissemination of ABA and will gather to share their knowledge and experience regarding the establishment of ABA services internationally. Topics to be covered include: development of programs in higher education with local and partner universities, establishment of affiliated chapters with ABAI, partnerships with local service providers and strengthening of clinical and educational services, practicum and supervision opportunities, the role of networking (including social networking), research and professional development opportunities for local professionals, securing community and government support, and planning for sustainability.

This panel composed of experts in cultural analysis invites you to engage with them in a discussion on the timely and critical topic of promoting sustainable cultures. Three speakers will bring profound and innovative insights pertaining to both theoretical grappling with and applied undertaking of the behavioral change initiatives required to build a more sustainable society. With their macro perspectives and breadth and diversity of expertise, these panelists can identify high leverage strategies for some of the most socially relevant behaviors in the realms of education, therapy, organizational behavior, community interventions, and basic research. Specific discussion points may include the compatibility and complementarity of the speakers' respective theories regarding cultural analysis; the current status of behavior analytic conceptual frameworks of cultural analysis, their relevance in promoting sustainability, and identification of important areas of continued development; and how applied behavior analysts can promote positive cultural change in various realms of practice where the relevance to sustainability is often overlooked.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.

The talk is a walk through a list of topics that came up as Dr. John Staddon revised a 30-year-old book on adaptive behavior and learning. What has changed and what has not? What endures and what principles can we now rely on?

Following review of Skinner's discovery of the free-operant response and the resultant development of the measurement of frequency (count-per-unit-of-time), the first presentation will describe the advantages of frequency as the preferred measurement method in applied behavior analysis and compare it to other types of measurement. Ways of depicting frequency on graphs, including the Standard Celeration Chart, are also discussed and compared. In the second presentation, precise assessment of stereotypical behaviors is discussed. Because it often occurs either continuously or at high frequency, stereotypy is difficult to measure. Common units of measurement for stereotypy include percentage-of-intervals and frequency; however, even when frequency is the unit of measurement, it is likely that measurement error is high. Measurement of motor stereotypy using Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor equipment has the potential to reduce measurement error. The sensors and related software are capable of capturing and displaying real-time data related to force, duration, frequency, inter-response time, and topography of various behaviors, including motor stereotypy. The sensors collect data 300 times per minute on 19 different behavior-related variables. The precise measurement potential of this sensor equipment and related software seems ideally suited to measurement of stereotypical behavior in research studies and in applied settings.

Following review of Skinner's discovery of the free-operant response and the resultant development of the measurement of frequency (count-per-unit-of-time), the first presentation will describe the advantages of frequency as the preferred measurement method in applied behavior analysis and compare it to other types of measurement. Ways of depicting frequency on graphs, including the Standard Celeration Chart, are also discussed and compared.

In the second presentation, precise assessment of stereotypical behaviors is discussed. Because it often occurs either continuously or at high frequency, stereotypy is difficult to measure. Common units of measurement for stereotypy include percentage-of-intervals and frequency; however, even when frequency is the unit of measurement, it is likely that measurement error is high. Measurement of motor stereotypy using Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor equipment has the potential to reduce measurement error. The sensors and related software are capable of capturing and displaying real-time data related to force, duration, frequency, inter-response time, and topography of various behaviors, including motor stereotypy. The sensors collect data 300 times per second on 19 different behavior-related variables. The precise measurement potential of this sensor equipment and related software seems ideally suited to measurement of stereotypical behavior in research studies and in applied settings.

The field of behavioral parent training began in the 1960s and has become one of the predominant empirically based clinical approaches for addressing child behavior problems and developmental delays. Three historical trends spurred the initial development of parent training: concerns about the ineffectiveness of traditional child therapy, the burgeoning growth of behavior modification, and the idea that using parents to deliver mental health services could enhance the effectiveness of therapy. Early parent training research focused on small studies examining the effects of various treatment components and training strategies based on learning principles. Subsequent trends involved the development of standardized intervention models and research on their effectiveness; examinations of generalization; and applications of parent training in areas beyond child disruptive behavior or delayed development. Despite the phenomenal growth of behavioral parent training, research has identified challenges related to parent engagement/dropout, differing responsiveness across diverse cultural and demographic groups, and the need for high quality training and supervision of practitioners. These issues constitute important current and future research directions. This presentation will provide an overview of behavioral parent training research across the decades using illustrative examples and will discuss the implications of this research for practitioners working with children and their families.

Practitioners, applied researchers, educators, and mental health professionals.

Behavior analysis has a long tradition of excellence in teaching that appears, currently, to be largely overlooked by mainstream psychology. As a new teacher, Dr. Matthew C. Bell, too, initially ignored this literature and followed the time-honored method of lecturing. Recently, however, he has been reflecting upon how and what he teaches, particularly when he teaches courses in learning. His own interest comes, not coincidentally, at a time when teaching effectiveness has seen renewed attention including the development of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), a push for more university-led online courses, flipped classrooms, a new American Psychological Association journal on the scholarship of teaching and learning, and a growing literature in cognitive psychology applying the findings from the experimental memory literature to the classroom. What exactly is the best way to teach a college course to maximize student learning? What exactly should students be learning in a course on learning? Serving as a case study, Dr. Bell will address this question and describe teaching his own upper-division learning course, including what and how he teaches, the contingencies affecting his teaching behavior, and the rationale for his approach.

