Association for Behavior Analysis International

Closed Meeting of the ABAI Board Coordinators and the Council Presidents.

This meeting will cover important components of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), including information on BACB credentials, eligibility requirements, approved course sequences, examination administration, and applying for examination. This meeting is intended for individuals who are planning to become certified.

To discuss the activities of the SIG over the past year as well as to create action items for the coming year.

This will be the business meeting for the Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Special Interest Group (EAHB-SIG). The mission of the EAHB-SIG is to promote the experimental analysis of behavior with human subjects as a means of addressing important fundamental questions about human problems and human nature. In recent years, the energies of EAHB-SIG members have focused on three continuing projects: (1) The EAHB-SIG Distinguished Contributions Award: This award is designed to recognize substantive and sustained contributions to the EAHB literature. The award is presented at the annual convention. (2) The Student Paper Competition: The competition is designed to promote and recognize scholarly activity in the Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior. Students are encouraged to submit original research that has not been reviewed elsewhere. Participants receive high quality reviews from experts in their respective areas of research. (3) The Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin: The SIG also maintains an online journal (ISSN 1938-7237) for the publication of empirical articles, technical reports, and other types of articles of interest to researchers engaged in the experimental analysis of human behavior.

Various pre-assessments have been developed to increase the efficacy of consequences delivered during intervention. For example, stimulus preference assessments, demand assessments, and stimulus avoidance assessments have been found useful in predicting the effects of consequences for promoting effective behavior change. The current symposium includes three papers describing procedures for empirically deriving and systematically evaluating various consequences, including positive reinforcers, negative reinforcers, and punishers. In the first paper, preference assessment outcomes from independent and combined arrays of three stimulus categories, including edible items, leisure items, and forms of attention, will be reviewed. The author will also share reinforcer assessment data depicting the relative reinforcing efficacy of items from each stimulus category. The author of the second paper will describe a study including a demand assessment and a subsequent negative reinforcer assessment. The potential utility of a progressive-ratio schedule for determining the relative efficacy of negative reinforcers will be discussed. In the third paper, the author will present data from a retrospective review of over 30 stimulus avoidance assessments. The potential utility of 5-min versus 10-min session durations and the effects of using a latency measure will be discussed.

Reinforcement-based strategies alone are not always sufficient to produce clinically significant reductions in problem behavior. In such situations, the addition of a response-reduction procedure to reinforcement-based strategies may be required (Fisher, Piazza, Bowman, Hagopian, & Langdon, 1994). A stimulus avoidance assessment, which consists of the time-based application of potential reductive procedures, has been shown to be an effective means of determining the appropriate procedure to reduce problem behavior (Fisher, Piazza, Bowman, Kurtz, Sherer, & Lachman, 1994). However, very little research on this assessment has been conducted since its original publication. This current paper consisted of a retrospective chart review of over 30 stimulus avoidance assessments. Assessments were evaluated as 5 minute and 10 minute sessions to determine if the same procedure would have been selected using a shorter session duration. In addition stability of series and latency of the first avoidant movement/negative vocalization were evaluated using 5 minute and 10 minute session duration to determine the minimum number of series needed and if latency would be a viable alternative measure of adverseness. The results will be discussed in terms of the impact of each of these components on efficiency the assessment.

Several studies have used progressive ratio (PR) schedules to evaluate the efficacy of positive reinforcers (e.g., Roane, Lerman, & Vorndran, 2001). Yet there are no direct assessment procedures for quantifying the value of negative reinforcers. The current study used breakpoints when responding on PR schedules for various tasks to quantify the value of negative reinforcement in the form of escape from those tasks. Following a demand assessment that ranked demands by latency to first instance of problem behavior, high- and low-aversive demands were selected for inclusion in a PR assessment. During the PR assessment, participants earned access to a highly-preferred edible or leisure item on increasing schedules of reinforcement. Higher breakpoints were observed for the low-aversive task and lower breakpoints were observed for the high-aversive task. These preliminary results suggest that this method of quantifying reinforcer value may be well suited for the purpose of determining the value of escape/avoidance of various negative reinforcers. Implications of these results will be discussed, including the possibility that the PR assessment could assist in developing effective treatments for problem behavior maintained by escape/avoidance.

Functional Analysis (FA) technology has been widely used to identify the functional variables of severe behavior, particularly in individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Recent research has allowed for further examination of the length, order, and content of conditions used, but much of the procedure has remained relatively untouched and has been utilized exclusively with special populations. In this symposium we examine methodological changes to FAs that address these issues. The first paper will discuss the use of abolishing operations in functional analyses and latency to first response as the primary dependent measure. The second paper discusses the narrow use of FAs in the treatment of severe behavioral excesses. Recent research has demonstrated the use of FAs with behavioral deficits such as exercise. This symposium will discuss the use of FAs to identify the variables maintaining the exercise behavior of children and the effects of peer involvement. Broader implications will be discussed.

Functional Analysis (FA) has been repeatedly shown to be an effective method of identifying the variables maintaining severe behavioral excesses. Dangerous or harmful behaviors present difficult issues concerning the use of functional analysis methodology as this involves the repeated occurrence of the behavior within each of the conditions. Recent research has examined variables to increase the efficiency of FAs, thereby reducing the risks of repeated instances of the behavior. One such investigation has suggested latency to first response as a primary dependent measure in FAs and examined the possibility of ending conditions after this first response, In this study we extend the research by examining the use of abolishing operations to reduce the likelihood of the target behavior during the maintaining test conditions. Furthermore we use latency to first response as the dependent measure and examine the efficiency of this approach when it is combined with the antecedent control of an abolishing operation. Implications of this method will be discussed

In the United States, 16.9% of children and adolescents from the ages of 2 to 19 are considered to be obese and one-third of children and adolescents are considered to be overweight or obese (Ogden et at., 2012). Although physical activity alone may not solve the obesity epidemic, it has the potential to mitigate some of the health risks that individuals are facing. In this study, we examined whether the presence of a peer in the experimental conditions containing alone, attention, and adult interactive play consequences would affect levels of physical activity in three preschool aged children. The experimental conditions were examined with a multielement design with an initial baseline and follow up to the most effective treatment. The experimental conditions included attention contingent on MVPA, interactive play contingent on MVPA, and alone. Results suggest that the inclusion of peers in these conditions altered the primary maintaining variables of the childrens exercise behavior from attention to interactive play.

Being able to understand, verbalize, and distinguish felt experiences is a key component of psychological interventions. Until recently, there has been an absence of empirical research on the particular value of emotion differentiation on healthy and unhealthy outcomes. Dr. Kashdan will review research in clinical, social, and health psychology that offers insights into the transdiagnostic adaptive value of putting feelings into words. The ability to precisely describe and differentiate emotions has been recently shown to alter the association between negative emotions and emotion regulation difficulties as varied as binge drinking, aggression, neural reactivity to rejection, self-injurious behavior, and the severity of anxiety and depressive disorders. These findings shed light on how negative emotions and stressful experiences can be transformed by how people label and distinguish what they are feeling. Implications for the study of emotions and emotion regulation, and psychological treatment will be discussed.

Psychologists and behavior analysts.

Operating on an organization in order to change the culture is a delicate process, requiring only the most skilled and steady hands to accurately and safely graft new protocol. Unfortunately, behavior analysts often times struggle with establishing policies and procedures that are ethical in nature but that also avoid causing deleterious effects on the body of their companies. Structural arteries within a behavioral organization can be convoluted as each department serves as a life sustaining organ that must work in concert with regulatory bodies, ethical standards, and smart business practices to maintain the blood-flow of the organization. To help navigate the complexities of this process, a primer has been developed. A code of ethics designed to help guide practitioners and administrators as they perform surgery on their businesses. In this symposium, we will discuss what a Code of Ethics for Behavioral Organizations (COEBO) is and how it can help breathe life into your organization.

The Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Special Interest Group invites you to formally recognize the contributions of Dr. Deisy de Souza. Dr. de Souza's interests have long focused on the investigation of acquisition of symbolic relations, the development of equivalence-based instruction to teach reading and writing skills, providing services to individuals who benefit little from traditional schooling (children with protracted histories of school failure, children with intellectual disabilities, illiterate adults, etc.), and investigating the acquisition of symbolic functions by auditory stimuli in individuals with cochlear implants. Drs. Todorov and Kledaras, longtime friends and colleagues of Dr. de Souza's will review and reflect upon Dr. de Souza's career and her many contributions toward advancing our understanding of complex human behavior. Subsequently, Dr. de Souza will deliver an address in which she will review the current state of her research program with an eye toward future directions. Please join us to appreciate and celebrate the contributions of Dr. Deisy de Souza.

Some persons are just irreplaceable. There is nobody such as Deisy de Souza in Brazilian behavior analysis. She excelled in research and teaching. She has also generously devoted a significant part of her time to strengthen academic departments, undergraduate and graduate programs, scientific societies, and professional journals. Behavior analysis in Brazil would be significantly poorer without Deisy's contribution. Along her career she created and led no less than two graduate programs, one undergraduate program, and an Institute for Science and Technology. And these are just a few of her contributions to the management of behavior analysis. Surprisingly, she also had time to conduct and publish wonderful research in several areas, with international significance in the field. Her many students are now spread through the whole country, prepared to continue Deisy's work and lead Brazilian Behavior Analysis. Nevertheless, Deisy will hopefully keep doing innovative research and teaching many more students for a long time.

Behavior analysts are frequently involved when a student's behavior becomes so severe that in-depth analysis and understanding are needed. However, there is considerably more research to guide the analysis for behavior problems than for academic problems. This presentation will provide a framework to analyze difficulties in reading at the small-group (tier 2) and individual (tier 3) levels. Data will be presented from three studies (n ~200 to 600) to demonstrate that targeting the academic intervention based on the function of the behavior was more effective at tier 2 than using a general evidence-based intervention. Moreover, data from 15 students with the most severe reading problems will be provided to support the framework at tier 3.

