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| ABAI Business Meeting |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–8:50 AM |
| North 122 BC |
| Chair: William L. Heward (ABAI President) |
| Panelists: MARC N. BRANCH (Publications Board Coordinator), TIMOTHY D. HACKENBERG (Science Board Coordinator), LINDA J. PARROTT HAYES (Practice Board Coordinator), PHILIP N. HINELINE (Membership Board Coordinator), RAMONA HOUMANFAR (University of Nevada, Reno), MARIA E. MALOTT (ABAI), CHARLES MERBITZ (Chicago School of Professional Psychology), RAYMOND G. MILTENBERGER (University of South Florida), PAMELA G. OSNES (Headsprout) |
| Abstract: This event is the business meeting to the ABAI; where the President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Coordinators provide an update about current developments. |
| MARC N. BRANCH (Publications Board Coordinator) |
| TIMOTHY D. HACKENBERG (Science Board Coordinator) |
| LINDA J. PARROTT HAYES (Practice Board Coordinator) |
| PHILIP N. HINELINE (Membership Board Coordinator) |
| RAMONA HOUMANFAR (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| MARIA E. MALOTT (ABAI) |
| CHARLES MERBITZ (Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| RAYMOND G. MILTENBERGER (University of South Florida) |
| PAMELA G. OSNES (Headsprout) |
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| The Role of Social Factors in Behavior Change |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–9:50 AM |
| West 301 AB |
| Chair: Ann Branstetter-Rost (Missouri State University) |
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| The Role of Social Factors in Behavior Change |
| ROBERT B. CIALDINI (Arizona State University) |
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| Abstract: Social norms, which refer to what most people do (descriptive social norms) and what most people approve (injunctive social norms), are remarkably powerful in directing human action. Equally remarkable is how little note people take of this power at two critical decision points: when, as observers they decide how to interpret the causes of their own actions and when, as communicators they decide how to influence the actions of others. Studies in several environmental contexts (e.g., home energy conservation, household recycling, hotel conservation efforts) show that persuasive communications that employ social norms-based appeals for desirable behavior are superior to those that employ traditional appeals.
Robert B. Cialdini is Regents’ Professor of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, where he has also been named W. P. Carey Distinguished Professor of Marketing. He has taught at Stanford University and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has been elected president of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of the Society for Consumer Psychology, the Donald T. Campbell Award for Distinguished Contributions to Social Psychology, and the (inaugural) Peitho Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Science of Social Influence. Professor Cialdini’s book Influence: Science and Practice, which was the result of a three-year program of study into the reasons that people comply with requests in everyday settings, has sold over a million copies while appearing in numerous editions and twenty-five languages. He has recently coauthored a new book titled, YES! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive, which has appeared on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best seller lists. |
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| Invited Tutorial: Programmed Instruction and Interteaching Applications to Information Technology Education |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–9:50 AM |
| West 301 CD |
| Area: TBA/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jessica Singer-Dudek (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Presenting Authors: : HENRY H. EMURIAN (University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus) |
| Abstract: Learning to write a computer program can be very difficult for beginners at all ages, and even entering college students are diverse with respect to their computer skills – some are computer champions, while others may have rarely touched a computer. Although skill in computer programming is acknowledged to be valuable for information science students, educators in the discipline recognize that many students select management information systems and other academic majors to avoid or escape the programming demands of a computer science curriculum. In response to these challenges, the work reported in this presentation attempts to improve information technology instruction for college students, evidenced by progressive gains in their knowledge and self confidence, by combining the use of a programmed instruction tutoring system with interteaching as the initial components in a Java computer programming course. The synergistic relationships among programmed instruction, interteaching, and model-based lecturing will be described and demonstrated as they relate to the adoption of multi-media behavioral tactics having the goal of fostering and managing the transition of all students to a common level of mastery and generalizable skill.
Henry H. Emurian is an associate professor of information systems in the College of Engineering and Information Technology at UMBC. He is a licensed clinical psychologist in Maryland, and he also holds a graduate degree in computer science. His research and teaching interests focus primarily upon the applications of programmed instruction and interteaching to help students acquire skill and confidence in computer programming, in particular, and information technology, in general. He also maintains an interest in behavioral systems management of confined microsocieties for spaceflight applications through his affiliation with the Institutes for Behavior Resources, Inc. (IBR) in Baltimore. His work has appeared in Computers in Human Behavior, the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, Information Resources Management Journal, Distance Education Technologies, the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, the Behavior Analyst Today, and others. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, Eastern Psychological Association, and the Association for Behavior Analysis International. |
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| HENRY H. EMURIAN (University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus) |
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| Current Research Promoting Maintenance and Generalization of Early Academic Skills with Children Diagnosed with Autism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 124 B |
| Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Nicholas L Weatherly (Stony Brook University) |
| Discussant: James E. Carr (Auburn University) |
| CE Instructor: Donald Stenhoff, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: The dissemination and application of maintenance and generalization procedures has always been a fundamental concern for behavior analysts and continues to be an area in need of further analysis. With the success of early behavioral intervention strategies for children diagnosed with developmental disabilities it is important to disseminate current research working to assess ways to better maintain and generalize these early academic skills. Continuing to evaluate the application and conceptual analysis of maintenance and generalization protocols will help identify methods scientifically proven to increase generalization and maintenance when working with individuals with developmental disabilities. This symposium will discuss three studies evaluating the maintenance and generalization of verbal behavior and other early academic skills with children diagnosed with autism. The first paper compares the effects of two maintenance-training methods when used to train early academic skills. The second paper examines generalization of mands for information. The third paper provides an assessment of cross-modal generalization. |
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| A Comparison of Maintenance-Training Methods for Children Diagnosed with Autism |
| NICHOLAS L WEATHERLY (Stony Brook University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Properly seeing that skills taught maintain following the termination of treatment is a concern observed across all areas of applied behavior analysis. Smith (1999) noted the general lack of maintenance in many behavioral and non-behavioral programs as a “crucial omission” because skill acquisition during original training does not guarantee continuation of those behaviors after the training is terminated. In terms of early academic skill acquisition, a lack of skill maintenance would defeat the purpose of early intervention. The current study evaluated the effects of two different maintenance-training methods and one control condition on skill maintenance within a public-school classroom for children diagnosed with autism. The two training methods involved the use of either a continuous-reinforcement schedule or a thinned partial-reinforcement schedule during 20 overlearning training sessions following skill acquisition. The control condition did not involve any overlearning following skill acquisition. Three children were each taught two curricular programs, with each program involving the two training methods and the control condition using a multielement design. Results indicated that overlearning using a thinned partial-reinforcement schedule reliably produced greater maintenance across all participants, while there were no consistent differences between the overlearning training method that involved continuous reinforcement and the control condition. |
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| Generalization of Specific and General Mands for Information |
| M. Alice Shillingsburg (Marcus Institute), AMBER L. VALENTINO (The Marcus Autism Center), Danielle W. Bradley (Marcus Institute) |
| Abstract: Children with autism often have difficulty acquiring mand repertoires particularly more complex mands such as mands for information. In addition to being difficult to teach, the lack of generalization of mands for information to untaught scenarios is often a clinical concern. Some studies have demonstrated effective teaching procedures to teach mands for information through manipulation of establishing operations (Endicott & Higbee, 2007; Twardosz & Baer, 1973). While many of these procedures have proven effective, the research is limited regarding the maintenance and generalization of these skills. Some researchers evaluated generalization of taught mands across settings (Williams, Donley, & Keller, 2000), to a more naturalistic context (Secan, Egel & Tilley, 1989) and to untrained items (Sundberg, Loeb, Hale, & Eigenheer, 2002). The purpose of the present study was to examine generalization of mands for information. A multiple probe design was used to teach three children with autism four forms of mands for information. Results indicated that generalization occurred in at least two forms of the mand when a generic response was required, whereas when a specific response was required only one form resulted in generalization for one participant, with most forms requiring separate teaching. |
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| Procedures to Promote Generalization Between Receptive Identification and Tacting: A More Efficient Teaching Strategy? |
| M. Alice Shillingsburg (Marcus Institute), CAITLIN V HERZINGER (The Marcus Institute), Danielle W. Bradley (Marcus Institute), Andrew A Fulton (The Marcus Institute) |
| Abstract: In a review of the existing literature, Goldstein (1993) noted the need to better understand the relationships that exist between language modalities in order to better facilitate generalization across these modalities. Improved generalization is a key component of efficient teaching strategies. Many treatment guides for children with autism recommend first teaching receptive language skills before introducing related expressive skills; however, this suggestion is not clearly indicated by the current literature. The current study is an assessment of cross-modal generalization from receptive to tact and the reverse, similar to that of Wynn and Smith (2003). The purpose of the study was to assess whether responses generalize across modalities more efficiently based on which modality is taught first and to assess the effectiveness of a procedure to promote generalization when it did not occur. The procedure consisted of teaching receptive or tact targets using errorless prompting. Following mastery of the target in one modality, generalization probes in the other modality were conducted. If generalization across language modalities did not occur, an additional response requirement (ARR) was added to the teaching session and generalization probes were continued. |
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| Assessment and Treatment of Vocal Stereotypy |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 125 |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: John T. Rapp (St. Cloud State University) |
| CE Instructor: Marlene J Cohen, Ed.D. |
| Abstract: This symposium includes a series of presentations on the assessment and treatment of vocal stereotypy displayed by children with autism spectrum disorders. The the first presentation, Colon, Bowza, Clark, and Ahearn evaluated the effects of mand and tact training on vocal stereotypy and appropriate vocalizations. The results from two experiments indicated that mand and tact training increased appropriate vocalizations for most of the participants; however, a response interruption and redirection procedure was necessary to decrease vocal stereotypy for many of the participants. Lomas, Shillingsburg, and Bradley noted that a consistent limitation of interventions for vocal stereotypy is that such interventions are not easily tranported to classroom setting. Thus, Lomas et al. provide data on a treatment that was implemented in the typical enviroment of two individuals who displayed vocal stereotypy. Lanovaz and Rapp evaluated the effects of structurally matched and unmatched stimulation on the vocal stereotypy of four children who were diagnosed with ASD. Specifically, this study evaluated the extent to which preferred items that were structurally matched or unmatched to vocal stereotypy functioned as motivating operations for immediate (when the preferred items were present) and subsequent (after the preferred items were removed) vocal stereotypy for each participant. Finally, Fletcher and Rapp conducted a further evaluation of structurally matched and unmatched stimuli on vocal stereotypy displayed by children with ASD. The results of this study indicated labeling a stimulus as being structurally matched to stereotypy did not necessarily predict that it was functionally matched to stereotypy. |
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| Treatment of Inappropriate Vocalizations Maintained by Automatic Reinforcement in Analogue and Classroom Setting |
| Joanna Lomas (Marcus Institute), M. ALICE SHILLINGSBURG (Marcus Institute), Danielle W. Bradley (Marcus Institute) |
| Abstract: Children diagnosed with autism often engage repetitive, nonfunctional behaviors such as vocal stereotypy. Although these behaviors may not result in harm to the individual or others, these behaviors can impede academic instruction and acquisition of adaptive skills and may lead to social isolation and/or placement in a more restrictive academic setting. The majority of research on treatments for vocal stereotypy provides treatment options that may not be socially acceptable or feasible in the everyday environment. For example, research has shown that vocal stereotypy can be reduced when the individual is given access to a preferred activity, such as listening to music, and subsequently loses access to the activity if he or she engages in the problem behavior (Falcomata et al., 2004). Thus, treatment for vocal stereotypy involves access to the preferred activity for extended periods of time resulting in limited time spent in academic and adaptive instruction and activities of daily living. The purpose of the present study is to demonstrate treatment of vocal stereotypy that easily transitions to the everyday environment with two children with automatically maintained aberrant vocalizations. Two treatments were evaluated and transitioned to the classroom setting. |
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| Treating vocal stereotypy: The effects of verbal operant training |
| CANDACE COLON (N.E. University & The New England Center for Children), Katherin Bowza (New England Center for Children), Kathy Clark (The New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Past research has shown that response blocking and redirection effectively decelerates automatically reinforced behavior. Ahearn et al. (2007) found that interrupting vocal stereotypy (VS) also increased appropriate behavior. Given this finding, it might be possible to decrease VS by directly training of verbal operants such as tacts and mands. This study examined the effects of verbal operant training on VS and appropriate speech in children with autism. In study 1, subsequent to a baseline condition three participants were trained to mand with an autoclitic frame. The effects of mand training were assessed using a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants. Mand training reduced VS and increased language for only 1 participant and the implementation of a response interruption and redirection (RIRD) procedure was necessary to decrease VS for the other two participants. Appropriate vocalizations increased for all 3 participants. Study 2 was identical to study 1 except 3 children were trained to tact with an autoclitic frame. Results indicated that tact training alone produced slightly lower levels of VS and increased appropriate vocalizations for all 3 participants. The introduction of the RIRD procedure was necessary to decrease VS to acceptable levels for two participants. |
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| Using component distributions to identify immediate and subsequent effects of unmatched and matched stimuli on stereotypy |
| MARC LANOVAZ (Centre de Réadaptation Lisette-Dupras), John T. Rapp (St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: The effects of unmatched and matched stimuli on the immediate and subsequent stereotypy of four children with autism spectrum disorders were evaluated using a three-component multiple-schedule combined with a brief reversal design. The use of component distributions (i.e., graphs of the proportion of sessions stereotypy was lowest and highest in each component and higher in the first than in the third component) to present and analyze the data from the multiple-schedules was compared with the use of brief reversal graphs and line graphs. The data showed that access to stimuli (matched only or multiple unmatched and matched) provided during the second component decreased immediate vocal stereotypy for three of four participants and produced a modest abolishing operation for all four participants’ subsequent engagement in vocal stereotypy. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of using component distributions to identify stimuli with abative and evocative effects on stereotypy. |
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| The Effects of Matched and Unmatched Stimulation on Stereotypy in Children with Autism |
| SARAH ELIZABETH FLETCHER (UK Young Autism Project), John T. Rapp (St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: A three-component multiple-schedule with a brief reversal design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of matched, unmatched and music stimulation on the immediate and subsequent levels of vocal stereotypy. Results indicated that for all participants matched stimulation and music decreased the immediate levels of stereotypy but unmatched stimulation only decreased immediate levels in two of three participants. For two of the participants, music acted as an EO for subsequent levels of stereotypy but the effects of matched and unmatched stimulation on subsequent levels were unclear. For one participant the matched stimulation acted as an AO for the subsequent levels of stereotypy. |
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| Assessment and treatment of problem behavior individuals with autism and developmental disability |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 124 A |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Mark F. O'Reilly (University of Texas at Austin) |
| CE Instructor: Stephen Ray Flora, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: A substantial proportion of individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities exhibit problem behaviors such as self-injury, aggression, and property destruction. Services such as schools and clinics are required to allocate a substantial amount of resources to support such individuals. Research to develop effective assessment and intervention strategies with this population continues to be a priority for behavior analysts. In this symposium we present recent findings on functional and preference assessments and the use of antecedent interventions to reduce challenging behavior with individuals with autism and developmental disabilities. |
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| Predicting the Need for Mand Availability During Stimulus Fading |
| JESSICA FRIEDER (Utah State University), Stephanie M. Peterson (Idaho State University), Carrie M. Brower-Breitwieser (Idaho State University), Elizabeth Dayton (Idaho State University), Stuart M Mullins (Idaho State University), Shilo Smith-Ruiz (College of Southern Idaho) |
| Abstract: Applied researchers have examined the use of a concurrent-schedules arrangement, most typically involving two concurrently available response options, on the choice-making behavior for individuals with problem behavior (e.g., Harding et al., 1999; Horner & Day, 1991, Peck et al., 1996; Piazza et al., 1997; Richman et al., 2001). An Institute for Education Sciences grant project is currently evaluating the effects of a concurrent schedules of reinforcement arrangement in which three response options are available: compliance, mands, and problem behavior. The hypothesis is that the addition of a third response option (i.e., mands) may result in fewer bursts of problem behavior during a stimulus fading intervention. Results of this ongoing investigation have suggested that a three choice concurrent schedule may not be necessary for all participants during stimulus fading. During this presentation, data will be presented on a subset of participants that address the question of whether we can predict for whom the addition of a mand responses during stimulus fading is necessary for intervention success. Discussion will focus on whether an initial differential reinforcement of alternate behavior phase can serve as an effective assessment to determine later and ongoing treatment needs for individuals who exhibit escape-maintained problem behavior. |
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| Evaluating Long-Term Preference for Leisure Items in Individuals with Problem Behaviors Maintained by Automatic Reinforcement |
| ANURADHA SALIL KUMAR DUTT (University of Iowa), Wendy K. Berg (University of Iowa), Jason M. Stricker (The University of Iowa), Kelly M. Vinquist (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Joel Eric Ringdahl (University of Iowa), Jeffrey R. Luke (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: Identifying preferred stimuli is an important component of behavioral programs for persons with developmental disabilities. Previous studies have evaluated the stability of participants’ selections during preference assessments over time and found that the stability of preferences varied across individuals (Hanley et al., 2006; Zhou et al., 2001). We conducted periodic preference assessments with five individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities who engaged in problem behavior that was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Free-operant preference assessments with five to six leisure items were conducted on a monthly schedule over a 7 to 12 month period (M = 10.8 months). Items to include within the preference assessment were initially selected based on care-provider’s suggestions and/or the observations of therapists. Results support previous findings and show that participants varied in the stability of their preferences over time. A summary of the results for the 5 participants will be presented and variations in selection over time will be discussed. Interobserver agreement data were collected for 30% of the sessions and averaged above 90% for problem behavior. |
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| The Effects of Prior Exposure to Antecedent Events as Motivating Operations on Automatically Reinforced Challenging Behavior and Appropriate Task Responding |
| YI-CHIEH CHUNG (The Ohio State University), Helen I. Cannella-Malone (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of prior exposure to three antecedent events—attention, response blocking, and/or automatically maintained behavior—on later engagement in the automatically maintained challenging behavior and correct task responding in four individuals with significant intellectual disabilities. A modified multi-element design (Phase 1) and a combined alternating treatment design with multiple-baseline design across participants (Phase 2) were used. A functional analysis was conducted with all participants and their behavior was found to be maintained (at least in part) by automatic reinforcement. Results from Phase 1 indicated that pre-session attention (for two participants) and pre-session response blocking (for one participant) acted as an establishing operation for challenging behavior. Pre-session response blocking (for three participants) and pre-session access to the challenging behavior (for one participant) acted as an abolishing operation for challenging behavior. Using the results from Phase 1, we then examined the effect of providing pre-session access to the condition that acted as an abolishing operation on correct responding on a work task. The results indicated that access to the pre-session condition that acted as an abolishing |
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| Effects of Motivating Operations on Aberrant Behavior and Academic Engagement during Classroom Instruction for Students with Autism |
| MANDY J. RISPOLI (University of Texas at Austin), Mark F. O'Reilly (University of Texas at Austin), Wendy A. Machalicek (Portland State University), Austin Molloy (University of Texas at Austin) |
| Abstract: The manipulation of motivating operations represents a promising intervention for the treatment of aberrant behavior in applied settings. In this study, we examined the effects of motivating operations on aberrant behavior and academic engagement during typical classroom instruction with six students with autism. Functional analyses revealed that aberrant behavior was maintained, at least in part, by access to specific tangible items for all participants. During classroom sessions two to four peers were seated near the participant during routine classroom instruction. The participant’s preferred tangible was in sight but out of reach during these sessions. Each participant had access to instructional materials as well as teacher attention and aberrant behavior was placed on extinction. Classroom sessions were preceded by access or no access to the tangible functionally related to aberrant behavior. The influence of these presession conditions was evaluated in an alternating treatments design. Results suggest that presession access may result in lower levels of aberrant behavior and higher levels of academic engagement during classroom instruction. Suggestions for future research and implications for |
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| Increasing Peer Interactions in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders Across the Age Range |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 120 BC |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Michael J. Morrier (Emory University School of Medicine) |
| Discussant: Gail G. McGee (Emory University School of Medicine) |
| CE Instructor: John Eshleman, Ed.D. |
| Abstract: Deficits in social interaction skills are the hallmark of receiving a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet little research has focused on how to train teachers to implement social curricula. Traditional treatment protocols have historically focused on language and cognitive gains (Harris & Handleman, 2000; Lovaas, 1987; McEachin et al., 1993), and have paid little attention to peer-related social skills. This symposium will describe ways to increase social skills in individuals with ASD ages 15 months – 25 years. The first presentation will describe a personnel preparation system that quickly trains teachers to implement peer social curriculum with an inclusive preschool group. The second will describe a social curriculum that increases peer social skills in middle school students with ASD. The third will describe a social skills curriculum for young adults with ASD that focuses on increasing social interaction skills and participation in community social events. Data presented will demonstrate how to prepare teachers to teach age-appropriate social skills and how to increase social skills in natural environments. Benchmarks for social skill goals and objectives will be presented for young adults will ASD. Symposium participants will be able to use benchmark data and program descriptions to implement effective social skills curricula in their community-based settings. |
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| Training Teachers to Implement a Social Skills Curriculum in an Inclusive Preschool Classroom |
| Gail G. McGee (Emory University School of Medicine), Michael J. Morrier (Emory University School of Medicine), SHARON T. HYNES (Emory University) |
| Abstract: Preparation of teachers for preschoolers with autism requires a specific protocol in order to promote positive social gains in this population (McGee & Morrier, 2005). The task becomes more difficult since personnel preparation research has no studies that specifically address how to train teachers to implement curricula designed at promoting peer interactions. Preschoolers with autism require hour intensive treatment to remediate the social and language deficits inherent in the disorder (NRC, 2001). Teaching staff to implement language instruction requires the adult to be physically present and attending to the needs of each child, while social skill instruction requires teachers to fade their presence as quickly as possible to ensure that child-child interactions focus on one another rather than on the adults (Strain, McGee, & Kohler, 2001). This presentation will describe the evaluation of a staff training system designed to quickly enable teachers to teach an inclusive group of children with autism and their typical peers. Data (additional to be collected) will be presented that compares the two training systems and the impact on children’s social interactions during ongoing classroom activities. Results will help inform trainers of how to train staff to promote child social interaction skills in children with autism. |
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| Improving Playground Interactions Between Included Students with ASD in Public Schools Through the STAR Program |
| SHEILA J. WAGNER (Emory University), Patricia Buckley (DeKalb County Public Schools) |
| Abstract: Research has demonstrated that inclusive programming offers valuable social opportunities for students with autism to learn socially appropriate behaviors (Owen-DeSchryver et. al., 2008). However, during regularly scheduled recess many of these same students remain socially isolated from their typically developing peers. Research has also shown that proximity alone does not guarantee increased interactions in a recess setting (Anderson et al., 2004) and that peer training is helpful in increasing the interactions between disabled students and non-disabled students (Kohler et al., 1995; Lee & Odom, 1996). In an effort to increase peer initiations to students with autism at recess, findings will replicate those of previous evaluations of the STAR Program (Boyd et al., 2008) (data to be collected) as demonstrated using a multiple probe single subject design on three dyads of students. Each dyad consisted of one student with an autism spectrum disorder and one student who was non-disabled. The results show increased numbers of interactions between the students with ASD and their non-disabled classmates. These results will be discussed in light of inclusive programming and strategies that can be used within public and private schools. |
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| Helping Young Adults with ASD “Get a Life”: Increasing Social Interactions with Typical Same-Aged Peers |
| ALISON MCKAY OLIVER (Emory Autism Center), Toni Thomas (Emory Autism Center), Michael J. Morrier (Emory University School of Medicine), Gail G. McGee (Emory University School of Medicine) |
| Abstract: Adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterized by deficits in reciprocal social interactions, communication, and interests and behaviors (APA, 2000). To date, little research has been conducted on how to remediate these deficits and assist young adults to participate in community activities. Research on the differences in social behavior in natural settings between typical adults and adults with ASD has not been conducted. Following Todd Risley’s (1996) premise that treatment for adults should help them “Get a Life!”, a treatment package has been developed to assist adults with ASD to develop and to use age-appropriate social skills. The package involves weekly small group instruction and monthly practice of social skills during social events with typically-developing college- aged students. This presentation will describe the social treatment developed, as well as present data on the differences between 10 adults with ASD and 10 typical peers. Data (additional data to be collected) to be presented includes self-reports of social skills and contacts with friends, structured behavioral observations collected during social events, and the perceived importance of these skills for “Getting a Life”. Discussion will focus on implementing this protocol in community-based activities and areas of future research for adults with ASD. |
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| Teaching Functional Skills to Adolescent and Adult Learners with Autism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 126 |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Hannah E. Hoch (REED Academy) |
| Discussant: Peter F. Gerhardt (Organization for Autism Research) |
| CE Instructor: Michele R. Bishop, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: As individuals with autism approach adulthood, it becomes increasingly important to focus on skills that will promote social and vocational success. There is an ongoing need for the development of effective strategies that will enable these learners to learn the functional skills necessary to participate independently in community and vocational settings. In this symposium, 3 studies will be presented describing teaching procedures and instructional modifications geared towards increasing skills necessary for productive vocational performance and community integration for adolescents and adults with autism. |
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| Teaching Adolescents with Autism to Mand for Materials During Vocational Tasks |
| KARISSA MASUICCA (Alpine Learning Group), Erin B. Richard (Alpine Learning Group), Hannah E. Hoch (REED Academy), Bridget A. Taylor (Alpine Learning Group) |
| Abstract: An important employment goal for individuals with autism is to utilize natural supports (e.g., coworkers) found at the job site. A necessary step in reaching that goal is to teach adolescent learners to approach job supervisors for assistance, such as when the learner does not have enough of a material to complete the assigned task. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of an audio taped prompt to teach learners with autism to ask for more materials during vocational tasks. The participants were four adolescents with autism who attended a behaviorally-based school program for learners with autism. Graduated guidance was used to teach the participants to approach an adult. An audio taped stimulus was used to prompt learners to ask for more materials when the materials ran out while completing a vocational task. The audio taped prompt was eventually faded. A multiple baseline design was used across four learners. Results indicated that after intervention, learners were more likely to independently approach an adult and request assistance. Interobserver agreement data were collected during 30% of sessions and averaged over 90%. Results are discussed in terms of future research for increasing learners’ independence in job settings. |
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| Increasing accuracy with vocational tasks: Using a stimulus prompt to teach numeral to quantity correspondence |
| ERIN B. RICHARD (Alpine Learning Group), Barbara Hoffmann (Alpine Learning Group), Melissa Kahn (Alpine Learning Group), Caroline Elizabeth LaMere (Alpine Leaning Group), Bridget A. Taylor (Alpine Learning Group) |
| Abstract: Adolescents with autism may have limited opportunities for vocational activities due to the lack of prerequisites of certain academic skills. For example, an inability to match quantity to numeral can prohibit a learner from participating in tasks that require him to attend to amounts of items (e.g., restocking supplies). A reversal design was used to investigate the use of a tally counter as a stimulus prompt to teach three adolescents with autism to match quantity to numeral when getting a designated number of items during vocational tasks. During baseline, each learner was presented with a box of items (e.g., spoons), a numeral card, and an instruction to get the amount and place the items in a bin. During intervention, learners used a tally counter to “mark” each item as they placed it in the bin, and continue until the number on the tally counter matched the number on the card. Results indicated that use of the tally counter enabled participants to accurately match quantities to larger numerals when completing vocational tasks. |
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| The Effect of Rate Building of Component Fine Motor Skills on Productivity on the Job Site |
| MARLENE COHEN (Rutgers University - DDDC), Christopher Manente (Rutgers University, DDDC) |
| Abstract: Adults with autism are entitled to a productive life. This includes the right to employment in the community. This paper will examine the effects of fine motor skill rate building on task completion durations in a community job site. The effects on three employment tasks (wiping tables, setting tables, and sweeping floor) will be demonstrated. Conclusions and implications for future research will also be discussed. |
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| Highlights of the CARD Model of Service Delivery for Children with Autism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 129 B |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Michele R. Bishop (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: The Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) is a large-scale service delivery agency that provides treatment, training, and consultative services to hundreds of individuals with autism around the world. CARD’s mission is to extend top-quality behavioral treatment to the maximum number of individuals with autism possible. Neither quality nor quantity can be compromised in this mission. The purpose of this symposium is to highlight some of the recent developments at CARD, in hopes of further fostering the development and dissemination of behavior analysis and autism treatment globally. |
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| The CARD Curriculum: A Systematic Behavioral Attempt to Teach Everything Human Children Know How to Do |
| Doreen Granpeesheh (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Adel C. Najdowski (C.A.R.D., Inc.), MICHELE R. BISHOP (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: This paper will provide an overview of the structure and content of the CARD curriculum. The CARD was developed by attempting to identify every skill that a typically developing human child knows how to do, up to age 7. The rationale for such a comprehensive scope is that any particular client with autism may lack particular skills in virtually any area of functioning and those skills must then be taught. The CARD curriculum consists of systematic teaching programs in the areas of language, cognition, social skills, play, adaptive skills, motor skills, and academic skills. |
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| Shaping Knowledge through Individual Life Learning Systems (SKILLS): A Comprehensive, Web-Based System for Assessing, Programming, and Training Intervention in Autism |
| Doreen Granpeesheh (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), SIENNA GREENER-WOOTEN (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Adel C. Najdowski (C.A.R.D., Inc.), Dennis Dixon (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: The CARD SKILLS is a comprehensive web-based system for assessing skills, programming intervention targets, and training introductory-level therapists. The purpose of the development of SKILLS was to extend access to knowledge of applied behavior analysis to all regions of the world, as well as to increase quality and accessibility in our own backyard. This presentation will describe the development and deployment of SKILLS. |
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| The CARD Specialized Outpatient Services Treatment Program |
| ARTHUR E. WILKE (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Katharine Gutshall (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), Taira Lanagan (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: This presentation will provide a description of CARD Specialized Outpatient Services (SOS). CARD SOS provides a suite of services targeted at making meaningful and rapid changes in high-priority behaviors. CARD SOS provides assessment and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders, assessment and treatment of severe behavior disorders, and facilitation of compliance with medical procedures, such as blood drawing. CARD SOS services are provided on a home-based, school-based, and outpatient basis, for as long as necessary depending on the unique needs of each individual client. Services include direct intervention, caregiver and teacher training, and planning for generalization and maintenance. CARD SOS serves individuals with and without developmental disabilities. |
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| CARD II: A Description of the CARD Service Delivery Model for Older and Adolescents with Autism |
| SARAH CHO (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), Jonathan J. Tarbox (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Kathy Thompson (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Carolyn Bredek (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: Behavioral intervention for young children with autism is well-known and has received increased media attention in recent years. However, behavioral intervention for older children with autism can be particularly effective and often does not receive the recognition or attention it is due. This presentation will describe CARD II, CARD’s approach to service delivery for older children and young adults with autism. The presentation will be augmented with case examples. |
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| Evaluating Outcomes and Best Practices Internationally |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 227 A |
| Chair: Erik Jahr (Akershus University Hospital, Norway) |
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| Best practice in the evaluation of behavioural programs for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): What to do and how to do it. |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNIFER MCMAHON (Mary Immaculate College/University of Limerick), Veronica Cullinan (Mary Immaculate College/University of Limerick) |
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| Abstract: Programs based on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) are at the forefront of intervention for children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this research was to examine the literature, identify program elements for study and determine the optimal tools to deliver advanced knowledge as to the processes and operations of such programs. Researchers identified a number of central areas to be appraised and the appropriate materials to be utilised when investigating their effectiveness. This information was utilised to develop and implement an evaluation of a school that delivers education/intervention to pupils through application of the principles of ABA. Results indicated that the materials utilised yield detailed information as to service provision that can be valuable to parents and professionals seeking knowledge about intervention and placement of children. Future research should focus on further modifying an evaluative strategy that can be applied to many programs across a variety of settings. |
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| Progress Benchmarks for Children in Intensive Behavioural Intervention |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| NANCY FREEMAN (Surrey Place Centre), Robert Brown (Autism Ontario, Ottawa Chapter), Jennifer Dunn Geier (Autism Intervention Program - Eastern Ontario, Childr), Tracie L. Lindblad (Four Points), Adrienne M. Perry (York University), Jo-Ann M. Reitzel (Hamilton-Niagara Regional Early Autism Initiative), Tristram Smith (University of Rochester Medical Center), Terry Whitehead (Hamilton City Council) |
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| Abstract: The Autism Intervention Program is a large, community-based, publicly-funded Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) service for children with autism throughout Ontario, Canada. An Expert Clinical Panel that was established by the Ontario provincial government recommended that benchmarks needed to be developed to help clinicians to do the following:
• “Determine if a child has benefited from IBI;”
• “Monitor a child’s progress while receiving IBI; “
• “Determine when a child has achieved expected benefit from IBI; and”
• "Where applicable, determine whether a child should continue to receive IBI beyond a designated trial period.”
In response to these recommendations the Ontario government struck the Benchmark Development Expert Panel to develop benchmarks that could be used to monitor progress and facilitate decision-making regarding continuation of children in IBI. The benchmarks are intended to be used consistently to monitor each child’s progress during IBI and to facilitate transparent clinical decision-making processes regarding the continuation of IBI or the transition of the child to school and/or other appropriate services in the community. This presentation will review those benchmarks. |
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| The St. Amant School-Age ABA program: Characteristics, Outcomes, and Challenges. |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| KIRSTEN M. WIRTH (St. Amant) |
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| Abstract: ABA service models for preschool children with autism are well-established, while similar services for school-aged children with autism have only recently entered the spotlight. This presentation will provide characteristics of a publicly funded ABA program for school-age children through the St. Amant ABA program in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In a unique model recently approved by government partners, this program provides a 3-year ABA service to both school and home, including extensive training and programming to all teams working with each child. Program development, definition of services, and staff roles within both settings will be shared. Data will be presented for 54 children participating in the ABA program in the 2007-2008 school year on skill acquisition and comparisons of acquisition at school versus home. Challenges with working in school and home settings such as difficulties with staff and parent training, working around extracurricular activities, misconceptions of behaviour analysis, and lack of effect on normative test outcomes will be discussed. Finally, strategies that have been successful in changing misconceptions and societal attitudes by school staff and parents will be shared. |
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| Expanding the Scope of ABA: Diagnosing & Treating Children With Psychological Disorders & Emotional Behaviors |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 222 C |
| Area: CBM/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jeannie Golden (East Carolina University) |
| CE Instructor: John M. Guercio, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Over the course of the past decade, the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has become synonymous with treatment of autism in the eyes of many parents, teachers and clinicians from other disciplines. Many professionals in ABA do not fully welcome a narrow view of this applied science. The lack of the identification of ABA as the most empirically effective treatment for other areas (e.g., psychological and emotional disorders) may stem from a range of factors including: our discomfort with the difficulty in controlling the variables, the absence of efficacy studies in these domains, challenges in defining “emotional behavior” and others. If we hope to expand the application beyond DD and autism, we must identify and confront these impediments to broader application. The presenters will address the issue of operationally defining “emotional” behaviors and specific behavioral assessment and intervention strategies for diagnosing and treating children who have been diagnosed with psychological disorders. |
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| Children With Severe Emotional & Behavioral Problems: The Impact of Maladaptive Learning Histories |
| JEANNIE GOLDEN (East Carolina University) |
| Abstract: Many children in the child welfare system are at-risk of developing severe emotional and behavioral problems due to learning histories associated with early abuse/neglect, multiple placements and multiple caregivers. The impact that this may have on the child’s behavior is likely to cause continued problems for the child and those providing care and treatment. Inappropriate behaviors may be related to learning histories and contingencies that are not observable in the immediate environment. Feelings may be establishing operations for the salience of particular reinforcers and punishers. Certain adult and peer behaviors may be discriminative stimuli for particular reinforcers and punishers in children’s learning histories. Negative peer models and naïve adults may provide inadvertent reinforcement for inappropriate behaviors such as lying, stealing and cheating. The presenter will discuss the impact that this learning history has on current behavior and the effectiveness of behavioral treatments as well as offer alternative types of treatment. |
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| Using Functional Behavioral Assessments of Emotional Behaviors to Assist in the Differential Diagnosis of Psychological Disorders |
| ENNIO C. CIPANI (National University), Jeannie Golden (East Carolina University) |
| Abstract: Traditional psychologists use clinical interviews and symptom checklists to diagnosis psychological disorders. Behaviorists know that it is essential to ascertain the function as well as the topology of behavior in order to effectively treat problem behavior. A functional behavioral assessment, including direct observation in natural environments, is a tool that can aid in going beyond a simple description of problem behavior to the identification of the maintaining variables. This can help to differentially diagnose the psychological disorder. In a functional behavioral treatment, the function of the presenting problem needs to be disabled, while an alternate function (that is more acceptable) needs to be enabled (Cipani & Schock, 2007). To determine how such consequences should be altered, a functional behavioral assessment is needed in order to ascertain the social and environmental function of the presenting problem. In this presentation, functional behavioral assessments are presented as tools for differential diagnosis of children presenting severe behavior problems. |
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| Applying ABA in Public School: Interventions to Reduce Anxiety and Other Emotional Behaviors |
| ROBERT K. ROSS (BEACON Services) |
| Abstract: Many children demonstrate behavioral and emotional responses to academic challenges and non-preferred social conditions at school. The current case studies provided in this presentation describe the use of behavior analytic descriptions and behavioral interventions designed to address the accompanying skill deficits. Operational definitions are provided for “emotional” behaviors. These definitions and objective baseline data were used to establish teaching procedures designed to develop adaptive responses to academic and social challenges. The interventions were implemented by public school personnel with periodic consultation support from a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). The data demonstrate a rapid reduction in “emotional” behaviors and dramatic increases in academic participation and acquisition of targeted academic and social content. The results are discussed both in terms of the procedures implemented and their effect on target behaviors as well as the process the team used to ensure effective staff training and reliable implementation across classroom teachers and school settings. |
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| Childhood Trauma and Attachment Issues: Toward Rational Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Abused Children |
| WALTER WITTY PRATHER (Barry University), Jeannie Golden (East Carolina University) |
| Abstract: Attachment theory provides a useful conceptual framework for understanding trauma and the treatment of abuse in children. This presenter will examine childhood trauma and attachment issues from the perspective of behavior analysis, and provides a theoretical basis for a rational cognitive behavioral treatment approach for previously abused children and their foster or adoptive parents. This new treatment approach is based on the integration of attachment theory and basic concepts and principles of relativity and behavior analysis. This model provides both dyadic and cognitive behavioral interventions that encourage behavior change with foster children who have been abused or neglected as part of their early experiences. The role of emotion in behavioral causation and the teaching and learning of different behavior are central to the treatment process, just as they are central features in healthy parent child relationships. Conclusions are reached that “familial and therapeutic environments” in which perception and previous learning guide parent child interaction are more important than diagnostic orientation, and implications for specific cognitive and behavioral interventions are suggested. |
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| The Study of Derived Relational Responding in Infants and Children: Empirical Findings and Developmental Considerations |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 224 A |
| Area: CBM/VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Karen Michelle O'Brien (University of North Texas) |
| Discussant: Amy Murrell (University of North Texas) |
| Abstract: Studies of stimulus equivalence in infants and children have formed the basis for the assertion that the development of derived relational responding ability parallels the development of human language. In fact, data has shown that derived relational responding occurs in children as young as 17 months as oral language becomes more complex (Lipkens, Hayes & Hayes, 1993). Theorists have suggested that as language develops and becomes more complex, the potential for suffering and avoidance also emerges (Hayes, Barnes-Holmes & Roche, 2001). In this symposium, empirical data and theoretical considerations will be presented that add to the study of stimulus equivalence in both infants and young children. Data from a longitudinal study of a language-delayed infant replicates findings previously presented by Lipkens et al (1993). Manipulations to experimental procedures used with infants and children will be discussed with an emphasis on developmentally appropriate ways to measure derived relational responding. Finally, data from a study of class formation in school-aged children will be presented. Results from this study suggest that the inclusion of meaningful stimuli impacts stimulus class formation in children, as has previously been shown with adults. |
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| A Longitudinal Study of Derived Relational Responding in an Infant with a Significant Language Delay |
| CHARLES PETERSON (University of Mississippi), Emily Kennison Sandoz (University of Mississippi), A. Nicki Jeane (University of Mississippi), Kate Kellum (The University of Mississippi), Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Responding to one stimulus in terms of its relation to another stimulus without direct training has been referred to as derived relational responding. The emergence of derived relational responding as a generalized operant has been proposed to underlie human language. The current study examined the emergence of derived relational responding in an infant with a language delay. Henry was repeatedly tested for derived relational responding over a 6-month period (from age 23 months to age 29 months). When the study was initiated, Henry was exhibiting language skills associated with a developmental age of 14 months. In the first phase, equivalence relations were directly trained between spoken names and pictures, between spoken names and signed names, or between pictures and signed names, and Henry was tested for mutual and combinatorial entailment. In the second phase, functions were directly trained for either the spoken names, signed names, or picture, and Henry was tested for transformation of stimulus function. This project was approved by the University of Mississippi Internal Review Board. |
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| Changing Bodies, Minds, and Procedures: Necessary Adaptations to MTS in Young Children |
| VAISHNAVI KAPADIA (University of North Texas), Jeffrey Geddes (University of North Texas), Kristi Mannon (University of North Texas), Tiffani Allison (University of North Texas), Amy Murrell (University of North Texas) |
| Abstract: At each stage of development, typically developing children acquire a number of skills in motor and cognitive domains. When a child has not yet reached a particular developmental milestone, adjustments to commonly used behavioral research paradigms may be necessary. If such need to adapt is ignored, data collection in young children can seem like an arduous process. This presentation will examine the developmental milestones in children between the ages of 17 months and 6 years and present the corresponding adjustments necessary in order for young children to complete Match to Sample (MTS) tasks used to measure Derived Relational Responding (stimulus equivalence). One study of relational responding in 4 to 6 year olds will be used to highlight these issues. These children needed changes to a computerized MTS procedure such as, using a button-press rather than mouse to select stimuli and using participant generated stimuli names. This project was approved by the University of North Texas Institutional Review Board. |
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| Childhood Learning: Examining the Relationship between Feelings about School and Learning Ability |
| JEFFREY GEDDES (University of North Texas), Amy Murrell (University of North Texas), Jessica Bauguss (University of North Texas) |
| Abstract: A child’s ability to learn in school is affected by various factors. Some are biological and some relate to physical environment. An examination of factors that affect learning in children 4 to 6 years old was conducted. Children, parents, and teachers completed questionnaires examining the children’s feelings toward and overt behavior at school. The children completed a matching-to-sample (MTS) task on a computer. The MTS was completed in 7 phases and required the children to form 3 stimulus classes by grouping the stimuli together. The first stimulus class was called arbitrary and contained three arbitrary stimuli. The second class was called school-good and included one school related stimulus, the word “good” with a happy face (presented as a single stimulus) and one arbitrary stimulus. The third class was called school-bad, consisted of a school related stimulus, the word “bad” with a frowning face and an arbitrary stimulus. Data will be presented that demonstrates children’s differential ability to form stimulus classes based on their scores on measures of feelings about school. MTS data will be presented from each of the stimulus classes along with children’s scores on attitudinal and behavioral measures. |
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| Exploring the Hexaflex: Investigations into Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes and Anxiety |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 222 AB |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Nadia Lucas (University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Anxiety is among the most common psychological difficulties in our society. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a therapeutic approach rooted in behavior analysis and has been found to be effective in numerous clinical and non-clinical populations, including populations with anxiety related difficulties. As ACT has evolved, six core processes have emerged: acceptance, cognitive defusion, present moment focus, self-as-context, committed action, and values. Research in ACT has traditionally focused on its overall effect; however, research is emerging that focuses on the impact and function of these core processes individually. The following studies are designed to look at some of the core components of ACT and their effect on difficulties with anxiety. |
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| Does an ACT or Extinction Rationale Increase Compliance and Participation in Exposure |
| KATHERINE A. PETERSON (Utah State University), Mike P. Twohig (Utah State University), Gretchen Scheidel (Utah State University) |
| Abstract: Treatments for anxiety have almost ubiquitously included exposure techniques. A primary criticism of exposure techniques however, is the frequent problem with client’s treatment compliance due to the aversive experience of exposure tasks. The therapeutic processes identified in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) includes "committed action," which essentially utilize exposure techniques. Additionally, ACT includes several other processes (e.g. values, acceptance, etc.) that are hypothesized to be associated with client’s success in engaging in difficult or typically avoided tasks. The current study examines the effects of ACT and exposure processes associated with the treatment of anxiety. Participants (N=90) were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: ACT, exposure alone, or a control condition. Pre and post measures of anxiety, willingness to experience anxiety, and willingness to experience anxiety in the future were taken. |
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| A Component Analysis of the Impact of Defusion and Mindfulness on Test Anxiety and Performance |
| MICHAEL ANGELO VERNALE (IIT), Patricia Bach (Illinois Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: Research suggests that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can be an effective treatment for many anxiety disorders. There are six widely recognized core ACT processes and it as yet unclear how the different processes interact and their differential impact on treatment outcomes is not well specified. The aim of the present analog study was to determine if a single treatment component, either mindfulness or defusion, has an impact on anxiety and/or test performance. A total of 45 subjects were assigned to one of three conditions, no intervention, a mindfulness intervention, or a defusion intervention and then completed a mildly stressful computer administrated verbal test. Anxiety, psychological flexibility and mindfulness are also measured. Data collection is ongoing and we expect to show that the defusion and mindfulness interventions impact test performance in subjects with higher state or trait anxiety and that the effect of the defusion condition will increase as test anxiety increases. Findings will be discussed in the context of their contribution to a more fully elucidated component analysis of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. |
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| The Effect of Commitment and Behavior Change Processes in ACT on Public Speaking Anxiety |
| NADIA LUCAS (University of Mississippi), Regan M. Slater (University of Mississippi), Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi), Kate Kellum (The University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Anxiety disorders have some of the highest lifetime prevalence rates of the DSM-IV diagnostic categories. Reports of distress surrounding non-clinical manifestations of anxiety, such as public speaking anxiety, are even more prevalent and can lead to considerable distress in people’s lives. Traditionally, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) based interventions have been used to alleviate the distress caused by anxiety. However recent research indicates that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) based interventions are also effective. While much of the research regarding ACT and anxiety has focused on ACT as a whole, the current study looks specifically at the impact of commitment and behavior change processes with respect to public speaking anxiety. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based group, a CBT-based training group, or a control condition. Analysis of the data examines the outcomes of each condition and the processes that lead to these changes. |
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| Mindfulness at the Front of the Room: An Evaluation of ACT for Public Speaking Anxiety |
| REGAN M. SLATER (University of Mississippi), Nadia Lucas (University of Mississippi), Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi), Kate Kellum (The University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behavior analytic third-wave therapy that emphasizes psychological flexibility. ACT has been broadly applied to a wide range of psychological difficulties in both clinical and non-clinical populations, including anxiety. Studies now are beginning to investigate individual core processes within ACT. The current study compared the processes and components of ACT and CBT with relation to public speaking anxiety, one of the most often endorsed anxiety-provoking situations. The researchers adapted the therapeutic models of ACT and Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) and developed training models for this non-clinical sample. The ACT processes included in this study were: Present Moment, Acceptance, and Defusion. This research examined the processes and components of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Group Training (CBGT) as well as a control group. Participants were randomly assigned one of the three conditions. The efficacy and effectiveness of each training model was measured using both process and outcome measures. |
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| Community Interventions Using Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 131 A |
| Area: CSE/OBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: E. Scott Geller (Virginia Tech) |
| Abstract: Community based interventions represent a consistently important area of research, particularly in the realm of behavioral research. These talks highlight the myriad of problems within the community that applied behavior analysis can be used to address. The first three talks of the symposium use prompting techniques in different facets to increase positive community qualities such as safety-belt use and promoting environmentally responsible behaviors. The first talk compares the efficacy of two behavioral prompts in an attempt increase safety-belt use within the community. In the second, positive and negative prompts are used to decrease litter and increase environmentally responsible behavior in community grocery stores. In the third, prompts and pledges are used to increase reusable bag use at community grocery stores. The final talk addresses a specific method at identifying individuals in the work force who exhibit extra-helping behaviors. Each study addresses the nuances of applying behavioral interventions in a community, using community values as a foundation for change. |
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| Increasing Safety-Belt Use Using Behavioral Prompts: Examining the Target Behavior and Relevant Body Language. |
| MATTHEW G. COX (Virginia Tech), Andrew Clarke (Virginia Tech), E. Scott Geller (Virginia Tech) |
| Abstract: Safety-belt use in the United States has leveled out over the past four years and remains stagnant at 81% (NHSTA, 2007) and the remaining non users constitute a significant area of concern for communities. The current method of choice for increasing safety-belt use throughout the nation is the selective traffic enforcement program known as the “Click it or Ticket” campaign. While this method had proved effective in many states, there are many limitations. An alternative method for increasing belt use includes the “Flash-for-Life” technique. Previous findings have suggested that the Flash-for-Life technique may be more effective at getting resistant unbuckled student-drivers at a large university to buckle up. The current paper compares the efficacy of the two interventions at two community supermarket locations. These locations offer a more diverse sample of participants that allow for a better generalization of results. Additionally, the paper focuses on positive and negative facial expressions and hand gestures to each of the respective signs and address whether the certain aspects of the prompting techniques have a significant impact on increasing belt use. Data to be collected. |
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| Positive vs. Negative Antecedent Prompting for Litter Control: A Community-Based Systematic Investigation of Relative Effectiveness. |
| ELISE A. DRAKE (Virginia Tech), Kristen Davidson (Virginia Tech), Rachael E. Budowle (Center for Applied Behavior Systems, Virginia Tech), E. Scott Geller (Virginia Tech), Xin Zhao (Virginia Tech) |
| Abstract: Behavioral science is an area with great potential to aid in researching and evaluating environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs). Knowing what action to take to ensure environmental sustainability requires an understanding of how interventions to change environmentally degrading behaviors can be most effective at increasing the frequency of ERBs. One of the most obvious examples of environmental degradation is litter. Litter, defined here as misplaced waste material (Geller, Winett, & Everett, 1982), is a form of environmental pollution that not only degrades the quality of the environment but also proves costly to taxpayers. A wide variety of ecological and monetary benefits result from a decrease in litter. The current research examined the effectiveness of positive vs. negative antecedent message prompts to reduce littering behavior. A methodology similar to the one used by Geller, Witmer, and Orebaugh (1976), in which handbills containing weekly supermarket specials and special anti-litter message prompts were distributed at local community shopping centers, was used daily during a two-week period. Results described will include differential effects of antecedent prompts, as well as gender effects on litter behavior. Conclusions regarding effectiveness of message prompt type (positive vs. negative) on litter behaviors will be discussed. |
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| Increasing Environmentally Sustainable Behavior: Using Multiple Interventions to Increase the Use of Reusable Bags. |
| STEPHANIE G CASTELLANO CASTELLANO (Virginia Tech), Matthew G. Cox (Virginia Tech), Rachael E. Budowle (Center for Applied Behavior Systems, Virginia Tech), Megan Marie Lyons (Virginia Tech), E. Scott Geller (Virginia Tech) |
| Abstract: The excessive use of plastic bags has a significant negative impact on the environment. In addition to being a source of excessive waste in landfills, plastic bags not quickly or easily biodegrade and a significant amount of fossil fuel is required to produce them. Even when plastic bags do biodegrade, tiny toxic particles are released. The plastic bags ending up as pieces of large litter are hazardous to animals and have the potential to clog bodies of water. Community interventions have been proven to increase environmentally sustainable behavior on a large scale. In a previous study, implementation of a public pledge at local grocery stores was shown to actually decrease plastic bag use and increase reusable bags by 20%. In an attempt to build on this research, this study used, in addition to public pledges, prompts and other dynamic intervention strategies to increase the efficacy of previous research. Data will be collected and discussed in the context of community interventions. |
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| Behavior Analysis in Organizations: Desperate Times Call for Great Measures (of OCB). |
| CYNTHIA MICHELLE FIFE (Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University) |
| Abstract: With the current state of the economy, individuals are justifiably concerned about the security of their jobs and organizations. The stability of the economic system relies on the success and stability of organizations. So what is fundamental to the stability and success of organizations? Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), or extra-role helping behavior. Since 1963, experts have recognized the necessity of OCB to organization survival. Despite this acknowledgement, there is no sound assessment of OCB for the workplace. This study directly addresses that need. The OCB assessment developed in this study is designed to reflect all dimensions of the OCB construct, and the social environment in which OCB decisions are made. The assessment will be pilot tested on undergraduate students at a large research university, and professionals employed in local government, safety, real estate, and construction industries. At this time, data is yet to be collected. Upon completion of the study, an easy-to administer, meaningful, and accurate assessment of OCB will be available to organizations of all sizes and industries. Identification of new employees who are likely to help, and methods for increasing helping among current employees, will no doubt increase organizational stability in an increasingly unstable economic environment. |
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| Neurogenetics and problem behavior in people with intellectual/developmental disabilities |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 128 |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Discussant: Peter McGill (Tizard Centre, University of Kent) |
| Abstract: This symposium will focus on interactions between neurogenetics and problem behavior in people with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Neurogenetics focuses on the genetic regulation of neuronal and glial cells in the nervous system. Recent findings have shown that polymorphisms in promoter genes for enzymes that regulate cellular function can influence the expression of violent behavior in general population and schizophrenic samples. The goal of this symposium, chaired by Craig Kennedy, is to present recent findings on how genes interact with the problem behavior of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD). In the first presentation by Paul Langthorne, gene x environment interactions are studied in relation to the expression of problem behavior in people with either Fragile-X or Smith-Magenis genetic syndromes. The next paper, presented by Michael May, is an association study between monoamine oxidase A promoter gene polymorphisms and the occurrence of problem behavior in adults with I/DD. The final paper, presented by Craig Kennedy, will look at gene x gene interactions for monoaminergic circuits and their associations with the problem behavior of adults with I/DD. Peter McGill will provide a discussion of these findings. |
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| Problem behavior in fragile X and Smith-Magenis syndromes: A preliminary experimental analysis of gene-environment interactions |
| PAUL D. LANGTHORNE (Tizard Centre), Peter McGill (Tizard Centre, University of Kent) |
| Abstract: There has been increased attention, in recent years, to the role of gene-environment interactions (GxE) in the development and maintenance of problem behaviour displayed by individuals with developmental disabilities. It has been suggested that genetic variables may influence the reinforcing value of some of the consequences commonly maintaining problem behavior. The current study examined this thesis by analysing the function of problem behavior displayed by children with fragile X and Smith-Magenis syndromes. Experimental functional analyses were conducted with 8 children with each diagnosis. These groups were selected as prior research suggested differences in the probability of individuals with these syndromes displaying attention-maintained problem behavior. Analysis of the data gathered will consider a) the extent to which the problem behaviour of participants was sensitive to environmental influence and b) the extent of between-group differences in the function served by problem behavior. |
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| A Functional Polymorphism in the Monoamine Oxidase A Gene is Associated with Problem Behavior in Adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities |
| MICHAEL E. MAY (Southern Illinois University), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: A functional polymorphism in the promoter of the gene encoding monoamine oxidase A (MAOA; EC 1.4.3.4) has been associated with problem behavior in various general and clinical populations. In this study, the aim was to examine the association of MAOA alleles in adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) with established histories of problem behavior. DNA samples and behavioral records were obtained from adult males with I/DD, distinguished only by the presence or absence of problem behavior. These data were compared with a gender, ethnicity, and age-matched contrast sample. About 43% (15/35) of adults with I/DD and problem behavior possessed the short allele (3 repeats) version of the MAOA gene. In comparison, 20% (7/35) of adults with I/DD and no problem behavior and 20% (7/35) of the contrast group had the short-allele MAOA polymorphism. Therefore, a common variant in the MAOA gene may be associated with problem behavior in adults with I/DD. However, a better understanding of neurogenetic contributions to problem behavior may be required for a more complete understanding of the etiology of these behaviors. |
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| Serotonin Transporter Polymorphisms and Aggression in Adult Males with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities |
| Michael E. May (Southern Illinois University), CRAIG H. KENNEDY (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: The serotonin transporter (SERT) gene has been investigated for its association with specific behavioral phenotypes in various general and clinical populations. Although results of these investigations are equivocal, recent efforts suggest a link between the genes and problem behavior in subgroups of people with I/DD. The aim in this study was twofold. The first aim was to examine the association of the promoter region (5-HTTLPR) and a variable number tandem repeat in the second intron (STin2) in adult males with and without intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) for an association. The second aim was to examine the association of the two SERT polymorphisms with problem behavior in people with I/DD compared to people without problem behavior. DNA samples and behavioral records were obtained from adult males with I/DD, distinguished only by the presence or absence of problem behavior. These data were compared with a matched contrast sample. No association was found between either SERT polymorphism and problem behavior. The failure to establish a single-gene association with problem behavior in the current study suggests there may be other candidate genes or interactions between genes that increase susceptibility to environmental contingencies occasioning problem behavior in people with I/DD. |
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| Assessment and treatment of problem behavior exhibited by individuals with high functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 120 A |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Henry S. Roane (University of Nebraska Medical Center & Munroe-Meyer Institute) |
| Discussant: Dorothea C. Lerman (University of Houston-Clear Lake) |
| CE Instructor: Claire St Peter Pipkin, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Although destructive behavior among individuals with autism and related disorders has received considerable attention in the extant literature, few investigations have examined the occurrence of destructive behavior in individuals with high functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger’s Disorder (AD). These diagnoses present unique clinical challenges as those individuals generally have relatively high IQ scores (i.e., 70 or higher) and relatively well-developed verbal repertoires, while also exhibiting impaired social functioning and maladaptive behavior. The current symposium is designed to highlight current research with this population. The first study describes the successful treatment of perseverative conversations through the use of a signaled DRO paradigm. The second study describes a discrimination training procedure in which participant mands were only reinforced in the presence of a specific discriminative stimulus while destructive behavior was placed on extinction. In the final study, a social skills training procedure was used to augment schedule thinning within the treatment of destructive behavior. These studies will be discussed with specific regard to treatment considerations for individuals with HFA and AD and within the general context of reinforcement-based treatments for destructive behavior. |
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| Treatment of Perseverative Comments in a Child Diagnosed with High Functioning Autism |
| KASEY STEPHENSON (Munroe-Meyer Institute; UNMC), Henry S. Roane (University of Nebraska Medical Center & Munroe-Meyer Institute), Rebecca A. Veenstra (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center) |
| Abstract: Individuals with high functioning autism (HFA) exhibit a variety of repetitive behaviors such as engaging in perseverative speech (Rehfeldt & Chambers, 2003). In the current study a signaled differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) procedure was implemented with a child diagnosed with HFA who engaged in near exclusive perseverative vocalizations on a restricted set of topics (e.g., Star Wars, Kimonos, and Tea). Specifically, in the DRO contingency access to and reinforcement of perseverative vocalizations was delivered contingent upon the omission of perseverative comments for a pre-specified interval (ranging from 60 to 300 s). In addition, separate discriminative stimuli were employed to signal when perseverative comments (i.e., pictures of the topics of perseverative topics) or when alternative comments (i.e., pictures of topics deemed socially appropriate) would be differentially reinforced. The intervention successfully decreased perseverative vocalizations and increased appropriate vocalizations across three different sets of therapists. In addition, the number of conversational topics increased during treatment relative to baseline. Two-week follow-up data indicate treatment maintenance. Results suggested that the signaled DRO functioned as an effective means for not only reducing perseverative vocalizations but also increasing appropriate vocalizations. |
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| The Boss Hat protocol: A treatment for destructive behavior reinforced by increased caregiver compliance with the child's mands |
| REBECCA A. VEENSTRA (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center), Wayne Fisher (Munroe-Meyer Institute, UNMC), Henry S. Roane (University of Nebraska Medical Center & Munroe-Meyer Institute), Terry Falcomata (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center), Kelly J. Bouxsein (UNMC), Joanna Lomas (Marcus Institute) |
| Abstract: Individuals diagnosed with high functioning autism (HFA) typically have well-developed verbal behavior repertoires with which to request both proximal (e.g., “Give me that.”) and distal (e.g., “Take me to the zoo.”) reinforcers. Previous research has shown that intense destructive behavior may be evoked when such requests (or mands) are denied and may function to increase the probability of reinforcement of mands (i.e., destructive behavior functioning as a pre-current response for mands; e.g., Bowman et al., 1997). The current research investigated the effects of a discrimination training procedure in which participant mands were only reinforced in the presence of a specific discriminative stimulus while destructive behavior was placed on extinction. Specifically, a discriminative stimulus (e.g., a hat or necklace) was used to signal to the participants when they were in “control” of the situation (i.e., others would comply with his or her mands) and when they are not in “control” of the situation (i.e., he or she was required to comply with other’s mands and destructive behavior was not reinforced). Results indicate that this procedure was effective at decreasing destructive behavior while allowing caregivers to limit when and which child mands would produce reinforcement. |
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| Social Skills Training in the Treatment of Problem Behavior in an Individual with Asperger’s Syndrome |
| HEATHER K. JENNETT (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Ainsley Thompson (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: One of the primary diagnostic characteristics of Asperger’s Syndrome is a deficit in social skills (DSM-IV, 2000). Individuals who engage in problem behavior such as aggression, self-injury, or property destruction may do so because of deficits in social skills (Duncan, Matson, Bamburg, Cherry, & Buckley, 1999). Therefore, teaching social skills to these individuals may help to improve problem behavior by altering the establishing operation for the problem behavior. The current study will focus on teaching social skills as an adjunct to typical reinforcement based treatments. An individual diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome participated and was treated for aggression and property destruction. Following functional analyses, an initial treatment consisting of a multiple schedule of reinforcement was developed and found to be effective in reducing problem behavior. However, when reinforcement thinning was initiated, the reduction did not maintain. After three relevant social skills were taught, reinforcement thinning was continued and a subsequent reduction in problem behavior was observed. |
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| Community Based Approaches to Managing Challenging Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 129 A |
| Chair: Valeria Parejo (Human Development Center) |
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| Promoting Healthy Behaviors in an Adult Diagnosed with Mental Retardation and Schizophrenia via Token Economy |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| VALERIA PAREJO (Human Development Center, Inc.), Kimberly E. Church (Human Development Center, Inc.) |
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| Abstract: Token economies have proven effective in changing behavior of individuals in large settings such as psychiatric institutions. This experiment will use this reinforcement schedule in a community-based setting to test its effectiveness in a less controlled environment. The subject of this study lives in his own home. His daily living skills (hygiene, feeding, verbal behavior) have decreased significantly. Previously reinforcing stimuli have decreased in value. Implementation of a token economy will bring novelty and help pinpoint currently effective reinforcers. This multiple-baseline analysis will be conducted in the subject’s home during the times in which he is not attending his adult day training program. Baseline data will be collected for 4 weeks. Subsequent phases will be staggered every 4 weeks as long as the data is stable, unless there is a countertherapeutic trend. The first behaviors to be targeted will be eating and drinking appropriate amounts. The second phase will focus on personal hygiene. The third phase will deal with verbal communication. Social validity measures will include number of hospitalizations and level of prompting on each targeted behavior. Increasing self-care behaviors is important because the reduction in these skills was followed by several psychiatric and medical hospitalizations. Data to be collected. |
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| Implementing active support procedures to reduce challenging behaviour in community homes |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| Sandy Toogood (Wales Centre for Behaviour Analysis, School of Psychology, Bangor University), TRACEY ALLIS (North Wales NHS Trust), Simon Sherriff (North Wales NHS Trust), Sarah Edgehill (North Wales NHS Trust) |
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| Abstract: Active support (AS) is a collection of behaviourally based procedures for organising small community group homes. A number of studies have shown that implementing AS increases engagement by clients in everyday activities. These studies report greater amounts of more effective assistance from staff following AS implementation and suggest that this change accounts for most of the increase in client engagement. Less is known about the impact of implementing AS on challenging behaviour, however. Theoretically, implementing AS should modify establishing operations that evoke challenging behaviour in some individuals, e.g., attention and/or tangible deprivation, and/or aversive properties of task demand. We used a MBL across settings design to assess the impact of implementing AS on client engagement and upon challenging behaviour. We collected observational data directly from within the natural environment using multiple event real time coding and had staff construct continuous hourly partial interval records. We anticipate systematic increases in client levels of engagement and reductions in client levels of challenging behaviour as staff adopt and implement the procedures. |
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| Behavior Modification: Reinforcement and/or Punishment? |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MICHAEL VOLTAIRE (Nova Southeastern University) |
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| Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to review the concepts of reinforcement and punishment and how behavior modifiers have used them to manage humans’ behavior problem. There is an abundant literature that supports the use of reinforcement procedures and their beneficial effects on behavior change. There is also ample literature evidence in the literature of behavior modification that punishment procedures can lead to behavior change. Although numerous punishment-based procedures have been developed, behavior modifiers have primarily championed the use of reinforcement-based procedures. This paper will also examine the various factors that have contributed to the limited use of punishment as an effective agent of behavioral change (e.g., ethical considerations, the traditional definition of punishment as compared to the behavioral definition of punishment, the negative connotation of the word “punishment”, the ineffectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent to potential offenders, the adverse effects associated with the delivery of punishers, and so on). |
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| Effects of various procedures on engagement in activities and escaped maintained behaviors in older adults. |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 132 BC |
| Area: DEV/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Diana J. Walker (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Discussant: John P. Smagner (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: The growth of the older adult population is growing in national and international awareness. This population growth comes with increasing needs for behavioral support for seniors and their caregivers to enjoy old age. These presentations will address the benefits of engagement in activities on the maintenance of mental and physical health as well as its effective on the reduction of escape-maintained behaviors of adults and older adults. Procedures to increase engagement in activities will be evaluated and discussed. |
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| The effects of contingent prompts and praise on older adults' engagement in leisurely activities. |
| VINH DANG (Cornerstone Services, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Engagement in daily activities has been found by many studies as having the benefits of reducing the risk of developing dementia. This issue becomes increasing socially significant as the aging of America continues. Engelman, Altus, & Mathews (1999) reported the positive effects of staff's contingent use of prompt and praise on the engagement in daily activities by five older adults with dementia in an assisted living facility. The procedures were replicated in a vocational day program with six older adults with diagnoses of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The procedure involved staff checking in with each participant once every 15 minutes, providing suggestions of leisurely activities to engage in if participants are not engaged, and praising participants who are engaged. The data show increased engagement in leisurely activities with four participants and unclear effect for two participants. Staff and participants’ responses show the procedure to have social validity and can be utilized in applied settings. The social significance, results of the study, suggestions for future research, along with techniques of observation for time-sampling recording will be discussed. |
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| Effects of a lottery on independent engagement in leisure activities by adults with developmental disabilities |
| TRISTA ROBINSON (Seguin Services) |
| Abstract: The present study introduced a lottery system in a residential facility for adults with developmental disabilities. Entries into the lottery were contingent upon appropriate participation in leisure activities. All 5 participants exhibited low levels of activity participation during baseline. The introduction of a weekly lottery drawing for $20.00 increased independent engagement over baseline for 4 of 5 participants. Independent engagement returned to near baseline levels upon withdrawal of the lottery. Reintroduction of the weekly drawing again increased levels of independent engagement, but not at levels observed during the first intervention phase. Advantages, disadvantages, and suggestions for future research are discussed. |
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| The effects of activity choice on escape-maintained problem behavior. |
| ERIKA M WINSTON (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Abstract: Although many have acknowledged the importance of the availability of choice (Davis, Young, Cherry, Dahman, & Rehfeldt, 2004; Parsons & Reid, 1990; Reid, Parsons, & Green, 1998), persons with developmental disabilities all too frequently are not given the opportunity to make choices in their daily lives (Parsons, Reid, Reynolds, & Bumgarner, 1990; Reid, Green, & Parsons, 2003). Allowing adults with developmental disabilities to make choices throughout the day can help improve quality of life for those individuals while minimally increasing the demands placed on staff. The present study will measure the effects of choice between two activities on the problem behavior of adults with developmental disabilities attending day program at a moderately sized residential facility. Data is to be collected and effects, implications, social validity, and suggestions for future research will be discussed. Ability for additional facilities to implement the procedures as well as advantages and disadvantages will also be discussed. |
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| Why we Must Cease Avoiding Avoidance: Explaining Human Avoidance and Anxiety Requires Different Talk (and Processes) |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 228 |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: The current series of papers reports on a modern program of research in to human avoidance and anxiety in terms of derived stimulus relations. While traditional approaches to the analysis of avoidance have served us well, the concept of derived stimulus relations has facilitated rapid advances in research in this domain. The first paper in the series provides an overview of the history and current progress of avoidance research with humans and points the way towards some exciting new research questions. The second paper describes an experiment designed to assess the relationship between the development of functional classes and derived stimulus relations in an attempt to understand more fully the emergence and maintenance of avoidance repertoires. The third paper provides a modern account of human anxiety in terms of approach-avoidance conflicts, and provides empirical data to support the account. Finally, the fourth paper describes an empirical examination of the role of aversive conditioning in the emergence of processing and attentional biases commonly observed for anxious clients. |
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| A Contemporary Behavioral Analysis of Anxiety and Avoidance |
| SIMON DYMOND (Swansea University), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: Despite the central status of avoidance in explaining the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders, surprisingly little behavioral research has been conducted on human avoidance. In the present paper, first we provide a brief review of the empirical literature on avoidance. Next, we describe the implications of research on derived relational responding and the transformation of functions for a contemporary behavioral account of avoidance, before providing several illustrative research examples of laboratory-based analogs of key clinical treatment processes. Finally, we suggest some challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for behavioral research on anxiety and avoidance. |
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| Functional Classes of Anxiety-Provoking Stimuli Interfere with Arbitrary Equivalence Class Formation: A Process-Based Account. |
| IAN THOMAS TYNDALL (AMCD), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Jack E. James (NUI, Galway) |
| Abstract: The present experiment examined the effects of stimuli with aversive or neutral functions on derived relational responding to elucidate how stimulus function interacts with verbal processes. Fifty-seven subjects were exposed to an associative conditioning procedure, Phase 1, that paired six nonsense syllables with aversive images, and a further six stimuli with neutral images. Phase 2 involved selecting one aversive CS and one neutral CS and established a different operant response function for each stimulus. Phase 3 comprised a transfer-of-functions that examined whether the appropriate operant response transferred to the remaining five stimuli in each functional class by virtue of their previously established shared respondent functions. Forty-five of 57 subjects demonstrated the transfer of stimulus functions and progressed to Phase 4 equivalence training. Forty-two subjects were subsequently exposed to Phase 5 equivalence testing, 21 in each of the two conditions, Similar Aversive and Similar Neutral. Subjects took significantly longer to form stimulus equivalence classes in the Similar Aversive than the Similar Neutral condition (t = .032). The data suggest that cognitive-oriented therapy strategies designed to alter aversive stimulus classes, such as verbal categories, for anxiety-disordered clients may face significant challenges. |
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| Human Anxiety and Approach-Avoidance Conflicts: An Experimental Analysis |
| STEVEN ROBERT GANNON (NUI Maynooth), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Simon Dymond (Swansea University), Jonathan W. Kanter (Department of Psychology/University of Wisconsin,-Milwaukee) |
| Abstract: The present paper reports on an experiment which first aimed to identify aversive (shock) and appetitive (money) stimuli of equal strength for each subject. Next, a non-word stimulus, B1, was established as a discriminative stimulus for avoiding shock, while B2 was established as a discriminative stimulus for approaching money. Two four-member equivalence classes (A1-B1-C1-D1 and A2-B2-C2-D2) were then trained and tested. Participants were then presented with C1 and C2 to test for the derived transfer of avoidance and approach functions, respectively. C1C2, C2C1, C1D1 and C2D2 compound stimuli were then presented in extinction. The results demonstrate consistency in response patterns across subjects when compound pairs were members of the same equivalence class, but variation across and not within subjects when compound pairs were members of different equivalence classes. Response delays and elevated self-reported anxiety levels were also recorded when compound pairs were members of different equivalence classes. |
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| Attentional bias for laboratory-induced threat and transfer of color-naming interference |
| MARIA SONSOLES VALDIVIA-SALAS (University at Albany, State University of New York), John P. Forsyth (University at Albany, SUNY), Carmen Luciano Soriano (University Almer&íacute;a, Spain) |
| Abstract: Numerous studies have shown that anxious individuals selectively and disproportionately attend to unpleasant emotional stimuli. Such threat-biased processing is assumed to develop as a consequence of aversive emotional learning, but data showing that aversive conditioning contributes to the development and maintenance of processing biases is scarce. The present study aimed to fill this gap and had two main goals: first, to examine the effects of an aversive conditioning procedure on attentional bias for threat as index using a Stroop interference task. The second goal was to test for the transfer of Stroop color-naming interference across members of an equivalence class. Healthy college students were presented with a Stroop task containing six non-sense words: A1 (CS+), A2 (CS-), C1, C2 and two neutral words. Response latency and errors during the Stroop task were measured at (1) baseline; (2) after conditioning A1 to CO2-enriched air, and A2 to normal room air; and (3) after training four conditional discriminations: A1-B1, B1-C1, A2-B2, and A2-C2. This research, along with its implications for understanding the role of language in contributing to anxious suffering, will be described. |
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| Professional Development Series: Introductory Series: Quantitative Analysis of Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 225 |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Sarah Cowie (University of Auckland) |
| M. CHRISTOPHER NEWLAND (Auburn University) |
| JOHN A. NEVIN (University of New Hampshire) |
| PETER KILLEEN (Arizona State University) |
| ARMANDO MACHADO (University of Minho) |
| Abstract: Panelists will provide attendees with basic overview of the quantitative analysis of behavior. |
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| Science Board Translational Series: Choice |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 226 AB |
| Area: EAB/DEV; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Randolph C. Grace (University of Canterbury) |
| Discussant: Randolph C. Grace (University of Canterbury) |
| Abstract: Choice has been a major topic in the experimental analysis of behavior since Herrnstein’s (1961) pioneering study. His finding – that response allocation matched the proportion of reinforcers obtained from each alternative – became known as the matching law and stimulated development of models for behavioral choice such as the quantitative law of effect and delay-reduction theory. Most of this research has been conducted with nonhumans such as pigeons and rats, although the basic findings have also been replicated with humans. In broad terms, the question addressed by this symposium is, can principles derived from research on choice with nonhumans be usefully applied to humans? The symposium will include presentations by three eminent researchers – James Snyder, Jack McDowell, and Edmund Fantino – who have successfully applied behavioral models to human choice in situations of practical and clinical significance. These presentations will show in various ways how results from basic research on choice have increased our understanding of human behavior. |
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| Constructive or Antisocial Behavior: Doing What Works |
| JAMES SNYDER (Wichita State University) |
| Abstract: Data on children’s choice behavior during social interaction in family and peer environments are examined as processes contributing to the development of antisocial behavior. Four hours of interaction of 267 5 to 6 year-old children with their parents were observed and coded for parental negative reinforcement of child aversive behavior (“giving in” during conflict) , and 1½ hours of the children’s interaction with same gender classmates were observed and coded for peer positive reinforcement of child norm-violating discourse and rehearsal. In each case, children’s choice behavior (aversive versus not, and norm-violating discourse and rehearsal versus not) fit a reinforcement-choice model: the relative rate at which children were observed to engage in the target behavior was reliably and strongly correlated with the relative rate at which that behavior (compared to other behaviors) resulted in social reinforcement. In turn, the rates at which children displayed aversive behavior during parent-child interaction and norm-violating discourse and rehearsal during peer interaction predicted growth in multi-setting displays of antisocial behavior over the next 2 years. The findings support the notion that interventions which alter contingencies in natural social interaction (e.g., parent skills training, good behavior game) are potent methods to prevent and treat antisocial behavior. |
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| From Human Social Behavior in Natural Environments to the Laboratory and Back |
| JACK J. MCDOWELL (Emory University) |
| Abstract: Behavior analysis as pure basic science focuses on behavior in controlled laboratory environments. Many findings from the basic science, including matching theory, can be translated to the human social environment. A different approach begins with issues in human social behavior, translates them into laboratory forms, and then returns relevant findings to the natural human environment. Both approaches are valuable, although the latter is less often pursued. In both cases, the complete return trip to the natural environment entails confirming laboratory findings using human subjects, testing the confirmed findings in engineered human social environments, and finally, testing the findings in completely undisturbed natural human environments. The last step is critical but rarely taken. |
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| Principles of Choice and Their Applications |
| EDMUND J. FANTINO (University of California, San Diego), Stephanie S. Stolarz-Fantino (University of California, San Diego) |
| Abstract: Study of quantitative theories of choice, of the situations in which information about reinforcing events is selected, and of behavioral analogs to decision-making problems all have important theoretical implications and have wide generality. However the principles that have emerged from this research also have significant application to the decisions we make in our everyday lives. |
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| Novel Methods |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 227 BC |
| Chair: Conor Linehan (University of Lincoln, UK) |
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| Eye Movements during Anagram Reading: Contributions for Textual and Intraverbal Behavior Experimental Analysis |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CANDIDO PESSOA (Universidade de São Paulo), Peter Endemann (Universidade de São Paulo), Gerson A. Y. Tomanari (University of Sao Paulo) |
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| Abstract: Eye-movements are important pre-current behavior for reading. Eye-movements of two adults were analyzed during successive presentation of five-letters anagrams. Letters were always disposed one on each corner and one on the center of a computer screen. Task consisted in vocalizing words using all five letters. Vocalization had verbal praise delivered intermittently as consequence. In one single session 30 anagrams were successively presented. ITI were about 10-sec. Each anagram was displayed until vocalization or for 20-sec maximum. If there was no vocalization after 20-sec, the anagram was withdraw, no praise was delivered and a new anagram was displayed after ITI. The first 20 anagrams formed just one word through a sequence starting at center, then lower left and then anti-clockwise. The last 10 anagrams also formed words in different sequences. Vocalized words, latency from anagram’s presentation to vocalization, and eye-movements were registered. Participants vocalized only words formed by the sequence described above. Eye-movements as observing responses produced different sequences of letters as discriminative stimuli for correct vocalization. Some discriminative stimuli had point-to-point correspondence with response characterizing textual behavior. Others had not, possibly characterizing intraverbal behavior. Data showed that reading may involve textual and intraverbal behavior. |
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| Using Skin Conductance and Free Operant Measures as Behavioral Indices of “Enjoyment” in Computer Game Playing. |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CONOR LINEHAN (University of Lincoln, UK), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
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| Abstract: Skin Conductance Level (SCL) represents a potentially valuable, but as yet untested, real-time method of discriminating participants' level of engagement with ongoing tasks, such as computer games. The current experiment was conducted in order to assess whether Skin conductance could be used to predict participants' preference across a number of games. Eleven participants were presented with six short computer games, each defined in terms of two main variables: speed (three levels) and number of stimuli (two levels). Participants were then presented with a free operant choice to re-play one of these games. SCL was recorded throughout the course of the experiment and analysed in blocks that corresponded to game presentation. An analysis of SCL data identified different SCL trajectories across the course of games that served as respectable predictors of free operant choice. Thus, it appears possible to discriminate participants’ enjoyment of, or engagement with, a computer game in real time, from an analysis of their physiological response. |
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| CANCELLED: Using Mobile Phones in Behavioural Research |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| PHILIP GEE (School of Psychology, University of Plymouth) |
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| Abstract: Imagine the possibilities if most rats or pigeons were equipped with a device that allowed us to present stimuli and record responses when and wherever they were. Now consider that many people carry just such a device most of the time.