Selection by consequences as a causal mode The principle of selection is an important principle in all the biological sciences, a science of behavior included. Selection as a process consists in cycles of (a) variation in the characteristics of members of a population, (b) differential interaction of these members with the environment as a consequence of the variation, and (c) differential replication of the members as a consequence of the differential interaction. Behavior analysts suggest selection applies to the analysis of an organism's behavior just as much as to an analysis of its morphology. The three levels at which behavior analysts apply the principle of selection to the analysis of behavior are (a) phylogenic, (b) ontogenic, and (c) cultural. Much of traditional psychology is committed to postulating antecedent causes of behavior, particularly where those causes are assumed to be mental. This presentation argues that a science of behavior is well-served by setting aside concerns with antecedent causation as a causal mode in favor of selection by consequences.

An interdisciplinary behavioral science that places behavior analysis as the seamlessly interconnecting discipline between evolutionary biology and cultural anthropology, is very much preferable to the currrent paradigm of cognitivist evolutionary psychology. Behavior analysis uniquely complements evolutionary evolutionary biology in terms of its focus on historical behavior-environment interaction, its empirically grounded selectionism and its centering around learning and adaptation. The two disciplines basically address ontogenetic and phylogenetic adaptation, and behavior as a function of historical reproductive and reinforcing consequences, respectively. It is argued that interdisciplinary behavior analysis potentially provides a better account of the adaptive and maladaptive nature of culture, refines and transforms the "mismatch" hypothesis that is prevalent in evolutionary psychology, and accounts for cultural novel adaptive complexity in a way that evolutionary psychology cannot and does not. But not without challenges: Behavior analysis must no longer be an island of some intellectual isolation, and rather let itself be informed more by modern evolutionary biology and the implications it has for human behavior. Among others, a multi-adaptation perspective on human beahavior, where operant learning is viewed as a crucial, yet not monolithic, phylogenetic behavioral adaptation is proposed. Furthermore, the importance of accounting for private events for interdisciplinary purposes is emphasized. It is also argued that behavior analysis, in relation to neurophysiology, may benefit from a distinction between replicators and interactors of behavior, borrowed from gene selectionist evolutionary biology.

The capacity of humans to utilise written and spoken verbal behaviour is intriguing. Beyond requests for food and water, even for sex, drugs or rock and roll- this species-specific ability is one that allows theories and ideas to be shared and transmitted across time, cultures and experience. As Skinner identified, this repertoire, currently only available to the risen apes, is one significant way we differ from our cousins elsewhere in the animal kingdom. This paper will argue that the most important yet dangerous ideas inevitably present the greatest challenges to cherished notions of privilege, perspective and place in the world. It will explore four differently aversive ideas; selected from the written works of the Bible, Charles Darwin, B.F Skinner and Karl Marx. The process of ridicule, opposition, acceptance and revolution accompanying these ideas will be discussed. An analysis of the behavioural and meta-contingencies that impact on our the world, attributable to these aversive ideas, will be offered. There may not be fifty shades of grey- but beyond the black and white truths of a dangerous idea; beyond good and evil or freedom and dignity- there is a value in aversive ideas to deliver contingencies that improve our world.

Previous research has shown that response interruption and redirection (RIRD) is an effective intervention for automatically reinforced vocal stereotypy (e.g., Ahearn et al., 2007). Research on the underlying mechanisms of RIRD has indicated that the procedure functions as a punisher for vocal stereotypy. Target demands for RIRD are often arbitrarily chosen. However, if certain tasks do not function as punishers, then RIRD may not be an effective intervention. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate RIRD using tasks identified as preferred or non-preferred via task preference assessments. Four individuals who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and engaged in vocal stereotypy participated. Functional analyses showed that vocal stereotypy was maintained by automatic reinforcement for all participants. We then conducted task preference assessments for each participant to determine high (selected at least 80% of the time) and low preference tasks (selected less than 20% of the time). We then evaluated RIRD using high preference tasks and RIRD using low preference tasks. For four participants, tasks identified as preferred did not significantly reduce vocal stereotypy. However, tasks identified as non-preferred resulted in decreases in vocal stereotypy. The results indicate that task preference assessments should be conducted prior to using RIRD.

Previous research has evaluated the effectiveness of various treatments for reducing the occurrence of vocal and motor stereotypy. Recent research has indicated that data analysis may play a role in determining the actual effectiveness of different treatments for vocal stereotypy. The purpose of the present research is to assess the efficacy of both a response blocking procedure (i.e., hands-down) and Response Interruption and Re-Direction (RIRD) on the reduction of motor stereotypy for three individuals with autism. All analyses were conducted in a multielement design, and interobserver agreement data were collected across 33% of all sessions (averaging over 90% for all relevant variables). Results were examined when the duration of administration was (or was not) included in the calculation of response rate. Results also were evaluated based on (a) reduction in stereotypy relative to baseline, (b) total duration of treatment implementation, and (c) total session duration. Overall, when corrected for the duration of implementation, the hands-down procedure produced a greater reduction in stereotypy relative to the RIRD procedure. Additionally, the total hands down implementation and session times were lower for two of the three participants. Clinical implications of these results will be discussed.

For the past 10 years, demands for ABA services for persons with autism and developmental disabilities have been increased tremendously in Korea. Despite lack of trained professions and systematic support from government and communities, few processes have been made for the past few years. In this symposium, details of four ABA services currently practiced in Korean clinical settings across diverse age groups are introduced. Overall, they all produce positive results, though many practical matters should be addressed and resolved. Especially unique issues regarding providing clinical services as well as conducting research project in Korea are discussed.