Implementing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)-based services in novel adult treatment settings requires significant changes to staff culture and practices. The discussion will highlight the successes and roadblocks experienced by a New York City residential agency, and a psychiatric hospital treatment team that have been moving in this direction. The agency provides residential and day services for approximately 270 adult consumers. The treatment team serves the adult inpatient units (160 beds) providing individualized behavioral plans to reduce challenging behaviors such as physical aggression, hyper-sexualized behaviors, and verbal aggression. The presenters will discuss the ongoing process of adapting their organizations’ procedures, standards, and culture to meet those recommended by the field of Applied Behavior Analysis, while navigating a changing financial and regulatory landscape. This discussion may be informative to other practitioners wishing to implement ABA-based treatments within their own adult services settings.

Several companies discover the potential of behavioral technologies thanks to the application of behavioral safety. Those companies start asking to spread the mission of their behavior-based safety process to other business results, such as Environment's ones and Qualitys ones that are usually managed by the same department, i.e. by the same people. The protocol to design the behavior-based quality process follow the same steps of the safety one: assessment, pinpointing, measurement rules and tools definition, consequence planning, training and coaching of observers and leaders, baseline registration, goal-setting and follow up. The paper presents the preliminary results obtained in couple of applications in facilities of north-eastern Italy. One belongs to a company in the manufacturing and installation of architectural envelopes and interior systems. The other is a plastic maker with 55 operators that has to deal with contaminations of the products in the bags sent to final client: the pinpointing highlighted that these unwanted results (29 non conformances reported by clients in 18 months) are due to inaccurate behaviors. The company decided to train and to reward a group of 19 employees (both workers and leaders) to observe the accurate behaviors with a checklist on a daily basis, to give mostly positive - feedback to the colleagues observed, and to analyze the cause of the eventual inaccurate behaviors. The target behaviors are the following ones 1. Cleaning the floor with vacuum cleaner or broom-pallet; 2. Cleaning cutters, vibrating screen centrifuges and silos crevices with compressed air; 3. Checking the granule and the presence of "chains"; 4. Closing the hoppers; 5. Putting in order the vacuum cleaner after its use. The last behavior is the most important for removing the aversive contingencies (i.e. looking for the vacuum cleaner) that reduces the likelihood of the first behavior. The behavior based quality-safety process aims to cut a 30% of costumer disputes and 50% of the severity index in 2 years: after a 3 weeks baseline, during the first month of observation and feedback, some of the above quality behaviors increased even without having been explicitly targeted with goal-setting and rewards in this first part of the project (i.e. the leadership of the company preferred to focus goals and reward on behavior related the injury severity/frequency rather than quality ones).

Today, behavior analysts are faced with the task of making the science of behavior meaningful, efficient, and effective for non-English speakers. Translation of English textbooks, articles, and resources for treatments has become one of the biggest challenges for behavior analysts around the world. How do you adapt early intervention programs and program delivery for children diagnosed with autism when the translated material is not available? How do you pioneer the establishment of non-English BACB-approved curricula outside English-speaking countries? MulitABA SIG presents the panel discussion drawing examples from BACB's globalization initiatives, VB-MAPP translation, and case studies of bilingual intervention, in languages such as Japanese, Russian, and French. The behavior analysts are presented as translators, interpreters, and authors with sufficient cultural and linguistic competence to achieve consistent treatment outcomes and/or educate the target population. We invite the audience to share their qualitative experiences that will further enlighten how international, multicultural, and ?authentic? our field has become.

When the explicit training of a class of responses of one topography leads to the emission of one or more response classes of different topography, we speak of generalized operants. The empirical demonstration of such generalized classes is taken as evidence that the concept can be included in the conceptual toolkit of the behavior analyst without further analysis and that it can be used to explain other examples of emergent behavior. Dr. David C. Palmer will argue that this conclusion is unjustified. He will suggest that atomic repertoires can explain the relevant behavior economically, with no need to invent new explanatory terms. Furthermore, they offer a possible interpretation of the phenomenon of delayed observational learning.

Anyone with an interest in parsimonious interpretations of complex behavior.

Baker, LeBlanc, and Raetz (2008) published a behavioral conceptualization of aphasia and proposed an assessment and treatment model for use with older adults. Several studies (Gross, Fuqua, & Merritt, 2013; Oleson & Baker, 2014; Trahan, Donaldson, McNabney, & Kahng, 2014) have since begun to assess and intervene on verbal behavior deficits among older adults with aphasia as well as neurocognitive disorder. Although one approach to remediating verbal behavior deficits is through a transfer of stimulus control from one verbal operant to another, to date no research has evaluated transfer of stimulus control methods for older adult populations. This talk will present data from older adults with aphasia and/or neurocognitive disorder where treatments (developed using the assessment approach proposed by Baker et al., 2008) incorporated a transfer of stimulus control component and an evaluation of the efficacy and efficiency of different methods.

This study examines the efficacy of a training program on participants' ability to produce context-rich comments on Behavioral Safety observation forms. Comments that provide contextual information about observed behaviors can be valuable in behavioral safety programs. Comments with greater depth about the context maintaining observed behaviors allow analysts to make better-informed decisions regarding empirically based, safety interventions. They also help to facilitate the immediate feedback intervention that occurs between the observed and the observer. Behavioral training methods were used in the initial and subsequent training sessions in a train the trainer format. Training was provided to safety representatives of workgroups within two regional divisions of a petroleum company in a multiple baseline design. These representatives then delivered training to the general workforce. Training included guided practice and feedback on writing effective comments. Observation forms from a companys Behavioral Safety Process were analyzed prior to and after the training delivery to assess improvements in contextual comments.

The observation process, which is the core part of each BBS process, includes the employees by focusing on increasing safe behaviors. The observer effect is the key to what makes employee observations successful in changing safety performance. The effect states that an observer improves their own safety performance due to having evaluated observed behavior. Knowing which variables influences employees' safety performance is crucial in running a (cost) effective BBS process. The type and accuracy of observations are two main factors that are related to the observer effect. Additionally, the importance of peer presence will be discussed as an important driver that is related to the value that safety observations provide. A model based on current research will be developed to assist with the understanding of the different factors of safety observations. Different factors and driving variables are important for peer and self-observations. The relevancy and the support of the different arguments will be analyzed and recommendations for further research and applications will be made.

A great deal of interest from funding entities, consumers, employers, and practitioners has occurred as a result of the demand for applied behavior analysis (ABA) services over the last several years. We are currently in an era of substantial growth in numbers of certified professionals and training programs in the United States (US). Funding sources like government agencies and health insurance plans prefer to exercise some oversight of credentialed professionals and are reasonably reluctant to pay for those who are not credentialed. As changes continue to occur very quickly, it is a very important time to be generally educated in these areas. Over the past year, licensure efforts have been fast paced, Autism Speaks has been extremely active in getting insurance laws passed in the US, and the international certification program of behavior analysis by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc. (BACB) in conjunction with laws and regulations recognizing this credential has served a role in many licensure and insurance coverage efforts. The symposia presented today will cover all of these areas and then additionally provide graduate and recent graduate student perspectives on these issues.

Public policies affecting the practice of applied behavior analysis (ABA) are proliferating rapidly. They include but are not limited to: laws to license or otherwise regulate practitioners of ABA; other laws and regulations recognizing credentialed behavior analysts as qualified service providers; laws requiring certain private health plans to cover ABA services for people with autism; and policies governing coverage of ABA services by public health plans (Medicaid, TRICARE). The Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA) has worked (and is currently working) with policymakers, regulators, behavior analysts, and consumers on many of those policies. An overview of current laws, regulations, and policies is provided, and their impact on current and future ABA practitioners and the field as a whole is discussed. Some emerging trends in the types of policies being adopted as well as successful and unsuccessful advocacy tactics are described. Finally, some suggestions for training behavior analysts to work in the public policy arena are offered.

Established disciplines show stability in training programs, number of licensed or certified professionals, and changes to professional standards are often minimal. Contrary to this, behavior analysis is in an era of substantial growth, evidenced by changes in several areas: new training programs around the world, new legislation for licensing behavior analysts and in autism insurance laws in the US, and changes in standards at the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Consequently, it becomes important for professionals in the field, including graduate students, to be proactive with respect to these changes. First, staying current with respect to BACB standard changes and state specific licensure and insurance billing within the US. Secondly, involvement and support of these efforts with the guidance of local leaders on the matter, if there are no local leaders, becoming a leader with the guidance and support of our national professional organizations. In this presentation we will describe suggestions for (a) educational institutions to incorporate this information into curriculum (while maintaining BACB curriculum requirements) and (b) new graduates and professionals to find information on these topics as they pursue their behavior analysis careers in different parts of the world and country.

Global threatening events, including overconsumption of material goods, toxic human societies, and modern warfare are seemingly amenable to systematic change through a behavior analytical approach. An analysis of the systems within which large-scale cultural phenomena are selected for perpetuation is an alluring area of research for behavior analysts. This symposium will detail the conceptual underpinnings of an effective science of intentional cultural change. A historical summary and interpretation of large-scale implementation of behavior analysis will be provided for consideration and resources for further pursuit of knowledge will be provided. Researchers will present descriptive analyses of metacontingencies influencing the aggregate products of rates of safe driving and child welfare outcomes in Brazil. The challenges behavior analysts face when developing valid approaches to the experimental analysis of cultural change will be outlined and recommendations for future explorations will be presented.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.

Students of behavior analysis contact few opportunities to acquire knowledge surrounding the history of the field of large-scale behavior analysis. This gap in the students repertoire may be the result of few standards in place within the overarching teaching institutions and certification systems that target this particular skill set. As a result, students of behavior analysis are often left on their own to not only learn the history of the field of large-scale behavior analysis, but to also identify available resources. We have found that individuals who successfully contact this information come to find the value in historical knowledge of such behavioral approaches to examining large-scale behavioral phenomena. The aim of this presentation is to provide a quick review of the history and resources available to the behavioral neophytes who are interested in learning more about the history of large-scale behavior analysis.