This presentation will start with brief review of behavioural research using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. These systems allow participants to telephone to report an event, or simply as a response to a stimulus. The system can also call out and present stimuli or ask for information according to a pre-programmed schedule or sampling frame.
Most such research to date has involved fixed-line telephones, but the explosion in mobile phone ownership brings exciting new possibilities. Recent studies using interactive voice response systems and mobile telephones will be reported, including preliminary data on schedule effects where the mobile telephone serves as a the equivalent of the lever in a Skinner box. Possible directions for future research and therapeutic uses will also be discussed. |
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| Defining Evidence-Based Practice for Students with Severe Disabilities |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 122 BC |
| Area: EDC/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Diane Browder (University of North Carolina, Charlotte) |
| Discussant: Robert H. Horner (University of Oregon) |
| Abstract: Determining evidence-based practice requires identifying a practice, locating research on the practice, evaluating the quality of each study, and making a determination of whether the subset of studies that meet these quality guidelines support the practice. Although groups like the IES’ What Works Clearinghouse have begun to evaluate practices, research on students with severe developmental disabilities may be overlooked in these endeavors. One challenge is that nearly all intervention studies with students with severe disabilities use single subject designs. In 2005, a group led by Robert Horner defined quality indicators for single subject research. This symposium will be based on three published reviews of evidence-based practice that applied the Horner et al. (2005) criteria. The papers will include discussions of how a practice can be derived from the research, how to evaluate a defined practice, and how variations in definitions of the criteria can change the overall outcome. Recommendations will be given for future research and practice |
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| Deriving Evidence-Based Practices in Reading and Mathematics for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities |
| FRED SPOONER (UNC Charlotte), Diane Browder (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Pamela Mims (University of North Carolina-Charlotte), Lynn Ahlgrim-Delzell (UNC Charlotte) |
| Abstract: Using the Horner et al. (2005) quality indicator criteria for identifying evidence-based practices for single subject design research, we evaluated and synthesized published studies in the special education literature to derive practices that should be implemented to teach reading and mathematics to students with significant cognitive disabilities. In both cases, standards suggested by the respective learned groups were (i.e., National Reading Panel and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) used to evaluate the content of what was taught, and electronic and print resources were searched (reading, 1975-2003; mathematics, 1975-2005). Eighty-eight reading studies were identified, fifty-six of which met all four of the Horner et al. criteria to teach sight words and symbols related to literacy using systematic prompting techniques in a repeated (massed) trial format. In mathematics, 54 studies applied a single subject designs and 19 met all criteria which fell into two of the NCTM (2000) standards of Numbers and Operations and Measurement. Money (e.g., matching coins, counting and identification of coins and bills), purchasing, and computational skills were the most common mathematics skills and the most common instructional strategy was systematic instruction. The analyses (e.g., Horner et al. criteria, meta-analysis) to derive evidence-based practice are described |
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| Reviewing the Evidence Base for Using Time Delay to Teach Picture and Word Recognition to Students with Severe Developmental Disabilities |
| DIANE BROWDER (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Lynn Ahlgrim-Delzell (UNC Charlotte), Fred Spooner (UNC Charlotte), Joshua Baker (UNC Charlotte), Pamela Mims (University of North Carolina-Charlotte) |
| Abstract: A review of the literature was conducted for articles published between 1975 and 2007 on the application of time delay as an instructional procedure to teach word and picture recognition to students with severe developmental disabilities in an effort to evaluate time delay as an evidence-based practice. A total of 30 experiments were analyzed using quality indicators for single-subject design research. In general, the results supported that time delay was an evidence-based practice for teaching picture and sight word recognition supported by standards for evidence-based practice proposed by Horner et al. (2005). One of the lessons learned in conducting the review was that the practice of time delay had to be operationally defined using principles of applied behavior analysis. Although developed to be an intervention to transfer stimulus control with near errorless learning, even those studies that met the criteria for time delay and also had all quality indicators did not report how the components of time delay were applied |
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| Meta-Analysis of Single Subject Research: A Comparison of Methods as Applied to Instructional Interventions for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities |
| LYNN AHLGRIM-DELZELL (UNC Charlotte), Claudia Flowers (UNC Charlotte), Diane Browder (University of North Carolina, Charlotte) |
| Abstract: This study, currently being conducted, is applying up to five proposed meta-analytic methods for single-subject research to the existing extensive literature database of single-subject studies gathered for the two previously described papers. The research questions for this study are: (a) Do the techniques produce similar results? (b) How do the results of these techniques compare to traditional visual analysis of data? and (c) Which technique(s) produce results that are more easily interpretable to consumers of such research? A recent review of the literature on meta-analytic methods for single-subject research designs found 13 different proposed meta-analytic techniques. The techniques range from simple, nonparametric calculations of percent of non-overlapping data points (PND, Scruggs, Mastropieri, & Castro, 1987) to more complicated approaches such as interrupted time series (Crosby, 1993), trend effect size (Center, Skiba, & Casey, 1985-1986), and a regression-based model (Allison & Gorman, 1993). Few studies compare these different techniques (e.g., Brossart, Parker, Olson, Mahadeva, 2006; Busse, Kratochwill, & Elliott, 1995; Campbell, 2004). Additional research is needed to provide the field with information about the methods in order to make informed judgments regarding which method to employ |
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| Intervening Effectively in Schools: Developing Systems for Implementation of Function-based Interventions |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 121 BC |
| Area: EDC/CSE; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Cynthia M. Anderson (University of Oregon) |
| Discussant: Teri Palmer (Private Practice) |
| CE Instructor: Jeffrey H. Tiger, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Research suggests that interventions derived from a functional assessment are more likely to be effective than those that are not and a growing body of research documents the utility of function-based interventions in schools and community settings and with individuals presenting with a variety of problems. Further, the technology of functional assessment has evolved such that a range of methods now are available to fit various contexts and presenting problems. In spite of these advances however, function-based support is not widespread in schools. Many schools attest to doing functional assessments however methods often are not implemented with fidelity or not used to develop function-based interventions. One reason for this lack of implementation may be that systems for implementing function-based supports in school settings have not been clearly defined. In this presentation we describe key features necessary for implementation of function-based interventions in school settings based on work across three states, Florida, Oregon, and Washington. Data from schools and school districts documenting outcomes of systems-change will be provided. In addition, implications for behavior analysts working in school settings will be discussed. |
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| Scaling behavior analysis: Implementing function-based support across schools and districts |
| CYNTHIA M. ANDERSON (University of Oregon), Nadia Katul-Sampson (University of Oregon), Renee K. Van Norman (University of Oregon) |
| Abstract: Although function-based interventions are demonstrably effective, behavior analysts have not been successful in guiding schools to implement this technology at scale (i.e., across entire schools, school districts, and states) in a manner that is efficacious, efficient, and sustainable. Systems for implementing function-based support in schools are necessary to enhance fidelity and sustainability. In this presentation we describe a framework for schools attempting to support the social behavior of all students. The framework, “Intensive Positive Behavior Support” builds off a universal, school-wide intervention and consists of two additional tiers, secondary and tertiary interventions. Secondary interventions are group interventions designed to be implemented quickly when a need is identified and tertiary interventions require a pre-treatment functional assessment. We delineate key practices (e.g., multiple-methods of functional assessment), systems (e.g., teams, training, levels of expertise required), and outcome measures (i.e., data-based decision-making and progress monitoring) needed for successful implementation of a three-tiered framework in schools. Finally, we provide outcome data documenting (a) fidelity of implementation, (b) changes in student behavior, and (c) social validity across multiple school districts. |
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| Prevent-Teach-Reinforce: An Effective and Efficient Process for Schools |
| DONALD K. KINCAID (University of South Florida), Rose Iovannone (University of South Florida/Florida Mental Health) |
| Abstract: Prevent-Teach-Reinforce is a standardized ABA process that allows teachers, with the assistance of a behavior consultant, to guide the development and implementation of behavioral interventions for students. A randomized control group design was used to investigate whether PTR is more effective than typical interventions used in school settings. The sample included over 200 K-8 students who exhibited severe problem behavior. PTR includes a process for developing a function-based intervention plan that includes three core components: (a) preventing problem behaviors; (b) teaching new replacement behaviors; and (c) reinforcing appropriate replacement behaviors. Interventions were selected and implemented by teachers, who received direct coaching to implement the plan. Outcome measures included fidelity of implementation, impact of contextual conditions, and student change in problem, social, and academic behaviors. Data analysis indicates that students who received PTR showed significantly greater improvements in problem behaviors, social skills and academic engaged time than the comparison group. Teachers gave the PTR intervention high social validity ratings. This research project contributes to the field by providing data that are obtained from both experimental randomized group and single subject designs and school personnel with a collaborative problem-solving ABA process that is effective and efficient. |
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| Scaling the Pyramid: Linking ongoing professional development to increase support for students with problem behavior |
| CAROL ANN DAVIS (University of Washington), Annie McLaughlin (University of Washington) |
| Abstract: The purposes this presentation are to: a) describe a model that develops a sustainable system that can be used by schools and teachers when providing individualized supports for students with chronic behavior problems, and b) present initial implementation data on fidelity of practice and initial child outcomes. This model provides training in the main components of developing and implementing a behavior plan. Data will be provided on: the percent of functional behavioral assessment that are written with fidelity, the percentage and proportion of behavior intervention plans that address the function of the problem behavior, the percentage behavior plans implemented with fidelity in the classroom. In addition, two individual behavior plans will be implemented and data on student outcomes will be presented. |
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| Sustaining the Impact of ABA Programs |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 122 A |
| Area: EDC/CSE; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Kimberly V. Beck, M.A. |
| Chair: Dan Hursh (West Virginia University) |
| VICCI TUCCI (Tucci Learning Solutions, Inc.) |
| L. KEITH MILLER (University of Kansas) |
| RICHARD E. LAITINEN (Tucci Learning Solutions, Inc.) |
| DAN HURSH (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: ABA has developed powerful tools for serving individuals with learning challenges and addressing various personal, social, educational, and vocational needs. The challenge for ABA
professionals is how to assure that the persons who are responsible for serving those individuals and addressing those needs use these tools. The expert consultation or applied research approaches have had only limited and short-term impact. The expert consultation approach fails to utilize the relevant expertise of the persons who experience the learner everyday, the ones who have the most relevant details needed to design effective interventions and programs. The results of applied research may have only limited transfer to everyday situations because experimental arrangements necessary to valid research are not available in most everyday circumstances. Collaborative consultation, coaching, and programming for ongoing implementation are approaches that can contribute to the sustained impact of ABA practices. The panelists each have more than 30 years experience working on sustaining the impact of programs they have designed (e.g., the Competent Learner Model and Sunflower House). The discussion will focus on the common features of the successes the panelists have experienced in these efforts. |
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| Instructional programming to promote generative responding and the formation of equivalence classes |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 121 A |
| Area: EDC/TPC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Chris Ninness (Stephen F. Austin State University) |
| CE Instructor: Gordon A. Defalco, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Emergent or generative responding refers to the emergence of a particular skill, or concept, without direct instruction. That is, an emergent behavior is one that arises from the direct training of some other skill. Identifying the conditions that result in emergent skills allows a teacher to be maximally efficient (i.e., teach one set of skills and others will emerge without direct instruction). This symposia provides 4 examples of procedures to promote emergent responding duing instruction in reading, speaking a second language, and identifying experimental designs. |
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| Cross-modal generalization of letter names |
| TANYA BAYNHAM (University of Kansas), Janna N. Skinner (University of Kansas, Juniper Gardens Children's P), Megan N Stein (University of Kansas), Anna C. Schmidt (University of Kansas), Kathryn Saunders (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: Receptive language repertoires tend to be acquired before expressive repertoires (Rosenberg & Abbeduto, 1993). Results of studies measuring generalization across these modalities have yielded mixed results (e.g., Cuvo & Riva, 1980, Guess, 1969, Wynn & Smith, 2003). It is, therefore, important to identify the conditions under which generalization is likely to occur. The current study examined the effects of training receptive letter identification on expressive letter labeling. Three preschoolers were trained to receptively identify letters using a computerized matching-to-sample procedure. Expressive letter naming was measured during probe sessions. For 3 of 3 participants, receptive training resulted in expressive labeling for some, but not all, letters. Expressive generalization was demonstrated less often for letters with features similar to other letters (e.g., b/d and t/f). A second study specifically targeting difficult-to-discriminate letter pairs is underway. Implications of these results for instructional design will be discussed. |
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| Teaching level-1 Braille reading skills within a stimulus equivalence paradigm to children with progressive visual impairments |
| KAREN A TOUSSAINT (Louisiana State University), Jeff Tiger (Louisiana State University) |
| Abstract: Approximately 8.5 million Americans suffer from a form of macular degeneration, which results in progressive vision loss and the loss of important skills such as reading. Proactive Braille reading instruction may be one means to ease the transition from sighted to severely visually-impaired. The current study is a preliminary evaluation of a teaching package for level 1 Braille (i.e., individual letter identification) with school-aged children with progressive visual impairments. Following a series of pretests, Braille instruction involved training the selection of printed text letters from an array when presented with tactile Braille letters. We then assessed the emergence of symmetrical and transitive relations between the tactile Braille stimuli, the visual printed letters, and their spoken counterparts. Interobserver agreement was collected during at least 25% of sessions and averaged above 90% for correct responding. |
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| Establishment of bidirectional symmetry via multiple exemplar training in pre-school children |
| ROCIO ROSALES (Southern Illinois University), Nancy Huffman (Southern Illinois University), Sadie L Lovett (Southern Illinois University), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The present investigation evaluated the effectiveness of multiple exemplar training (MET) in the facilitation of bidirectional symmetry for typically developing children (ages 3-4 yrs) whose first language was Spanish. Two experiments were conducted in which a multiple probe design was implemented to introduce exemplar training across 3 four-item stimulus sets. Participants were first trained in object-name relations via either conditional discrimination training (in Experiment 1), or a respondent-type training procedure (in Experiment 2). This training was followed by tests for derived name-object relations (i.e., bidirectional symmetry). If participants failed tests for symmetry, multiple exemplar training was implemented in which symmetry relations were explicitly taught with novel stimulus sets. Following multiple exemplar training, symmetry tests were once again conducted with the original training set. Results of Experiment 1 indicate marked improvements in bidirectional symmetry relations following MET. Preliminary results from Experiment 2 indicate the respondent-type training procedure was effective for establishing bidirectional symmetry, and may be a more efficient technique for establishing these relations. |
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| Using a Stimulus Equivalence Instructional Protocol in the Undergraduate Classroom |
| CLARISS A. BARNES (Southern Illinois University), Brooke Diane Walker (SIU Carbondale), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University), Adam D. Hahs (Southern Illinois University), Clariss A. Barnes (Southern Illinois University), Emily Irene Bruen (Southern Illinois University), Amy Plichta (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) |
| Abstract: The purpose of the current research study was to establish derived stimulus relations among course content material in an undergraduate course on disabilities. Specifically, we evaluated whether instruction based on the stimulus equivalence paradigm could be effectively used to teach relationships between the names, definitions, causes, and treatments for various disabilities. Training was delivered in a paper-and-pencil format, which consisted of multiple-choice questionnaires, and taught the name-to-definition, name-to-cause, and cause-to-treatment relations. Pre and post-tests were conducted in a flash-card style fashion and evaluated the definition-to-name, cause-to-name, and treatment-to-name relations. No feedback was delivered during pre and post-test phases, and training continued until mastery. Stability was evaluated at up to three months follow-up. Results suggest that the stimulus equivalence instructional paradigm can be effectively used in a paper-and-pencil format, and enhance class performance in the undergraduate class-room. |
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| Behavioral Safety in the laboratory and in applied settings |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 221 AB |
| Area: OBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Sigurdur Oli Sigurdsson (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) |
| Abstract: Injuries in the workplace result in human suffering and expenses to organizations and society at large. It is important that behavior analysts apply their techniques to this important problem. This symposium will be comprised of four data-based presentations. Two presentations will be delivered on intervention research, and one presentation will be delivered on how to develop and analyze injury data in the design phase of a behavioral safety process in a human services setting. The final presentation will be on the adaptation of delay discounting methodology to occupational risk taking. |
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| A Behavior-Based Safety Approach to Tracking Injuries: Development of a Comprehensive Database |
| SAMANTHA HARDESTY (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Lynn G. Bowman (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Louis P. Hagopian (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Ryan Schwerzmann (The Marcus Institute), Sigurdur Oli Sigurdsson (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) |
| Abstract: Health care workers are at increased risk of work-related injuries, with the leading cause of injury being physical assault by aggressive patients (Calabro & Baranuik, 2003). A behavior-based safety approach focusing on behavioral observation, formal review of data, setting improvement goals and reinforcement for attaining goals can aid in reducing occupational injuries (McSween, 1995). The current study describes the use of a Microsoft Access database to track and analyze staff injuries within a 16-bed inpatient unit for children (aged 3-21 years) hospitalized for the assessment and treatment of severe aggressive and destructive behavior. Injuries were described and entered into the database for approximately 150 clinical staff responsible for the daily care and safety of patients. Specifically, data were collected on the type, severity, and outcome of the injury. In addition, data were collected on patient characteristics (e.g., height, weight, age, diagnoses, etc.). Data will be presented on the relationship between injuries and variables such as patient physical characteristics, diagnosis, and the presence and absence of personal protective equipment. The construction of a comprehensive data tracking system represents an initial step directly in line with the goals of a behavior-based safety strategy, thus allowing for the identification of variables maintaining injuries. Future implications include the development of antecedent and reinforcement-based interventions to reduce injuries in healthcare settings. |
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| The relationship between the number of peer safety observations and recordable incidents: Data revisited and expanded (2001-2008) |
| ANGELA R. LEBBON (Western Michigan University), Sigurdur Oli Sigurdsson (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Tarek Abousaleh (Western Michigan University), John Austin (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: During the course of a Behavior-Based Safety implementation in a food and drink industry site, data were collected on both the number of recordable incidents and peer observations. Employees were trained to discriminate between safe and unsafe behavior, conduct peer observations, and provide verbal feedback to peers. Two employees were selected each week to conduct safety observations on work surroundings and behavior that could potentially result in injury. Data collected from peer observations were utilized to deliver graphic feedback to employees on the percentage safe for work surroundings and behavior. Periodically, managers reviewed graphic feedback with employees, praised employees for conducting observations, and reminded employees to conduct observations. In addition to safety observations and feedback, a monthly lottery was conducted for employees that conducted safety observations. Visual analysis was utilized to examine the relationship between conducting peer observations and the number of recordable incidents. Additionally, a Pearson correlation between peer observations and incidents was -.68. Results suggest that when employees conduct peer observations more frequently, the number of recordable incidents decreases and furthermore, when managers do not support and encourage peer observations, maintaining employee involvement is difficult. |
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| Using video feedback and self-monitoring to improve work posture in an applied setting |
| BRANDON RING (University of Maryland - Baltimore County), Sigurdur Oli Sigurdsson (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Mick J. Needham (Johns Hopkins University), James H. Boscoe (Johns Hopkins University), Kenneth Silverman (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: Musculo-skeletal disorders may result in human pain suffering, and come at a great expense to organizations. Improving posture at employee workstations can decrease the risk of musculo-skeletal disorders. Data were collected on posture of three participants at their own workstations. An intervention package consisting of 1) visual discrimination training of correct vs. incorrect target postures, 2) live video feedback of target posture, and 3) self monitoring of target posture at mock work station. While participants could reliably demonstrate correct posture at mock workstation, results suggested that intervention effects observed at participants’ own workstations were temporary in nature. |
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| Applying a Delay Discounting Paradigm to Occupational Safety: Discounting Risk as a Function of Response Cost |
| SIGURDUR OLI SIGURDSSON (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Oliver Wirth (CDC/NIOSH) |
| Abstract: Delay discounting is said to occur when an organism prefers an immediate smaller reward over a delayed larger reward. High rates of discounting are said to reflect impulsive responding. Impulsivity and the delay-discounting paradigm have been linked conceptually to risk taking and safety in occupational settings, but these links have not been explored empirically. We hypothesized that an established delay-discounting procedure can be modified to obtain a measure of risk taking in an occupationally relevant scenario, and that this measure of risk taking is associated with impulsivity. Participants were exposed to a modified adjusting delay-discounting task in which they made a choice between two hypothetical scenarios over repeated trials. Participants were asked to choose the scenario in which they would be more likely to engage in a safe behavior (wearing a safety harness while working on a roof). Each scenario varied parametrically across trials in level of risk (distance between roof and ground) and response effort associated with the safe behavior (time required to prepare and don the safety harness). Depending on the participant’s choice on each trial, the level or risk was adjusted up or down to obtain an indifference point. Participants also completed an established general measure of impulsivity, the Balloon Analog Risk Task, for comparison. Results revealed that discounting of risk was correlated with impulsivity, but individual rates of discounting were mixed. Results show that this procedure is promising for identifying and studying factors that influence occupational risk-taking behavior. It also can be easily modified to study risks in different industries and workplace scenarios. |
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| Decision-Making and Fairness: Implications & Future Directions |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 221 C |
| Chair: Bess Puvathingal (Temple University) |
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| Revisiting the Fog of War: Middle Eastern Foreign Policy as Escalation of Commitment |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BESS PUVATHINGAL (Temple University), Donald A. Hantula (Temple University) |
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| Abstract: Escalation of commitment is when decision makers “irrationally” recommit resources to a failing course of action. The United States is currently waging two controversial wars in the Middle East. Does a timeline for withdrawal in Iraq make sense? When should we leave? Why are we still there? These questions are at the forefront of a new presidential administration that is charged with making crucial foreign policy decisions. These decisions are analyzed from a behavioral economic framework. Specifically, we apply research on escalation of commitment to understanding decision making in this war context. Empirical evidence suggests that an interaction of several variables (e.g., sunk costs, uncertainty of outcome, history of reinforcement) lead to increased escalation in unsuccessful courses of action. We review data relevant to decision making in the war effort and show that the persistence in the war as well as ‘the surge’ are predictable from a behavioral escalation perspective. In a time when US approval ratings on the Iraqi war are at an all-time low and we seem mired in uncertainty on how to proceed, our analysis examines the “irrationality” of US involvement in the Middle East and suggests solutions. |
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| Escalation and the Sunk Cost Effect: Too Invested or Too Confused to Quit? |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BESS PUVATHINGAL (Temple University), Donald A. Hantula (Temple University) |
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| Abstract: Escalation of commitment and the sunk cost effect have often been erroneously used interchangeably. Escalation is when decision makers “irrationally” recommit resources to a failing course of action, while the sunk cost effect is a maladaptive economic behavior that is manifested in a greater tendency to continue with a project once an investment has been made. From an economic standpoint, future prospects should guide rational decision making; going one step further, it is irrational to consider prior costs in current prospects. In stark contrast to the traditional economic perspective, the behavior analytic perspective suggests that prior events properly set the stage for decision making. Previous research in behavior analysis and economics implicates equivocality (intermittent reinforcement) as a primary cause of escalation. Sunk cost and equivocality have been studied separately, but have yet to be studied simultaneously in an experiment. Analyzing the interaction of sunk cost and equivocality in investment decisions, we find that sunk cost effects exert influence on decision making early on, but continued escalation in a failing venture is due to feedback equivocality. Implications for executive decision making in risky and uncertain ventures are discussed. |
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| Perceived "Fairness" of Groups and Organizations: A Human Foraging Rule? |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SONIA M. GOLTZ (Michigan Technological University) |
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| Abstract: The present analysis suggests that concepts from behavioral ecology, behavior analysis, and fairness heuristic theory can be integrated to better understand and study the concept of perceived "fairness" of groups and organizations. The concept of fairness is thought to be a rule that governs the behavior of individuals in choosing to how to allocate their limited time and energy to numerous possible groups and organizations, each of which have competing demands on the individual as well as different payoffs. Furthermore, groups and organizations are seen as operating like the competing "patches" found in discussions of foraging in behavioral ecology. These group and organizational "patches" differ in that they have different reinforcement schedules and contingencies operating, including extinction. In addition, contingencies in organizations can have differing reliabilities with which the contingencies operate and there can also be inconsistencies between advertised contingencies and actual contingencies. Individuals are thought use their direct or indirect experiences with these contingencies to derive the rule that some groups are "fair" and others aren't and that to maximize outcomes (relative to costs), "unfair" groups must be avoided and "fair" groups must be sought. Implications for the organizational justice literature are discussed. |
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| Relationships Between Unconditioned and Reflexive Motivating Operations and Problem Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 120 D |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jose A. Martinez-Diaz (Florida Institute of Technology) |
| Discussant: Ernest A. Vargas (B. F. Skinner Foundation) |
| CE Instructor: Nicole L. Hausman, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Three different papers explore the relationship between unconditioned and reflexive motivating operations and problem behavior. The first paper provides a conceptual framework for the assessment and treatment of problem behavior maintained by socially mediated negative reinforcement. The importance of assessing motivating operations and discriminative stimuli prior to treatment, and manipulating them in treatment, is emphasized. In addition, it provides examples of applications from the author's clinical practice. The second paper presents two laboratory studies on the effects of sleep deprivation, and its interaction with temperature changes, on nocifensive behaviors. These studies also will show how motivating operations also relate to respondent behavior. The third study presents descriptive assessment data on possible relations between seizures and problem behavior in 3 adults with developmental disabilities. Implications for the potential role of seizures as motivating operations that increase the probability of problem behavior within specific time periods are discussed, and future directions of research are presented. |
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| Motivating Operations and Discriminative Stimuli in Problem Behavior Maintained by Socially Mediated Negative Reinforcement |
| JOSE A. MARTINEZ-DIAZ (Florida Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: I will explore the role of motivating operations and discriminative stimuli in the assessment and treatment of behavior maintained by social negative reinforcement. My paper begins with a conceptual scheme to clarify the difference between motivational and discriminative variables and how they interact with each other. I will expound on the relationship between motivating operations and escape/avoidance contingencies, and how establishing operations may evoke challenging behavior. I will discuss why discriminated avoidance is a misleading term, clarifying the true role of discriminative stimuli in escape/avoidance behavior. I will conclude with implications for the treatment of challenging behavior. Case studies provide examples of the conceptual framework. |
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| Using a Dual Respondent Task to Examine the Individualistic and Conjoint Effects of Motivating Operations |
| MARK T. HARVEY (Florida Institute of Technology), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University), Robert Kline (Veterans Administration Hospital at Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Two studies will be presented to orient the audience to a respondent paradigm for studying motivating operations (e.g., pain nociception and sleep disruption). Investigators measured duration and latency of hind limb withdrawal when rats were subjected to (a) REM sleep deprivation for 48 hours, (b) 48 hours of sleep fragmentation, or (c) housed in their home cage. Study 1 demonstrated that 44°C was noxious to animals across all conditions while sleep disruption resulted in increased nocifensive behaviors. Study 2 conducted a brief parametric analysis of cooled/heated temperatures to determine equal allocation across two adjacent temperature controlled pads. Nocifensive behaviors occurred when the animals occupied both sides of the dual respondent chamber, but equal allocation occurred when the heated side was 44.7°C and the second side was cooled to 1.3°C. Subsequently the dual respondent paradigm was used to evaluate the effects of sleep disruption on pain sensation; sleep deprived animals allocated more time to a heated plate despite previous research demonstrating its aversiveness. Sleep disruption proved to be a powerful motivating operation which changed duration allocation by increasing the noxious value of pain sensation related to cold. Clinical implications of pain sensation and sleep disruption on operant and respondent behavior will be reviewed. |
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| Descriptive Analysis of Epileptic Seizures and Problem Behavior in Adults with Developmental Disabilities |
| ADA C. HARVEY (Florida Institute of Technology), Paul J. Yoder (Vanderbilt University), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: The authors studied possible relations between seizures and problem behavior in 3 adults with developmental disabilities. Each person was observed for between 56 and 92 days to record occurrences of seizures and problem behavior. Results of our descriptive analysis indicated an association between seizures and problem behavior for each participant. For Stan, most problem behavior occurred following absence seizures. For Tom, problem behavior only occurred before tonic-clonic seizures but showed no relation to absence seizures. For Mick, problem behavior began before absence seizures, but no consistent relation was established between problem behavior and tonic-clonic seizures. Findings suggest that seizures and problem behavior may be associated, but these patterns appear to be highly idiosyncratic across individuals. Implications for the potential role of seizures as motivating operations that increase the probability of problem behavior within specific time periods are discussed, and future directions of research are presented. |
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| The Progressivity of Science: A Contextual Behavioral Approach |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 132 A |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Theory |
| Chair: Douglas Moore Long (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Discussant: John Tanner Blackledge (Morehead State University) |
| Abstract: In the last thirty years, the divergence of cognitive psychology and behavior analysis has raised questions about how best to ensure psychology’s progressivity. Theories which are accepted as adequate explanations from one tradition may be viewed as unscientific from another. Any reasonable resolution to such a debate requires an explication of our methodological and philosophical commitments -- the standards by which we evaluate theories. In this symposium will walk through this process, and explore its implications for behavior analytic theory development. First, a contextual and pragmatic approach to philosophy of science, originally developed by philosopher Larry Laudan, will be described. Second, functional contextualism, a more specific view of the psychological sciences, will be presented as a useful perspective for behavior analysts to adopt. Thirdly, the implications for theory development, and the roles of different types of constructs therein, will be discussed. Finally, a discussant with practical experience in the development of RFT, a functional contextual theory of language, will give comments. This particular synthesis between philosophy of science and practical theory development can be referred to as Contextual Behavior Science. |
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| History and Philosophy of Science |
| DOUGLAS MOORE LONG (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: In the last thirty years, the divergence of cognitive psychology and behavior analysis has raised questions about how best to ensure psychology’s progressivity. Theories which are accepted as adequate explanations from one tradition may be viewed as unscientific from another. As noted by B. F. Skinner, a similar trend can be seen in the debates between evolutionary biologists and intelligent design theorists. A reasonable resolution to any debate concerning the scientific status of a theory requires the explication of the criteria by which said status would be determined. This pursuit itself raises more questions. Why should we accept one or another set of criteria? Just what is “science,” anyway? What is “progressivity,”? Traditionally, philosophers of science have tried to address these problems by modeling the scientific process with logical operations and theories of rationality. Such attempts, however, have generally failed by their own standards, and paint a picture which is in stark contrast to the history of science (as famously pointed out by T. S. Kuhn). This paper will review these issues, and introduce an alternative, pragmatic approach to evaluating scientific progressivity -- one developed by philosopher Larry Laudan through a contextual analysis of competing research traditions. |
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| Functional Contextualism and Contextual Behavioral Science |
| ROGER VILARDAGA (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: The term functional contextualism has been polemic within the behavioral analytic tradition from its inception. It’s been argued that it adds nothing to that tradition, since it is no more than a way to refer to radical behaviorism, and therefore it is old wine in new bottle. Conversely, what was new and “radical” from radical behaviorism was the reflection of behavioral thinking onto the actions of scientists, but other aspects of that tradition had been there for a long time, such as attention to the organism as a whole, an emphasis on function rather than topography, and the critical role given to history and current environment. Those components were part of previous traditions (e.g., Darwin, Pierce, Dewey and James) and were not necessarily advanced by Skinner. We argue in this paper, that (1) the term functional contextualism is a better term than radical behaviorism to describe our tradition and (2), that the philosophical assumptions ingrained in functional contextualism allow greater methodological diversity and consequently increased chances to strengthen our body of knowledge in the field. Overall, we believe that the term functional contextualism links back our field to its original roots, and orients our work towards the building of a more progressive science. |
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| Meta-Theory and Theoretical Constructs in Contextual Behavioral Science |
| Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi), JONATHAN WEINSTEIN (University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Contemporary contextual behavioral analyses take a somewhat different view of theorizing than is commonly held in most of psychology. In formulating a natural science of behavior, theorists such as J. R. Kantor and B. F. Skinner rejected certain varieties of theoretical constructs. This paper divides theoretical constructs into abstractive and hypothetical formulations. It further subdivides hypothetical constructs into three subtypes, including constructs that are (1) in-principle observable, but at some other level of analysis, (2) in-principle unobservable, and (3) in-principle observable, but unobservable for some technical or practical reason. A distinction is made between the ontological and operational validity of theoretical constructs and methods for determining the operational validity of these constructs are discussed. Finally, the selective effects of experimentation and observation on theory development are discussed. |
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| The Facilitating Role of Science in the Prediction and Management Horse Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 131 BC |
| Area: TPC/EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Lauren Zverina (University of Illinois) |
| Discussant: Robin L Foster (University of Puget Sound) |
| Abstract: Both as companion and service animals, stabled domestic horses are extensively managed animals that very often live under conditions that do not compliment their evolved behavioral predispositions. In addition, horses are prey animals and react with escape responses in the face of unexpected or highly salient stimuli. Because of their size, horses are also able to do great harm to their handlers, their environment and themselves. Consequently, the effective management, prediction and modification of horse behavior has been a concern for centuries. The presentations included in this symposium offer a window into the benefits of the systematic application of science and behavior analysis, both in experimental assessment of behavioral tendencies and learning abilities and in applied behavior change strategies, to the effective management of horses in captivity. The first talk discusses the effects of differential outcome on stimulus association and class formation, the second evaluates the differential contributions of a horse’s health, training, and temperament to owner satisfaction and management practices, and the third provides an example of the application of basic experimental data to the applied management of horse behavior. |
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| Class-specific Differential Outcome and its Effects on Conditional Discrimination in Horses |
| JENNIFER L. SOBIE (University of Illinois) |
| Abstract: A two-choice visual matching-to-sample (MTS) apparatus was used to evaluate the effects of differential outcome (DOE) on conditional discrimination and class formation in domestic horses. Studies in children and other animals have demonstrated that conditional discrimination training using class-specific reinforcers can produce equivalence classes that include the reinforcing stimuli. A previous by our group employing the same protocol used here indicated that DOE—as defined by carrot bits versus apple bits—facilitated differential class formation, but controls were not in place to evaluate the contribution of DOE to performance. This study contrasts acquisition and performance between training with DOE and training without. Data collection is in progress. The presentation will include discussion of the study protocol and its limitations, the benefits and implications of the functional effects of the differential outcome phenomenon and the potential application of these findings to effective horse behavior management both in hand and under saddle. |
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| Horse Temperament and Owner Satisfaction |
| ROBIN L FOSTER (University of Puget Sound) |
| Abstract: Many horses are kept as companion animals, thus relationship quality is an important dimension of contemporary equine-human interactions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which a horse’s health, training, and temperament predict an owner’s relationship satisfaction with the horse. More than 20 horse owners completed a questionnaire packet that included the following: (1) questions about the horse’s living conditions, health, and training history; (2) two published equine personality scales (Momozawa, et al., 2005; Lloyd, et al., 2007); (3) a relationship satisfaction scale; and (4) the extended version of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, et al., 1979), which assessed the owner’s expressive (e.g., warm, gentle, emotional) and instrumental (e.g., competitive, confident, superior) personality traits. Equine temperament and trainability were also behaviorally evaluated in 45-minute observation sessions, during which the horses’ responses to novel stimuli and to clicker training were videotaped for later analysis. We predicted that in addition to health and training history, some dimensions of equine temperament would influence owner satisfaction, and that owner personality would moderate the relationship between equine temperament and satisfaction. |
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| The Effects of Marking Choice Responses on Acquisition of a Two-choice Spatial Discrimination in Horses |
| JENNIFER L. SOBIE (University of Illinois) |
| Abstract: Two-choice spatial discrimination has been found to be enhanced in rats by presentation of neutral stimuli at choice points (Lieberman, McIntosh & Thomas, 1979; Thomas, Lieberman, McIntosh & Ronaldson, 1983). These neutral stimuli, referred to as “markers,” were presented both for correct and incorrect choices, and therefore were not paired or differentially correlated with reinforcement. Markers significantly improved performance in delayed reinforcement procedures, functioning both as a marking and a bridging stimulus. This study seeks to extend these findings and/or evaluate the marking effect in domestic horses. It has been found that some salient stimuli interfere with learning regarding contemporaneous events, and therefore included in the evaluation is the potential differential effect of salience and modality of the marking stimulus on behavior. Findings will be discussed relative to the effect of marking behavior on behavioral expression in applied settings, and discussion will include data collected on the effects of marking in behavior reduction treatment in applied settings with horses. |
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| Evaluation of Procedures for Establishing Verbal Relations |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| North 127 |
| Chair: Christopher Bloh (Kutztown University) |
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| Combinatorial entailment as a bridge between tact and intraverbal repertoires: New data from at-risk preschoolers |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| GINGER L. KELSO (Utah State University), Timothy A. Slocum (Utah State University) |
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| Abstract: Previous studies (Luciano, 1986; Miguel, Petursdottir, & Carr, 2005; Partington & Bailey, 1993; Petursdottir, Carr, Lechago, & Almason, 2008) have assessed whether intraverbal responses emerge following the acquisition of both name and category tacts for a set of objects or pictures. In these studies, intraverbal responses failed to emerge prior to intraverbal training regardless of whether tact responses were acquired receptively or expressively. These authors conclude based on these results that intraverbal responses develop independently from the associated tact responses. In this paper, we intend to reinterpret the failure to produce intraverbal responses from a relational frame theory paradigm. We assess whether the failure to produce intraverbal responses, which require combinatorial entailment, is actually due to the absence of mutual entailment in tact responses. The current study will supplement existing literature by probing not only intraverbal responses following either receptive or expressive training, but also evaluating the emergence of mutual entailment for name and category tacts. If deficits in mutual entailment are detected, these responses will be taught to determine the effect of acquisition of mutual entailment on the combinatorially entailed intraverbal response. |
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| Assessing Transfer of Stimulus Control Procedures Across Learners With Autism |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CHRISTOPHER BLOH (Kutztown University) |
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| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two transfer of stimulus control procedures to teach tacting to individuals with autism. Five participants with differing verbal skills were assessed by a subset of the ABLLS prior to intervention, then were taught 36 previously unknown tacts using the receptive-echoic-tact (r-e-t) and echoic-tact (e-t) transfer procedures. Each transfer method was used separately to establish different tacts, in a multiple baseline design across tacts for three sets of stimuli. The results showed that 4 out of 5 participants (who demonstrated mands, tacts, echoics, and sometimes intraverbals prior to the study) acquired all targeted tacts when either r-e-t or e-t training was presented. One participant (who emitted no verbal operants at the onset of the study) did not acquire any tacts. While some participants appeared to learn more quickly with one transfer method, neither method emerged as more efficient with learners with fewer or more extensive verbal skills. The results indicate that both transfer methods promoted the acquisition of tacts for learners with autism with at least minimal verbal skills. |
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| Using the Verbal Behavior Approach to Increase the Language of Children with Developmental Disabilities |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| EDWARD D. PARKER (The Ohio State University), Helen I. Cannella-Malone (The Ohio State University) |
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| Abstract: For teaching aspects of language, there has been empirical support of Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior (Sundberg & Michael, 2001). Although service providers are implementing the “verbal behavior approach” (VBA) with children who exhibit limited or no language ability, a search of the literature could not identify any empirical studies evaluating the long-term effects of Sundberg and Partington’s curriculum (1998) on the language development of children with developmental disabilities (DD). In addition, it is essential to compare the VBA with other behavior intervention models to determine optimal practice (Carr & Firth, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of this curriculum on the verbal communication of elementary aged children with DD. In this study, we administered The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills to determine current levels of performance and implemented procedures in an alternative school for students with moderate-to-intensive DD. A multiple baseline across verbal operants design was used to evaluate acquisition of elementary verbal operants. The results of the intervention suggest that for students with developmental disabilities, Sundberg and Partington’s language-training curriculum is effective at developing verbal operant repertoires. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed. |
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| The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP): The Impact of Response Latency Restrictions and Setting Factors |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| PATRICIA M POWER (National University of Ireland Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Ian T. Stewart (National University of Ireland, Galway) |
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| Abstract: This paper presents a series of studies that sought to investigate the impact of response latency restrictions and Public versus Private setting factors on Race-IRAP performance.
Each study employed a repeated measures design in which participants completed an implicit measure (the IRAP) and a range of explicit measures.
The IRAP (a computerised response-time measure) involved presenting the sample stimuli “I think WHITE people are” (or “WHITE people”) and “I think BLACK people are” (or “BLACK people”) with either positive target words (e.g. “Friendly”, “Honest”) or negative target words (e.g. “Hostile”, "Deceitful"). Each trial presented two response options; “True” and “False”. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Public or a Private setting and were required to make speedy (3000ms or 2000ms) and accurate responses in either a Pro-White/Anti-Black direction or a Pro-Black/Anti-White direction. A range of self-report measures were also taken.
Analysis of variance statistics indicated that response latencies depended upon the direction of the task (Pro-White/Anti-Black or Pro-Black/Anti-White) and the race of the sample stimuli. The maximum permitted response latency during IRAP practice blocks (3000ms versus 2000ms) also impacted significantly on IRAP performances, while setting factors (Public versus Private) did not.
The current findings provide preliminary evidence that the IRAP may be used to reveal socially sensitive attitudes, which are not expressed using a typical explicit measure. |
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| Experience, Learning, and Development: The Role of Reliable Resources in Natural Environments |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:00 AM–10:50 AM |
| West 301 AB |
| Chair: Martha Pelaez (Florida International University) |
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| Experience, Learning, and Development: The Role of Reliable Resources in Natural Environments |
| CELIA L. MOORE (University of Massachusetts Boston) |
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| Abstract: Changes in development occur through constructive processes using available resources that are either endogenous to the organism or incorporated from its surround. In species-typical development, separate individuals of the same species predictably go through similar stages and achieve similar endpoints, whereas individuals of different species exhibit at least some predictable differences in outcome. This is also the case for different sexes within a species. Reliable resources for development are provided by conditions essential for life found in the physical and social world of an organism as well as by properties and functions of its own body. These conditions generate experience, which operates through neurosensory, neuromotor, and hormonal activity to affect developmental outcomes. Experience encompasses heterogeneous contributors functioning at molecular, cellular, anatomical, physiological, and behavioral levels in a developing system. (It gets complicated.) Some experience can be understood using principles of learning and conditioning; other experience operates through functionally remote pathways and on endpoints that are not readily captured by this framework. A broad concept of experience can help to resolve difficulties inherent in nature-nurture dichotomies and provide new insights into the evolution of behavior.
Dr. Celia Moore was introduced to the study of animal behavior as an undergraduate at the University of Texas, where E. J. Capaldi was her primary mentor and major influence. She took his undergraduate Comparative Psychology and graduate Learning Theory courses, so had an early exposure to evolution and behavior steeped in the learning tradition. Capaldi introduced her to rats and research with a summer project, and to evolutionary biology by suggesting she take courses with R. K. Selander. The combination flourished, perhaps because of her experience growing up on a small farm. When Daniel Lehrman visited campus to give a guest lecture, the decision was quickly made to apply to his graduate program. She did her doctoral dissertation on parental behavior in ring doves under Lehrman¹s direction, where she developed a strong fascination with developmental inquiry. She took a position at the University of Massachusetts Boston shortly after graduate school. She has remained in this position, except for a visiting appointment at the University of Illinois, working with Janice Juraska. This collaboration brought her long-standing interest in the role of learning and experience in species-typical development to the cellular level of analysis. |
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| The Quantitative Analysis of Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:00 AM–10:50 AM |
| West 301 CD |
| Area: TPC/EAB; Domain: Theory |
| PSY/BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Tom Sharpe, Ed.D. |
| Chair: Sam Leigland (Gonzaga University) |
| Presenting Authors: : MICHAEL C. DAVISON (University of Auckland) |
| Abstract: What is the quantitative analysis of behavior? How do we parse a piece of verbal or nonverbal behavior to determine whether it was, or was not, a member of this operant class? Which should come first, the behaviors or the class definition—or should these co-develop dynamically? This talk is a personal and idiosyncratic view of what I think are, or should be, the topographies that satisfy this class and be reinforced by the scientific community. In particular, I will go to some pains to make clear that “quantitative” is not an alternative to “experimental” (thus, the better term for what I want to do is the “Quantitative Experimental Analysis of Behavior”)—because there does exist a non-experimental quantitative analysis of behavior, about which I shall wonder. What are the benefits of a quantitative approach relative to other approaches—is it better, or just harder? How might we convince audiences that are quantitatively unsophisticated that there are reinforcers to be gained from such behavior? Can this be done by giving invited talks at ABAI on the quantitative analysis of behavior?
Michael Davison is Professor of Psychology, Honorary Professor in The Liggins Institute, and Director of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Research Unit, at Auckland University, New Zealand. He has been at Auckland for too many years. He got a Ph.D. from Otago University, NZ, and a D.Sc. from Auckland. He is a Fellow of ABAI and current Chair of the Fellows’ Committee; he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and was awarded their Silver Medal for Research. He served a term as International Director on the ABAI Council, and on the SABA Board. He was given a SABA Award for the International Dissemination of Behavior Analysis in 2004, and the lab he directs will receive the SABA Award for Enduring Programmatic Contributions in Behavior Analysis in 2009. He has been on the Board of Editors of JEAB too many times to count, and has also been an Action Editor for JEAB. His interests are in the quantitative experimental analysis of choice and behavior allocation, and in the application of quantitative technologies to questions in Neuroscience. He has had a number of other interests: Potting, self-sufficiency, poetry, recorder music, and he intends, soon, to give up behavior analysis completely and to learn wood turning. |
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| MICHAEL C. DAVISON (University of Auckland) |
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| Recent Advances in Behavioral Pharmacology |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:00 AM–11:20 AM |
| North 226 C |
| Chair: Dennis Hand (Central Michigan University) |
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| d-Amphetamine Tolerance in Multiple Variable-Interval Schedules: Repeated Administration in One Component Sufficient to Produce Tolerance in Another |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| DENNIS HAND (Central Michigan University), Mark P. Reilly (Central Michigan University) |
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| Abstract: The reduced effect of a drug following its repeated administration is called tolerance. The present study examined whether repeated administration of d-amphetamine in the context of an isolated component of a two component multiple schedule would result in tolerance in both components. A pre-chronic d-amphetamine dose-response function was generated with three pigeons key-pecking for access to grain under a multiple VI 60-s, VI 60-s schedule and three others under a multiple VI 60-s, VI 15-s schedule. Next, d-Amphetamine (3.2 mg/kg) was administered prior to daily 30-min sessions of one component from the multiple schedule: VI 60-s for one group, VI 15-s for the other. Finally, a post-chronic dose-response function was generated by testing, as before, in the context of the multiple schedule. These drug tests occurred every third day. On the intervening non-drug test sessions, the pigeons continued to receive daily administrations of 3.2 mg/kg d-amphetamine under the simple schedule. Equal levels of tolerance were observed in both components, even the component where repeated administration did not occur. This was true even when the drug-associated VI schedules were different (i.e., VI 15- vs. 60-s). The present results contradict several theories that have been proposed to account for behavioral tolerance. |
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| Pavlovian Blood Doping: A Preliminary Investigation of Erythropoietic Responses |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| WILLIAM D. NEWSOME, JR. (University of Nevada, Reno), Kenneth W. Hunter (University of Nevada, Reno), Mark P. Alavosius (University of Nevada, Reno) |
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| Abstract: Presented here is a preliminary investigation of the extent to which the biological process of erythropoiesis and resulting states of secondary physiologic polycythaemia, may be conditioned using classical conditioning procedures. Our experimental subjects were three BALB-C mice. In this study we sought to determine whether results often achieved by activities such as high-altitude training, prolonged oxygen deprivation, ‘blood-doping’, and the like, can be brought about in the absence of these traditional initiating agents. After several discrete pairings of saccharine solution (CS) and erythropoietin hormone (US) our results indicate modest conditioning effects on CS-only exposures, as indexed by changes in hematocrit concentrations. |
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| Early seizures impair auditory discrimination and increase avoidance in rats. |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JOHN C. NEILL (Long Island University) |
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| Abstract: Premature human neonates often have a few brief seizures. The question is, what long-term effects do such seizures have? Male Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to flurothyl, a chemoconvulsant, 3 times/day until brief generalized seizures occurred on postnatal days 6-11. Seizures resulted in a decrease in body weight. During adulthood, animals were trained/tested in an auditory quality discrimination. A discrete trial auditory discrimination procedure consisted of 38 trials presented on an variable intertrial interval of 22 sec. S+ was white noise, alternating randomly with an S- (2kHz). Animals with histories of brief seizures were significantly impaired in acquisition of auditory quality discriminations. In an elevated plus maze the seizure animals also demonstrated significantly fewer excursions into the open and fewer movements compared to normal animals. In rats, seizures that occur only briefly and for short durations early in development (comparable to premature human neonates) may cause long-term impairments in auditory discrimination and exploratory behavior. |
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| Increasing the applications of the Picture Exchange Communication System: Staff and Peer Training Approaches |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 120 BC |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jill A. Szalony (Rutgers - DDDC) |
| Discussant: Andrew S. Bondy (Pyramid Educational Consultants) |
| CE Instructor: Alicia MacAleese, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a communication system for non-vocal and pre-vocal individuals with autism that has been shown to be highly effective. A primary issue in PECS is ensuring that the listener community is adequately trained. Staff members need to be trained in the essential elements and components of PECS. Treatment integrity is a significant concern. Therefore, staff training is of utmost importance. In the first paper, a behavioral skills training program will be discussed, in which a Behavioral Skills Training package was used to teach core staff skills. Specifically, video, verbal and written directions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback were used as strategies in training. The second paper addresses the concern that PECS training is often done in a group based format, and presents an individualized approach to assessing treatment integrity for the components of PECS. Another listener community essential to the success of PECS as a communication system is peers. The third paper examines a step-wise model for peer training in PECS, examining both the impact of training in the receipt of PECS communications and pairing with reinforcement in increasing social interactions between students with autism and their typically developing peers in a preschool setting. |
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| The Effects of Behavioral Skills Training on the Implementation of the Picture Exchange Communication System |
| ROCIO ROSALES (Southern Illinois University), Karen Stone (Southern Illinois University), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The effectiveness of a behavioral skills training (BST) package to teach the implementation of the first three phases of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) was evaluated with three adults who had no history teaching any functional communication system. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training package, which consisted of a video, written and verbal instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Results showed significant improvements relative to baseline in a short amount of training time, and that skills generalized to a learner with a severe developmental disability. Skills were maintained at one month follow-up for one participant. |
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| Effects of a training model on acquiring the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) |
| GLENN M. SLOMAN (University of Florida), Cara L. Phillips (University of Florida), Tina Smith-Bonahue (University of Florida), Kimberly Sloman (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Based on Skinner’s Verbal Behavior (1957), the picture exchange communication system (PECS) is designed to teach children with autism functional verbal behavior. Much research has demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of PECS in building verbal behavior. However, because PECS consultation services are typically presented in a group format and later discontinued (Howlin et al.; 2007), there may be decreases in treatment integrity resulting in loss of effectiveness and durability. Hence, more intensive approaches may be necessary to establish, generalize, and maintain PECS delivery skills for educators beyond those demonstrated in workshop or group consultation trainings. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine the effects of a feedback model developed by Marcus, Swanson, and Vollmer (2001) to teach paraprofessionals to implement PECS with a high degree of integrity using single subject design methodology. Data will be presented on continuously monitored performance of paraprofessionals and students, component analyses, as well as generalization and maintenance of PECs implementation. Implications for PECS training, and PECS protocol will be discussed related to the necessary and sufficient conditions establishing and maintaining PECS delivery with integrity. |
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| The impact of training in PECS and of pairing peers with reinforcement in increasing interactions |
| JILL A. SZALONY (Rutgers - DDDC), Mary Jane Weiss (Rutgers University), Meredith Bamond (Rutgers University) |
| Abstract: One of the primary challenges in an integrated program is facilitating social interaction between typically developing peers and children with autism. It can be especially difficult to integrate children with autism who have communication challenges, as social overtures may not be responded to and initiations might not be understood. Students using the Picture Exchange Communication System to communicate have a functional system for social interactions. However, young peers may not understand the communication messages. They need to be taught how to respond to the social interactions used by these children with autism. In particular, they need to be trained to receive the PECS communication strips. The model used in this peer training description teaches these skills and adds a component of pairing to enhance peer reinforcing value. We will discuss the step-wise implementation of this PECS training and peer pairing procedure used with three typically developing students in an integrated preschool environment. |
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| Recent Findings on the Use of TAGteach in Children with Autism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 124 B |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Theresa Mckeon (TAGteach International) |
| Discussant: Julie S. Vargas (B. F. Skinner Foundation) |
| CE Instructor: Michael J. Morrier, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Applied Behavior Analysts are dedicated to finding effective ways to teach skills to participants with autism and related disorders. Standard teaching curricula are typically based on the use of prompting and shaping procedures. One way to augment standard prompting and shaping procedures is to pair an auditory or visual event with the delivery of reinforcement to ‘mark’ the correct response. TAGteach is a technology based on the use of ‘markers’ or auditory stimuli paired with the delivery of reinforcement to shape new behaviors. “TAG” stands for Teaching with Acoustical Guidance and is a direct descendent of the clicker technology presented by Karen Pryor in her book Don’t Shoot the Dog. Practitioners of TAGteach argue for its effectiveness in many endeavors designed to teach motor skills such as gymnastics and dancing. The three data-based papers presented here successfully demonstrate how to incorporate aspects of TAGteach technology into some of our standard curriculum to teach basic motor skills with participants for whom prior attempts have been unsuccessful. |
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| The Use of TAG to Improve the Acquisition of Instruction Following in Young Children with Autism |
| MARIDITH R GUTIERREZ (Applied Behavior Consultants, Inc) |
| Abstract: The use of TAG (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) was examined in the acquisition of Receptive Instructions in children with autism. Receptive skills can be difficult for children with autism to acquire and the discrimination of different instructions is often an observed deficit. Four students at a non-public school for children with autism participated in the study. The students had not acquired the skill of following instructions in a structured teaching environment using standard discrete trial teaching nor through incidental teaching (e.g., within routine contexts). A multiple baseline across subjects design was used to examine whether the insertion of TAG, used to reinforce the target response prior to receipt of the highly preferred item, led to an increase in the acquisition of the skill. Students were exposed to a Receptive Instructions lesson with standard discrete trial teaching (i.e., SD-R-SR) during baseline. The use of TAG was implemented with each student in a staggered fashion and inserted immediately after a correct response. |
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| Evaluating the Maintaining Effects of TAGteach on the Social Skills of an Individual with Autism |
| LAUREN WASANO (STE Consultants) |
| Abstract: There have been many noted interventions utilized in teaching social skills to children with Autism. TAGteach or Teaching with Acoustical Guidance incorporates the use of a tagger (audible marker) while pairing it with positive reinforcement and shaping in order to quickly teach a vast repertoire of skills to individuals in a variety of populations. The current study focused on analyzing the maintaining effects of TAGteach on the social skills (e.g., eye contact during manding and close proximity to peers) of a 7-year-old male diagnosed with Autism. Previously, eye contact while manding and close proximity to peers had been targeted and increased utilizing TAGteach compared to a more commonly used method. Maintenance data showed that the target behaviors did not maintain; however, required considerably less time to reacquire the skills utilizing TAGteach. |
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| An Auditory Marker as a Secondary Reinforcer in the Shaping of Specific Behaviors in Children with Autism |
| REGINA L. MAENDLER (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Abstract: This study examined the training of two behaviors (maintaining proximity and eye contact) in six children with Autism. An auditory marker, or TAG (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) was employed as a secondary reinforcer for shaping the desired behaviors. The intervention followed the tenet of Applied Behavior Analysis and learning theory. The study was directed by personnel with TAGteach certification A multiple single case design with a multiple baseline across behaviors design was utilized to implement the intervention, as well as increase the ease of collecting data. The interventions took place in a natural environmental setting where each child’s behaviors were ecologically balanced. The data supported the efficacy of the intervention, but only in the context of training a child with Autism. Following full implementation, the rate of reinforcement was methodically reduced. The data indicated that the behaviors could be maintained at a level well above baseline. The implications of these results are discussed. |
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| Expanding the Social Reinforcer Repertoire of Young Children with Autism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 124 A |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Cynthia G. Simpson (Sam Houston State University) |
| Discussant: Ruth M. DeBar (Sam Houston State University) |
| Abstract: One of the defining characteristics of children with autism is a narrow range of effective reinforcers, especially social reinforcers. Social reinforcers can be defined as an activity in which the interaction with another person is the source of the reinforcement. It is possible to teach young children with autism to find social interaction to be a source of reinforcement and there are many benefits to making it an integral part of an early intervention program. How to teach activity-based social reinforcers as well as different types of activity-based reinforcers will be discussed. |
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| Teaching Young Children with Autism Activity-Based Social Reinforcers: A Case Study |
| BARBARA A. METZGER (Sam Houston State University) |
| Abstract: Children with autism often have a limited reinforcer repertoire, especially for social reinforcers. Two young children with autism, both involved in a home-based intensive early intervention program, were systematically exposed to a wide variety of activity-based, social activities. Tutors collected data on the child’s reaction to the activity, with a score of 1 indicating the child did not enjoy the activity and a score of 3 indicating that child greatly enjoyed the activity. Activities which received a consistent score of two or three were then used as reinforcers for table work. The data were analyzed according to the total number of new activities taught and those which were subsequently used as reinforcers. During the first year and a half of treatment, both children began treatment with a small repertoire of effective social reinforcers and showed large increases in the number and variety of effective activity-based, social reinforcers. These data suggest that it is possible to teach children with autism to find social interaction to be a source of reinforcement. |
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| How to Teach Activity-Based, Social Reinforcers to Young Children with Autism |
| ANGELA L. POLETTI (Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District), Barbara A. Metzger (Sam Houston State University) |
| Abstract: One of the major characteristics of autism is the presence of deficits in social interaction; as a result these individuals often have very few social reinforcers without specific teaching. Reinforcers can be divided into those that are non-social and those that are social. A non-social reinforcer can be defined as an item or activity that the presence or interaction of another person does not increase the reinforcing value of that item or activity. Some examples of non-social reinforcers include food, drink, and watching television. The value of these items is not increased or mediated through interaction with another individual. A social reinforcer can be defined as an activity in which the reinforcer is dependent upon the interaction of another person. While many ABA practitioners use social reinforcers such as tickles, kisses or verbal praise, it is uncommon to see the use of activity-based social reinforcers because they often require teaching. Specific methods of teaching activity-based social reinforcers, data collection and the variety of possible activity-based social reinforcers will be presented. |
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| Expanding the Reinforcer Repertoire of Children with Autism: Pretend Trouble as a Social Reinforcemer |
| CHARISH MAHONEY (Spring Independent School District), Barbara A. Metzger (Sam Houston State University) |
| Abstract: Teaching children with autism to find a wide variety of activities to be sources of reinforcement is an important component of an early intervention program. Four young children with autism were exposed to a variety of social activities, including pretend trouble. Pretend trouble includes reprimands from another individual, usually an adult, being directed towards inanimate objects like teddy bears and dolls. For example, an adult gives the inanimate object an instruction, and then manipulates the object so that it does not to follow the adult instruction. The adult then verbally reprimands, warns or scolds the inanimate object or the object is given a punishment such as sitting in time out. The child enjoys watching the inanimate object getting into trouble. The children were then exposed to a stimulus preference assessment in the form of a forced choice between pictures of the social activities. Finally, the children were exposed to a reinforcer assessment in the form of pressing a clicker for the opportunity to engage in the social activities. Inconsistent with previous studies, there were discrepancies between the results of the preference assessment and the reinforcer assessment. Although the children showed individual preferences, overall pretend trouble was the most effective reinforcer. |
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| How We Finally Got There: Analytical Decisions Supported by the Standard Celeration Chart to Help Students Gain New Skills |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 125 |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Kelly J. Ferris (Organization for Research and Learning) |
| CE Instructor: Meeta R. Patel, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: The Standard Celeration Chart is a rigorous measurement tool that aids behavior analyst in making critical data-based decisions regarding the celeration, frequency, and bounce of students’ data. While teaching any range of skills to learners with autism and related developmental disabilities, behavior analysts must be highly attuned to the learner’s individual needs and must be able to adjust learning sequences according to the learner’s ever-changing performance data. Traditional sequences of instruction are often ineffective in establishing new skills for learners with autism. When student performance slows or stops, teachers must analyze the data to identify which variables to manipulate for the desired outcome in the most efficient manner. This symposium will present four papers illustrating the effects of manipulating schedules of reinforcement as well as altering various stimulus conditions to achieve important learning objectives for learners with developmental disabilities of various skill levels. All four papers utilize fluency based instruction as an independent variable with student performance data charted on the Standard Celeration Chart. |
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| Treating Schedules of Reinforcement as Critical Features of Instruction to Increase the Frequency of Responding During Instruction in a Child with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome |
| KELLY J. FERRIS (Organization for Research and Learning) |
| Abstract: In fluency based instruction teaching arrangements, reinforcement schedules are often treated as variable features of instruction, fluidly changing from timing to timing and from day to day based on changes in the student’s frequency of corrects, frequency of errors, and environmental conditions. With the analysis of in-session charted data, precision teachers are able to act as phenomenal shapers; they are masters of adjusting student feedback between fixed ratios of reinforcement and differential reinforcement of higher rates of behavior (DRH). This presentation will share performance data on a learner with Phelan-McDermind Syndrome whose behavior required more systematic and controlled changes to schedules of reinforcement to accelerate his frequency of responding. Multiple charts will be shown illustrating a replicated success of treating schedules of reinforcement as critical features of instruction: when schedules of reinforcement were gradually thinned through multiple fixed ratio schedules eventually to variable ratio schedules, student frequency of corrects increased, number of timings completed increased, and overall happiness with instruction increased. |
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| Altering Stimulus Control and Variable Instructional Features While Teaching Intermediate/Advanced Language Skills |
| HOLLY ALMON-MORRIS (Organization for Research and Learning) |
| Abstract: While teaching intermediate/advanced language skills to students with autism, there are often “roadblocks” that occur while navigating the previously-set instructional path. While teaching tact/intraverbals repertoires, teachers much be responsive to the data and adjust instructional sequences as needed. This presentation will highlight performance data from at least two students with autism and demonstrate how their performance data on the Standard Celeration Chart were analyzed to alter stimulus control or variable features of instruction, and the improvements in performance that resulted from those instructional changes. Independent variables include timed practice combined with daily improvement goals, differential reinforcement of higher rates of behavior (DRH), and Modified Mathetics error correction procedures (Gilbert, 1962). Dependent variables include various intermediate/advanced language skills within the tact/intraverbal repertoire areas. In addition to the performance data mentioned above, supplementary data will be collected before this symposium submission takes place. Further relational aspects of modifying stimulus control and variable instructional features will also be discussed. |
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| If you give me a reason, I can show you what I know |
| KRISTA ZAMBOLIN (Organization for Research and Learning), Michael Fabrizio (Organization for Research and Learning) |
| Abstract: Securing student assent and happiness during instruction is an essential component of effective and efficient behavior analytic programming. Collecting data on student’s choosing to participate willing in instruction should be collected as a dependent variable illustrating effective programming for all learners. This paper will describe how data analysis and analysis of the student’s perspective helped in problem solving an effective instructional sequence for teaching a very young learner with autism imitation skills and receptive language skills. The student was a 3 year-old girl who had been involved in a home-based behavior analytic program since 2007. Utilizing fluency based instructional arrangement and data displayed on the Standard Celeration Chart, the instructional team identified critical features of instruction necessary to gain happy student participation. Data will show how manipulating different stimulus and reinforcement conditions were tested across both see/do imitation and hear/touch and hear/do learning channel repertoires. Charted student learning data will illustrate how the teachers finally identified the student’s definition of “functional” to gain her assent and consistent participation and learning during instruction. |
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| Altering stimulus control to establish early language skills in children with autism. |
| ELIZABETH GRACE LEFEBRE (Organization for Research and Learning), Kelly J. Ferris (Organization for Research and Learning) |
| Abstract: Establishing early language skill repertoires in children with autism requires carefully planned sequences of instruction. It can be additionally challenging when the proposed instructional sequence is at first, unsuccessful. Quality programming should ensure that skills come under the intended stimulus control. Planning for appropriate stimulus control by ensuring critical and variable features of instruction are addressed is an essential step in the design of effective instructional programs. Purposely using inappropriate stimulus control to elicit responses in new repertoire areas is often conducted through by inserting extrinsic prompts into a teaching sequence. Creating inappropriate stimulus control by manipulating different degrees of variable features in instructional materials is less commonly used as a teaching strategy. The presentation will examine the use of inappropriate stimulus control to elicit new responses by systematically graduating the range of variable features from mostly shared to few shared to shape student responding in visual and receptive language tasks. Student learning data will be displayed on the Standard Celeration Chart. |
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| Effective Error Correction Strategies and their Relative Preference for Children with Autism in Discrete Trial Training |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 126 |
| Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Michelle Turan (University of Windsor) |
| CE Instructor: Amy Kenzer, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Four studies will be presented regarding the effectiveness and preference for error correction in discrete trial training for children with autism. Error correction procedures have been researched insufficiently in the literature, yet clinical practice includes daily adherence to particular procedures. The purpose of the studies in this symposium is to examine the relative effectiveness of one error correction procedure for several children using receptive language tasks, subsequently with tacting responses. The relative preference for the error correction procedures will be assessed in the final study to examine whether an inverse relation exists. |
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| Investigating the Use of an Independent Probe Trial following Error Correction in Discrete Trial Teaching |
| Natalie P. Croteau (Surrey Place), Lianne M. Moroz (Surrey Place Centre), Michelle Turan (University of Windsor), NATALIE P. CROTEAU (Surrey Place) |
| Abstract: This study will examine the effectiveness of a post-error distractor trial and probe for a child with autism. This method is seen and practiced in clinical settings in Ontario, yet there is no existing empirical support. The child will be taught to receptively identify novel flashcards and errors that are made during the teaching will result in one of two prompting procedures. The study will follow an across session alternating treatments design. A re-administration of the task with a higher level of prompting and then move to the next trial (in an interspersed data presentation) compared with a re-administration of the task with a higher level of prompting, followed by an immediate distractor trial, and then a test trial with prompts removed. The effectiveness of the prompting procedure will be measured by trials to criterion. The most effective procedure is to be replicated in the final phase. Data is to be collected although organizational approval has been received. |
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| A Replication of an Error Correction Effectiveness Study |
| Michelle Turan (University of Windsor), Lianne M. Moroz (Surrey Place Centre), Natalie P. Croteau (Surrey Place), MICHELLE TURAN (University of Windsor) |
| Abstract: This study will examine the effectiveness of a post-error distractor trial and probe for 6 children with autism. This study is a replication of an earlier study conducted previously. The children will be taught to receptively identify novel flashcards and errors that are made during the teaching will result in one of two prompting procedures. The study will follow an across session alternating treatments design. A re-administration of the task with a higher level of prompting and then move to the next trial (in an interspersed data presentation) compared with a re-administration of the task with a higher level of prompting, followed by an immediate distractor trial, and then a test trial with prompts removed. The effectiveness of the prompting procedure will be measured by trials to criterion. The most effective procedure is to be replicated in the final phase. Data is to be collected although organizational approval has been received. |
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| Effectiveness of Error Correction Strategies in Tact Training |
| LIANNE M. MOROZ (Surrey Place Centre), Michelle Turan (University of Windsor), Natalie P. Croteau (Surrey Place) |
| Abstract: This study will examine 2 different error correction procedures during tact training with 6 children with autism. The children will be taught to tact unknown items and will be provided with 1 of 2 error correction procedures presented across sessions in an alternating treatments design. A re-administration of the task with a higher level of prompting and then a move to the next trial (in an interspersed data presentation) compared with a re-administration of the task with a higher level of prompting, followed by an immediate distractor trial, and then a test trial with prompts removed. The effectiveness of the prompting procedure will be measured by trials to criterion. The procedure that is demonstrated to be effective for each individual child will be re-presented in a final phase. The effects of the error correction procedure on in-session behaviour will also be examined and discussed. |
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| Preference for Error Correction: An Examination of an Expected Inverse Relationship |
| MICHELLE TURAN (University of Windsor), Natalie P. Croteau (Surrey Place), Lianne M. Moroz (Surrey Place Centre) |
| Abstract: The final study will examine the preference of the error correction methods in relation to its effectiveness for 6 children with autism. This study will be conducted by signaling the use of one error correction method versus another prior to instructional delivery. The signaling exposure will be instituted in the baseline phase. Treatment sessions will involve choice for error correction method. A within-session alternating treatments design will be used to measure the relative preference of error correction procedures, by allowing the child to choose the error correction procedures throughout the session. The relative preferences will then be compared to individual student’s success with the particular strategy. Implications for the results in terms of the preference of individual participants and their relative effectiveness in correcting behaviour will be discussed. |
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| Measuring Outcomes for Children with ASDs |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 227 A |
| Chair: Daniela Fazzio (University of Manitoba and St. Amant) |
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| Home-Based Early Intervention: Public Service Outcomes of the St. Amant ABA Program in Manitoba, Canada |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| DANIELA FAZZIO (St. Amant and St. Amant Research Centre), Angela Cornick (St. Amant, Canada), Carly E Thiessen (University of Manitoba/St. Amant Research Centre), Dickie C. T. Yu (St. Amant Research Centre and The University of Manitoba) |
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| Abstract: The St. Amant ABA Program – Preschool Services is a publicly funded home-based program offering 36 weekly hours of one-to-one teaching to children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The program is offered for 3 years with each child assigned a Consultant who oversees 8 clients, a Senior Tutor who assists the Consultant in training staff and parents for 4 clients, and 2 tutors (city model) or 1 tutor (rural model). Individualized programming aims at developing learning skills and strengthening children’s repertoires in all areas of development, based on the Assessment of Basic Learning and Language Skills. Transition to group settings is planned as early as a minimum set of skills is established and at least in year 3, in preparation for entry into school. A database was designed to track individual progress per ABLLS area, with trial-by-trial information and automated summarizing and graphing functions. Group outcomes are evaluated by normative and criterion measures administered at intake and yearly thereafter. Data will presented for children grouped by period in the program (e.g., 1 year), in areas such as cognitive – Wechsler Scale; Adaptive – Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised; Language – Preschool Language Scale). Correlation among measures and potential predictors will be discussed. |
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| Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention: Results of a Survey of Parents with Home-Based Programs |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| JACK SCOTT (Florida Atlantic University), Kyle Bennett (Florida Atlantic University), Bairbre Flood (Florida Atlantic University), Melody Wright Left (Florida Atlantic University), Linda A Peirce (Florida Atlantic University C.A.R.D.) |
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| Abstract: Many parents are making a decision to establish a home-based early intensive behavioral Intervention (EIBI) program for their child with autism. EIBI as a service delivery system has been helped in some states by legislative changes to health insurance allowing autism treatments. We sent 1,000 surveys to parents and persons supporting parents in EIBI. Through the survey questions we sought information about thirty-two aspects of home EIBI programs including the financial arrangements for support staff, training and supervision, and the actual behavior teaching approaches used. Family demographic information was crossed with pay rates for behavioral staff to yield estimates of compensation by regions within the USA. Parents were queried on the degree to which the behavioral credentials of the providers influence their selection decisions. This survey contained questions on the details of program funding (parent funded programs in contrast to insurance or governmental funded programs). We will report the estimated annual cost and estimated total anticipated program cost of home EIBI programs and data on each of the survey items.