Self-monitoring has been successfully implemented in clinical settings as an alternative to teacher-managed activities or contingencies. The current study examined the effectiveness of a self-monitoring in reducing problem behaviors (e.g., talking to oneself loudly, cutting in lines, and taking up too much space when sitting) in subway. The participants were a 23-year-old male with autism and a 22-year-old female with DD. Multiple baseline design across participants was used and data was collected while participants used the subway system. After the initial baseline condition, participants were given an educational session for public etiquette(A). Followed by this, a self-monitor ing system(B) was introduced to monitor their problem behaviors. Decrease in problem behaviors was observed afte an educational session, but this was shortly followed by a sharp increase. Significant reduction of problem behaviors were noted soon after the self-monitoring system was introduced, which lasted three weeks after the withdrawal of the intervention. Implications for applying self-monitoring in community settings are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the maual for treating problem behaviors among people with developmental disabilities, which was developed by the Seoul National Hospital and Yonsei Behavioral Psychology Lab. Participants were 30 special education teachers (5M & 25F) with ages from 24 to 51(M= 35.34, SD= 7.00), who has more than 1 child/adolescent with severe problem behaviors in her/his classroom. The hands-on type manual consisted of 9 chapters along with 5 treatment cases. The manual provided detailed procedures and forms. The training lasted for 2 hours per session for 10 weeks. Teachers completed Behaivor Vignetts Test, Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey(MBI-GS), Parenting Stress Index(PSI-Difficult Child)prior to and after the training. Frequency of students' problem behaviors as well as teachers' caring stress were collected daily using the Developmental Behavior Checklist-Monitoring chart(DBC-M). Dependent t-test(within subject comparison) and visual analysis was conducted to examine the effectivenss of the training. The results showed significant changes in knowledge of how to manage problem behaviors after the training. Also, the perceived level of stress were decreased mariginally. These results suggest that training increased the level of knowledge, and decreased the level of psychological distress and job burnout among teacher. Further implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

Korea ABA Institute was founded in July, 2014 to provide ABA program for young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The objective of the program is to enhance childrens basic learning skills and group environment adjustment and parenting skills for parents. The program provides an individualized 1 to 1 DTT treatment and a group lesson for children to easily adapt to group environment in the future. There is a weekly group educational program for parents so that they can understand ABA and basic parenting method and the parents can have personal approach by participating the treatment scene while their child is being treated. In order for the program to be effective, childrens treatment data are thoroughly collected and based on these data, we create cumulative graphs in time accordance on every behavior criteria to assess childs progress in real time. To assess overall effectiveness of the treatment program, children and parents are evaluated in psychological test and the baseline of performance level is measured in early stage of the treatment. The assessment is re-evaluated every 6 month or every year. Currently, there are 12 children aged from 24 months to 60 months diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder being treated, and there are 3 classes divided according to their developmental level. As of now in October 2014, based on accumulated graphs, there is an individual difference but overall, the children are acquiring behaviors in faster pace and the learning rate is gradually increasing as time progresses.

This study investigated the impact of a long-term food exposure program for typically developing toddlers to increase their consumption of vegetables. A total of 47 young children ages from 1 to 4 participated in this research and were randomly assigned to either a training program or a wait-list control group. In an experimental group, a food exposure program was conducted twice a week for 10 minutes, in which children were exposed to diverse vegetables via games and plays. All children were assessed on their vegetable consumption before and after the exposure program in the laboratory setting as well as real life setting. The results indicated that children in the trainig program consumed vegetables significantly more than the control group after the training in the laboratory setting. Also, the nutritional analysis of their daily food records showed the increased level of acsorbic acid (vitamin C) and folic acid after the training in real life settings, which are both related to vegetable consumption. These findings suggest that a direct exposure program may not only be effective in increasing vegatable consumption, but also have positive effects on overall nutrient intake. The limitations of this study as well as thedirections for future research are discussed.

College challenges students to face a period of incredible change while building healthy habits that will serve their lives long term. Brief ACT interventions may be ideal to improve the productivity and effectiveness in college students personal and academic ventures. The papers in this symposium explore applications of brief acceptance and values-based interventions on test preparation, physical exercise, coping with social exclusion, and academic performance. The first paper will discuss impacts of a one-time intervention on Graduate Record Examination (GRE) preparation behavior. The second explores students exercise performance with avoidance vs. values instructions. The third described values affirmation as a possible protective factor against negative social experiences. The final paper evaluated a values-based intervention that focused on purposeful action and highlighted the obstacles preventing students from persisting through academia. Implications for the integration of brief acceptance- and values-based interventions to improve college student well being will be discussed.

The broad benefits of physical exercise and athletic involvement are well documented. Most Americans accurately describe the benefits of exercise and report wanting to exercise more. Yet, implementing a regular exercise program presents a significant challenge for most people. This may be attributable to the strength and salience of immediate aversive consequences compared to long-term appetitives. Initiating exercise is physically uncomfortable and often frustrating long before any perceptible benefits.It may be that initiating and maintaining a program of exercise involves verbally-mediated contingencies. These contingencies might facilitate aversive control (e.g., avoidance of feeling fat) or appetitive control (e.g., approaching feeling more vibrant). The purpose of this analogue study was to examine the impact of varying instructions on endurance during a cycling task. Preliminary data suggests differential performance incyclingtasks under three different instruction conditions: a no instruction baseline, experiential avoidance instructions (i.e., imaginecyclingaway from something unwanted), values instructions (i.e., imaginecyclingtoward something meaningful). Implications of findings for facilitating exercise and athletic endurance will be discussed along with broad implications for behavior change under aversive and appetitive control.