Homeless cats living in an animal shelter have a predictable schedule of eating and interacting with conspecifics (if such a room and appropriate cats are available), as well as with staff, caretakers, and the public. At the MSPCA in Boston, the average stay for such a cat is 13 days. However, if a cat is brought to the Shelter with a wound of unknown origin, that cat must be quarantined for six months at the Shelter, per state rabies law, and may not be transferred. These cats are known, in Shelter parlance, as office cats, as they spend their quarantine period living in a staff office. One could argue that a process of enrichment, as is used in zoos for big felids, might be appropriate for an office cat. In this study, we looked at whether scent enrichment, such as is done for zoo cats, would elicit the same sort of behavior from office cats, that of sniffing and interacting with scent jars. We then compared this condition with the cats behavior when an office person and/or another cat were also present.

Individuals with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder exhibit characteristics that may interfere with learning opportunities, prohibit skill acquisition, and affect daily sleep. This symposium includes a project designed to compare the independent and additive effects of faded bedtime with response and melatonin on delayed sleep onset (Lesser, Luczynski, Loughrey, Rodriguez, and Fisher). The obtained results suggest that melatonin is an effective treatment for delayed sleep onset. Kidder and Sassi conducted a study to determine whether lag schedules of reinforcement and teaching procedures are necessary to promote response variability. The data indicate that both lag schedules and teaching procedures are necessary to achieve response variability. Zabala, Fernand, and Vollmer evaluated procedures to assess problem behavior when interrupting ritualistic behavior. Implications for progressing through the assessment as well as what conditions should be included in the analysis are discussed. Faulty stimulus control may occur when teaching occurs in the context of irrelevant stimuli. Mitteer, Luczynski, and Kronfli evaluated the effects of background stimuli on the acquisition and generalization of tacts. The results of the study have implications for teaching tact relations which is an early-learner skill.

One of the defining characteristics of autism spectrum disorders is difficulty tolerating variations in established routines (Hertzig & Shapiro, 1990). This study evaluates the use of lag reinforcement schedules and training procedures to promote response variability in two adolescent males diagnosed with autism. During baseline, reinforcement was delivered contingent on trial completion, regardless of response topography (variability). During lag reinforcement sessions, reinforcement was delivered contingent on the task arrangement differing from that of the previous trial. Investigators used a multiple baseline across responses with reversal design to assess the effects of treatment and possible generalization across responses. Data show that response topography was invariant during all baseline sessions. Introduction of the lag schedule alone was ineffective in promoting variability until a training procedure that consisted of pre-session forced exposure (physical guidance to complete varied topographies of the target response) or within-session physical prompts were introduced in conjunction with the intervention. To date, the lag schedule with training has resulted in increased variability for the three targeted responses and generalization to four alternate tasks has been noted across the two participants; topographies of three other responses are unchanged. Interobserver agreement data have been collected for 36.9% of sessions and equal 100%.

One of the defining characteristics of an autism diagnosis is behavior that is inflexible, repetitive, and described often as resistant to change. Recent research has demonstrated the flexibility in altering standard functional analysis conditions to identify functions of behavior that occur under idiosyncratic antecedent and consequent relations. Further, current empirical data support these stereotypic topographies are often maintained by some source of automatic reinforcement. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate procedures to assess problem behavior when interrupting the ritualistic behavior displayed by three children with autism. All participants engaged in repetitive item manipulation as well as aggression when routines were interrupted. Functional analysis conditions were similar to those arranged in previous publications (e.g., Rispoli et al., 2014) and clear outcomes were obtained for all participants. Future functional analysis developments with regard to routine-oriented behaviors are discussed. Specifically, how to progress through the assessment as well as what conditions to be included in the analysis are discussed in relation to the purpose of the assessment to be conducted.

This symposium has three papers discussing research evaluating the use of immediate auditory feedback (sometimes referred to as TAGteach) for enhancing athletic performance across three sports. The auditory feedback (AF) in these studies is delivered with a clicker much like the ones used in animal training. The first paper evaluated AF delivered by peers in a multiple baseline across dance movements to enhance dance performance among teenage dancers. The second study used a multiple baseline across participants to evaluate AF for enhancing performance of individuals performing Judo moves. The third paper used a multiple baseline across yoga postures to evaluate AF to increase proficiency in yoga poses. In each study, the target behaviors improved with the introduction of the AF intervention. John Stokes, who has used AF to enhance the effectiveness of pass-blocking skills among high school football players, will be the discussant and will comment on each of the papers.

This study utilized a new teaching technology, TAGteach, to aide in skill acquisition of novice yoga practitioners. The current study focused on teaching three beginner asanas (poses). The intervention included breaking down the asanas into task analysis steps and using a clicker as auditory feedback for each correctly completed step. The intervention, evaluated in a multiple baseline across behaviors design, increased the percentage of correctly performed steps for all three poses.

Where is the momentum of history taking us? What can demographic, economic, technological, environmental, and cultural trends tell us about our possible futures? What role might the science and practice of behavior analysis play in shaping that future? In this talk, Dr. Robert Gilman will address these questions from his perspective as a former astrophysicist who has spent the past 36 years exploring the possibilities for 21st century sustainable cultures. Central to this perspective is the idea that humanity is now involved in a cultural transformation as profound as the shift out of hunting and gathering and into agriculture and cities that happened roughly 5,000-10,000 years ago. The gracefulness of this transition depends on human behavior. Behavior analysts are uniquely equipped to steer global culture toward a future that is necessarily characterized by sustainability if they situate their science and practice in the context of a whole-systems understanding of our rapidly changing societal and natural environment. This talk is designed to provide that broad context, outlining important characteristics of a more sustainable future that can be promoted by all behavior analysts, regardless of whether their work explicitly focuses on issues of sustainability.

People discount the value of delayed or uncertain outcomes, and the same hyperboloid mathematical function describes both delay and probability discounting. Partly for this reason, discounting of delayed outcomes and probabilistic outcomes often is assumed to reflect similar decision-making processes. However, we will show that several manipulations differentially affect how steeply people discount delayed and probabilistic outcomes, as well as the parameters of the discounting function. In addition, we will show that with respect to discounting, losses are not simply the opposite of gains. Finally, we will present data from individuals with medial temporal lobe damage to argue that mental time travel is not required for discounting delayed and probabilistic outcomes. In summary, this tutorial will highlight the similarities and differences between the discounting of delayed and probabilistic gains and losses, as well as the implications of our recent neuropsychological findings for understanding the mechanisms involved (and not involved) in discounting.

General ABAI attendees, both applied and basic researchers and graduate students

1. Participants will be able to describe and provide examples of the discounting of delayed and of probabilistic rewards, and state a similarity and a difference in their discounting.
2. Participants will be able to describe the discounting of gains and losses, and state a similarity and a difference in their discounting.
3. Participants will be able to discuss the relation of discounting to issues of impulsivity and self-control.

Kenya is a developing country located in Africa where Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is a concept that is just about budding. Through collaborations with the Global Autism Project and University of Massachusetts, Pooja Panesar just received her qualification from the Behaviour Analyst Certification Board (BACB) this year. She has been running a centre for students with autism and other developmental disorders since 2009 and this panel's purpose is to discuss all the challenges faced in Kenya along with the progress that has been made since 2009. As a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) providing ABA services in Kenya, many challenges arise such as grey areas in ethics, staff hiring and training challenges and even just Individual Education Plan (IEP) approvals from parents with children who are mainly cared for by ayahs. Mainstream education in Kenya is a business in competition that does not always accept students with disabilities (especially severe), but Kaizora Consultants has managed forming a collaboration with a mainstream school to encourage integration. Join us in a discussion on some of these successes and challenges in providing ABA services as a BCBA in Kenya.

Entering the professional world of academia will be the biggest career challenge to date for newly christened PhD s and individuals seeking careers at colleges and universities. The application and interview process may be challenging as job descriptions and expectations may vary widely between departments and universities. This professional development series event will provide a broad sense of how to gain a faculty position and what is expected once that goal is achieved. The format will consist of a discussion on a variety of questions posed to the panel by the chair followed by a question and answer sessions with the audience. Topics will include the application and interview process, networking, job descriptions/expectations, challenges facing the newly hired in academia, teaching, teaching strategies, research, service, time allocation, and differences between assistant/adjunct faculty and tenure track positions. The goal of this event will be to prepare individuals entering the world of professional academia with the information they need to be successful.

For many individuals with intellectual disabilities, severe problem behavior represents the most significant barrier to community integration. The extant literature has identified many procedures to assess and treat such problem behavior, and a number of reviews have certain behavioral interventions as evidence-based practices (EBPs). In the present study, we sought to determine the extent to which EBPs are employed among a sample of residential placements. The functional behavior assessments (FBAs) and behavior intervention plans (BIPs) were sampled for 20 adults with intellectual disabilities and problem behavior (e.g. self-injury, aggression) from six residential settings across three states. All FBAs and BIPs were reviewed to determine: (a) the procedures employed during the FBA process, (b) the extent to which treatment recommendations were based on the results of the FBA, (c) the type of data collection conducted for ongoing program evaluation, and (d) the types of treatment recommendations that were made. Regarding the latter category, we then examined the extent to which the treatment recommendations included those procedures that have been identified as EBPs. Results will be discussed in terms of the links between research and practice for developing BIPs in residential placements, as well as suggestions for future research.

The initiation of the Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) credential by the BACB has provided an important framework for the training of front line staff that provide behavior analytic services. The framework lists the competencies that must be mastered before one can become an RBT. The development of a competency-based curriculum (e.g., task analysis) and implementing training methods consistent with behavior analytic principles (e.g., Behavioral Skills Training) are skills that should be a skillset that most behavior analysts possess. What can vary between programs is the means by which the curriculum is delivered (e.g., in-vivo or online), how skills are taught (e.g., didactic or role-play) and the way skills should be performed (i.e., necessary components for a demonstrated skills). This presentation will review the experiences of early implementation of an RBT curriculum including a review of data from initial cohorts. Considerations of providing RBT training in predominantly non-behavioral settings or where ABA is a smaller part of a larger system (e.g., public school and University lab school), evaluation of competency and efforts to include other certified professionals within those settings will be reviewed.