These data will be presented with reference to past survey data and in light of the nationwide movement to gain access to insurance funding for autism intervention services. |
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| Meaningful Measurement - A Quest for Meaningful School Inclusion Data |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| KRISTA SMABY (Las Lomitas Elementary School District) |
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| Abstract: As behavior analysts, we are often called upon to objectively measure a student’s access to both the academic and social curriculum within a classroom environment. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a model for measuring student progress while acknowledging the constraints associated with working in an applied setting. It is clear that the variables measured must be socially valid, the method(s) of data collection must not be cumbersome, and its presentation to members of an IEP team must be meaningful. The “how” is our greatest challenge.
This paper will present case studies to review a “field-tested” model for: developing meaningful Individualized Education Plan goals, determining appropriate success criteria, measuring progress as a classroom observer, and training support staff to collect daily social behavior data - across a range of school settings (preschool, general education, & special education classrooms). Specific examples and non-examples of socially valid inclusion data will be discussed. |
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| CANCELLED: A Comparison of Language and Social Skills Acquisition Rates for Autistic Children in an EIBI Program with 20 vs. 40 hours Per Week of Training. |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| RITA CHANDLER (University of Central Oklahoma), Mary Sweet-Darter (University of Central Oklahoma), Thomas E. Evans (DHS/DDSD), Charolette J. Harper (State of Oklahoma DDSD), Angela Butler (University of Central Oklahoma), Linda Isaak (University of Oklahoma), Brian Mangus (University of Central Oklahoma), Annie Torossian (Easter Seals) |
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| Abstract: Prior models of early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for children with autism range from 10 to 40 hours per week of one to one intervention and vary highly regarding the amount of inclusion. The current study examines 14 children with autism ranging in age from two to five. Individuals receiving a 20 hour EIBI week are compared with individuals receiving a 40 hour EIBI week of training during the course of the project. While skill acquisition across multiple tasks is the primary dependent variable, other context variables such as medical issues and degree of tutor training are included, and maladaptive behaviors are documented during the skill training sessions. All children receive one to one intervention during all hours of programming including inclusive interaction with typical peers. Inclusion is programmed into daily activities but is not systematically varied. Single subject baseline data were collected and data on comparison groups, etc, will be gathered over the next 3 to 4 months. Results of the study will be presented at the May conference. |
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| Psychological Flexibility and Difficult Clinical Presentations |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 222 AB |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Scott T. Gaynor (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behavior analytic third-wave behavioral therapy that emphasizes psychological flexibility. The ACT model includes six core processes: Present Moment, Acceptance, Defusion, Self as Context, Committed Action, and Values. The efficacy of the ACT model has been studied in a broad range of populations including both clinical and non-clinical populations. Studies now are beginning to look at the effectiveness of individual processes in ACT. In this symposium, the presenters will apply these core processes to a variety of clinical difficulties. The papers comprising the symposium include: a study assessing the relationship between experiential avoidance and suicidal behavior in a university sample; a randomized controlled trial comparing cognitive defusion to a wait-list control for depressed college students; a study looking at the relationship between antisocial traits and psychological flexibility among former prisoners and those without a history of incarceration; and a correlational study of college undergraduates linking experiential avoidance to schizotypal personality traits. |
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| The Permanent Solution: Suicidal Behavior and Experiential Avoidance |
| RACHAEL C. HOWARD (The University of Mississippi), Stephanie L. Nassar (University of Mississippi), Lindsay Martin (University of Mississippi), Regan M. Slater (University of Mississippi), Emily Kennison Sandoz (University of Mississippi), Kate Kellum (The University of Mississippi), Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: College is a time of many transitions, a time of self-realization, and it can also be a time of intense sorrow. Life changes such as leaving a familiar home environment and freedom from parental supervision may provide individualization as well as a shock. Society places great emphasis on living well and individuals will go to great lengths to avoid experiencing an unspoken pain. Expressions of pain are displayed in many different forms: physical injury to the body, drinking to the point of intoxication, unrelenting intrusive thoughts, and extreme fear of a real or perceived experience that could hurt physically or emotionally. Individuals experiencing periods of intense and unrelenting psychological difficulties may even look to suicidal behavior as a solution to end all pain. While pain expressions may take on many forms, these behaviors have a common function of avoiding or escaping hurtful experiences. Participants (N = 300) are college students at a southeastern US university. The current study examines the relationship between experiential avoidance and suicidal behavior. |
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| Cognitive Defusion to Treat College Students with Low Self-Esteem |
| Marchion Hinton (Western Michigan University), James R Mellor (Western Michigan University), SCOTT T. GAYNOR (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: As the ACT literature continues to produce evidence of efficacy and effectiveness for a broad range of populations, research is beginning to explore the role of individual components within the larger treatment package. The ACT model suggests that cognitive defusion is a core component. Cognitive defusion attempts to increase awareness of and change the relationship to thoughts without changing the content or frequency of those thoughts. In the present study, twenty-two college students (73% female) reporting low self-esteem and general distress (one SD from the mean on both measures) were randomly assigned to examine the efficacy of three sessions of cognitive defusion (n = 10) against a wait-list control (n = 12). The defusion protocol emphasized vocalizing strategies and the contents on cards exercise. Overall, the data suggested that cognitive defusion is better than no treatment. Those receiving cognitive defusion reported significant improvements in self-esteem, depressive symptomatology, general distress, negative thinking, and experiential avoidance. These findings join others in suggesting that cognitive defusion appears to be an active component of ACT. |
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| Antisocial Traits, Psychological Flexibility, and Incarceration |
| DIANA VANDEKREEKE (Illinois Institute of Technology), Patricia Bach (Illinois Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: Antisocial behavior is costly to society. It is estimated that more than two thirds of prisoners meet criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder. However, it is also not uncommon to see persons with antisocial traits avoid criminal behavior and function effectively in society. To date, treatment and prevention efforts aimed at reducing antisocial behavior have been minimally effective; more information needs to be learned about the relationship between antisocial traits and behaviors. This study was designed to explore the relationship between antisocial traits, psychological flexibility, and incarceration among former prisoners and those without a history of incarceration. A total of 100 participants will complete the study and data collection is ongoing. We expect to show that increased psychological flexibility is associated with less likelihood of incarceration and increased quality of life whether the subject is high or low on antisocial traits. The results will assist in treatment development of interventions aimed at reducing antisocial behavior and its associated costs. |
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| Oddly Avoiding or Avoiding Oddity?: Avoidance on the Schizotypal Spectrum |
| NIKKI CHRISTINE HERNANDEZ (University of North Texas), Amy Murrell (University of North Texas), Craig S Neumann (University of North Texas) |
| Abstract: Symptoms of Schizotypal Personality Disorder (SPD) have been described in accordance with a three-factor model including cognitive-perceptual distortions (ideas of reference and paranoid ideation), interpersonal difficulties (poorly developed relationships), and disorganized behavior (thought disorder and bizarre behavior). As a result, individuals with these symptoms are often characterized as eccentric and isolate themselves from others, despite the desire to obtain close relationships. Similarly, experiential avoidance (EA) occurs when an individual is unwilling to acknowledge private events that may cause discomfort and take steps to avoid coming into contact with those events. The current research posed questions about the relationship between EA and schizotypal traits, specifically hypothesizing that the relationship factor would be related to EA. Data will be presented from a correlational study of college undergraduates linking EA to schizotypal personality traits. Results indicated that EA was moderately correlated with schizotypal traits including cognitive-perceptual (r =.42), interpersonal (.44) and disorganized traits (r =.43). The implication of these results will be presented and discussed. |
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| Developing a Behavioral Taxonomy for Outpatient Psychological Problems |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 224 A |
| Area: CBM/TPC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Thomas J. Waltz (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Discussant: William C. Follette (University of Nevada Reno) |
| Abstract: Clinical behavior analysts conceptualize their client’s problems functionally, although they typically work in settings where those problems also need to be evaluated in terms of DSM-IV categories. This session’s speakers will address ways of promoting the behavioral analysis of psychological problems by categorizing them along functional dimensions that can be used to guide treatment. The first presentation focuses on the broad functional assessment of affect, behavior, and cognition and illustrates how “psychological problems” are behavior problems that behavior analysts are well prepared to address. The second presentation focuses on a single functional dimension: the discounting of clinically relevant outcomes. Data will be presented on the clinical utility of using novel discounting tasks to guide therapists’ choice of treatment for college students with interpersonal problems. The last presentation provides an example of a practice friendly assessment instrument for the identification of functional dimensions of depression. Our discussant will focus on the implications of these presentations and the need for clinicians to have a theoretically coherent system for conceptualizing clients’ functioning. |
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| Clinical Behavior Analysis: Behavioral Plans for “Mental Health” |
| CLAUDIA DROSSEL (University of Nevada, Reno), Thomas J. Waltz (University of Nevada, Reno), William C. Follette (University of Nevada Reno) |
| Abstract: Clinical case formulations based upon functional assessments of affect, behavior, and cognition suggest particular treatment strategies and predict their effectiveness, yet are not commonly utilized by clinical psychologists or psychiatrists. The authors will provide a comprehensive introduction to a behavior analytic interpretation of clinical presentations traditionally viewed and categorized through a topographical diagnostic lens (such as “depression” or “anxiety”). We will illustrate how a behavior analysis of clinical problems may produce highly usable and practical assessment data directly leading to treatment approaches. We will also discuss practical barriers to implementation. Given the prevalence of dual diagnoses in the field of developmental disabilities, the current paper will promote the development of integrated behavior plans by conceptualizing “mental health” issues from a behavior analytic perspective. |
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| The Relationship Between Discounting Tasks and Poor Interpersonal Functioning |
| THOMAS J. WALTZ (University of Nevada, Reno), William C. Follette (University of Nevada Reno) |
| Abstract: Discounting provides a good conceptual framework for understanding many of the psychological problems characterized in the DSM. The present experiment looks at the relationship between poor interpersonal functioning and a variety of discounting tasks. Of particular interest is whether novel discounting tasks that focus on anxiety and poor interpersonal skills can be used to predict and monitor an individual’s response to treatment. The relationship between these novel and previously published measures of discounting will be discussed. |
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| Moving Beyond Measurement of Depressive Symptoms |
| SABRINA DARROW (University of Nevada, Reno), William C. Follette (University of Nevada Reno) |
| Abstract: Not only has the series of Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals failed to provide theoretical consistency with regard to etiologies and maintenance of depressive behaviors, but the most widely used measures of depression are also based primarily on symptoms alone. Behavior analysts have long recognized the need to do more than simply identify problematic behaviors if one’s goal is to intervene effectively. As a result, behavior analysis is uniquely situated to develop more sophisticated assessments. Rather than counting symptoms, our goal is to provide assessment with treatment utility and incremental validity of assessment in a theoretically consistent manner. A conceptually rich assessment approach is necessary to support research on the mediators and moderators of treatment. The authors will present a new measure that relates etiological contexts of depressive behavior to possible interventions as well as possible frameworks for empirically testing this type of assessment. |
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| ADHD |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 222 C |
| Chair: David A. Coleman, Jr. (Private Practice) |
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| Applied Behavior Analysis with Behavioral Dysregulation |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| DAVID A. COLEMAN, JR. (Private Practice) |
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| Abstract: Behavioral dysregulation refers to conditions where voluntary control of behavior is compromised, e.g. ADHD, personality disorders, Bipolar Disorder, etc. Brain studies have found decreased activity, hypometabolism, and reduced volume in both mid-brain and frontal lobe areas for persons with those disorders. Those neurological conditions, in turn, have been associated with memory impairment, decreased impulse control, and reduced emotional regulation. Cognitive and neurological impairments create challenges for both the person and the therapist in terms of implementing successful interventions. Behavior analysis has provided strategies and techniques for enhancing self-monitoring and self-regulation in many other populations (e.g. mental retardation, autism), and many of those techniques can be applied to other conditions that have been difficult to treat. In fact, behavior modification, cognitive and dialectical behavior therapy, and functional assessment have come to be seen by funding and regulating sources as being best practice treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and have resulted in substantial clinical improvement. The present paper will present case studies, including diagnostic strategies and differential diagnosis, matching intervention type to functional behavior problems, and assessment of outcomes, showing how applied behavior analysis can improve self-regulation. |
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| Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With AD(H)D Adolescents and Adults |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ANDREE FLEMING-HOLLAND (University of Veracruz (Mexico)) |
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| Abstract: AD(H)D is a syndrome with a broad range of symptoms reflected in behavioral problems, and stemming from a deficient reinforcement history and poor self-management abilities, including risk-taking and impulsive behavior as well as deficits in abilities to pay attention. These abilities of self-management and planning for the future, as well as achieving future goals, are now widely labeled as executive functions and are anatomically associated with the prefrontal regions of the brain, and area implicated in the attention deficits in AD(H)D. A cognitive behavior approach would seem to increase the ability to attend to a stimulus as well as increasing self-control, which involves the internalization of self-organizing behaviors in order to anticipate future environmental contingencies. Most AD(H)D individuals respond to external or internal stimuli in the present, and the inability to self-organize and carry out long-term projects frequently results in frustration, anxiety and/or depression as well as low self-esteem. A cognitive behavior approach is proving to be effective in enabling this population to increase their self-control and future planning abilities, and thus increase their potential. |
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| ADHD as a reinforcement disorder |
| Domain: Theory |
| TERJE SAGVOLDEN (University of Oslo), Espen Borgå Johansen (Department of Physiology, Institute of Basic Medic) |
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| Abstract: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobehavioral disorder of childhood onset that is characterized by inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. The dynamic developmental behavioral theory of ADHD (Sagvolden et al., Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2005) suggests that altered reinforcement plays a pivotal role.
We have been investigating children with ADHD in developed as well as developing countries. Our investigations show that ADHD is not a cultural phenomenon. The behavioral changes are closely similar in a poor province of a developing country and wealthy Western countries. Learning of behavioral sequences is delayed, and only short behavioral sequences are acquired in children with ADHD.
The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is used as an animal model of ADHD in order to investigate underlying genetic and neuronal changes. Animal models provide several advantages over clinical research: simpler nervous systems, more easily interpreted behaviors, genetic homogeneity, easily controlled environment, and a greater variety of interventions. Results from behavioral analyses, genetics and neurophysiological studies of the SHR indicate reduced reinforcement of behavior as well as synapses and provide clues as to which genes that may be altered in children with ADHD. |
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| Issues and Outcomes in Crisis Management |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 131 A |
| Area: CSE; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Merrill Winston (Professional Crisis Management, Inc.) |
| CE Instructor: Mark T. Harvey, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Crisis management is an important and often controversial aspect of providing treatment services to consumers in a variety of settings. Many state and local governmental bodies, as well as private organizations, are currently considering or re-considering policies that will have far reaching affects on consumers and providers, in a time of heightened sensitivity to safety and dignity issues. The potential for misinformation about true dangers and potential benefits of crisis management and restraint procedures is great and may have serious consequences for the field. Practitioners and administrators alike need realistic information on true risks and benefits to guide policy and practice. This symposium presents information on the need for effective crisis management practices and potential risks and problems associated with them. Various ways these procedures have benefitted consumers and ways that their use has been reduced in two programs as a result of emphasis on prevention and de-escalation strategies will be described and evaluated. |
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| Could More Intrusive be Less Restrictive?; The Debate of Physical Management |
| MARTA T. FIOL (Behavior Services of Brevard), Karen R. Wagner (Behavior Services of Brevard, Inc/UCF) |
| Abstract: If popular opinion holds that time spent in the community is the most preferred activity for individuals with DD according to advocacy and parental groups then this research could be utilized as a quality indicator for meaningful day activities. Programs for individuals with significant behavior challenges are typically seen as the most restrictive placement that an individual can attend, as demonstrated in Individual Support Documentation that indicate the goal is to transition individuals into a less restrictive environment. An analysis of the proportion of time an individual spends in restraint versus other meaningful day activities, including access to the community, was conducted for adults diagnosed with various developmental disabilities attending an Intensive Behavioral Adult Day Training Center in Central Florida. Individuals that attend this IB-ADT are unable to attend or have been terminated from other settings due to the frequency, intensity and magnitude of the dangerous and challenging behaviors displayed. These data will show that although individuals are subject to criterion based physical interventions than many individuals in other ADT’s may not be, they are able to access meaningful activities, including access to the community, at unexpectedly higher rates than one would suppose due to the nature of their behaviors. |
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| Highlighting Behavior Management to Reduce the Need for Crisis Management |
| JOHN BEETAR (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Aaron Parsons (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Susan Villani (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: Knowing when and how to use behavior management is crucial in educational settings, particularly those that deal exclusively with special needs students. Children and adolescents with persistent and severe mental and behavioral health disorders presently receive treatment on a daily basis in special educational schools. This phenomena has been due in part to currently managed health care and short hospital stays. In addition, the Individual with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) states that all children must have access to an education regardless of their disability. As such, special education schools have become treatment facilities for children and adolescents who struggle on a daily basis with psychiatric disorders. Kennedy Krieger School Programs, a nonpublic special education facility in Baltimore, Maryland, has reduced the use of restraint and seclusion of students with an emphasis on the prevention and de-escalation of crises. Data will be presented and include the number of restraints and locked-door seclusions over a 7-year period. Overall, a transdisciplinary approach that includes intensive staff training, comprehensive behavioral and cognitive assessments, and ongoing monitoring are critical elements in the effective behavioral management of special education students. |
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| The Eventual Elimination of all Seclusion and Restraint; The Perfect Plan for the Perfect World |
| MERRILL WINSTON (Professional Crisis Management, Inc.), Neal N. Fleisig (Professional Crisis Management, Inc.) |
| Abstract: This presentation examines some recent language introduced into a Florida Legislative Bill. The paper examines some language of the bill and the implications of this language for practice in behavior analysis. This presentation attempts to correct some of the misconceptions about the use of restraint and attempts to elucidate some of the unseen benefits of restraint that go beyond the simple provision of momentary safety for an individual with disabilities. There will be a behavioral discussion of the meaning of “self-control” and how this class of behaviors can develop through the transfer of stimulus control through a fading procedure in which there is a transfer of control from actual physical holding to the mere presence of the individuals that have been paired with holding. There is also a discussion of pros and cons of various forms of restraint, the implications of not using restraint, and the difference between numerical and clinically meaningful reduction of restraint usage. |
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| Recognizing Ineffective, Counterproductive and Dangerous Crisis Management Procedures |
| NEAL N. FLEISIG (Professional Crisis Management, Inc.), Merrill Winston (Professional Crisis Management, Inc.), Laraine Winston (Professional Crisis Management Association, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Organizations delivering behavioral support services for individuals across educational and clinical settings often are required to use planned and reactive intervention strategies that include a variety of non-physical (gestural and verbal) interactions and physical holding. It is critical that these organizations employ these strategies in an effective and safe manner. Crisis intervention strategies may be dangerous when they are trained, designed, and implemented in such a manner that results in direct injury to the individual receiving services. Crisis intervention strategies are ineffective and or counterproductive when non-specific strategies are applied to very specific behaviors requiring a different and sometimes contrasting intervention. When this occurs, targeted crisis behaviors may increase in intensity and duration or may fail to respond at all. This presentation will present the most common ineffective, counterproductive and dangerous crisis intervention errors that educators and human service providers tend to make, and explores some ways to avoid them. |
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| Behavioral Approaches to the Assessment and Treatment of Novel Challenging Behaviors |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 128 |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Terry Falcomata (University of Nebraska Medical Center & Munroe-Mey) |
| Abstract: Although behavior analytic methods have been shown to be effective in addressing a wide variety of challenging behaviors, there are many behaviors that behavior analysts have not historically addressed. Four papers will be presented describing behavior analytic approaches to the assessment and treatment of challenging behaviors that are relatively novel in behavior analytic research. First, Anna Ing and colleagues tackle coprophagia and present data on the use of modified functional analysis methods and the development of an effective treatment. In the second paper, Kendra Beaudet-Dommer, Mark Derby, Kim Weber, and Anjali Barretto present a unique case of social phobia and show data demonstrating the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in the treatment of the phobia. In the third paper, Brenda Engebretson, David Wacker, Linda Cooper-Brown, Patrick Romani, Kelly Schieltz, and Lindsay Stangeland address the topic of selective mutism in young children and present data on the use of brief antecedent experimental analyses for identifying variables that affect the occurrence of this challenging behavior. Finally, Adam Hahs, Mark Dixon, Michael Bordieri, Becky Nastally, and Nick Mui present data demonstrating the utility of behavioral based interventions for the treatment of the morbid obesity. |
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| Functional Analysis and Treatment of Coprophagia |
| ANNA ING (Munroe-Meyer Institute), Henry S. Roane (University of Nebraska Medical Center & Munroe-Meyer Institute), Rebecca A. Veenstra (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center), Kasey Stephenson (Munroe-Meyer Institute; UNMC) |
| Abstract: A functional analysis of coprophagia was conducted with a 6-year old female. The results of the functional analysis suggested that the coprophagia was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Based on the results of the functional analysis, a treatment was developed to decrease the occurrence of coprophagia. A competing items preference assessment was conducted for the purpose of identifying stimuli that would potentially compete with occurrences of coprophagia. Next, we evaluated the effectiveness of providing non-contingent access to the identified stimuli in decreasing occurrences of coprophagia. The results showed that rates of coprophagia were considerably lower when noncontingent access to the identified stimuli was provided noncontingently. Additionally, the intervention generalized successfully to two naturalistic settings (i.e., the restroom, a room with a trash can). Results are discussed in terms of the efficacy of implementing treatments for coprophagia based on the results of functional analyses. |
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| The Effects of Systematic Desensitization on a Phobic 15-year-old Male with Autism: A Case Study |
| KENDRA BEAUDET-DOMMER (Gonzaga University), K. Mark Derby (Gonzaga University), Kimberly P. Weber (Gonzaga University), Anjali Barretto (Gonzaga University) |
| Abstract: Childhood anxieties are often associated with avoidance and discomfort and are completely natural to arise when in distressing situations; it’s when these fears affect daily functioning are they classified as phobias. A specific type of phobia is social anxiety; the fear of social situations that involve interaction with other people. While many phobic individuals suffer from social impairments, relatively few end up in treatment for their problems and less than 20% seek professional help. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a systematic desensitization intervention program on a phobic 15-year-old male with Autism who had a specific phobia for persons who coughed or expressed cold symptoms. This study explores how relaxation techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing exercises and hand-held stress reduction coupled with a step-by-step hierarchical intervention serve as treatment in reducing social anxiety and aberrant behaviors in a family situation. |
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| Using Brief Antecedent Analyses to Match Assessment to Treatment in Children with Selective Mutism |
| BRENDA J. ENGEBRETSON (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Linda J. Cooper-Brown (The University of Iowa), Patrick Romani (University of Iowa), Kelly M. Schieltz (University of Iowa), Lindsay Stangeland (Grant Wood Area Education Agency/St. Cloud State University), Maliha Zaman (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: Behavioral treatments for children with selective mutism have been shown to be effective (Stone, Kratochwill, Sladeczek, & Serlin, 2002). However, procedures for matching a specific intervention to a given child diagnosed with mutism have not yet been developed. Although the studies reviewed by Stone et al. were based on applied behavior analytic techniques (e.g., shaping and positive reinforcement), authors did not report how intervention was matched to an individual child. Because mutism is the absence of a behavior, it can be difficult to experimentally assess using a consequence-based functional analysis. Other methods of assessment are necessary to match intervention to a child’s individual needs. The current investigation used brief experimental analysis methodology (e.g., Cooper et al. 1992) to evaluate individual patterns in communication and problem behavior in 2 children referred to a behavioral pediatrics outpatient clinic for selective mutism. An antecedent analysis of children’s vocalizations and problem behaviors was conducted to determine whether selective mutism was a unique example of oppositional behavior or 1 topography of several oppositional behaviors within the child’s repertoire. Individual patterns of responding were observed across children, suggesting that this type of antecedent analysis may be beneficial for matching treatment strategies to individual children with mutism. |
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| Taking a Behavior Analytic Bite Out of the Obesity Epidemic in America |
| ADAM D. HAHS (Southern Illinois University), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University), Michael Bordieri (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Becky L. Nastally (Southern Illinois University), Nicholas Mui Ker Lik (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: Over the course of the past 20 years, the United States has seen a rapid increase in the proportion of the population that meets the criteria of being morbidly obese. It is clear that the yearly diet fads, the Christmas-gift exercise equipment, and the night-time inspirational infomercials are not working. America is fatter than ever before. This presentation will highlight the significant societal problem facing our culture, trace the minimal behavioral interventions that have been attempted, and showcase an application of a lab-to-therapy treatment clinic at Southern Illinois University. Data from laboratory experimentation as well as from clients whom have completed 8-16 week intensive 1-1 behavioral based therapy will be presented. Based on the obtained data, it is clear that behavior analysis has much to offer in the fight against obesity, and treatment can in fact be successful. |
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| Further Developments in the Assessment and Treatment of Children who Display Escape-Maintained Problem Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 129 A |
| Area: DDA/CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Danielle N. Dolezal (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Discussant: Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: A common problem encountered by clinicians and teachers is noncompliance by children when presented with task demands. Understanding both the antecedents and consequences that maintain noncompliance allows clinicians and teachers to better treat problem behavior and increase compliance. Each of the current papers addresses different assessment and treatment approaches to reduce escape-maintained problem behavior and increase compliance with task demands. First, Anjali Barretto and Heather Shouse will present data on the assessment and treatment of food refusal and selectivity with a child with autism across multiple contexts. Next, Jessica Frieder, Shawn Quigley, Stephanie Peterson, Shilo Smith, and Carrie Brower-Breitweiser will discuss concurrent schedules of reinforcement for passively noncompliant students. The authors proposed an alternative methodology for assessing the function(s) of passive noncompliance and developed a function-based intervention matched to the results of the assessment. Finally Melanie Bachmeyer, David Wacker, and Linda Cooper-Brown will present on the relative effects of reinforcement and antecedent-based components in the treatment of escape-maintained food refusal with one child in outpatient setting. Results suggested that the addition of the antecedent-based procedure augmented the function-based intervention for escape-maintained food refusal. Collectively, these papers addresses important issues related to the assessment and treatment of escape-maintained problem behavior. |
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| Assessment and Treatment of Food Refusal with a Child with Autism |
| ANJALI BARRETTO (Gonzaga University), Heather Shouse (Gonzaga University) |
| Abstract: Children with autism often display food over selectivity and food refusal. Outcomes of a review of literature on feeding disorders in children with ASD conducted by Ledford and Gast in 2006 confirmed this hypothesis. The purpose of this study was to assess and treat food selectivity across multiple contexts. The participant was 4 years old and diagnosed with autism. The assessment and treatment were conducted in an outpatient clinic and in an integrated preschool classroom. Treatment included escape extinction and texture fading to increase both variety and consistency of foods. In addition outside-meal functional analyses were conducted during several phases of the study to monitor changes in the function of self-injury while the feeding treatment progressed. Two independent observers achieved 90% agreement on over 33% of the sessions. Results will be discussed relative to application of behavioral feeding interventions to young children with autism, parent training, and generalization. |
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| Concurrent Schedules of Reinforcement for Passively Noncompliant Students |
| JESSICA FRIEDER (Utah State University), Shawn Quigley (Idaho State Universtiy), Stephanie M. Peterson (Idaho State University), Shilo Smith-Ruiz (College of Southern Idaho), Carrie M. Brower-Breitwieser (Idaho State University) |
| Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated the usefulness of applying functional analysis protocol for strengthening hypotheses regarding functional relations between problem behaviors and environmental contingencies (Iwata et al., 1982/1994). However, a functional analysis is often not helpful in clarifying the function of the problem behavior if there is an absence of active problem behaviors. For example, some children may stay at their desks but not complete any work unless physical prompts and models are provided (even though the task is at the child’s instructional level). If a functional analysis cannot be conducted of noncompliance, the function of noncompliance may be unclear—is it motivated by escape from the task demands or is it motivated by attention (i.e., in the form of prompts and/or assistance) from the teacher? The purposes of the current study were to (a) identify a methodology for assessing the function(s) of passive noncompliance, (b) develop a function-based intervention for passive noncompliance based on concurrent schedules of reinforcement, and (c) increase the amount of academic work being completed by the students. Data on a sample participant will be presented to illustrate this process. The implications of this methodology for the effective treatment of passive noncompliance will be discussed. |
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| The Relative Effects of Reinforcement and Antecedent-Based Components in the Treatment of Escape-Maintained Food Refusal |
| MELANIE H. BACHMEYER (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Linda J. Cooper-Brown (The University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: Children with feeding problems may exhibit food refusal in a variety of ways including displaying inappropriate mealtime behaviors and refusing to accept and/or swallow bites. Negative reinforcement in the form of escape from or avoidance of eating is one variable that has been demonstrated to maintain food refusal, and escape extinction has been shown to be an effective intervention. Escape extinction (i.e., nonremoval of the spoon and re-presentation) was effective in increasing food acceptance for the child in the present study. However, escape extinction was not effective in increasing food consumption because the child refused to close his mouth when food was deposited. Therefore, the present study examined the relative effects of two additional treatment components combined with escape extinction: Noncontingent reinforcement and an antecedent-based procedure (i.e., pre-meal trials using a NUK® brush to elicit mouth closure). Both were evaluated within a reversal design. Results suggested that mouth closure during meals remained at low levels with the addition of noncontingent reinforcement, but increased with the addition of the antecedent-based procedure. Inter-observer agreement was collected during 30% of the sessions with 92% agreement. Results will be discussed in terms of the beneficial effects of antecedent manipulations in the treatment of escape-maintained food refusal. |
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| Towards the Development of a Technology of Motivating Operations: Analysis and Clinical Application |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 120 A |
| Area: DDA/TPC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Michael E. Kelley (University of Southern Maine) |
| Discussant: F. Charles Mace (University of Southern Maine) |
| Abstract: The concept of the Motivating Operation (Michael, 1982, 1992, 2000) has been increasingly influential on both research and practice in applied behavior analysis. Despite the intuitive appeal of the concept of the Motivating Operation, relatively little direct evidence may be gleaned from the extant literature. Specifically, the development of research technology for establishing an evidence base for Motivating Operations in general, and Conditioned Motivating Operations in particular, has lagged behind the theoretical development. The concept of the Motivation Operation holds great promise for improving the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities if technologies are developed for use by applied behavior analysts. This symposium includes three studies that specifically target developing technologies for establishing an evidence base for the concept of the Motivating Operation and applying those findings to individuals who engage in problem behavior. |
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| An Analysis and Treatment of Chronic Thumb Sucking and Chronic Hair Pulling |
| JENNIFER M. DERDERIAN (The May Institute), Nicole Heal (Southern Illinois University), Gary M. Pace (The May Institute) |
| Abstract: Thumb sucking often occurs with other habit disorders such as hair pulling. There have been two suggested relationships between thumb sucking and hair pulling; response covariation and that thumb sucking is an establishing operation for hair pulling. In the current study a 12-year-old girl with Cri du Chat Syndrome engaged in chronic bi-lateral thumb sucking and chronic hair pulling. Classroom data suggested that thumb sucking and hair pulling covaried, thus the purpose of the study was three-fold, 1) Identify the function of hair pulling, 2) Identify the relationship between thumb sucking and hair pulling, and 3) Assess the direct effects of protective equipment (i.e., Thumb Guards ®) on thumb sucking and indirect effects on hair pulling. Functional analysis results showed that the duration of thumb sucking was highest in low stimulation conditions suggesting an automatic function. Results of the relationship analysis suggested that thumb sucking functioned as an establishing operation for hair pulling. During the treatment analysis, implementation of the Thumb Guards ® decreased thumb sucking to low levels and eliminated untreated hair pulling. Interobserver agreement was assessed on 30% of all sessions and averaged above 80% on all measures. |
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| An analysis of Procedures to Decrease Inappropriate Behavior When It Is a Link in a Response Chain |
| AMANDA E. GULD (The May Institute), Nancy A. Neef (The Ohio State University), Helen Malone (None), Alayna Theresa Haberlin (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: The current study examined the effectiveness of a strategy to disrupt behavior chains, consisting of an inappropriate behavior followed by an appropriate behavior of 3 children with moderate to severe disabilities. A baseline measure was collected of each response in the chain: response one (R1) and response two (R2). Conditional probabilities were calculated to provide evidence that the two responses occurred in a predictable sequence and may therefore constitute a chain. The subsequent intervention consisted of providing the appropriate discriminative stimulus that occasioned R2 on a fixed schedule and reinforcing the appropriate response (R2) regardless of when it occurred (i.e., within the chain or alone). The results of a multiple baseline across participants analysis demonstrated that the intervention was effective in disrupting the response chains and in decreasing the inappropriate response for all 3 participants. In addition, the intervention was effective in increasing the appropriate response in 2 of the 3 participants. These results have implications for use of the disruption procedure in applied settings in which challenging behavior is a member of a response chain. |
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| A Comparison of Procedures for Unpairing Conditioned Reflexive Establishing Operations |
| TRACY L. KETTERING (The Ohio State University), Nancy A. Neef (The Ohio State University), Michael E. Kelley (University of Southern Maine), Christopher J. Perrin (The Ohio State University), COURTNEY FLEMING (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: Task demands were shown to be establishing operations, evoking problem behavior to access escape, for 4 students with disabilities. Alternative communication responses were taught as an appropriate method to request escape. This treatment combined with extinction for problem behavior led to decreases in problem behavior for all students. A stimulus was then paired with the task demand during the motivating operations analysis to create a reflexive conditioned establishing operation (CEO-R) that evoked communication responses. Once data suggested that the stimulus was functioning as a CEO-R, two methods were evaluated to reduce the value of the stimulus. Results indicated that noncontingent reinforcement unpairing was an effective method to reduce the evocative effects of the stimulus. Extinction unpairing also decreased the value of the stimulus, but the evocative effects were never completely abolished. Results are discussed in terms of abolishing CEOs and the applied implications of CEOs. |
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| Recent Developments in the Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 225 |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Amy Kenzer (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Discussant: Amy Kenzer (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| CE Instructor: Matthew Normand, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: This symposium will consist of three presentations on the experimental analysis of human behavior. Each presentation will address a different behavioral phenomenon, including resurgence, conjugate reinforcement, and extinction-induced variability. Current data from research on each topic will be reviewed and implications for future research and practice will be presented. |
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| Resurgence of Operant Variability |
| MICHELE R. BISHOP (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), Patrick M. Ghezzi (University of Nevada) |
| Abstract: Resurgence is the reemergence of a previously reinforced and eliminated behavior following the contingency of reinforcement for a more recently reinforced behavior. The present study was designed to investigate if resurgence is a specific form of extinction-induced variability, or if resurgence is observed in the absence of other extinction-induced responses. This study examined the resurgence of a repertoire of variable responding with human participants using a computer-based experimental preparation. Results demonstrated, 1) the resurgence of operant variability, 2) that the resurgence of operant variability was repeatable over time, 3) that the magnitude of resurgence decreased as a function of repeated condition, 4) that as the number of control icons present on the visual display increased the magnitude of resurgence decreased, and 5) that several other responses not recorded by the experimental apparatus occurred when participants were not earning points. A discussion about the relationship between the resurgence of operant variability, extinction-induced variability, and problem solving will be presented. |
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| What Behavior Analysts Need to Know About Conjugate Reinforcement: New Examinations and Possibilities |
| KENNETH MACALEESE (University of Nevada, Reno), Patrick M. Ghezzi (University of Nevada) |
| Abstract: Conjugate reinforcement is a fixed ratio 1 schedule with the added feature that the intensity of the reinforcer is proportional to the rate and/or intensity of responding. The effects of conjugate reinforcement on the responding of college students was examined in four experiments. Using a reversal design in the first three experiments, conjugate reinforcement was alternated with extinction, a reverse conjugate arrangement, and conjugate noise, respectively. In the fourth experiment, the percentage of intensity change was alternated and evaluated within a multiple schedule format. The results of the four experiments will be presented and discussed in relation to a recent call for the re-examination of conjugate reinforcement as it relates to "difficult to treat" automatically reinforcement behaviors (Rapp, 2008). Implications for further research on conjugate reinforcement will be discussed. |
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| Extinction-induced Response Variability in Young Children with Autism |
| VALERIE R. ROGERS (University of Nevada, Reno), Patrick M. Ghezzi (University of Nevada) |
| Abstract: Response variability is an integral part of an organism’s interactions with its surrounding environment. Children with autism are often characterized as lacking variability in their responses. This decrement may be result of a limited amount of extinction-induced response variability. A procedure was developed to determine the extent with which children with autism demonstrate extinction-induced variability with respect to response location. Results suggest that the participants with autism demonstrated more extinction-induced variability with respect to response location than the participants of typical development. Conversely, the participants with autism demonstrated less extinction-induced variability with respect to non-location response topographies when compared to the participants of typical development. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of variable response topographies and the need for directly reinforcing response variability in children with autism. Suggestions for future research are provided. |
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| Intertemporal and Interpersonal Decision-Making: Discounting Processes |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 227 BC |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Richard Yi (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) |
| Discussant: Edmund J. Fantino (University of California, San Diego) |
| Abstract: Numerous scientists have deliberated on decision-making contexts that involve dimensions of temporal distance and social distance, speculating that the same essential processes are involved in both types of decisions. One potential method of investigation into these questions is discounting procedures, where participants are asked to choose between alternatives that vary either intertemporal or interpersonal outcomes. This symposium reports on current research that explores discounting processes as functions of time, social distance, and their combination. The first presentation will examine temporal discounting processes when choices have interpersonal consequences; i.e., outcomes of the decision process affect others. The second presentation will examine social discounting processes that also include symmetrical and asymmetrical delay components. The third presentation will compare and contrast temporal and social discounting processes for various commodities. Across these presentations, the authors will highlight the implications of these datasets for understanding both individual and group behavior. |
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| Now for me, later for us? Effects of group decisions on discount rates |
| RICHARD YI (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), Shawn R. Charlton (University of Central Arkansas), Caitlin Porter (University of Central Arkansas) |
| Abstract: Temporal discounting, the decrease in reinforcing value associated with delay to the delivery of a reinforcer, has been demonstrated with a variety of commodities and in various contexts. However, unaddressed in the literature is the effect of making a choice that not only impacts the decision-maker’s outcome, but also that of other persons. For example, would the observed rate of discounting for $100 for the participant alone be similar to that for $1,000 to be split equally between 10 persons, including the participant? Results indicate (1) a correlation between discounting that impact only the self and discounting that impact other persons, and that (2) lower temporal discount rates are observed when framing the decision as involving other persons, rather than only the self, with gender as a possible moderating variable. The implications of these findings will be discussed. |
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| Delayed social discounting: Relationship between delay and social discounting |
| CAITLIN PORTER (University of Central Arkansas), Shawn R. Charlton (University of Central Arkansas), Richard Yi (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) |
| Abstract: Rachlin & Jones (2008) demonstrated that the amount of money a participant is willing to forego so that another person can receive a gain is a function of the degree of social connectedness between the decision-maker and the recipient of their “generosity”. In this original report, both outcomes occurred immediately. This symmetry raises an intriguing question: what would happen to the observed generosity if one or more the outcomes were delayed? In this paper, we report on a series of experiments looking at how temporal delay interacts with social discounting. Preliminary analyses indicate that increasing the delay to both the participant's and the social target's outcome has a limited (non-statistically significant) impact on observed discount rates. However, increasing the delay asymmetrically has a significant impact. When the delay is added to the participant's outcome, social discount rates decrease (more generous behavior). When the delay is added to the social targets outcome, discount rates increase (less generous behavior). In addition to these results, we will discuss both the significance of these findings and what these results can tell us about the discounting process in general. |
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| Does similarity in form equal similarity in function? A comparison of temporal and social discounting. |
| SHAWN R. CHARLTON (University of Central Arkansas), Caitlin Porter (University of Central Arkansas), Richard Yi (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) |
| Abstract: A hyperbolic discounting equation has been shown to adequately describe discounting in a number of different contexts (temporal discounting, probability discounting, and social discounting). Taken at face value, this could be interpreted as evidence that a single process is responsible for the change in behavior in each of these contexts. However, few direct comparisons have been made between observed discount rates in these distinct contexts. The project discussed in this presentation addresses this topic directly as it compares individual discount rates for temporal and social discounting (between context comparisons) and compares how the discounting context effects observed discount rates in these contexts through the comparison of choices for immediate versus delayed money, food, and music. Preliminary analyses from this project indicate that food and music are socially discounted at a slower rate than is money (greater generosity for food and iTunes downloads than for money). The opposite, steeper discounting for food and music than money, was observed for temporal discounting. The reversed commodity effect observed here is similar to the previously observed reversed magnitude effect of social discounting. The significance of these results for understanding the process of discounting is discussed. |
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| Molar and Molecular Factors in Aversive Control |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 228 |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Michael Perone (West Virginia University) |
| Discussant: Michael Perone (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: This symposium will report and discuss recent experimental research concerned with long-term (molar) and short-term (molecular) influences on behavior controlled by punishment and negative reinforcement. Of particular interest are experimental analyses of the differential punishment of long or short interresponse times and the role of shock-frequency reduction in the reinforcing efficacy of timeout from avoidance. |
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| Generalized versus Localized Effects of Shock: The Role of Shock Intensity and Interresponse Times Followed by Shock |
| JESSICA B. LONG (University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg) |
| Abstract: Although response-dependent shock often suppresses responding, response facilitation occasionally occurs. Four experiments investigated how shock intensity and the interresponse that produce shock interact to determine responding. Lever pressing by rats was maintained by a variable-interval 40-s schedule of food presentation. Shock was delivered on a differential schedule. In Experiments 1 and 2, long interresponse times produced shock. In Experiments 3 and 4, short interresponse times produced shock. The range of interresponse times eligible for shock was raised across or within phases, and shock intensity was raised from 0.05 mA to 0.4mA or 0.8 mA. Whether shock suppressed or facilitated responding depended on the shock schedule. When long interresponse times produced shock, low shock intensities facilitated responding and suppressed long Interresponse times. High shock intensities had the opposite effect. When short interresponse times produced shock, shock suppressed responding and short Interresponse times. Higher shock intensities produced the greatest suppression. In three of the four experiments, raising the range of interresponse times eligible for shock enhanced these effects. The current data support previous findings on the selective punishment of interresponse times but suggest that whether shock facilitates or suppresses responding depends on both shock intensity and the interresponse times followed by shock. |
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| Negative Reinforcement by Timeout from Avoidance: The Roles of Shock-Frequency
Reduction and Response-Effort Reduction |
| ANNE M FOREMAN (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: Timeout from avoidance is an effective reinforcer, but the reason is not firmly established. The present experiment eliminated the reduction in shocks that occurs from time-in to timeout while maintaining the reduction in avoidance responding that occurs from time-in to timeout, thus allowing for the assessment of shock-frequency reduction independently of response effort. Rats responded on concurrent schedules of avoidance and timeout. Pressing the right lever postponed shocks according to a schedule with a response-shock interval of 30 s and a shock-shock interval of 5 s, and pressing the left lever produced 2-min timeouts according to a variable-interval 45-s schedule. In the experimental conditions, shocks were delivered during the timeouts. In the Local-Yoking condition, there was no short term change in the rate of shocks from time-in to timeout. The number and temporal location of shocks in the 2-min timeout duplicated the number and temporal location of shocks in the 2 min of time-in preceding the timeout. In the Molar-Yoking condition, the overall rate of shocks in time-in and timeout was the same. The schedule of shocks during the time-in portion of the previous session was played back during the timeouts of the following session. Early data suggest that rates of responding to produce timeouts are maintained when shocks are delivered during the timeouts in both the Local-Yoking and Molar-Yoking conditions. |
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| The Shock Remains the Same but Timeout Responding Sure is Changing |
| CHAD M. GALUSKA (College of Charleston) |
| Abstract: One-factor accounts of responding maintained by timeout from shock avoidance emphasize the importance of the shock-frequency reduction afforded by the timeout. Two experiments are reviewed which demonstrate that rats’ responding maintained by timeout from avoidance (timeout responding) can be modified by manipulations that do not affect the prevailing rate of shock. In Experiment 1, increasing the duration of warning signals of impending but avoidable shock increased both avoidance and timeout responding without systematically altering the obtained shock rate. In Experiment 2, after establishing a baseline in which rats could avoid shock by responding on one lever and produce timeout by responding on the other, the avoidance contingency was removed altogether and response-independent shocks were yoked from the baseline condition. Timeout responding actually decreased, even though the shock-frequency reduction afforded by the timeout remained the same and a competing response had been removed. Together, these results provide converging evidence that timeout responding is sensitive to variables other than the degree of shock-frequency reduction associated with the timeout. Perhaps the reinforcing functions of timeout are derived from the respite from the avoidance activity that timeout permits. |
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| Behavior in Variable Environments: Dynamics of Behavior in Choice and Stimulus-Control Procedures |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 226 AB |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Raymond C. Pitts (University of North Carolina Wilmington) |
| Discussant: Douglas Elliffe (University of Auckland) |
| Abstract: Behavior readily adapts to rapidly changing contingencies. For example, several studies have shown that response allocation in concurrent schedules can adapt to session-to-session, or within-session, changes in the ratio of reinforcement rates, amounts, and/or delays. After sufficient exposure to rapidly changing environmental conditions, behavior becomes relatively sensitive to the current contingencies, and relatively insensitive to contingencies prevailing in previous conditions. In this symposium, we explore further the dynamics of behavior under rapidly changing contingencies. Data investigating effects of unsignaled, within-session, changes in reinforcement parameters under concurrent variable-interval schedules (e.g., reinforcement rate and reinforcement magnitude), and data investigating effects of session-to-session changes in contingencies controlling a temporal discrimination, will be presented. |
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| Choice in a Variable Environment: Do Findings Depend on Level of Aggregation? |
| ANDREW M RODEWALD (University of North Carolina Wilmington), Christine Hughes (University of North Carolina Wilmington), Raymond C. Pitts (University of North Carolina Wilmington) |
| Abstract: Davison, Baum and colleagues have reported data from a series of studies in which reinforcer ratios, arranged via concurrent variable-interval (VI) schedules, varied unpredictably within sessions. Data aggregated over several sessions indicated that: a) response allocation within a given component was sensitive to the arranged reinforcer ratio for that component, b) preference for an alternative increased with successive reinforcers obtained via that alternative, and, c) each reinforcer presentation produced a brief “preference pulse” for the just productive alternative. It was suggested that reinforcers guide, rather than strengthen behavior. The current experiment was a replication of one condition of the Davison and Baum (2000) study. Each session consisted of seven components in which concurrent VI schedules were arranged; the programmed reinforcer ratios (L:R) ranged from 27:1 to 1:27. Components were unsignaled, their order within each session was randomly determined, and each lasted 10 reinforcers. When aggregated over a large number of sessions (e.g., 35), the data were similar to those reported by Davison and Baum (2000). Several characteristics of performance (e.g., preference pulses) were preserved when the data were aggregated over fewer sessions. Finally, sensitivity to the rapidly changing conditions was acquired in relatively few sessions. |
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| Effects of Relative Amount and Rate of Food on Preference |
| CARLOS F. APARICIO (University of Guadalajara-CUCS-Neuroscience), Raymond C. Pitts (University of North Carolina Wilmington), Craig Cummings (University of North Carolina Wilmington), Christine Hughes (University of North Carolina Wilmington), William M. Baum (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: Recent research showed that control over local choice by extended variables proved to be true not only of relative food rate but also relative amount. In these studies either a constant overall rate of food delivery or a food-rate ratio provided by two alternatives changed across seven components within daily sessions and food-amount ratio changed across phases. Short- and long-term effects of food deliveries on preference were found with no evidence indicating that control of preference became more local as food amount varied, suggesting that variations in the amount and frequency of food act in similar ways to control preference. We assessed the generality of these findings with eight rats responding in concurrent schedules. The food-amount ratio provided by two levers changed across seven components within daily sessions and three food-rate ratios changed across phases. Results showed that preference separated across components, more responses occurred on the large-amount-of-food lever than on the small-amount-of-food lever. More local analysis of visits to the levers between food deliveries and preference pulses following food deliveries will be conducted to find out whether or not a mathematical model based on a linear-operator equation accounts for these results. |
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| Rapid Changes in Bias in Simple and Complex Temporal Discrimination in Rats |
| BLAKE A. HUTSELL (Southern Illinois University-Carbondale), Eric A. Jacobs (Southern Illinois University-Carbondale) |
| Abstract: In the present study, we sought to extend the rapid acquisition methodology to signal detection procedures. Specifically, we investigated changes in bias when relative reinforcer frequency for correct responses varied across sessions according to a pseudorandom sequence (Hunter & Davison, 1985). In Experiment 1, four rats responded in a two-stimulus, two-response detection procedure employing temporal stimuli (short vs. long houselight presentations). Relative reinforcer frequency varied according to a 31-step pseudorandom binary sequence and stimulus-duration difference varied over two levels across conditions. In Experiment 2, three rats responded in a five-stimulus, two-response detection procedure employing temporal stimuli. Relative reinforcer frequency was varied according to a 36-step pseudorandom ternary sequence. Results of both experiments were analyzed according to a behavioral model of detection (Davison & Nevin, 1999). The model was extended to incorporate the effects of current and previous session reinforcer frequency ratios on current session performance. Similar to findings in concurrent schedules, effects of relative reinforcer frequency were highest in the current session; however, effects of previous sessions were evident. Generally, the results indicate that bias can come under control of frequent changes in relative reinforcer frequency in both simple and complex detection procedures. |
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| Engineering Discovery Learning: Generativity and Contingency Adduction |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 121 A |
| Area: EDC/EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Kent Johnson (Morningside Academy) |
| CE Instructor: Terence Blackwell, M.S., S.A.S. |
| Abstract: The study of generativity is the study of conditions that occasion the emergence of novel behavior and complex behavior without directly programing them. Many behavior analysts are interested in generativity, and approach it from a variety of perspectives and procedures, including equivalence relations, rule-governed behavior, relational frame theory, recombinative generalization, interconnecting repertoires, and contingency adduction. This symposium will focus upon contingency adduction and interventions that promote it. In presentation #1, Johnson will define generativity and contingency adduction; provide examples of contingency adduction in the classroom, and everyday life; and describe data on the arrangement and occurrence of contingency adduction. In presentation #2, Robbins will describe generative repertoires and two technologies for establishing them: a self-questioning procedure we call Fluent Thinking Skills (FTS), and a problem solving routine called Talk Aloud Problem Solving (TAPS). In presentation #3, Rickard will review basic research in each of the generativity approaches, and describe the necessary and sufficient conditions for each. In presentation #4, Layng will describe how stimulus control relations can explained by examining their dimensional stimulus control (what is responded to), and abstractional/instructional stimulus control (how one responds), and how these two aspects of stimulus control and their relation to contingency adduction further our understanding of novel behavior such as perspective-changing, insight, and metaphorical extension. |
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| Generativity and Contingency Adduction Defined |
| KENT JOHNSON (Morningside Academy) |
| Abstract: Generativity can be understood by examining the process of contingency adduction. Contingency adduction is the recombination of prior learning to meet the requirements of new contingency contexts. Behaviors learned under separate conditions are recruited under new conditions to form new combinations or blends that serve a new or different function. Repertoires selected from the combination and recombination of previous selections become part of the selecting environment for further repertoires, and so on, to produce increasingly complex behavior. In this way, complex behavior can be viewed as the evolving outcomes of a learner’s environmental selection history. I will give examples of student repertoires adduced by contingencies in our classrooms, and some experimental data collected while programing early reading behaviors. Contingency adduction may be promoted in at least 3 ways: careful sequencing of instructional objectives, delayed prompting from teachers and peers, and explicitly teaching generative repertoires. I will briefly outline these approaches. Our Generative Instruction procedures and the phenomenon of contingency adduction make explicit some of the conditions that produce novel behavior, complex behavior, and discovery learning. |
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| Generative Repertoires in a Morningside Classroom |
| JOANNE K. ROBBINS (Morningside Academy) |
| Abstract: The thinking skills "movement" is over twenty-five years old with educators and psychologists approaching classroom instruction and thinking from a long menu of options. As behavior analysts we can draw upon Arthur Costa’s analysis of how to best promote teaching and learning of this repertoire we call thinking: should the teacher teach for thinking; of thinking; about thinking? However, another expert in this field, Edward de Bono, cautioned us about blending approaches, “There are many great cuisines in the world: French, Chinese, Italian - and you seem to be trying to make a great stew out of all of them.” Behavior analysts are in a unique position to both draw upon others' work, yet make sure the derived procedures are effective. Using a contingency analysis, we can examine the relations between teacher and student, between students and instructional materials, between students using self-questioning, as in our Fluent Thinking Skills program, and acquisition of prerequisite skills, and between acquisition of the qualities shaped using our TAPS program and successful problem solving. By analyzing contingencies, we examine how self-generated stimuli restrict response alternatives and “provide an occasion for repertoires that may be relevant to ‘finding a solution,’ or stated differently, to making patterns, or combinations of patterns, candidates for contingency adduction” (Layng). Everyday school examples will be provided of how contingencies combine, overlap and ultimately define generative repertoires. |
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| Understanding Generativity: An Analysis of the Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Producing Emergent Outcomes |
| KENDRA L. RICKARD (University of Nevada, Reno - Center for Advanced L) |
| Abstract: The description of conditions and learning histories essential to give rise to novel behavior or new combinations of previously learned behaviors has implications for the understanding of complex human phenomena such as creativity, problem solving, and the generative nature of language. Many areas of basic research examine such emergent repertoires, and different principles, processes and terms have been put forth to describe and/or account for them. The current presentation will discuss basic research concerned with emergent or generative outcomes. Specifically, processes of interconnecting repertoires, contingency adduction, recombinative generalization, rule-governed behavior and stimulus equivalence will be considered. The necessary and sufficient conditions in each of these generative approaches will be discussed. |
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| The Importance of Dimensional and Abstractional/Instructional Stimulus Control to Analyzing Complex Behavior and Designing Generative Instruction |
| T. V. JOE LAYNG (Headsprout) |
| Abstract: Central to our understanding of generative instruction is the occasion – behavior relation. These relations can be described as alternative stimulus control topographies (SCTs) from which some are selected and other are not. As Ray & Sidman (1970) noted, however, an SCT must first occur before it can be selected by reinforcement. There is much more involved than simply reinforcing behavior in the presence of a stimulus. This presentation will examine how SCTs can be understood in terms of dimensional stimulus control (what is responded to) and abstractional/instructional stimulus control (how one responds), and how certain SCTs can be rapidly established. It will also describe how the relation between dimensional control, abstractional/instructional control, and contingency adduction can further our understanding of such “generative” topics as change in perspective, insight, reorganization of behavior, metaphor, relational responding, and stimulus class. |
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| The Role of Teacher Education Programs in the Evidence-Based Practice Movement |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 122 BC |
| Area: EDC/TBA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Lawrence J. Maheady (SUNY Fredonia) |
| Discussant: K. Richard Young (Brigham Young University) |
| Abstract: The term “evidence-based’ has become ubiquitous in education during the past decade (Deitrich, 2008). Yet significant questions remain regarding: (a) what the term means, (b) what constitutes “evidence”, (c) how evidence-based practices are identified, implemented, and sustained, and (d) what role, if any, teacher education programs can play in bringing evidence-based practices to public school classrooms. This session focuses on the last question and will suggest: (a) that teacher education program can and should play a major role in bringing evidence-based practices to public school classrooms and (b) that the success of any teacher education programs should be determined ultimately by the impact that program graduates have on their pupils’ learning and behavior (Greenwood & Maheady, 2001).
Each presenter will describe efforts in three different teacher preparation programs to promote the use of evidence-based practices among pre-service and in-service teachers in general and special education. Presenters will describe specific evidence-based practices, discuss how teachers were taught to use them, share data on their implementation efforts, and describe specific successes and challenges associated with their efforts. |
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| Preparing Pre-service Teachers to Provide Supports for
Children with Significant Behavioral Needs |
| FRANK W. KOHLER (University of Northern Iowa), Susan Etscheidt (University of Northern Iowa) |
| Abstract: This presentation will describe efforts to prepare pre-service teachers to use school-wide positive behavior support with students with significant behavioral needs and challenges. The Department of Special Education at the University of Northern Iowa provides a one year program for pre-service teachers who wish to receive an endorsement to teach children with mild/moderate disabilities. Pre-service teachers complete their elementary education requirements before beginning a 24-credit special education program, which includes two courses in behavior management. Teacher candidates are familiarized with a range of evidence-based practices, including systems of school-wide positive behavior support (Colvin, 2007). They also engage in four different activities to become familiar with SWPBS. These activities include: (a) inter-active class presentations, (b) multiple applied experiences in PBS schools, (c) completion of data-based pupil profiles, and (d) creation of a positive support plan. The ultimate goal is to help candidates create a positive support plan for an actual school setting and include all of the elements outlined by Colvin (2007). Presenters will provide data to illustrate pre-service teachers’ successes and discuss issues and challenges associated with their intervention efforts. |
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| Using Research Articles to Teach General Education Pre-and In-Service Teachers about Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies |
| TERRI HESSLER (The Ohio State University, Newark) |
| Abstract: The research-to-practice gap is a well-known phenomenon in general and special education teacher preparation programs. Of particular concern is the impact that a failure to use evidence-based practices has on K-12 students with special needs. Special education faculty working in general education teacher preparation programs may be even more aware of this gap and its potential adverse impact on students with special needs enrolled in general education classrooms. Fortunately, recent legislation has mandated the use of evidence-based practice, thereby prompting reluctant general education programs to infuse research into their coursework. This presentation will share information from a graduate level course in which both pre- and in-service general education teachers acquired strategies for teaching students with disabilities in inclusive settings. The presentation provides descriptive information regarding general educators’ knowledge of evidence-based instructional practices before and after reviewing applied research articles. Verbal report data from 15 pre-service and four in-service general educators at a regional campus of a large mid-western university will be reviewed. |
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| A 9-Credit Research Sequence to Teach General Educators to Design and Conduct Single Case
Research |
| LAWRENCE J. MAHEADY (SUNY Fredonia), Michael Jabot (SUNY Fredonia) |
| Abstract: The success of teacher education programs may be determined ultimately by their graduates’ abilities to affect positive changes in pupil learning and behavior (Greenwood & Maheady, 2001). Unfortunately, most teacher education programs do not prepare their candidates to: (a) select, implement, and evaluate evidence-based teaching practices, (b) use ongoing progress monitoring systems to assess the impact of their instructional practice, and/or (c) adopt relevant research designs that allow that to link their practice and pupil performance
This session will show how a 9-hour research sequence in a small, general education teacher preparation program is used to help candidates” (a) understand applied educational research, (b) design methodologically sound single case research studies, and (c) conduct these investigations with special and general education students enrolled in their own classrooms. The research sequence demonstrates, in turn, how research methods can be used to generate credible evidence to support teacher and program effectiveness and hopefully reduce the gap that exists between research-and-practice in our profession. |
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| Innovative Applications of System-wide Positive Behavior Support |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 121 BC |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Michelle Ennis Soreth (Rowan University) |
| Discussant: James Connell (Temple University) |
| Abstract: Changing systems to align with Positive Behavior Support practices continues to evolve beyond elementary and middle schools. Evidence supporting these innovative applications will assist organizations making modifications to increase the contextual fit of their system-wide plan. This symposium is geared toward practitioners responsible for creating environments that support sustained use of evidence-based practices addressing the needs of their client or student population. Furthermore, innovative approaches to narrowing the focus of programming efforts and building consensus to facilitate change will be presented. Models for implementing program-wide change in a residential treatment facility, high school and middle school are presented highlighting the structural features required to meet each organization’s needs in achieving high integrity for implementation. Direct observations of staff behavior reveal increases in the use of selected strategies. Survey data depict changes in the perception of administrative support by teaching faculty. Measures of the impact on youth and adolescents reveal positive outcomes. |
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| Programming adaptations to increase the contextual fit for SWPBS practices in a high school |
| KAREN M. ZELTMAN (ABC Consultants), Philip L. Concors (ABC Consultants) |
| Abstract: High school applications of school-wide PBS have recently emerged with data indicating successful outcomes. Outcomes from a high school with a diverse population of students will be reported. The unique structure of the high school resulted in specific adaptations to the traditional SWPBS model including narrowing the focus of programming in the first year and the establishment of multiple leadership teams in the building. Areas targeted for programming included Intensive professional development for Safety Officers, addressing hallway behavior, establishing a database for tracking office referrals and secondary-level behavioral support. This presentation will focus on the decision-making process for selection of programming components and the unique characteristics of navigating multiple leadership teams throughout implementation. Data presentations will include measures of the integrity of implementation efforts, behavioral outcomes, and staff satisfaction. |
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| Improving student outcomes by building consensus for discipline procedures between administration and staff |
| LISA MARIE ANGELLO (Rider University), Karen Woods (ABC Consultants, LLC) |
| Abstract: Successful implementation of school-wide PBS practices requires strong administrative support, wide-scale buy-in from building staff, comprehensive programming, and a plan that provides a good contextual fit with the school culture. Overcoming barriers to implementation is often overlooked in the literature despite the fact that current literature is replete with evidence supporting the effectiveness of SWPBS. Typical strategies for instituting procedural changes to discipline would dictate that the leadership team design the procedures and plan for dissemination to building staff through professional development at faculty meetings, printed material and ongoing technical support. Failure of the typical strategies resulted in an innovation for building consensus between administrators and staff. Building staff were asked to complete a survey to ascertain their perception of administrative support with regard to disciplinary practices. These data were reported to Administrators. In addition, Administrators were shadowed and provided with performance feedback for the appropriateness of the strategies they selected to address disciplinary incidents. Outcomes of this approach resulted in greater consensus between building staff and administrators with regard to disciplinary practices, the use of alternative responses to disciplinary incidents by administrators, and improved behavioral outcomes for students. |
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| Program-wide Positive Behavior Support: Scaling Up in Residential Treatment |
| BARRY L. MCCURDY (Devereux Institute of Clinical Training and Resear), Jennifer Jeffrey (Devereux Center for Effective Schools) |
| Abstract: The success associated with establishing school-wide positive behavior support models to improve social behavior in public schools has prompted demonstrations within other youth-serving institutions. In North Carolina, for example, all five of the state juvenile detention centers implemented a program-wide positive behavior support (PWPBS) approach in 2005. Initial outcomes showed reductions in rule violations, fighting and disruptive behavior (Martin, 2007). In view of the progress made in juvenile justice, surprisingly little work has been done in implementing PWPBS models in residential treatment centers. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the development of a PWPBS approach in a residential treatment center. In 2007, Devereux, a national behavioral healthcare organization serving youth with disruptive behavior disorders, committed to the development of a PWPBS approach in two of their treatment centers. Methods for developing and implementing a universal support system across multiple settings, including both school and residential programs, will be discussed. Data will include measures of program fidelity as well as initial outcomes. The presentation will highlight organizational elements established for system sustainability and recommendations for bringing a PWPBS approach to scale in other behavioral health facilities. |
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| Reading Interventions |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 122 A |
| Chair: Laura D. Fredrick (Georgia State University) |
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| An Examination of Small-group Reading Fluency Interventions and Using Innovative Analyses with Single-Case Design Methodology |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SARAH G ROSS (North Carolina State University), John C. Begeny (North Carolina State University), Hailey Krouse (North Carolina State University), Rachel Courtney Mitchell (North Carolina State University) |
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| Abstract: Fluency is conceptualized by most behavioral educators as a critical component of skill acquisition. Not surprisingly, reading fluency is considered one of the five essential early-reading skills students must develop. However, several students in the United States do not read age-appropriate material fluently, making small-group interventions practical and more time efficient than individualized interventions aimed to address this problem. Unfortunately, few small-group interventions targeting students’ reading fluency have been empirically evaluated. The primary purpose of this study was to examine three small-group reading interventions that target oral reading fluency (Repeated Reading, Listening Passage Preview, and Listening Only). Using an alternating-treatments design, the effects of each intervention were evaluated with four second-grade students with average to below average reading skills. Students’ words read correctly per minute (immediately following and two days after intervention) served as the outcome measures. Results supported the Repeated Reading intervention, followed by Listening Passage Preview, as most effective. Findings are conceptualized using behavior analytic principles related to stimulus presentation and opportunities to respond. In addition, we offer innovative analyses of our data with Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). Discussions of our findings from both HLM and visual analysis should offer attendees increased conceptualizations for interpreting single-case design methodology. |
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| Teacher Judgments versus Actual Student Behavior: A Description of Three Recent Studies Examining Reading Behaviors |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JOHN C. BEGENY (North Carolina State University), Hailey Krouse (North Carolina State University), Kristina Groce (North Carolina State University), Courtney Mann (North Carolina State University), Heather Buchanan (John Carroll University) |
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| Abstract: Behavior analysts are generally interested in observable and quantifiable behavior. Of course, in environments such as school classrooms, it is impossible for teachers to always systematically observe and quantify meaningful student behavior. One example of this is with students’ reading behaviors. For instance, few teachers systematically listen to students read aloud, even though the rate and accuracy (fluency) of oral reading strongly predicts students’ overall reading abilities, including comprehension. Instead, teachers more likely estimate students’ oral reading fluency (ORF) skills. Teacher judgments are important to understand because they have been shown to influence instructional decision-making and special education entitlement decisions.