Preference assessment (PA) for stimuli is important in that it allows for likely selection of reinforcers leading to contingencies that increase desired behavior. Some stimuli do not easily lend themselves to PA. Furthermore, some assessment methods raise questions on the reliability of the method and validity of results acquired. Therefore, reliability of existing methods must be tested, as well as the investigation of novel methods, to assess valid preference of different forms of stimuli. Studies in this symposium assess preference in participants with and without disabilities demonstrating the importance of PA across populations. Studies establishing preference hierarchies for social stimuli and communication topography are included. Additionally, studies addressing reliability and validity of different methodologies are included. Studies measuring preference for different forms of stimuli identified preference hierarchies and demonstrated reinforcing efficacy of stimuli assessed by researchers. Results from studies on reliability of existing methods provide interesting conclusions and future directions. These current issues as well as importance of PA will be discussed.

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is often used to support individuals who present complex communication needs. Although various researchers have evaluated subject preference for AAC modalities, only one has done so within the context of assessment and treatment of problem behavior and in the presence of relevant establishing operations (EO). Because the success of interventions like functional communication training (FCT) may hinge upon factors such as client proficiency with, and preference for, a targeted communicative response, it may be important to evaluate proficiency and preference in the presence of problem behaviors controlling variables. Our subject was a 4-year-old diagnosed with autism who engaged in aggression and had experience communicating via picture exchange and voice output devices (i.e., iPad and GoTalk). However, he did not mand for functional reinforcers during baseline (i.e., relevant FA conditions). We conducted FCT and reinforced mands mediated by each modality in each of three separate treatment conditions, while tracking rates of manding and aggression. Then, we conducted a concurrent-chains preference assessment to identify the subjects preferred modality. Finally, we presented assessment results to the subjects parent and asked her to indicate her own preference. Parent and subject preference aligned and we completed therapy using the iPad.

Teachers in an early education classroom were asked to identify and rank 10 preferred stimuli for 12 toddlers. A hierarchy for these items was identified via a multiple-stimulus-without-replacement (MSWO) preference assessment. Reinforcer assessments were conducted with each child to determine the reinforcing efficacy of both the highest and lowest preferred items identified by each method. Further, the entire assessment was conducted with novice practicum teachers within the initial weeks of their practicum semester and again with these teachers four months later to determine the extent to which level of expertise may influence the degree of correspondence between indirect and direct assessment. Results to date suggest that there is relatively poor correspondence between teacher-reported rankings as compared to direct assessment rankings. Overall, items identified as both low- and high-preferred functioned as reinforcers, at least under single-operant arrangements. Results were idiosyncratic (across and with subjects) under concurrent-operant arrangements. Results of the pre-post assessment comparisons are pending. The degree of correspondence between indirect and direct preference assessments, predictive validity, assessment efficiency, and the degree to which teacher expertise influences assessment correspondence will be discussed.

A substantial body of literature now exists demonstrating the use of reinforcement to increase a wide range of socially important behaviors in numerous populations across a range of settings. Systematic preference assessments are effective and efficient methods for identifying stimuli that serve as reinforcers, and numerous studies have demonstrated the predictive validity of a variety of assessment methods. As a result, systematic preference and reinforcer assessments have become a standard feature of both research and clinical practice. However, it has also been shown that numerous factors can influence preference assessment outcomes (subject variables, presentation method, motivating operations, response options, and consequence arrangements) and reinforcement effects (reinforcement parameters and type of schedule arranged during the assessment). The purpose of this symposium is to present the results of four studies examining the influence of a number of these factors. Findings will be discussed in terms of implications for both researchers and practitioners.

This symposium presents a number of applications of a new theory that integrates notions of reinforcing value with a behavioral notion of developmental stage. The first paper replaces Maslow=s Hierarchy of Needs with a conception that shows that both notions of reinforcing value and notions of behavioral developmental stage can explain the same behaviors without appealing to hypothetical, internal constructs. The second paper presents empirical data that confirms in another context that an expert=s developmental stage of understanding predicts how biasing (a measure of value) they perceive a professional situation to be. The third paper discusses the application of the Model of Hierarchical Complexity on the field of medicine, pharmacology, nursing and public health are. The paper gives examples of how standards of care are understood at different behavioral developmental stage. It presents the solution to the problem of standards of care at a Paradigmatic stage 14. The paper proposes a Cross-Paradigmatic stage 15 view of how the problem of changing standards of care can be solved. The fourth paper suggests eight long-term attractors (rather than linear short-terms trends) that lead to flatter organizations. Organizations and the need for management and bureaucracy are discussed from an informational perspective.

How do expert witnesses perceive the possible biases of their fellow expert witnesses? Participants, who were attendees at a workshop at the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law were asked to rate for their biasing potential a number of situations that might affect the behavior of an opposing expert. A Rasch analysis produced a linear scale as to the perceived biasing potential of these different kinds of situations from the most biasing to the least biasing. Working for only one side in both civil and criminal cases had large scaled values and also were the first factor. In interesting contrast, a) an opposing expert also serving as the litigant's treater and b) an opposing expert being viewed as a hired gun (supplying an opinion only for money) were two situations viewed as not very biasing. Order of Hierarchical Complexity also accounted for items from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd factors. The result suggests that the difficulty in understanding the conceptual basis of bias underlies the perception of how biased a behavior or a situation is. The more difficult to understand the questionnaire item, the less biasing its behavior or situation is perceived by participants.