Some have suggested that the definition of verbal behavior offered by B. F. Skinner (1957) fails to capture the essence of language insofar as it is too broad and not functional. In this tutorial, Dr. Matthew Normand will explain how the ambiguities of Skinner's definition are not an indictment of it, and show that suggestions to the contrary are problematic because they suffer a critical error of scientific reasoning. Specifically, he will explain that (a) no clear definition of verbal behavior is possible because there is no natural distinction between verbal and nonverbal behavior; (b) attempts at an immutable definition are essentialistic; and (c) Skinner's functional taxonomy of language is in no way affected by the particulars of any definition of verbal behavior. Moreover, Dr. Normand will explain how categorical definitions, and the vagaries that sometimes arise from them, are not unique to Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior.

BCBAs, BCaBAs

1. State the two primary arguments used to question the validity of Skinner’s definition of verbal behavior.
2. State the two ways that the term “function” is used by behavior analysts and describe how Skinner’s taxonomy of verbal operants addresses both uses.
3. Describe the shortcomings of the argument that Skinner’s definition of verbal behavior is not functional. Use the concept of essentialism in your answer.

Little research exists validating effective strategies for teaching responses to bullying. When victims respond with aggression, they are at risk of punitive sanctions. Thus, we propose a non-violent strategy consisting of a progressive chain of conditional responses. For example, when bullied, the victim asks the bully to change her behavior. If ineffective, the victim recruits help from an adult. Finally, if bullying persists, the victim leaves the situation. However, bringing this specific sequence of behavior under control of relevant establishing operations (and prior to aggression) may be challenging as previous research suggests that response- class hierarchies can be influenced by a variety of factors (e.g., history, effort, discriminative stimuli, etc.). Notwithstanding, recent translational research has shown that it is possible to establish hierarchies through serial instructional sequencing. Specifically, it is possible to program a sequence of behavior when response-class members contact extinction by teaching and reinforcing component responses in the reverse order in which they should resurge (i.e., reversion). However, this effect has not consistently been replicated when applied to the treatment of problem behavior. Thus, we implemented a modification of serial Functional Communication Training to address a childs aggression evoked by bullying. Results, limitations, and potential implications are discussed.

One barrier to children receiving empirically supported treatments is the lack of community based practitioners trained to acceptable levels of fidelity. Effective interventions often have to be administered by knowledgeable clinicians with a specific educational background and clinical experiences. Training parents, teachers, and other caregivers is one solution to overcome the barriers associated with accessing quality interventions from specialists. This symposium includes four papers on methods for training others and includes some common barriers (e.g., caregiver stress, problem behavior) and interventions characteristic to working with a specialized population (e.g., self-care, braille reading). Specifically, Subramaniam and colleagues examined the extent to which challenging behavior impacted parents adherence to a distance learning package. Connolly, Baker, Robinson, and Delfs evaluated the relationship between caregiver stress, maladaptive behavior, and acquisition of material in the context of a live behavioral parent training model. Rubow and Vollmer employed a parent mediated, behavioral skills training package to increase self-care skills. Putnam and Tiger assessed the utility of a computer program to train braille-to-print relations and the effect on visual-braille reading, a foundational skill for educators working with children with visual impairments.

Rural parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may lack access to behavior-analytic services. One cost-effective method by which therapists can address this barrier is to provide parents with remote supervision. We provided 51 rural parents of children with ASD with either written or video training materials about how to implement discrete-trial training (DTT). We instructed parents to record DTT sessions and mail the memory cards to trainers using pre-stamped and addressed envelopes. Trainers provided parents with written or video-based remote supervision following a baseline assessment of treatment integrity. Of the parents who received training materials, only 28 mailed at least one DTT session. We characterized patterns of adherence using slopes obtained through least-squares linear regression and examined the extent to which challenging behavior (e.g., loud vocals, property destruction, aggression) in the first recorded session predicted patterns of adherence. We found that first-session challenging behavior predicted a decline in treatment adherence. Therapists using distance-learning training procedures might consider taking an active coaching role in assisting parents with challenging behavior prior to training academic programs.

Sidman"s (1971) pioneering work on stimulus equivalence and emerging relations ignited the field of behavior analysis. Since his original work, three alternative views regarding the explanation of the emergence of untrained relations have appeared in the behavioral literature: relational frame theory (Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roach, 2001), naming (Horne & Lowe, 1996), and joint control (Lowenkron, 1984). However, despite compiling over 40 years of data on replications, extensions, variations, and applications of these four conceptually distinct views, consensus on the analysis and identification of the relevant sources of control responsible for the emergence of new behavioral relations remains elusive. Dougher, Twohig, & Madden (2014) open their Editorial introducing the special issue of JEAB dedicated to stimulus-stimulus relations with, "One of the great challenges for a behavioral science is to provide an account of emergent stimulus-stimulus relations not explained by primary stimulus generalization" (2014, p. 1). The current paper will suggest that Skinner's (1957) analysis of private events and multiple control, along with other Skinnerian concepts, provides the sought after account of emerging relations. Several procedures for quantifying private events and demonstrating their potential role as additional independent variables (multiple control) in matching-to-sample preparations will be presented.

The training of police and military working dogs is rooted in 19th Century Europe. Dog breeds that originated as pastoral herding animals in the Old World, and in an old century, have become instruments of civil policing and military power in a global 21st Century community stitched together by satellites, airliners, and computers. The methods by which working dogs were trained 100 years ago reflected traditional coercive notions of education and behavioral management. It was taken as a given that a dog should be physically forced to perform, and that much of its performance could and should be motivated by discomfort- and stress-avoidance. In this form, working dog training developed for perhaps 75 years, influenced chiefly by European ethology, and relatively isolated from American psychology and behaviorism. In the late 20th Century, powerful methodologies founded in the obscure field of exotic animal training began to penetrate, first into dog obedience training and companion dog behavioral management, then into the methods used by participants in international working dog competitions such as IPO (International Prufungsordnung). However, until recently police and military working dog training has not reflected this influence. It is only in the past 15 years that "operant methodologies" have been integrated into the field, with consequences that are still unfolding today.

Those interested in learning about dog training for military working dogs and how this training has been impacted by broader changes taking place in applied animal behavior.

Impulsivity is a common concern in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). While not a defining characteristic of ASDs, the presence of impulsivity can be pervasive and can dramatically affect the intervention process. Delay discounting refers to the decrease in the present value of reinforcers as a function of the delay of their receipt. In other words, the value of reinforcers often decreases as the length of time one has to wait for them increases. Researchers have outlined some procedures for evaluating delay discounting in human populations. However, much of this research is limited to hypothetical choices with typically developing populations. The purpose of the current investigation was the employ delay discounting procedures with individuals with ASDs. In the investigation, participants were given choices between an impulsive choice (a sooner smaller amount of reinforcement) and a self-controlled choice (accepting a delayed, larger amount of reinforcement). Indifference points (the point at which an individual switches from the smaller-sooner to larger-later reinforcement) were plotted. A waiting protocol involving a rule card was implemented in an effort to affect impulsiveness. The preliminary results suggest that using delay discounting procedures may inform treatment development for this clinical population.

This symposium covers procedures to increase skill acquisition in children diagnosed with Autism. Niemeier, Fisher, and Paden compared an errorless teaching procedure to an error correction teaching procedure using a receptive identification task. Results indicated that the errorless procedure was more efficient for two participants and error correction was more efficient for one. The errorless procedure was more effective for two participants, while the error correction procedure was more effective for one. Neither procedure was effective nor efficient for a final participant. Gunby and Rapp examined the effects of behavioral skills training with in-situ feedback on safe responding by children with autism to abduction lures that were presented following a high-probability (high-p) request sequence. This sequence was intended to simulate a grooming or recruitment process. Results show that all three participants ultimately acquired the safety response to abduction lures presented following a high-p sequence and maintained the safety response at 1-month follow up. Dr. Sarah Lechago, a leading researcher in the study of verbal behavior and editor of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior will serve as the discussant.

The effectiveness of intensive behavioral intervention on skill acquisition and reduction of aberrant behavior with learners with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities is readily demonstrated within the behavior analytic community. This type of education is rarely observed within public school systems, particularly in California. The current paper presents various outcome data for students enrolled in applied behavior analysis (ABA) classrooms within a public elementary school across up to 3-years. The classrooms involved are a result of collaboration between a public school district and an ABA organization. In particular, outcomes related to IEP goals achieved, rates of skill acquisition, maintenance and generalization of acquired skills, and undesirable behavior will be presented for multiple children on the autism spectrum and children with other developmental disabilities, including downs syndrome and cerebral palsy, enrolled in two different behavior analytic classrooms. The implications of these data as well as future directions related to student progress and methods for measuring and evaluating outcomes will be discussed.

This panel discussion will memorialize the contributions to behavior analysis of Donald Keith Pumroy and will provide a timeline of the evolution of the field from the 1950s to the 2000s. Pumroy was a pioneer in making the transition from research-based behavioral analysis to the application of behavioral principles in applied settings. He was the first psychologist to apply behavioral principles to a child and publish those results. Others followed his lead, and by the 1960's, behavior analysis had moved from the laboratory to wider field settings, including classrooms and mental health settings. It made its way into industry, public policy and legislation. Other contributions for which Pumroy is credited are toilet training, a time line analysis describing how behavior is learned, and school gun violence and analysis of shooter behavior regarding the application of behavior analysis to problems within the broad culture. Pumroy founded the College Park Behavior Group whose mission is to clarify and disseminate behavioral principles. Pumroy served both as the president of the Maryland Psychological Association and the president of the Maryland Association of School Psychologists, the only person to date to hold both positions. Pumroy also served as Chairman, Maryland Board of Examiners of Psychologists.

Behavior analysis, like any discipline, has its own set of technical terminology. Behavior analysts benefit from being part of a strong verbal community that supports efficient communication using technical terms. However, to outsiders, it can seem as though behavior analysts are speaking a different language- "Behaviorese." This PDS event will address how professional behavior analysts translate technical terminology in order to effectively collaborate with others and disseminate findings to non-behavior analytic audiences. The panel will feature leaders in dissemination and will include discussion of issues relevant to practitioners and researchers. Points of discussion will include such issues as, "How do you speak to a broad audience while maintaining the integrity of your research?" "Do you use any technical terms when talking to outside audiences?" "What are some techniques that young behavior analysts can use to develop their skills in talking to those outside the field?" Such discussion will be useful for behavior analysts with any level of experience to develop their communication skills with individuals outside the behavior-analytic community.