One way to systematically measure oral reading is to use curriculum-based measurement procedures, which assesses ORF. Because of the continued evidence supporting the importance of ORF, colleagues and I have conducted three recent studies evaluating teachers’ judgments of students’ reading behaviors, including ORF. The purpose of this presentation is to highlight the findings from each of these studies as well as the advances in methodology across the studies. Because of similarities between the studies, it will be feasible to discuss the importance, purpose, methods, and findings from each study, and then discuss the implications for behavioral practitioners working in schools. |
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| Using Prephonics to Teach Reading Skills to Students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LAURA D. FREDRICK (Georgia State University), Dawn H. Davis (Georgia State University), Rebecca E Waugh (Georgia State University), Robert Gama (Georgia State Universiy), Paul A. Alberto (Georgia State University) |
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| Abstract: Students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities (MOID) learn to read many words through sight-word instruction; however, this approach does not give them strategies for reading untaught words they encounter in their environment. A phonics approach to reading teaches students letter sounds and blending skills allowing students to generalize these skills to read untaught words. One systematic, explicit approach to phonics instruction that includes teaching letter sounds and blending skills is Direct Instruction (DI). Pilot studies show, however, that students with MOID have difficulty mastering blending skills even when instructed with DI programs. To increase the probability that students with MOID would learn blending skills we developed a prephonics instructional sequence modeled after Direct Instruction that includes developing automaticity with letter-sound correspondences before teaching blending skills and then testing for generalization of blending skills with untaught words made up of taught letter sounds. Using a changing criterion design embedded within a multiple baseline across sound sets, we demonstrated a functional relation between the prephonics instruction and five students’ mastery of letter-sound correspondences and blending skills as evidenced by their ability to read untaught generalization words. |
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| Applying OBM to promote system-wide effects in Autism and General Early Intervention Service Providers |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 221 C |
| Area: OBM/AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Steven Woolf (BEACON Services) |
| Discussant: Robert F Littleton Jr (Evergreen Center) |
| CE Instructor: Jose Martinez-Diaz, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Human services agencies that utilize principles of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) objectively define staff behaviors, design specific interventions to achieve goals, and regularly measure progress to assess effectiveness. According to Daniels and Daniels (2004), successful agency business models are defined by the ability to produce measurable results. This symposium examines three human services agencies with individually designed performance management models used to support clinically effective practice, the self-management of staff service productivity goals, and behavior-based quality assurance. |
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| Using OBM to Increase Levels of ABA Service Intensity for Children with PDD/Autism |
| STEVEN WOOLF (BEACON Services), Robert F Littleton Jr (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of providing early and intensive behavior-based educational programming to young children with autism (Howard, Sparkman, Cohen, Green, & Stanislaw, 2005; Reed, Osborne, & Corness, 2007). Many states have supported early intervention home-based services to treat young children with autism/PDD. Some funding models include features that discourage adoption of preferred levels of service intensity and clinical designs. This presentation will discuss options available to encourage and motivate behavioral educators to adopt intensive ABA service models. An incentive system was designed to reinforce staff for providing home-based ABA services consistent with best practice. The presentation will review data and discuss the effects of extending incentives to clinical supervisors and the effects of visual posting on service intensity levels. |
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| Because it Works: The Systematic Application of a Performance Management Program in a Non-Profit Setting |
| MICHAEL SANTASIERI (Human Services Management Corp.), Robert F Littleton Jr (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: Improving staff performance at all organizational levels increases the likelihood of achieving organizational outcomes and mission(s). The non-profit operating environment is increasingly faced with challenges manifested by increasing regulatory demands, staff recruitment, retention, and training issues, and economic scarcity, and is fertile ground for the introduction of a behavior based management system that works to effectively and efficiently improve staff performance. This presentation will examine the elements that support the implementation of a Performance Management Program in a non-profit setting. These elements include identifying staff and organizational performance related issues, establishing performance indicators, implementing measurable action plans, assessing action plan outcomes, providing staff and organizational feedback and reinforcement, and continuous quality improvement evaluation. Sample forms, data collection, and reporting tools will be presented. In addition, this presentation will also examine implementation strategies and processes that are valuable in building an organizational culture that embraces a behavior-based approach to performance management. |
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| The Effects of Self-Management of Productivity Goals in a General Early Intervention Service Delivery System |
| JOANN OTLIN (Criterion Child Enrichment), Robert F Littleton Jr (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: Many human service agencies are challenged to provide quality services while maintaining financial viability. This presentation will chronicle the implementation of a management system designed to increase individual staff productivity when working with young children at risk for developmental delays. The presentation will review outcome data based on individual and group productivity monitoring systems utilizing the principles of organizational behavior management (OBM). The presentation will discuss targeted staff behavior, operationally defined production goals, compliance monitoring, and outcomes of financially based incentive programs on staff behavior. |
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| Successful Safety Interventions |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 221 AB |
| Chair: Matthew A. Taylor (Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY) |
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| CANCELLED: A Behavior-Based Safety Program for New Zealand Truck Drivers |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| REBECCA J. EVERDON (University of Otago), Louis S. Leland, Jr. (University of Otago) |
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| Abstract: Over 80% of New Zealand freight is transported by truck. Trucks travel on only about 7% of the total roadways in New Zealand, however crashes involving trucks account for about 21% of road fatalities. Non-driving injuries to truckers cost millions in rehabilitation and recovery.
Most driver research has been done in places geographically dissimilar to New Zealand. Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) has been successful in organizational settings; yet not thoroughly investigated within the heavy vehicle setting.
BBS typically uses co-worker observation and feedback; however, most drivers work alone. This presents a challenge and a unique opportunity to design and trial BBS techniques in the distinctive and demanding environment faced by NZ truck drivers.
Our BBS intervention uses a person-focus and simple technology to create a behavioral ‘shift’ towards safer work practices. We expect this ongoing program to help reduce the at-risk behaviors in our truck driver participants; ultimately, resulting in a decrease in the number of crashes and injuries, fewer traffic citations, reduced vehicle and property damage, and savings in compensation.
Most importantly, it has the potential to increase safe driver behaviors and ultimately, help save lives on New Zealand roadways. |
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| The Effects of Behavior-Based Safety Interventions in a University Dining Hall Facility |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ALLISON C. BLAKE (Western Michigan University), Jon S. Bailey (FSU, BMC, FABA), Marco D. Tomasi (SAIC) |
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| Abstract: Employee safety is a concern in many work environments. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two Behavior-Based Safety package interventions on employee safety behaviors and an environmental condition in a dining hall facility located on a major university campus. This study was a systematic replication of past research, however some behavioral variables and new interventions were introduced (Sigurdsson, 2004).
The first intervention package involved the distribution of task clarification in the form of an employee memorandum that highlighted the importance of proper safety behaviors. The second part of this intervention involved the distribution of “Promise Cards,” which have shown some effects in improving safety behaviors in past research (Streff, Kalsher & Geller, 1993). The second intervention package involved increasing supervisor presence within food preparation stations with the use of a prompting device, as well as increased verbal feedback.
Overall, both interventions showed mild effects on improving employee safety behavior and the environmental condition of interest. Group and individual data are compared to help determine individual results within each food preparation station. Results varied within these stations, ranging from little effect to improved safety performance across some variables.
Important limitations are discussed as well as possible suggestions for future research. |
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| The Impact of Acceptance and Commitment Training on Safe Posture During an Assembly Task |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SARAH VANSTELLE (Western Michigan University), Eric J. Fox (Western Michigan University), Michael Wayne Blahnik (Western Michigan University), Megan Knight (Sterne School) |
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| Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the applicability of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Training (ACT) to the area of behavior-based safety (BBS). Although BBS interventions have experienced considerable success, some individuals remain unresponsive to interventions or training and continue to behave unsafely. There is some evidence that some workers do not behave safely because they believe doing so will reduce productivity, they view the safety rules as inconvenient, or because behaving safely is initially uncomfortable. Covert verbal behavior and rule control related to these issues may then exert more control over safety behavior than the BBS intervention. ACT is a treatment model that teachers individuals to accept and embrace aversive private events if doing so helps them behave in a manner consistent with their values. To explore the potential impact of ACT on safe behavior, a brief computer-based ACT program targeting safety was developed and its impact on safe posture during a simple assembly task was examined. A nonconcurrent A-B multiple-baseline design across four participants, all college students, was utilized. Data collection for the current paper is in progress. |
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| Safety Discrimination and Demonstration Following Training of One or Two Stimulus Classes |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MATTHEW A. TAYLOR (Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY), Marc Olvina (Queens College, CUNY), Alicia M. Alvero (Queens College, CUNY) |
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| Abstract: This study employed a between-participants design to assess discrimination and demonstration of safe and unsafe behavior. The participants were enrolled in an undergraduate psychology course and assigned in randomized-blocks of four to the following groups: no training, safe training, unsafe training, and a combination of safe and unsafe training. The training incorporated the following components: instructions, modeling, practice, and feedback. Immediately following training the participants viewed a video for an assessment of discrimination between safe and unsafe behavior. Following the discrimination assessment, the participants were asked to demonstrate the trained response. The data suggest that participants in the combination safe and unsafe training group showed greater discrimination and correct demonstration than the no training, safe only, and unsafe only training groups. The results advocate that training should focus on both safe and unsafe behavior in order for workers to appropriately learn and perform safe behavior. |
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| The Use of Contingent Skin Shock in Treating Behaviors Other than Aggression and Self-Abuse |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 120 D |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Matthew L. Israel (Judge Rotenberg Center) |
| Discussant: F. J. Barrera (Private consultant practice) |
| Abstract: Contingent Skin Shock (CSS) has been successfully employed to treat self-abuse and aggression where positive-only or less restrictive aversives, including psychotropic medications, proved insufficiently effective by themselves, and where its use was recommended by a functional assessment of the presenting problems. However, CSS has only rarely been used to treat other behaviors such as property destruction, noncompliance, and behaviors that severely disrupt educational and social development. We report the use of supplementary CSS to treat such behaviors in 72 students with severe behavior disorders attending a residential treatment program during the period 2003 to 2008. Results, plotted in a multiple-baseline-across-students design, show immediate, substantial and sustained effectiveness of CSS, enabling new skills to be taught and with fading of CSS accomplished with some students. During this study, new regulations of the New York State Department of Education required the temporary removal of CSS treatment for a period of 9 weeks, until a federal judge temporarily blocked these regulations at the request of the parents. The effects of this removal on both the behaviors being treated, as well as on aggression and self-abuse, will be discussed, as well as the current status of this lawsuit. |
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| Why Might Problem Behaviors Other than Aggression and Self-Abuse Ever Need to be Treated with Contingent Skin Shock? |
| NATHAN BLENKUSH (Judge Rotenberg Center) |
| Abstract: There are a number of topographies of problem behaviors that are intractable to standard behavioral and pharmaceutical interventions that cannot be classified as aggressive or self-abusive behaviors. In this presentation, we will describe the successful treatment of a variety of intractable behaviors using Contingent Skin Shock. First, we will review the literature associated with the use of CSS to treat non-aggressive and non-self injurious behaviors. Second, we will discuss how problem behaviors such as property destruction, major disruption (e.g. yelling, tantrums,), noncompliance or any other behavior in excess can severely harm students and completely interfere with treatment, education, and social development. Finally, we will present a series of case studies that will illustrate the use of CSS to treat these types of behaviors. Finally, we will discuss the treatment of these behaviors within the framework of the right to effective treatment. |
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| The Use of Supplementary Contingent Skin Shock to Treat Behaviors Other than Aggression and Self-Abuse in 72 Students. |
| ROBERT VON HEYN (Judge Rotenberg Center) |
| Abstract: We describe the use of supplementary Contingent Skin Shock (CSS) to address intractable behaviors other than aggression and self-abuse. From 2003 to 2006, CSS was added to the programs of 72 students. However, in June of 2006, the New York State Department of Education put into effect regulations that limited the use of skin shock to aggressive and self-injurious behaviors. Subsequently, a federal judge temporarily blocked these regulations at the request of the parents and treatment resumed for most of these students. Here we first describe the initial effect of adding CSS to the students programs. Second, we describe the effect of the temporary suspension of the treatment for behaviors such as major disruption, property destruction, and noncompliance. Third, we describe how the regulations affected the treatment of problem behaviors such as aggression and self-abuse. Finally, we describe the effect of the reintroduction of CSS treatment, following intervention by a federal judge, for destructive, major disruptive, and noncompliant behaviors. |
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| New York State Education Department’s Regulations Limiting and Ending the use of Aversives and a Suit by Parents to Block the Regulations. |
| NICK LOWTHER (Judge Rotenberg Center) |
| Abstract: In June of 2006, the New York State Department of Education put into effect a set of regulations related to the use of aversive interventions such as Contingent Skin Shock (CSS). The regulations limited the use of CSS (and other procedures such as mechanical restraint) only to aggressive and self-injurious behaviors. The regulations also placed a number of other restrictions on the use of procedures such as CSS. However, after 9 weeks, in September of 2006, a federal judge temporarily blocked these regulations at the request of the parents. In this presentation, we discuss the impact these regulations had on the students at the Judge Rotenberg Center. In addition, the history of this lawsuit will be discussed. Finally, we will provide an update regarding the current status of the suit. |
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| Shaping Rats and Humans: Approaches to Teaching Undergraduates Behavioral Concepts |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 129 B |
| Area: TBA/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Breann E. Plamowski (Salem State College) |
| Abstract: The use of effective behavioral principles and procedures in teaching is important
for creating the conditions under which optimal student learning will occur.
The effective teaching of undergraduate students includes the use of behavioral
principles and concepts relevant to the task of teaching higher-order thinking skills.
This symposium will include four presentations in which comparisons of teaching methods
grounded in behavior analytic techniques are made. The comparisons include course
components for teaching classical conditioning, shaping, and a variety of non-associative
and associative learning processes. The methods considered include labeling (tacts),
lecture, modeling, game-playing, interteaching, preparation for discussion, and a computer-aided personalized system of instruction. All of
the presentations indicate that course components that require students to emit verbal
and textual behavior that can be reinforced are more effective than passive responding.
Variations between the approaches will be discussed in terms of the relevant behavior
analytic principles and procedures used in teaching these courses at various institutions
in both the United States and Canada. |
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| Hands-on Approaches to Teaching Classical Conditioning Concepts |
| INNA GLAZ KANEVSKY (San Diego Mesa College) |
| Abstract: Both introductory and advanced students struggle with acquiring application skills with classical conditioning terminology. Novel in-
class group activities for acquisition of temporal arrangements of stimuli concepts were evaluated in a sequential design in comparison
to a standard lecture presentation, with both conceptual and applied questions on a test. We also investigated the effects of in-class
exercises on labeling of the components of classical conditioning procedures, conducted either one time or multiple times during the
topic coverage through an electronic student response system. This investigation included comparisons to effects of straight lecture and
discussion coverage, or such coverage combined with homework assignments on this topic. It was conducted in a group design across multiple sections of an introductory psychology course as well as in a group design across multiple semesters of a low-level course on learning. In-class labeling activities appear to be superior to other teaching methods in the degree to which the students were able to answer application questions on quizzes and exams. |
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| Using the Shaping Game |
| KATE KELLUM (The University of Mississippi), Inna Glaz Kanevsky (San Diego Mesa College), Jonathan Weinstein (University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Instructor manuals often suggest the use of the Shaping Game to demonstrate reinforcement and extinction in introductory psychology
and behavior analysis classes. Although such activities are theoretically consistent with behavior analytic teaching methods, the
relevant effects of lecture and the Shaping Game have not been widely reported in the literature. This study investigated the effects of
lecture, modeling, and playing the Shaping Game on students' performance on quiz scores. Students' relevant preferences for the activities were also assessed. |
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| Interteaching versus Individual Responses in an Introduction to Learning Course |
| DARLENE E. CRONE-TODD (Salem State College) |
| Abstract: Interteaching is one method of teaching higher-order thinking in courses in behavior analysis as well as in other fields. Few studies have systematically compared it with another teaching method across sections. Using student performance data from two sections of an undergraduate learning course, all variables are held constant except the interteaching component of working together in groups. Interteaching and individual responses are varied in a counterbalanced ABAB design to control for order effects and difficulty of the material across the course. Preliminary data indicate little or no difference, and that the main factor is a contingency on preparation for class discussion in general. Consumer satisfaction data will also be presented. |
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| Using the Computer-Aided Personalized System of Instruction to Teach Higher Order Thinking |
| JOSEPH J. PEAR (University of Manitoba), Darlene E. Crone-Todd (Salem State College) |
| Abstract: Higher order thinking is the standard term used for the goal of higher education. However, defining what this means has been problbematic, leading to difficulties in studying it empirically. Higher order thinking here is defined in terms of taxonomies of behavior, inclduing both Bloom's taxonomy and a model of Hierchical complexity (MHC). Preivous research indicates that Bloom's taxonomy is not hierachical, but recapitulates at each level of the MHC. A computer-aided personalized system of instruction is utilized to study how students increase behavior related to both Bloom's taxonomy and the MHC. |
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| Causation and Explanation in Radical Behaviorism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 131 BC |
| Area: TPC/EAB; Domain: Theory |
| Chair: José E. Burgos (University of Guadalajara - CEIC) |
| Discussant: M. Jackson Marr (Georgia Tech) |
| Abstract: This symposium is an exploration of some historical, conceptual, and methodological aspects of causation and explanation in radical behaviorism. The presentations will examine some of the relationships between B. F. Skinner’s proposals and Aristotle’s theory of the four causes, George Berkeley’s idealism, William James’ pragmatist theory of truth, and Ernst Mach’s empiriocriticist positivism. There will also be some criticism towards Skinner’s account of causation and explanation, in particular his adoption of the Machian identification of causal with functional relations. Some of the links between causation and explanation, on the one hand, and truth and method, on the other, will also be discussed. |
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| Explanation and Pragmatism |
| WILLIAM M. BAUM (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: Although the behavior of organisms is a unique subject matter, the science of behavior shares with other sciences the same ontological and epistemological bases. More than other sciences, however, behavior analysis may point to the advantages of pragmatism as a philosophical framework, as opposed to the assumption of a real world independent of experience. George Berkeley, writing in the eighteenth century, was among the first to cast doubt on the notion of a real world beyond experience. William James and Ernst Mach, writing almost two hundred years later, sought to address truth and explanation in science without assuming the existence of the real world. Mach concluded that explanation consists of description in familiar terms. In advocating data-driven theory, Skinner followed Mach’s lead. This stance is useful for behavior analysis because it avoids the pitfalls of hypothetical and hidden theoretical entities. |
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| A cause, be cause, see cause, the cause |
| PETER KILLEEN (Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: All understanding involves finding an appropriate formal cause--that is, mapping phenomena to explanations having a structure similar to the thing explained. Our sense of familiarity with the structure of the model/explanation is transferred to the phenomenon with which it is put in correspondence. This is what we call understanding. Stimulus is a cause; the response an effect, and itself the cause of reinforcement. It may also act as a stimulus/cause of subsequent behavior. The reinforcer changes the causal status of prior events (both stimuli and responses) making them more potent causes. Aristotle’s four becauses may be called causal, reductive, functional and formal, respectively. No one type of cause provides a complete explanation: Comprehension involves getting a handle on all four types. Skinner contributed to such comprehension by embodying a formal causal model as the core concept of his behaviorism, one in which triggers and functions played key roles. But we often focus on the most salient--those which, in replications, account for the most variance in the data. Where we can’t replicate, we rely on generalization gradients. The laws of conditioning--proximity, contiguity and regularity-- are the laws of causal attribution. |
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| On Causation according to Radical Behaviorists, Positivists, and Physicists |
| JOSÉ E. BURGOS (University of Guadalajara - CEIC) |
| Abstract: This paper examines critically two aspects of Skinner’s view of causation: his 1953 diagnosis that the terms “cause” and “effect” were not widely used in science, and his conceptual replacement of causal with functional relations. Both aspects can be traced to Ernst Mach’s 1906 concept of causation as functional relation, where causes are conceived as independent variables and effects as dependent variables. The diagnosis had been made by Bertrand Russell in 1913 and Moritz Schlick in 1932, who assumed that Mach’s conceptual replacement had been sufficiently influential among physicists for them to make transition to a terminological replacement. However, the textual evidence proves the diagnosis wrong. The terms were widely used in physics around 1913, 1932, and 1953, increased afterwards, and it is widespread today. Mach’s conceptual replacement was not influential among physicists either, except for an equivalence that Percy Bridgman hesitantly proposed between causation and predictability in 1931. Two other influential physicists, Max Planck and David Bohm, proposed views of causation that are incompatible with Mach’s. Additionally, Mach’s conceptual replacement is incoherent. He admitted that causes qua necessary conditions existed subjectively. However, nothing in a function represents necessity. Hence, causes cannot be functions, even if both exist subjectively. |
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| Behavioral Contingency Analysis of Complex Verbal and Motor Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 132 A |
| Area: TPC/EDC; Domain: Theory |
| Chair: Francis Mechner (The Mechner Foundation) |
| Abstract: A formal symbolic language for analyzing and codifying any type of behavioral contingency will be presented and explained. The language has a small vocabulary of about twelve terms, and a specialized grammar and syntax. A contingency analysis typically requires identification of the parties whose actions are relevant, their possible actions, the consequences—positive, negative, or neutral—of those actions for all the parties involved, the parties’ likely perceptions and predictions of those consequences, as well as their possible misperceptions, non-perceptions, wrong predictions, non-predictions, and uncertainties regarding these. The analyst would typically also consider time lags, probabilities, and magnitudes of the likely consequences, the actions that can prevent or alter such probabilities or magnitudes, and changes in the consequences as a function of other acts or the passage of time.
The papers will illustrate how the language can be applied to various types of complex situations including certain verbal behaviors, pedagogy, dance performance, reading comprehension, and locomotion. These examples will also show how behavioral contingency analysis, by the use of this language, can reveal parallels between behaviors that seem highly diverse on the surface, but actually share common contingency structures.
Key words: Behavioral contingency, contingency analysis, locomotion, verbal behavior, language, reading, education, codification, notation system. |
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| Templates and Modular Units: Building Blocks of Behavioral Contingency Analysis |
| LAURILYN DIANNE JONES (The Mechner Foundation), Francis Mechner (The Mechner Foundation) |
| Abstract: The formal symbolic language for codifying and analyzing behavioral contingencies proposed by Francis Mechner in his paper “Behavioral Contingency Analysis” has a small vocabulary of about a dozen words and a simple grammar. Practical applications of this language to a wide variety of behavioral contingencies in both experimental and applied behavior analysis, as well as in areas such as education, economics, therapy, sociology, law, or public affairs, require the use of a relatively small number of recurrent modular units or standard templates. These are combinations of words and symbols that correspond to commonly used phrases in a natural language. They occur in many different types of contingency diagrams, and can serve as useful building blocks in creating them. Becoming familiar with these templates and/or modules makes diagramming contingencies using the formal language considerably easier and faster. A number of the most common of these templates and/or modules will be presented and discussed, with demonstrations of how they appear in various practical applications. |
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| Behavioral Parallels Between Locomotion and Certain Complex Verbal Skills |
| FRANCIS MECHNER (The Mechner Foundation) |
| Abstract: This paper illustrates how behavioral contingency analysis can be used to discover parallels between seemingly disparate behaviors. The example developed here shows that the behavioral contingency structure of locomotion and of reading out loud is virtually the same. The terrain being traversed and the locomotion behavior involved are shown to be analogous to a section of text being read and the articulation of the words. In both cases, successive upcoming segments are perceived and processed, and during the processing phases, motor behavior is formulated. In both, the smooth concatenation of the motor phases for successive segments requires buffering by holding the formulated motor behavior in memory. Both involve corrective or digressive actions in response to obstacles or unanticipated stimuli encountered during the motor phases. Both involve looking ahead at the upcoming segment and processing it while the motor phase of the prior segment is still in progress. For both, the size, entropy, familiarity, and other attributes of the upcoming segment are parameters of the performance. It is suggested that locomotion has similar parallels with certain other complex skills, such as listening, copying, receiving Morse code and simultaneous interpreting, and may therefore be their phylogenetic prototype and evolutionary ancestor. |
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| Behavioral Contingency Analysis of Complex Skill Instruction |
| PARSLA VINTERE (Queens College, CUNY) |
| Abstract: The structure and dynamics of learner-teacher interactions in the teaching of certain complex skills is analyzed by means of a formal symbolic language for codifying behavioral contingencies. The two situations studied were the teaching of certain basic psychology concepts to undergraduate students and the teaching of the performance of certain dance steps to dance students. Although these two learning situations seem vastly different, and involve very different behaviors, the structure of the behavioral contingencies of the instructor-student interactions appears to be the same. Both involve diagnosis of student errors, choice of feedback that the instructor provides to the learner, and the learner’s response to the feedback. The analysis of this structure provides information on (a) the initiation of interactions; (b) the identification of possible positive and negative outcomes; and (c) a stimulus for reflection and exploration of effective ways to approach various types of pedagogic problems. In addition, this type of analysis can provide the student with assistance in choosing between alternative answers and actions. The implications and potential benefits of this type of behavioral contingency analysis are discussed. |
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| Analyzing the Behavioral Contingencies Involved in Teaching Inferential Reading Comprehension |
| MARTA LEON (Headsprout) |
| Abstract: The contingencies analyzed are those that confront an elementary grade learner interacting with a computer-based program designed by Headsprout to teach reading comprehension. The student sees instructional material on a screen, hears a sound track, and answers reading comprehension questions by making responses with a computer mouse. The program is designed to teach the student to apply a strategy consisting of a sequence of interrelated responses that use both textual and intraverbal stimuli. The program
systematically introduces and establishes each component skill necessary to answer comprehension questions correctly.
The program teaches four major types of reading comprehension skills (factual, inferential, summative, and derived vocabulary). The paper will present a behavioral contingency analysis of the student's interaction with the computer program when learning inferential comprehension in particular. This analysis will use Mechner's proposed formal symbolic language to codify
the complex contingency relations involved in the student's interactions with the program. Key instructional sequences designed to teach inferential comprehension will be presented, followed by their decomposition into the
component contingency relations as expressed in Mechner's specialized coding system. |
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| Innovative Uses of Manding Procedures for Effective Assessment and Intervention with Children with ASD |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 127 |
| Area: VBC/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: M. Alice Shillingsburg (Marcus Autism Center) |
| Discussant: Mary Jane Weiss (Rutgers University) |
| CE Instructor: Henry Pennypacker, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Increasingly, Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior is being used to guide behavioral intervention models for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). As such, clinical researchers are invested in examining the clinical application and further development of theoretical concepts. Mand training has been identified as a crucial component of behavioral programming for children with ASD. This symposium includes a series of presentations examining the use of mand training procedures with children with ASD. The first presentation by Shillingsburg, Tullis and Call, presents a modified stimulus choice preference assessment as a measure of transitive conditioned establishing operations and subsequent mand training. In the second presentation, LaRue, et al., examine correspondance between the results of traditional functional analyses and an assessment of mands for a break, attention, and preferred items. The results indicate the mand assessment may be useful as an alternative assessment for problem behavior. The final presentation by Falcomata, et al., evaluated the use of a stimulus-control based procedure to successfully teach signed mands to two individiuals with ASD, who previously had difficulty acquiring the responses. |
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| Assessment and Manipulation of Transitive Establishing Operations to Expand Mand Repertoires in Children with ASD |
| CHRIS A. TULLIS (Marcus Autism Center), M. Alice Shillingsburg (Marcus Autism Center), Nathan A. Call (Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine) |
| Abstract: Little research has examined the Transitive Conditioned Establishing Operation (TCEO). A TCEO is defined as a stimulus in the context of which the effectiveness of a conditioned reinforcer is altered (McGill, 1999) and the frequency of behaviors associated with that reinforcer is altered. For example, the value of a typically neutral item (e.g., a straw) may be altered in the presence of an associated reinforcer (e.g., juicebox) and evoke behavior that has a history of producing the item (e.g., mands for the straw). This project sought to further demonstrate the manipulation of TCEOs to teach mands for typically neutral items. Experiment 1 investigated the use of a modified paired-stimulus preference assessment to identify pairs of items, one of which would function as a TCEO when they were presented together during mand training. Changes in preference for previously neutral items in the presence of the other associated preferred item were interpreted as indicating the presence of a TCEO. In Experiment 2, mands for a typically neutral item was taught using the results of the TCEO assessment. |
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| Correspondence Between Traditional Models of Assessment and a Functional Analysis of Manding Behavior |
| ROBERT LARUE (Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center), Mary Jane Weiss (Rutgers University), Kimberly Sloman (University of Florida), David Kieval (Rutgers), Nathan Lambright (Rutgers University), Ryan Madigan (Rutgers University), Jill A. Szalony (Rutgers - DDDC), Todd Frischmann (Rutgers University - Douglass Developmental Disabi) |
| Abstract: Analogue functional analysis is considered to be the most accurate procedure for determining the function of maladaptive behavior (Hanley et al., 2003). These procedures have been effectively used to determine the cause of challenging behavior and subsequently develop effective, function-based interventions. However, the time and expertise required to conduct functional analyses has made their use in public schools prohibitive. In addition, the practicality of using such procedures may be limited with learners who engage in low frequency behavior (i.e., it does not happen enough to assess accurately) and/or with dangerous behavior (i.e., severe aggression or self-injurious behavior). In addition, practitioners often have concerns about temporarily reinforcing maladaptive behavior as is standard practice while conducting functional analyses. To address these issues, we conducted a functional analysis of appropriate requests (i.e., requests for attention, a break, or access to preferred items/activities). The current investigation compared traditional models of analogue functional analysis with the results of the manding analysis. Correspondence across the models of analysis would indicate that the analysis of manding behavior may represent a viable alternative to the traditional model and may allow practitioners to conduct assessments for populations that have been historically difficult to assess. |
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| Use of a Stimulus-Control Training Procedure for Teaching Signs to Children with Autism during FCT |
| ANURADHA SALIL KUMAR DUTT (University of Iowa), Terry Falcomata (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), John A. Northup (University of Iowa), Joel Eric Ringdahl (University of Iowa), Kelly M. Vinquist (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a stimulus control-based training procedure for teaching manual signs to two children diagnosed with autism. Prior to the study, neither of the children consistently exhibited appropriate communication as part of their behavioral repertoires. We first conducted functional analyses to identify the function(s) of destructive behavior. Functional communication training (FCT) was then implemented during which the children were taught an alternative communicative response in the form of card touch. Next, the discriminative stimuli associated with the respective cards were used to occasion novel signing (i.e., sign “please”, sign “finished,” sign “want”). When the cards were reliably occasioning novel signing, a fading procedure was implemented with each of the cards until independence with signing was achieved. Using the stimulus control training procedure, we were able to successfully teach three novel signs to one child and two novel signs to the second child. Interobserver agreement was obtained during at least 30% of sessions and averaged above 90%. |
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| Genetic Considerations in Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 11:00 AM–11:50 AM |
| West 301 AB |
| Chair: Jeff Tiger (Louisiana State University) |
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| B.F. SKINNER LECTURE: GENETIC CONSIDERATIONS IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS |
| G. BRADLEY SCHAEFER (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) |
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| Abstract: Epidemiologic data and molecular research document a strong genetic basis of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The familial pattern of ASDs clearly suggests multifactorial inheritance. The emerging themes in multifactorial conditions are 1) genetic heterogeneity with multiple major gene effects, 2) physiologically linked processes with multiple genes at work within each process, and 3) typically modest environmental buffering. A search for the etiology of an ASD is an option for families that can be facilitated by clinical geneticists. Continued advances in genetic technology have expanded the diagnostic options available for these evaluations and presumably increase the diagnostic yield. This presentation will review the genetic basis of ASDs and a model tiered evaluation scheme for identifying an etiology. Both of these concepts will be discussed in terms of insights into the primary pathophysiology that leads to an autism phenotype.
Dr. Schaefer received his BS and MD degrees from the University of Oklahoma. He also did a pediatric residency and a fellowship in Genetics, Endocrinology and Metabolism at the OU Health Sciences Center. Dr. Schaefer is currently the Founding Director of the Division of Medical Genetics and the Chief of the Section of Genetics and Metabolism in the Department of Pediatrics, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He has achieved board certification in Pediatrics, Human Genetics, and Pediatric Endocrinology. He is a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics, and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has authored over 250 scientific articles, book chapters, and invited reviews. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Child Neurology, and sits on the National Advisory Board for the Sotos Syndrome Support Association. His clinical practice focuses on the genetics of neurologic conditions, neurosensory abnormalities, and craniofacial malformations. His research is in human clinical genetics with emphasis in neurogenetics and neurodevelopmental disabilities. This research utilizes computerized image analysis to quantify developmental changes in the brain, the face, and the inner ear. |
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| Mindfulness for Two: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to Mindfulness in Psychotherapy |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 11:00 AM–11:50 AM |
| West 301 CD |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Caio Miguel, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Ann Branstetter-Rost (Missouri State University) |
| Presenting Authors: : KELLY G. WILSON (University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: The most obvious ACT connection to mindfulness is in the here-and-now quality of mindfulness. We bring attention to bear in a flexible and focused way in the present moment. The non-judgmental posture of mindfulness is captured by the acceptance dimension of ACT. In being mindful, many things arise. All are met with equanimity. We bear witness with acceptance: to thoughts, emotions, memories, urges, and, paradoxically, even to the judgments that surely arise. In coaching an accepting and open awareness of thoughts-as-thoughts, of emotional-reactions-as-emotional-reactions, of sensations-as-sensations, we notice these things as ongoing processes, rather than being caught by the contents of awareness. This latter is an example of defusion. When a client returns again and again to the present moment, witnessing with equanimity each thing that arises in awareness, they make contact with a sense of self that is distinct from the contents of awareness—what is called in ACT, self-as-context.
The tutorial will provide a behavioral analysis of mindfulness, the role it plays in ACT, and finally, technical means by which we can bring the kind, careful attention found in a mindfulness practice directly into a therapeutic dialogue. Video materials will be used to demonstrate mindfulness for two in ACT..
Kelly G. Wilson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of psychology at the University at Mississippi. He is Past President of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, Representative-at-Large of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, and is one of the co-developers of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Dr. Wilson received his B.A. from Gonzaga University and his Ph.D. at the University of Nevada, Reno. He joined the faculty at the University of Mississippi in 2000 where he established the Mississippi Center for Contextual Psychology. Dr. Wilson has devoted himself to the development and dissemination of ACT and its underlying theory and philosophy for the past 19 years, publishing 34 articles, 28 chapters, and 5 books including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: An Experiential Approach to Behavior Change and the forthcoming Mindfulness for Two: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to Mindfulness in Psychotherapy. He has central interests in the application of behavioral principles to understanding topics such as purpose, meaning and values, therapeutic relationship, and present moment focused work. Dr. Wilson has presented workshops to more than 18 countries, and has participated as co-investigator in a wide range of research projects in the U.S., Sweden, Romania, and the United Kingdom. |
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| KELLY G. WILSON (University of Mississippi) |
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| A New Concept of Experience in Learning and Development |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 11:00 AM–11:50 AM |
| North 132 BC |
| Area: DEV/TPC; Domain: Theory |
| CE Instructor: Michael C. Clayton, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Jacob L. Gewirtz (Florida International University) |
| LINDA J. COOPER-BROWN (The University of Iowa) |
| JACOB L. GEWIRTZ (Florida International University) |
| GARY D. NOVAK (California State University, Stanislaus) |
| PETER MCGILL (Tizard Centre, University of Kent) |
| Abstract: In the invited B. F. Skinner lecture, Celia Moore will make the case that development occurs through constructive processes that use available resources that are either endogenous to the organism as well as incorporated from its own natural environment. She will argue that reliable resources for development are provided by conditions essential for life found in the physical and social world of an organism and functions of its own body. (These conditions are assumed to generate experience, which seem to operate through neurosensory, neuromotor, and hormonal activity to affect developmental outcomes). From this view, experience encompasses heterogeneous contributors functioning at molecular, cellular, anatomical, physiological, and behavioral levels in a developing system. The panelists will discuss whether this broad concept of experience can help resolve difficulties inherent in nature-nurture issue and understand human behavioral development. |
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| AUT Poster Session 4 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 12:00 PM–1:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 1. Using TAG Teach Methods to Develop Eye Contact Behavior in Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| REGINA L. MAENDLER (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), John W. Eshleman (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), Traci M. Cihon (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Abstract: Many children diagnosed with autism demonstrate limited eye contact behavior with others. Eye contact can be an important prerequisite for the development of other behavioral repertoires including mands, imitation, and social interaction. Because the eye contact movement cycle can be quite brief, it is not always possible to provide immediate reinforcement and often one may inadvertently reinforce another behavior (e.g. looking away). The purpose of this study was to increase eye contact behavior in children diagnosed with autism using two reinforcement methods; contingent positive reinforcement and Teaching by Acoustical Guidance (TAG). During the first treatment condition, descriptive praise statements as well as access to preferred items and activities were made contingent upon occurrences of eye contact behavior. During the second treatment condition, occurrences of eye contact behavior were immediately tagged with an acoustical marker and directly followed by access to a backup reinforcer in the form of descriptive praise statements as well as access to preferred items and activities. Treatment conditions were presented during randomly alternating sessions through a multielement design. Differences in responding between conditions were attributed to the effectiveness of each treatment variable as an intervention for developing eye contact behavior among children with autism.
KEY WORDS: TAG teach, conditional reinforcement, contingent reinforcement, immediacy of reinforcement, eye contact, autism, children, multielement design |
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| 2. Comparing the effectiveness of mobile and immobile floors for teaching fine motor skills. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| NICOLE ANN CISSELL (The Chicago School of Professional Psych.), John W. Eshleman (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), Traci M. Cihon (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Abstract: Abstract:
Ogden Lindsley (1963) was one of the first behavior analysts to define the need for fluency. Fluency is necessary to achieve automaticity and permanency in responding (Binder, Haughton, & Eyk, 1990) and has been defined as accuracy plus speed (Binder, 1996). Precision teachers use the tools of fluency and the Standard Celeration Chart (SCC) in order to improve learning and track changes in behavior. The SCC is a semi-logarithmic chart in which changes in learning may be observed. The chart utilizes many symbols in order to denote the frequency of behaviors, the length of fluency timings, and celeration as a function of time. This paper reports the results of a study aimed as evaluating the efficacy of mobile versus immobile floors for teaching fine motor skills to children that have been diagnosed with autism. The study was conducted using Big 6+6 programming in order to teach the component fine motor skills.
Key words:
Precision teaching
Mobile floors
Immobile floors
Standard Celeration Chart
Component fine motor skills |
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| 3. The Effects Discrete Trial Training on the Acquisition of Social Skills by Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CHERIE ANN FISHBAUGH (SPARC), Corinne M. Murphy (West Chester University), Jennifer E. Dawson (SPARC), Phillip K. Duncan (West Chester University) |
| Abstract: Children with autism experience difficulty in acquiring and generalizing appropriate social skills such as looking at speaker/listener, initiating a conversation, sustaining a conversation, requesting an item, sharing, and playing cooperatively with others. Research shows that exposure to typically developing peers is not enough to acquire social skills and that such skills need to be systematically taught and then generalized to peers. Research is needed to identify effective teaching protocols for social skill development by children with autism. Five students, ages 3-5 years participated in a discrete trial training protocol targeting social skill development. All training took place in small group settings ranging from 3 to 5 participants. Social skills were assessed for each participant before, during, and after training. The results for all participants showed increases compared to baseline levels for all social skills measured when discrete trial was used as the intervention. Generalization and maintenance data will be provided. |
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| 4. Teaching reading and reading comprehension using a stimulus equivalence paradigm:
A case study in an IBI classroom. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ROSEMARY A. CONDILLAC (Brock University), Lisa Danielle Giewercer (Surrey Place Centre and Brock University), Leanne Small (Surrey Place Centre) |
| Abstract: This poster will present a stimulus equivalence paradigm that was used in an effort to teach reading and reading comprehension to a young boy with Autism, who had not responded to conventional phonetic or whole word approaches. The assessment and training was delivered by instructor therapists in his Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) program. Baseline assessment indicated that for the chosen words, the boy was able to matching picture to dictated name, he could name the picture orally but was unable to name (read) written word, unable to match printed names to the dictated name, or match picture to written word. He was then taught to match the printed names to the dictated names, using standard matching to sample procedures. The results indicated that after teaching the boy to match dictated names to the printed names he was able to orally name the written words, match the pictures to the printed names, and match the printed names to the pictures without any additional teaching. This study provides preliminary evidence of field-effectiveness for the use of a stimulus equivalence paradigm in teaching reading comprehension to a young child with Autism within an IBI program. |
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| 5. The Role of Choice of Task Duration on Percent Success and Acquisition Rate |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| RACHEL MARIE ADAMEK (Lovaas Institute Midwest), Melissa J. Gard (The Lovaas Institute Midwest), Courtney Whitcraft (Lovaas institute) |
| Abstract: Being given a choice of tasks to complete, rather than being told by a caregiver or teacher which task to complete, can be a highly reinforcing for children diagnosed with autism but does not necessarily promote the highest levels of success or acquisition rate. In this study, we will investigate the effects of child’s choice on percent success and acquisition rate in three different previously mastered skill areas. Conditions include child choice and therapist choice with differing task durations and magnitudes of reinforcement. For example, in the child’s choice condition the child may choose between completing 5 pieces of a puzzle for 1 pretzel or completing the entire puzzle (20 pieces) for 5 pretzels. The goal of this study is to more closely examine the child’s preference of task duration and magnitude of reinforcement and how that relates to correct and incorrect responding. The results will lead us to a greater understanding of the child’s specific preferences, which can then be utilized to increase the child’s skill acquisition by adhering to the condition to which the child demonstrated the most success. |
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| 6. Effects of Training on Discrete Trial Teaching Knowledge and Performance |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| ANDREW DOWNS (University of Portland), Alex Siwiec (Central Washington University), Robyn Conley Downs (Children's Village), Cindy K. Carroll (Children's Village) |
| Abstract: Parents of children with autism have increasingly demanded that their children be provided publicly funded Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) based educational programming. Unfortunately, most school professionals receive no training in DTT in their undergraduate or graduate programs, making the training of such individuals critically important. This study evaluated the effects of training on instructor knowledge and performance of DTT and related skills. Nine undergraduate students received an eight-hour DTT training and taught a range of behaviors to six preschoolers with autism. Instructor knowledge was assessed pre- and post-training in the domains of work preparation, DTT technical procedures, and student engagement/management. Instructor performance was assessed in the same domains across several instructional sessions. Pre-training knowledge scores ranged from 4% to 57% and post-training knowledge scores ranged from 52% to 82% correct with instructors scoring highest on the domain of student engagement/management and lowest on work preparation. During DTT sessions with children with autism instructor performance ranged from 59% to 97% correct across domains, with the highest percentage of errors occurring in the domain of DTT technical procedures. The results highlight the need for training programs that effectively improve the knowledge and performance of professionals who provide DTT to children with autism. |
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| 7. Evaluation of a Self-Instructional Package for Instructing University Students to Conduct Discrete-Trials Teaching with Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SANDRA SALEM (University of Manitoba & St. Amant), Daniela Fazzio (St. Amant Research Centre), Lindsay Maureen Arnal (University of Manitoba & St Amant Research Center), Pamela Jane Fregeau (St. Amant), Kendra Thomson (University fo Manitoba and St. Amant), Garry L. Martin (University of Manitoba), Dickie C. T. Yu (U. of Manitoba & St. Amant Research Centre) |
| Abstract: A self-instructional package to train four university students to implement Discrete-Trials Teaching (DTT) sessions with children with autism was investigated. Using a modified multiple-baseline design across participants, the students’ ability to conduct DTT to teach a confederate role-playing a child with autism was evaluated, before and after studying a self-instructional manual (Fazzio & Martin, 2007) plus watching a video demonstration. All scoring was conducted with the use of the Discrete Trials Teaching Evaluation Form, known as the DTEF (Fazzio, Arnal, & Martin, 2007). For each participant overall improvement in performance was made, although not all the participants performed as well as expected. Of the four participants, two achieved mastery and those two participants then demonstrated considerable DTT skill while conducting a teaching session with a child with autism. Future research using this self instructional package could come in the form of studying with a partner and should take into account factors such a motivation. |
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| 8. Instructing and Assessing Individuals to Conduct Discrete-Trials Teaching: A Review and Future Directions |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KENDRA THOMSON (Universityof Manitoba and St. Amant), Garry L. Martin (University of Manitoba), Lindsay Maureen Arnal (University of Manitoba & St Amant Research Center), Daniela Fazzio (University of Manitoba and St. Amant), Dickie C. T. Yu (U. of Manitoba & St. Amant Research Centre) |
| Abstract: Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) has been identified as the treatment of choice for children with autism spectrum disorders. A common strategy for conducting EIBI is discrete-trials teaching (DTT). There is a demand for research-based, economical, rapid training techniques to teach tutors and parents of children with autism to conduct DTT. A review of 20 experiments that focused on teaching individuals how to conduct DTT illustrated that many different forms of DTT instruction exist, and are often reported briefly which makes replication difficult. Further, evaluations of assessment tools for scoring individuals’ DTT performance are lacking. In response to this need, we developed a 21-item component checklist, the Discrete-Trials Teaching Evaluation Form (DTTEF) to assess instructors’ DTT performance. The DTTEF has been shown to have high face validity, high interobserver reliability for live scoring, and high concurrent validity with trainees attempting to apply DTT to teach a confederate role-playing a child with autism. The DTTEF differentiated between DTT performances of trainees before and after receiving DTT instruction. Considering the high demand for personnel trained in delivering DTT to children with autism, further research in developing a more standardized method of instructing and assessing individuals’ DTT performance is highly warranted. |
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| 9. Improving Treatment Integrity: Increasing Correct Parent Implementation of Instructional Programs |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNIFER SMITH (BEACON Services), Kim Klemek (BEACON Services), Robert K. Ross (BEACON Services) |
| Abstract: A critical variable in implementing interventions in home-based settings is the ability of that environment to support the implementation of those procedures. Specifically, interventions to be implemented by parents/caregivers must be selected for their ability to be delivered by parents/caregivers. Additionally, training protocols must result in successful implementation of the procedures. Previous studies have found that improving correct implementation of treatment procedures with parents, specifically with discrete trial teaching, has resulted in generalization to teaching other skills (Lafasakis & Sturney, 2007). Although, researchers have made an effort to reveal best practice for improving treatment integrity with teachers (Codding et al., 2005) few studies have been conducted to identify strategies for improving treatment integrity with parents. The current study conducted a parametric analysis of the variables associated with implementation of treatment procedures. They identified the most common errors associated with failure to implement treatment and instructional procedures correctly, as well as variables associated with successful implementation. Study findings suggest that failure to produce fluent skill performance in training settings as well as high levels of correct initial performance in in-vivo settings, is correlated with poor implementation outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of training implications for home-based consultants. |
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| 10. Increasing Staff Performance of PRT Motivational Strategies Using Staff Self-Management |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| RACHEL L RODRIGUEZ (Behavioral Support Partnership), Yvonne Bruinsma (Behavioral Support Partnership) |
| Abstract: Providing consistent high quality state-of –the-art interventions for children and their families with ASD in the community can be a challenge. Staff training plays a central role in maintaining high quality standards in the provision of services. Relatively little research has been conducted on the most efficient and effective way to teach staff to implement PRT strategies during direct intervention sessions. Most typical staff training and support in the field consists of initial one to two week training followed by weekly or monthly supervision groups with limited in-field support. This study explores the effectiveness of staff self-management as a tool to increase staff performance of PRT motivational strategies. During the intervention phase, following a short refresher by a supervisor, staff self-monitored their correct use of a PRT technique for 10-minute intervals during a direct intervention session with a child with ASD. A multiple baseline across participants was employed to investigate the efficacy of self-management in improving staff performance. Data suggested improvements across participants and may indicate that self-management is a valuable tool, especially as it requires relatively few supervisory hours for a field with limited resources. Future directions will also be discussed. |
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| 11. A Literature Review: Evaluation of treatment options for students who engage in ritualistic behavior. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Theory |
| HESTER BEKISZ (The Genesis School), Mary Ellen McDonald (Hofstra University), Erin Sparacio (Eden II Programs/ The Genesis School) |
| Abstract: Students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder often have repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior (APA, 1994). These characteristics often overlap with the diagnostic criterion of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts, worries and/or repetitive behaviors that individuals engage in to reduce anxiety (APA, 1994). Features such as repetitive behavior and thoughts, ritualistic behaviors and compulsions are common in both disorders. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the current literature base of treatment options for individuals who engage in ritualistic and repetitive behavior. Typical interventions may involve cognitive behavioral therapy, such as exposure and response prevention. This review will examine the research on these treatment options and their effectiveness for students diagnosed with autism who engage in ritualistic behavior. It will also assist in future research in the area of treatment options for ritualistic and repetitive behavior and autism spectrum disorders. |
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| 12. The Relative Contributions of Preference and Functionality in Noncontingent Reinforcement Schedules |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TAMARA L. PAWICH (Eastern Michigan University), James T. Todd (Eastern Michigan University), Marilyn K. Bonem (Eastern Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), the response-independent delivery of reinforcers, has been demonstrated to be an effective response suppression method for a variety of problem behaviors displayed by children, even when not combined with extinction. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether preference for specific reinforcers in another context led to greater response suppression through an experimental comparison of NCR with a functional reinforcer versus preferred stimuli. Two preschool-aged children with autism and tantrums maintained by tangible reinforcement participated. Preference values were evaluated through paired-choice assessments. Three preferred stimuli were selected for NCR-Preferred experimental conditions, based on varied levels of preference (i.e., highest, lowest, moderate). Results indicated that NCR-Functional and NCR-Preferred had suppressive effects across participants, but the predetermined level of preference did not have an effect. These data provide additional empirical support for the use of NCR without extinction in the treatment of tangibly-maintained behaviors and question the utility of a priori identification of alternative, tangible stimuli via preference assessment. |
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| 13. Effects of Response Restriction and Reallocation on Automatically Reinforced Behavior: An Analogue for Studying Stereotypic Behavior |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Regina A Carroll (Saint Cloud State University), John T. Rapp (St. Cloud State University), KENDRA L WICKLAND (St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: Response allocation has been studied with both animal and human participants and included one response or multiple responses. Researchers also became interested in the concepts of response restriction and reallocation. In other words, what would happen to baseline levels of responding after restrictions were placed on certain stimuli or operants. Preference assessments provided an easy way to impose restrictions and assess response reallocation. Similar to previous studies, the present study utilized free-operant preference assessments and examined response restriction as a factor affecting response allocation. Unlike previous studies, the restrictions were not placed on the “highly preferred” items, but rather on the “moderately preferred” items. Additionally, instead of continuing the restrictions throughout the assessment, reversals back to baseline conditions were conducted to analyze shifts in response allocation. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of restricting access to moderately preferred items. More specifically, the purpose was to determine if shifts in response allocation will occur during free-operant and restricted access conditions and how these results may apply to the conceptual understanding and treatment of stereotypic behavior. Results for two of three participants indicated that the restrictions produced changes in the levels of free-operant responding in the subsequent phases. An additional study placed restrictions on participants high-preference item determined from initial free-operant assessments. For one of the participants, restricting the high-preference item produced increases in engagement with other items. For the two remaining participants all items were restricted except the high-preference item and responding with that item increased during the restriction phases and then returned to initial free-operant levels following the restrictions. Data was collected from an internship project conducted in a local elementary school and the presentation will allow behavior analysts and those aspiring to their degree how to conduct research utilizing behavioral concepts in analogue conditions. Additionally, how the results of such research can further the conceptual understanding and create new ideas for work with individuals in applied settings. |
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| 14. Fading Protective Equipment for a Self Injurious Child with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ARIANNA SCATTONE (Alpine learning group), Barbara Hoffmann (Alpine Learning Group), Bridget A. Taylor (Alpine Learning Group), Wayne Fisher (Munroe-Meyer Institute, UNMC) |
| Abstract: Some individuals with autism engage in self injurious behavior (SIB) requiring the use of protective equipment. Some of these individuals seek out the equipment, making it difficult to fade. The participant was a boy with autism with a history of severe SIB (e.g., slapping face, punching ears). Arm splints similar to those worn for orthopedic purposes were used that prevented hand-to-head contact. During times it was necessary to remove the splints (e.g., to complete tasks requiring arm use), the participant repeatedly requested splints and engaged in SIB to have the splints reapplied. The purpose of this study was to shape tolerance of splint removal for increased durations. A preferred reinforcer was reserved for use in sessions during which the participant was required to complete tasks with one splint removed. The participant was asked to make a choice between accessing the splint or continuing to work for the preferred reinforcer. A changing criterion design demonstrated that the participant learned to perform an increased number of responses to complete tasks (e.g., additional pieces of a puzzle) without engaging in SIB. Data also indicated that the participant increased the number of times per session that he chose to work without the splint. |
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| 15. Reducing Stimulatory Behavior with Toys through the Use of Structured Play Scripts |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KRISTINE FAIS (BEACON Services), Gilah Haber (BEACON Services), Robert K. Ross (BEACON Services) |
| Abstract: The use of toys or other play objects in repetitive or unusual manner, often described as “stimulatory behavior”, is seen in many young children with autism. For many of these children modeling of appropriate toy use or correction procedures for “inappropriate” toy use does not result in reduction of stimulatory behavior or production of adaptive/functional toy use. The current study attempted to directly establish a repertoire of functional play skills with toys using specific play scripts. The goal was to determine if the presence of increased adaptive/functional play skill repertoires with some toys would result in an increase in functional play with untrained toys. The study also assessed rates of stimulatory behavior with untrained toys. Results indicate that as the repertoire expanded across multiple toys rates of targeted stimulatory behavior decreased in untrained toys. Issues of generalization of skills across materials as well as implications for selection of strategies for addressing problem behavior are discussed. |
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| 16. Assessing and Treating Vocal Stereotypy in a Child with Autism Using Response Interruption and Redirection Procedures. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| James C. K. Porter (Brock University), JENNIFER ELAINE WATTS (Kinark Child & Family Services) |
| Abstract: Previous research implies that stereotypic behavior may be maintained by the sensory consequences produced by engaging in the response. Ahearn, Clark, MacDonald, and Chung (2007) used verbal response interruption and redirection (RIRD) procedures to decrease vocal stereotypy in children with autism. This treatment resulted in decreased levels of vocal stereotypy, as well as increased levels of appropriate communication. Kodak and Karsten (2008) extended this research by comparing motor and verbal RIRD procedures. Their research showed that both procedures were effective in reducing levels of vocal stereotypy. The current study was designed to replicate the findings of Kodak and Karsten (2008). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using gross motor demands to reduce the frequency of vocal stereotypy in a 6 year old boy diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. A functional analysis was conducted and following assessment, response interruption and redirection (RIRD) was implemented in an ABAB design to determine whether vocal stereotypy could be successfully redirected. Gross motor demands were presented contingent on the occurrence of vocal stereotypy and were continuously presented until the child complied with three consecutively issued demands without emitting vocal stereotypy. Results are consistent with the findings of Kodak and Karsten (2008) that gross motor based RIRD was successful in reducing the vocal stereotypy. Results are discussed with respect to possible mechanisms associated with the reduction in stereotypy and suggestions for future research.
References:
Ahearn, W. H., Clark, K.M., & MacDonald, P.F. (2007). Assessing and treating vocal
stereotypy in children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40, 263-275.
Kodak, T., & Fisher, W. (2008, October). An Evaluation of treatment procedures for reducing
vocal stereotypy and increasing functional verbal behaviour. In V.M. Volkert (Chair),
Functional-based interventions: linking assessment to treatment for a variety of problem
behaviours. Symposium conducted at the Third Annual Conference of Educational and
Clinical Applications of Applied Behavior Analysis, Omaha, Nebraska.
Kodak, T., & Karsten A. (2008, May). An Evaluation of Treatment Procedures for Reducing Vocal
Stereotypy and Increasing Functional Verbal Behavior. Presented at 34th Annual Applied Behavior
Anaylsis (ABA) International Convention, Chicago, Illinios. |
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| 17. A Comparison of Treatments Using RIRD to Reduce Hand Stereotypy |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KRISTEN COPELAND (Spectrum Intervention Group), Jonathan R Pehleman (Spectrum Intervention Group), Lynne Thibodeau (Spectrum Intervention Group) |
| Abstract: Stereotypy behaviours can interfere with a person’s ability to acquire skills, as well lead to social stigmatization. Current research suggests that response interruption and redirection (RIRD) procedures may be helpful in reducing stereotypy. The purpose of this research is to determine if RIRD will reduce stereotypy for two learners with ASD. The topography of the learners’ stereotypy takes the form of inappropriate gestures with their hands (for example, hand flapping and leg rubbing). For the 8 year old learner, an RIRD procedure will be implemented throughout the entire session. Every time the learner engages in hand stereotypy, he will be directed to engage in three consecutive tasks with his hands. Preliminary rate per minute data suggests that this procedure is reducing the rate of inappropriate hand stereotypy across the session. For the 4 year old learner, a similar procedure will be used, however, the procedure will only occur in designated locations of the house for a set period of time. Preliminary data indicates that hand stereotypy has decreased in these settings. Rate per minute data will be collected to determine if the decrease has generalized to different locations throughout the therapy session. |
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| 18. Examining Classroom Rotation Schedules for Elementary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| STEPHANIE A NORGARD (Southern Illinois University), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University), Sarah M. Dunkel (Southern Illinois University), Michael Bordieri (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Susan Szekely (Illinois Center for Autism) |
| Abstract: Transitioning between environments and activities has been a challenge for many children with autism spectrum disorders. Many schools opt to limit the number of transitions necessary for this population. The purpose of this study was to compare varying lengths of classroom rotation schedules and their effects on engagement, frequency of crisis interventions and the stress level of staff in a school for students with autism spectrum disorders. Using an A-B-A-B withdrawal design, the existing 30 minute rotation of eight elementary classrooms was compared with a less frequent 60 minute rotation schedule. The results and implications of rotation schedules on classroom set up and staff performance will be discussed. |
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| 19. Using a Fading Procedure to Increase the Practicality of Response Blocking as Treatment |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MELISSA COCO RAYMOND (University of Houston, Clear Lake), Dorothea C. Lerman (University of Houston-Clear Lake) |
| Abstract: Response blocking has been found to be an effective treatment for various forms of problem behavior. However, few studies have examined ways to successfully fade this intervention. The purpose of this study was to assess the generality of response blocking as a treatment for self-injurious behavior (SIB) maintained by automatic reinforcement and to examine a method for fading response blocking. A 6-year-old boy diagnosed with autism participated. First, a reversal design was used to demonstrate the effects of response blocking on SIB and toy play. Next, the intervention was faded by increasing the distance between the participant and the therapist until the therapist remained 5 feet away from the participant when not blocking. Results showed that blocking produced substantial decreases in SIB and concomitant increases in toy play. Furthermore, rates of SIB remained low throughout the fading process, and the results generalized to a novel setting and novel therapist. |
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| 20. Investigating the Effectiveness of Functional Communication Training To Reduce Problem Behavior Maintained by Escape-to-Attention |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JANA SARNO (The University of Southern Mississippi), Heather Sterling-Turner (University of Southern Mississippi), Daniel H. Tingstrom (The University of Southern Mississippi), Sara S. Jordan (University of Southern Mississippi) |
| Abstract: The goal of a functional behavior assessment (FBA) is to help build intervention plans that focus on redesigning the classroom environment and building new skills that make problem behavior ineffective, irrelevant, and inefficient (Horner & Carr, 1997). Incorporating a functional analysis into the FBA process has been found to be an effective approach for the assessment and treatment of problem behavior in the school setting (Hanley et al., 2003). With the integration of the functional analysis methodology into the school setting, questions are being raised about the utility of traditional functional analysis conditions. To address these questions, procedural variations and the need to examine idiosyncratic variables is recommended. The current study sought to replicate and extend the findings of Mueller, Sterling-Turner, and Moore (2005) and Sarno (2007) of the functional analysis condition, escape-to-attention (ETA), as an alternative for assessing for problem behavior in the classroom. A secondary aim was to investigate subsequent treatment implications for the ETA condition, specifically investigating the effects of functional communication training (FCT) on rates of problem behavior. Finally, the limitations of the present study and future directions for functional analysis research in the schools will also be discussed. |
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| 21. Clinic and School-Based Evaluation and Treatment of Stereotyped Behaviors |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TODD G. KOPELMAN (University of Iowa - Hospitals and Clinics), Joel Eric Ringdahl (University of Iowa), Tory J. Christensen (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Wendy K. Berg (University of Iowa), Carrie Mitchell (Lincoln Elementary School) |
| Abstract: Repetitive behaviors, such as hand-flapping, rocking, and acontextual vocalizations, can significantly interfere with a child’s ability to learn and to interact with peers. This poster describes clinic and school-based evaluation and treatment of a child’s stereotyped behaviors. In clinic, a functional analysis indicated that hand flapping and other repetitive behaviors were maintained by automatic reinforcement. Behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement can be difficult to successfully treat because the specific maintaining variables cannot be identified. In this case, treatment, consisting of differential reinforcement of appropriate behavior and response cost, resulted in a substantial decrease in stereotyped behavior relative to a noncontingent reinforcement baseline. Upon completion of the clinic evaluation, the child’s teachers implemented a variant of the procedures and observed a substantial decrease in stereotyped behavior. Data from both settings will be displayed. Interobserver agreement was calculated for at least 20% of all clinic sessions and averaged above 90% for all dependent measures. |
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| 22. Decreasing severe unwanted behavior using a comprehensive structured behavioral program in a student with autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| REBECCA RUBIE (Judevine Center for Autism), John M. Guercio (Judevine Center for Autism) |
| Abstract: The prevalence of severe unwanted behavior in the autism population is high given the communication challenge present in the disorder. This project involved a 19-year-old student with autism who displayed severe unwanted behavior including aggression, property destruction, SIB, and interfering behavior in a specialized autism classroom. He had not been in a formal school setting for several years due to difficult behaviors. During baseline, reported rates for aggression occurred an average of 5 incidents/day; the rate of property destruction was 7 per day; an average of 23 reported incidents of SIB per day and an average of 44 reported incidents of interfering behaviors. A comprehensive structured behavioral program was implemented to include reinforcement schedules for appropriate behaviors, environmental restructuring, communication training, staff training related to consistency of behavioral programming, and an ultra high risk supported area. After the introduction of the various components of the treatment plan, the student’s rates of severe behaviors decreased over time. After one year, the student’s rates dropped to an average of less than 1 reported incident/day of property destruction; an average of 9 reported incidents of SIB per day; 2 reported incidents of aggression per day and 10 reported incidents of interfering behaviors per day. |
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| 23. Use of self-monitoring to reduce disruptive behavior |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| STEFANIE FILLERS (May Institute), Hilary Collins (May Institute), Lara Bollinger (May Institute), Hanna C. Rue (The May Institute) |
| Abstract: The purpose of the study was to reduce disruptive behavior through training the use of a self-monitoring checklist. The participant in the study was a 19-year-old male with a diagnosis of autism enrolled in a private school for students with developmental disabilities. Sessions took place across 3 school settings: the hallway, the cafeteria, and the music room. The participant was trained to mark the occurrence or non-occurrence of a behavior in a self-monitoring book. Student earned a specific reward for nonoccurrence of behavior in the specified setting. Effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated using a multiple baseline across settings design. Data were collected on occurrence and non-occurrence of the target behaviors. Results indicate that training the use of the self-monitoring checklist was effective at reducing the target behaviors to near-zero levels. |
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| 24. Person-Centered Transition Planning for Individuals with ASD: A Pilot Study |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| XIUCHANG HUANG (Duquesne University), John J. Wheeler (Tennessee Technological University), Jie Zhang (SUNY Brockport) |
| Abstract: This research project is a pilot study. It investigates how to employ transitional supports and services to build an effective transition model through person-centered planning to help adolescents and young adults with ASD obtain competitive community-based employment, so that they are able to enjoy a rich, productive and high-quality lifestyle, reflecting their individual preferences, interests, strengths, and self-determination. This project offers the participants the following transition support and services based on individual needs: vocational assessments and vocational training, work-related social skill training, and daily functioning skills training. A total of 10 individuals with ASDs aged between 13 to 21 years old participate in this pilot study for 18 months. The researchers conducts both formative and summative assessments in order to (a) ensure training integrity during the process of implementing this project; and (b) document these individuals’ progress over time using both quantitative and qualitative data. This project aims to achieve the following positive outcomes in participants: (a) improve vocational, social, and daily functioning skills; (b) decrease challenging and repetitive behaviors; (c) improve self-determination in decision making and self-advocacy; and (d) improve overall quality of life. |
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| 25. Exploring Differential Rates of Language Acquisition in Response to Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention in Young Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SARAH KURIAKOSE (UC Santa Barbara), Shannon Barnard (UC Santa Barbara), Natalie Helms (UC Santa Barbara), Lynn Kern Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara), Robert L. Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: Young non-verbal children with autism have differential rates of language acquisition in response to early intensive behavioral treatment. Studying rate of treatment response provides information about treatment effectiveness as well characteristic patterns of language acquisition in this population. Twenty-two non-verbal children with autism between the ages of 20 and 45 months received 200 hours of Pivotal Response Treatment, including a parent education component. Ten minute video probes with a parent or clinician were taken once every ten hours of intervention. Independent blind observers scored probes for expressive communication used functionally by the child. These probes were scored for number of utterances, number of diverse utterances, percent of self-generated utterances, and number of self-generated diverse utterances. This study examined number of hours of intervention to standard communication milestones. Preliminary data are available on profiles of children who responded earlier and later as well as acquisition of different language skills (diverse utterances vs. self-generated utterances). |
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| 26. Intensive Behavioural Intervention for Preschool-age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Some Retrospective Analyses |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| LESLIE THORNE (University of Manitoba and St. Amant), Daniela Fazzio (University of Manitoba and St. Amant), Dickie C. T. Yu (St. Amant Research Centre and The University of Ma), Angela Cornick (St. Amant) |
| Abstract: Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is considered the most effective intervention for children with Autism. The ABA Preschool Program at St. Amant provides 31 hours per week of one-to-one intensive behavioral intervention and provides training for 5 hours of parent led intervention. The service is available for up to 3 years. The ABA team consists of a Consultant, Senior Tutor, and Tutors. Prior to the start of intervention, children are assessed on measures of adaptive, cognitive, language, motor skills, as well as autism characteristics and severity. All assessments are administered at intake and repeated each year the child is receiving services. The outcome data are used by the ABA Program to evaluate service outcomes on children’s abilities. We examined potential predictors of outcome for approximately 50 children. Specifically, we examined whether autism severity, age, adaptive, and cognitive skills at intake are significant predictors of personal-social skills (Battelle Developmental Inventory), communication (Preschool Language Scale 4th Edition), maladaptive behaviors (Scales of Independent Behavior Revised), and skill acquisition (Assessment of Basic Learning and Language Skills, ABLLS) after one year of intensive behavioral intervention. |
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| 27. Longitudinal Program Outcome Evaluation of the St. Amant ABA Program |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| DUONG NGUYEN (University of Manitoba & St. Amant Research Centre), Toby L. Martin (University of Manitoba & St. Amant Research Centre), Dickie C. T. Yu (University of Manitoba & St. Amant Research Centre) |
| Abstract: The St. Amant Research Centre is conducting a 5-year longitudinal study. Participants will be 50 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) who have completed the St. Amant Preschool Applied Behaviour Analysis intensive behavioural intervention program (ABA program), and 35 children with ASDs who have not received ABA treatment. The primary objectives of the study are to describe the developmental trajectories of the children in cognitive, communication, social, behavioural, and academic domains; examine relations between child outcomes in the above domains and how they relate to factors such as the learning environments at school and home, diagnosis, developmental characteristics, past learning in any treatment programs they may be in, and parent stress; and compare the developmental trajectories of the two groups of children. Direct and indirect child, parent, and teacher assessment measures are administered either annually or quarterly to provide academic and instructional program information. Preliminary follow-up data of participants who have completed the St Amant Preschool ABA program suggest that gains made during treatment maintained into their school years. This project will contribute to the existing literature by providing a better understand of the long-term impact of ABA treatment and it may help to improve early intervention programs. |
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| 28. Effectiveness of Direct Instruction Programming with Children Diagnosed with ASD: Preliminary Findings |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| DANIELLE W. BRADLEY (Marcus Autism Center), M. Alice Shillingsburg (Marcus Autism Center), Amber L. Valentino (The Marcus Autism Center), Erika James (Marcus Autism Center) |
| Abstract: Although some children diagnosed with ASD develop functional communication, difficulties with complex language and social communication may persist. Thus, the primary impairments may be seen in the use of tense, prepositions, pronouns, reciprocal conversations, and responses to the complex language of others. Language requiring inferences of causality, sequencing, abstract reasoning, and comprehension often pose an additional challenge. Given the most recent prevalence estimates by the CDC of 1 in 150 children and the dearth of trained professionals offering intervention to children with ASD, it is even more important to evaluate the effectiveness of widely accessible and easy to implement methods of intervention, particularly those requiring a relatively small amount of training time. Direct Instruction is an empirically supported curriculum designed to teach these complex language skills to children and has been used successfully with children from impoverished backgrounds and those with learning disabilities, speech and hearing impairments, and most recently with developmental disabilities. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Direct Instruction with children diagnosed with ASD. |
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| 29. Increasing the Duration of Tooth Brushing in an Adolescent with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| NATHAN C. HAHN (BEACON Services), Joseph M. Vedora (BEACON Services) |
| Abstract: Appropriate tooth brushing habits are an essential element of oral hygiene and overall health. The American Dental Association recommends brushing thoroughly (2 minutes) at least twice daily. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of using a visual/auditory cue (a timer) and contingent access to reinforcement to increase the duration of tooth brushing for a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with Autism. Training sessions involved setting the timer for a pre-determined amount of time and giving the instruction “Brush your teeth”, at which point the student was required to brush continually until the timer sounded. The duration was systematically increased until the student independently brushed for two minutes. Additionally, when the duration requirement was reached a new toothbrush with an automatic run interval (i.e., the brush automatically turned off after 2 minutes) was introduced, and use of the timer was no longer required to maintain brushing for the target duration. Maintenance of the skill was assessed at one and three month intervals. |
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| 30. Teaching a child with autism to mand for assistance: Effects of an audio taped prompt |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JAIME M. SCHILLING (Alpine Learning Group), Joanna Reyes (Alpine Learning Group), Bridget A. Taylor (Alpine Learning Group) |
| Abstract: Due to social and language deficits, individuals with autism may have difficulty learning to approach an adult to ask for help. This skill deficit may impact their ability to seek assistance when necessary. A multiple baseline design across tasks was used to assess the effects of an audiotaped prompt on the assistance seeking skills of a 10 year old girl with autism. Graduated guidance was used to teach the participant to approach an adult and an audio taped stimulus was used to prompt the participant to ask for help with the target task. Data indicated the participant did not initially seek out the adult and ask for assistance. With the introduction of the audio taped prompt and systematic prompt fading, assistance seeking skills increased for all tasks. Results indicated that after intervention the participant was more likely to approach an adult to request assistance when she was unable to complete a task. Interobserver agreement and procedural integrity data were calculated for at least 30% of sessions and was 100%. |
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| 31. A Systematic Desensitization Intervention to Treat Hypersensitivity to Haircuts in Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Daniel Adam Openden (Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC), Robert L. Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara), Lynn Kern Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara), BETHANY DEMORE CHADD (Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center) |
| Abstract: Many parents report that their children with autism exhibit extremely negative reactions in response to getting their hair cut. Previous research has shown success in decreasing negative behaviors in response to auditory stimuli such as vacuums, blenders and toilets using systematic desensitization procedures (Koegel, Openden, & Koegel, 2004). Desensitization procedures were replicated in the current study to decrease hypersensitivity to haircuts in three children with autism and evaluated using multiple baseline and changing criterion designs. Data were collected on the mean level of anxiety in three-minute intervals, as well as the number of hierarchical steps completed at a comfortable level per probe. The data indicate that desensitization procedures were successful in reducing hypersensitivity to haircuts. These findings extend those in Koegel, Openden, & Koegel (2004) and suggest that the children’s negative reactions may be more related to a phobia than to hypersensitivity with haircut stimuli. |
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| 32. Child safety: A comparison of parent and educator perspectives on the safety needs of children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| RACHEL N STRAUB (Binghamton-SUNY), Raymond G. Romanczyk (Institute for Child Development) |
| Abstract: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unintentional injuries are the number one cause of hospitalization and death for children over the age of one in the United States (2004). Most serious injuries for this age group occur either in the home or community, but about 10-25% of minor unintentional injuries occur at school (CDC, 2001). Previous research has focused primarily on parent report to assess safety concerns and injury rates for children in the home, but few researchers have investigated these variables through educator report in school settings. Further, there is a lack of current research concerning injury rates and safety concerns for children with ASD in both home and school settings, even though children with mental or developmental disabilities have been found to be more likely to experience nonfatal injury, with greater severity, than non-disabled peers (Xiang, et al., 2005). The purpose of this poster is to present data from a recent study conducted at the Institute for Child Development comparing the perspectives of parents and educators regarding safety needs of children with and without ASD in home and school settings. Future directions will be discussed, including methods for assessing injury risk through parent and educator report. |
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| 33. A Case Study: An Application of Rapid Toilet Training for an Adolescent with Autism. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SHARON E. BAXTER (The Children's Foundation), Stephanie R Price Evans (The Children's Foundation), Julia Plummer (The Children's Foundation), Richard M. Foxx (Pennsylvania State University) |
| Abstract: Incontinence can be a major quality of life issue for individuals diagnosed with Autism. The negative social impact of incontinence is exacerbated by the age of the individual and the severity of autism affecting the individual. The current case study was an application of the rapid toilet training method introduced by Azrin and Foxx (1971) with an adolescent male who demonstrated severe aggression, property destruction and self-injury. Treatment was delivered in the male’s residence, an Applied Behavior Analysis Teaching Home, staffed with a one to one instructor to student ratio. The student was 15 years of age and had experienced multiple failed attempts at toilet training previous to admittance to the Teaching Home. Severe aggression towards others, property destruction and self-injurious behaviors were demonstrated by the student and had presented as obstacles to successful toilet training in the past. A systematic shaping procedure based upon the key elements of the Azrin and Foxx method which included increasing fluid intake to increase the frequency of opportunities to urinate, contingent positive reinforcement for voiding, overcorrection for accidents, extinction of aggression, property destruction and self-injury and cleanliness training were employed. Treatment resulted in a reduction of accidents to zero. Stimulus control of the underpants generalized to nighttime and a reduction of overnight accidents to zero-levels was observed. Maintenance of independent toileting behaviors were observed at more than 12 months post-treatment, after levels of reinforcement for independent toileting had been reduced to zero. |
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| 34. A Literature Review: Teaching sexual awareness and sex education to adolescents and young adults in a group home. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| WILLIAM J. DONLON (Eden II/ Genesis School), Hester Bekisz (The Genesis School), Mary Ellen McDonald (Hofstra University), Peter F. Gerhardt (Organization for Autism Research) |
| Abstract: "Appropriate education in sexuality is critical to the development of a person's positive self-esteem. The development of a healthy self-image may overcome potential feelings of depression and loneliness for the person with autism." (Koller,2000) "For young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), social expectations are typically a mystery. This becomes a particular problem as they approach puberty. Individuals with autism typically do not model others successfully and are able to figure out what they need to do by following the example of others. They have difficulty processing auditory information and the inability to understand social rules. They need information presented in a clear, concise and simple way at their level of comprehension." (Satter,2007) The purpose of this literature review is to examine the current literature base of sexual awareness and sex education in young adults and adolescents with autism. The review will assist in future research in the area of sex education and autism spectrum disorders. |
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| 35. A Fluency Program Using the “Big 6+6” to improve Tooth brushing Skills for Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ERICA CHRISTINE LIDDICOAT (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), John W. Eshleman (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Abstract: Children with autism may experience more dental problems due to oral sensitivities around the mouth, diet, difficulty accessing dental care, and difficulty brushing. Tooth decay can attack the teeth at any age, in fact, 84% of 17-year-olds have the disease and 60% of 15-year-olds experience gingivitis, the first stage of gum disease (Nemours Foundation, 2008). Tooth decay can cause severe pain and result in tooth loss. Losing teeth affects how you look and feel about yourself as well as your ability to chew and speak. The participants were school-age students who attended a school that provides services children with autism. The students age range from 8 to 22. Fluency training of the “Big 6+6” was used to improve the fine motor movements required for toothbrushing (reach, twist, place, grasp, squeeze, release, push, pull). Data to be collected and will be presented on Standard Celeration Charts.