The success of behavioral interventions often requires both the persistence of desirable behavior and preventing relapse of problem behavior. Goals of translational research in behavior analysis are to identify fundamental behavioral processes at work when implementing behavioral treatments and to use the understanding of those processes to improve treatment implementation. Therefore, translational research forms a continuum, with basic and applied research informing one another better serves the goal of improving the efficacy of behavioral treatments than either alone. This symposium includes presentations spanning the range of translational research assessing factors impacting behavioral persistence and relapse. Two presentations assess basic questions involving differential reinforcement using animal models (Bai, Craig), one assesses potentially converging measures of persistence in individuals with developmental disabilities (Kelley), and another assesses persistence of academic performance (Schieltz). All four presentations have a common focus toward highlighting the relevance of translational research to understanding how reinforcement processes influence outcomes of behavioral treatments.

Animal models of resurgence suggest discontinuation of alternative sources of reinforcement can result in relapse of extinguished behaviors, potentially providing insight into clinical relapse of problem behavior. Procedurally, resurgence is typically studied across three successive phases: (1) reinforcement of a target response, (2) extinction of the target and concurrently reinforced training of an alternative response, and (3) re-emergence of the target response when extinguishing the alternative response. The present study used pigeons in 50-s discrete trials to explore the effects of gradual versus discrete stimulus changes on local patterns of resurgence. Within each trial, target (left-key) responding was reinforced and alternative (right-key) responding was not reinforced in the first half of the trial the contingencies then reversed in the second half of the trial. Consistent with baseline reinforcement contingencies, alternative responding replaced target responding across time since trial onset. Moreover, extending trials beyond training durations during extinction probes revealed a resurgence of target responding. The magnitude of resurgence was greater, and the latency was earlier, when signaling the onset of the extended extinction probes. These findings reveal a role for stimulus control in resurgence, which could be useful in understanding factors involved in relapse of problem behaviors.

Response strength may be measured in a variety of ways, including in the context of a behavioral economic analysis (e.g., measures of demand; Hursh, 1980) or as response persistence (tendency of a response to continue to occur in the face of a disrupting event such as extinction; Nevin, Mandall, & Atak, 1983). In the current study, we sought to evaluate the convergence of these measures of response strength. First, we established two stimuli that were similar in preference in the context of formal stimulus preference assessments (Fisher et al., 1992). Next, we conducted progressive-ratio assessments to establish breaking points for each stimulus (Roane, Lerman, & Vordran, 2001). Finally, we exposed responding to disruptive events (e.g., extinction, satiation, pre-feeding, or distraction) to test the extent to which responding would persist. Similar outcomes across the analyses would suggest convergence of these two measures of response strength. Results are discussed in the context of translational research.

Current behavior analytic experimental research suggests that gambling is maintained by a combination of reinforcement schedules and verbal behavior. While behavior analytic research has focused on the broad implications of these variables, little is known about the idiosyncrasies of factors such as when high win rates occur during a gambling event, response effort, and persistence of play during repeated forced-choices. Similarly, recent structural changes in slot machine reels, particularly losses disguised as wins, are under researched and therefore not understood behavior analytically. Furthermore, little is known about losses disguised as wins when compared to other structural differences, including appetitive or aversive sounds. Therefore, this symposium will provide empirical support for how response-based interventions, structural alterations, and various win rates may impact gambling behavior, across a range of gambling behaviors including selection, persistence, magnitude, and self-report during gambling tasks. Implications of these findings and directions for future research will be discussed.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.

Morningside Academy explicitly teaches fundamental learning skills to ensure that each student has these vital components in his repertoire to bring the student closer to instruction. Shaping of these skills was explored along a continuum of gross motor, fine motor, and interpersonal skills. In this study, teachers shaped dimensions along the movement cycle of the behavior that already exists in the students repertoires. Sheila Habarad will present a method in which TAG Teaching was used with her reading class of five, 8 year-old students, paired with fluency building sessions in groups of 2-3 students. Generalization of targeted learning skills was measured across the reading class. Marianne Delgado and Geoffrey Martin will present a method in which TAG Teaching was used to increase frequency and duration of attending behavior within a group discussion circle, with one teacher being the discussion leader and the other being the TAG coach of a target student. Acquisition, frequency and duration of fundamental skills are depicted on the Standard Celeration Chart.

Ideally, mands for help should occur only (a) after the individual has attempted the task and (b) if that attempt was unsuccessful. Three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were taught this conditional discrimination under incapable and capable trials across multiple tasks. During incapable trials, materials were manipulated such that the child could not independently complete the response. During capable trials, materials were manipulated such that the child could independently complete the response. To prevent the mand for help from coming under faulty stimulus control, materials and instructions were matched across incapable and capable trials and teaching occurred under contrived motivating operations. Data were collected on attempts to complete the task and mands for help. During baseline, the percentage of trials with attempts was high across both capable and incapable trials but mands for help did not occur in either condition. During teaching for incapable trials, some undesirable generalization of the help response to capable trials occurred for two participants. Prolonged exposure to the teaching procedure was sufficient to establish correct responding under both conditions. These findings suggest, when training a help response, it is important to consider the antecedent conditions under which the response should occur.

Training sniffer dogs for specialty work, especially in the field, requires an unusual set of skills and knowledge: Fluid dynamics, analytical chemistry, psychophysics, microclimatology, and micrometeorology. Dogs are complex animals, and even the lab work (during training, or for diagnostic work) can have its challenges with long sessions of repetitive behaviors (e.g., responses in go/no-go tasks) with few stimuli and a sterilized and aseptic environment. Basic questions arise: Should we try to manipulate the dog, the stimuli, or the whole environment? When are interferences too much--or too little? And how can we train our dogs to succeed and keep performance steady over time? Dr. Simon Gadbois will address four main issues: (1) The role of motivation; (2) olfactomotor activation; (3) affordance training; and (4) understanding the where, what, and how much sub-systems of olfactory processing. He will, for example, discuss how modern training and assessment techniques treat olfactory detection and discrimination as a memory task when in fact, it is a fundamental sensory-perceptual task. Testing procedures that are mnemonically challenging should instead focus on perceptually challenging tasks. Dr. Gadbois will discuss how smell is a percept that needs to be processed in context. Much of this talk is derived from, and expands on, Gadbois& Reeve (2014).