In the behavioral health field, medication and clinical changes are often made independently of each other. To determine the best combination of services, collaborative efforts between psychiatry and applied behavior analysis should be utilized. Articles systematically evaluating the effects of medications in comparison or conjunction with research methods of Applied Behavior Analysis are conspicuously absent from the current research (Weeden, Erhardt, & Poling, 2009). Within an interdisciplinary model, clinical decisions about treatment packages are determined based on the individuals current clinical and medical profiles. Systematically evaluating behavioral level changes prior, during, and following medication changes have allowed clinical teams to determine what the best combination of services for an individual is. Assessments such as functional analyses and treatment analyses can serve as systematic tools to evaluate behavioral changes across medication changes and emotional states. Systematic, experimental evaluations of psychiatric and behavior analytic interventions can help clinicians can gain a larger, more comprehensive view of the individuals current needs.

Self-injurious Behavior (SIB) is one of the most serious problems experienced by individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities. In most cases, functional analysis indicates that SIB is reinforced by caregiver reactions (e.g., attention). In roughly 25% of cases, however, SIB levels are unaffected by social consequences. In such cases, the term "automatic" reinforcement is used because the behavior is assumed to produce its own reinforcement. In contrast to the numerous categories of social functions, automatic SIB remains a single but poorly understood category--one in great need of further explication. Although the body of research on the biological bases of SIB and pharmacological treatment of SIB has produced some meaningful findings, it informs us little about automatic SIB in particular because the majority of studies neither report on the function of SIB or have any exclusion criteria listed that would allow us to hypothesize about the function. The current discussion will summarize our initial efforts to classify automatic SIB into subtypes according to patterns of responding during the functional analysis and the presence of self-restraint--based on the premise that these observable features reflect distinct functional properties of SIB unique to each subtype.

This presentation will describe a multi-agency, data-based approach to assessing child and family needs to improve the specificity of service recommendations, family service linkages and child and family progress. Authentic case illustrations will demonstrate comparable children in different family environments benefit from different service arrays resulting in better outcomes. It will illustrate multi- and single-site transdisciplinary evaluation and assessment approaches which are (1) consistent with established developmental theory and practice regarding understanding the child in the context of the family, and (2) how this is essential to the essence and spirit of IDEA related to children under five and their families. The model incorporates the family at every stage of the evaluation, uses a validated triage process for diagnostic accuracy and resource efficiency, and includes contemporary quantitative tools and cost-effective technology to streamline data use for individual cases as well as systems planning. Staff training and organization will be highlighted and vignettes of evaluations will be provided. Recommendations will be made regarding how to structure community systems triage, evaluation, service and data linkages, not only for improving the lives of children and families but how such systems can contribute to the establishment of enhanced service and program monitoring and evaluation. In addition, final commentary emphasizes how such systems could become integral to cross-site applied research endeavors focused upon intervention efficacy as well as how they could be significant contributors to data based planning for children and families across ages and organizational entities.

Motivating Operations (MOs) are frequently manipulated (by altering access to commodities and manipulating other variables such as body weight) in order to change responding. This study had two aims, firstly to investigate the effect of altering body weight on concurrent schedule performance of hens, secondly to investigate the effect of altering body weight on the time duration of each component of hens' pecks under these schedules when analysed from high speed videos filmed at 240 fps. Six hens (at 85% 5%) were shaped (three via the method of successive approximations and three via autoshaping) to respond for food reinforcers on an infra-red screen. Hens then responded under a range of concurrent VI VI schedules, with body weight held at 85% 5%, 95 5% and 100 5% over conditions. It was found that applying the Generalised Matching Law to the data did not result in any consistent differences in responding with the three body weights. However, response rates, inter-response times and video analysis of the individual components of the hens pecking responses did show consistent differences between responding at the three weights.

Because human behavior typically consists of more than two choices it is essential to expand choice procedures and models to three or more alternatives. Unfortunately, the typical procedures necessarily produce a bias. The present experiment used a novel choice procedure, essentially a Findley procedure with two switching keys to prevent apparatus induced biases. The stay/switch model is a novel approach to understanding choice. In standard two choice procedures, it is unclear whether subjects are switching from an alternative or switch to an alternative, as these choices are confounded. Three alternatives unconfounds these choices. Some conditions were standard concurrent arrangements with symmetrical arrangements of stay and switch schedules. Other conditions used non-symmetrical arrangements. Four pigeons were exposed to seven to nine conditions of three alternative choice until responding was stable for five sessions. Despite the complex contingencies, preference changed in accord with changes in reinforcement schedules in symmetrical conditions. Additional analyses will compare stay/switch models based on switching to an alternative to models based on switching from an alternative. Models will be compared using Jensen's (2014) compositional analysis.

While each entrepreneur's experience differs from the next, there are some broad strokes that can be used to paint a successful venture. Just as withclinical endeavors, data are king. This tutorial will provide the audience with an example of how behavior analytic principles (OBM) were used to found and grow Lodestone Academy, a private school in Florida that serves consumers who exhibit severe behavioral issues. In addition to an examination of organizational data, a discussion of the trials and tribulations of Lodestone will provide "life lessons" to audience members with suggestions to facilitate a smooth entrepreneurial journey. In addition to the example of Lodestone Academy, Dr. Pritchard will describe some other entrepreneurial ventures and the lessons learned from each. This tutorial will conclude with a few recommended directions that a new entrepreneur could explore which would allow for both personal success and a broadened impact of behavior analysis on society.

From the tinkerings of Skinner to modern applications and robots, technology has always been an exciting and expanding area of interest in the field of behavior analysis. Currently the uses of technology in behavior analysis are a dynamic and growing platform, which are especially useful in training, research, and applied work. While technology has endless advantages, perhaps the most useful aspect of technology in behavioral analysis is the ability to make behavioral interventions accessible to a much larger and diverse audience. In this Professional Development Series event, a variety of speakers will discuss how they incorporate technology into their research, training, and applied work. Each presenter will discuss different types of technology and new ways to train, research, and disseminate behavior analysis using technology. Speakers will also address challenges faced when using new technology, as well as ways in which we can improve the use of technology in behavior analysis.

Evidence-Based Practice is a movement in many fields of human services. Although influential in areas such as medicine and clinical psychology, its impact in applied behavior analysis has been relatively limited. This symposium examines the current status of evidence-based practice in applied behavior analysis through three papers. In the first, Fuqua and Sanburg report the results of a survey of practitioner understanding and training need relating to evidence based practice. In the second paper, Smith and Iadarola report the results of applying criteria for evidence-based practice to ABA and non-aba therapies for autism. They highlight some of the issues that arise as AAB interacts with methodologies in which randomized controlled trials predominate. Finally, Sturmey, Madharova and Maffei-Almadovar report the results of two systematic reviews and meta-analyses of caregiver training procedures. The implications of these studies for are discussed related to the use of randomized controlled trials, small N experimental designs, treatment integrity and the meaning of effect size metrics.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) in behavior analysis involves a multi-component process that includes: a) identification of evidence-based behavioral interventions (EBBIs); b) selecting or modifying EBBIs based on the unique features of the client, context or therapist skills; c) implementing the EBBIs, often as modified to match unique client or context features, with high fidelity; d) continuous evaluation of clinical progress and e) modifying EBBIs based on continuous evaluation of treatment success and failure. Although the evidence-based practice model is compatible with behavior analysis training and BACB ethical guidelines, little is know about the degree to which behavior analysis practitioners implement all steps of the EBP process. We report the results of a survey of three groups of behavior analysis practitioners, Board Certified Behavior Analysts, Board Certified Associate Behavior Analysts and Registered Behavioral Technicians, regarding their understanding and implementation of the essential components of EBP in Behavior Analysis. We also report on the training and resource needs for survey respondents who aspire to adopt the EBP model in their behavior analysis practice.

Using criteria established by a journal of the American Psychological Association (Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology), we (Smith & Iadarola, submitted) reviewed the literature on early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We designated one applied behavior analytic (ABA) intervention as well-established (early intensive behavioral intervention such as the UCLA/Lovaas Model), one as probably efficacious (augmentative and alternative communication such as the Picture Exchange Communication System), and two as possibly efficacious (ABA classrooms such as Learning Experiences . . . An Alternative Program and incidental teaching models such as Pivotal Response Treatment). We also found empirical support for several interventions that originated outside of ABA. However, two of the journal’s requirements for classifying an intervention as “well established” or “probably efficacious” are controversial in ABA research: (1) studies with group designs and (2) standardized manuals for the intervention. Alternative review systems that allow single-subject research to support a “well established” classification may depict the evidence base for some ABA interventions as stronger than it appears in our review, but requirements for group studies and manuals have some merit: Group studies test interventions on a large scale, and manuals enable replication by independent researchers and providers.

The path to mastery of the field of behavior analysis is a long and treacherous journey. On the road there are many milestones such as graduating with a master's degree, passing the BACB exam, learning specialty skills, graduating with a doctorate degree, and countless others. The current panel aims to open a discussion around the options currently available to a behavior analyst following their graduation that will ensure they are ready for the long road ahead. The panel participants will share valuable tips and tricks that will allow behavior analysts, at any milestone, to remain involved in "academia-like" behavior and to plan for their professional journey. Participants will be encouraged to create individual goals related to their impending careers, build strong support networks, stay current in the literature; we will provide an alternative outline on how to become (and remain) true masters of their science.

Recent behavioral arguments denouncing the futility of the privacy debate have reasonably generated heated controversy vis--vis the "reality" of everyday experience. A more formal and sophisticated incarnation of this later argument has been presented many times in the history of thought suggesting that radical, naturalistic approaches to privacy cannot deal with phenomena such as hallucinations, dreams, phantom sensations and similar others. A good theory of (the futility of) privacy has to account for these seemingly anomalous phenomena. This paper will explore answers to these subtle and overt criticisms and challenges by drawing from different theoretical sources that include the works of authors like Dewey, Mead, Holt, Vygotsky, and J. J. Gibson, as well as those of recent authors in the tradition of embodied cognitive science and social psychologists like Bem, as complementary with the behavioral arguments of V. L. Lee, W. Baum, and H. Rachlin.