Keywords: fluency, “Big 6+6”, dental hygiene, autism |
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| 36. Effect of Group Life-Adaptation Activity to Increase Self-Help Skills for Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| JEONGIL KIM (Lotus Flowers Children Center), Yunhee Lee (Lotus Flowers Children Center & International Society of Awareness), Jung Yeon Cho (Daegu Cyber University, Korea) |
| Abstract: This study examined the effect of group activity focusing on life-adaptation training in real situations to increase daily routine self-help skills for children with autism. Nine of children with autism, attending elementary school, participated in the study. The intervention program consisted of a packet of structured daily routine skills training, using community resources training, and recreation training in a 3 to 4 member group. The results showed that the life adaptation including self-help skills, positive behavior expression, and anger mamagement with all the subjects. |
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| 37. The Use of Bluetooth Technology to Promote Independence and Social Acceptance in Adolescents with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| GLORIA M. SATRIALE (PAAL), Kaori Nepo (PAAL), Louis M Chance (Chester County Intermediate Unit) |
| Abstract: Community based instruction is a complex process made more complicated by the stigma associated with overt and conspicuous levels of prompting. Historically, the use of assistive technology has been limited. A variety of modes of technology commonly utilized in society are available that can be used to increase independent responding in the community and reduce the stigma associated with instructions in community programming. The current research study investigated a method by which the stigma associated with such overt level of prompting could be reduced through the use of Bluetooth technology and a remote cell phone. The participant was 16 year-old male student diagnosed with moderate to severe autism. In the present study, the multiple baseline treatment design was used across behaviors for the purchasing sequence, including locating item, waiting in the line, and paying for the item with a credit card. Verbal prompting was implemented by utilizing a Bluetooth technology and a remote cell phone across behaviors to complete the purchasing sequence in a local drug store. Results indicated that the Bluetooth technology and a remote cell phone had positive effects on decreased level of gestural prompts, increased distance between the participant and the instructor, increased levels of social acceptance, and increased levels of independence. |
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| 38. Implementation Peer-to- Peer Manding Sessions for Non-Vocal Preschool Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SUZANNE TAYLOR (Autism Concepts, Inc.), Nancy J. Champlin (Autism Concepts, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Mand Training is a set of teaching procedures that focus on altering the MO to evoke verbal behavior (Sundberg & Partington, 1998). Teaching children to mand for preferred items is most successful when taught under a variety of environmental conditions (Sundberg & Michael, 2001). This study was designed to demonstrate that non-vocal children with autism spectrum disorders can spontaneously mand to multiple peers for preferred items. Participants include 2 non-vocal boys, ages 4.3-5.5, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. The boys are enrolled in an Applied Verbal Behavior center-based program. Participants were taught signs for preferred food items prior to the initiation of peer to peer manding. Training was conducted throughout their daily one-on-one direct instruction sessions. Peers on the autism spectrum were trained to respond and provide the requested edible reinforcer when the target child used the appropriate sign and/or vocal approximation during the timed sessions. Results of the study demonstrate that non-vocal children can independently mand to multiple peers for edible reinforcers using signs and/or vocal approximations. |
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| 39. An evaluation of Total Communication vs. Vocal Alone for teaching vocal labels and improving vocal articulation in a boy with autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BEVERLEY JONES (Bangor University) |
| Abstract: Total Communication (TC) and Vocal Alone (VA) are two teaching approaches used to facilitate vocal responding with children with language delays and autism. TC involves the simultaneous use of the manual sign and the spoken word; VA involves the use of the spoken word only.
This single subject study aimed to compare the two approaches using an alternating treatment design to find which condition produced the fastest and most effective acquisition rate of vocal tacts to a minimally verbal echolalic child with autism. Additionally, an evaluation of the collateral effects of both conditions on articulation of speech was also conducted. Likert scales were used to measure articulation, with transcription of the spoken word conducted by a trained Speech and Language Therapist (SALT). An errorless teaching procedure was implemented throughout the study, with a token system signalling the availability of reinforcement to decrease the probability of stress for the participant. Results indicated that the TC condition produced six times as many more vocal tacts than the VA condition; this is considered to be due largely to the additional use of the manual sign. Following analysis of the results in the articulation phase of the study; outcomes from the Likert scale and SALT assessment proved inconclusive. |
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| 40. A comparison of the instructional time for two tact instruction procedures with adolescents with autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LESLIE MARGARET CANHAM (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), Charles Merbitz (Chicago School of Professional Psychology), Denise E. Ross (Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Abstract: This study investigated the instructional time required for adolescents with autism to acquire tacts using two different instructional procedures. The experiment compared the Accelerated Independent Learner (AIL) model used in the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis (CABAS) educational model and the AIL model with Precision Teaching components. Intensive Tact Instruction (ITI) was used in the AIL alone condition. A yoked control comparison, over 5 sets of curricular materials counterbalanced for difficulty, was used to measure AIL/ITI procedures against AIL with Precision Teaching components. Data were collected on the number of correct and incorrect responses to probe trials and the teaching time required for mastery using the AIL/ITI method, and the frequency of correct and incorrect responses to timed probe trials using the AIL model with Precision Teaching components. Results will be discussed in terms of the number of tacts acquired and the rate of responding, when instructional time was held constant, using the AIL/ITI method and the AIL model with Precision Teaching components. |
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| 41. Teaching “social referencing” in children with autistic disorders. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| HITOMI KUMA (Keio University, Japan), Yoshiko Hara (Keio University), Yuno Takeuchi (Keio UniverSity), Nozomi Naoi (Keio University), Hiroshi Sugasawara (Keio University), Jun'ichi Yamamoto (Keio University, Japan) |
| Abstract: Social referencing, a form of nonverbal communication, involves looking for stimulus produced by other person in an ambiguous situation in order to respond in a way that produces reinforcement. In this study, we taught “social referencing” to three young children with autistic disorders by prompt and deferential reinforcement. They were 4 –5 years old. In intervention, we made ambiguous situation by using 3 un-transparent plastic jars. Only one jar had a snack or toy and others were empty. Subjects were required to select a jar by observing a facial expression (a smile and frown)presented by adult, when they didn’t know which jar had reinforcement. When they selected the jar with an adult smile face, they found reinforcement in that jar. When they selected the jar with a adult frown, they found that the jar was empty. Target behavior was spontaneous social referencing and behavior shift as to facial expression(for example ,the jar with a smile?open / the jar with a frown?shift to other jars).As result, they learned spontaneous social referencing and behavior shift. And all skills were generalized to untrained facial expression and situations. |
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| 42. Social Stories and students with ASD: A review of the literature |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Theory |
| NANCY PHILLIPS (The Genesis School), Mary Ellen McDonald (Hofstra University), Erin Sparacio (Eden II Programs/ The Genesis School), Geoffrey D. DeBery (The Eden II School) |
| Abstract: Social stories (originally developed by Carol Gray) have been used to promote a variety of skills in students with autism spectrum disorders. Specific areas that have been targeted include: pro-social behavior (Delano & Snell, 2006), self-help skills and maladaptive behaviors. In addition to being used to increase social competence in students with autism spectrum disorders they have also been used to decrease problem behavior and increase appropriate behavior (Kutter, Myles & Carlson, 1998). As social stories are becoming more widely used in clinical settings with individuals with autism spectrum disorders, it is important to assess the efficacy of the treatment through rigorous research. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the current literature base of social stories and determine the efficacy of their use thus far as well as the parameters that may play a role in their effectiveness for students with autism. The current literature review will provide ideas for possible future research in the area of social stories and autism spectrum disorders. |
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| 43. Comparison of Effects Using Picture and Video Prompting on Task Performance by Students With Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LINDA MECHLING (University of North Carolina, Wilmington) |
| Abstract: Although static pictures and video technology have each been demonstrated to be effective in teaching skills to students with autism and prompting task completion, the question remains whether one system is more effective for some learners. Whereas only a small number of studies have compared the effectiveness of the two strategies, the purpose of the study presented in this poster session was to compare the effectiveness of static photographs and video prompts on the task performance of six young men with autism. An adapted alternating treatment design with baseline, comparison, withdrawal, and final treatment conditions was used to measure the percentage of tasks completed independently by each participant across the two treatments. Results indicated that both procedures were effective in increasing correct performance of tasks for each student when compared to baseline levels (verbal task directions). Results further indicated that each participant correctly completed a greater number of tasks when using video prompting compared to static pictures and increased his level of performance during the final treatment phase when using video prompting with sets of tasks receiving static picture prompts during the comparison phase. Overall results support video technology as a means for providing visual supports to students with autism. |
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| 44. Facilitating video modeling via a portable handheld device |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| D. REED BECHTEL (Bechtel Behavioral Services), Sue Heatter (Sue Heatter & Associates) |
| Abstract: “Visual learners” is a term often used to describe the learning style of individuals on the autism spectrum. One methodology that specifically utilizes this strength is visual modeling. A recent review and meta-analysis (Bellini & Akullian, 2007) has indicated video modeling is an efficient and effective approach to teach a wide variety of skills to individuals on the spectrum. In addition, it has been used to teach alternatives to inappropriate behavior and to assist in the reduction of behavioral excesses.
This poster provides information regarding the use of an iPod© to facilitate video modeling and prompting in the natural environment. A three stage acquisition program is described in which a 16 year old male with autism learned to imitate in response to a variety of modeled responses presented on a computer. The scenes were transferred to an iPod and the student again responded until mastery was achieved in the training environment. The iPod then was used to prompt the student to imitate the model while in the actual community environment in which the behaviors were to occur. Discussion of issues in the application of the technology in social, recreational and vocational environments is provided. |
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| 45. Video Self-Modeling to Teach Classroom Rules to Two Students with Asperger’s |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| SONIA DENISE BAKER (The University of Texas at Austin), Russell Lang (University of Texas at Austin), Mark F. O'Reilly (University of Texas at Austin), Karrie Shogren (The University of Texas at Austin) |
| Abstract: Classroom rules are an integral part of classroom management. Children with Asperger's may require systematic instruction to learn classroom rules, but may be placed in classrooms in which the rules are not explicitly taught. A multiple baseline design across students with probes for maintenance after the intervention ceased was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a video self-modeling (VSM) intervention to teach classroom rules to two children with Asperger's. Results indicated that each of the children improved in their ability to recite classroom rules following the VSM intervention. These results were maintained for both students at 12 weeks post-intervention. The findings of this study suggest that VSM is an effective tool for teaching children with Asperger’s classroom rules. |
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| 46. Using embedded rules to enhance videotaped modeling to teach vocational skills to young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KEITH D. ALLEN (Munroe-Meyer Institute), Diana Renes (University of Nebraska - Omaha), Dustin Wallace (Mayo Clinic), Raymond V. Burke (The Prevention Group) |
| Abstract: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders experience unemployment and underemployment because of difficulties responding appropriately to the social and environmental demands of the workplace. An initial investigation suggested that videotaped modeling can teach some vocational skills to individuals with Autism. This investigation extended that research by evaluating whether embedded rules could enhance the effects of video modeling to teach vocational skills. Participants were 3 young adults, ages 18-22, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Participants were asked to wear an inflatable costume as a part of the event to promote sales and new products in a large discount retail store. In a multiple baseline design across subjects each participant was directly observed before and after watching a 6 minute videotape showing both scripted and naturalistic models of the vocational skills required of individuals wearing the costumes (e.g, waving, shaking hands, giving “hi fives”, jumping, and wiggling various body parts such as ears, eyes, tail, and tongue). The embedded rule “In this situation, you should do the same” was paired with the naturalistic models. Results revealed that the participants quickly acquired the targeted vocational skills after watching the videotaped model, that the participants and parents found the “job” to be highly rewarding, and that the employers rated the participant performances as competent. Implications are discussed. |
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| 47. Teaching Self-Help Skills: A Comparison of Video Modeling and In-Vivo Prompting |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SOLIDA H. MEKPONGSATORN HOUL (California State University, Los Angeles), Shane To (SEEK Education, Inc.), Hank Schlinger (California State University, Los Angeles) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of video modeling and in-vivo prompting in teaching self-help skills to three children with autism. In particular, speed of acquisition and generalization across persons and stimuli will be examined. The time and cost efficiency of both teaching techniques will also be considered. The participants will be two males and one female, six to seven years of age, with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Each child will be presented with two tasks (making a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and making a bed), and the effectiveness of teaching these tasks by video modeling and in-vivo prompting will be assessed within a multi-element design. The participants will be shown a video of a typical developing peer performing each task. All three children will also be exposed to in-vivo prompting of both tasks by the experimenters or an Applied Behavior Analysis trained technician. The number of presentations of each task and acquisition data will be collected. |
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| 48. The Comparison of Video Self-Modeling and Video Peer-Modeling and their Effects on Skill Acquisition and the Duration of Viewing the Videos |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KATIA PULLENAYEGAM (SEEK Education, Inc.), Allegra C Turner (SEEK Education, Inc) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study is to compare two prompting techniques: video self-modeling (VSM) and video peer-modeling (VPM) and their effects on rate of skill acquisition of two self-help tasks as well as duration of viewing of the videos by the participants. This study will implement an alternating treatments design. There are three male participants in this study, with the age range from 5 to 8 years old, who are performing two self-help tasks (i.e., making a cup of noodles, and packing the backpack). Each participant will be shown a video of the VSM performing the tasks as well as a VPM consisting of a typically developing peer performing the same tasks. The mastery criteria for these tasks are established at 80% independence, for three consecutive days. In addition, frequency and duration data will be collected during the observation to determine the length of time each participant is looking at the screen. Furthermore, the VPM footage will be shot with a typical-developing child similar to the participants’ age range. All of the participants are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and have fulfilled the prerequisite skill criteria for the self-help tasks in the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills-Revised (ABLLS-R) categories. |
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| 49. Scene Video Modeling versus Point of View Video Modeling: A Direct Comparison |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ERIN MANGINI (BEACON Services), Robert K. Ross (BEACON Services) |
| Abstract: Video modeling involves videotaping an individual perform a target skill and then having the participant view the video and perform what was viewed. Research shows that video modeling may be more effective than in-vivo modeling for teaching a variety of skills. (Charlop-Christy, Le & Freeman, 2000). One form of video modeling, point of view video modeling (POV) , involves the experimenter carrying the video camera at eye level to show the participant how the skill is performed, as though they were completing the target skill. Another variation of video modeling is Scene Video Modeling (SVM), which involves videotaping the experimenter or other model completing a task from a distance that enables the entire condition to be observed. Little data exists comparing the relative effectiveness of the two procedures. In this study a play skill routine was videotaped using both VM formats. Subjects were assessed for baseline performances with the play materials and then shown one of the two versions of video modeling. Immediately after viewing the video; play routine performances were assessed. Data on the performances of over 20 students ages 3-5 and diagnosed with autism are presented. |
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| BPH Poster Session 4 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 12:00 PM–1:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 50. Incremental Repeated Acquisition: Forward Chaining and d Amphetamine |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JORDAN M BAILEY (Auburn University), Joshua Johnson (Auburn University), M. Christopher Newland (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: With an incremental repeated acquisition (IRA) procedure, a new response sequence is acquired within a single session. It begins with a one-link “chain” (single response) and new links are added when accuracy meets the preset criterion. Typically, accuracy on a new chain (“learning condition”) is compared with a “performance condition” in which the same chain is used repeatedly. However, a comparison of the training strategy used to build chains has not been examined. Therefore, forward and backward training strategies were used to build chains in an IRA procedure. When behavior stabilized, a broad range of d amphetamine doses (0.01 to 3.0 mg/kg) was administered. While there was no effect of training procedure on the learning condition, forward chaining significantly improved accuracy during the performance component, and this benefit was sustained across all doses of d amphetamine. Thus, the training strategy influences the accuracy and robustness of behavioral chains that have already been learned. |
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| 51. Temporal Context Affects Preference for Alcohol-Associated Conditioned Reinforcement on Concurrent-Chains Schedules |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CORINA JIMENEZ-GOMEZ (University of Michigan Medical School), Timothy A. Shahan (Utah State University) |
| Abstract: Contextual cues associated with drugs become conditioned reinforcers and play an important role in drug taking. Extensive work has been conducted using concurrent-chains procedures to study the role of contextual variables on preference between different reinforcement contexts. The present experiments attempted to extend these findings by using a concurrent-chains procedure to examine whether the value of alcohol-associated contexts can be modulated by changes in temporal context. In Experiment 1, rats responded on concurrent chains with equal initial-link variable-interval (VI) 10-s schedules. Across conditions, terminal-link fixed-interval schedules were varied to yield 1:1, 9:1, and 1:9 reinforcement ratios of alcohol delivery. Initial-link response rates reflected changes in terminal-link schedules, with indifference in the 1:1 condition and preference for the rich terminal link in other conditions. In Experiment 2, terminal-link schedules remained constant with a nine-fold reinforcement ratio while initial-link schedules were changed to VI 60 s, 10 s, and 60 s. Preference for the rich terminal link was less extreme when initial links were longer. These findings suggest that the concurrent-chains procedure could be a useful animal model for the study of alcohol-associated conditioned reinforcers and the evaluation of behavioral and pharmacological treatments aimed at decreasing the value of drug-associated contexts. |
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| 52. d-Amphetamine Improves Accuracy for Some Chain Types in an Incremental Repeated Acquisition Procedure |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JORDAN M BAILEY (Auburn University), Joshua Johnson (Auburn University), M. Christopher Newland (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: In the incremental repeated acquisition procedure, the structure of the chain is often overlooked as an important variable. Chain structure may interact with other experimental variables, including training strategy and drug effects. Two chain structures were examined using an incremental repeated acquisition (IRA) procedure, in which chain length progressively incremented from one to four in a single session. Three levers (R, L, B) were used. In “repeating” chains, a particular lever was repeated (e.g., RLLB) during the chain. In a “non-repeating” chain (e.g., RLBL) no consecutive repeats occurred. For one group, chains were built using forward chaining and for the other, backward chaining was used. An extremely broad range of d amphetamine doses was administered (0.01 to 3 mg/kg). Very low doses of d amphetamine increased accuracy in “repeating” chains, when trained using backward chaining. This drug-induced improvement in accuracy may reflect a tendency to repeat a previously reinforced response after low-doses d amphetamine. |
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| 53. Effects of chronic MDMA on sensitivity to reinforcement |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Celia Lie (Victoria University of Wellington), Maree J. Hunt (Victoria University of Wellington), DAVID N. HARPER (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ) |
| Abstract: Long-term use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is associated with impairments in behavioral tasks such as decision making and self-control (see Kalant, 2001). However, the mechanism by which MDMA decreases performance in these tasks is not clear. One possibility is that MDMA influences choice behavior generally via an alteration in reinforcer sensitivity. The present experiment assessed the effects of chronic MDMA exposure on sensitivity to reinforcement in rats using an established operant choice paradigm (Davison & Baum, 2000). The relative rates of reinforcement for pressing the two levers were varied across five conditions (15:1, 5:1, 1:1, 1:5, 1:15) within each session. Following extensive pre-drug training, rats were exposed to a chronic MDMA exposure regime administered post-session five days a week. Results indicated that although ongoing MDMA exposure reduced overall response rates, there were no systematic changes in reinforcer sensitivity. These results suggest that changes in reinforcer sensitivity across concurrently available response options may not underlie the performance impairments found in other behavioral tasks with long-term use of MDMA. |
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| 54. Differential effects of haloperidol on operant versus locomotor tasks in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JOSHUA JOHNSON (Auburn University), Jordan M Bailey (Auburn University), M. Christopher Newland (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: Inbred mouse strains, specifically BALB/c and C57BL/6, mice provide an excellent template for assessing behavioral and physiological differences. The current literature is at odds over which strain is more sensitive to the rate depressing effects of haloperidol. The current study investigated the difference in sensitivity to the rate suppressing effects of haloperidol between BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice across two different responses (nose poking, wheel running). In addition, a recent quantitative model was used to partition bouts of nose poking into three composite measures (within-bout response rate, bout initiation rate, bout length). Haloperidol decreased nose poking in a dose-dependent fashion with BALB/c mice being more sensitive to the rate depressing effects. The bout parameter most affected by haloperidol administration was bout initiation rate, which mirrored the decrease of overall nose poking. However, the same strain difference did not exist for wheel running. Wheel running was relatively unaffected by haloperidol administration for both strains. Only at its highest dose (0.56mg/kg), and for C57BL/6 mice exclusively, did haloperidol significantly decrease wheel running. The present study provides more support for the differential or task-dependent nature of drug sensitivities for C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice. |
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| 55. Effects of Pramipexole on Choice for Differential Rewards Using a Within-Session Increasing-Delay Procedure |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| PATRICK S. JOHNSON (University of Kansas), Adam T. Brewer (University of Kansas), Jeff S. Stein (University of Kansas), Monica T. Francisco (University of Kansas), Gregory J. Madden (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: In recent years, a number of clinical reports have implicated pramipexole, a common component of dopamine replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease (PD), in the development of a range of impulse control disorders in patients with PD (Dodd, Klos, Bower, Geda, Josephs, & Ahlskog, 2005; Driver-Dunckley, Samanta, Stacy, 2003). Pramipexole is a dopamine agonist with preferential affinity for D3 receptors, which are predominantly localized in and around the limbic system (Sokoloff, Giros, Martres, Bouthenet, & Schwartz, 1990), an area thought to be linked to ‘reward pathways’ (Esch & Stefano, 2004). A recent study from our laboratory showed pramipexole administered prior to session dose-dependently increased percent choice for a smaller, immediate reward relative to a larger, delayed reward (Madden, Brewer, Pinkston, Johnson, Fowler, & Woods, in preparation). The present study attempted to further investigate these drug effects using a procedure in which delays to the larger reward were changed within (Evenden & Ryan, 1996) rather than between sessions (as in Madden et al.). Initial results suggest unsystematic changes in percent choice for the smaller, immediate reward across drug doses; however, data collection is still ongoing. Findings will likely be discussed with respect to procedural differences between the two studies. |
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| 56. Behavioral Effects of Cholinergic and Gabaergic Drugs on Serial Recall in Long Evans Rats. |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Benjamin Melchor-Hipolito (UNAM FES Izyacala), Edith Juarez-Maldonado (UNAM FES Iztacla), Guadalupe Ortega-Saavedra (UNAM FES Iztacala), Sara E. Cruz-Morales (UNAM FES Iztacala), J C PEDRO ARRIAGA-RAMIREZ (UNAM FES Iztacala) |
| Abstract: Studies in social transmission of food preference have shown reliable serial position functions in Long Evans rats. Functions may show primacy or recency depending of different parameter values. In these studies, a demonstrator rat that has consumed flavored food will increase preference for that flavor in naive observer rats. Studies in behavioral pharmacology have shown that cholinergic antagonists may produce deficits in acquisition and recall in different tasks. In contrast, GABA b antagonists have shown improved acquisition and recall. These effects depend on different factors. In this study scopolamine (8 mg/ 2ml/ kg, ip), a cholinergic antagonist, CGP 35348 (50 mg/ 2 ml/ kg, ip) a GABA b antagonist, and isotonic saline (2 ml/ kg, ip) were administrated to observer rats (n=12) before interacting with a list of three demonstrators that had eaten one of three different flavored foods. These groups were compared with a control group. Repeated measures ANOVA showed no difference between the control and saline groups, so saline group was compared with the drug groups. Between groups comparisons showed a reliable difference between saline, scopolamine, and CGP 35348 groups. Scopolamine showed impaired acquisition and recall whereas CGP 35348 showed an increase in the first item recall. |
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| 57. Differential Effects of Morphine and Naloxone on Escape and Reflex Responses to Nociceptive Thermal Stimuli in the Rat |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JILL MCDANIEL (Vanderbilt University), Robert Kline (Veterans Administration Hospital), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University), Ronald G. Wiley (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Traditionally, assessment of the analgesic-like effects of opiates has been conducted in animals using withdrawal reflexes as the dependent variable. Recently, assessment of pain-related behaviors via an operant escape task has provided an experimental approach for measuring motivational and affective components of pain. In the present study, a time-course analysis of operant and reflex tests was used to measure pain-related behavior. We sought to determine if endogenous opioidergic controls modulate pain-related behaviors by comparing the effects of either systemic morphine or naloxone in rats. Low dose systemic morphine attenuated operant escape from noxious heat at 44oC compared to saline, while low dose systemic naloxone enhanced escape from 44oC. In contrast, a separate group of rats exhibited hyper-reflexia during thermal plate testing with no escape option after morphine or naloxone. Time-course analysis of pain-related behavior illustrates the differences between reflex and operant behaviors. These results indicate endogenous opioidergic controls function to modulate escape behavior from nociceptive thermal stimuli in naïve animals. |
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| 58. Effects of acute and repeated administration of d-amphetamine on delay discounting in Lewis and Fischer 344 rats. |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CHRISTOPHER KREBS (West Virginia University), Sally Huskinson (West Virginia University), Karen G. Anderson (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: Delay-discounting tasks involve choosing between smaller, more immediate reinforcers (impulsive choice) and larger, delayed reinforcers (self-controlled choice). Previous research (Anderson & Woolverton, 2005) has reported that Lewis rats have steeper rates of delay discounting (indicating more impulsive choices) than Fischer 344 rats. The present experiment was designed to further investigate strain differences and effects of acute and repeated administration of d-amphetamine on delay discounting. Lewis (n=8) and Fischer 344 (n=8) rats were given the choice between one food pellet delivered immediately and three food pellets delivered after a varying delay. Delay to the larger reinforcer was systematically increased across five blocks of trials during daily sessions. All subjects demonstrated a decreased preference for the larger reinforcer as its delay to presentation increased. At pre-drug baseline, Lewis rats had lower indifference points, indicating greater delay discounting, than Fischer 344 rats. Low doses of d-amphetamine (0.1-0.3 mg/kg) generally increased larger-reinforcer choice in both strains. Following repeated exposure (chronic administration) of d-amphetamine, choice for the larger reinforcer returned to approximate baseline levels for both strains. This research has implications for better understanding the biological and behavioral determinants of impulsive choice. |
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| 59. Training Discrimination of Blood Alcohol Level following
Oral Ethanol Self-Administration in College Students |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| THERESA E. EGAN (James Madison University), Leah F Power (James Madison University), Sherry L. Serdikoff (James Madison University) |
| Abstract: Research on blood alcohol level (BAL) discrimination suggests that individuals can be trained to discriminate their BAL under some circumstances. The current study is an ABA multiple baseline design to determine if college students can be trained to discriminate whether their BAL is above or below the legal limit for driving. During each session, each participant consumes a priming dose of .75g/kg body weight of 80-proof vodka and juice, followed by a maintenance dose of .31g/kg every fifteen minutes for two hours; a rate of administration that matches that of a normal social drinker. Fifteen minutes after each drink and every fifteen minutes after the last drink participants report whether they think their BAL is above or below the legal limit and a Breathalyzer is used to determine the participant’s actual BAL after each self-report. During baseline phases, the participants are paid per hour for participating, with no contingency for accurate BAL self-reports while during training sessions, the participants receive monetary reinforcement contingent upon accurate BAL self-reports. The data are compared to earlier studies using accuracy feedback as opposed to monetary consequences during training and implications for designing programs to improve individuals’ accuracy in estimating their intoxication levels are reviewed. |
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| 60. College Students’ Discrimination of Blood Alcohol Concentration
Following Oral Ethanol Self-Administration |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| LEAH F POWER (James Madison University), Theresa E. Egan (James Madison University), Sherry L. Serdikoff (James Madison University) |
| Abstract: Previous studies have involved training alcoholics to discriminate blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at high and low doses of alcohol and have shown that high doses of alcohol disrupted accurate BAC discrimination. The current study involves training college students to discriminate whether their current BAC is above or below the legal limit for driving. Each session begins with administration of a priming dose of .75 g/kg of ethanol served in juice, followed by .62 g/kg administered every 15 min for 2 hours; a rate of consumption intended to mimic the high consumption rate that characterizes binge drinking. Fifteen minutes after each drink and every fifteen minutes thereafter, participants provide a self-report regarding their BAC. During the training phases of this ABA multiple-baseline study, participants earn $5 per hour and $2.50 for each correct BAC self-report while only hourly pay is provided during baseline phases. The data are compared to previous research examining the use of feedback in training accurate BAC discrimination. Additionally, they provide valuable information regarding the extent to which individuals can accurately discriminate intoxication levels during and following high-rate alcohol consumption. |
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| 61. Employment-based reinforcement of acceptance of depot naltrexone injections in opioid-dependent adults |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JEFFREY J. EVERLY (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), Annie Umbricht (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), Michael Fingerhood (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), George Bigelow (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), Kenneth Silverman (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: Naltrexone is an opiate antagonist that could be an effective treatment for opiate addiction. Extended-release depot naltrexone injections provide antagonism for up to four weeks. Concurrent behavioral treatment may be needed to ensure adherence to the depot treatment given that patients typically reject orally-administered naltrexone. This study used employment-based reinforcement in an attempt to increase acceptance of depot naltrexone injections. Participants were unemployed heroin-dependent adults who were randomly assigned to either the Naltrexone Contingency (n = 18) or Naltrexone Offered (n = 17) group. Both groups could attend a therapeutic workplace where they could work and earn vouchers each weekday. Both groups were prescribed depot naltrexone injections every 3 weeks. Participants in the Contingency group could only work if they accepted the depot injections. Participants in the Offered group could work independent of whether or not they received the injections. Eighty-one percent of the scheduled injections were accepted by participants in the Contingency group, whereas 42% of the injections were received by participants in the Offered group. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (p=.008; OR = 5.68; 95% CI = 1.61-20.02). The study shows that employment-based reinforcement can increase acceptance of depot naltrexone injections. |
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| CBM Poster Session 4 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 12:00 PM–1:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 62. When the old responding turns a new behavior: describing a clinical change process |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Francielly - Perón (Federal University of Paraná), Maura Alves Gongora (State University of Londrina), JOCELAINE MARTINS SILVEIRA (Federal University of Paraná (Brazil)) |
| Abstract: The response class notion is crucial to the assessment and the conceptualization of clinically relevant behaviors. The main assumption of this study was that the clinical change is related to a response class that lacks strength while another gains it, according to the Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). The concepts of shaping, differentiation and induction were used to analyses and to discuss a clinical change process. The aim of this study was to describe a clinical change process in which the so called problematic response turns to a response related to improvement. The method consisted in recording fifteen sessions of therapeutic treatment of a woman with interpersonal difficulties. The treatment was conducted in a Brazilian training clinic. Clinical relevant behaviors (CRB) were registered in protocols, filled in during each session by the therapist and by a trained observer. Then, CRB was examined in order to identify the dimensions that were being selected within sessions until a new operant class had been installed. The results show four dimensions that were being differentiated during the therapy. Clinical change process was discussed considering the dimensions that suffered differentiation and the relevance of the client/therapist relationship in such change. |
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| 63. Co-occurring PTSD and Chronic Pain: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to treat Avoidance and Psychological Inflexibility |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| KIMBERLY LATRICE SANDERS (Family Counseling Center), Michael Mecozzi (Trinity Services, Inc.), Daniel J. Moran (Trinity Services) |
| Abstract: The co-occurrence of PTSD and chronic pain are well documented in scientific literature (Asmundson et al., 2002). It is estimated that approximately 15-35% of chronic pain patients also have a diagnosis of PTSD (Snipes, 2008). Between 20-30% of community mental health outpatient clients report the co-occurrence of PTSD and pain (Amir et al., 1997). While much PTSD research has centered on war veterans and pain research on biological disorders, this case study will focus on the co-occurrence of PTSD and chronic pain in an individual who experienced a traumatic car accident. It has been found that one of the most common causes of PTSD is vehicle accidents (Norris, 1992) with an estimated 9% of survivors of serious accidents developing signs of PTSD (Kessler et al., 1995). Acceptance based treatments (ACT) have been shown to be effective in both PTSD (Braekkan, 2007) and chronic pain (Vowles, McCracken, 2008). This case study concerns a client who exhibits excessive fusion to negative thoughts and has an extensive avoidance repertoire of stimuli related to the traumatic event. ACT will serve as the independent measure. The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire and The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire will serve as dependent measures. |
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| 64. Mediators of Psychological Flexibility in a Modern Application of Clinical Behavior Analysis |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BROOKE M BERRY (University of Nevada, Reno), Jennifer Boulanger (University of Nevada, Reno), Steven C. Hayes (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behavioral and cognitive treatment intended to reduce psychological inflexibility, or the way that language and cognition interact with direct contingencies to produce an inability to persist or alter behavior in the service of long-term valued goals. ACT aims to decrease psychological inflexibility by targeting the following six processes: increasing acceptance of aversive private events, reducing the dominance of verbal stimuli, increasing contact with direct contingencies, facilitating a transcendent sense of self, identifying and clarifying values, and promoting committed action toward valued ends. Analogue and component studies have demonstrated that each of these processes contribute to ACT treatment outcomes, but it is unknown how the individual elements interact with one another and to what degree each affects psychological inflexibility. The present study utilizes a repeated measures design and multi-level modeling to examine how these processes of change mediate psychological inflexibility and to what degree each is correlated with one another over time. This question has implications for the development of increasingly effective and efficient treatments, not only within ACT, but also for those treatments that utilize similar processes of change such as mindfulness and exposure techniques. |
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| 65. Augmenting Mandated Parenting Classes with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| JENNIFER LYNN PATTERSON (Illinois School of Professional Psychology), Laura Ely (University of Mississippi), Daniel J. Moran (Trinity Services) |
| Abstract: In this project Acceptance and Commitment Therapy components are inserted into an existing parent training class, Project Protect. This four hour class is mandated by Illinois courts for parents involved in divorce, custody, visitation, or paternity disputes, where minor children are involved. One hour of the class is replaced with ACT training in parenting with respect to values, mindfulness, and defusion/acceptance. The training consists of scripted didactics and exercises. Measures of mindfulness and psychological flexibility are taken at pre, post, and 3-month follow-up. The Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS; Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004) is used to assess mindfulness, and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II; Bond, et.al., Submitted) is used to assess psychological flexibility. Parenting measures are used to assess changes in parenting attitudes and behaviors. |
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| 66. Functional Assessment of Maintaining Variables of Obesity |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LINDSAY BETH VICK (Southern Illinois University), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University), Michael Bordieri (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Adam D. Hahs (Southern Illinois University), Nicholas Mui Ker Lik (Southern Illinois University), Becky L. Nastally (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The present investigation involved the creation of a written assessment tool, similar in form to the QABF, which could identify maintaining variables of eating behavior (i.e. attention, escape, etc.). The questionnaire was administered to both obese and normal weight participants. A factor analysis was conducted to assess the validity of potential functions. In addition, weight, body mass index (BMI), and gender were evaluated as possible moderators in both factor loadings and magnitude of responses. Finally psychometric properties of the instrument were assessed. Results and implications for function informed treatments of obesity will be discussed. |
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| 67. Behavioral Activation of a Breast Cancer Patient with Co-existent Major Depression and General Anxiety Disorder |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| MARIA E. A. ARMENTO (University of Tennessee), Derek Hopko (University of Tennessee) |
| Abstract: Recently developed behavioral activation interventions have shown promise in effectively treating depression through increasing value-based activity levels that elicit response-contingent reinforcement. This case study highlights the implementation of behavioral activation to a breast cancer patient with major depression and generalized anxiety disorder, applied within the context of a medical oncology clinic. Following an 8-session behavioral activation protocol, the patient demonstrated notable decreases in self-reported depressive and anxious symptoms and an overall increase in quality of life and medical functioning measured via questionnaires administered weekly. These treatment gains were maintained through 6-month follow-up. Consistent with accumulating literature, these data support behavioral activation as an effective and parsimonious intervention for individuals with depression and concurrent medical problems such as breast cancer. There is a pressing need for quality improvement with an emphasis on treatment efficacy and cost-effectiveness for depression treatments within medical care settings. The use of a behavioral activation protocol, as demonstrated in this case study, may be helpful for clinicians and students looking to implement a time-efficient treatment that can be individualized to patients experiencing significant and co-existent Axis I and III diagnoses while also respecting the infrastructure and operating procedures of medical care settings. |
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| 68. Self-Management Techniques in Home Blood Pressure Monitoring with Pre-Hypertensive Participants |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| EMILY MARTIN (Virginia Tech), Ashley Dorough (Virginia Tech), Richard Winett (Virginia Tech), Eileen Anderson (Virginia Tech), Brenda Davy (Virginia Tech), Sarah Kelleher (Virginia Tech) |
| Abstract: Studies evaluating self blood pressure monitoring (SBPM) behaviors have found that consistent practice can result in significant improvements in blood pressure. However, little data can be found regarding the distinct self-management practices that may lead to monitoring compliance. Participants were selected from a nutritional and physical activity intervention trial, and had high-normal blood pressure (a systolic pressure from 115-119MMHG or diastolic 75-79 MMHG) or were prehypertensive (a systolic pressure from 120-139MMHG or a diastolic 80-89MMHG). Participants (N=11) were males and females, ages 45- 65, and were overweight to obese. Participants were provided training for monitor use and instructed to monitoring their blood pressure in the morning and evening. Participants then recorded their measures for the intervention period of 10-weeks. Interviews were conducted with participants at the conclusion of the intervention in order to assess behavioral techniques employed by participants to consistently monitor their blood pressure at home. These qualitative interviews were then coded for inter-rater agreement and reliability. Analysis in progress will examine frequency and consistency of behaviors, degree of association between reported behavioral techniques and adherence to monitoring, and degree of association between reported behavioral techniques and blood pressure reduction. Future results will be provided. |
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| 69. Behavioral Intervention Based On Functional Analysis For The Habitual Scratching Of Patients With Atopic Dermatitis |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| YUKIHIRO OHYA (National Center for Child Health and Development) |
| Abstract: It is critical for the successful treatment of atopic dermatitis to stop itch-scratch vicious cycle, but only pharmacological treatment is not enough to accomplish it for the patients with habitual scratching. The aim of this study is to verify the effectiveness of our behavioral intervention based on functional analysis for the patients.
Nineteen children had habitual scratching among 95 patients who had admitted to our division during 2007 fiscal year. Although their skin conditions were fairly improved after admission because of application of topical steroids, their scratching behaviors persisted. Functional analysis revealed that most of their scratching behaviors were reinforced by the operant conditioning such as a caregiver’s pay-attention. After starting behavioral intervention, most of the patients stopped habitual scratching in a few weeks and got normal skin without eczema. In some adolescent cases, habitual scratching was maintained not only by the operant conditioning but also by the respondent conditioning with their emotional distress. Relaxation training and desensitization therapy were carried out to erase the respondent conditioning and they overcame their scratching.
Behavioral intervention synchronized with pharmacotherapy is a strong method to overcome intractable itch-scratch cycle of patents with atopic dermatitis. |
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| 70. Increasing Weekly Exercise Through Behavioral Contracting and Feedback |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KATHARINE GUTSHALL (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), Taira Lanagan (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: The lack of exercise by citizens of our country has become such an overwhleming problem both medically anf financially that the federal government has instituted several groups to propose solutions (The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 2008; Presidnt's Challenge, 2008). The use of behavioral contracting has been shown to be effective for multiple behaviors and in multiple populations (Wysocki, etal 1979, Mann, 1972, Miller and Kelley, 1994). This assessment was a pilot study targeting participation in physical exercise (cardiovascular and weight training) using contracting and feedback in a typically developing adult within a changing criterion design. Results indicate adherence to contracts signed with resulted in an increase to both cardiovascular and strength training exercise. |
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| 71. The Utility of Operant Choice using Patient-Controlled Break Cards during an Invasive Medical Procedure |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| FAYE O. KIM (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Keith J. Slifer (The Kennedy Krieger Institute/ Johns Hopkins Unive), Adrianna M. Amari (The Kennedy Krieger Institute), Leanna J Herman (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Melissa Ann DeMore (Kennedy Krieger Institute; Johns Hopkins School o) |
| Abstract: The benefits of response-independent , “scheduled” breaks during aversive medical and dental procedures have been documented. This case demonstrates the use of operant choice via patient controlled breaks to decrease anxious and delay behaviors during an invasive medical procedure. We hypothesized that distress delayed and terminated aversive procedure-related stimulation and that presentation of a card to request a break could be differentially negatively reinforced by temporary delay or escape from the aversive stimulation. The participant was an adolescent male with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and anxious behavior during wound Vacuum Assisted Closure (VAC) procedures after spinal fusion surgery. During initial VAC changes, his procedures were delayed and prolonged by distress behavior. Treatment involved (1) providing break cards that the boy could present to delay or interrupt the VAC procedure for 1 minute, and (2) putting distress and delay behavior on extinction. Providing the patient with choice of when to exercise limited control over aversive stimulation and extinguishing delay behaviors decreased the duration of VAC procedures from 2.5 hours to 20 minutes. Results will be discussed in relation to operant choice, reinforcement contingencies and schedules for both approach and delay behavior. |
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| 72. Negative reinforcement of effort: Effects of a heart rate alarm on running speed. |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| STEPHEN RAY FLORA (Youngstown State University) |
| Abstract: In addition to displaying heart rate (HR), many Heart Rate Monitors (HRM) have an “out of zone alarm” that beeps when the wearer’s HR goes below, or exceeds, a preselected range. To terminate the alarm, activity is increased if the HR is below the preselected range. If the HR is too high, to terminate the alarm activity is decreased. Thus, a predetermined activity level is increased, negatively reinforced, by the termination and avoidance of the alarm. Typically, a range is selected based on an individual’s calculated “maximum heart rate” and one’s work out goals. For examples a range between 65% and 75% may guide a moderate level of activity; to increase moderate distance (5-15k), top-end running speed a training range between 85% and 95% max HR may be selected. Although widely used, there is scant objective data on the effects of HRM training and no data on the zone alarm. The current study demonstrates the effectiveness of HR contingent negative reinforcement (alarm) on running speed, compared to mile pace feedback only, and to HR feedback without alarm (without negative reinforcement) in a reversal-replication design. Possible applications with diverse populations and objectives are discussed. |
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| 73. The Use of Behavior Analysis to Guide Intervention for “Sympathetic Storming” during Rehabilitation from Brain Injury: A Case Study |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MELISSA COLLISON HENDRICKS (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Adrianna M. Amari (The Kennedy Krieger Institute), Keith J. Slifer (The Kennedy Krieger Institute/ Johns Hopkins Unive) |
| Abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) recovery involves variable mental status and behavior and often is accompanied by medical complications such as dysautonomia (a.k.a. “sympathetic storming,”), a type of sympathetic nervous system dysregulation occurring in up to 30 percent of severe TBI patients. Instability of vital signs along with agitation, vocalization, sweating, and posturing characterize dysautonomia. Management of dysautonomia is treated with medical and environmental intervention, although little research exists regarding optimal treatment. In this case study, applied behavior analysis (ABA) methods were used to guide the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team with systematic data collection, analysis of potential environmental antecedents, and evaluation of medical and environmental intervention effectiveness for a 17-year-old female with post-TBI dysautonomia. Behavioral data were collected via interviews, review of medical records and direct observation, and analyzed using single subject design. No consistent environmental antecedents of dysautonomia were identified but Valium administered at the onset of “storming” was effective in reducing duration and frequency of dysautonomic episodes without impairing patient alertness during rehabilitation therapy. Thus, ABA techniques provided data to guide the interdisciplinary team in caring for a medically and behaviorally complicated post-TBI patient, by clarifying the clinical conceptualization and differentiating between effective and ineffective interventions. |
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| DDA Poster Session 4 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 12:00 PM–1:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 74. A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Prompting Strategies in Teaching Self-Help Skills to an Adolescent With Developmental Disabilities. |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SANDRA F KOKOLIS (Bancroft NeuroHealth), Denise Marzullo (Bancroft Neurohealth), Frances A. Perrin (Bancroft NeuroHealth) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of least-to-most prompting strategies and most-to- least prompting strategies in teaching self-help skills to an adolescent with developmental disabilities. Least-to-most prompting strategies included hierarchical prompting with a verbal, model, and physical prompt. Most-to-least prompting strategies included graduated guidance of physical prompts and spatial fading. The participant was an adolescent with developmental disabilities living in an inpatient behavioral stabilization program. A multiple baseline across skills treatments was used. Baseline data have been collected for this participant using least-to-most prompting strategies for tooth brushing. Data collected during the treatment phase using most-to-least prompting strategies have yielded increased independence with tooth brushing. Data collection is ongoing. Results indicate most-to-least prompting strategies reduced errors and promoted faster skill acquisition. Future research will attempt to replicate the effectiveness of most-to-least prompting strategies. This will allow caregivers to use more effective techniques when teaching self-help skills. |
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| 75. Generating Rapid Demand Curves in Children with Developmental Disabilities: An Evaluation of Session Duration |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNIFER L. BREDTHAUER (Auburn University), James M. Johnston (Auburn University), M. Christopher Newland (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: Behavioral economic concepts provide new research methods and data analysis techniques in applied behavior analysis. Specifically, demand curve analysis can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of reinforcement or behavioral interventions in person with developmental disabilities (Tustin, 1994; Roane et al., 2001; Roane et al., 2005). However, a standard method for generating demand curves using this population has not been established. Key elements such as the reinforcement schedule, session length, and experimental context often vary considerably among behavioral economic studies in developmental disabilities. The present study compared three different session durations for generating rapid demand curves for edible and tangible reinforcers in children with autism and developmental disabilities. Sessions were 15, 30, and 45 minutes with a fixed ratio schedule increasing across sessions with a 1.5 step size. The response requirement was dropping blocks into a slotted box for 30 second access to the preferred edible or tangible. The efficiency of generating behavioral economic demand curves was evaluated. Results indicated that shorter sessions produced similar demand curves to those from longer sessions, IRT data showed that ratio strain (a measure comparable to ratio breakpoints on progressive ratio schedules) criteria could be lowered, and session termination criteria could be shortened. |
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| 76. Effects of Meal Presentation on Food Consumption |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| THEODEN PROCYSON (Bancroft NeuroHealth), Denise Marzullo (Bancroft Neurohealth), Jennifer Hettenbach (Bancroft Neurohealth) |
| Abstract: Individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities often display feeding problems, including food selectivity (Schreck, Williams, and Smith, 2004). Research has demonstrated that consequent-based behavioral interventions such as positive reinforcement and escape extinction are effective at increasing food acceptance and at reducing problem behavior associated with food selectivity (Coe, Babbit, Williams, Hajimihalis, Snyder, Ballard, and Efron, 1997; Kern and Marder, 1996; Piazza, Patel, Gulotta, Sevin and Layer, 2003). Some research has suggested that antecedent-based behavioral interventions, such as noncontingent play (Cooper et al., 1995) and simultaneous presentation of condiments (Ahern, 2003) can also effectively increase food acceptance. The present study compared the effects of two antecedent-based interventions on food consumption in an adolescent diagnosed with autism. An alternating treatments design compared meal choice with simultaneous meal presentation across breakfast and lunch daily. Results indicate that mean percentage of meal consumption and number of foods consumed both increased when a pre-meal choice was presented. |
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| 77. The Evaluation of Functional Communication Training in the Treatment of Escape-Maintained Behavior |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| NICOLE H LUSTIG (Gonzaga University), Anjali Barretto (Gonzaga University), K. Mark Derby (Gonzaga University) |
| Abstract: The goal of this study was to reduce the aggression, destruction, and elopement of a 3 year-old male diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder and head trauma. Two functional analyses were conducted across clinical and home settings. In the clinic, the functional analysis revealed his aberrant behavior was maintained by escape from demand. The home functional analysis showed multiple social functions for his aberrant behavior (i.e. to gain attention, access to a tangible, and possibly automatic reinforcement). A secondary goal of the investigation was to increase task completion. The purpose of the current investigation was to evaluate an addition component with functional communication training for manding appropriately for a break versus working for a preferred tangible to improve task engagement. |
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| 78. A Comparison of Stimulus Avoidance Assessments conducted in Natural Environment and Analog Settings |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ANDREW A FULTON (The Marcus Institute), Joanna Lomas (Marcus Institute), Robert R. Pabico (Marcus Institute), M. Alice Shillingsburg (Marcus Institute), Nathan A. Call (Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine) |
| Abstract: Reinforcement-based procedures are often prescribed based on results from functional assessments (Iwata, 1994). However, in some cases functional assessments may yield undifferentiated results, which may make it difficult to implement a reinforcement-based procedure that will decrease problem behavior to clinically acceptable levels. In cases where punishment-based procedures are prescribed, a common method used to identify a procedure that is most likely to function as a punisher is a stimulus avoidance assessment (Fisher, Piazza, Bowman, Hagopian, & Langdon, 1994). These procedures are designed to be implemented in an analog setting for subsequent use in the natural environment (e.g., classroom, home). Given the distinct differences between an analogue setting and the natural environment selection of a potential punishment procedure assessed in the analogue setting may not be appropriate. In the current investigation, we conducted a stimulus avoidance assessment in both analogue and natural settings with 2 participants to determine consistency of results. The results of the assessment in the two settings differed, suggesting that the setting in which the assessment is conducted may be an important variable to consider when selected punishment-based procedures. |
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| 79. Interaction between positive and negative reinforcers during the escape condition of a functional analysis. |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BRIANA R. LOPEZ (Marcus Autism Center), Nathan A. Call (Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine), Robert R. Pabico (Marcus Autism Center), Joanna Lomas (Marcus Autsim Center), Kelly McKnight (Marcus Autism Center) |
| Abstract: The functional analysis methodology developed by Iwata et al. (1982/1994) has aided clinicians and researchers in identifying the operant mechanisms that maintain problem behavior. Functional analyses have been most useful in the development of function-based interventions for problem behavior. However, the results of a functional analysis and future treatment development could be compromised if results falsely indicate a relationship between problem behavior and environmental events. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate whether two participants’ problem behavior that occurred during the escape condition of a functional analysis was also influenced by positive reinforcement. Specifically, the rate of problem behavior that occurred during the reinforcement interval of the escape condition was examined to determine whether it was attenuated when breaks included access to positive reinforcers (e.g., social attention, preferred leisure items). When compared to breaks from demands that did not include positive reinforcement, both participants displayed patterns that raise the possibility that the escape function was a false result. |
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| 80. Developing The TOOL: A Measure of Contextual Fit and Impact of Challenging Behavior on Families |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| AMANDA L. LITTLE (University of Texas-Austin) |
| Abstract: The TOOL is an instrument developed to provide a way to study how challenging behavior exhibited by children affects families. This presentation will describe the initial and more recent validation processes conducted. It was important to determine if the items were socially valid and meaningful (Wolf, 1978). A total of 60 individuals, 40 professionals and 20 parents, returned the draft of The TOOL with comments regarding the items as well as a ranking of importance of each of the 20 items. Statistically significant differences were found on one item among the two groups. A revised version of The TOOL was developed based on these comments. The TOOL is intended to measure the construct of “contextual fit” in relation to providing services for children with challenging behavior and their families. The TOOL was then further validated by dispersing it to families of children who exhibit challenging behavior and families of children who do not exhibit challenging behavior. Results of this content validation process including statistical measures will be discussed with those participating in the presentation. In the future, additional validation will take place utilizing the revised tool with families for behavior intervention planning and as part of a pre-/post-intervention measure. |
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| 81. CANCELLED: Big 6+6 Instruction with a Student with Severe Physical Impairment |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| PATRICE L HENDERSON (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology/The Hope Institute) |
| Abstract: Students with severe physical impairments and limited physical mobility have difficulty completing tasks that require the use of fine motor skills. Because of their limited mobility and limited ability in fine motor skill applications participation in everyday school activities is slower and less independent. These students often require full hand on hand physical prompting and one-on-one assistance because component skills are not at fluent levels. Precision Teaching (PT) literature has shown that when component skills reach fluent levels then the performance of a composite skill is improved. This study will evaluate the effects of the timed practice of component motor skills on the completion of a composite skill with a student with severe physical impairment. The participant in this study is a 14-year-old male with severe physical impairment and moderate cognitive impairment. He is unable to perform independently in school activities. The goal of the study is for the participant to improve component skills in order to perform a composite skill at his individual aim. |
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| 82. Evaluation of instructional formats to train caregivers in the implementation of a graduated prompting procedure |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| AMY BEASLEY (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center), Todd M Owen (UNMC), Henry S. Roane (University of Nebraska Medical Center & Munroe-Meyer Institute), Rebecca A. Veenstra (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center), Kasey Stephenson (Munroe-Meyer Institute; UNMC) |
| Abstract: Previous research has shown that caregivers can be trained to implement a variety of behavioral interventions using relatively low-cost instructional methods (e.g., written instructions; O’Dell et al., 1982). Still other investigations have demonstrated that multi-component procedures are effective in promoting caregiver acquisition of behavioral protocols (e.g., Wilder et al., in press). The current investigation conducted a systematic analysis to determine which types of instructional format were sufficient for training caregivers to implement a graduated prompting procedure, which is commonly used to increase child compliance (Wilder & Atwell, 2006). Using a multiple baseline design across caregivers, several different training procedures were evaluated separately (i.e., written instructions, immediate feedback, delayed feedback, role play) and together (i.e., all components combined). Across participants, the most effective procedure appeared to be immediate feedback, whereas written instructions alone were the least effective instructional format. Interobserver agreement data was collected on at least 25% of sessions and the mean agreement was 80% or higher for all participants. Results will be discussed in terms of the effectiveness of each training component in promoting caregiver acquisition of behavioral interventions. |
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| 83. Training Teachers to Develop and Implement Self-Monitoring Interventions for Young Children with Developmental Disabilities |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BERENICE DE LA CRUZ (The University of Texas at Austin), Jeffrey S. Sigafoos (Victoria University of Wellington), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Herbert Rieth (The University of Texas at Austin) |
| Abstract: Several empirical studies have suggested that self-monitoring can be an effective strategy for increasing appropriate behavior in children and adults with developmental disabilities. Results of a comprehensive review of self-monitoring research with people who have developmental disabilities revealed that 71% of the participants were trained by researchers. However, researchers are not typical intervention agents. To ensure that people who are typically in the participant’s environment (e.g., teachers, parents, caregivers) can effectively teach people with developmental disabilities to self-monitor and that this in turn will change the participant’s behavior, it is important that research examine the effectiveness of self-monitoring when the training is provided by typical intervention agents. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether teachers can learn to effectively implement a self-monitoring program via a brief teacher-training program and supervision. The proposed study evaluates the effects of the training program and supervision on teacher and student behavior using a multiple-probe across teachers design. Results of the self-monitoring intervention, the social validity of the intervention, generalization and maintenance of skills, and implications for practice and research will be discussed. |
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| 84. Further Validation of the All-Day Functional Analysis for Assessment of Low Rate High Intensity Behavior |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BARBARA TOMLIAN (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Eric Boelter (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Lynn G. Bowman (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Alexa Garcia (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: For children with severe problem behavior which occurs at low rates, the standard functional analysis often may not yield conclusive results (Tarbox, Wallace, Tarbox, Landaburu, & Williams, 2004). The current literature provides few suggestions for modifications to the standard functional analysis in this case. Kahng, Abt, and Schonbachler (2001) demonstrated the utility of extending the standard conditions of a functional analysis to an all day format, thereby substantially increasing the amount of time the child was exposed to environmental variables hypothesized to be establishing operations for positive and negative reinforcement. In the current study, we replicated the procedures of Kahng et al. (2001) with two children admitted to an inpatient hospital for the treatment of severe disruptive behavior that was reported to be high intensity but low rate. Results of initial functional analyses based on Iwata et al., (1982/1994) were inconclusive for both children. Following the standard functional analyses all day functional analyses (Kahng et al.) were conducted and yielded conclusive results for both participants and allowed for the development of treatment. These results provide further validation of the all day functional analysis procedures described by Kahng et al. to identify environmental variables which maintain low-rate, high intensity problem behavior. |
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| 85. An Evaluation of Performance Feedback for Improving Behavioral Data Collection |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNA TAYLOR (Bancroft Neurohealth), Rachel E. Sari (Bancroft Neurohealth), Christina M. Vorndran (Bancroft NeuroHealth) |
| Abstract: Recording accurate and complete behavioral data is vital to effective behavior management for individuals with developmental disabilities. Behavioral data allow clinicians to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention. When data are not recorded accurately and continuously across observation periods, instances of a target behavior may go unreported, resulting in skewed data and inaccurate evaluations of an intervention's efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of performance feedback on the completeness of continous data collection in a residential program for children diagnosed with developmental disabilities over one year. Data errors were defined as the absence of recorded data for any 30-minute interval. Performance feedback was delivered indirectly to management staff and the frequency of the feedback was systematically manipulated (i.e., weekly, daily) and evaluated using an ABCACAD reversal design. Results indicated that daily feedback was more effective than both baseline and weekly feedback. Data on remaining phases to come. |
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| 86. PRESCHOOL TEACHERS’ OPINIONS on PLAY SKILLS |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| YASEMIN ERGENEKON (Asistant Professor), Arzu Ozen (Anadolu Universitesi, Turkey), Burcu Ulke-Kurkcuoglu (Anadolu University), Derya Genc (Research Assistant) |
| Abstract: Play is the most important activity in the exceptional preschool children’s lives for learning social skills and being included among their normally developing peers. At the same time, games offer them the chance of acquiring concepts and skills often used in daily life. This study aims to determine the opinions of preschool teachers-working at state preschools where there are included exceptional students in Eskisehir-regarding play activities loaded in their daily schedule. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were held with the participants and the findings have been analyzed qualitatively. 10 teachers participated in this study. An interview form containing 11 questions was prepared and applied in order to figure out participants’ opinions on play activities. The interview form was sent to 6 different field experts, and any necessary change recommended by the experts was made prior to its use. Two pilot interviews had been held before the study in order to determine how valid the questions were. Participants were asked to state their opinions on activities in their daily program especially for the included students; on different concepts and skills they included into their daily schedule in order to support various developmental areas of both normally developing children and also children with special needs; on the materials they used in order to teach these concepts and skills; on play activities in their daily program; on how they chose the games; on types of tools used for play activities; and on the influence of play activities over the development of their students. Findings will be discussed during the presentation. |
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| 87. SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS’ OPINIONS on PLAY SKILLS |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| ARZU OZEN (Anadolu Universitesi, Turkey), Yasemin Ergenekon (Assistant Professor), Derya Genc (Research Assistant), Burcu Ulke-Kurkcuoglu (Anadolu University) |
| Abstract: Play skills are critical in supporting various developmental areas for both normally developing children and for the ones affected by any kind of insufficiency. Through games, children have the opportunity of experiencing real-life conditions, exploring themselves, their physical and social environments, and learning cause-and-effect relations. At the same time, games offer them the chance of acquiring concepts and skills often used in daily life. This study aims to determine the opinions of teachers-working at state special education schools for the mentally retarded, and also at private special education and rehabilitation centers in Eskisehir-regarding play activities loaded in their daily schedule. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were held with the participants and the findings have been analyzed qualitatively. 10 teachers participated in this study. An interview form containing 9 questions was prepared and applied in order to figure out participants’ opinions on play activities. The interview form was sent to 6 different field experts, and any necessary change recommended by the experts was made prior to its use. Two pilot interviews had been held before the study in order to determine how valid the questions were. Participants were asked to state their opinions on activities in their daily program; on different concepts and skills they included into their daily schedule in order to support various developmental areas; on things they conducted to teach these concepts and skills; on play activities in their daily program; on how they chose the games; on types of tools used for play activities; and on the influence of play activities over the development of their students. Findings will be discussed during the presentation. |
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| 88. Increasing Academic and Leisure Activities Using Self-Management Procedures for Students with Developmental Disabilities. |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ANGELA LYNN ZAZZA (Evergreen Center), Gordon A. DeFalco (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: Independent engagement in daily academic and leisure activities in the classroom is critical to student educational progress. The purpose of this study was to increase academic and leisure activity engagement through a self management procedure in which adolescent students with developmental disabilities arranged their daily picture activity schedules. A reversal design was used to assess the extent to which students self management of their daily picture activity schedules facilitated academic and leisure engagement. Data was collected using a momentary time sampling procedure on the percent of engagement throughout the school day. Results of the study indicated that participant engagement in academic and leisure activities increased to over 80% for all study participants when self-management procedures were in place. In addition, the frequency in which students achieved their daily academic goals increased during intervention. Contingent self-reinforcement was also used with 1 student resulting in reduced variability in his level of engagement. |
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| 89. Change in Behavioral Function over Time |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| PAUL A. NIESEN (Kennedy Krieger Institute), SungWoo Kahng (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Nicole Lynn Hausman (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Katherine Campbell (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Jessica Becraft (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: Identification of behavioral function is critical in the development of effective treatment of severe problem behavior displayed by some individuals with developmental disabilities (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994). Changes in the environment such as reinforcement history or medication manipulations may result in shifts in behavioral function over time. Therefore, it may be beneficial to assess possible changes in behavioral function for certain individuals, especially in instances where treatments become ineffective. In the current case study, a 21-year-old female diagnosed with autism was re-admitted to an inpatient unit for the treatment of self-injurious behavior (SIB). During her initial hospitalization 4 years prior, results of a functional analysis suggested that SIB was maintained by access to tangible items (i.e., a ball) as well as compliance with mands. In the most recent functional analysis, an edible tangible function was demonstrated. Interobserver agreement (IOA) data were collected for at least 33% sessions and averaged above 80% for all responses across assessments. |
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| 90. Treatment Technologies for Escape-Maintained Behavior: A Qualitative Analysis |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JESSICA L. THOMASON (New England Center for Children), Brian A. Iwata (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Results from a number of large-scale studies indicate that a significant proportion of problem behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement; thus, it is a problem with which clinicians and researchers are frequently presented. The literature contains many innovative studies on the treatment of escape-maintained behavior. This paper includes a review of the approaches to the treatment of escape-maintained behavior, including both reinforcement-based interventions (which may be roughly categorized as antecedent-based, extinction, and differential reinforcement), and punishment-based interventions. Although much expansion in treatment technology is reflected in the literature, there are still many unexplored treatment options. Further, it is not always clear what behavioral processes are responsible for behavior change during these interventions. The discussion focuses on the various processes that likely influence behavior change and presents some directions for future research. |
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| 91. Assessment and Treatment of Attention Maintained Problem Behavior: A Comparison of Punishment With and Without Extinction |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BARBARA TOMLIAN (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Anna E. Chirighin (Kennedy Krieger Institute), SungWoo Kahng (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Nicole Lynn Hausman (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Nicole M. Rodriguez (New England Center for Children - West. New England College) |
| Abstract: Punishment may be a necessary component when reinforcement-based interventions are not effective in reducing disruptive behavior (Wacker et al., 1990). However, concurrent reinforcement for target behaviors may reduce the effectiveness of punishment (Spradlin, 2002). The current study evaluated the effects of punishment when the functional reinforcer for the target behavior was delivered simultaneously (without extinction) in comparison to withholding the same reinforcer (with extinction). Two children whose disruptive behavior was maintained by social reinforcement in the form of access to adult attention participated in the study. Experimental control was demonstrated using a reversal design. Previously determined ineffective reinforcement-based interventions were combined with a punishment procedure contingent upon disruptive behavior (e.g., time out, basket hold time out) and a verbal reprimand (e.g., “There is no hitting”) in the without extinction condition or no verbal reprimand in the with extinction condition. Results were dissimilar, demonstrating punishment with extinction was more effective for one participant and punishment without extinction for the second. These results indicate the effects of concurrent reinforcement for target behaviors on the effectiveness of punishment procedures may vary on an individual basis. Interobserver agreement was calculated during at least 30% of sessions and averaged above 90% for both participants. |
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| 92. Long-term Effects of Functional Communication Training |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KELLY M. SCHIELTZ (University of Iowa), Jay W. Harding (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Wendy K. Berg (University of Iowa), John F. Lee (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long term effects of functional communication training (FCT). Eight children with developmental disabilities participated in this study, and all procedures were conducted in their homes by their parent with investigator coaching. Inter-observer agreement was assessed across 30% of all sessions and averaged 97%. Prior to maintenance, an FCT phase was conducted within a reversal design. All 8 children showed a decrease in destructive behavior and an increase in adaptive behavior. Baseline probes were repeated throughout the FCT phase, and two patterns emerged among the 8 children: (a) destructive behavior decreased to zero levels under baseline conditions, or (b) destructive behavior continued to occur at higher levels than during FCT. During the maintenance phase, the persistence of destructive and adaptive behavior was challenged by changes in reinforcement schedules, establishing operations, and discriminative stimuli. The maintenance phase was conducted within a multielement design, and for the 7 children for whom destructive behavior remained low during the return to baseline, destructive behavior continued to remain low during all challenges. For the child whose destructive behavior continued to occur during baseline probes, destructive behavior continued to occur during all challenges. |
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| 93. Intervention in children with Down’s Syndrome |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MILAGROS DAMIÁN DÁAZ (University of México) |
| Abstract: Milagros Damián Díaz
National Autonomous University of Mexico
Campus Iztacala
One characteristic of children with Down’s Syndrome is the lack of behaviors cognitive
This work describes the psychological treatment with three Down’s Syndrome children. The goal of this study is to show the data cognitive abilities development before and after the treatment. Participants were two boys, and one girl. The ages of children were: 28, 56 and 68 months respectably, at the beginning of treatment and low socioeconomic status. Material used was appropriate for cognitive skills.