Behavior analysts interested in learning how behavioral techniques are integrated with and understanding sensory processing to teach dogs how to sniff out invasive species and species at risk in conservation work.

From designing a building and program model to working with insurance companies, the panelists will discuss the lessons they learned from opening the Great Lakes Center for Autism Treatment and Research. Panelists will discuss floor plans, building materials and redesign decisions based upon what children and clinicians taught us after we opened. We will discuss working in an environment in which evidence based practices are not always what the paying customer wants and how we worked through the philosophical and terminology barriers. We will discuss market analysis and all the mistakes we made predicting program growth, as well as what we should have been paying attention to and whom we should have been listening to. We will also discuss the right and wrong ways to grow and some of the pitfalls of ramping up services when the employment market is inconsistent with the service demands. Future opportunities will also be discussed as well as avenues for expanding residential services.

With the advent of technology, the service provision landschape has been changing. In particular, services are being provided via distance technology capabilities. This fairly recent service model is known as telehealth medicine. Recent research has suggested behavioral services via telehealth service delivery can be effective (e.g., Wacker et al., 2013). However, this new service delivery model proposes new ethical challenges. Maintaining client confidentiality during service provision, video and data storage, client consent for treatment procedures, and clarifying and involving third parties during service provision are a few of the ethical challenges encountered with this type of service delivery model. The purpose of this symposium is to present three different telehealth service delivery models and to discuss the ethical challenges encountered through each model. Presentors will discuss how the ethical challenges were identified and resolved (or are being resolved) with interested parties.

In recent years, several authors have argued that zoos should be interested in behavior analysis (e.g., Maple 2007, Bloomsmith et al. 2007). But why should behavior analysts be interested in zoos? Modern zoological institutions place a growing emphasis on animal welfare, with goals including encouraging species-typical behavior, introducing novel sensory stimulation, and providing opportunities for choices within animal environments. In pursuit of these goals, zoos have recruited experts in specialized areas such as nutrition, pathology, endocrinology, aquatic medicine, and water chemistry. Although behavioral outcomes are central to animal welfare goals, the roster of experts at a given zoo rarely includes a behavior analyst. In this presentation, Dr. Christy Alligood will discuss the influence of behavior analysis on current practices at zoological institutions, including some examples of training and environmental enrichment at Disney's Animal Kingdom. She also will suggest some ways in which the zoo setting presents golden opportunities for applications of behavior analysis, and some reasons that "nontraditional" settings in general are important to the future of behavior analysis.

This paper concerns a taxonomy for classifying organizational practices that may exist within formal organizations. The purpose of the taxonomy is to provide the basis for discriminating among twelve classes of organizational practices defined as performance-related operant behavior of a member at the levels of individuals, organizational units, such as work groups and departments, and their consequences at those levels and at the level of entire organizations via their meta-contingency(ies) (Mawhinney, 1992; 2001). Results of assessments among organizational member behavior should provide information needed to pinpoint practices that need to be eliminated as well as practices in one area that would benefit the organization if replicated in other areas of the organization. In addition, these assessments should reveal process bottlenecks and conflicts (Gilbert, 1978; Malott, 2003; Rummler & Brache, 1995) rooted in organizational practices once they have been defined, categorized and related to one another. The goal of this taxonomy is to provide a framework within which to conduct such assessments and used to identify methods to enhance organizational performance. This paper concerns a taxonomy for classifying organizational practices that may exist within formal organizations. The purpose of the taxonomy is to provide the basis for discriminating among twelve classes of organizational practices defined as performance-related operant behavior of a member at the levels of individuals, organizational units, such as work groups and departments, and their consequences at those levels and at the level of entire organizations via their meta-contingencies (Mawhinney, 1992; 2001). Results of assessments among organizational member behavior should provide information needed to pinpoint practices that need to be eliminated as well as practices in one area that would benefit the organization if replicated in other areas of the organization. In addition, these assessments should reveal process bottlenecks and conflicts (Gilbert, 1978; Malott, 2003; Rummler & Brache, 1995; Rummler, 2001) rooted in organizational practices once they have been defined, categorized and related to one another. The goal of this taxonomy is to provide a framework within which to identify methods to enhance organization performance-related practices as virtually any class of operant behavior (Poling & Braatz, 2001) of an organizational member(s) within the organizational culture.

From a behavioral perspective, psychoactive drugs are powerful positive and negative reinforcers and drug addiction reflects an acquired syndrome in which drug reinforcement becomes prepotent in an individual’s life. The discipline of behavioral economics integrates concepts and methods from psychology and economics to understand human behavior, including importing microeconomic methods for studying choices among reinforcers. This lecture will review recent work developing the purchase task methodology, which uses microeconomic demand curve analysis to characterize the relative reinforcing efficacy of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. In addition to improving the assessment of individual variation in the value of a drug as a reinforcer, this approach has significantly contributed to the measurement of acute motivation in laboratory studies, to the understanding of the neural basis of drug consumption decision making, and to understanding treatment mechanisms. As such, the purchase task approach provides a translational platform for advancing both basic and clinical science.