In the Sub Search Game, the player uses a mouse to move a submarine icon on a computer screen in order to retrieve underwater objects. The screen is divided vertically in half, with each half containing its own submarine, objects, and barriers. The player can switch between the half-screens at any point. Occasionally, according to concurrent VI VI schedules, retrieval results in the delivery of points via an on-screen counter. Retrieval may also produce loss of points but only on the left half of the screen. The sessions consisted of six 6-min components in which the reinforcer ratio varied as did the screen color. Punishers were delivered in half of the components on the left side of the screen. Half of the 20 players were female college students; the other half male. Figure 1 summarizes the results from one component of the game consisting of a 1:1 ratio of reinforcers. Punishers were delivered on the left side of the screen with the same frequency as reinforcers. Though males responded approximately 40 percent faster than females overall, the relative decrease in responding on the left screen (where punishers were presented as frequently as reinforcers were) was approximately the same.

The Sub Search computer game is a new behavior-analytic method for the measurement of gain/loss asymmetry in judgment and decision making. Alternative, cognitively-oriented methods are well-established. To date no study has compared the two types of method. This study examined the sunk cost fallacy, that is, the tendency to persevere in investing in a risky option when all prior investments have failed, in terms of loss aversion, that is, the tendency to prefer uncertain losses to sure losses. It did so by employing the scenario-based methods of the cognitive approach as well as the Sub Search game. Participants were 30 college students who completed two surveys, one measuring sunk cost in three dimensions (time, effort, and money) and the other loss aversion. In addition, participants played the Sub Search game. The data were analyzed to determine the predictive relations between the results from the two cognitively-oriented methods, , ACT score, age (see Table 1), and the relation between those results jointly and the results from the behavior-analytic method. Relations were most robust for money.

Students who are at-risk for reading require extra support with instruction and learning and have a greater chance of academic failure in the future. Thus, students who struggle with reading and the comprehension of text have limited background knowledge, lack the skills to connect with the text, and do not know how to read with a purpose. This study addressed these deficits through the use of a self-questioning strategy to increase comprehension performance. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of student-generated self-questions on expository reading comprehension of fourth grade at-risk learners. The generalization of comprehension skills was also assessed.

Sufficient response-exemplar training has been used successfully to typically developing children to articulate several Norwegian words with difficult blends (Eikeseth S. & Nesset 2003). The present study extends and adapts these procedures for children with autism. One girl and 3 boys aged between 7 and 16 years in the autism spectrum participated in the study. Two of the children had a co-occurring diagnoses of apraxia. This study examined if sufficient-response-exemplar-training would improve articulation in children with autism. In addition to SRET, stimulus salience, shaping, chaining and supplementary prompts were also added to the intervention. A multiple baseline across behaviors (word sets targeted) design was used. Results showed improvement in articulating words and sounds in all three participants. Two word sets improved after training for one participant while for two participants training in one set had generalisation effects on other word sets and sounds. Intervention in the fourth participant has just begun. For 37% of probe sessions mean IOA was 91% for participant 1 and 100% for participants 2 and 3 for agreement on correct responses. IOA on treatment integrity was 85 - 100%.

Research has demonstrated that manual guidance is effective at teaching long response chains and can be faded systematically using graduated guidance. In contrast, clinical findings suggest that verbal prompts might be more difficult to fade than physical prompts, because learners might come to be dependent upon verbal instructions. However, empirical evaluations are scarce comparing the use of manual guidance and verbal prompts for the acquisition and then maintenance of long response chains. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if manual guidance, faded systematically using a time delay procedure, would result in faster acquisition and then maintenance compared to verbal prompts faded in the same way. A multi-element design is being used to compare the use of verbal prompts to teach operating a washing machine with the use of manual guidance to teach operating a dryer. A pretest assessment revealed low levels of accuracy with completing steps in each of the response chains. During intervention, verbal prompts and manual guidance were used and then faded using a progressive time delay procedure. We plan to continue this analysis by continuing to fade these prompts and replicating this study with new target responses.

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often exhibit difficulties in interactive conversation. Previous researches suggest that they have difficulties to keep paying attention to the listener. This study examined the effect of video-feedback with iPad on non-verbal behavior in the social conversation setting. A boy (CA: 7;10, FSIQ: 80) with ASD participated in this study. As the procedure, the participant and a male experimenter talked together during the session (3 minutes). This study targeted two posture behavior during the conversation (looking toward the experimenter and retaining posture). This experiment consisted of four phases; baseline, video-feedback, probe-tests, and generalization-test. In the baseline, the experimenter gave no feedback to the child. In the video-feedback, the participant was given feedback with iPad at the end of session. The participant was required to watch the video of previous session via iPad. In the probe-tests, the procedure was the same as in baseline. Probe-tests were conducted 1week and 1month after the video-feedback phase. In generalization, the participant talked with a female experimenter. As result, the frequency of looking toward the experimenter and retaining posture increased in 1month probe-test and generalized across people. In this study, we suggest video-feedback is efficient to improve non-verbal behavior at the social conversation settings.

Although long-term use of psychotropics has been used to treat individuals with bipolar disorder and intellectual disabilities (ID), little research has been conducted to assess the interaction of psychotropics and environmental variables on challenging behavior in those with bipolar disorder and ID. In the present study, three participants: Ralph (SIB), 28 year old male, diagnosed with bipolar I disorder, severe ID, and autism spectrum disorder; Ben (SIB), 49 year old male, diagnosed with bipolar not otherwise specified (NOS), profound ID, and dysphasia; Kate (Refusal), 53 year old female, diagnosed with bipolar II disorder and moderate ID participated in experimental functional analysis (FA) to determine the function of each participant's challenging behavior. The Questions About Behavior form was administered at the time of each FA and one-hour direct observations were videotaped weekly. Two weeks after each medication change, another FA was conducted. All data were coded and analyzed using The Observer XT. Changes were observed for all participants although the changes observed were not uniform across participants (e.g., differences in either conditions in which behavior occurred versus frequency of behavior), which suggests function-based data collection would be helpful in the prescribing practices of psychotropics in individuals with bipolar and ID.

Problem behaviors of children with DD are often measured and assessed by direct observation of interaction between children and their parents. One of the most widely used direct observation coding systems is the Revised Family Observation Schedule (FOS-R III) (Sanders et al., 1996) using the 10 second interval coding. It is a very comprehensive measure, yet not cost-efficient because it is time-consuming to record behaviors and difficult to train observers. Therefore, cost-efficient direct observation system for children with DD is needed. The purpose of this study was to develop a direct observation checklist using the Likert scale that measures problem behaviors that are typically shown in DD population. Steps to develop the checklist were followed. First, a focus group interview was conducted with experts in assessing and treating severe problem behaviors and possible items were generated upon discussion based on FOS-R III. Second, reliability and validity of the checklist were examined using the data set of 52 pairs of children with DD (M=36, F=16) and their parents; child-parent interactions were videotaped for 20 minutes in 2 conditions: play (10 minutes) and instruction (10 minutes). Results showed acceptable level of internal consistency and high inter-rater reliability of the checklist. Concurrent validity of the checklist was observed via high correlations with the FOS-R III and the BPI-01. Few items that showed low inter-rater reliability or concurrent validity with FOS-R III were removed from the checklist. Discriminant validity was examined for 16 pairs of typically developing children (M=7, F=9) and their parents and their age matched children with DD (M=12, F=4) and their parents. Significant differences were found in most of childrens behaviors, especially in positive behaviors. However, parents showed differences only in affection, mood and tone of voice. Results showed good psychometrics properties of direct observation checklist. Since the checklist is developed in consideration of typically shown problem behaviors in DD population and cost-efficient, it may be useful in clinical settings that assess and treat problem behaviors in children with DD.

The current study investigated the effects of the Intensive Tact Instruction (ITI) on the emission of accurate vocal verbal operants for three elementary school students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Participants were selected from a self-contained district based classroom in the U.S. Participants included one seven-year-old female and two seven-year-old males. A non-concurrent time-lagged multiple baseline across participants design was used to identify a potential functional relation between the independent and dependent variables. The dependent variables for the study were the number of mands, tacts, and palilalias emitted during baseline sessions in the hallway, lunchtime, and free play areas. The independent variable was a mastery completion of ITI in which 100 daily tact learn units were additionally presented to the participant above his/her mean number of learn units delivered daily. Results showed that the number of tacts considerably increased and the number of palilalias decreased as the procedure of ITI progressed.

The main purpose of this study was to test the effects of the auditory matching procedure on the improvement of echoic responses and emergence of listener literacy for three kindergarten students diagnosed with developmental disabilities. The students were chosen from a self-contained, kindergarten special education classroom of a private, publicly-funded elementary school. A time-lagged multiple probe across participants design was employed to identify a possible functional relation between the dependent and independent variables. The dependent variables in the study were the numbers of full echoic responses and correct responses to the listener literacy probe trials emitted by the participants during probe sessions. The independent variable was the implementation of the basic auditory matching procedure using iPad in which the participants were required to match a target sound or word by pressing a button that emitted the correct response. Probe sessions were conducted prior to the onset of the study, as well as following the completion of the intervention. Results of the study indicate that the number of full echoic responses and correct listener literacy responses increased for all participants.

Children with language deficiencies are often able to speak and echo simple phrases, but lack clarity as the complexity increases. We replicated a previous study by Tarbox et al. (2009) in which a chaining procedure was used to teach more complex echoic phrases. A multiple-probe design was used. During intervention, the participant was able to earn one token for each correctly pronounced syllable, on a 10 token board. Probes of both previously mastered words and untaught words were done each session. Results suggest that a chaining procedure is a highly effective method for teaching clear, complex echoics. Our participant was able to master 20 echoics of multiple complexity ranging from 2 syllabus words to compound words.

The current study involves an experimental model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using a group design with 16 verbally skilled participants without clinical diagnosis. Experiments 1 and 2 show a model of obsessive-compulsive disorder based on some functional relations established between instructions, a task of separating seeds and the non-verbal checking responses. They tested if instructions with specification of aversive or appetitive consequences could increase the percentage of checking responses compared to instructions without these specification consequences. In Experiment 1, five of the eight participants had an increase in their checking responses when they received an instruction with specification of an aversive consequence. In Experiment 2, seven of the eight participants showed an increase when they received an instruction with specification of an appetitive consequence. The conclusion was made that the instructions with specifications given to the participant altered the discriminative and/or motivating function of the stimuli involved in an experimental task.