Treatment: a) First Evaluation Phase b) Intervention Phase, consisted in training cognitive skills by games and activities with physical, verbal, sensorial, and tactile aids, based on imitation and performing tasks from easy to difficult complexity, and c) Second Evaluation. Data showed important quantitative and qualitative advances in the cognitive area in both children, after the intervention. |
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| 94. Teaching Social Skills to Individuals with Developmental Disabilities in the Community |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ALONNA MARCUS (AdvoServ), Maynard Caulk (Advoserv), Daniel Davis (Advoserv), Terry J. Page (AdvoServ) |
| Abstract: Teaching social skills to adolescence is vital for improving interactions with individuals in the community. With deficits in social skills, maintaining a job and accessing community resources will be difficult. For this study, we focused on teaching three skills: saying thank you after receiving an item or directions from another individual, using excuse me when inturrupting two individuals talking, and responding to greetings appropriately. Individuals ranged from ages fifteen to twenty. All individuals had a diagnosis of mental retardation. Modeling and role playing are used to teach these skills. The design used is a multiple baseline across behaviors. Data is to be collected. |
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| 95. Teaching Visual-Visual Non-identity Matching Tasks using Fading Procedures to Persons with Developmental Delay |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| COLLEEN MARGARET ANNE MURPHY (University of Manitoba and St. Amant Research Centre), Garry L. Martin (University of Manitoba), Maria Figueroa (St. Amant Research Centre), Dickie C. T. Yu (U. of Manitoba & St. Amant Research Centre) |
| Abstract: The Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) test assesses an individual’s ability to learn six visual and auditory discrimination tasks. These tasks, called levels, are hierarchically ordered in terms of difficulty. ABLA level 5, an auditory-visual discrimination, has been found to be uninformative because most participants who pass level 5 also pass level 6. However, a visual-visual non-identity matching (VVNM) prototype task has been found to fall between ABLA levels 4 and 6. In this study, I identified two adults with developmental delay who initially failed a VVNM discrimination. Then, using a single-subject alternating-treatments design, I attempted to teach one VVNM training task using standard prompting and reinforcement (SPR) and a second VVNM training task using within-stimulus prompt fading. Results indicate that both participants had difficulty learning the VVNM training tasks using SPR and sequential fading (in which the first stimulus was faded, followed by the second stimulus). Additional probing suggests the participants were responding by exclusion. As a result, we began using simultaneous fading, in which both stimuli were faded at the same time and rate. The participants learned VVNM training tasks using simultaneous fading, indicating that this fading method has considerable potential for teaching VVNM tasks. |
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| EAB Poster Session 4 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 12:00 PM–1:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 96. Contingency Sensitivity and the Sunk-Cost Fallacy in Pigeons |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| ANNE C. MACASKILL (University of Florida), Timothy D. Hackenberg (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: The sunk-cost error occurs when subjects persist in a course of action in which they have already invested time, effort, or resources, despite the negative utility of this choice. Recent laboratory studies have examined the sunk-cost effect in relation to repeated choices between persisting in a non-optimal course of action and quitting in favor of a new choice alternative. The current study examined the disparity between these two alternatives in a sunk-cost procedure. Pigeons chose repeatedly between responding on the schedule key on which one of 4 fixed-ratio (FR) schedules was programmed on each trial, and the reset key, which began a new trial and re-determined the FR parameter. These FR sizes, and the probabilities with which they occurred, were varied across conditions, which, in turn, varied the relative payoffs for resetting versus persisting (defined as completing one of the larger three ratios on the schedule key). The pigeons generally chose optimally when the two payoffs differed markedly, but often committed the sunk-cost error in conditions where the difference only slightly favored resetting These results were consistent with recent suggestions that the sunk-cost effect is at least partly due to discriminative factors. |
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| 97. Uncertainty and stimulus control in a sunk cost procedure |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| RAUL AVILA (National University of Mexico) |
| Abstract: Using pigeons as subjects, the effects of uncertainly on the persistence in a sunk-cost situation were studied. In each trial a FR 10, FR 40, FR 80 or FR 160 was in effect on the center key, according to a predetermined probability. In successive conditions, the probabilities were .5, .25, .125 or .125; .125, .50, .25 or .125, and .0625, .0625, .50 or .375, from the shortest to the longest FR, respectively. Throughout every trial a key peck on the left key cancelled the current trial. In two consecutive experimental phases the changes between FR requirements were signaled or were not signaled by changes in the color of the center key. Persistence, the main dependent variable, was defined as the percentage of trials in which any of the fixed ratios higher than FR 10 was completed. It was found that, regardless of the presence or absence of a stimulus signaling the FR changes, the subjects showed optimal escape or persistence behavior. These findings suggested that we still do not know the parameters to enhance the control that a stimulus has on the persistence or escape behavior in this kind of procedures. |
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| 98. Effects of Effort, Delay, and Stimulus Changes on the Sunk-Cost Effect |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JAMES W. DILLER (Eastern Connectiuct State University), Karen G. Anderson (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: The sunk-cost effect is a decision-making fallacy that has its origins in economics. Sunk-cost situations are typified by the presence of an initial investment that is followed by behavioral persistence, especially in the face of progressively worsening outcomes. This fallacy occurs when past expenditures, (i.e., sunk costs) rather than future costs, guide decisions. The present experiments examined effects of effort, delay, and stimulus changes on the sunk-cost effect in an animal model. Pigeons responded on increasing ratio schedules of food reinforcement. In some conditions, the center keylight changed as the ratio increased (i.e., the increase was signaled). Responses on another key reset the ratio requirement to the lowest value, serving as an escape from the increasing ratios. In this procedure, escaping was more optimal than persisting in that it resulted in a lower mean response requirement per reinforcer. In general, persistence, i.e., engaging in the sunk-cost effect, was more likely to occur in the absence of the signals and when delay to the next trial was relatively long or when the escape response requirement was relatively high. These data suggest that the likelihood of this maladaptive pattern of behavior could be decreased using signals, making escape easier, or mediating delays. |
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| 99. EFFECTS OF VARIYING THE REINFORCEMENT PROBABILITY AND AVAILABILITY IN A TEMPORALLY-DEFINED SCHEDULE |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CARLOS TORRES (Universidad de Guadalajara), Carlos Wilcen Villamil Barriga (Universidad de Guadalajara), Karla Karina Vargas Calleros (Universidad de Guadalajara) |
| Abstract: One study was conducted to evaluate the effect of varying the reinforcement probability and availability in a temporally-defined schedule. Twelve male albino Wistar rats were divided into three groups. Each group were exposed to a three experimental phases with reinforcement probability (p) set at 1.0, 0.5 and 0.1. Into every experimental phase, there were set four blocks of different reinforcement availability values (T= 1.0, 0.5, 0.3, 0.1). The results confirm that probability of reinforcement had a systematic effect on response frequency. On the other hand, data shows a decrement function in percentages of water deliveries associated to decrements in T. These results are examined in relation to properties of temporally-defined schedules and the local distribution of water deliveries and responses. |
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| 100. Prevention of Activity Anorexia: Manipulation of Dehydration and Palatability Using Liquid Food |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| MICHELLE FOISY (University of Alberta), Donald C Heth (University of Alberta), W. David Pierce (University of Alberta) |
| Abstract: Activity anorexia (AA) is procedure that involves giving rats 22.5 hours in wheels followed by a 1.5 h feeding period (FP). Animals show excessive exercise, suppressed food intake, and extreme weight loss leading to death. Our study is based on evidence that liquid food (Ensure™) increases food palatability, decrease satiety signals, and reduce the response competition between food and water during the meal. Compared with rats on standard chow, we predicted greater food intake for rats on a liquid diet and less activity anorexia. To test this hypothesis, rats were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: dry food, liquid food, or both. All rats were then exposed to the AA procedure for ten days. Body weight, food intake, water intake and wheel turns were recorded daily. Results showed that animals consumed more calories (p = 0.005) and survived longer in the AA procedure (p < 0. 01) when given liquid food instead of standard dry chow. |
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| 101. Effects of Flavor Variety on Food-Motivated Behavior in Dwarf Hamsters (Phodopus cambelli) |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| LINDA C. BLACKWELL (University of Alaska Anchorage), Jennifer Lynnette LaCasse (University of Alaska Anchorage), Sarah Frances Drummond (University of Alaska Anchorage), Gwen Lupfer-Johnson (University of Alaska Anchorage), Eric S. Murphy (University of Alaska Anchorage) |
| Abstract: When working for food reinforcers, both human and non-human subjects typically increase and then decrease their rates of responding within an operant session. Two competing explanations exist for the within-session changes in response rates: (1) Satiation and (2) Habituation to the sensory properties of the reinforcers. To discriminate between these ideas, 8 dwarf hamsters responded on a fixed-interval 8-s schedule of reinforcement and earned nutritionally identical chocolate- and bacon-flavored pellets. Response rates and habituation of operant responding were examined for sessions in which subjects earned a single flavor of reinforcer and sessions in which reinforcers had a .50 probability of being chocolate or bacon at the end of each interval. Subjects made more lever presses on days when two flavors of pellets were delivered than days when reinforcer flavor remained constant throughout the operant session. Within-session decreases in responding were steeper during sessions when reinforcer flavor was constant compared to when reinforcer flavor varied. These data indicate that habituation to the sensory properties of the reinforcer, not post-ingestive factors such as satiation, are responsible for within-session decreases in responding. |
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| 102. A Preliminary Evaluation of Framing Effects and Loss Aversion in Pigeons |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JENNIFER RUSAK (University of Florida), Timothy D. Hackenberg (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Previous research in human decision-making has identified systematic deviations from rational choice predictions. For example, it has been shown that individuals tend to avoid losses, even when alternatives differ only in whether they are framed as a gain or a loss. Little is known about the generality of framing effects and loss aversion with non-human animals. The purpose of the present investigation is to examine framing effects and loss aversion parametrically in relation to average payoff amounts. Four pigeons were given repeated choices between gain or loss alternatives. Choice for gain resulted in the delivery of a number of tokens to which more were added at some probability. Choice for loss resulted in the delivery of a number of tokens from which some were subtracted with some probability. Average token amount was manipulated across conditions such that in some conditions the average amount was equal for gain and loss, and in some the average amount was higher for either gain or loss. Preliminary data indicate that choices are sensitive to amount manipulations, but more data are necessary to support broader conclusions regarding the generality of framing effects and loss aversion to these subjects. |
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| 103. Suppressibility of Simple versus Complex Tics |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JOSHUA JAMES KEMP (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Katie Kalvoda (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Abigail A Czarnecki (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Christine A. Conelea (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Douglas W. Woods (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) |
| Abstract: Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. Tics can be simple or complex. Simple tics are abrupt, sudden, and brief actions that are isolated in fashion or strung together in bouts; whereas, complex tics are coordinated sequences of behaviors that may appear purposeful (TSA, 2008). Tics are suppressible when children are reinforced for doing so (Woods & Himle, 2004; Himle & Woods, 2005). However, it is not known whether supressibility varies depending on tic characteristics (e.g. simple vs. complex). Dystonic (slow and sustained) tics are more likely to be preceded by premonitory sensations than fast and brief clonic tics (Jankovic, 1997); if more sustained tics are more likely to be preceded by premonitory symptoms, signaling their imminence, one might hypothesize that complex tics can be more effectively suppressed than simple tics. This study will examine archival data of tic-suppression tasks to analyze the difference in suppressibility between simple and complex tics. Each participant will have three baseline and three suppression conditions which will last five minutes each. Simple and complex tics will be scored separately and respective reductions observed during suppression will be compared. The results will provide important data on phenomenological factors influencing tic-suppression, which may be used to increase the efficacy and comprehensiveness of future behavioral treatments. |
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| 104. The Merger of Islamic and Christian Stimulus Equivalence Classes |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| SADIE L LOVETT (Southern Illinois University), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The present study attempted to merge classes of Islamic and Christian stimuli. Using a match-to-sample procedure, participants were trained on a series of conditional discriminations that resulted in the formation of one equivalence class containing Islamic stimuli and one class containing Christian stimuli. These classes shared two common members. After demonstrating equivalence, participants were tested for a merger of the two classes. If the classes failed to merge, participants then viewed a video that outlined the parallels between Islam and Christianity, and they were subsequently tested for a merger of classes again. For participants still failing to merge the classes, direct training was provided before a final test for a merger of classes was conducted. Preliminary results indicate that initial training in which the classes are trained separately is not sufficient to result in a merger. |
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| 105. One-To-Many and Many-To-One Protocols, and Retention in the Acquisition of Equivalence Classes in College Students and Children |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| YORS A. GARCIA (Southern Illinois University), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The current study compares two different conditions in the acquisition of equivalence classes in college students and children. All participants in the two experimental conditions were taught four 3-members stimulus classes via conditional discriminations and then were tested for stimulus equivalence. In one condition participants were exposed to a One-To-Many (OTM) training protocol (AB, AC, and AD). In a second condition participants were exposed to a Many-To-One (MTO) training protocol (BA, CA, and DA). One month later participants were re-exposed to the stimulus equivalence test for all two conditions. In a second experiment children were exposed to the same two conditions and month later children were re-exposed to the stimulus equivalence test for all two conditions. Prelimary results suggest that there is not significant difference between both protocols. |
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| 106. Does training improve performance on a perspective-taking task? |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Laura M Baker (University of Waikato), JENNIFER M. KINLOCH (University of Waikato), T. Mary Foster (University of Waikato, New Zealand) |
| Abstract: McHugh, Barnes-Holmes, Barnes-Holmes, Whelan, and Stewart (2007) conducted a study on perspective taking using response latency as their dependent variable. They investigated the role of relational complexity within the frame of deictic relations through the use of false belief tasks. They found that the main effect for perspective was significant; consistent with predictions made by Relational Frame Theory. The aim of the current research was first, to replicate their findings that relational complexity increases response latencies on perspective taking tasks, and second, to investigate the effects of training on response latencies. The present method partially replicated that of McHugh et al. (2007) with the addition of a training phase that included multiple exemplars of the perspective taking task with feedback on accuracy. In addition a simple reaction time test was run repeatedly to assess the effect on performance separately from that on perspective taking. Relational Frame Theory predicts a number of outcomes (1) that response latencies would increase as a function of relational complexity; (2) that extended training on the perspective taking tasks would decease response latencies; and (3) that generalization to novel stimuli would occur. The results will be presented. |
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| 107. Choice, preference and contingencies in decision making and work performance in mentally disabled adults |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| GIOVANA ESCOBAL (Federal University of Sao Carlos), A. Celso Goyos (Fed. Univ. of S. Carlos) |
| Abstract: Poster
Area: Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB) OR
Developmental Disabilities (DDA)
Title: Choice, preference and contingencies in decision making and work performance in mentally disabled adults
Authors: GIOVANA ESCOBAL and Celso Goyos
Support: FAPESP and CNPq
This study investigated choice responses and preference for work tasks with and without environmental support with mentally disabled adults. Also, work performance was assessed as a function of conditions chosen. Four mentally retarded adults learned a work task consisting of assembling notebook covers with and without support. During the support condition containers used to store the different components and immediate feedback were used to increase or maintain performance and prevent errors. Following initial training the subjects worked individually either under multiple schedules or under concurrent-chain schedules according to a multi-element design. When the multiple schedules condition was in effect, the components were either presence or absence of support, distributed quasi-randomly. In the concurrent-chain schedules condition, the first link consisted of FR-1 and the second link consisted of either the presence or absence of environmental support. The results showed that when choice opportunities were given, the work support condition was chosen more often. Also time spent complete the task and average number of errors performing the task decreased during this condition. The results suggest that environmental support may yield greater control over work and that the opportunity to make choices engendered more motivation and work independence on the participants.
KEY WORDS: choice, vocational training, mentally retarded adults, self-determination.
Contact Information:
Name: Giovana Escobal.
Affiliation: Affiliation: Graduate Program of Special Education, Federal University of São Carlos, SP, Brazil and Psychology Department, Graduate Program of Psychology, Federal University of São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Email address: giovanaescobal@hotmail.com
Citizenship: Brazilian |
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| 108. A Comparison of Descriptive and Functional Analyses in the Evaluation of Pediatric Food Refusal |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LAURA ELIZABETH MELTON (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Carrie S. W. Borrero (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Julia N. Woods (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: A Comparison of Descriptive and Functional Analyses in the Evaluation
of Pediatric Food Refusal
Laura E. Melton, Carrie S. W. Borrero, & Julia N. Woods
We evaluated the outcomes of descriptive and functional analyses by comparing the conditional probabilities (p) of potential reinforcers during the descriptive analysis to reinforcers identified via functional analysis. The participant was a 7 year-old girl admitted to an intensive behavioral program designed to address severe food refusal. First, descriptive analyses of parent administered meals were conducted and data were collected on inappropriate mealtime behavior (e.g., food refusal, inappropriate comments), and the delivery of potential reinforcers. Next, functional analyses of inappropriate mealtime behavior were conducted to identify reinforcers. Conditional p analyses were then conducted using descriptive analysis data to calculate the p of each potential reinforcer within1-s, 5-s and 10-s intervals following food refusal. Finally, the highest conditional p values from the descriptive analysis were compared to the reinforcers identified during the functional analysis to determine if they “matched.” Results of the functional analysis indicated that adult attention, access to tangible items, and escape from demands (i.e., food removal) reinforced food refusal. However, the results of the descriptive analysis indicated that adult attention and escape may have functioned as reinforcers, suggesting that descriptive analysis results alone would not have identified all relevant functions for food refusal. |
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| 109. Choice and preference for caloric and non caloric foods in mentally disabled and overweight children |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| GIOVANA ESCOBAL (Federal University of Sao Carlos), Marina Zanoni Macedo (Universidade Federal de São Carlos), Ana Luiza Rocha Faria Duque (Federal University of Sao Carlos), A. Celso Goyos (Fed. Univ. of S. Carlos) |
| Abstract: Poster
Area:
Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB) OR
Developmental Disabilities (DDA)
Title: Choice and preference for caloric and non caloric foods in mentally disabled and overweight children
Authors: GIOVANA ESCOBAL , Marina Macedo, Ana Luíza Rocha and Celso Goyos
Support: FAPESP and CNPQ.
This study aimed to investigate choice and preference for caloric and non caloric foods with four mentally disabled and overweight children. A small MDF box with two acrylic keys was used as experimental apparatus which was computer programmed and placed on a table in front of the participant. Button presses on both keys were kept on VI-10 schedules. At the end of the interval on one key a non-caloric gum was delivered and, on the other key, a caloric gum was delivered. A session consisted of 18 presentations of the schedule. Relative rate of response was used to analyze data. The results suggested that there was not a clear preference for either alternative. Studies about the nature of choice and preference for caloric and non-caloric foods are important to identify and describe suitable procedures to understand and control food intake in much needed populations, such as overweight children.
KEY WORDS: choice, preference, children with mental disabilities, calorie.
Contact Information:
Name: Giovana Escobal.
Affiliation: Graduate Program of Special Education, Federal University of São Carlos, SP, Brazil and Psychology Department, Graduate Program of Psychology, Federal University of São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Email address: giovanaescobal@hotmail.com
Citizenship: Brazilian |
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| 110. Contingencies that Predict Indifference: Economic Analyses when the Matching Law Isn’t Enough |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| MEREDITH S BERRY (University of Florida), Brian D. Kangas (University of Florida), Timothy D. Hackenberg (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Human subjects engaged in a simulated Rock/Paper/Scissors game against a computer opponent. The computer opponent’s moves were determined by programmed probabilities that differed across 10 blocks of 100 trials each. Previous research in our lab has suggested that subjects probabilistically match the appropriate countermove and response allocation was well described by a modified version of the generalized matching equation. In the present experiment, the computer was programmed to play each move randomly with equal probability. Under these conditions, subjects allocated their responses equally across the three alternatives as predicted by the matching law. No other obvious order was seen, however, with matching analyses alone. Variations of economic analyses promulgated by the 19th century French philosopher Antoine Cournot, yielded order in response allocation when the contingencies predicted and indeed seemingly engendered indifference. Specifically, subjects were significantly more likely to play the move that would have beaten the previous play (i.e., Cournot’s Best Response). The conditional probability of employing this strategy was amplified following runs of repeated computer responses, although no subject reported following such a strategy. |
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|
| 111. Determinants of Function Transfer in Humans |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| RAFAEL BEJARANO (Henderson State University) |
| Abstract: Past research suggests that stimulus pairings can produce transfer of function (TOF) in humans. This study investigated whether stimulus pairings produces TOF if people are required to perform a verbal task during the stimulus pairings. On training trials, confirmatory feedback was contingent on pressing one of three keys on a computer keyboard, each in the presence of a different alphanumeric symbol. Once key pressing was under stimulus control, pairing and testing trials were interspersed among additional training trials. On pairing trials, the subjects viewed three new nonalphanumeric symbols, each paired with one of the symbols that served as discriminative stimuli during the training trials. Half of the subjects also counted backwards during each pairing trial. On testing trials, one of the symbols that had been presented with the discriminative stimuli in the pairing trials was presented on the screen, together with instructions to press the A, G, or L keys. Key presses did not produce feedback on testing trials. Median percent-correct responses during testing trials were 51.05 for the counting group and 95.84 for the noncounting group, suggesting that TOF through stimulus pairings is mediated by verbal behavior. |
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| 112. CANCELLED: Visual Detection of Melanoma Symptoms as a Problem in Psychophysical Scaling |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| ELIZABETH A DALIANIS (Illinois State University), Thomas S. Critchfield (Illinois State University) |
| Abstract: Self-examination is central to the early detection of melanoma, which is deadly in advanced stages and potentially survivable if caught early. Unfortunately, little is known about how well people can recognize critical changes in skin lesions, or about how to maximize this ability. In a procedure inspired by psychophysical scaling, three types of melanoma-related changes in skin lesions were manipulated systematically to determine how well untrained volunteers could detect them visually. Also examined: the extent to which discrimination training improved the ability to detect small changes. |
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| 113. Observer Bias: The Effect of Expectancies and Social Contingencies |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| EMILY HULL BELLACI (University of Houston-Clear Lake), Jonathan R. Miller (University of Houston-Clear Lake), Dorothea C. Lerman (University of Houston-Clear Lake) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to extend previous research on factors that influence observer bias by examining the separate effects of social contingencies and expectancies on the accuracy of data collection using Signal Detection Theory. The accuracy of 24 observers’ recordings of clear and ambiguous aggression was evaluated following exposure to social contingencies and expectancies. Observers (university students) scored instances of aggression while watching 3 different video segments in a university laboratory setting. The frequency of aggressive instances was held constant across all videos. Each video contained an identical number of clear instances of aggression, ambiguous instances of aggression, and ambiguous non-examples of aggression. All observers were exposed to a baseline condition (no experimental manipulation) and two test conditions. In the Social Contingencies condition, the experimenter informed the observer that he or she had missed some of the aggressions during the previous observation and needed to try harder on the next video. In the Expectancies condition, the observer was told to expect higher rates of aggression in the upcoming video. Results indicated that social contingencies may bias observer accuracy but that expectancies are not likely to bias observers unless previously exposed to social contingencies. |
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| 114. Behavioral Sensitivity to Conditioned Punishers in Humans |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| ADAM E. FOX (Western Michigan University), Andrew E. Brandt (Western Michigan University), Cynthia J. Pietras (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The present study investigated the punishing effects of a stimulus paired with response cost. Participants responded on buttons for hypothetical money (points) and were told that for every 5 participants, the one who earned the most would receive $50. The experiment consisted of two parts. Part 1 included training, a baseline condition in which responding produced points according to a random-interval 20 s schedule, and a punishment condition in which responding was conjointly punished by a random-ratio 2 response cost schedule. Participants who showed a punishment effect continued to Part 2. Part 2 included a baseline condition, a brief control condition in which responding produced a visual stimulus (a 3-s white flash on the computer screen) , a pairing condition in which response cost was preceded by the visual stimulus, and a conditioned punishment condition in which responding again produced the visual stimulus. None of the 17 participants showed a suppression in responding in the conditioned punishment condition. Rather, response rates were often higher than during baseline. These results suggest that either stimuli paired with point loss are not effective punishers, or that the pairing conditions failed to establish the visual stimulus as a conditioned stimulus. |
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| 115. Conditioned Emotions and Visual Stimuli Applied to Skin: an analysis of Pavlovian conditioning in tattoos |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| EMINA CUFUROVIC (Northern Arizona University), Andrew W. Gardner (Northern Arizona University), Vanessa Adelman (Northern Arizona University), Nick Lawrence (Tat-Fu Tattoo) |
| Abstract: With the increasing popularity of tattoos (Swan, 2006), it has become more important to understand how conditioned emotions between an individual and their specific tattoo are acquired. We hypothesize that Pavlovian conditioning can account for the conditioned emotional responses to the visual stimulus during tattoo application. John B. Watson described conditioned emotions as learned emotional reaction acquired through Pavlovian conditioning (Chance, 2006). While the motivations for any given tattoo vary widely by individual, this study investigated whether conditioned emotions are indeed paired via Pavlovian conditioning, as well as the longevity of these emotions.
Two individuals, receiving their first tattoo, were recruited for the current study. Data using GSR (Galvanic Skin Response) measurements of sympathetic activity and emotional arousal were collected prior to the tattoo, during the tattoo application, as well as during follow- up interviews at 1 and 3 month intervals. A survey of the reasons why each participant chose their tattoo was also conducted. A local tattoo shop (TatFu Tattoo) owner in Northern Arizona provided services for all participants. Results are discussed in terms of the strength of conditioned emotions (physiological measures) and reported reasons for getting the tattoo (verbal report) over time. |
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| 116. Acquisition of language modes reading and listening and its transfer to writing mode |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| A. DANIEL GÓMEZ-FUENTES (Universidad Veracruzana), Enrique Zepeta Garcia (University of Veracruz), David Martínez Cerqueda (University of Veracruz) |
| Abstract: From the conceptual alternative based on the notion of language game (Wittgenstein, 1953), Ribes (2006) argument that the logic of language is grounded on social practice and not on the fictitious universal logic of grammar. The conventional character of the language like a particular class of interaction is maintained; their functional and morphologic characteristics do not depend on the biological, individual or specific conditions of the species, but they involve a conventional system of relations between individuals and events of the environment. In the present study one of the three dimensions suggested by Ribes (2006) is analyzed: the language like instrument. Language may be conceived of as the instrument by means of which we directly affect the behavior of others, and indirectly the objects and events in the world and ourselves. The acquisition of the modes is evaluated to listen and to read at referential substitute level during the training, and its transference at substitute level nonreference in a different mode, to write, in the active voices and passive of the Spanish using literary and informative texts. 10 experimentally unaware children participated in the experiment, aged 8 to 10, in the third grade the elementary school in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, México. A pretest-postest design was applied, two phases of training and tests of transference in inverse sequences. The results suggest that in this experiment, the execution level in the transference tests seems to depend on the characteristics of the linguistic mode, of the level of execution obtained during the training, of the trained functional level and of the type of voice - activates or passive employee. The content of texts - literary or informative it did not affect the level of execution significantly obtained in the training and the tests of transference. |
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| 117. The Effects of Capturing Versus Successive Approximations on Shaping Human Movement. |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TRAVIS HETH (University of North Texas), Jesus Rosales-Ruiz (University of North Texas) |
| Abstract: Clicker training has been used to shape human movement topographies in recent years. Although little research has been done in this area, a pilot study conducted by Heth and Rosales-Ruiz (2007) indicates that using auditory feedback to try to capture a forward bend fails to produce learning, even after many trials. The current study aims to compare subjects’ performance using two different procedures, capturing and successive approximations, to shape a forward bend. For both conditions the subjects are told to stand straight up at the start position and then bend forward at the waist when given a signal by the experimenter. In one condition, the subject’s movement is “captured” by delivering a click when the subject reaches a predetermined bend angle. During another condition, the subject receives a click during a series of successive approximations toward a target bend. A multiple treatment design will be used to examine the effects of each procedure. Results pending. |
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| 118. Can Money Buy Happiness? Evidence from the Discounting of Uncertain Happiness |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| TRACY TUFENK (University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire), Daniel D. Holt (University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire) |
| Abstract: With probability discounting, the subjective value of an uncertain outcome decreases as a function of increases in the odds against its receipt. Although individuals regularly make choices between non-monetary outcomes (e.g., choosing between food items), relatively little research has been done in this area. The current study investigated choice behavior between certain and uncertain monetary and non-monetary outcomes. We asked undergraduate college students to make a series of choices between uncertain hypothetical outcomes: money and happiness. Specifically, individuals were asked to choose between a monetary outcome (certain) and personal happiness (uncertain). We found that as an individual’s happiness becomes more uncertain they were willing to accept less money. That is, we found that money can ‘buy’ happiness and that the subjective value of happiness decreases as the odds against its receipt increases (discounting). We also found that individuals who self-reported being relatively “happy,” as determined by a happiness questionnaire, were not as willing to take a risk with their personal happiness as those individuals who self-reported being “less happy.” While additional data collection and analyses are warranted, the present findings suggest that a fuller understanding of the factors that contribute to choices regarding uncertain non-monetary outcomes is possible. |
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|
| EDC Poster Session 4 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 12:00 PM–1:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
|
| 119. Methods for Obtaining Speech and Language Continuing Education Credits at Multidisciplinary Professional Development Events |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| SHARI L. SCHATZMAN (Eden II Programs), Amy Bergen (Speech-Language Coordinator Eden II Adult Program/) |
| Abstract: With the increasing number of professionals that are dually practicing in the areas of speech-language pathology and applied behavior analysis, there has been much discussion regarding speech-language pathologists accruing their required number of ASHA continuing education credits while still enhancing their knowledge of behavior analysis. There are currently over two hundred members of the applied behavior analysis/speech-language pathology list-serve. This poster will discuss the results of a survey of speech language pathologists in terms of their access to information/education in applied behavior analysis and the role of CEUs in this process. Issues such as management of two separate certifications along with separate sets of CEUs, access to relevant information in ABA, as well as attendance in state and national conferences will be reviewed. Available options for individuals will be examined, including collaboration between CEU providers, provision of ASHA CEUs at ABAI and State ABA conferences as well as the provision of BCBA CEUs at state and national speech and hearing conferences. |
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| 120. Integrating PBIS and Day Treatment Components for an Alternative School |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JOSHUA NEEDELMAN (USM), Amy Baranek (University of Southern Mississippi), Joe Olmi (The University of Southern Mississippi) |
| Abstract: This poster will be an introduction into a model created for a district’s alternative school which serves student from grades 3-12. The discussion of the model will include how it fits into a Response to Intervention Model. The model includes a procedure for admission into the school and information regarding a three level token economy system shown to increase responsiveness for students with significant behavior problems. The program includes positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) components including teaching positively stated school expectations and providing incentives for appropriate behavior. Approximately two years of data will be presented regarding program effectiveness. Analyses will include approximately two years of longitudinal data indicating level, transitions, recidivism, attrition, and treatment integrity. Finally, the program indicates criteria for re-entry to the student’s home school. Individuals will gain an understanding of the process and needs for implementation of behavioral programming for alternative schools and will learn key behavioral components that enhance response to intervention programming. This presentation will offer a detailed review the preceding components of the model designed to increase student resiliency and facilitate their transition back to their home schools. |
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| 122. An Evaluation of the Effects of an Abridged Parent Training Program on Parent-child Interactions in the Home. |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ALLISON M. JONES (University of North Texas), Richard G. Smith (University of North Texas), Barbara Carlson (University North Texas), Amanda C. Besner (University of North Texas), Kimberly L. James-Kelly (University of North Texas), Martha Joe Staff (University of North Texas), Michelle Lamancusa (University of North Texas) |
| Abstract: Training in behavior management has been used to teach parents how to appropriately intervene on their children’s behavior. This study examined the effects of a condensed parent training program on parent-child interactions in the home. Two parents participated in a positive parenting workshop that included explicit training of four skills and indirect training of two additional skills. In order to determine skill acquisition, both parents performed pre- and post-training role plays and completed written exams prior to the workshop, after each session and following the entire workshop. Role play assessment results showed improvements in all skill areas for both participants following the workshop. Written assessment results showed improvements for all skills directly taught except Set Expectations for Participant 2. Multiple measures were examined in the home prior to and following the workshop to assess skill generalization. Home assessment results showed an increase in positive interactions and decrease in coercive interactions and undesirable child behavior for both participants. |
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| 123. An Examination of Practices Regarding the Utilization of Scientifically Based Research at the District Level (in Two Midwestern States) and the State Policy Level Following Passage of NCLB |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Theory |
| PATTY L. POLSTER (St. Louis University) |
| Abstract: Administrators across the nation are regularly faced with decisions
regarding the best ways to serve their students and community. NCLB legislation calling for the utilization of scientifically based research necessitates a more thorough administrative decision-making process than many in the field are accustomed to.
The current study will attempt to examine the extent to which Missouri and Illinois school district administrators and school boards have developed (and/or currently utilize) specific policy and/or procedures related to the identification and utilization of research in educational and/or curricular decision making, as well as what proportion of administrators surveyed report having received adequate training to identify and utilize SBR. Additionally, interview data from representatives of several state departments of education will be presented regarding policies and/or procedures related to the identification and utilization of SBR, as well as staff readiness to implement any such policies.
Discussion will consider conceptualizations of strategic or effective management from the Organizational Behavior Management literature as well as consideration of the current state of educational research. |
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| 124. Use of Behavior Principles: A Comparison of Special Education Classroom in India and Florida |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| GOPKULALAKSHMI SADHANANTHAM (Special Education Teacher), Rangasamy Ramasamy (Florida Atlantic University) |
| Abstract: There are over 3000 special education schools in India that are run by government, private, and welfare organizations catering to about five million children with moderate to severe disabilities. These schools come under three general categories namely, schools for children with intellectual disabilities, schools for children with physical and multiple disabilities, and schools for children with sensory disabilities. In contrast, about 10% of students with disabilities receive special education services in public schools in all 50 states. For the purpose of this presentation, the first author selected her classroom for children with intellectual disabilities in India and compared it with her present classroom for children with autism and intellectual disabilities in a high school classroom in Florida where she currently teachers. The goal of this presentation is to highlight the use of behavior principles in both classrooms to teach students with cognitive disabilities. In this poster presentation, the authors will highlight how behavior principles are used in both countries to improve the students’ appropriate behavior. The participants that attend this poster session will understand the status and use of applied behavior analysis in special education classroom in India and in Florida. |
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| 125. Paraprofessional/ Parent Training Using Video Modeling To Implement The Use Of Activity Schedules |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KIMBERLY SARA BROWN (san diego state university), Bonnie Kraemer (San Diego State University) |
| Abstract: Due to the increasingly diminishing resources in public schools paraprofessionals and parents often do not receive training in how to work with children using empirically validated strategies. It is known however that students with autism spectrum disorder frequently benefit from instruction presented in a visual format such as activity schedules. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of using video modeling to train parents and paraprofessionals to implement activity schedules with children who have autism. Specifically, the participants will be three elementary aged students, their parents and classroom instructional assistants. The intervention will be implemented over a three month period and will consist of having the parents/paraprofessionals watch a video of the classroom teacher implementing an activity schedule either in the home or school. Participants will be asked to view the video prior to implementing the activity schedule with the target child. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design will be utilized to evaluate (1) the parent/paraprofessionals’ ability to implement use of the activity schedules and (2) the students’ level of independence in using the activity schedules. If there is consistency between school and home in using empirically supported strategies, it is more likely that children will generalize and maintain their skills. |
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| 126. Effects of Unison Responding and SAFMEDS on college students’ acquisition of new terminology. |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| DAWN W. HAMLIN (SUNY Oneonta), Devender Banda (Texas Tech University) |
| Abstract: This study looked at the use of unison responding (UR) and SAFMEDS and their effects on college student acquisition of new terminology. Research of UR procedures and SAFMEDS have found both to provide increased student achievement (Randolph, 2007; Byrnes, 1990). To date however, no study has compared UR to SAFMEDS for effects on vocabulary attainment. Using a pre-test, intervention, post-test design, this study looked at pre-service student attainment of specialized vocabulary in an introduction to exceptional children course. This study provides a comparison between group 1 which used UR to practice new terminology, group 2 which used SAFMEDS to practice new terminology, and group 3 which used neither UR nor SAFMEDS and acted as a control group. Additional social validity data was collected from the pre-service teacher participants measuring their attitude about UR and SAFMEDS and their likelihood of using either method in their future classrooms. Results of this study are discussed and implications for practice and research are provided. |
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| 127. Effects of a Contingency for Pretest Performance on Posttest Performance in a Laboratory Setting |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MATTHEW A. TAYLOR (Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY), Michael Itzkowitz (Queens College, CUNY), Kathleen A. Mangiapanello (Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY), Nancy S. Hemmes (Queens College/CUNY) |
| Abstract: This study assessed the well-established effects of exposure to pretesting on subsequent test performance, by manipulating parameters of the pretest condition. College students were assessed with a between-participants design by randomly assigning participants in randomized blocks of four to the following conditions: 1) control; 2) focused study; 3) pretest without contingency for performance; 4) pretest with contingency for performance. Under condition 4, students who met a performance criterion were able to leave the experiment early. The procedures for all four conditions were run identically except for the above-described experimental manipulations. Pretest and posttests consisted of multiple-choice and completion questions. Prior history of questions on the posttest differed: questions were: 1) novel; 2) previously exposed on pretest; 3) reworded version of the previously exposed. The dependent variables were the number of correctly answered questions on the posttest and on the pretests. Participants performed significantly better on posttest questions that were previously exposed (identical and reworded version). There was no effect on performance on novel posttest items as a function of the experimental condition. The number of correct answers for pretests was significantly greater under the performance contingency as compared to conditions without it. |
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| 128. Teacher Education Students' Perceptions of 3C/ROD: Close, Continual Contact with Relevant Outcome Data |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| RENEE K. VAN NORMAN (University of Oregon), Deborah Russell Carter (Boise State University), Matthew Tincani (Temple University), Shannon Crozier (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) |
| Abstract: This investigation evaluated students’ perceptions of frequent formative assessments used in six university teacher preparation courses. The Social Validity of Assessment Practices Survey was designed to evaluate students’ perceptions of course assessment activities designed to allow university professors close, continual contact with relevant outcome data (3C/ROD; Bushnell & Baer, 1994). Assessments included questions about an instructor-generated evaluation of instruction, in-class activities, quizzes, and other assignments and procedures. Survey results include both individual ratings for each assessment activity and students’ rating of satisfaction with the assessment methods as they related to their understanding of course content. Results indicate students were very satisfied with instructors’ assessments. Students felt instructors used assessments to modify teaching and perceived that quizzes and activities were closely linked to course content. They felt less strongly about the value of instructor-generated evaluation of instruction and the frequency of quizzes for enhancing their content learning. This study provides preliminary descriptive evidence supporting the importance of including model demonstration tactics in teacher preparation courses to assist in the development of educators skilled in the collection of meaningful data and its use in instructional decision making. Implications for education, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research will be presented. |
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| 129. Comparison of the use of orthographic rules in three university populations |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MARÁA LUISA AVALOS LATORRE (no), Leticia Ornelas Orozco (no), Alba Mayo Villanueva Ortiz (no), Jehovana Elizabeth Reyna Vega (no), Erika Vianey GonzÁlez Plascencia (no), David Angel Pacheco Angeles (no) |
| Abstract: In Mexico, the studies relating to the use of the orthographic rules they focus predominantly in elementary education, whereas in university education it has been realized scantily. The objective of the studie was to determine the level use of rules of written accent and orthographic. 400 university students of three Universities participated. They realized three types of activities. The first activity consisted in to write the letter or written accent correctly in every word. The second activity consisted in to write the letter or written accent correctly in every word. The second activity consisted of writing the letters and lacking accents in word of sentences. Finally, in the third activity to the presented sentences with homophonous word, the participants chose the correct word. The results will be analyzed in terms of the percentage of correct words in every activity and will be compared among the university populations considered in the study. |
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| 130. The Effect of Teaching College Students to Task Analyze Long Term Writing Assignments |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CHRISTOPHER L SCHWILK (Shippensburg University), James K. McAfee (Penn State University), William Therrien (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: Academic writing is an important and complex task comprised of multiple sub-tasks. This poster will present the results of a time-lagged group study that examined the effect of teaching college students with writing difficulties to task analyze assignments and establish dates for subtask completion. Teachers often use task analysis of assignments to assist students to break larger tasks into smaller components. Additionally, researchers have established task analysis is a critical component of strategy development and as an aid to help students complete assigned tasks. When students with disabilities transition to college, supports that existed in high school for breaking assignments into smaller parts disappear. Participants were taught a strategy to break their assignments into smaller components for assignment completion and establish planned dates for completion of the assignment components. Results of the study suggest that brief instruction in task analysis may be an effective procedure to improve writing assignment completion. |
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| 131. Stimulus Control by the Multiple-Choice Item |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| HAROLD L. MILLER JR. (Brigham Young University), David Foster (Kryterion) |
| Abstract: We report an experimental series with human subjects recruited from upper-division psychology majors. Each was asked to complete a set of computer-presented quizzes consisting of multiple-choice items on traditional topics in the psychology curriculum. There were three formats for the presentation of answer options. The Standard format presented each answer option simultaneously. Subjects were asked to select the correct answer. The Discrete format presented each answer option one at at time until all had been presented. After each answer option appeared, the subject answered yes or no and could ask to review previously presented options. The Foster format presented each option one at a time but stopped presentation once the subject answer correctly or incorrectly. Subjects were allowed an initial period in which to study the textual material related to the topic, then took a quiz that implemented one of the formats. The items in each format were equated for difficulty. We report the results for each format in terms of percentage correct, response latency, total time, and additional, derived measures. |
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| 132. On interteaching |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| GUNN LOKKE (University College of Ostfold, Norway), Jon A. Lokke (University College of Ostfold, Norway), Erik Arntzen (Akershus University College) |
| Abstract: Interteaching is an application of behavioral principles in higher education, utilizing the three-term-contingency, and highlighting dyadic activity, or peer learning (Boyce & Hineline, 2002; Saville, Zinn, & Elliot, 2005). Antecedents and consequences are arranged for talking in student dyads. In an earlier experimental study (Løkke, Løkke, & Arntzen, 2008) we compared the effectiveness of interteaching vs traditional lectures, using a single group experimental reversal design with two conditions. Relatively small effects and differences between interteaching and traditional lectures in our 2008 study have prompted a new study highlighting more intense introduction and implementation of intertaching over four consecutive weeks in an introductory psychology course. Several of Toppings (2005) proposals for effective peer learning are given attention. Effects are measured within a pretest – posttest group design. |
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| 134. Insight or grapevine? Contingency shaping and social transmission of a maximization strategy in paid trainees. |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LAUREN LONG (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), Anthony L. DeFulio (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), Kenneth Silverman (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: Individuals participating in a clinical trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness of employment-based abstinence contingencies in maintaining abstinence of cocaine and opiates received typing training. During a 22 month period in which a particular version of the typing training program was in place, 56 of 74 participants engaged in an extended pattern of behavior which maximized their earnings but halted their progress through the training program (DeFulio et al., In press). During follow-up interviews conducted six months after the conclusion of study participation, some participants indicated that they learned about the maximization strategy through direct experience with the contingencies, while some reported being told about the strategy by other participants. Because all of the typing performance of our participants is recorded by computer, we were able to determine precisely which participants were engaging in the maximization pattern of behavior, when they were engaging in the pattern of behavior, and the extent to which they experienced direct contact with the contingencies before engaging in the pattern of behavior. The analysis of these measures indicates that the widespread occurrence of this pattern of behavior in our subject population was largely a function of social transmission of the maximization strategy. |
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| 135. Effects of Homework Submission and Revision Requirements on Quiz Performance in a College Setting |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JASON S. ROCKWELL (Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY), Michal E. Freier (Queens College/CUNY), Nancy S. Hemmes (Queens College/CUNY) |
| Abstract: Recent literature (Oliver & Williams, 2005) suggests the use of accuracy-based objectives on homework assignments results in higher performance on course assessments. In the current study, the effects of submission and criterion-based homework assignment contingencies on homework submission and quiz grades were assessed. For each chapter unit, students were given a homework assignment for which they were able to receive personalized corrective feedback contingent on submission. Using an alternating treatments design, students were then assigned to one of three conditions during each instructional unit. In the no-points condition, students had no opportunity to earn course credit for homework submission. In the submission condition, students received full credit for all submissions, regardless of accuracy. Finally, students in the revision condition were required to resubmit an assignment until demonstrating mastery in order to receive any credit. Group-mean percentage of homework assignments submitted was higher in both of the points conditions than the no-points condition. In addition, students submitted more accurate responses in the revision condition; nonetheless, students in this condition did not demonstrate higher quiz scores. |
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| 136. Using the Stimulus Equivalence Paradigm to Teach Course Material in an Undergraduate-level Rehabilitation Course |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BROOKE DIANE WALKER (SIU Carbondale), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the degree to which the stimulus equivalence instructional paradigm can be effectively used to teach course material to students in an undergraduate disability course. The study is divided into three sets of experiments, each consisting of three sets of four instructional stimuli related to the causes, names, definitions, and service needs for a variety of disabilities. Participants are pre and post-tested on the material by the experimenter using flashcard-style manner with no feedback. Training is conducted using an instructional package consisting of multiple-choice questionnaires and feedback. Preliminary results suggest that the stimulus equivalence paradigm can be effectively used in such a paper-and-pencil training format, and per formance in the class is enhanced as a function of participating |
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| 137. Types of training strategies used by Physics and Mathematics
to Train New Researchers |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MARÁA ANTONIA PADILLA VARGAS (University of Guadalajara), Georgina Margarita Arteaga Flores (University of Guadalajara), Hitomy Edith Matsuda Wilson (University of Guadalajara) |
| Abstract: This piece of research attempted to compare training strategies used by researchers in Physics and Mathematics to train their apprentices. In each area six researchers belonging to three different generations participated: 2 with 25 years of research experience, 2 with 12 years of experience, trained by the first ones, and 2 trained by the latter. One instrument designed to fit the present research purposes was used to collect data. Four kinds of training strategies were found: by dogma (when the researcher tells the apprentice the rules that must be followed to perform each activity), by direct training (when the apprentice is exposed to the task and the research gives him constant feedback), by reference (when the apprentice is exposed to the observation of the performance of others and is asked to do the same), and by faith (when the apprentices face the situation on their own as they see fit). Preliminary data showed that Physics researchers trained predominantly by Reference while Mathematics researchers by Direct Training. The implications that these results have for teaching sciences are discussed.
Key Words: Training strategies, experts, novices, Physics, Mathematics. |
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| 138. The Effects of a Point Contingency on Homework Completion, Homework Accuracy, and Quiz Performance in a Graduate-level Behavior Analysis Course |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BROOKE DIANE WALKER (SIU Carbondale), Yors A. Garcia (Southern Illinois University), Stephen Filipiak (Southern Illinois University), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The current research study examines whether the completion of homework assignments affects students performance on quizzes in a graduate-level rehabilitation class. Using an alternating treatment design, points are provided contingent upon the completion of weekly study questions in one condition, while no points are provided contingent upon their completion in another condition. Preliminary results suggest that the point contingency does not affect the likelihood of students completing the assignments, and does predict quiz performance |
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| 139. Reliability of Students’ Self-recorded Participation in Class Discussion |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KATHERINE R. KROHN (University of Tennessee), Lisa N Foster (University of Tennessee at Knoxville), Robert Williams (University of Tennessee) |
| Abstract: Many instructors include credit for students’ in-class participation in their grading scheme; however, credit is often awarded subjectively at the end of the course. Objectifying the participation-grading system tends to be labor-intensive for instructors. One procedure that requires little instructor time is having students record their own participation. This self-recording procedure must prove reliable for the instructor to use the participation records as the basis of a participation grade. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to determine whether students can reliability record their own participation under both credit and non-credit conditions. Over 2 consecutive semesters, students (N = 329) in 6 sections of a large undergraduate course self-recorded their comments in class discussion. In some phases, students received a small amount of credit toward their course grade for reporting up to 2 comments in class discussion. Students self-recorded their comments in all phases of the study, including non-credit phases. Two external observers recorded student participation for 25% of discussion days. Overall percentage of agreement between students and observers was high under both credit conditions, though students reported more comments under credit than non-credit conditions and were slightly more inclined to under-report participation in the non-credit phases. |
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| 140. Comparison of student quiz scores following lecture and interteaching with and without extra credit points for preparation guide completion. |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| STEPHEN FILIPIAK (Southern Illinois University), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: This study will compare the effects of lecture and interteaching with and without points for preparation guide completion on subsequent quiz performance in an undergraduate research methods class. A counterbalanced multielement design was used to alternate three conditions: (1) traditional lecture, (2) interteaching with extra credit points available for completion of preparation guide over that weeks material, and (3) interteachng with no extra credit points available for preparation guide completion. Preliminary findings suggest that students will perform best in interteaching conditions with extra credit points available for preparation guide completion. Further, interteaching with or without extra credit points is predicted to be only slightly superior to class periods with no interteaching session. Students will also indicate via social validity questionnaire their preference for each instructional condition. |
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| 141. Effects of a Reciprocal Peer Tutoring Program on the Academic Achievement of College Students in an Applied Behavior Analysis Course |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| RYAN M. ZAYAC (Central Washington University) |
| Abstract: Research demonstrates peer tutoring, a type of cooperative learning, to be an effective strategy for increasing student achievement at various educational levels. This project examined the effectiveness of reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) on the academic achievement of undergraduate college students enrolled in an applied behavior analysis course. An alternating treatment design was used to examine the effects of the RPT program. Similar to previous findings, the results showed an increase in academic performance when the students were encouraged to meet outside of normal class time. These results suggest that reciprocal peer tutoring is effective for college students and can be an effective strategy to assist them in learning the material presented throughout the class. |
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| 142. The Effects of Text Messaging on At-Risk College Student-Athlete's Class Punctuality |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Valorie R. Lott (University of Memphis), Jessica L. Mills (University of Memphis), DAVID BICARD (The Univeristy of Memphis) |
| Abstract: A multiple baseline across students was used to assess the effectiveness of students text messaging upon arrival to class. The results showed meaningful improvements in both punctuality and attendance. Follow up data were also collected. |
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| TBA Poster Session 4 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 12:00 PM–1:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 143. Teacher and Student Learning Gains Through an Intensive Summer Learning Experience for Children with Autism |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Jeanie Lundy (Kids for Camp), Laura Brumfield (University of Florida), LYNDA TYSON (Kids for Camp), Leasha Barry (University of West Florida), Tiffany Brown (Kids for Camp) |
| Abstract: This presentation will summarize data collected over a six week intensive summer educational experience in which over 60 residents of a rural community were trained to work with children with autism using behavior analytic techniques. Data were collected on both trainees and child progress on learning goals. Implications for implementing summer programming for children with Autism who live in areas lacking resources will be included. |
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| 144. Identifying Function via Visual Inspection |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNIFER LYNNE BRUZEK (Vanderbilt University), Nealetta Houchins-Juarez (Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Behavior Analysis Clinic), Kathleen J. Miller (Vanderbilt University), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: We provided written guidelines to introductory-level Master’s students to teach them visual inspection strategies for two types of assessments; descriptive analyses and brief analog functional analyses. During baseline, students were provided twelve graphs from each assessment type and were asked to score each graph as one of six possible functions (baseline). Next, scoring guidelines were provided for one assessment type while the other assessment type stayed in baseline. The students were asked to score a second set of twelve graphs from each assessment type. Finally, scoring guidelines were provided for the second assessment type and the students were asked to score a third set of twelve graphs from each assessment type. All student responses were compared to the responses of three trained behavior analysts who scored the graphs prior to their disbursement. Interobserver agreement exceeded 90% for all graphs across both assessment types following baseline. Results will be discussed in terms of student performance and generality of the guidelines implemented. |
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| 145. The Changeability of Misconceptions in Psychology and Behavior Analysis |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Theory |
| JON A. LOKKE (University College of Ostfold, Norway), Gunn Lokke (University College of Ostfold, Norway), Erik Arntzen (Akershus University College) |
| Abstract: Students frequently show misconceptions regarding constructs in psychology in general and basic constructs in behavior analysis in particular. We (Arntzen, Løkke, Løkke, & Eilertsen, submitted paper) have replicated the study by Lamal (1995) with some additional statements. The results showed a variety of misconceptions. It is important to try to change these widely held misconceptions in students. Among others, Chew (2006) presents some promising strategies for changing misconceptions. In this study we assessed misconceptions both in general psychology and behavior analysis in an introductory course in psychology, and addressed misconceptions directly in accordance with data. We have an emphasis on active participation from the students, stimulation of frequent responding, and presentation of many reinforcers for accurate responding. We retested the students (bachelor students) after the intervention, and we will present some results. |
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| 146. On experimental functional analysis skills (EFAS) |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JON A. LOKKE (University College of Ostfold, Norway), Gunn Lokke (University College of Ostfold, Norway), Erik Arntzen (Akershus University College) |
| Abstract: Systematic training and acquisition of experimental functional analysis skills (EFAS) are documented in several published studies. Our studies include over 30 participants. After training all usual conditions or the demand condition only, all participants reached a high success criterion in one or two days of training. A cost and time efficient program for EFAS is important in order to meet the increased interest in the technology in society at large. In the Master’s program in Behavior Analysis at Akershus University College the training is integrated in an ordinary course. A detailed training manual, or protocol, is an important prerequisite for effective training. Furthermore, our experience is that functional analysis methodology and training can be included in an ordinary science methodology course: Experimental functional analysis skills require training in arranging well known behavior contingencies and arrangements, in addition to knowledge of well known causal designs and validity threats. |
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| 147. Effects of the Peer Reviewer Component of a Computer-Aided PSI Course |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JODY M. LAMBERT (University of Manitoba), Gabriel Schnerch (University of Manitoba & St. Amant), Joseph J. Pear (University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: Comparisons between two computer-aided personalized system of instruction (CAPSI) classes will be evaluated in order to ascertain part of the effect that peer reviewers play. Data from students taking CAPSI courses in Behaviour Modification Applications at the University of Manitoba in the summer session of 2007 and 2008 will be analyzed. Students in the summer semester of 2008 were not given the option to peer-review their peers’ unit tests (NPR semester) and unit tests were marked by the instructor or mentor(s). Students in the summer semester of 2007 were given the peer-review option (PR semester) and the instructor or mentor only marked tests when two students were unavailable to peer review. Student academic performance, measured by progress indices, will show whether students in one group progressed significantly more quickly than students in the other. Final exam grades will be compared using t tests to determine if there are statistically significant differences between the two groups. The peer reviewing option is an integral part to the CAPSI system and is therefore of importance to determine its effectiveness. Results of this study will help researchers better understand the peer-reviewing process as well as reveal potential ways to improve on its concept. |
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| 148. Teaching Teachers: A Comparison of Educational Tactics |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TRACY REILLY-LAWSON (Caldwell College) |
| Abstract: This study compares the effects of peer tutoring and observational learning on correct responding of students in a college setting. Ten students attending college teacher preparation programs at the bachelors and masters degree levels participated in this study. A pre- and post- multiple baseline design across participants was implemented. Pre-tests were given at the start of each topic covered. The professor implemented peer-tutoring and observational learning to classes in a counter-balanced manner. Post-tests were completed at the end of each class session. The results show peer-tutoring as an effective tactic to increase the number of opportunities to respond and the number of correct responses emitted. |
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| 149. From Instruction to Practice: Common Types of Graphs in Applied Behavior Analysis Research |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MARANDA TRAHAN (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Nicole Heal (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: Visual inspection is one of the hallmarks of applied behavior analysis and has several benefits over other modes of data interpretation (Baer, 1977).A number of studies have demonstrated techniques to improve inter-rater agreement of visual inspection of single-subject designs (e.g., Stewart, Carr, Brandt, & McHenry, 2007). However, there have been no reviews on the kinds of graphs published or the verification that these graphs complement typical graduate instruction. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to examine the types of graphs displayed in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis over the past 10 years. Each graph was classified into one of many categories. Inter-rater agreement was calculated for over 30% of all graphs and averaged over 80% agreement. Results showed that while a majority of graphical displays were standard designs (e.g., multiple baseline, reversal, multielement), a large number of graphs were mixed designs, consisting of two or more standard designs. Thus, it can be suggested that researchers are constructing designs that most appropriately answer the given research question (Baer, Wolf, and Risley, 1987). |
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| 150. The Impact of Increasing Affirmative Statements Through Positive Behavioral Intervention Training for Lunchroom Staff Members |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNIFER SWEENEY (Kent State University), Chris LaVogue (Kent State University), Melody Tankersley (Kent State University) |
| Abstract: Addressing problem behaviors in schools is a concern among professional educators and academics alike. With the current legislative focus on proactive research guided interventions, school settings are now the ideal environment for positive practical behavioral change. Research suggests that non-instructional settings within the school have the greatest potential for incidences of problem behaviors. This study explored effects of training lunchroom staff in positive behavioral interventions, including teaching the use of positive statements, on the frequency of problem behavior exhibited by elementary students within the lunchroom. Specifically, this study was designed to explore the impact of applying a clearly defined set of behavioral expectations and the universal benefits of proactive affirmative statements by staff members. The findings suggest that when clear and explicit behavioral expectations are taught to both staff and students not only do the frequency of problem behaviors decrease, but the frequency of positive statements by staff members increased, while negative statements decreased, resulting in a change in the lunchroom environment. The data obtained demonstrates that through positive behavioral intervention training for staff members, a reduction in the frequency of problem behavior can be achieved, resulting in an overall positive environmental change. |
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| 151. Training Parents to Implement a Pill-Swallowing Protocol |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ERICA WORCESTER (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), Melissa L. Olive (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: Many children with autism take nutritional supplements as part of their medical care. Parents report difficulty in getting their children to swallow pills. Yoo and colleagues described the results of using a stimulus fading technique to successfully teach pill swallowing. The purpose of this study was to train parents to implement the stimulus fading protocol. The parents of three children with autism were trained to follow a pill swallowing protocol. Results indicated that parents were taught to follow a protocol and that their children learned to swallow the pills as a result of parent training. |
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| 152. Developing Skills in Applied Behaviour Analysis in Northern Ireland |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CLAIRE E. MCDOWELL (University of Ulster), Julian C. Leslie (University of Ulster) |
| Abstract: This poster presents information about Northern Ireland’s only postgraduate level course in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) based at the University of Ulster in Coleraine. Now in its third year of operation, the broad aim of the MSc ABA is to give students the opportunity to develop their theoretical and conceptual knowledge in behaviour analysis, develop skills in behavioural assessment, and acquire the ability to work in partnership with clients where they plan and implement programmes that are aimed at establishing, strengthening and/or weakening targeted behaviours. The course is designed for professionals who work (or intend to work) in the caring professions, for example with people with autism and other learning disabilities, in the area of general behaviour management, parent training, community development, and adult mental health.
The course content has been approved by the Behavior Analysts Certification Board (BACB) and the programme aims to provide a foundation that contributes to the preparation of candidates interested in applying for the internationally recognised examination leading to certification in Behaviour Analysis. It is normally completed over two calendar years to allow time for students to obtain relevant work experience, which is a requirement for certification in Behaviour Analysis. The course has well established links to ABA settings in the North and South of Ireland, and in America, including the New England Centre for Children, where students have been able to gain valuable work experience. |
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| 153. A study on Functional Analysis in the Classroom |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LORI L. CHAMBERLAIN (PA Verbal Behavior Project), Valerie H. McAnnaney (PA Verbal Behavioral Project), Elizabeth Anne Maher (VB Project, PA), Kelly R. Gansarski (Tuscara Intermediate Unit 11), Jodi Gregory (PA Verbal Behavioral Project) |
| Abstract: This study is a comparison of different assessments in Functional Analysis. There are four assessments being compared, FAST, ABC Data, Latency based Systematic Manipulations, and Trial Based Systematic Manipulations. These assessments are utilized in "Verbal Behavior" Classrooms that are autistic support classrooms in the PA public school system. The assessments are being administered by Board Certified Behavior Analysts across different settings. A minimum of four different classrooms, with four different subjects are involved in this study. Interobserver agreement is being checked for implementation of the assessments. The study hopes to determine the most effective form of assessment for Functional Analysis in an applied public school setting. |
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| 154. Facilitating Generalization of Behavior Analysis Knowledge by Teaching with Popular Books |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MELISSA CARUSO (Eastern Connecticut State University), Deirdre Lee Fitzgerald (Eastern Connecticut State University) |
| Abstract: There are many prominent popular books that demonstrate the application of behavior analysis for everyday people in natural settings and thus make our technology available to broad public audiences. In this project, popular texts have been selected and analyzed for their contributions in extending behavior analysis to the general public and for their ability to teach students of behavior analysis how to interact with the public in a similarly accessible manner while still remaining technical. The popular books selected examine behavior analysis in a variety of areas, including clinical psychology, pet training, business management, self-help, and educational applications. The utility of these books in teaching university students how to generalize their knowledge of behavior analysis to everyday settings will be addressed. Additionally, ways these texts teach everyday readers the science of behavior in an easy consume way will be highlighted. Teaching recommendations for these books based on empirically supported practices will be presented. Specifically, teaching demonstrations for each of the books and application exercises that can be used in the preparation of students for certification in behavior analysis will be explained. |
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| 155. Connecting the Fundamental Science of Behavior Analysis to Everyday Experience: An Assignment for Students |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| L. KIMBERLY EPTING (Elon University) |
| Abstract: Students often enter traditional Psychology of Learning courses with unfortunate assumptions that behavioral principles and the basic science on which our understanding of them is based are irrelevant to daily life (Machado & Silva, 1998). Instructors may struggle to balance teaching the basic science of behavior analysis and developing students’ appreciation for how the principles underlie their existing behavior and experiences (cf. Baldwin & Baldwin, 1999; Machado & Silva, 1998). This poster outlines a homework assignment used to assess students’ ability to connect the science discussed in class and to their everyday experiences. Students evaluate the relevance of behavioral principles to various “real-world” events on the first day of class and then again toward the end of the semester. These events never serve as explicit examples in class; thus, students apply the scientific principles in a new context. Results highlight which phenomena most commonly were endorsed as having “no behavioral principle relevance” at the first administration and the accuracy of behavioral accounts of those events at the second administration. The use of such assignments may provide a useful way to maintain emphasis on the fundamental science and impress upon students just why it is so “fundamental” indeed. |
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| The Evolutionary Economics of Information Use: From Simple Signals to Learning |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:20 PM |
| West 301 AB |
| Chair: James S. MacDonall (Fordham University) |
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| The evolutionary economics of information use: from simple signals to learning. |
| DAVID STEPHENS (University of Minnesota) |
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| Abstract: Animals use signals in many situations: to attract mates, to avoid noxious food items, to defend resources. The value of signals depends, obviously enough, on how potential receivers respond. This presentation develops simple ideas about when receivers should value signals, and argues that these simple principles apply quite generally to situations in which animals use experience to modify their behavior. Part 1 will introduce the basic approach of behavioral ecology and explain how this has been applied to signaling. Following this tradition, I will develop a simple model of ‘receiver economics’ that emphasizes the interaction between signal reliability and environmental uncertainty. I will discuss experimental tests of this model from my laboratory. In part 2, I will review long-standing ideas about the evolution of learning. These ideas emphasize the statistical properties of the environment (e.g. change and predictability), but they have proved very difficult to study. My laboratory has tested these ideas by controlling patterns of change and predictability for Drosophila over many generations. These studies confirm many of our basic claims. Importantly, the principles involved here closely parallel our studies of animal signal use, and this suggests that same basic economic principle may guide information-use in many situations.
Dr. David W. Stephens received a bachelor’s degree in biology and mathematics from the University of Utah in 1978. He received a doctoral degree (D.Phil.) from Oxford University in 1982. From 1982 until 1989, he held postdoctoral fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution, the University of British Columbia, the University of Utah, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1989, he joined the biology faculty at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. In 1997, he took up his present position at the Twin Cities Campus of the University of Minnesota, where he serves as a Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. In 1990 he received a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. His is the author (with J. R. Krebs) of Foraging Theory, and editor (with J. S. Brown & R. C. Ydenberg) of the recently published Foraging: behavior and ecology. His work on animal foraging and decision-making has influenced many disciplines and it is widely cited in biology, economics, computer science, neuroscience, psychology, robotics and anthropology. |
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| Learning and Generalization |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 122 A |
| Chair: Matthew Burns (University of Minnesota) |
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| Determining Academic Intervention Efficiency with Maintenance or Generalization Data Rather than Acquisition |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| MATTHEW BURNS (University of Minnesota) |
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| Abstract: The instructional efficiency of academic interventions is an important construct when selecting an appropriate intervention. Analysts and interventionists have defined efficiency as time needed to reach mastery. However, maintenance and generalization of the skill are at least as important as acquisition of the skill. Thus, the presentation will provide data that compare efficiency metrics using initial learning and maintenance with 25 fourth-grade students. Each student was taught the pronunciation and English translation for 12 words from the Esperanto international language with two instructional conditions. The first condition was traditional drill (TD) rehearsal with all unknown words, and the second was incremental rehearsal (IR) with one unknown and eight known words. Results indicated that although the IR condition led to significantly more words being retained, TD was significantly more efficient using initial learning. However, the two conditions were equally efficient when maintenance data were used. Implications for tiered intervention systems will be discussed. |
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| Skill Development Articles Addressing Generalization: A Continuation of a Component Analysis |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KIMBERLY P. WEBER (Gonzaga University), Kim Killu (University of Michigan - Dearborn), Shannon Hayter (Gonzaga University), Nicole H Lustig (Gonzaga University) |
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| Abstract: The field of behavior analysis has long had the technology and resources to promote the generalization and maintenance of behavior change. Thus, it seems imperative that behavior analysts utilize the available resources to preserve the very skills that they strive to teach and train. A previous investigation (Killu & Weber, 2008) indicated that there is relatively little research representing a comprehensive approach to training for generalized outcomes. This investigation extended the component analysis in addressing the status of generalization and maintenance within instructional programming for individuals with disabilities to specify the types of generalization used to train and measure the acquisition of functional skills. Results are discussed along with implications for the effectiveness of intervention and the viability of applied behavior analysis. |
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| A Systemic Change in a Health Care Organization |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:20 PM |
| West 301 CD |
| Area: OBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Cheryl Davis, M.S.Ed. |
| Chair: Heather M. McGee (Western Michigan University) |
| Presenting Authors: : KAROLYN A SMALLEY (The Performance Puzzle) |
| Abstract: Today’s health care environment is tumultuous, uncertain and costly. Governmental regulations and fee structures change frequently. Pharmaceutical and device companies create new products and technologies. Professional medical associations develop new guidelines and protocols to meet these changes. How does a medical practice improve or maintain profitability in the face of these changes? Practice leadership knows the practice must become more efficient. Usually there is no lack of ideas or solutions on how to do this. However, what is less well known are which variables to select and monitor in order to determine success. This presentation is about one practice that had seen a steady increase in overhead and a 3-year trend of reduced net income for physicians. A reasonable solution had been identified. However, the practice had a history of poorly implementing solutions. Consultants were hired to help determine if the practice had identified the correct solution and to recommend implementation strategies and tactics that would enable the practice to succeed. One and a half years after the consultants made their recommendations, the practice saw a 299% increase in profitability. In addition, the administrator could supply anecdotal information that demonstrated the practice had learned to identify the correct variables, collect data and implement an appropriate solution.