The Verbal Behavior Developmental Theory proposes a trajectory of behavioral cusps and capabilities acquired throughout an individuals development which form the foundations for learning. An emerging body of research indicates that problems in learning may indicate missing cusps and capabilities. Further, these cusps and capabilities can be induced to accelerate learning by methodologically providing empirically researched instructional histories called verbal developmental protocols. Schools in the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling model apply principles of behavior analysis and Verbal Behavior Developmental Theory to learning and teaching. Children in these schools include individuals with disabilities, children from socially and economically disadvantaged homes, as well as typically developing children. Cusps and capabilities have been identified from foundational pre-speaker and pre-listener status, through independent reader and writer status. Panelists in this Professional Development Series event will discuss their expertise teaching students with varying levels of verbal behavior, including identifying missing cusps and capabilities and procedures for inducing them.

Performance on a delay discounting task has been related to impatience, whereas performance on a probability discounting task has been related to risk-taking. Substance abusers (e.g., cigarette smokers, heroin and cocaine addicts) exhibit higher rates of delay discounting than controls. Nevertheless, the relation between delay and probability discounting and mono- and poly-drug use has received little attention. The aim of this study was to compare delay and probability discounting by cocaine-dependent participants who score high on second-drug use with those who score low on second-drug use, and by marijuana-dependent participants who score high and low on second-drug use. 144 participants (72 cocaine dependent, 42 marijuana dependent, 30 controls) chose between a smaller, immediate/certain monetary reward and a larger, delayed/probabilistic monetary reward. The amount of the immediate/certain reward was adjusted until it was judged equal in subjective value to the larger reward. Delay discounting was greater in the cocaine group than the marijuana group, but no differences were observed in probability discounting among these groups and that of controls. Correlations between degree of second-drug use and degree of discounting, as measured by area under the curve (AuC), were not statistically significant either within the cocaine-dependent or the marijuana-dependent users.

Risk taking has been identified as an important predictor of health status. Among other hazards, individuals who take higher risks are more likely to develop drug and gambling problems. The Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART; Lejuez et al., 2002) and other comparable behavioral analogues have been successfully used to estimate risk taking in adults and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of young children (N=81, 8-10 years old) on a balloon analogue task where pump responses produced points without further value. The results show that, across balloons, girls responded significantly more than boys, that all children show an exponential increase in responding throughout the session, initiate responding faster after losses, and display frequency and recency effects of losses on responding over successive balloons. With exception of the gender differences, the childrens response patterns on the balloon task were similar to those of young adults. While more research is needed, detection of extreme deviations from the general patterns observed may be valuable in identifying children at risk, and may be useful in the evaluation of preventive interventions.

More than one billion people around the world smoke tobacco. This consumption kills prematurely nearly 6 million people, causing important economic losses. (WHO, 2011). Specifically, the perspective of probabilistic and temporal discount has been used for the study of impulsivity and risk aversion. In the case of tobacco, several studies show that smokers discounted delayed rewards more than non-smokers (Baker, Johnson y Bickel, 2003; Bickel, Odum y Madden, 1999; Mitchell, 1999). Other studies suggest that abstinence or reduced consumption of tobacco can affect the discount rates of the participants. In a research conducted by Bickel, Odum, and Madden (1999) where ex-smokers, smokers and non-smokers were compared, a smaller discount was found in ex-smokers than in current smokers. The purpose of this study is compare the temporal and probabilistic discount on smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers. 20 smokers, 20 ex-smokers and 20 non-smokers participated. Fist, they answered the Fagerstrm Test for Nicotine Dependence, then, they answered a computer task, and finally, their level of carbon monoxide was measured by a breath test. A factorial design with three groups was used for each amount of reward discount probabilistic tasks, the participant made six choices for each of five established probabilities. Results showed differences in temporal and probabilistic discount in the three groups. Further studies will help to identify the controlling variables of different types of impulsivity.

From the perspective of delay discounting, preference of a small and lower value reward is considered impulsivity. Marijuana users dont have this preference for small and immediate rewards on human and animal models, in contrast to other drugs such as cigarette, cocaine, alcohol and opiates. The objective of this study was to correlate delay discounting of gains and losses (drink, activity, $200, $1500 and $3000) with anxiety and depression scores of the SCL-90 scale. The sample was composed of 31 male marijuana dependents, aged 18 to 50 years old. In the delay discounting task participants chose between a delayed gain: $ 200, $ 3000, 40 units of drink, 100 minutes of free time activity or a delayed loss: $ 1,500 and an immediate option (the magnitude varied by 50% according to election). The delay for each outcome varied in the range of 7, 30, 180, 365, 1095 days. Results showed that high levels of depression correlate significantly with low levels of area under the curve (AUC) that means more impulsiveness in the drink and $200 outcome, no significant results were found in anxiety correlation. Also the AUC scores of most marijuana users were adjusted to quasi-hyperbolic equation.

Parent behavioral training is based on empirical evidence. The objective of this paper is to identify the most effective components of a parent?s behavioral training for the acquisition of raising skills and its relations to the problematic child behavior reports in Mexican children by means of a pre-experimental study. We considered 84 volunteer parents, (of one of their children, from two to twelve years old) with a mean age of 36 years, from eight selected states of the Mexican republic according to a public health institutional quota sampling. Self-reports of child behavior change and a parent behavior? direct observation systems of child-parent interaction in simulated situations were used. The parent behavioral training program was based on eight basic child raising skills. It was observed a significant reduction of defiant oppositional and aggressive behavior mean scores, as well as a reduction in parent reported hyperactivity and inattention, ever since the behavioral training. The intervention strategies that were most effective in the program were correction, praise, clear instructions, rule establishment, problem solving, social interaction, and the reduction in punishment. To identify child raising practices associated to inadequate behavior in public health settings allows the design of effective and less costly intervention procedures.