Communication deficits and patterns of repetitive behavior are two defining characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Perseverative speech is a combination of these two deficits. These vocal behaviors may be socially stigmatizing and can interfere with the acquisition of important skills. The current investigation assessed repetitive vocalizations for a 16 year old adolescent male diagnosed with ASD. In the initial stages of assessment, ABC data collected by classroom staff suggested an attention function for the behavior. However, a traditional functional analysis (FA) yielded equivocal results. Subsequently, an adapted FA that compared a traditional attention condition, a noncontingent attention (control) condition and a condition that utilized the repeated arrival of novel therapists was conducted. High rates of repetitive vocalization were observed in the novel attention condition relative to those observed during both the traditional FA attention condition and the noncontingent attention condition. Implications for the effective treatment of repetitive vocalization will be discussed.

It is widely known that Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) can produce large gains in social, cognitive, and language development. Changes in performance are typically measured using norm-referenced standardized assessment tools which produce a score of overall functioning level. During the past 15 years, Dr. Rebecca P. F. MacDonald and colleagues have developed an assessment tool for the direct measurement of autism specific symptomatology. The Early Skills Assessment Tool (ESAT) includes measures of imitation, language, joint attention, play, and stereotypic behavior (MacDonald et al., 2014). In their most recent work, 83 children with autism (CWA), ages 1, 2, and 3 years old and 58 same-aged typically developing children were assessed using the ESAT. CWA were assessed at entry into an EIBI program and again after one year of treatment. While significant gains were seen in all children across all age groups, the greatest gains were seen in the children who entered treatment before their second birthday. Long-term follow up data suggest long lasting gains in these children. These findings underscore the importance autism screening at 12 to 18 months, the critical role of pediatricians in early identification of ASD and the need for high quality EIBI for all identified children.

Visual Phonics is a tool that uses a combination of visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and auditory feedback to facilitate the development of phonemic awareness, reading, spelling, and speech production skills. The system consists of 45 hand movements and written symbols, which represent each phoneme and relate to how a sound is produced. Visual Phonics helps deaf, hard of hearing, hearing, and special needs individuals "see" or conceptualize the English sound system and relate it to print. This presentation summarizes the results from three studies collected in three states with various age groups of children. It demonstrates that given instruction from various phonics-based reading curricula supplemented by Visual Phonics, pre-school, kindergarten, and first-grade students who were d/Deaf or hard of hearing could demonstrate improvements in beginning reading skills and the acquired skills could be sustained after intervention. Furthermore, the acquisition of beginning reading skills did not appear to be related to degree of hearing loss. Implications for the use of Visual Phonics for other populations of students in reading, spelling, and speech production are provided.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.

Social behavior is a topic of enormous scientific importance that spans disciplines from neuroscience to anthropology. While the topic has received a good deal of empirical and theoretical attention outside behavior analysis, it has largely been neglected within the field. This is unfortunate, as behavior analysis has much to contribute to this field, both methodologically and conceptually. In this talk, Dr. Timothy Hackenberg will describe some recent work in the comparative analysis of social behavior and how behavior-analytic methods and concepts can be usefully brought to bear on such work. He will focus on three areas of research and interpretation, using some recent research from his laboratory with rats for illustration. The first is concerned with cooperative behavior, in which rats coordinate their responses in relation to a mutual reinforcement contingency. The second is concerned with reciprocal behavior, in which two rats produce reinforcement for each other, alternating roles of producer and receiver. The third is concerned with the reinforcing value of social interaction, assessed in relation to food reinforcement and under various deprivation conditions. Together, these studies illustrate some ways in which behavior-analytic methods and concepts can contribute to the interdisciplinary science of social behavior.

Basic and applied scientists.

Three-term contingencies are relations among stimuli, responses, and consequences as they interact in the context of motivational operations. The stimulus is therefore an integral part of behavior analysis. Experimental psychology courses once routinely included learning and behavior along with sensory psychology and psychophysics as substantive components, but they gradually evolved into methodology courses devoid of specific content. Behavior analysis and sensory psychology then diverged despite their commonalities, not least of which were single-subject research designs. Sensory psychology remains crucially relevant to many things we do. This tutorial explores how it has made and can continue to make significant contributions to both basic research and applications. The examples to be considered include, among others, problem behavior that is sometimes a byproduct of the sensory deficits that often accompany developmental disabilities, the auditory phenomenon of recruitment as it can occur in geriatric populations, and signal-detection analyses of the costs and benefits of false alarms and misses in discrimination tasks such as breast self-examination. Behavior is a biological system, so it should be no surprise that it shares properties with sensory processes, as when contrast effects in behavior are paralleled by similar effects in vision, hearing, and other senses.

BCBAs, BCaBAs

1. Engaged participants should be able to briefly describe the basic signal-detection payoff matrix and say why it is relevant to behavior analysis.
2. Engaged participants should be able to describe the basics of sensory psychology, including the role of inhibitory processes in edge detection, color-blindness and other visual deficits, and recruitment effects in hearing, and say why such phenomena are relevant to behavior analysts.
3. Engaged participants should be able to describe the individual-organism methodologies of both sensory psychophysics and behavior analysis, and to identify the common features of these two areas that make them potential partners in a biologically based science of behavior.

The experimental analysis of behavior has made several contributions to the understanding of human and non-human behavior (Waltz & Follette, 2009). However, many of these methods of examining behavior rely heavily on quantitative analyses. Because of the nature of mathematical models, including, but not limited to, (a) their complexity, (b) the need for specific behavioral measures, (c) the use of statistical methods, and (d) experience in interpreting results, quantitative analyses have not been widely adopted by applied researchers and practitioners (Critchfield & Reed, 2009). In addition, although this trend is changing, graduate training standards in behavior analysis have historically not emphasized extensive training in quantitative analyses. This seems unfortunate given the benefits quantitative analyses provide to not only understand, but also to improve the human condition. Thus, this Professional Development Series will highlight some of the barriers that prohibit applied researchers and practitioners from conducting quantitative analyses, including why individuals should be using them. In addition, there will be discussions about deciding whether the use of quantitative analyses is appropriate for the research question at hand and how to use quantitative analyses, including tools available for their use.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has a strategic plan that calls for “the development, for research purposes, of new ways of classifying psychopathology based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures.” Collectively, these dimensions form the Research Domain Criteria project (RDoC) and include several dimensions of potential interest to behavior analysts, for example, positive valence systems that incorporating reward learning, responsiveness to reward, and preference-based decision-making. Several funding initiatives based on better characterizing these dimensions have been instituted and future consideration of these dimensions in guiding funding priorities is acknowledged. This symposium describes the various dimensions of the RDoC relevant to behavior analysts, and potential knowledge gaps that behavioral research could address. The symposium also provides several examples from established investigators illustrating how these dimensions may be applied to behavioral research focused directly on mental health and on drug abuse, which is associated with co-occurring mental health disorders, as well as these investigators’ perspectives on this dimensional system of behavior classification.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, practitioners, and graduate students.

While DSM5 provides ways to classify psychopathologies, the National Institute of Mental Health has recognized that understanding the antecedents and progression of disorders, as well as stimulating research on new treatments, may require new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures. The implementation of this strategy has been named the Research Domain Criteria Project (RDoC). This talk will describe the background impetus for the RDoC project, the various domains of interest and the constructs included in those domains, and levels of analysis (from circuits to behavior) identified as critical research foci by work groups of scientists. However, domains and constructs of specific interest to behavioral analysis will provide the main focus. A brief overview of the knowledge gaps identified by NIMH and areas of high priority for research will be described, including explicit suggestions from NIMH for how these domains should be used to focus future research efforts by basic and clinician-scientists.

ADHD is a common psychiatric condition that is characterized clinically by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. There has long been recognition that this disorder is associated with disruptions in responsiveness to reward and reinforcement learning. More recently, the neurobiological and neuropharmacological substrates underlying these disruptions have been increasingly elucidated. It is argued that careful behavior analytic inquiry into the nature of behavior-consequence relations among those with ADHD can help advance knowledge about ADHD and its association with other problem behaviors, like substance abuse, and that such an experimental approach lies squarely within the National Institute of Mental Health RDoC framework for conceptualizing psychopathology. Examples of human operant and behavioral pharmacology studies of patients with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD will be reviewed and discussed.

Professionals working in clinical and school settings are faced with children of varying levels of function and ability. The researchers identify trends lacking in professional training followed by the effectiveness of consulting strategies and higher education preparation programs. The researchers will demonstrate a void in professional training by discussing trends in the field. Trends in behavioral needs of children with autism in Early Childhood Education classrooms and teaching language and literacy skills to children from economically challenged backgrounds will be discussed. Symposium 1 will focus on training Speech-Language Pathologists in data collection and progress monitoring. Symposium 2 will focus on training early childhood educators to provide effective intervention in their classrooms.

Rapport has been acknowledged as an important variable in therapeutic contexts. The current evaluation defined and assessed rapport quality between children with autism and behavioral therapists based on behavioral correlates. In addition, we evaluated the effects of an operant discrimination training procedure to enhance rapport levels for therapists with low levels of rapport. More specifically, we evaluated: (a) if the discrimination training procedure would establish therapists' social interactions as a discriminative stimulus and (b) if social interaction would function as a conditioned reinforcer for novel responses. Results suggest that the discrimination training procedure was successful in conditioning social interaction as a reinforcer for all child participants, and as a result, rapport increased.