Karolyn A. Smalley, a Performance and Instructional Systems Consultant, is a graduate of Michigan State University, the programmed-learning workshop of the University of Michigan, and the MA program in Industrial / Organizational Psychology at Western Michigan University. She helps improve performance at the organization, process and the job level for large, medium and small business organizations. She specializes in process improvement projects, performance management systems, and instructional systems. Karolyn combines her understanding of performance systems and instruction to define organizational change strategies and tactics that provide sustainable results to the organization. In addition, she has successfully, developed, mentored and coached individuals at all levels of the organization. |
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| KAROLYN A SMALLEY (The Performance Puzzle) |
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| The Effects of Procedural Integrity on Skill Acquisition and Implementation of Behavior Intervention Plans. |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 124 B |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Shawn E. Kenyon (NECC) |
| Discussant: Ronnie Detrich (Wing Institute) |
| Abstract: The term procedural integrity refers to the implementation of an intervention as intended (Codding, Feinberg, Dunn, & Pace, 2005) or as the inter-observer agreement measures on the occurrence or non-occurrence of the independent variables (Billingsley, White, & Munson, 1980). High procedural integrity involves an experimenter measuring what they intended to measure, or implementing a treatment plan exactly as it was intended. The current symposium addresses the issue of procedural integrity with respect to skill acquisition and behavior plan implementation. The first study examines varying levels of procedural integrity with respect to prompt delays and the observed effect on the acquisition of visual-visual match to sample tasks. Results from this study suggest a correlation between low integrity levels and the number of errors committed. The two other studies examine systems for improving procedural integrity regarding behavior plan implementation. A system of monitoring staff performance was developed and performance feedback based on the integrity with which behavior plans were implemented was chosen as an intervention. Results from both studies further confirm that performance feedback is an effective intervention for improving procedural integrity. |
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| Varying Procedural Integrity Using Progressive Prompt Delay to Teach Visual-Visual Stimulus Relations |
| PAULA RIBEIRO BRAGA-KENYON (NECC), Katherine Helen Yates (New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Procedural integrity is a measure of how the independent variables are implemented and is an important component of behavior analytic application and research. This study examined the effects of varying levels of procedural integrity (i.e., 100%, 45%, and 0%) on discrimination training using a progressive prompt delay procedure (i.e., 0 seconds, 3 seconds, and 5 seconds) to teach visual-visual stimulus relations. Three typical adults, who had received previous training on implementing match-to-sample discrete trial procedures, took part in the study. An alternating treatments design was used to counterbalance conditions across the three participants. Inter-observer agreement (IOA) was collected for 100% of the sessions and agreement was 100%. Results showed that: 1) the frequency of errors emitted was higher when integrity was reduced to levels below 100%; 2) discriminations were acquired slower when integrity levels were lower; and 3) one of the participants did not reach the mastery criterion during the 0% integrity condition. |
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| The Effect of Performance Feedback on the Program-Wide Integrity of Plan Implementation |
| FRANCES A. PERRIN (Bancroft NeuroHealth), Denise Marzullo (Bancroft Neurohealth) |
| Abstract: An evaluation of the source of treatment failures is necessary to successful remediation. Two possible sources of treatment failure include intervention ineffectiveness and lack of implementation integrity. When an intervention is implemented inconsistently, the primary goal is to correct the problem prior to making any changes to the intervention itself. However, monitoring and maintaining high levels of treatment integrity in an applied setting can be challenging. Research on performance feedback has shown it to be a more effective method than traditional consultation for increasing implementation of academic and behavioral interventions (Noell et al., 2005). In the present study, we developed a program-wide system for monitoring treatment integrity in a behavioral stabilization program. The performance of all staff working in the program was monitored regularly by 16 supervisors trained to evaluate treatment integrity and to provide performance feedback. Performance feedback was evaluated in a multiple baseline across living units design. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of this system to increase the integrity with which staff implemented components of behavior and service plans. |
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| An Evaluation of a Program-Wide Process for Improving Treatment Integrity |
| CHRISTINA M. VORNDRAN (Bancroft NeuroHealth), Alfred Brewin, IV (Bancroft NeuroHealth), Jenna Taylor (Bancroft Neurohealth) |
| Abstract: Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) designed to decrease problem behaviors and increase functional replacement behaviors are commonly developed for individuals with developmental disabilities. When a BIP is reported to be ineffective it can be difficult to determine the cause particularly if levels of treatment integrity are unknown or believed to be low. Research has established effective procedures for monitoring and improving treatment integrity of BIPs (Codding, Feinberg, Dunn, & Pace, 2005). In the present study, a multiple baseline across program design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of individualized and group performance feedback for increasing treatment integrity among staff working in two programs for individuals with disabilities. Results indicated that individualized performance feedback immediately produced significant improvement in all components of treatment implementation. Additional data analysis identified treatment components frequently implemented incorrectly by many of the program staff. Group performance feedback was then provided and shown to further improve treatment implementation. Results were shown to maintain for up to a year. These results replicate and extend the performance feedback literature. |
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| Researchers, Educators, and Practitioners: Training Professionals to Support Students with Autism. |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 124 A |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jennifer B. Symon (California State University, Los Angeles) |
| Discussant: Jennifer B. Symon (California State University, Los Angeles) |
| CE Instructor: Jennifer Copeland, M.S. |
| Abstract: Many educators and professionals who support students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) do not receive adequate or specialized training in autism. California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) offers specialized training programs in autism, including a university certificate and masters degree in special education with an emphasis in autism. The training programs promote multidisciplinary collaboration between special educators and related personnel to effectively support students with ASD. The preservice training program will be described followed by outcome data from a five-year Office of Special Education federally funded grant project. Then, three research studies will be presented that targeted improvements in social interactions with peers and on-task classroom behaviors. Antecedent strategies, including offering choices and providing visual supports, were used in each of the three research presentations. Results indicated improvements in these social skills and behaviors. This symposium demonstrates the value of providing clinical and research training to educators and other team members who can design, implement, and evaluate evidence-based practices. |
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| Teaching initiations and generalizing skills: Reaching levels comparable to typical peers |
| ELIKA SHAHRESTANI (CSULA), Jennifer B. Symon (California State University, Los Angeles), Randy V. Campbell (California State University, Los Angeles) |
| Abstract: Children with autism have difficulty in the area of social interaction. Specifically, individuals with autism have difficulty reading social cues and understanding the perspective of others (Attwood, 2000). These deficits not only impede the individual’s development but also may lead to social withdrawal and rejection from peers (Delano & Snell, 2006). Much of the research in the area of social skills has focused on intervention strategies to promote initiating and responding to peers in an effort to increase socially appropriate behaviors. Of all the social skill strategies described in the literature, the efficacy of social stories has been least consistent. In the present study, social story interventions were used in combination with reinforcement to teach social initiations in children with autism. Three children with autism participated in a multiple baseline across participants research design. Results indicated that none of the participants’ initiations increased following Intervention A, social stories alone; however, once reinforcement was added to the social story (Intervention B), all three participants engaged in significantly more initiations as compared to baseline. Peer comparison data were collected to determine the levels appropriate for peers. Results indicated that participants not only reached levels comparable to peers, but also generalized their skills to the school setting. |
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| Using Antecedent Strategies to Improve Behaviors for Children with Autism |
| YUN-YI TSAI (CSULA), Randy V. Campbell (California State University, Los Angeles), Jennifer B. Symon (California State University, Los Angeles) |
| Abstract: Antecedent interventions have been implemented to improve classroom behaviors for children with disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study evaluated the effects of using picture activity schedules with and without choice making components on task engagement behaviors of three children with autism in a special education day care center. An alternating treatment design (Barlow & Hersen, 1984) was used to compare the effectiveness of two different interventions (using activity schedules only and using activity schedules with choice-making opportunities). A preference assessment based on the response-restriction (RR) analysis (Hanley, Iwata, Lindberg, & Conners, 2003) was conducted to determine the differential preference levels of activity choices for each participant before the data collection. Momentary time sampling procedure was used to record all participants’ on-task and off-task behaviors during three independent activities. Observation took place during 15-minute sessions twice per observation day. In addition, a frequency recording method was used to record the number of the adult’s prompts necessary to maintain participants’ task engagement. The results show the participants demonstrated significant decreases in off-task behavior with choice making opportunities. In addition, the number of the adult prompts decreased when choice making opportunities were provided. |
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| Generalizing the Effects of Choice as an Antecedent Strategy to Children in a General Education Classroom |
| SEBOUH J. SERABIAN (CSULA-school, Behavioral Building Blocks-work), Michele D. Wallace (California State University, Los Angeles), Jennifer B. Symon (California State University, Los Angeles) |
| Abstract: Providing opportunities to make choices has received increasing support as an antecedent intervention to improve the performance of students with disabilities. Additional research is this area is needed to determine under what circumstances the application of choice making as a curricular intervention is appropriate and produces meaningful outcomes. The present study extended this line of research and investigated whether providing choice opportunities to three children in a general education classroom would impact their performance during independent academic tasks (journal and spelling). In addition to examining the effects of choice on disruptive and on-task and behaviors, this study also examined the effects of choice on task completion and on latency to respond. An ABAB reversal design showed that the choice making conditions increased on-task behaviors, increased task completion, decreased latency to respond and decreased disruptive behaviors. The results of this study not only extends the literature on choice making as a beneficial component of behavioral support, but also broaden the generality of interventions using choice to populations beyond those with developmental disabilities. |
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| An Analysis of Teaching and Prompting Strategies for Children with Autism and Developmental Disabilities |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 126 |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Julie S. Weiss (New England Center for Children) |
| CE Instructor: Dan Hursh, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Four presentations analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of various teaching and prompting strategies on the acquisition of behavior chains will be presented.
The first presentation will discuss a comparison of backward and forward chaining on the acquisition of a play construction model using most-to-least prompting with a fixed delay. The effectiveness of the 2 chaining strategies was evaluated with a multi-element design. Results showed that the efficiency and effectiveness of the chaining procedures varied across learners.
The second presentation investigated if independently established related repertoires would emerge as a single chain of behavior when an opportunity was provided for them to occur simultaneously. For all participants, the independent repertoires did occur as a single chain when the opportunity was provided.
The third presentation assessed the effects of an intervention package to teach children with developmental delays individual exercise skills in the form of yoga.. . Video modeling and parents training using graduated guidance were utilized to teach the skills. All participants acquired the chains with two participants demonstrating generalization to new videos of yoga exercises.
The fourth presentation involves transfer of instructional control to written task sets. Although there have been several investigations of the use of visual prompts with task analyses, none of these clearly demonstrated control by the prompts. Two four year old children with autism spectrum disorders have participated in this study to date. Participants were taught to follow 4, five-step instructional sets using textual prompts and a least to most prompt hierarchy. Although neither participant showed generalization across sets, the single instruction training was never required by the third set and both showed significant savings effects across sets. |
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| A Comparison of Backward and Forward Chaining on the Acquisition of Play and Vocational Skills |
| EMILY BENNETT (The New England Center for Children), Julie S. Weiss (New England Center for Children), Myrna E. Libby (New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of a forward chaining versus backward chaining sequence on the rate of acquisition of a behavior chain. Three individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder participated and the dependent variable was the number of trials to acquisition for three different behavior chains: two 8-step play construct figures, two 12 step play construct figures and two vocational tasks. Each session consisted of one probe trial and 10 training trials. Generalization probes across a novel teacher and one new setting were conducted after acquisition. Most-to-least prompting with a constant delay was utilized for all conditions. Results showed that both training procedures were effective. Efficiency varied across participants but was consistent across replications with play constructs. Findings generalized across new teachers and settings. Additional data will be collected on vocational tasks. IOA data were collected for at least 40% of sessions and averaged 95%. Procedural integrity data were taken for at least 40% of sessions and averaged 95%. |
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| Generating Novel Play and Vocational Skills Sequences of Responding by Teaching Components: Adduction |
| KERRI P. SHANAHAN (New England Center for Children), Julie S. Weiss (New England Center for Children), Myrna E. Libby (New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Three individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder were taught two separate but related play and vocational behavior chains. Participants were then given the opportunity to combine the two related units into a longer, previously untrained sequential chain of behaviors. All participants independently generated a novel chain of behaviors for the play skills after acquiring all components. Furthermore, this skill generalized across novel play materials. Data will be collected on the vocational tasks. All sessions were videotaped. IOA data were collected for at least 40% of sessions and averaged 95%. Procedural integrity data were collected for at least 40% of sessions and averaged 95%. |
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| Teaching Yoga Skills to Young Children with Developmental Delays with Parents as Intervention Agents |
| DEBORAH J. GRUBER (Queens College and The Graduate Center CUNY), Claire L. Poulson (Queens College/CUNY) |
| Abstract: Children with disabilities often lack the skills required to participate in physical fitness activities. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of an intervention package to teach children with developmental delays individual exercise skills. These skills were taught with yoga as the method of exercise. The study was conducted in the home environment, with parents teaching the yoga skills. The video-modeling baseline procedure consisted of presenting a videotape showing a certified yoga instructor providing verbal instructions and physical demonstrations of each step in a 24-step response chain that made up two yoga poses. The experimenter trained the parents to use graduated guidance and reinforcement procedures. The intervention was introduced in a multiple-baseline-experimental design across three participants. The graduated-guidance procedure was provided to the participant, enabling the participant to execute the correct physical alignment for each step in the response chain. Baseline data indicated correct matching of the yoga response chain occurred with no greater that 17% accuracy. Systematically with the introduction of treatment, all participants matched the response chain with 71% accuracy or better. Correct implementation of the graduated guidance procedure occurred for all three parents with the introduction of parent training. |
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| Stimulus Control by Textual Prompts When Completing Task Sequences |
| CARA L. PHILLIPS (University of Florida), Timothy R. Vollmer (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Stimulus control by textual prompts for task sequence completion might facilitate independence, maintenance, and generalization of tasks. Although there have been several investigations of the use of visual prompts with task analyses, none of these clearly demonstrated control by the prompts. Two four year old children with autism spectrum disorders have participated in this study to date. Participants were taught to follow 4, five-step instructional sets using textual prompts and a least to most prompt hierarchy. The sets consisted of independent toy play responses that could be arranged in any sequence. For each set, after initial training in a single response sequence, a novel sequence of the same responses was probed. Single instruction training followed (textual prompts were presented one at a time in any order) if needed. A novel order probe followed. The multiple probe experimental design allowed for tests of both stimulus control by the textual prompts and generalization within and across sets. Although neither participant showed generalization across sets, the single instruction training was never required by the third set and both showed significant savings effects across sets. |
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| The Use of Priming in Supported Inclusion of Children With Autism in General Education Classrooms |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 125 |
| Area: AUT/CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Joel P. Hundert (Behaviour Institute) |
| CE Instructor: Helena Maguire, Master's |
| Abstract: There is little reason to expect that placement of children with autism in general education classrooms will automatically result in their improved academic performance or social behaviors. Without specific interventions, children with autism in general education classrooms have difficulty learning the class curriculum, attending to teacher instruction, following classroom routines independently, or interacting positively with peers. Unfortunately, there is much more known about how to design and deliver interventions for children with autism in special than general education settings. Interventions to support children with autism in general education classrooms need to be both effective in bringing about improvement of children with autism, but also practical to conduct in a general education setting. One intervention that holds promise is priming, which consists of pre-exposing a child with autism to a problem situation (e.g., following classroom routines, completing seat work assignments) in one setting (e.g., resource room at school, home) that improves the child’s performance in a target setting (e.g., general education classroom). This symposium will explore the use of priming as an intervention to support children with autism in general education classrooms. |
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| The Effect of Priming Conducted At Home on Classroom Routine-Following of Children With Autism |
| JOEL P. HUNDERT (Behaviour Institute), Miranda Sim (Behaviour Institute) |
| Abstract: Priming consists of exposing an individual to a problem situation before the situation occurs that improves how the individual performs in a target setting without addition interventions being introduced in that setting. Priming holds promises as an effective intervention to support children with autism in general education classrooms because the intervention is implemented in a setting other than the general education classroom. This paper will present the results of a study in which priming was introduced at home to improve the routine-following behavior of two five-year old boys with autism attending a general education classroom. Two types of priming sessions were conducted. One priming session consisted of each boy being taught to raise his hand and answering questions to a video of the classroom teacher teaching a “calendar time” lesson. The second priming session consisted of each boy practicing giving a social greeting (e.g., “hi”) to a video of a peer initiating a greeting. Effects on participants’ behaviors in the classroom was assessed by a multiple-baseline design across participants. Priming produced a increase in the target behaviors of participants in the classroom without addition interventions being introduced at school. |
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| Limitations In The Use of Embedded Instruction for Supported Inclusion of Children With Autism |
| DONNA C. CHANEY (Behaviour Institute), Joel P. Hundert (Behaviour Institute) |
| Abstract: Embedded instruction consists of embedding teaching trials into the regular routine of a general education classroom and has been shown to be effective in teaching IEP objectives to children with autism in general education classrooms. However, in the studies that have been conducted, children with autism typically have received only between 15 and 30 embedded instruction trials in a school day. It has not been demonstrated that it is possible to embed a sufficiently high number of trials into the routines of a general education classroom to address the significant deficits of a child with autism, nor that increasing the number of embedded instruction trials delivered in a school day will increase the performance of children with autism. This paper will present the results of a study comparing the number of embedded instruction trials delivered to a 12-year old boy with autism by: a) a paraprofessional in a resource room; b) a special education teacher in a resource room; and, c) a general education teacher in a general education classroom. |
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| The Use of Video Priming With Social Script Training To Increase the Peer Interaction of Children With Autism |
| JANE LEE (Behaviour Institute), Joel P. Hundert (Behaviour Institute), Erin Harrison (McMaster University) |
| Abstract: Social script training has been used to increase the peer interaction of children with autism with their peers in general education settings. Social skills training consists of introducing a structured play interaction sequence that is of interest and within the abilities of a child with autism and his or her peers. Typically, two adults are needed to teach script-following, one for the child with autism and the other for the play partner. Video priming (a video of a social script taken from the perspective of the child with autism) may be a more efficient strategy than adult prompting and praising to teach script-following and increase the interactive play of children with autism. This paper will present the results of a study in which video priming was used to introduce social script training for two children with autism attending general education classrooms. Using a multiple-baseline design effects were evaluated on the interactive play of children with autism both during target play sessions in which the video priming and social skill training were introduced, and during generalization play sessions in which these interventions were not introduced. |
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| The Effect Of Selected Parameters On The Effect Of Priming For Children With Autism In a Classroom Setting |
| NICOLE WALTON-ALLEN (Behaviour Institute), Joel P. Hundert (Behaviour Institute), Brooke MacKinnon (McMaster University), Faria Sana (McMaster University), Naomi Wheeler (Behaviour Institute) |
| Abstract: Priming is typically conducted in one settings such as a child’s home or in a resource room at school and its effects are measured at a later time when the child uses the primed performance to handle a problem situation (e.g., following classroom routines) in another setting (e.g., in a general education classroom). It is unclear whether the length of the interval between the delivery of priming and its application by a child will influence the effect of priming. Similarly, it is unknown if the effects of priming would be enhanced by conducting priming in a setting similar to that in which the priming would be used. This paper will present the results of two studies in which a parameter of priming was varied and the resultant effects on the performance of a child with autism in a general education classroom evaluated. One study compared the effects of a 30-minute to a 3-hour delay between priming and its implementation in a classroom for two children with autism. A second study compared the effects of priming conducted in a 1:1 setting to priming conducted in the same classroom setting on the routine-following performance of two children with autism. |
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| The Use of Video Modeling to Increase Social Behaviors for People Who Have ASD and Their Families |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 120 BC |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Mark T. Harvey (Florida Institute of Technology) |
| Discussant: Lynn Kern Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| CE Instructor: Michelle Turan, Master's |
| Abstract: From Kanner’s (1943) original conceptualization to the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, social skills deficits have been included among the primary defining characteristics in the complex disorder of Autism. Deficits in social relatedness are observed across the lifespan, and present some of the most debilitating barriers to successful integration of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Research in the area of video modeling has shown that this approach can be an effective strategy for the acquisition and generalization of appropriate social behavioral repertoires. Utilizing this approach usually entails the creation of videos incorporating confederates (adults, peers, and/or self) who demonstrate examples and/or non-examples of targeted behaviors. After completion, the videos are shown to participants in a training environment (e.g., classroom, home, or community) and measurements of targeted behaviors taken. Results from video modeling interventions have shown great promise in the acquisition, transfer, and maintenance of behaviors. This symposium examines the use of video modeling to increase social skills engagement. The use of video modeling increased play skills for pre-school aged children, conversation skills of young adults, and parent-child interactions for children who have autism. Future directions and integration of video modeling will be presented. |
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| Increasing Playtime Initiations for Children Who have ASD using Video Self- Modeling (VSM) |
| JORDAN P BOUDREAU (Florida Institute of Technology), Mark T. Harvey (Florida Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: The effects of video self modeling (VSM) on social initiations for three children who have autism were investigated using a multiple baseline design. A VSM tape was developed showing the child initiating play activities with peers. Students viewed the VSM videos in their classroom prior to going to a playroom with a dyad of peers. Social initiations during “playtime” were measured and compared to levels exhibited by a typically developing peer within each student grouping. Use of VSM led to an increase in initiation for all participants with two out of three individuals increasing social initiations to levels above typically developing peers. VSM was shown to be an efficacious means for increasing initiations for leisure activities for children who have ASD. |
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| Improving Social Conversation in Young Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome using Video Self-modeling. |
| WHITNEY J SMITH (Eli and Edythe L. Broad Asperger Center Koegel Autism Center), Lynn Kern Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: Young adults with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) often display a marked impairment in social interaction, particularly social conversation with peers. This can interfere with the initiation and maintenance of peer relationships. Video self-modeling has been shown to be an effective technique for teaching social behaviors. We examined the effects of video self-modeling of social communicative behaviors during social conversation. A multiple baseline design across participants was employed to target question-asking, which was at low levels at baseline, during social conversation. Results showed that video self-modeling was an effective technique for teaching question-asking during social conversation. In addition, generalization to new peers occurred. Social validation measures also indicated that the number of peer interactions in untreated community settings increased following intervention. Results are discussed in terms of advancing intervention techniques to target more complex social goals for older individuals with AS. This presentation will include video-taped clips of baseline, video self-modeling sessions, and post-intervention social conversations. |
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| Effects of Generic Video Modeling on Parent-Child Interaction of Families with a Child with Autism |
| HUI-TING WANG (University of Washington), Ilene S. Schwartz (University of Washington) |
| Abstract: Video modeling is an evidence-based instructional strategy in which a child learns a target behavior from watching a model performing the skill on a video tape. Video modeling, although extremely effective and efficient for children with autism, has not been used widely because of its difficulty in implementation. Moreover, all of the video modeling tapes in existing research studies are individualized with either familiar models or/and familiar settings. It would be difficult and time-consuming for educators to make different tapes for different students and for different skills. An exploration of more cost-effective video modeling strategies is needed.
There is only one video modeling study focusing on teaching the parents of the children with autism (Reamer, Brady & Hawkins, 1998). Thus, this study was designed to further investigate the effects of video modeling on training parents as well as their children with autism by watching the generic video modeling tape together to improve parent-child interaction, which is considered a critical cornerstone for developing children's other social relationships. A multiple baseline probe design across the four parent and child dyads was used. |
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| The Big Picture: Research Reviews on Parent Training, Safety, Naturalistic Teaching, and Intervention for Older ASD Children |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 127 |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Ryan Bergstrom (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| CE Instructor: Jon Bailey, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Empirical studies provide the data that drive applied behavior analysis but focusing solely on particular studies often allows one to “miss the forest for the trees.” That is, only by surveying the full range of research conducted in a particular area can one get a clear picture of the breadth of scientific knowledge available in that area. Reviews of literature are useful to clinicians because they summarize results in a consumable format. In addition, literature reviews are useful to scientists because they take stock of the current status of literature in a given area and provide useful directions for future research. The four review papers contained in this symposium review behavioral research on parent training, safety skills interventions, naturalistic behavioral approaches to teaching children with autism, and finally, behavioral interventions for older children with autism, ages 8-21. |
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| Train the People Who Live it Every Day: A Review of Research on Parent Training |
| VARDUI CHILINGARYAN (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Dennis Dixon (Center for Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: Much research has been published in the thirty years since Stokes & Baer (1977) called for actively programming for generalization. However, the degree to which the field of behavior analysis has responded to this call is questionable. One area in which this may be directly evaluated is the degree to which research studies discuss and describe the process of generalizing treatment effects to caregivers and training those caregivers to effectively implement interventions. The purpose of the current study was to review the articles published in JABA over the past 10 years (1998-2008) and evaluate the prevalence and form of parent training provided. A total of 597 articles were reviewed to determine possible inclusion. 61 articles were included in this review. Results are discussed in regards to the form of parent training and overall trends. |
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| Older Kids Learn Too: Research on Behavioral Intervention for Older Children with Autism |
| Jonathan J. Tarbox (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Betty Tia (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Romolea Manucal (CARD, Inc.), Ellen Kong (CARD, Inc.), Wendy Sanchez (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), MEGAN D. NOLLET (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: A commonly held misconception is that applied behavior analytic intervention is primarily for young children with autism. ABA for younger children currently receives the most public attention but a very substantial amount of research has been conducted on ABA treatment for older children and adolescents with autism. However, hundreds of studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals on the application of ABA procedures to improving the functioning of older children and adolescents with ASDs. This presentation reviews all research on ABA for children with autism published in Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavioral Interventions, Research in Developmental Disabilities, and Behavior Modification in the last 20 years. |
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| A Review of Research on Natural Environment Training with Children with Autism |
| SUSIE BALASANYAN (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Adel C. Najdowski (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Natural environment training (NET) is a term that refers to naturalistic behavioral approaches to teaching. Several different teaching strategies fall under this classification, including incidental teaching, milieu teaching, and pivotal response training. Generally NET approaches are designed to mimic typical adult-child interactions and maximize naturally occurring learning opportunities. As the name implies, NET focuses on teaching skills in an environment and format that more closely resembles the typical daily activities that a young child may encounter. In addition to the loosely structured format of instruction, NET differs from DTT in that learning trials are initiated by the learner, rather than therapist. This paper reviews research on several different approaches to implementing NET with children with autism. |
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| Teaching Safety Skills to Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: A Review of Published Research |
| RYAN BERGSTROM (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Dennis Dixon (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Persons with developmental disabilities are at a greater risk of harm/injuries due to accidents, fires, and are more likely to be victims of crimes such as sexual assault. There are a wide array of behaviors that can be taught to increase one’s safety and accident prevention skills. A review of the literature on teaching safety skills to individuals with developmental disabilities was conducted. This yielded a number of studies that taught a wide array of skills from crossing the street, to exiting a building during a fire, to prevention of sexual abuse. Methods and results of these studies are discussed. Preliminary data for a current sexual abuse prevention protocol will be presented as well as recommendations for future direction. |
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| Outcome of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism I |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 131 BC |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Arthur E. Wilke (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: A significant amount of research has demonstrated that early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) produces robust effects for children with autism. However, several questions remain unanswered and the papers presented in this symposium address some such issues. The first presentation is a literature review of published research which has examined the variables that predict outcome in EIBI. The second paper consists of a study which examined the relation between the amount of supervision implemented with outcome. The third paper is a descriptive analysis of the relations between hours of therapy, age, and mastery of skills across more than 300 children with autism. The final presentation consists of a study that evaluated stress levels for parents of children receiving EIBI. |
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| Predicting Optimal Outcome for Children with Autism: A Review of Existing Research |
| Jonathan J. Tarbox (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), MEGAN M. KIRBY (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Dennis Dixon (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Amy Kenzer (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Michele R. Bishop (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Melissa L. Olive (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Doreen Granpeesheh (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Much research has shown that early intensive behavioral invention (EIBI) produces significant gains for children with autism. However, some children achieve less optimal outcomes in response to EIBI and in doing so highlight the need for examination of specific child characteristics and their link to positive treatment outcomes. Identifying early in treatment those children who will benefit most from EIBI and those who might require variations in the instructional format could potentially lead to an increase in the number of children that obtain the best treatment outcomes. This paper is a review of studies that have identified variables as potential predictors of optimal outcome. In addition, we discuss directions for future research on modifications of EIBI aimed at improving treatment results for children who would otherwise not achieve optimal outcomes. |
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| Intensity of Supervision and Outcome for Preschool Aged Children Receiving Early and Intensive Behavioral Interventions: A Preliminary Study |
| Svein Eikeseth (Akershus College), Diane W Hayward (UK Young Autism Project), Catherine Gale (UK Young Autism Project), Jens-Petter Gitlesen (University of Stavanger), SIGMUND ELDEVIK (Center for Early Intervention, Oslo, Norway) |
| Abstract: This study asked whether intensity of supervision is associated with outcome in preschool aged children with autism (N = 20) who received intensive and early behavioral intervention. Intensity of supervision ranged from 2.9 to 7.8 hours per month per child. Results show a significant correlation between intensity of supervision and improvement in IQ. Thus, intensity of supervision was reliably associated with amount of IQ change between intake and follow-up. These findings add to existing literature by suggesting that intensity of supervision together with intensity of treatment, treatment method, and pre treatment functioning are variables that may affect outcome for children with autism who receive early and intensive behavioral intervention. |
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| Descriptive Analysis of the Effects of Treatment Intensity, Age, and Time in Treatment Across 300 Children with Autism |
| Doreen Granpeesheh (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), DENNIS DIXON (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Jonathan J. Tarbox (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Arthur E. Wilke (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Andrew Kaplan (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Early intensive behavioral interventions have been shown to effectively remediate some cases of autism. However, few studies have evaluated the importance of various factors, such as hours of treatment per week, on treatment outcomes. The present study evaluated treatment progress for 370 children receiving intensive ABA services. Regression analyses were conducted to predict treatment progress based upon the number of treatment hours received monthly, age at start of services, and time since starting services. Results indicated that each of these variables were significant predictors and accounted for considerable portions of the observed variance. Through these analyses the optimal level of each factor could be evaluated. These data are discussed in regards to the factors that are important for treatment providers to manipulate on a system-level to increase efficiency in skill acquisition and achieve optimum treatment outcomes. |
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| Assessing Parent Stress in Families receiving Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention |
| SVEIN EIKESETH (Akershus College), Diane W Hayward (UK Young Autism Project), Catherine Gale (UK Young Autism Project), Sally A Morgan (UK Young Autism Project) |
| Abstract: A frequently asked question is whether Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBA) add or relieve family stress. The current study assessed changes in stress in families receiving EIBI. Pre treatment family stress was assessed and compared to family stress one year into treatment. Family stress was assessed using the The Parenting Stress Index (PSI). The PSI assesses stress in the parent-child relationship. It identifies dysfunctional parenting and predicts the potential for parental behavior problems and child adjustment difficulties within the family system. PSI yields a Total Stress Score, plus sub scales in child and parent characteristics. Results show a high level of stress in parent-child relationship pre treatment and a reduction, but yet high level of stress in parent-child relationship one year into treatment. Results suggest that EIBI may relieve stress in parent-child relationship. |
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| Medication Use in Persons With Autism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 226 C |
| Chair: Alan D. Poling (Western Michigan University) |
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| Pharmacological Treatment of People with Autism |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ALAN D. POLING (Western Michigan University), Kristal E. Ehrhardt (Western Michigan University) |
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| Abstract: This presentation overviews drug treatments for people with autism. Nearly one of every two people diagnosed with autism receives one or more psychotropic drugs. There is a sizaable literature documenting the effectiveness of several drugs in reducing challenging behavior in people with autism, although the quality of many published studies is relatively low and several important research issues have not been adequately addressed. Historically, there has been much acrimonious debate regarding whether prescribing psychotropic drugs for people with autism is good or bad. In actuality, some people with autism derive benefits from drug treatment that cannot be produced by other kinds of interventions. Other people, however, are exposed to unnecessary and even harmful drug regimens. Appropriate drug treatment requires that the right people receive medication, and that their medication regimen be managed to produce optimal benefit. Using psychotropic drugs to benefit people with autism requires that: 1) treatment goals are clear and in the treated individual's best interests, 2) drug effects are adequately monitored and treatment decisions are made on the basis of real drug effects, and 3) drug therapy is flexible and integrated with nonpharmacological interventions. Good treatment is always evidence-based and accountable. |
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| Placebo Medication Use for Behavior Management in an Adult with Autism |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KIMBERLY ANN KROEGER (Kelly O'Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders), Jennifer Brown (Kelly O'Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders) |
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| Abstract: This ABC design single case study aimed to reduce inappropriate tantrum behavior in an adult diagnosed with autistic disorder, and subsequently maintained reduced levels of tantrums through the use of placebo intervention. The individual was medically managed on an as-needed (“PRN”) anxiolytic in home and work settings for behavioral outbursts, including negative vocalizations, self-injurious behaviors and periodic aggression towards others. After 2 years of successful episodic medical intervention, the intervention was altered in the work setting to administer a placebo pill in lieu of the anti-anxiety drug at the onset of tantrum behavior. The placebo protocol was initiated due to persistent significantly short drug effect time where the individual was calm within five minutes of ingesting the anxiolytic. (Placebo protocol was approved through the governing agency’s human rights committee prior to implementation.) The individual has been successfully maintained on the placebo protocol for 20 months with maintained low incidence of tantrum behavior as well as rapid de-escalation time. Limitations and future implications discussed. |
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| Fitting The Pieces Together: Coordinating Psychopharmacology and Behavioral Treatments to Optimize Patient Outcomes |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| AMY ROBIN WOOLEY (Laurel Heights Hospital), Ken Fleishman (Laurel Heights Hospital) |
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| Abstract: This paper will discuss the treatment partnership between the Medical Director and Behavior Analyst at a residential treatment center for children with Autism. Often medications are prescribed independent of behavioral data or regard to behavioral treatment component analyses. These sometimes competing strategies have the potential to confound behavioral treatment effects data or, more importantly, impact a resident’s receptiveness and participation in teaching sessions. Our approach, however, promotes systematic changes to medications based on behavior reduction and acquisition data. In the treatment of two residents in which functional assessments suggest that self-injurious behaviors serve a self stimulatory function, psychopharmacology treatment acts as a motivating operation to reduce the natural reinforcement produced by the brain to enhance efficacy of behavioral acquisition of replacement behaviors. Adjustments of medication dosages, time of day, titration speed are made to coordinate with behavioral treatment plans, schedules and progress data. Case studies will be reviewed to illustrate how these two treatment approaches can be combined to produce maximum benefits. |
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| Behavioral Parent Training Used in Combination with Pharmacological and Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ERIC BUTTER (Nationwide Children s Hospital & The Ohio State University) |
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| Abstract: Parents are an important agent of behavior change for children with autism. This presentation will describe two research programs that have developed behavioral parent training programs as one component of combination treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders. Design and methodological issues related to using behavioral parent training as a way to expand the effects of both pharmacological interventions and intensive behavioral interventions will be explored. The boundary conditions and parameters related to creating manual-based parent training programs as well as the selection of treatment targets will be discussed. Results from the NIMH RUPP trial of risperidone and parent training as well as an OAR trial investigating parent training as way to expand generalization of skills acquired in early intensive behavioral intervention will be considered as related to the development of parent training programs as combination interventions. |
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| Novel Approaches With Vocal Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 227 A |
| Chair: Michelle A. Furminger (Lizard Children's Centre) |
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| Using Mechanical Devices to Enhance Expressive Language Utterances with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| MICHELLE A. FURMINGER (Lizard Children's Centre), Cassie le Fevre (Lizard Children's Centre) |
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| Abstract: Under the diagnosis of Autism, communication is one area of deficit. Expressive language can be difficult to teach a child who has trouble imitating spoken phrases that are more than four words in length. Past research has shown the effectiveness of mechanical devices to teach a child to acquire conversational skills and social initiations using voice activated recorders (McClannahan & Krantz, 2005) and video modelling (Nikopoulous & Keenanan, 2004).
This paper will investigate the use of cards and button-activated mechanical devices to expand the length of utterances of two children diagnosed with ASD. It was found that the children’s learning of a new expressive language task was accelerated when a recorded mechanical device was initially used in place of using verbal prompting directly from a therapist. Data presented will show the rate of acquisition for an expressive task when presented with the mechanical device in the first instance (prior to presentation of the task using verbal prompting) as compared to acquisition rates with verbal prompting alone. |
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| The Use of Multiple Schedules in the Treatment of Vocal Stereotypy Displayed by Young Children with Autism |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| COURTNEY LANAGAN (FirstSteps for Kids, Inc.), Jennifer L. Harris (FirstSteps for Kids, Inc.), Rosimel deDomenico (FirstSteps for Kids, Inc.) |
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| Abstract: While the presence of stereotypy is a criterion for the diagnosis of autism, many questions as to effective interventions targeting its reduction remain. Children diagnosed with autism commonly display an array of vocal stereotypy, frequently impeding socialization and other learning opportunities. The current presentation describes our efforts to reduce stereotypic behaviors (i.e., delayed repetition of television dialogue and unintelligible vocalizations) by bringing said behaviors under control of antecedent stimuli. Specifically, multiple schedule arrangements using bracelets correlated with each condition were utilized to gradually increase the time in which vocal stereotypy did not occur. Results suggest that multiple schedules may be an effective intervention for treating vocal stereotypy. |
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| The effects of delayed prompts on the verbal-vocal behavior of young children with autism |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MOLLY L. DUBUQUE (University of Nevada, Reno) |
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| Abstract: Teaching methods have been developed by behavior analysts that have helped decrease or eliminate behaviors associated with a diagnosis of autism in some children. One method of instruction, known as natural environment teaching, is valued because it can be conducted by parents or teachers in the natural environment. Prompt delay is a type of natural environment teaching procedure that is especially useful for promoting spontaneous speech.
The aim of this research was to examine the effects of a training package used to target the frequency with which tutors in a home-based program use a prompt delay to promote spontaneous speech in children with autism. The procedure for training staff to use a prompt delay to increase spontaneous speech by children with autism will be presented. Results will be discussed in terms of the effectiveness of the treatment package with regard to implementing a prompt delay in the promotion of spontaneous speech. |
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| Behavioral Developmental Treatment of Personality Disorders |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 224 A |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Michael Lamport Commons (Harvard Medical School) |
| Abstract: The current clinical approach to personality disorders considers them to be properties of the individual, but distinct from mental illness. This view places blame on the individual and turns the disorder into a moral issue. This symposium lays out a new behavioral developmental conceptual framework for studying the development of personality disorders. As a central hypothesis to this approach, we argue that personality disorders and mental illness lie on a continuum, and the major difference between the two is the rate of psychotic incidents and the generality of the context. The first presentation introduces two sets of dimensions we use in our approach to observing personality disorders: The first being social interpersonal perspective taking and intrapersonal perspective taking, and the second being how a person handles value, discounting and delay, risk and change of value in reinforcement and punishment. The second presentation uses a behavioral developmental perspective to address the consequences of various types of traumatic events. The third presentation explores failures in social perspective taking that occur in personality disorders and their resultant negative behaviors. The final presentation focuses on the process of Behavioral Developmental Treatment. This focus clearly defines steps and goals in the treatment of personality disorders. |
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| Behavioral Developmental Perspective on Personality Disorders |
| JOSEPH ANTHONY RODRIGUEZ (Dare Institute), Michael Lamport Commons (Harvard Medical School), Jonas G. MIller (Dare Institute) |
| Abstract: This symposium lays out a behavioral developmental conceptual framework for studying the development of personality disorders. We argue that all personality disorders can be described using two sets of dimensions. The first set is social interpersonal perspective taking and intrapersonal perspective taking. The second set of dimensions is how a person handles value, discounting and delay, risk and change of value in reinforcement and punishment. On the one hand, it accounts for abnormal behavior by examining the retarded stage of functioning of the person on social/intrapersonal performance. On the other hand, it accounts for abnormal behavior by examining the person’s discrimination of the changes of value of consequences. The reason for using these two sets of dimensions to view personality disorder is that neither of them have any specific content, nor do they refer to any particular set of symptoms. What these two sets of dimensions accomplish is they describe, using just a few dimensions rather than large lists of symptoms, how a person is behaving in a counterproductive way. This approach emphasizes continuity across many forms of personality disorders and mental illness. |
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| Trauma and Development of Personality Disorders |
| JOSEPH ANTHONY RODRIGUEZ (Dare Institute), Michael Lamport Commons (Harvard Medical School), Jonas G. MIller (Dare Institute) |
| Abstract: About 1/3 of children who experience trauma seem to develop severe problems. The resultant disorders may include anxiety, conduct and personality disorders. Progress has been made in treating some of these disorders using behavior-analytic techniques. Although behavior-analytic practitioners work with victims of trauma, there is no clearly stated and widely accepted behavioral analytic or learning account for the development of trauma-related problems. Also, there is no behavioral theory, nor many studies, that detail the relationship between the forms of traumas, when they occur, and their behavioral outcomes. Trauma can take place in three major forms: Physical/sexual abuse, psychological abuse and abandonment. Both physical and psychological abuse involve strong aversive stimulation. Abandonment may also involve strong aversive stimulation but in situations in which attachment objects are not available. That stimulation has been shown to elicit “fear” responses and inhibit many behaviors present at the time of the occurrence. Our hypothesis is that the effect of trauma will vary with form, intensity and length of trauma and the hierarchical complexity of relationships that can be discriminated by the individual at the time of the trauma. The consequences of trauma should be able to be clearly delineated from a behavioral point of view. |
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| Failures in Social Perspective Taking at Different Behavioral Developmental Stages and Negative Behavioral Outcomes |
| JONAS G. MILLER (Dare Institute), Michael Lamport Commons (Harvard Medical School) |
| Abstract: Social perspective taking is defined as understanding, acknowledging, and integrating the view point of another person with one’s own. For example, when individuals are involved in a social conflict they literally take the other individuals’ perspectives of the conflict and integrate them with their own. According to Commons and Rodriguez (1990), individuals must identify what causes their behavior and what effect it has on both themselves and others. Individuals benefit from anticipating what effects complex social arrangements have on other peoples’ behavior as well as on their own. Social perspective taking is a developmental skill that can be measured from a behavioral developmental stage theory perspective. Failures in social perspective taking are observed through deficient interpersonal strategies that result in problematic social relations. Depending on stage of development, different impairments in social perspective taking are associated with different negative behavioral outcomes. For example, individuals with Psychopathic, Antisocial and Borderline Personality Disorder do not understand social norms. This would require an understanding of how most others view social behaviors. Non-understanding of how others view them results in behaviors such as acting out in public, lying and cheating. This paper explores various failures in social perspective taking and their related negative behaviors. |
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| Behavioral Developmental Treatment |
| JONAS G. MILLER (Dare Institute), Michael Lamport Commons (Harvard Medical School) |
| Abstract: Behavioral developmental treatment begins with a discussion of problems and recognition of the patient’s suffering. The therapist also focuses on what the patient’s short and long term reinforcers are. Patients are asked what they like to do, what they value, etc. Interest tests are often used along with a discussion of what kinds of reinforcers the interests represent. Behavior-development treatment utilizes many behavior teaching techniques to develop social perspective taking skills. These include: role playing, guessing what people think and then asking them what they did think, predicting how they will behave and checking the actual outcome, asking them how others will feel and then asking them how they felt, interviewing others about how they make their decisions and justify their behavior towards others; and asking them who is doing what to whom in a situation. Most personality disorders involve fears, especially over issues of delays and risk of bad outcomes due to possible loss, rejection, abandonment, etc. People describe their fears so that behavioral desensitization can be used. These also include the setting of and adherence to strict contingencies of reinforcement. There is a discussion of the experimental methods used in this treatment and its possible benefits and dangers. |
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| Recent Research on Assessment and Treatment of Eating Disorders and Obesity |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 222 AB |
| Area: CBM/CSE; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Tamela Giddings (University of South Florida) |
| Abstract: This symposium will feature four papers on assessment and treatment of eating disorders and obesity. In the first paper, Giddings will discuss a study evaluating a functional treatment for binge eating associated with bulimia. In the second paper, Pearson will discuss research on a group intervention involving ACT for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Next, Clemency will discuss research on factors contributing to body image problems and disordered eating in women in performance groups. Finally, Bordieri will discuss research on traditional behavioral treatments combined with ACT for treatment of obesity. |
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| Evaluation of a Functional Treatment for Binge Eating Associated with Bulimia Nervosa |
| TAMELA GIDDINGS (University of South Florida), Raymond G. Miltenberger (University of South Florida) |
| Abstract: Binge-eating disorders are a common problem affecting up to 5 percent of the American population in any given 6-month period. The most widely accepted treatment is some variation of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Although there is an abundance of research showing positive effects, the abstinence rates following this type of treatment are around 50%. A recent study by Bosch, Miltenberger, Gross, Knudson, and Brower-Breitwieser (2008) explored the effects of extinction on binge-eating behavior that was hypothesized to be maintained by relief from negative emotional responding. The study involved four women who engaged in binge-eating behavior, one of whom met the diagnostic criteria for Bulimia Nervosa. The treatment was successful, with three of the four participants obtaining abstinence. To date, this has been the only study examining this procedure and with only four participants. The purpose of the current study was to further evaluate extinction of binge eating maintained by automatic negative reinforcement with women who met diagnostic criteria for Bulimia Nervosa. Four young women enrolled in the study, three of whom met criteria for Bulimia Nervosa. The results showed that the treatment decreased binge eating to zero for all four women, although one dropped out of the study shortly after beginning the intervention. |
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| Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a Group Intervention for Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating Behaviors |
| ADRIA PEARSON (University of Nevada, Reno), Steven C. Hayes (University of Nevada, Reno), Victoria M. Follette (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: This study was a small randomized clinical trial collecting pilot data to assess the effectiveness of a one day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) workshop targeting body dissatisfaction and disordered eating attitudes. The treatment was compared to a wait-list control condition. The participants were seventy-three women from a local university and a medium sized city in the Western United States. Participants in the wait-list control group completed one week of self-monitoring of hunger and satiety and attended three appointments where they completed standardized measures. Subsequently they were offered the workshop and completed measures immediately post-workshop. Participants in the treatment group attended an initial appointment where they completed standardized measures. Then they attended the workshop and post-measures, and then attended two, once weekly follow up appointments. They also self-monitored hunger and satiety for one week following the workshop. Disordered eating pathology, body anxiety, distress related to thoughts about eating and body image and measures of experiential avoidance showed significant reductions in the treatment group when compared to the control group. Acceptance was shown as a mediating variable for changes in distress levels related to thoughts about eating and body image. Implications are that the study shows strong support as a brief intervention for a broad range of women experiencing disordered eating attitudes and distress related to eating and body image. |
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| Bodies on Display: Self-Objectification, Body Image and Disordered Eating |
| COLLEEN CLEMENCY (Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: This study investigated whether participation in multiple performance groups (theatre, and/or dance) was related to elevated levels of self-objectification, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating among 173 university women in the United States. A trend in body dissatisfaction and disordered eating was found as group membership increased. Self-objectification and body dissatisfaction predicted disordered eating behaviors, replicating findings in previous studies. American college women in performance arts appear to be uniquely at risk for developing poor body image and disordered eating habits, and participation in multiple performance groups may further enhance this at-risk status. |
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| Generating Sustainable Weight Loss: Outcomes from a Combination of Classic and Contemporary Behavioral Interventions |
| MICHAEL BORDIERI (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University), Nicholas Mui Ker Lik (Southern Illinois University), Becky L. Nastally (Southern Illinois University), Lindsay Beth Vick (Southern Illinois University), Brooke Diane Walker (SIU Carbondale) |
| Abstract: Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Behavioral interventions targeting weight loss have produced considerable immediate successes but have offered little to no evidence of maintenance. The cultural phenomenon of "yo-yo dieting" mirrors empirical findings which suggest that weight loss, albeit demanding, is a far easier process to target than weight maintenance. This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention package designed to generate both immediate and sustainable weight loss in obese and overweight adults. The therapy package combined the traditional behavioral interventions of self-monitoring and goal setting with an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) protocol across eight weekly individual therapy sessions. Weight served as the primary dependent measure but this investigation also explored changes in self-monitored health behaviors (i.e. food intake and exercise patterns) as well as a variety of quality of life and process measures. Preliminary data indicate positive outcomes and additional data will be collected. Implications for behavioral based weight loss and weight maintenance interventions will be presented. |
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| Behavior Therapies with Juvenile Offenders: Fire, Sex, and Violence |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 222 C |
| Area: CBM/CSE; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Kirk A.B. Newring (Kirk A. B. Newring, PhD, LLC) |
| Discussant: Halina Dziewolska (Private Practice/ Behavior Analyst Online) |
| CE Instructor: Rob Holdsambeck, Ed.D. |
| Abstract: Recently, the court system has directed much attention to juvenile firesetters. Behavioral treatments built from social learning theory have empirical support. In addition, several behavioral rating scales exist to estimate risk with this population. As the judicial branch has directed more resources towards juvenile offenders, including firesetters, several legislative bodies are increasing their focus on juveniles adjudicated as sexual offenders. A review of the research suggests that early intervention can provide a meaningful impact for the youthful sexual offender. What’s a clinical behavior analyst got to do with all of this? A skillful integration of the best practices sex offender assessment and 3rd wave behavior therapies couples what works with what matters in the treatment of the juvenile sexual offender. In closing, we offer a comprehensive review of the role of applied behavior analysis in the assessment and management of juvenile offenders will be presented. Emerging theoretical trends and evidenced-based practices will be discussed. |
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| Evidence based practices with juvenile fire setters: A social learning note for behavior analysts |
| JOSEPH D. CAUTILLI (Behavior Analysis and Therapy Partners) |
| Abstract: Juvenile firesetters is a population that has received much attention recently from the court system. Behavioral treatments built from social learning theory have empirical support. In addition, several behavioral rating scales exist to estimate risk with this population. This symposium offers information on the basics of assessment and intervention for this group. |
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| Recidivism Risk Reduction Therapy (3RT) and the Juvenile Sex Offender |
| KIRK A.B. NEWRING (Kirk A. B. Newing, PhD, LLC), Jennifer Wheeler (Private Practice) |
| Abstract: Juvenile sex offenders are the focus of several recent legislative initiatives. A review of the research suggests that early intervention can provide a meaningful impact for the youthful sexual offender. What’s a clinical behavior analyst got to do with all of this? A skillful integration of the best practices sex offender assessment and 3rd wave behavior therapies couples what works (evidence-based practice) with what matters (empirically-derived risk factors) in the treatment of the juvenile sexual offender. |
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| Behavior Therapies with Juvenile Offenders |
| MICHAEL WEINBERG (Orlando Behavior Health Services, LLC) |
| Abstract: This presentation will focus on behaviorally-based treatment approaches for court adjudicated juvenile sex offenders. Current literature and program interventions in treatment settings will be presented and discussed. Also, use of CBA approaches to evaluating these sex offenders will be presented. In addition, a comparison of behaviorally based approaches to the standard clinical approaches will be presented and discussed. |
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| BIG SIG Symposium 1: Behavior Analysis and Risk |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 131 A |
| Area: CSE; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The science of behavior analysis stretches to all facets of human behavior. One area of that behavior which could undoubtedly benefit from further exploration, is in that of risk. Therefore, the current symposium was created to address various risky behaviors in which humans engage, and offer behavior analytic explanations and concepts to the understanding and minimization of risky behavior. |
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| Creating an Empirical Measure of Risk at Casino Table Games |
| MARK R. DIXON (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The cognitive concept of risk is used to define various features of gambling and the personality type of casino gamblers. While risk can be operationally defined in various ways, an empirical calculation is lacking when referring to games such as roulette, craps, and other table games. This paper will provide an operant account of risk, demonstrate the ability to bring risk under experimental control, and provide data between subjects whereby contingencies of reinforcement can either increase or decrease “risk”. Nonbehavioral accounts of risk are imprecise and inaccurate given the ability to quantify this dimension of behavior from a behavioral account. |
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| Cognitive fallacies: Do they predict actual gambling behavior? |
| JEFFREY N. WEATHERLY (University of North Dakota), Katheryn Flannery Woehl (University of North Dakota) |
| Abstract: The research literature on gambling suggests that subscribing to
certain cognitive fallacies is correlated with problem gambling. The present study had non-pathological participants completed a series of questionnaires designed to determine how strongly they subscribed to certain cognitive fallacies. They then gambled money on a slot machine and on video poker. If these cognitive fallacies influence gambling behavior, then participants' subscription to these fallacies should be predictive of their behavior when they are gambling. The results did not support this conclusion, indicating that other factors likely control gambling behavior. |
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| Discounting Probability of Risk and Illness in Human Service Organizations |
| NICHOLAS MUI KER LIK (Southern Illinois University), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: In 2006, the World Health Organization reported that of the 35 million healthcare workers around the world, about 3 million are exposed to bloodborne pathogens each year, and a lack of health precautions predisposes them to infection. This occurs across multiple settings, including nursing homes and residential facilities for clinical populations. Some health care workers may discount the probability of their getting an infection, and discounting of that probabilistic outcome may affect the likelihood of their engaging in precautionary measures. If the probabilistic discounting paradigm could be applied to workers in residential facilities, it could provide some insight about why people do or do not take proper measures to control infection. The current study attempted to assess the rate at which workers in settings such as a residential facility and a nursing home discounted the probability of being infected with diseases such as viral hepatitis and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus while not engaging in proper safety precautions when caring for residents. Participants were also given questionnaires that asked them to self-report the frequency with which they engaged in specific precautionary measures such as wearing masks into a quarantine room and properly disposing of medical waste. Results and implications will be discussed. |
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| The Effect of Financial Contingencies on Golf Performance |
| JAMES BORDIERI (Southern Illinois University- Carbondale), Michael Bordieri (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that the introduction of financial gain and loss contingencies can affect performance in a video-game golf simulation. Pilot data indicated that the shot accuracy of participants decreased and their shot variance increased when they were exposed to a monetary gain condition but not when they were exposed to a response cost condition. The present investigation was designed to replicate and extend the previous findings by examining the effect of different financial contingencies on golf performance in a natural environment. Experienced golfers were assessed for baseline performance on both the putting green and the practice range of a municipal golf course. After stability was established, participants were exposed to conditions in which shot accuracy led to financial rewards and other conditions in which shot accuracy led to financial punishers. Results and implications for a behavioral understanding of golf performance, risk taking, and the "choking" response will be presented. |
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| Further Analyses of the Sensitivity of Partial Interval Recording and Momentary Time Sampling for Detecting Behavior Changes |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 129 A |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: John T. Rapp (St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: This symposium includes four presentations on the sensitivity of partial interval recording (PIR) and momentary time sampling (MTS) for detecting changes in actual or simulated behavioral events. In the first study, Devine and Rapp generated simulated data to target sessions with various percentages (e.g., 25%, 50%, 75%) of an event and subsequently evaluated the extent to which each interval size of PIR and MTS detected small, moderate, or large behavior changes. In addition, Devine and Rapp evaluated whether 10-min, 30-min, or 60-min sessions increased the sensitivity of each interval size of PIR or MTS for detecting small or moderate behavior changes. Finally, Devine and Rapp also evaluated the extent to which PIR and MTS produced false positives when evaluating changes in duration events and whether interval methods generated trends that did not exist in the respective CDR data paths. Testa and Rapp conducted a study that was similar the Devine and Rapp study; however, they focused on evaluating changes in frequency (discrete) events with PIR and MTS. In the third study, Carrol and Rapp evaluated whether the sensitivity of MTS for detecting small or moderate behavior changes could be enhanced using (a) combinations of MTS and PIR, (b) combinations of MTS and whole interval recording, and (c) variable intervals sizes of MTS. In the final presentation, Delmolino et al. evaluated the extent to which various interval sizes of PIR and MTS detected the same behavior function as continuous measures based on the results from functional assessments for several individuals. |
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| Evaluating the Accuracy of Interval Recording Methods in Estimating Duration Events: Assessing the Effect of Session Length |
| SHERISE L. DEVINE (St. Cloud State University and St. Amant), John T. Rapp (St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: This study extends upon the body of research that exists in assessing the accuracy of partial-interval recording (PIR) and momentary time sampling (MTS) in estimating duration events. Simulated data were generated to produce various absolute durations of behavior (25%, 33%, 50%, 66% and 75%) for various session lengths (10 min, 30 min, and 60 min). Inter-response times (IRT) were simulated for low, medium, or high ratios for each percentage of behavior. The generated data were scored using continuous duration recording (CDR) and graphed into ABAB reversal designs. Subsequently, the generated data were re-scored using PIR and MTS with interval sizes set at 10 s, 20 s, 30 s, 1 min, and 2 min. Results were graphed accordingly into ABAB reversal designs and visually inspected for functional control otherwise depicted in the CDR measures. Overall, increased session length yielded increased sensitivity for most interval recording methods examined, with exception to PIR interval sizes set at 30-s or higher. Increased session length allowed MTS with interval sizes up to 30-s to detect a slightly higher proportion of small behavior changes than 10-s MTS when using shorter sessions. |
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| Evaluating the Sensitivity of Interval Recording Methods for Detecting
Changes in Frequency Events: The Effect of Session Length |
| JENNIFER TESTA (St Cloud State University), John T. Rapp (St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: This study extends the findings on the accuracy of using partial interval recording (PIR) and momentary time sampling (MTS) to estimate frequency events by investigating the effects of session length. Using simulated data, continuous frequency records (CFR) were generated for events at different rates (approximately 0.75, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 8.0, 13.0, and 20.0 rpm) and session lengths (10, 30, and 60 min). Thereafter, CFR were converted into PIR and MTS records with 10-s, 20-s, 30-s, 1-min, and 2-min intervals. Data were depicted on line graphs and analyzed within ABAB reversal design. The results indicated that the sensitivity of various interval sizes of MTS increased as the session length increase and that some interval methods generate trends that do not appear in the CFR data paths. |
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| Detecting Changes in Simulated Events: Using Variations of
Momentary Time-Sampling to Measure Changes in Duration Events |
| REGINA A CARROLL (Saint Cloud State University), John T. Rapp (St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: The extent to which a greater proportion of small behavior changes could be detected with momentary time-sampling (MTS) was evaluated by (a) combining various interval sizes of partial-interval recording (PIR) with specific interval sizes of MTS and (b) using variable interval sizes of MTS that were based on means of 20 s and 1 min. For each targeted percentage, low, moderate, and high interresponse times to event-run ratios were compared with reversal designs to determine whether sensitivity increased with either variation of MTS. The results showed that (a) combinations of MTS and PIR and MTS and WIR yielded increased sensitivity over MTS alone; however, the increased sensitivity was offset by an increased probability of generating false positives and (b) variable-interval MTS produced comparable sensitivity to fixed-interval MTS. Thus, none of the three variations of MTS yielded increased detection of small behavior changes. |
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| Comparison of data obtained via continuous and interval recording methods during functional behavior assessment and treatment evaluation for stereotyped behavior. |
| SUZANNAH J. FERRAIOLI (Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutger), Lara M. Delmolino (Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutger), Robert LaRue (Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutger), Kate E. Fiske (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Meredith Bamond (Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutger), Kimberly Sloman (Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, Rutger) |
| Abstract: A number of studies have demonstrated that the use of partial interval recording (PIR) overestimates the occurrence of stereotyped behavior in clinical settings, whereas momentary time-sampling (MTS) more closely matches the relative duration of the behavior as measured by continuous observation and recording. (Delmolino, Fiske & Dackis, 2008; Gardenier, MacDonald, & Green, 2004). Further, it has been demonstrated that the selection of interval length and rate of the behavior impact the accuracy of both PIR and MTS (Fiske, Delmolino & Ferraioli, 2008; Gardenier et al., 2004 . Despite these findings, PIR data is often utilized for measurement of stereotyped behavior. In related research, Meany-Daboul, Roscoe, Bourret and Ahearn (2007) compared continuous frequency and duration data with PIR and MTS data within a treatment analysis and found that methods generated similar conclusions regarding data trends and response to treatment, although frequency data more closely matched PIR and duration data more closely matched MTS. The current study extends this line of research by comparing the data produced by continuous duration recording with PIR and MTS at various interval lengths for stereotypy exhibited by children with autism across functional behavior assessment sessions. Visual analysis will examine whether the same behavioral function is identified using each data method during functional assessment within a multi-element design. Subsequent data produced in treatment evaluation sessions with each observation method will also be compared to evaluate whether interpretations regarding response to treatment are influenced by data type. This line of research helps to highlight the need for calibration of data collection methods to ensure the most accurate data to guide data-based clinical decisions, particularly in relation to stereotyped behavior. |
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| Further Analysis of Variables that Influence Mand Training |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 128 |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Lisa C. Winborn-Kemmerer (West Virginia University) |
| Discussant: Joel Eric Ringdahl (University of Iowa) |
| CE Instructor: Bryan Davey, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Individuals with developmental disabilities and autism often present a variety of communication deficits. This can include the use of vocal sounds or babbling and the absence of vocal speech. Depending on the individual’s existing communication skills, different topographies of mands (e.g., vocal sounds, manual signs, communication cards, microswitch devices) may be targeted for training and alternative strategies may be needed to effectively increase communication. For example, training and reinforcing more than one mand may increase the individual’s functional communicative repertoire. In addition, training mands across multiple settings and functional contexts may affect the errors made with mands, the individual’s ability to generalize mands, and the amount of problem behavior displayed during training. In this symposium, the presenters will discuss the role of several variables (e.g., training multiple mands, extinction of mands, mand errors, stimulus generalization, and use of lag schedules of reinforcement) that may influence mand training and the use of functional communication skills. |
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| Stimulus Generalization and Extinction of Mands During Functional Communication Training |
| LISA C. WINBORN-KEMMERER (West Virginia University), Jennifer Wolfe (University of Louisville), Allison Cheek (University of Louisville) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the stimulus generalization of two mand topographies across settings and to further evaluate problem behavior and mands when one of the mands was placed on extinction. Two children with developmental disabilities and autism participated in this study. A functional analysis was conducted across one setting to identify the reinforcers for problem behavior. Next, problem behavior was assessed for the escape condition of the functional analysis in an alternative setting. Concurrent FCT programs were then implemented across both settings for problem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement. A microswitch was trained in one setting and a communication card was trained in the other. Following FCT, stimulus generalization (novel setting) was assessed for each mand. Finally, both mands were available for reinforcement in each setting, however, extinction was provided for one of the mands. All phases of this study were conducted within a multielement and reversal designs. Results showed that both mands generalized to novel settings and that the children used the alternative mand, when one of the mands was placed on extinction without increased problem behavior. Interobserver agreement was obtained across 30% of sessions and averaged above 80%. |
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| An Evaluation of Mand Errors Across Functional Contexts During Functional Communication Training. |
| TERRY FALCOMATA (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Joel Eric Ringdahl (University of Iowa), Kelly M. Vinquist (University of Iowa), Anuradha Salil Kumar Dutt (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate stimulus generalization errors during and following FCT and to examine the conditions under which errors were most likely to occur. Specifically, we evaluated the occurrence of stimulus generalization errors in manding across functional contexts in which one or more functions of problem behavior were identified. Errors were evaluated across three functional contexts (i.e., restricted tangible, attention, and demand) to allow for a direct evaluation of stimulus generalization within and across reinforcement classes (i.e., positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement) and functional contexts. We first conducted functional analyses to identify the function(s) of problem behavior with three children diagnosed with developmental disabilities. Next, we implemented FCT in which three novel manual signs across three respective functional contexts (i.e., tangible, attention, demand) were trained and the occurrence of stimulus generalization errors was evaluated across all three functional contexts. The results suggested that variables relating to reinforcement class affected patterns of stimulus generalization regardless of the presence or absence of functions of problem behavior within respective functional contexts. Interobserver agreement was obtained during at least 30% of sessions and averaged above 90%. |
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| The Use of Lag Schedules of Reinforcement to Increase
the Variability of Vocal Production in Children with Developmental Disabilities |
| ALLISON TETREAULT (West Virginia University), Claire St. Peter Pipkin (West Virginia University), Brittany Glass (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: Children diagnosed with developmental disabilities present a wide range of communication deficits. These deficits may range from complete mutism and nonuse of words to mild grammar deviations. While there is abundant literature on teaching strategies for children who use words, less attention has been given to strategies for subjects who engage in only the production of sounds. Intuitively, shaping procedures that reinforce successive approximations to the target behavior (here, a word) would seem to be a useful strategy. However, some children do not imitate vocal sounds and do not produce enough sounds to allow for the selection of a shapeable vocal unit (e.g., “eat” or “candy” cannot be shaped from the sounds /b/ or /p/). We investigated a lag reinforcement schedule to increase the vocal variability of young pre-verbal children with autism. By increasing variable vocal production, a wider array of sounds developed in the children’s vocal repertoire, which can be selected from and shaped into functional words. Future applications of this technology are suggested. Interobserver agreement was obtained for 30% of sessions and averaged above 80%. |
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| Recent Research in Training Mediators of Behavior Change Programs |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 120 A |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Kristen Lein (CSU, Fresno and BEST Consulting) |
| Discussant: Linda A. LeBlanc (Auburn University) |
| CE Instructor: Daniel J Moran, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Most research on behavior intervention procedures involves implementation of procedures by expert clinicians and/or experimenters. While this tradition is likely to contribute to procedural fidelity, in the real lives of clients, it is often parents, teachers, siblings, or others, who will need to be able to implement interventions. Therefore, research on effective methods for training others is needed. This symposium contains four studies on training. The first study examines the use of feedback in the training of paraeducators. The second paper describes the development of a program designed to include siblings in behavioral intervention for children with autism and will present preliminary data. The third study looked at the effects of contextualized treatment on parental adherence to behavior protocols with children diagnosed with developmental disabilities. The symposium will conclude with a discussion by Dr. Linda LeBlanc. |
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| Sibling Sessions: Training Siblings to Participate in Sessions at a Center Based Program for Children with Autism. |
| KRISTEN LEIN (CSU, Fresno and BEST Consulting), Amanda N. Adams (California State University, Fresno), Jessica Akers (California State University. Fresno), Ashley Yaugher (California State University. Fresno) |
| Abstract: Children with autism benefit from programs that contain significant family involvement. Siblings of children with autism are not only present in the household, but may carry additional caretaking responsibilities for their sibling or may feel some neglect at the attention a sibling in a treatment program receives. Siblings are often willing and present peers, and can make excellent peer trainers. This allows the sibling an opportunity to take an active and important role in their brother or sisters program, increases their understanding of the process, provides the child with autism a constant trained peer (or near peer) in their home environment providing multiple opportunities for generalization, and, thought not proven, may improve family dynamics. The Central California Autism Center at California State University, Fresno has implemented a sibling session program with these goals in mind. This presentation will include information on how the program was developed, how the siblings were trained, results from pre and post tests, data form the training sessions and the ongoing sibling session design. |
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| Evaluation of an eLearning Tool for Training Behavioral Therapists in Academic Knowledge of Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CATHERINE PETERS (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Doreen Granpeesheh (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Jonathan J. Tarbox (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Kathy Thompson (Center For Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Effective treatment programs depend on top-quality training of staff. Training is often costly, time-consuming, and can be especially inaccessible for persons living in rural locations. Self-instructional computer-based training programs, also known as electronic learning (eLearning), offer an alternative or supplement to traditional classroom training formats. The eLearning format provides increased accessibility to training by allowing individuals to experience training anywhere in the world with a computer with internet access. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an eLearning program as a supplement to in-person instruction, for training new behavioral therapists on academic knowledge of basic applied behavior analytic principles and procedures. Results are discussed in regards to the overall efficacy and efficiency of the eLearning training format and the implications for global dissemination of behavior analysis. |
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| Evaluating Parental Adherence to Behavioral Intervention for Children with Developmental Disabilities |
| RYAN P GUTTERSON (Behavioral Building Blocks/California State Univer), Carolyn Hitch (California State University, Los Angeles) |
| Abstract: This study looked at the effects of contextualized treatment on parental adherence to behavior protocols with children diagnosed with developmental disabilities, and the collateral effects on the child’s behavior. The contextualized treatment included an emphasis on collaborative goal setting within a family-chosen routine. Two dependent variables were measured: (a) percentage of parental adherence (number of steps implemented appropriately over the total number of steps), and (b) frequency of the child’s target response (i.e., functional communication and/or compliance). Results are discussed with respect to the benefits of contextualized parent training approaches for parents of children with developmental disabilities. |
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| Application of Behavior Analysis to Improve Quality of Life
for Individuals with Dementia |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 132 BC |
| Area: DEV/CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Clair Rummel (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: Current estimates show that 3.4 million adults, approximately one in seven adults over the age of 71, have some form of dementia (National Institute on Aging, 2007). As demographics shift over the next decade the growing need for restraint-free interventions to improve quality of life for both the individual with dementia and the caregiver will intensify. Individuals with dementia experience a progressive loss of ability to communicate, carry out tasks of daily living and maintain relationships. The presentations will outline behavioral interventions that decrease losses associated with dementia, including interventions to increase verbal repertoires using an idiographic approach to communication training; facilitate item recall through the use of tacts, echoics and intraverbals; and use self-referent stimuli to increase wayfinding ability in individuals with dementia. The growing needs of individuals with both Down syndrome and dementia of the Alzheimer's Type will be addressed
in a new conceptualization of the effects of function-based interventions designed to reduce agitation in this population. |
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| Facilitating Conversation in Alzheimer’s Disease: An Idiographic Approach to Communication Training for Family Caregivers |
| RUTH GENTRY (University of Nevada, Reno), Jane E. Fisher (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: The loss of verbal repertoires is an inevitable consequence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Communication difficulties are among the most stressful problems family caregivers report. This study employed a multiple baseline across caregiver/care-recipient dyads to evaluate the effects of an individualized approach to caregiver communication training. Four family caregivers were taught to modify specific verbal behaviors to create a non-punitive, supportive communicative environment for their family member with dementia. Coding of audio recordings of dyad conversations in the natural environment indicated that caregivers’ verbal behaviors significantly impacted the fluency and coherence of the speech of AD participants. Fewer communication problems occurred within dyads following caregiver training. Results indicate that individualized caregiver communication skills training can create environments that facilitate rather than punish the conversational speech of persons with AD, thereby promoting the preservation of verbal repertoires in persons with AD and meaningful relationships between persons with AD and their families. |
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| Using Tacts, Echoics, and Intraverbals to Facilitate Item Recall in Persons with Dementia |
| Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University), Katie A Sadowski (SIU-Carbondale), LAURA BARNES (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: Skinner’s 1957 analysis of Verbal Behavior has demonstrated a fair amount of utility to teach language to children with autism and other various disorders. However, the learning of language can be forgotten, as is the case for many elderly suffering from dementia or other degenerative diseases. It appears possible that Skinner’s operants may facilitate not only acquisition of language but also the ability to recall items or objects that may have appeared to be “forgotten”. The present study examined the utility of having a series of adults in long term care emit either tacts, echoics, or intraverbals upon presentation of various visual stimuli. Compared to a no-verbal response condition, it appears that the incorporation of Skinner’s verbal operants can in fact improve recall for this population. Implications for the re-training of lost language are presented. |
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| Wayfinding in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia |
| ALLISON A. JAY (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs), Leilani Feliciano (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs), Sarah Anderson (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs), Linda A. LeBlanc (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: There is a growing population of older adults with dementia that are residing in long term care settings. These individuals commonly experience difficulty locating their bedroom as a result of limited learning histories and ineffective discriminative stimuli to help distinguish individual bedrooms. Ineffective wayfinding abilities may expose elders to safety hazards and may create problems for other residents and staff. Study 1 investigated the ability of four elders with severe dementia to recognize various self-referent stimuli (i.e., young adulthood photograph, middle adulthood photograph, current photograph, and printed name). Residents that were able to meaningfully recognize at least one type of stimulus then participated in an intervention in which the various stimuli (i.e., best recognized stimulus, poorest recognized stimulus, no stimulus) were posted outside their bedroom doorway during assessment probes and room finding abilities were measured using direct observation techniques. Data are presented as accuracy and latency to room finding. Subsequent studies (Study 2 and 3) improve upon the first study by investigating the effects of various stimulus presentations (i.e., memory box vs. bulletin board), and the effects of discrimination training on wayfinding abilities. Results from Study 2 and 3 on resident room finding will be discussed. |
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| Behavioral Interventions to Reduce Agitation in Individuals with Downs syndrome and Dementia |
| MARY E STEERS (University of Colorado at Colorado Springs), Leilani Feliciano (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs) |
| Abstract: Individuals with developmental disabilities have a longer life expectancy than ever before. Yet, adults with Down’s syndrome (DS) are at an increased risk of developing dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (DAT), with prevalence rates of ranging from 50-75% by age 65 (Torr & Davis, 2007). Individuals with DAT often exhibit agitation (i.e., physical and/or verbal aggression), which negatively affects quality of life (QoL) and increases caregiver burden. Previously, physical or chemical restraints have been used to manage agitation (Cohen-Mansfield, Libin, & Marx, 2007) but the negative consequences associated with these strategies mandates the use of alternative interventions. Behavioral interventions to reduce agitation in individuals with DS and in individuals with DAT are often effective, but few studies investigated interventions in individuals with both DS and DAT. It is crucial to initiate empirically-derived, behaviorally-based approaches to manage behavior problems in this population. We present a conceptualization of the effects of function-based interventions designed to reduce agitation in individuals with DS and DAT. This project seeks to use functional assessment and resulting function-based interventions to effectively manage agitation with the goal of decreasing perceived caregiver burden and stress and increasing QoL for both the caregiver and the individual with DS and DAT. |
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| Educating through the physical – Using applied behavior analysis in physical education. |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 121 A |
| Area: EDC/CSE; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Phillip Ward (The Ohio State University) |
| Discussant: Phillip Ward (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: Physical activity holds great promise as a natural setting for learning and for behavioral change. Despite claims that engagement in physical activity can promote socially desired behaviors, there remains a lack of a clear conceptual base that can guide interventions as well as research endeavors in this field. This situation leaves those who utilize physical activity as a learning agent to base their practice on common sense, intuition, or trial and error. The purpose of this symposium is to suggest examine a conceptual framework of ‘Educating through the Physical’. This framework is grounded in the theory of Behavior Analysis and the principles of that science provide the guidelines for application and for the use of various procedures. In this symposium we discuss the rationale of ‘Educating through the Physical,’ present data-based examples of interventions used to educate through the physical and review the literature in physical education using interventions grounded in applied behavior analysis. |
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| Behavioral interventions in Physical Education |
| PHILLIP WARD (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: Two tests of the utility and value of a science to an educational community are the extent to which its findings (a) are used as recommended practices in the preparation of teachers and (b) are incorporated by teachers into everyday practice. This presentation presents the results of a review of experimental research conducted in physical education settings using applied behavior analysis principals and procedures. Following a on-line search, articles were selected from journals by visually inspecting each issue to identify those that used a single subject design to assess the effects of behavioral interventions in P-12 or teacher preparation settings. A total of 44 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies were categorized according to their focus: (a) preservice or inservice teacher behavior, (b) student learning, (c) class management, or (d) student learning specifically focused on students with disabilities in adapted or inclusive settings. The review describes the scope of the behavioral interventions and examines the research designs used. A methodological critique suggests that while findings have been robust and the designs used are typically rigorous, investigators have not assessed generality, maintenance or social validity as well as they might. |
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| Why Educate Through the Physical?