Tobacco consumption is a public health problem both in the world and in Mexico as it is associated with chronic degenerative, irreversible, disabling and deadly diseases. According to the National Survey of Addictions (2011) 21.7 of the population aged 12-65 years is active smoker, who began daily consumption at 20.4 years on average. One of the actions that have been implemented to address this problem is early detection, focused on the application of brief interventions based on cognitive behavioral techniques. Therefore, this study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral intervention for smoking cessation in young students. Participants were 10 college students who smoked less than 10 cigarettes daily, aged between 19-25 years. The intervention consisted of an evaluation session, four treatment sessions where self-control techniques, problem solving and gradual reduction of nicotine and tar were used. The pattern of consumption, the levels of anxiety and depression, the levels of negative and positive affect, and the level of readiness for change were obtained and compared before, during treatment and at three months follow-up. The results showed that the pattern of consumption reached abstinence in nine of the participants and one only decreased consumption. The results are discussed in terms of abstinence rates obtained at the end of treatment and at follow-up at 3 months and that set the tone for the establishment of effective strategies for early detection college.

In the international literature has demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral treatments targeting drug users, specifically the effectiveness in terms of maintaining abstinence or reduced consumption over time. However, a problem frequently identified is the high attrition rate of the user. In various studies have identified various factors associated with treatment drop-out which are categorized into 1 patient-related factors (age, sex, education, substance use), 2. treatment factors (treatment method, scenario treatment, duration of treatment) and 3. Factors treatment process (motivation, alliance, treatment satisfaction). Therefore, the objective of this research was to identify factors associated with the desertion of a brief cognitive behavioral intervention for smoking cessation. Involving 45 people who applied for the implementation of the intervention, of whom 25 completed the program, 14 dropped and 6 were not located. The results showed that the variables associated with the drop-out were self-efficacy and level of readiness to change in the initial evaluation. The results suggest the importance of designing strategies for both smokers with low self-efficacy as low readiness to change before starting the procedure.

Anxiety is defined here as an emotional state aroused in response to some current stimulus, which in the past has been followed by a disturbing stimulus. It involves emotional, motor, physiological and cognitive components. The objective of this research is to compare the Physiological, Cognitive, and Motor anxiety between Biology, Medicine, Dentistry and Psychology university academics. It was applied to 38 voluntary university academics of both sexes, the the Inventory of Situations and Answers of Anxiety (ISRA: Tobal and Cano Vindel, 1986) evaluates the general level of anxiety, cognitive, physiological and motor components. The results demonstrated a greater level of cognitive anxiety than physiological and motor in the university academics of Biology, compared with the other professional careers. It is inferred that this would imply to recognize the importance of the effects of the anxiety in one self's perception; this is the way professors perceive and think of themselves when being evaluated for something important in their job or for a new assignment, the importance given to social critics when making mistakes, their negative attitudes toward themselves and toward others, feelings of inferiority and incompetence.

Communication delays can have detrimental effects on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families, which make communication interventions a priority for children with ASD (Stoner, Meadan, & Angell, 2013). Meadan, Meyer, Snodgrass, and Halle (2013) implemented the Internet-based Parent-implemented Communication Strategies (i-PiCS) program that provided long-distance training and coaching to parents of young children with ASD. Parents were taught to use evidence-based naturalistic teaching strategies to improve their childrens social communication skills through the i-PiCS program. Participating parents learned to implement the teaching strategies with high fidelity and some changes in their childrens communication behavior were observed. To better understand the effects of the i-PiCS program, we conducted a secondary, in-depth examination of the intervention effects within two participating families contexts. The purposes of this study were (a) to examine the characteristics of parents strategy use and (b) to examine the characteristics of childrens communication behaviors. The case study expanded the results of the original study. Each childs communicative behavior positively changed based on topography across phases (see Figures) and the mothers decreased their use of physical prompting and increased their intentional use of the strategies over time. The results of and implications from these analyses will be presented.

This study systematically replicated and extended previous research on the use of observational learning procedures to condition stimuli as effective consequences for three preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (Greer & Singer-Dudek, 2008). Independent variables consisted of an observational learning procedure and the pairing of facial emotional responses with neutral items. Dependent variables included the number of correct responses per minute on the performance task, the number of correct responses on the learning tasks, the number of correct responses in the observational learning intervention, and finally the number of attempts to access the experimental items. A secondary measure was facial emotional recognition probes. A multiple baseline across participants design was used with visual inspection for data analysis.

Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services (BHRS), also called ?wraparound?, are short-term, intensive behavioral services provided to youth with significant behavioral and/or social challenges. BHRS are intended to improve individuals? qualities of life through implementation of individualized support plans, which aim to reduce problem behaviors while teaching more appropriate, yet functionally similar, replacement skills and behaviors. The current research will evaluate effectiveness of titration of BHRS. Data collected on behaviors of three male and one female participant, ages five, six, eight, and 16, will be analyzed for this study. Each participant is a student in the School District of Philadelphia, and received 30-35 hours per week of TSS at the start of the 2014-2015 school year. After 90 days, all participants? levels of TSS will be reduced by five hours per week. Furthermore, three participants will undergo an additional 3.5-5 hours per week of titration before the close of the school year. Data collected during each phase of titration will be compared to pre-titration baseline data in order to evaluate the impact of titration on participants? behaviors and outcomes. Findings may be useful in informing individualization within titration planning for BHRS for children with autism.