Interventions based in applied behavior analysis have been shown to be effective in the treatment of pediatric feeding problems. However, well-established interventions are limited to escape extinction and differential positive reinforcement to reduce inappropriate mealtime behavior and increase acceptance, and physical guidance to increase self feeding (Volkert & Piazza, 2012). Thus, additional research is needed to identify efficacious interventions to treat other topographies of feeding problems, such as packing. In addition, further research is necessary to determine effective assessment methods to predict the most necessary, effective, and efficient interventions to treat the wide range of feeding problems. Dieter and colleagues from Kennedy Krieger Institute will present on descriptive and lag-sequential analyses to assess emesis. Kirkwood and colleagues from UNC Wilmington will present results of a comparison of two different experimental analysis methods to identify the function of food/liquid refusal. Wall and colleagues from the Marcus Autism Center will present on a decision matrix to guide selection of interventions to establish liquid intake. Finally, Ibanez and colleagues from the Munroe Meyer Institute will present the results of a comparison of two methods to treat packing.

Descriptive analyses have been used to observe food refusal directly under naturally occurring conditions. Although a history of emesis and health concerns related to emesis (e.g., reflux, food allergies) may be associated with food refusal, emesis has not been the focus of previous descriptive analyses. Emesis is not an ideal response to evaluate using functional analyses due to potential health risks, and may be more suited for evaluation as it naturally occurs. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate emesis, gagging, and coughing, for 10 children, via descriptive analyses by conducting conditional probability analyses to evaluate the most common caregiver responses following these responses. Descriptive data were also used to conduct lag-sequential analyses to examine the relationship between emesis, gagging, and coughing. Conditional probabilities for caregiver responses following emesis, gagging, and coughing were compared to the unconditional probabilities of each event. Results showed that tangible access, attention, and escape occurred frequently followed emesis. Lag-sequential analyses identified gagging or coughing as potential precursors to emesis for 60% of participants. The patterns observed may reveal the uniqueness of emesis as a target response due to its biological nature and these implications are discussed.

Behavioral intervention is the only treatment for severe feeding disorders with well-documented empirical support. To date, the majority of this research focuses on establishing food consumption with comparably fewer examples of methods to increase intake of liquids. Establishing adequate consumption of liquids represents a key aspect of intervention planning, necessary to assure optimal health outcomes (e.g., adequate hydration) and a prerequisite for weaning a child from tube feedings. Past reports describing the use of behavioral intervention to establish liquid intake include non-removal of the cup, spoon-to-cup fading, and stimulus fading of drink bolus. However, few replications of these treatments are available and no guidelines exist to aide clinicians in selecting and evaluating these treatments. The current study describes an assessment and decision-making model for selecting treatment elements to increase liquid intake in pediatric feeding disorders. This model involves the combination of antecedent manipulations with extinction procedures to promote highly specific treatment packages that balance addressing the operant function of liquid refusal with maintaining the least restrictive environment. Results suggest this systematic approach to intervention may serve as a valuable tool for clinicians, with all participants experiencing a significant increase in liquid intake.

Psychological flexibility is a broadly applicable term that provides focus and coherence to a collection of behaviors theorized to underlie psychological health. Although grounded in matters of clinical relevance, the repertoires of interest may be considered in respect to non-clinical topics as well, particularly topics such as stigma and social categorization. However, to date psychological flexibility has mostly been measured via self-report. The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) is a relatively new, computerized, response latency measure developed out of a behavior analytic laboratory. The IRAP measures an interlocking network of derived relational repertoires. It has been demonstrated to be sensitive to a variety of attitudinal biases, including and perhaps especially in regard to stigma and social categorization. This symposium will present a collection of IRAP studies. Three assess social stigma and involve multiple measurement strategies and some novel stimulus configurations. A fourth study attempts to directly assess acceptance/avoidance repertoires. All studies provide some new data and suggest some new directions for the future of IRAP research on psychological flexibility.

Mental health stigma, while common, leads to harmful consequences. Research has been inconsistent in determining the best method of stigma reduction, and even when reduction is observed with a particular method, it is typically short-lived. The current study uses the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure, a measure of bias in relational repertoires, to assess mental health stigma in a more behavioral manner as opposed to traditional, self-report methods. Participants of varying class-levels from a local university were given two vignettes, one depicting a person experiencing symptoms without having an official diagnosis, and another experiencing similar symptoms and having a diagnosis. Implicit stigma toward each individual was measured using the IRAP. We also examine social distance, empathy and psychological flexibility to assess how mental health stigma varies based on an individuals level of each. Data suggest that mental health bias is a function of education as well as an individuals willingness to interact with stigmatized individuals. Participants who were more willing to interact with a hypothetical diagnosed individual showed less of an implicit bias toward stigmatized individuals compared to participants who were less willing to interact with stigmatized individuals. Implications for creating more effective education interventions will be discussed.

Biglan introduced the concept of externalities, or an unintended outcome of an organizations output, to the field of behavior analysis from the field of economics (2009). His revolutionary paper provided a model that behavior analysts working in organizational settings can use when considering the effect an organization has on the macrosystem. An economic concept closely related, the internality, is an imposed cost on an individual that is not taken into account when the individual consumes a good or service. This related concept can easily be applied in the field of Organizational Behavior Management to the organizational practices we study. This presentation will discuss internalities, their application within organizations and how they can be used to determine how organizational practices benefit or detriment the organization. This presentation will also, like Biglans paper, discuss what we can do to promote beneficial organizational internalities and discourage negative organizational internalities.

Behavior analysis has a unique and difficult task in the measuring behavior. The ephemeral nature, range of topographies, and functional complexity of behavior poses a challenge mostly unknown to other natural sciences. Therefore, it is of little surprise that behavior measurement is accomplished using a wide range of measuring instruments, techniques, displays, and dimensions. Behavior analysis was fortunate to have been founded in conjunction with the most sophisticated technology every devised in the pursuit of behavior measurement, the cumulative recorder. However, from a practical standpoint there is important potential for scientists and practitioners in identifying the most effective and simple measurement system, and the ability to analyze data in the absence of numbers and machines. This presentation will cover the basic philosophical roots and techniques of behavior measurement, the machine-less flexibility of measuring with the minds eye, and a guide to selecting quick and easy measurement tools from the standpoint of a seasoned practitioner.

The mind has both historically and rightfully been waved off as a slippery slope that leads to dualistic views of behavior and practically invaluable psychological interpretations, technologies and systems. The old behavior analytic saying goes, "If you aren't taking data, then you aren't doing behavior analysis!" While this may be true under certain circumstances, it conflicts with various behaviorisms such as Skinner's radical behaviorism and functional contextualism. This presentation will begin with a short anecdote from a graduate student working late in the night while listening to behavior analytic podcasts in which Owen White suggested that we only take data when we think we may be wrong. I will suggest that there may be conditions under which the "mind's eye" is appropriate and valuable to a behavior analyst, as well as provide preliminary data on the possible conditions under which mind's eye data is a worthwhile venture for behavior analysts.

In this tutorial, the basic requirements and ideal conditions for successfully training, evaluating, and deploying animals for scent-detection tasks will be outlined. Fundamental chemical and environmental factors that influence scent detection will be described, as will some factors to consider when selecting species and strains for this work. Because operational scent detection often involves detection of a variety of odor combinations, training requirements are similar to those for concept formation, which has important implications for selection of training samples. These and other considerations related to sample presentation will be discussed. Common training methods for both "discrete-trial" and "free-operant" scent-discrimination tasks will be presented and critical components of training highlighted. Evaluation of the scent-detection accuracy of animal detectors is a critical step prior to and during operational deployment. Some key features of precise estimation of performance will be discussed followed by a description of some operational deployment scenarios and features that are more and less conducive to success. Finally, common challenges associated with scent-detection work and some methods of overcoming the challenges will be presented for discussion.

BCBAs, BCaBAs

1. Describe three factors that influence scent availability.
2. Design a basic scent-detection training protocol.
3. Conduct an evaluation of a scent-detection animal.
4. Describe three challenges associated with scent detection.

The numerous advancements in applied behavior analysis (ABA) seem to be centered in urban areas of developed countries, while there continues to be a shortage of behavioral-based intervention elsewhere. Nevertheless, the favorable manner through which behavior analysts view ABA and its value in autism intervention has prompted them to develop innovative opportunities for dissemination. This symposium offers examples of empirical studies that were concerned with such dissemination of behavioral intervention in a developing country (Lebanon) and a rural area in Iceland. Neither cultural context had systems that supported or facilitated the use of ABA in autism intervention. The Lebanon study used activity schedules to promote independent engagement among children with autism never offered ABA services prior to or outside the context of its research sessions. The rural-Iceland study used telehealth methods to provide effective behavioral consultation for families of children with autism. Both presentations discuss the particulars of their respective cultural contexts in terms of the status of ABA in autism intervention, and in terms of limitations and future directions relevant for behavioral research and practice in places with limited access to behavior-analytic services.

Despite documented effectiveness of systematic early behavioral intervention to improve functioning of children with autism and other developmental disabilities, not all children and their families have access to such interventions and the expertise required for success. One example is children and their families living in rural areas of the world. In order to increase services, numerous internet-based programs and services have been established, utilizing telehealth methods. However, evidence regarding the effectiveness of telehealth methods is very limited. This paper presents a study of the effects of telehealth methods employed on the outcomes of behavioral consultation with families of children with autism living in rural Iceland. The experimental design was a multiple baseline across parent and child skills, replicated across 5 families. Both qualitative (interviews, field notes regarding method and outcomes) and quantitative (frequency of teaching episodes, frequency of targeted child responses, intervals of synchronous engagement) data were collected and analyzed. The intervention involved parent training of basic teaching interactions primarily conducted through telecommunication methods. The results show measurable progress for parents and children across all skill areas and are discussed in the context of access to evidence-based methods for children living in Iceland and other rural areas in the world.

Providing consultation from a distance is becoming increasingly more popular, because it allows for expert consultation even if those needing consultation live far from the consultant. This applies to individuals living in rural areas as well as in urban centers, where traffic congestion can make travel to the consultation site just as problematic as driving to rural areas. Teleconsultation is a method of providing consultation using distance technology. In states where behavior analysts are in short supply but demand for their services is great, teleconsultation can be one solution to the problem. In this tutorial, the ins and outs of setting up a consultation model will be provided. Dr. Peterson will share some of the things she has learned (the good, the bad, and the ugly) during the past year and a half of starting up a new teleconsultation service in Michigan, with a goal of helping participants be prepared for the hurdles that will be encountered.