Why Educate through the Physical: A Rationale and Behavioral Interpretation |
| EITAN ELDAR (Zinman College, Israel), Shiri Ayvazo (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) |
| Abstract: In an era of diversity, inclusive education, and increasing rates of maladaptive behaviors, social competence is essential for successful performance in school and in life. Physical education it has been argued is an effective vehicle for the acquisition of social skills and values. Since the 1980s, there has been a proliferation of prosocial programs in physical education that set the acquisition of prosocial skills as their primary objective. The unique features of physical activity and play highlight it as a constructive context for attaining behavioral goals such as self-control and social skills. Strenuous activity, competition, adherence to rules, team play, frustration and joy are all characteristics inherent in sport that make it a perfect “school for life”. We provide a rationale for teaching prosocial and adaptive competencies of students of various age groups and needs, through a physical education program. Strategies that can endorse educational goals other than those of movement will be suggested with their behavioral interpretation. |
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| Physical Education as a Context for Behavioral Assessment And Intervention – Emerging Data |
| EITAN ELDAR (Zinman College, Israel), Michal Hirschmann (Zinman College, Israel), Efrat Elran (Zinman College, Israel) |
| Abstract: We shall present data from two studies that have used Physical Education (PE) for assessing and teaching pro-social skills. In the first study, sixteen male high-school students practiced a movement game. The difficulty level of the game was manipulated through four different difficulty domains: (1) Duration of the game; (2) Intensity of running; (3) Complexity of the physical task; and (4) Distracters during performance. The dependent variable was students' misbehavior. A multielement design showed that the highest levels of misbehaviors occurred with the manipulation of the intensity factor, a pattern that became more pronounced as the task prolonged.
The second study examined the contribution of individualized PE program in improving students' behavior and consequently, in facilitating classroom management. Three students from three different classes in a special education school participated in the study. A multiple baseline design across participants indicated an improvement in the behavior of all target students during the individual PE intervention. The reduction in inappropriate behavior was apparent during academic classes as well. Improvement in learning time for all students in two classes and a more stable learning pattern for the third was shown. |
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| Goodbye Trainer: The Role of Rule Governed Behavior in Faculty Training |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 121 BC |
| Area: EDC/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Kelly A. Hobbins (Hawthorne Country Day School) |
| CE Instructor: Lisa Britton, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: The higher-order class of behaviors that characterize rule governed behavior play a role in traditional and novel forms of faculty training in schools. Because of the economical nature, and practicality generated by instruction-following, many complex behaviors of school staff are shaped by the verbal community. While many traditional approaches to faculty training involve instruction following, these instructed performances are often insensitive to the consequences experienced in a classroom. The four papers presented in this symposium will provide instructional tactics for ensuring such skilled performance with faculty that allow a combination of both rule governed and contingency shaped experiences through the use of PSI, module systems of training, as well as a teacher performance rate accuracy tool. Further, the papers will examine the contingencies that maintain instruction following, as well as the relationship between verbal formulations and nonverbal contingencies. Results discussed from each of the aforementioned studies will also examine the contingencies that maintain instruction-following with respect to faculty training. |
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| The Economics and Outcomes of PSI in Faculty Training |
| AMY J. DAVIES LACKEY (Hawthorne Country Day School), Virginia S. Wong (Hawthorne Country Day School), Jean Korchma (Hawthorne Country Day School) |
| Abstract: The personalized system of instruction (PSI) developed by Keller and his colleagues has been demonstrated to be effective in collegiate settings. Whether this system can be effective in the workplace (specifically a school setting) may depend on the economics of time and student outcomes as a result of this type of training. Procedures described by Keller (1968) were employed with the training of school staff in a behavior analytic school setting, and compared with a traditional lecture method used in workshops and staff training. A within-subjects design was used in which half of the faculty participants experienced the PSI condition and half experienced the traditional lecture method. Following the training sequence, employees were to demonstrate the skills they acquired by running instructional programs in a discrete trial format. Accuracy and rate, as well as teacher and student performance were measured through the use of a Teacher Performance Rate Accuracy Form, or TPRA (Greer), and functioned as the dependent variable of the study. |
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| Using a Self-Management Script with an Embedded Task Analysis to Prompt Teacher Completion of Performance Goals and Collateral Effects on Student Behavior |
| TINA MARIE COVINGTON (Hawthorne Foundation), Daren Cerrone (Hawthorne Country Day School), Jason Cory Rosenfeld (Hawthorne Country Day School), Amanda W Doll (Manhattanville College), Jean Korchma (Hawthorne Country Day School) |
| Abstract: In three studies we investigated the effects of a self-management script on the cumulative number of performance goals completed by teachers. Teachers were given a set of 5 performance goals related to increasing verbal behavior; contingency shaped behavior, and verbally mediated skills in ABA. Supervisors through quizzes, spot checks and classroom meetings monitored progress. During intervention, teachers were given a self-management script, which listed the behaviors necessary to identify, organize, set up a timeline, and monitor the completion of performance goals. Results showed that the textual script correlated with an increase in the number of performance goals completed weekly by the participants. Positive effects on student behavior were evident and suggested further investigation on the collateral effects of the completion of the performance goals. |
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| The Effects of Supervisor-Delivered Feedback and Video Self-Observation with the Teacher Performance Rate/Accuracy (TPRA) Measurement |
| AMANDA W DOLL (Manhattanville College), Daren Cerrone (Hawthorne Country Day School), Jason Cory Rosenfeld (Hawthorne Country Day School) |
| Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that teachers in special education settings make superior improvements in their instruction when they are provided with repeated observations and specific, rather than general feedback (Ingham & Greer, 1992) that addresses both their own behavior and their students’ behavior simultaneously, such as with the TPRA (Selinske, Greer, & Lodhi (1991). The present multiple baseline across teachers study used the TPRA measure within a special school environment to provide written and graphic feedback to teachers and teaching assistants during a baseline condition. Those staff identified as requiring support on the basis of their pre-intervention performance were invited to participate. These staff were taught to code videotaped instructional segments until they were calibrated observers to the training tape. Finally, teachers recorded their own teaching and were then taught to perform TPRA observations on themselves and to apply decision rules and goal-setting to their own graphed performances. A functional relationship between video self-observation was demonstrated for several of the teachers. |
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| Teaching machines for teachers - The Legacy of BF Skinner |
| JEREMY H. GREENBERG (Applied Behavioral Consulting Services, LLC) |
| Abstract: There has been an increase in the use of computers and technology over the recent years in the instruction of students. Video modeling has demonstrated positive results for many students. Teachers and supervisors can benefit as well from technological enhanced instruction. Schools for students that use applied behavior analysis have a need for consistent training procedures. Some examples of computer-based training will be discussed as well as potential benefits. |
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| Recent Developments in Evidence-based Practice and Their Relevance for the Field of Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 122 BC |
| Area: EDC/CSE; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Oliver Wendt (Purdue University) |
| Abstract: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is increasingly being recognized as the preferred approach to clinical practice in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). EBP involves the integration of research evidence with clinical expertise and stakeholder perspectives to derive the best possible decisions for a client. The EBP process involves: asking a well-built question, searching for and appraising evidence, applying the evidence, and evaluating the application.
Implementing EBP, however, can be difficult. Practitioners can experience barriers such as lacking skills and knowledge, missing resources (e.g., no access to research databases), and limited time. Consequently, evidence-based journals have evolved that try to translate research into practice, thereby reducing EBP implementation barriers.
The growing importance of EBP can also be attributed to the desire to know if an intervention is effective. ABA practitioners and their clients want to know what outcomes will be improved by an intervention, how much improvement to expect, how long the intervention will last, and how much it will cost. Such questions can be answered by systematic reviews of research evidence and institutions such as the Campbell Collaboration have evolved to produce, disseminate and maintain systematic reviews.
This symposium will highlight these current EBP movements and discuss their relevancy for the ABA field. |
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| The Campbell Collaboration (C2): Bridging the Research-Practice Gap |
| CHAD NYE (University of Central Florida) |
| Abstract: This paper will provide a summary of the Campbell Collaboration’s mission to promote the collection, synthesis, and analysis of scientific evidence through systematic reviews to address ‘What Works’ in interventions, treatments, programs, or instruction. C2 is an international research network that produces systematic reviews of the effects of educational and social interventions. C2 is based on voluntary cooperation among researchers of a variety of backgrounds. C2 currently has five Coordinating Groups: Social Welfare, Crime and Justice, Education, Methods, and the Users group. The Coordinating Groups are responsible for the production, scientific merit, and relevance of systematic reviews. They provide editorial services and support to review authors. C2 is modeled after its sibling in health care, the Cochrane Collaboration. Cochrane had been producing systematic reviews since 1994; many of its members saw the need for an organization that would produce systematic reviews of research evidence on the effectiveness of behavioral, educational, and social interventions. Support for this idea from social and behavioral scientists led to the creation of C2 in 2000. Of special interest to the ABA field, is the Education Coordinating Group, which prepares, updates, and disseminates systematic reviews of high-quality educational and training interventions to improve education and learning. |
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| Producing Systematic Reviews of Single-subject Research Through C2 |
| OLIVER WENDT (Purdue University) |
| Abstract: This presentation will provide an overview on how to conduct a systematic review of single-subject experimental designs (SSEDs) through the Campbell Collaboration (C2). SSEDs typically rely on within-subject experimental controls and use of time series data to establish the effectiveness of an intervention. The adoption of evidence-based practice (EBP) in disability, health care and rehabilitation fields demands that practitioners do not rely on any one individual study but rather the aggregated evidence from a synthesis of studies using SSEDs. In EBP, systematic reviews of SSEDs constitute one of the most persuasive forms of scientific evidence. Systematic reviews of SSEDs rank higher on evidence hierarchies than an individual SSED.
The Campbell Collaboration offers excellent editorial service and peer review for authors of systematic reviews. Publishing a review with C2 increases visibility and impact. Campbell can offer financial assistance for certain projects, assistance with searching and other forms of methodological support.
The steps in producing a Campbell systematic review are:
1. Selecting a topic
2. Title registration
3. Establishing a review team
4. Developing a protocol (project plan)
5. Undertaking the systematic review
6. Publishing the review |
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| The Role of Evidence-based Journals as Evidence-Based Information Sources |
| RALF SCHLOSSER (Northeastern University) |
| Abstract: This paper will illustrate how evidence-based journals provide structured abstracts of appraised research studies and systematic reviews, thus reducing barriers to engaging in evidence-based practice (EBP). When trying to incorporate EBP in daily practice, clinicians often face considerable implementation barriers, including a beginning knowledge and skills base about EBP, lack of resources (e.g., access to pertinent databases), and insufficient dedicated EBP time. Perhaps the most time-consuming EBP activity that also requires the most expertise is the searching for and critical appraisal of evidence. Clinicians require knowledge of and skills in searching various sources in order to retrieve the best and most current evidence in an efficient manner. Clinicians also require knowledge of various factors that contribute to the internal and external validity of research. This presentation will highlight the roles of evidence-based journals among the array of evidence-based information services in order to negotiate these barriers to EBP implementation. The presenter will draw from experience as founding editor of Evidence-based Communication Assessment and Intervention, a new evidence-based journal in the area of communication disorders. |
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| Translating Research to Practice through Evidence-Based Practice Journals in Education |
| MARK D. SHRIVER (Munroe-Meyer Institute) |
| Abstract: This presentation will discuss issues specific to the translation of research to practice with an emphasis on the role of dissemination of research to practitioners based on lessons learned in the development and on-going publication of the Journal of Evidence-Based Practices for Schools (JEBP). The mission of JEBP is to positively influence the daily practice of school psychologists and educators through dissemination of studies demonstrating the successful application of an evidence-based practice for an educational setting. Articles published in JEBP facilitate the translation of research to practice by (a) using non-technical language, (b) outlining an evidence-based practice, (c) describing the literature supporting the effectiveness and theoretical underpinnings of the practice, (d) describing the findings of a study in which the practice was implemented in an educational setting, and (e) providing readers with the information they need to implement the practice in their own schools. Implementation Guidelines are another key element of JEBP; these guidelines summarize an evidence-based practice and can be used as pull-out handouts in educational settings for guiding implementation of the practice. |
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| Quality Assurance Systems: Using OBM to Monitor Critical Clinical Service Delivery Components of ABA Programs |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 221 AB |
| Area: OBM/AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Gordon A. DeFalco (Evergreen Center) |
| Discussant: Robert F Littleton Jr (Evergreen Center) |
| CE Instructor: Michael Miklos, M.S. |
| Abstract: Applied behavior analysis continues to expand and refine effective procedures for producing behavior change. Training and maintaining staff skills in these procedures have become increasingly demanding and labor intensive. Another challenge to the field is service delivery models that involve consultation by staff in off site locations such as schools and home settings. To accommodate these challenges, many companies have developed system-wide management interventions to address the need to effectively impact all clients, insure staff training and skill maintenance, and staff fidelity in procedural implementation. This symposium will describe system-wide interventions that have been designed to address critical training issues in a community residential school and in a community-based consultation and autism services delivery model. The first presentation describes a research study that compared the effectiveness of classroom presentations and online training presentation called Training on Demand (TOD). The second presentation focuses on a critical task for applied behavior analysts, that of graphing data. A systems approach to collecting data, submitting graphs, and monitoring/reviewing compliance will be described. The final presentation describes a supervisory feedback system and the effects of its implementation on supervisor and staff teaching behavior over a 1-year period in a home-based service model. |
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| A Comparison of Web-based versus Live Training on Staff Skill Acquisition. |
| DIANA LOUISE FISHBACK (Evergreen Center), Gordon A. DeFalco (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 2 staff teaching formats, live presentation and online computer presentation. Approximately 200 experienced and inexperienced employees were randomly assigned to either a traditional classroom or web-based presentation on wheelchair van safety procedures using identical power point and video information. Staff acquisition was assessed on a written test administered immediately after the presentation and a behavior checklist assessing staff performance of safety skills on a wheelchair van. Results indicated minimal differences between the classroom trained and web based trained staff on the written quiz and behavior checklist. All staff also completed a survey evaluating their satisfaction with the presentation format. Satisfaction was measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Results indicate favorable ratings for both online and live presentations with each group averaging 4.0 in all areas. Given the similarity in performance between classroom and web based instruction advantages and limitations of these 2 instructional formats will be discussed. Directions for future research will be considered |
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| Increasing Submission of Graphical Data for Home Based Autism Services |
| STEVEN WOOLF (BEACON Services), Robert F Littleton Jr (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: The graphic display of data is an essential feature of applied behavior analysis that sets it apart from many other human services and educational professions. Graphs are used by behavior analysts to organize data, determine treatment effectiveness, communicate treatment outcomes to others, and examine the effects of particular interventions on human behavior (Copper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). There is significant research supporting the effectiveness of using graphs to communicate and interpret behavioral/educational data (Parsonson & Baer, 1992). Despite this empirical support, it is often difficult for large human services/educational organizations to maintain and collect graphed data on a consistent basis (Fox & Davis, 2005). This presentation describes the systems used by an agency serving over 300 children receiving home based ABA services. The processes of collecting data, submitting graphs, and monitoring/reviewing compliance will be described. Data will be presented on system implementation and discussed in terms of the effects of system supports, compliance monitoring, visual posting, and incentives relative to graph submission behavior. |
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| Effects of a Supervision Monitoring System on Written Supervisory Feedback |
| ANN FILER (BEACON Services), Robert K. Ross (BEACON Services), Robert F Littleton Jr (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: Providing quality home based services to children with autism presents a number of challenges. Among those are ensuring that staff training results in competent implementation of complex procedures. In order to accomplish the goals of providing effective supervision, maintaining or remediating teacher performance, systems supports are required. Green, Rollyson, Passante, & Reid, (2002) suggested that “direct feedback” was related to high levels of staff performance. This study also suggested that specific feedback was a critical element of effective supervisory behavior. The present study looks at the effects of the implementation of a formal system to provide objective and subjective feedback on staff implementation of ABA programming in home based settings. The presentation will review the components of a written feedback system and the effects of its implementation on supervisor and staff behavior over a one year period. The data indicate that the overall ratings of staff performance increased. Additionally, the use of the system resulted in higher frequencies of “specific” performance feedback and lower frequencies of “general” feedback statements over time. These data suggest that implementation of a formal supervision feedback system may shape the behavior of supervisors and, in turn, the staff they supervise. |
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| Sexual Behavior from an Applied Behavior Analytic Perspective (STEPSIG Symposium) |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 120 D |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Helen Bloomer (Aspire Programs) |
| Discussant: Helen Bloomer (Aspire Programs) |
| Abstract: The study of sexual behavior has often been theory driven, as opposed to data-driven. In this symposium, the treatment of inappropriate sexual behavior, as well as the development of typical sexual behavior and paraphilias will be described from a data-based Applied Behavior Analytic perspective. |
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| A Behavioral Description of the Development of Paraphilias |
| BOBBY NEWMAN (Room to Grow) |
| Abstract: Paraphilias, or sexual arousal patterns that are not standard within the sub-culture, have been theorized to emerge for a variety of reasons. Data will be presented that support an Applied Behavior Analytic understanding of the development of paraphilia. |
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| A content analysis of BDSM internet media |
| FAWNA STOCKWELL (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), Bobby Newman (Room to Grow) |
| Abstract: BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, and Masochism) lifestyle interactions often involve some type of social dynamic in which one individual has a great deal more power or control of a situation than another individual, and this raises the question of whether physical and emotional force/coercion is used, as well as whether both of the involved parties freely consent to participate in the activity. This project involved a content analysis of three types of stimuli: BDSM/fetish online discussion boards, BDSM/fetish video clips, and BDSM/fetish narrative fiction writings. Results of the analysis will indicate the prevalence of force and consent in each of the three domains. Implications of the findings will be discussed. |
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| A Training Package for Teaching Appropriate Touching of Self and Others |
| CRISTIANE B SOUZA BERTONE (Expanding Repertoires), Lisa M. Swift (Expanding Repertoires), Bobby Newman (Room to Grow) |
| Abstract: Many students daignosed with developmental disabilities have had no, or only cursory, sex educaiton. They then often suffer the consequences of engagin in inappropriate touching. In this paper, we will discuss the importance of teaching "appropriate" touching for individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities. We will discuss intereventions for decreasing "inapporpriate" touching in adolescent individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities and present data regarding a teaching package that aims to teach more appropriate touchign of self and others.. |
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| Current Issues in Graduate Training in Behavior Analysis |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 129 B |
| Area: TBA/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jonathan J. Tarbox (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| CE Instructor: Kyong-Mee Chung, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: The field of behavior analysis is expanding at a rapid pace, as is evidenced by the growing membership of the Association for Behavior Analysis International and the growing number of Board Certified Behavior Analysts. This is encouraging for the health and vitality of the field but important issues related to the professional quality and scientific foundation of the field, as well as to the availability of qualified experts to meet clinical demand, remain. This symposium consists of four papers discussing various issues related to graduate training in behavior analysis, the manner in which it is currently being conducted, the outlook in terms of supply and demand for individuals with graduate degrees in behavior analysis, and the implications for the quality of the field. |
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| The Graduate Training Crisis in Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JONATHAN J. TARBOX (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: A crisis is currently raging in autism and applied behavior analysis: There simply are not enough masters and PhD-level expert clinicians to meet the clinical demand. Gone are the days when behavior analysts had to beg for funding to work with children with autism. Many top quality agencies now have scores or even hundreds of families languishing on their waitlists, with funding in hand, but for whom there is no one available to supervise their children’s services. This situation is so commonplace that many in the field of applied behavior analysis have come to accept it as a given – but deprivation from effective treatment is anything but a given to the families who desperately need it. Unfortunately, the outlook is bleak. The rate at which new graduate training programs are developing is not sufficient and no solution appears to be on the horizon. This paper will discuss the nature of the problem and some potential steps toward a solution. The case will be made that a significant change in the way in which the problem is currently conceptualized will be necessary if any significant progress is to be made. |
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| Current Issues Associated with Graduate Training in Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ELLIE KAZEMI (California State University, Northridge) |
| Abstract: Successful graduate training in Applied Behavior Analysis involves teaching the use of concepts and principles of ABA within the framework of scientific methodology and design. The gap between science and practice has been evident in the field of clinical psychology with a distinction made between professionals who develop, conduct, and publish research (i.e., PhDs) versus professionals who consume and interpret research findings for practice (i.e., PsyDs). Applied Behavior Analysts, however, are scientists in practice, requiring graduate training that fuses these seemingly disparate fields. At CSUN, we find the majority of candidates who currently seek post-MA coursework in behavior analysis either enter our program with previous strengths in scientific methodology and design or in clinical practice. The diverse background of candidates enriches classroom discussion but also serves as a challenge. Furthermore, supervised fieldwork experience is typically conducted at local behavioral agencies or schools limiting overall quality control. I will discuss some of these challenges, how CSUN proposes to deal with some of these challenges, the role of BACB, and changes needed to implement the “Gold Standard Strategy” discussed by Shook, Rosales and Glenn (2002). |
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| Challenges and Opportunities for Graduate Training in ABA in Ireland |
| KRISTEN A. MAGLIERI (Trinity College Dublin), Rita Honan (Trinity College Dublin), Maeve Bracken (Trinity College Dublin), Claire E. McDowell (University of Ulster), Sinead Smyth (University of Ulster, Coleraine) |
| Abstract: Behavior Analysis has a long and influential history in Ireland and Northern Ireland, but interest in the application of behavior analysis in education and healthcare has grown considerably in recent years. To meet this growing need, graduate training programs in Applied Behavior Analysis have developed across the island. Training is now available at all levels, from board certified associate behavior analyst to doctoral behavior analyst. This presentation will discuss the benefits and challenges of providing graduate education in ABA as Ireland actively considers how best to implement psychological and special needs services at a national level. Trinity College Dublin developed the first board certified training program at the associate level in Ireland and the course has responded to a variety of challenges during this time. This presentation will review the responses to these challenges and the lessons learned. We will also present perspectives on developing support for ABA services in Ireland and Northern Ireland in general. |
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| Is Graduate Training in Applied Behavior Analysis Possible for Individuals Who Work Full-time? |
| RACHEL S. F. TARBOX (Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Los Ang), Michele Nealon-Woods (The Chicago School of Psychology, Los Angeles) |
| Abstract: As the field of behavior analysis continues to grow, the need to provide high quality graduate training has increased. Funding agencies are increasingly requiring that professionals are Board Certified Behavior Analysts, and in some cases, that individuals also hold a doctoral degree. There are a number of well-established graduate training programs in behavior analysis; however, programs are not typically designed to meet the needs of a full-time working professional. There are several reasons why an individual may chose to attend graduate school while maintaining a professional career including; financial constraints, a desire to work in the field while engaging in the learning process, advanced degree requirements at their current place of employment, and more. Although there are some potential drawbacks to attending graduate school under these conditions, there are several potential benefits such as the type of learning environment that is created in the classroom when the students bring their applied experience to the table. The purpose of this talk is to describe a model of graduate training that has been designed to meet the needs of these individuals. Three programs will be described; certificate program for meeting the course requirements for the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, a terminal Masters degree, and a Doctoral degree. |
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| Blocking, Instinctive Behavior, and Pyramid Schemes: Diverse Conceptual Issues |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 132 A |
| Chair: John W. Donahoe (Univ. Massachusetts/Amherst) |
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| Blocking of Stimulus Control: Limits on the Normative Discrepancy Account |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JOHN W. DONAHOE (Univ. Massachusetts/Amherst), Rosalind Burns (University of Massachusetts/Amherst), José E. Burgos (University of Guadalajara - CEIC) |
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| Abstract: Blocking of stimulus control occurs when a target stimulus is followed by a reinforcer in the presence of another stimulus that has already been paired with the same reinforcer. Blocking of control by the target stimulus indicates that some variable in addition to contiguity is required for conditioning. This additional variable is commonly called discrepancy, as in the Rescorla-Wagner model. However, experimental work—including that reported here—shows that not all subjects display blocking. Such individual differences are problematic for a variable held to be fundamental to the conditioning process. In the present experiment we show that the degree of blocking is not predicted by various measures of individual behavior such as the extent of disruption of responding when conditioning is shifted from single-stimulus training to compound-stimulus training that includes the target stimulus. Findings from other laboratories and computer simulations from this laboratory suggest that individual differences in blocking occur to the extent that contextual stimuli are components of the functional CS. These findings are used to make a general point about the importance of studying the behavior of individual subjects, even for phenomena that are conventionally defined by group comparisons in normative psychology (associationism). |
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| CANCELLED: Instinctive behavior is neither respondent behavior nor operant behavior |
| Domain: Theory |
| MASAYA SATO (Seisa University) |
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| Abstract: Behavior analysis classifies all behaviors into respondent behavior and operant behavior. However, instinctive behavior is neither respondent behavior nor operant behavior. The reasons are (1) the measure of instinctive behavior is neither latency nor magnitude, (2) the releaser of instinctive behavior functions not quantitatively but qualitatively, (3) most of instinctive behaviors can not be conditioned respondently or operantly. |
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| Behavioral Contingency Analysis of Pyramid Schemes, Monetary Systems, and Securities Markets |
| Domain: Theory |
| FRANCIS MECHNER (The Mechner Foundation) |
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| Abstract: Behavioral analysis that uses a formal language for codifying behavioral contingencies reveals that all of the above, as well as lotteries, chain letters, and derivatives, share certain important features:
(1) Availability of a positively reinforcing act whose occurrence makes a similar act available to another party.
(2) Every repetition of the act increases some variable (e.g., number of claims against, or competing for, a limited asset: amount of a debt; depletion of a limited resource).
(3) When the cumulative total of such a variable reaches a certain critical value, an external agency (a physical or natural process, a legal or social mechanism, etc.) triggers an action or event that terminates the process abruptly.
(4) That action or event is negative for the party whose act consequated the reaching of that limit.
Examples of this contingency:
• Buying an asset and then selling it at a profit to a buyer who may in turn resell it at a profit.
• Issuing securities or currency units backed by soft assets (e.g., projected future earnings, a franchise, a reputation, a credit facility, derivatives, etc.). The securities or currency units are then used as backing for the issuance of more securities or currency units. |
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| Science Board Translational Series: Laboratory and Applied Perspectives on Token Reinforcement |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 2:00 PM–3:20 PM |
| North 225 |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Timothy D. Hackenberg (University of Florida) |
| Discussant: Timothy D. Hackenberg (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Token reinforcement systems are among the oldest and most successful technologies to emerge from behavior analysis. Numerous studies have documented the therapeutic and educational benefits of token procedures across a wide range of settings and subject populations. Unlike most successful technologies in behavior analysis, however, the science and technology of token systems have developed largely in parallel, with little cross-fertilization of ideas and concepts. The present symposium is designed to bridge the gap between laboratory and applied research on token systems, bringing together complementary research programs from laboratory and applied research realms. Each presentation will review token reinforcement from a different perspective—Hackenberg on laboratory research, Borrero on token economies in traditional applied settings (e.g., classrooms, clinics), and Silverman on token (voucher) reinforcement in substance-abuse contexts. The goal is to identify common themes that cut across research areas, facilitating productive interaction along the laboratory-application continuum. |
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| Token Reinforcement in the Laboratory and Beyond |
| TIMOTHY D. HACKENBERG (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: There is a long history of laboratory research on token reinforcement, dating back to the 1930s and extending through to the present day. Despite periods of productive research activity, the literature on token reinforcement has developed sporadically, with little integration across research programs. The purpose of the present paper is to review what is known about token reinforcement under laboratory conditions and in relation to general principles of behavior. Special emphasis will be placed on domains with applicability to research in applied settings—generalized reinforcement, antecedent functions, and conditioned punishment—to foster productive dialogue among laboratory and applied scientists. |
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| Token Economies in Applied Settings: Suggestions for Bidirectional Interaction Along the Basic-Applied Continuum |
| JOHN C. BORRERO (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) |
| Abstract: In the applied literature the token economy has been implemented as a behavior change procedure for over 40 years, and is quite common in classroom and vocational settings in which research is not conducted (i.e., it is commonly used a behavior change procedure and not as a mechanism for the conduct of original research). Basic research involving token reinforcement preparations has too comprised a respectable slice of the literature in a period spanning more than 50 years. However, at both ends of the basic-applied continuum, token economy research has decreased considerably in the last 40 to 50 years. This presentation will: (a) review the history of the token economy in applied settings, (b) review some existing nonhuman literature with implications for improving the viability of the token economy in application, and (c) include suggestions for basic experimentation to address matters of importance in the application of token systems. In all cases, past and current token research will be highlighted. |
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| Voucher-Based Token Reinforcement in the Treatment of Drug Addiction |
| KENNETH SILVERMAN (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: Evidence from the laboratory and the clinic suggests that drug addiction can be viewed as operant behavior and effectively treated through the application of principles of operant conditioning. The principles of operant conditioning have been applied to the treatment of drug addiction with particular effectiveness in abstinence reinforcement procedures. Under these procedures, patients receive desirable consequences contingent on providing objective evidence of drug abstinence (e.g., drug-free urine samples). Voucher-based abstinence reinforcement, in which patients receive token reinforcers (monetary vouchers exchangeable for goods and services), has been particularly effective and versatile. Guided by basic laboratory research on operant conditioning, voucher-based token reinforcement has been effective in promoting abstinence from a range of drugs and in diverse populations. It has been parametrically manipulated to increase the proportion of patients that respond to the intervention and to promote long-term abstinence. It has been integrated into a variety of settings, including treatment clinics, drug courts, and workplaces. This presentation will review the history, current status, and future directions of research on voucher reinforcement in the treatment of drug addiction, with examples from a program of research that has focused on the treatment of cocaine and heroin addiction in poor and chronically unemployed adults living in Baltimore, MD. |
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| On the Relation Between Stimulus Equivalence, the Naming Hypothesis, and Relational Frame Theory in the Analysis of Verbal behavior and Cognition |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:20 PM |
| West 301 CD |
| Area: DEV/VBC; Domain: Theory |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Jeffrey H. Tiger, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Ramona Houmanfar (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Presenting Authors: : RUTH ANNE REHFELDT (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The phenomenon known as derived stimulus relations holds a number of important implications for the understanding of human language and cognition, leading some researchers to suggest that relational learning repertoires are the basis of most, if not all, of complex human behavior. This tutorial will first describe the relation between derived stimulus relations and emerging language repertoires, and will then discuss three current theoretical perspectives on derived stimulus relations. These include Sidman’s (1994) stimulus equivalence paradigm, Horne and Lowe’s (1996) Naming Hypothesis, and Relational Frame Theory (Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001). Similarities and differences between the three theoretical positions will be discussed within the context of language development in children, along with the experimental procedures and results of studies in support of each position. Strategies for programming for the emergence of rudimentary verbal repertoires that have been inspired by each theoretical framework, separately and in conjunction, will also be discussed.
Dr. Ruth Anne Rehfeldt has had an ongoing interest in derived stimulus relations since she was an undergraduate at the University of Puget Sound, where she did an independent study on the topic with a child with autism. She studied under Dr. Linda Hayes at the University of Nevada, where the two collaborated on a number of basic laboratory investigations of stimulus equivalence. After working directly with individuals with autism and other intellectual disabilities, Dr. Rehfeldt’s interests in derived stimulus relations shifted from the laboratory to educational and habilitation settings. Her interests in refining a technology based upon derived stimulus relations has evolved further since joining the faculty in the Rehabilitation Services and Behavior Analysis and Therapy programs at Southern Illinois University. To this end, Ruth Anne co-edited an upcoming book with Yvonne Barnes-Holmes entitled Derived Relational Responding: Applications for Learners with Autism and other Developmental Disabilities: A Progressive Guide to Change, which features a number of internationally recognized contributors in the area of relational learning. Ruth Anne has published over 70 scientific papers and book chapters. She is currently the Editor of The Psychological Record, and is an editorial board member for Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and The Behavior Analyst. |
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| RUTH ANNE REHFELDT (Southern Illinois University) |
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| Explicit Teaching Procedures |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:20 PM |
| North 122 A |
| Chair: Nancy Marchand-Martella (Eastern Washington University) |
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| Types of Prompts and Their Instructional Implications for Errorless Teaching Practices |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JASON C. VLADESCU (Central Michigan University), Kristi Knop (Central Michigan University), Michael D. Hixson (Central Michigan University) |
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| Abstract: The importance of errorless teaching procedures as an alternative for children who have difficulty learning through trial-and-error teaching has been established. The use of prompts to teach new discriminations is likely to be familiar to behavior analysts. However, the contribution of difference prompts and sameness prompts by Engelmann (1991) to the conception of prompts is likely to be novel to many educators. Difference prompts highlight the stimulus feature most relevant to the discrimination to create a greater difference between minimally different examples. Sameness prompts highlight similarities between stimuli to stipulate common behavior. The central purpose of this presentation is to introduce the parameters of difference prompts and sameness prompts, discuss prompt modification techniques (i.e., fading) to avoid prompt dependence and misrules, provide applied examples, and examine related research. A review of the four common errorless teaching methods (i.e., delayed prompting, superimposing, stimulus fading, and stimulus shaping) will also be provided. |
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| Guess What? Language is Learned! |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:20 PM |
| West 301 AB |
| Chair: Matthew P. Normand (University of the Pacific) |
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| Guess What? Language is Learned! |
| FIONA COWIE (California Institute of Technology) |
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| Abstract: Chomsky’s view that much of one’s knowledge of a natural language is innate has dominated theorizing in linguistics, psychology, and philosophy for fifty years. On the basis of ‘arguments from the poverty of the stimulus,’ Chomsky and his followers argued that human beings are innately endowed with a ‘language faculty’ containing substantial information about the form and functioning of human languages. New (and not-so-new) research from a variety of fields reveals that this view is now untenable In the first part of this paper, I will survey some of this research – from psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics -- showing how it undermines the Chomskyan position. In the second part, I will explore the origins of language, arguing that evolutionary considerations also strongly support an empiricist picture of language acquisition.
Dr. Fiona Cowie is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the California Institute of Humanities. She has a B.A. (Hons.) in Philosophy from the University of Sydney, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Princeton University. Her book, What’s Within? Nativism Reconsidered (OUP, 1999) was the first book-length attempt to refute Chomsky’s innateness hypothesis and challenge the nativist hegemony, and Cowie regards the vituperation it engendered as a clear vindication of her arguments. Cowie is currently writing a book about the evolution of language, entitled Building Babel. She expects it to be similarly denounced. She lives in Pasadena, CA, with her children and other animals. |
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| Using Behavior Analysis to Improve Exotic Animal Management: Applications for Husbandry, Wellness and Conservation |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 228 |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Diann Gaalema (Georgia Institute of Technology) |
| Discussant: Christy A. Alligood (Disney's Animal Kingdom) |
| Abstract: Methods derived from the experimental analysis of behavior have proven useful in many areas of captive animal care. These techniques have been used successfully to increase physical activity, provide needed stimulation, reduce stress and encourage compliance with basic husbandry and veterinary procedures. The three presentations in this session will illustrate the continued usefulness of behavior modification techniques with captive exotics while introducing new applications in the areas of wellness and conservation. The first presentation of this session will focus on the use of target training to alleviate stress during husbandry and research procedures in capuchin monkeys. The transfer of this learned behavior to a research setting will also be discussed. In the second presentation the role of operant conditioning in a new wellness initiative at the Palm Beach Zoo will be discussed. The behavioral outcomes from this project for several species including alligators, raptors and anteaters will be presented. The third presentation will focus on the use of Pavlovian conditioning as a conservation method for endangered amphibians. |
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| Target Training Facilitates Voluntary Movement of Capuchin Monkeys from Group-Housing Enclosures to Individual Test Cubicles. |
| ROGER THOMPSON (Franklin & Marshall College), Jon Anderson (Franklin & Marshall College), Caitlin Knierim (Franklin & Marshall College), Audrey Koid (Franklin & Marshall College), Sarah Chabal (Colgate University), Sabrina Brando (Animal Concepts) |
| Abstract: Target training procedures were used to rapidly train 10 capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) to voluntarily enter and leave test cubicles directly from group housing. Target training alleviates the stress for both humans and animals associated with traditional methods of capture and restraint in husbandry and testing procedures. Initially, when an animal approached its target, a geometric, colored shape, it was presented with a click “bridge” stimulus followed by a food reinforcer. In subsequent training stages, the animals were rewarded for touching, holding, and following targets into a test cubicle where responses were successfully generalized to different sized targets and targets were discriminated from those of other monkeys. However, when paired, monkeys also attempted to touch the target of their partner suggesting that they may have formed a conceptual stimulus equivalence set of “target.” Individual 'errorless' discriminative performances also transferred to targets presented behind mesh and glass. Responding in this latter glass condition is being used to facilitate transfer of responding to touch screen screen displays that will be used in future noninvasive studies of concept learning and perception including tests of the hypothesis alluded to above that during target training the animals acquired a conceptual stimulus equivalence set of "Target". |
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| Behavior Analysis and Wildlife Wellness |
| TERRY L. MAPLE (Palm Beach Zoo), Emily Maple (Palm Beach Zoo) |
| Abstract: The Palm Beach Zoo, an institution will a strong commitment to applied behavior analysis, has developed a "Wildlife Wellness" management philosophy providing best practices for improving overall physical and psychological health for a diversity of wildlife including birds, mammals, and reptiles. The program is based on a sophisticated training history that controls behavior in exhibits and behind the scenes, and provides opportunities for the public to observe animals interacting with their keepers/trainers. New protocols, developed through collaboration among keepers, curators, scientific staff, and veterinarians, combine more naturalistic sources for food, nutritional advances, enrichment, and induced activity through operant conditioning on a daily basis. Each animal and each species is provided with an individually tailored schedule and regime managed by computerized record systems. The wellness program has also led to the development of an innovative new facility currently in the programming and design process, the Wildlife Wellness Center, and a new outreach program that aims to teach public school children better health practices based on our success in managing exotic fauna at the zoo. We will demonstrate the results of our wellness experiments with several unusual species including alligators, raptors, and anteaters. |
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| Sexual Conditioning in the Dyeing Dart Frog |
| DIANN GAALEMA (Georgia Institute of Technology), Terry L. Maple (Georgia Institute of Technology), M. Jackson Marr (Georgia Tech), Paul Corballis (Georgia Institute of Technology), Mollie Bloomsmith (Yerkes National Primate Research Center), Danté Fenolio (Atlanta Botanical Garden) |
| Abstract: Sexual conditioning, a form of Pavlovian conditioning, has been used to improve reproductive outcomes in a variety of species. Benefits such as more appropriate breeding behavior and even increased number of offspring have been demonstrated in species as different as Japanese quail and blue gouramis. In the current study sexual conditioning is being used to encourage breeding behavior in the dyeing dart frog. In sexual conditioning access to a receptive mate is made contingent on the presentation of an initially neutral stimulus. The conditional stimulus is then presented prior to a breeding opportunity. Groups where this contingency is in place are predicted to have better breeding outcomes compared to control groups. As many amphibians are currently going extinct in the wild, any technique that can improve captive breeding in this species has major conservation applications. The unique challenges of working with amphibians in a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm will also be discussed. |
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| Recent Topics on the Disruptive Effects of Negative Incentive Shifts |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 227 BC |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Tammy Wade-Galuska (University of South Carolina-Salkehatchie) |
| Discussant: Dean C. Williams (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: Negative incentive shifts, or shifts from favorable to unfavorable reinforcement conditions, result in counterproductive disruptions in behavior. It has been suggested that such disruptions, which often take the form extended pausing following reinforcement, actually is a form of escape behavior. When given an explicit option to turn off the schedule during this transition, for example, pigeons have been shown to do so fairly reliably. Along these lines, the first study in this symposium investigates the disruptive effects of negative incentive shifts in two strains of rats, one of which (Fischer 344) has been shown to be more sensitive to other aversive stimuli (shock). The second study investigates whether or not negative incentive shifts in reinforcement context make pigeons mistake-prone. This study arranged a delayed-matching-to-sample task to determine if negative incentive shifts would engender inaccuracy in identity-matching in addition to extended pausing as measured by the latency to peck the sample stimulus. Finally, in applied settings, one way to attenuate the disruptive effects of transitions between activities is to maintain a very rigid schedule and provide advance notice of imminent transitions. The last study explores whether increasing the predictability of negative incentive shifts will lessen their disruptive effects in rats. |
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| Pre-Ratio Pausing Following Rich-to-Lean Transitions on Multiple Schedules in Fischer 344 and Lewis rats |
| ADAM T. BREWER (University of Kansas), Patrick S. Johnson (University of Kansas), Jeff S. Stein (University of Kansas), Monica T. Francisco (University of Kansas), Dean C. Williams (University of Kansas), Gregory J. Madden (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: Pausing is maladaptive on fixed-ratio (FR) schedules because it decreases the rate of reinforcement. Perone and Courtney (1992) demonstrated that pigeons pause longer at transitions from a rich (large reinforcer magnitude) to a lean (small reinforcer magnitude) component in a multiple FR-FR schedule. Perone (2003) showed that pigeons were more likely to escape at rich-lean transitions suggesting that these transitions are aversive. Moreover, pausing may function as form of escape when no explicit-escape contingency is provided. To further assess the aversiveness account, pausing was compared between inbred rat strains differing in responsiveness to aversive stimulation. Fischer 344 (F344) rats are more sensitive to aversive stimulation than Lewis rats in shock-avoidance (Katzev & Mills, 1974) and conditioned-taste aversion tasks (Lancellotti et al., 2001). If rich-lean transitions are aversive, then F344 rats should pause longer than Lewis rats. Both strains were exposed to a multiple FR-FR schedule with FR values that ranged from 1 to 100. In rich components, ratio completion resulted in a large amount of food (7 pellets), while lean components resulted in a small amount of food (1 pellet). Our results support the aversiveness account because F344 rats paused longer at rich-to-lean transitions than Lewis rats. |
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| Effects of Signaled and Unsignaled Shifts in Reinforcer Magnitude on Delayed Matching-to-Sample Performance in Pigeons |
| YUSUKE HAYASHI (West Virginia University), Chata A. Dickson (West Virginia University), Michael Perone (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: We investigated the effects of signaled and unsignaled shifts in reinforcer magnitude in a delayed identity matching-to-sample procedure with retention intervals ranging from 0 to 16 s. Four pigeons were trained on two conditional discriminations with red and green as sample and comparison stimuli. Under the multiple-schedule condition, the brightness of the houselight was correlated with the magnitude of the upcoming food reinforcer for a correct choice, whereas under the mixed-schedule condition, the brightness of the houselight was undifferentiated. A fixed-ratio schedule specified the number of trials that had to be completed correctly to earn a food reinforcer. We will describe the joint effects of past reinforcer magnitude and stimuli correlated with upcoming magnitude on sample latency (pausing) as well as on the accuracy on the delayed matching-to-sample task. The generality of earlier reports on disruptive effects of discriminative shifts in reinforcer magnitude (e.g., Perone & Courtney, 1992) will be discussed. |
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| The Disruptive Effects of Negative Incentive Shifts: Does Predictability Matter? |
| CHAD M. GALUSKA (College of Charleston), Tracy Taylor (College of Charleston) |
| Abstract: Negative incentive shifts involve transitions from favorable-to-unfavorable conditions of reinforcement and engender behavioral disruptions in animals and humans. The purpose of this paper is to explore a seemingly inconsistent finding between the animal and human literature. In animal models, signaling the occurrence of a negative incentive shift results in disrupted behavior in the form of extended pausing. A small experimental data set in humans, however, suggests that highly structured and signaled transitions between activities actually reduce behavioral problems. One difference in methodology is that existing animal models do not actually provide advance notice of imminent negative incentive shifts. In several experiments, we provided advance notice of negative incentive shifts involving reinforcer magnitude in a rat model. We also explored differences in the behavioral disruption engendered by predictable versus unpredictable sequences of large and small reinforcers. Our results suggest that, in rats, predictability plays but a minor role in attenuating the behavioral disruption engendered by negative incentive shifts. |
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| Theory |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 226 AB |
| Chair: Liliane DeAguiar-Rocha (Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY) |
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| An integrated model of choice and timing in concurrent chains |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| ELIZABETH GRACE EVELYN KYONKA (University of Canterbury), Randolph C. Grace (University of Canterbury) |
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| Abstract: Predicting what an individual chooses to do and when it chooses to do it are necessary and sufficient elements of a unified theory of individual behavior at the molar level. As such, procedures that enable congruent measurement of choice- and timing-related behaviors provide an optimal test bed for theories of behavior. Grace and Nevin (1999) embedded non-reinforced trials, characteristic of the peak procedure, into a two-alternative concurrent chains procedure in order to measure preference and temporal control. In our research employing this procedure, we have found positive evidence of residual covariation – a relationship between relative measures of preference and temporal control beyond that attributable to interreinforcer interval. A linear-operator model in which response strength is updated according to a comparison of experienced delay to reinforcement with a criterion can describe initial-link response allocation. An information-processing approach describes acquisition of temporal control. We explore the observed relationship between choice and timing in light of these complementary quasidynamic models. |
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| An Improved Effect Size for Single Case Research: Non-Overlap of All Pairs (NAP) |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| KIMBERLY VANNEST (Texas A&M University), Richard I Parker (Texas A & M University) |
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| Abstract: Non-Overlap of All Pairs (NAP), an index of data overlap between phases in single case research, is demonstrated and field tested with 200 published AB contrasts. NAP is a novel application of an established effect size known in various forms as Area Under the Curve (AUC), the Common Language Effect Size (CL), the Probability of Superiority (PS), the Dominance Statistic (DS), Mann-Whitney’s U, and Sommers D, among others. NAP was compared with three other non-overlap-based indices: PND (percent of non-overlapping data), PEM (percent of data points exceeding the median), and PAND (percent of all non-overlapping data), as well as Pearson R2. Five questions were addressed about NAP: (a) typical NAP values, (b) its ability to discriminate among typical single case research results, (c) its power and precision (confidence interval width), (d) its correlation with the established effect size index, R2, and (e) its relationship with visual judgments. Results were positive, the new index equaling or outperforming the other overlap indices on most criteria. |
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| Resistance to Change in Responding as a Function of Primary or Conditioned Reinforcement |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| LILIANE DEAGUIAR-ROCHA (Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY), Melody Berkovits (The Graduate Center, CUNY), Jason S. Rockwell (Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY), Laura J. Seiverling (Queens College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York), Catherine Tsiris (Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY), Adam Whiting (The Graduate Center, CUNY), Nancy S. Hemmes (Queens College/CUNY) |
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| Abstract: Prior research has demonstrated effects on resistance to change when primary reinforcement is manipulated; however, little confirming data exist for conditioned reinforcement. An ABACA design was used to manipulate parameters of primary or conditioned reinforcement between components of a multiple Random Interval (RI) 150-s RI 150-s to determine effects on resistance to change. In Experiment 1, two groups of pigeons experienced either manipulation of a parameter of primary reinforcement or conditioned reinforcement. After stable responding was established, change in response rate was measured in comparison to baseline levels under a disruption procedure (response-independent presentation of food during an inter-component interval). Baseline conditions were re-established followed by a second disruptor: extinction. During Experiment 1, primary reinforcer magnitude was manipulated for Group 1 in a systematic replication of Nevin (1974, Experiment 3). Conditioned reinforcer value was manipulated for Group 2: response-produced arbitrary stimuli (SAs) were presented in each component, and the contingency between each SA (potential conditioned reinforcers) and the primary reinforcers earned under the RI 150-s schedule was varied between components. In Experiment 2, the manipulations for each group were switched. In both Experiments, the more favorable component (higher reinforcer magnitude or higher SA-reinforcer contingency) generally showed more resistance to change. |
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| Issues in Organizational Behavior Management |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 221 C |
| Chair: James L. Squires (Western Michigan University) |
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| Where are you going and how do you get there? The Importance of Professional Development |
| Domain: Theory |
| THORHALLUR O. FLOSASON (Western Michigan University), Michelle VanWegner (Western Michigan University), Erick K. A. Marmolejo (Western Michigan University), Eric J. Fox (Western Michigan University), James L. Squires (Western Michigan University) |
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| Abstract: This paper will address the issue of professional development planning for students. Graduate students in behavior analysis have diverse career aspirations, while some aim for academic careers, others plan to enter more applied fields. During the course of their studies, students gain a wide range of valuable knowledge and experience. A large part of this experience is academic in nature, including coursework and research activities. But what about knowledge, skills, and abilities that students need for future roles but are not acquired through their graduate work? How and when do they fill these skill gaps? We will introduce a simple professional development model for students, undergraduate and graduate, one that is a hybrid of the career development framework and job analysis practices commonly used in organizations. Several potential jobs for graduate students in behavior analysis were identified. Detailed job profiles were then created for each job title, which was divided into five sections: Job title, possible work activities, competencies, development activities, resources, and certification and licensure requirements. All job profiles were accessible to students via the university’s website. Practical implications and the importance of structured development planning for students will be discussed. |
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| Affective Reactions to OBM Interventions: A Content Analysis of JOBM; or Doing Good and Doing Well |
| Domain: Theory |
| DONALD A. HANTULA (Temple University), Catherine Dever (BioVid Corp.) |
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| Abstract: There is unequivocal evidence that OBM interventions increase work performance and safety related behaviors, benefitting the organizations that use OBM. The effects of OBM interventions on the employees in these organizations are not well documented and are consequently less well known. From a purely performance improvement perspective, questions of employee reaction to OBM interventions may seem secondary. However, from a broader perspective, OBM intervention effects on employee well-being are as important as OBM intervention effects on employee performance. To determine the effect of OBM interventions on employee reaction and well being, narrative comments regarding employee reactions were abstracted from empirical JOBM articles from volume 1 to the present and content analyzed. According to the employee reactions documented in these articles, overall OBM interventions are well accepted by employees and seem to improve worker well-being. Other themes, including the features of OBM interventions that seem to be more well-received, a systems perspective on employee reaction to OBM interventions, and recommendations for how OBM applications can be constructed to do good and to do well are discussed. |
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| Meta-contingencies and their influence on public sector leadership in the Nordic countries |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| NED CARTER (SALAR, Stockholm, Sweden) |
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| Abstract: This presentation describes similarities and differences in the ways that leadership in the public sector is practiced in the Nordic countries. The presentation is based on a literature review and interviews conducted with public sector leaders employed in the public sector in the Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Leadership in the Nordic countries encompasses two areas that are dealt with separately in English, management and leadership. The term management is often connected with the ability to do things right or correctly, while leadership to a greater extent involves doing the right thing. Nordic leadership is characterized by participation, involvement and collaboration with co-workers in leadership processes, shared responsibility, co-creativity/influence, leadership arises in relations – and is nothing on its own, equality, dialogue, flat hierarchies and minimal power distances, openness and honesty, leadership is less “macho” than in many other cultures.
Similarities exist within the context of (mostly) related languages, the welfare-state as a basic social model, a large public sector and many interested parties, high degree of organization and importance of trade unions, related institutional conditions, including legislature, judicial systems etc., consensus, dialogue, involvement as basic assumptions for communications and decision-making in the society, focus on quality of life. |
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| Planning and Executing a State-Level Behavior Analysis Conference |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 120 D |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Roger Frank Bass (Carthage College) |
| WILLIAM J. MURRAY (Wisconsin DHS) |
| DAVID M. TREJO (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) |
| Abstract: Tactics for planning and executing a state-level conference will be presented. The discussion will be lightly structured with emphasis on issues raised by the audience. All facets of planning will be addressed from site selection to funding to menus. |
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| Skinner and Watson: Lives in Context |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 131 BC |
| Chair: Edward K. Morris (University of Kansas) |
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| John B. Watson’s Childrearing Advice: Controlling for Context, Reassessing the Criticisms |
| Domain: Theory |
| EDWARD K. MORRIS (University of Kansas), Kathryn M. Bigelow (University of Kansas) |
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| Abstract: The founder of behaviorism, John B. Watson (1878-1958), wrote for the popular press throughout the 1920s, most notably on childrearing (e.g., in McCall’s), which resulted in his 1928 book, Psychological Care of the Infant and Child. Although a best seller, the book was (and is) controversial. It has been described, for instance, as “brutal,” “subhuman,” and “pathological.” Our presentation examines the validity of these criticisms by assessing what Watson actually advised (a) in the context of his day, not our day, and (b) independent of his provocative rhetorical style and controversial social views. In four of the five areas Watson addressed (i.e., fears, tantrums, day and night care, masturbation), we found that his advice about childhood problems and how to “control” them were consistent with the advice of his day and, in some cases, more progressive (e.g., about sex) and enlightened (e.g., prevention). Only his admonition against too much “mother love” (but not no love) was unusual, and even then not unique. On the basis of recent reviews of the history of childrearing and Watson’s reservations about his own advice, we close with a discussion of the nature of “behaviorist” childrearing advice and whether any such advice actually exists. |
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| News and New Interviews from the B.F. Skinner Foundation |
| Domain: Theory |
| CRISS WILHITE (California State University, Fresno), Chelsea Wilhite (University of Nevada Reno), Melissa Nosik (University of Nevada, Reno) |
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| Abstract: The B. F. Skinner Foundation’s Archival Committee will present recently gathered material regarding Skinner’s life, research and influence. Examples include the conditions leading to the writing of Walden Two (provided by Terry Knapp) and excerpts from Skinner’s FBI file (provided by Joseph Wyatt). Additionally the Foundation has begun a video project to document Skinner’s life through interviews with his former students and colleagues regarding their interactions with Skinner and the impact he had on their careers. Video vignettes of interviews conducted by Chelsea Wilhite with Jack Michael and by Josh Pritchard with Charles Catania will be presented. |
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| Neural Events and Behavior |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 132 A |
| Chair: José E. Burgos (University of Guadalajara - CEIC) |
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| Is there such a Thing as the Neural Causation of Behavior? |
| Domain: Theory |
| JOSÉ E. BURGOS (University of Guadalajara - CEIC) |
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| Abstract: The strongest candidate for the neural causation of behavior is neural command as investigated in the behavioral neuroscience of escape reflexes in invertebrates and lower vertebrates. For observed neural-behavior relations to qualify as causal, they must fit a basic intuition about the neural causation of behavior, namely: temporal asymmetry (neural causes always precede their behavioral effects). However, observed neural-behavior relations that the dominant views of command regard as causal do not fit this intuition. One view conceives command as the necessity and sufficiency of interneurons for the response of an escape reflex. This view defies the intuition in that necessity and sufficiency is a symmetric relation, which means implausibly that the response is sufficient for the interneurons. The other view conceives command as a dynamic property of circuits that include sensory and motor neurons. This view defies the intuition by admitting that reflexes, qua relations between exteroceptive stimuli and motor responses, can be caused by neural events that supposedly are effects of the exteroceptive stimuli. None of this means that behavior is neurally unexplainable, but only that neural explanations of behavior are non-causal. I propose that the neural-behavior relation is a part-whole relation where the neural is part of behavior. |
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| Attention to Intention: Fact or Artifact? |
| Domain: Theory |
| ARMANDO MACHADO (University of Minho), André Smith (University of Minho) |
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| Abstract: Lau et al. (Science, 2004) report an experiment designed to study the neural correlates of attention to the intention to perform an act. Participants were asked to report the time at which they felt the intention to push a button (condition A), or the time at which they actually pushed the button (condition B). They found that whereas the act was reported about 30 ms before it actually took place, the intention to act was reported about 230 ms before the act. fMRI analyses revealed specific activations (e.g., pre-supplemental motor area) associated with attention to intention. The authors concluded that such activity reflects the neural representation of intention. After offering a behavioral analytic critique of Lau et al.’s arguments, we report two experiments that show that their results were due to the demand characteristics induced by the experimental design. In addition, we conclude that what was revealed in Lau et al.’s study was not the locus of intention but an artifact created by the experimental procedure. |
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| Teaching Perspective Taking |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 227 A |
| Chair: Lisa J. Stoddard (FirstSteps for Kids, Inc.) |
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| Teaching Perspective-Taking Skills to Children with Autism |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| LISA J. STODDARD (FirstSteps for Kids, Inc.), Jennifer L. Harris (FirstSteps for Kids, Inc.) |
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| Abstract: Complex social and verbal behavior is of great interest to behavior analysts, yet remains an area of need, particularly with respect to interventions for children with autism. Perspective-taking skills, including inferring the mental states of others (such as desires, knowledge, beliefs, and intentions), is thought to be integral to social success. Children diagnosed with autism often have difficulty with perspective-taking skills. Therefore, it stands to reason that intervention teaching a perspective-taking repertoire may be beneficial in improving general social behavior. Unfortunately, while many interventionists target such skills, there is little empirical evidence to support the efficacy of the training procedures used. The current presentation describes our efforts to teach individual perspective-taking skills (such as visual perspective-taking) using a multiple-baseline design, as well as probes of perspective-taking tests. Based on descriptions of typically developing perspective-taking skills in developmental literature, a curriculum including sequential targets is presented, as well as data supporting the efficacy of this approach as part of a comprehensive treatment package. This sequential approach may serve to expand the current body of social skills training programs, and those who work with children with autism will benefit from the detailed description of targets and training procedures. |
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| Role of Double-Reversed Relations in a Relational Frame Approach to Teaching Perspective Taking |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JEANA L. KOERBER (Western Michigan University), Eric J. Fox (Western Michigan University) |
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| Abstract: Perspective-taking ability is a key aspect of typical language development and social interactions. Most methods for teaching perspective-taking skills have been based on a cognitive approach known as Theory of Mind (ToM; Baron-Cohen, 1995; Baron-Cohen & Hammer, 1997; Baron-Cohen, Tagor-Flusberg, & Cohen, 2000). While these methods have had some success, the overall results are mixed and the methods have proven particularly ineffective with children with autism and related disorders. An emerging theory of language known as Relational Frame Theory (RFT) seems to offer new insights into how perspective-taking skills develop. The current project examines the RFT protocol in greater detail, particularly the role of the double-reversed relation and uses traditional theory of mind tests to evaluate the effectiveness of the protocol on perspective-taking ability in 3 five year old children. Data is currently being collected for this study. However, the utility of the double-reversed relation will be discussed as well as its impact on increasing perspective-taking ability. |
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| Relational Frame Theory and Behavioral Interventions for Young Children with Autism |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ROBERT GULICK (Achievement Center), Danielle Lynn Cotterill (Mercyhurst College), Phillip J. Belfiore (Mercyhurst College) |
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| Abstract: Traditional EIBI programs are often criticized for fostering a rigid use of language. While these programs provide learners with well-contrived stimulus conditions that capitalize on the child’s ability to master a rote skill such as tacting, they often fall short in generating novel language responses. Alternatively, relational frame theory and its formulation of derived relational responding may provide a conceptual framework on which to build a line of applied research to develop and test interventions that will bolster existing EIBI programs in these areas of generality and flexibility of language skills. The following study investigated the possibility of children with autism acquiring and demonstrating novel mands without direct teaching. The results indicated success on several levels. The study replicated previous findings that the establishment of an equivalence class through conditional discrimination training is a viable means to facilitate the derived transfer of mand function. Secondly, the present study extended previous findings beyond the basic manding for tangible reinforcers to more advanced applications, such as the manding for information. Finally, this work can be seen as a positive step toward improving how the current teaching technology can foster more flexible language repertoires for young children with autism. |
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| Flexibility with Body Image, Disordered Eating, and Valued Living |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 222 AB |
| Area: CBM/VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Kate Kellum (The University of Mississippi) |
| Discussant: Emily Kennison Sandoz (University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Disordered eating is a class of behaviors associated with devastating disruptions of life, frightening medical consequences, and traditionally unsuccessful interventions. Behavioral approaches have offered no exception. The narrowness and rigidity that characterize disordered eating are not easily explained by direct contingencies. Interventions based on direct contingency accounts have been only marginally successful. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an emerging behavior therapy based on the idea that these behaviors are verbally-maintained. ACT focuses on reducing aversive control by expanding upon functions of aversive private events, and increasing appetitive control by increasing contact with values events. Part of the difficulties typically referred to as eating disorders involves the aversive control exerted by one’s body image. The papers in this symposium will explore the relationship between psychological flexibility with body image, disordered eating, and valued living. The first will explore self-reported body image attitudes, flexibility with body image, and valued living. The second will consider the impact of body image attitudes and flexibility with body image on performance on the implicit relational assessment procure. The third will evaluate the outcomes and processes of Acceptance and Commitment Training for Body Image Disturbance. |
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| Psychological Flexibility, Disordered Eating, and Valued Living |
| AMY E. YAUGER (University of Mississippi), Lindsay Martin (University of Mississippi), Emily Kennison Sandoz (University of Mississippi), Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi), Kate Kellum (The University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Part of the difficulties typically referred to as eating disorders involves narrowness and rigidity in the way an individual interacts with the private events that make up his or her body image. When body image is salient, aversive control tends to dominate the behavioral repertoire. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Eating Disorders takes aim at precisely this issue, with the focus on increasing a particular kind of appetitive control, referred to as valued living. The current study examines the relationships between psychological flexibility with regard to body image, body image related attitudes, disordered eating, and valued living. |
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| Verbal Processes associated with Disordered Eating |
| LINDSAY MARTIN (University of Mississippi), Emily Kennison Sandoz (University of Mississippi), Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Basic learning processes provide a simple and straightforward account of eating behavior in animals. However, human eating behavior seems to be subject to contingencies not fully captured by basic respondent and operant contingencies. One explanation is that these contingencies are contacted verbally. Emerging treatments for disordered eating (e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) focus on undermining the verbal control thought to be central to these behaviors. In this study, an implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP) was created to examine verbal processes that may be related to disordered eating behaviors. Participants were exposed to words representing over- or under eating, and to contingencies supporting their classification as either “good” or “bad.” Data were examined for differences in rates of correct responding between conditions (over-eating good/under-eating bad vs. under-eating good/over-eating bad). These differences were also examined separately for those reporting disordered eating at the clinical level. Finally, rates of correct responding were predicted from body image distress and degree of flexibility with body image distress. |
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| The Effects of ACT for Body Image Disturbance on Eating Behavior and Valued Living |
| EMILY KENNISON SANDOZ (University of Mississippi), Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi), Kate Kellum (The University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Body image involves one’s subjective experience of his or her own body. Under some conditions, body image can come to exert strong aversive control, disrupting the effects of appetitive control and narrowing an individual’s behavioral repertoire. This is commonly referred to as body image disturbance. Typically, interventions to address body image disturbance involve attempts to change how the body is experienced. Acceptance and Commitment Training for Body Image (ACT-BI) takes a different approach, aiming to expand the functions of body image, in order to increase the breadth and flexibility of the repertoire. The current study will examine the impact of ACT-BI, cognitive behavioral group training, or waitlist control on eating behavior and quality of life. Body image attitudes, coping strategies, and flexibility with body image will also be evaluated as reputed mechanisms of change. |
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| Implicit Testing in Behavior Analysis: Where’s The Science? |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 131 A |
| Area: CSE; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Amanda Gavin (University of Tesside) |
| Abstract: The current series of papers together provide an outline of a behavior-analytic research program into means of “implicit” testing without the necessity for mentalistic concepts or the use of poorly understood stimulus presentation and response derivation methodologies. The first paper outlines a series of behavior-analytic concerns over the widely employed Implicit Association Test and provides several suggestions for researchers interested in understanding and developing implicit tests that are acceptable to behavior analysts. The second paper reports on an experiment that illustrates how implicit test effects are both easily malleable and have a questionable ability to make reliable behavioral predictions. The third paper provides a theoretical model, along with supporting empirical evidence, that a behavior-analytically understood test can effectively predict and explain subjects’ performances during a computer game designed to test racial prejudice. Finally, the fourth paper, describes an experiment that aimed to assess the effectiveness of a novel behavioral test at identifying differences in verbal histories of a sample of male and female subjects. This test represents a functionally-understood counterpart to several popular implicit tests. |
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| “Implicit” Testing: No Science, No Process, No Function. |
| BRYAN T. ROCHE (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Maria R. Ruiz (Rollins College), Amanda Gavin (University of Tesside) |
| Abstract: The current paper outlines the Implicit Association Test and reviews its meteoric rise in popularity in the absence of a process-based account. Most users of the test understand little about it except how to administer the test and generate scores. From a behavioral perspective, the test appears to serve as little more than a test for the relative rates of response function acquisition by pairs of verbally related and unrelated stimuli. These differences point to variances in the histories of specific verbal stimulus classes, such as differences in class strength. They do not reasonably point to such constructs as “unconscious bias” as users of the test widely claim. Moreover, the test is imbued with procedural artifacts and statistical scoring techniques that blur the reported reaction time and accuracy measures leading to contrived behavioral indices that can not be accurately described as response times, response accuracy, response rate, or even fluency, even though they may be presented a such. Now that implicit testing has begun to be employed within the field of behavior analysis, researchers need to be keenly aware of the limitations of these tests as a measure of anything at all of interest to psychologists, let alone behavior analysts. |
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| IAT Effects and Behavioral Probability: How Related Are They? |
| MARIA R. RUIZ (Rollins College), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Sara Jacobsen (Rollins College), Melissa Bernardo (Rollins College), Amanda Gavin (University of Tesside) |
| Abstract: Subjects were first exposed to a word-picture association training phase using a respondent conditioning preparation. Specifically, two nonsense syllables were paired with images of plants and animals, respectively, as well as with the colors red and blue, respectively. Subjects were also exposed to an equivalence training procedure which led to the formation of two three-member equivalence relations, each containing one of the two nonsense syllables. They were then exposed to a derived transfer of functions test that probed for the derived transfer of stimulus functions (i.e., colors and images) to other equivalence class members. Subjects were then exposed to an IAT-type test consisting of images and stimuli from the established stimulus equivalence relations. The laboratory controlled history led to the successful creation of a non-socially-established IAT effect. This effect was then undermined across repeated exposures to the IAT (i.e., via practice effects), after which the test for derived transfer of functions was re-administered. The results show that the power of the IAT to predict responses during the derived transfer of functions test is easily compromised through simple laboratory interventions. |
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| Can the IAT Predict the Decision to Shoot in the Shooter’s Game?: A Behavioral Model |
| Maria R. Ruiz (Rollins College), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), MELISSA BERNARDO (Rollins College), Sara Jacobsen (Rollins College), Amanda Gavin (University of Tesside) |
| Abstract: In the Shooter’s Game (Correll, Park, Judd & Wittenbrink, 2007), subjects are instructed to shoot images of Caucasian or African American males holding a gun. Subjects are required to make rapid decisions whether or not to shoot across trials in which images are presented of Caucasian and African American males holding a wallet, a beer can or a gun. More erroneous shooting responses are made when subjects are presented with the African American compared to the Caucasian. The current paper presents a behavioral model of the Shooter Game effect in which it is conceptualized in terms of contextual control over derived classes of discriminative stimuli for avoidance or aggression. The model also allows behavioral predictions to be made regarding responses during game play on the basis of IAT-style test results. Preliminary data supporting the model will be presented.
References
Correll, J., Park, B., Judd,C. M., Wittenbrink, B. (2007). Across the thin blue line: Police officers and racial bias in the decision to shoot. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1006-1023. |
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| A Transparent and Coherent Implicit Test for Verbal History: Just Functional Behavior Analysis, No Sleight of Hand. |
| AMANDA GAVIN (University of Tesside), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Maria R. Ruiz (Rollins College) |
| Abstract: The current paper reports on an experiment that demonstrates the utility of a functionally-understood test for verbal history. The test is procedurally transparent, relies on traditional behavioral principles and is free from theoretical constructs. Specifically, the test assesses the relative rates of acquisition of common response functions to word pairs considered compatible for a normal population compared to words considered incompatible. Subjects (N=20) were required to respond to exemplars of child, adult, sexual and nonsexual stimulus categories in one of two specified ways. For exemplars of two of the four categories presented on a computer screen, subjects were instructed to respond with a red key press, while for exemplars of the remaining two categories subjects were instructed to respond with a blue key press. In another block of testing the requirements were juxtaposed so that the combination of stimuli requiring a common key response was altered. There was more rapid acquisition of common response functions across suspected compatible exemplars (child and nonsexual) than incompatible (child and sexual) exemplar pairs. This test provides a behavior-analytic counterpart to the Implicit Association Test and other similar tests. |
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| The effects of establishing operations on assessment and treatment outcomes |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 120 A |
| Area: DDA/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Anjali Barretto (Gonzaga University) |
| Discussant: Timothy R. Vollmer (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: In this symposium, we will present data on the effects manipulating specific antecedents and consequences during assessment and treatment. Kelly Schieltz from The University of Iowa will present data on functional analysis and mand analysis outcomes and will discuss the whether a mand analysis can be used to identify social reinforcers for aberrant behavior. Lisa Winborn-Kemmerer from the West Virginia University will discuss the antecedent effects of parent presence on functional analysis and functional communication training outcomes. Nathan Call from The Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine will describe the effects of restricted access to preferred items on escape-maintained problem behavior. Following the presentations, Timothy Vollmer from the University of Florida will discuss the presentations. |
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| A Comparison of Functional Analysis and Mand Analysis Results |
| KELLY M. SCHIELTZ (University of Iowa), Jay W. Harding (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Wendy K. Berg (University of Iowa), John F. Lee (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether destructive behavior and manding were maintained by the same social reinforcers. A summary of 12 participants that met criteria for clear functional analysis results were included in this study. All participants were preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities who engaged in destructive behavior. All procedures were conducted in the participants’ homes by their parent with investigator coaching. Inter-observer agreement was assessed across 30% of all sessions and averaged 97%. During Phase 1, functional analyses (attention, escape, and tangible test conditions) of destructive behavior were conducted within multielement designs. During Phase 2, functional analyses of manding were conducted within multielement designs. For only 2 of 12 participants, destructive behavior and manding were maintained by the same social reinforcers. For 7 participants, the analysis of mands identified an additional social reinforcer that was not identified for destructive behavior. For 2 participants, the analysis of mands did not identify a social reinforcer that was identified for destructive behavior, and for 1 participant the analysis of mands was unclear. Results suggested that an analysis of mands should not be used to identify social reinforcers for destructive behavior. |
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| The Effects of Establishing Operations on the Functional Analyses Outcomes of a Young Boy with Autism |
| LISA C. WINBORN-KEMMERER (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: We assessed the functional analyses outcomes of a 5-year old boy with autism who displayed problem behavior at home. Descriptive data suggested that problem behavior was most severe when both parents were present and removed their attention by interacting with one another. During Phase 1, two separate functional analyses were conducted with each parent. Both functional analyses showed that problem behavior was maintained by positive (tangible) and negative (escape) reinforcement. No attention function was observed. During Phase 2, we evaluated the effects of attention on problem behavior when both parents were present within a reversal design. During Condition A, both parents removed their attention but problem behavior resulted in attention from the boy’s mother. Condition B was similar to Condition A, but attention was provided for problem behavior by the boy’s father. The results showed that problem behavior occurred across both conditions but was higher when mom was the reinforcer. During Phase 3, a functional communication training program for attention was implemented resulting in a decrease in problem behavior when both parents were present. Interobserver agreement was 80% or higher across all phases. The effects of establishing operations on functional analyses outcomes and the development of effective interventions are discussed. |
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| The influence of restricted access to preferred items in the escape condition of a functional analysis |
| NATHAN A. CALL (The Marcus Institute), Joanna Lomas (Marcus Institute), Kelly McKnight (The Marcus Institute), Amber L. Valentino (The Marcus Autism Center) |
| Abstract: The escape condition of some functional analyses manipulates an establishing operation in the form of the presence of demands while delivering escape from those demands contingent upon the occurrence of problem behavior. However, in the natural environment, compliance with some demands also results in restricted access to preferred items or alternate activities, This restricted access to preferred items/activities may serve as a second establishing operation that influences problem behavior. The current study examined problem behavior that appeared to be maintained by escape from demands based on results of a functional analysis. A second analysis manipulated the presence and availability of preferred items during the demands. Data were examined to determine the occurrence of problem behavior in the presence or absence of both types of establishing operations. Results suggested that, for all 3 participants, problem behavior that occurred in the demand condition of the original functional analysis was at least partially influenced by the restricted access to preferred items establishing operation. Results from two treatments based on competing hypotheses that problem behavior was maintained by either escape from demands or access to preferred items supported this conclusion. Interobserver agreement data were collected on at least 20% of sessions for all participants and averaged greater than 80% agreement. |
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| Diverse research and clinical activities in a new behavior intervention clinic in Korea |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 129 A |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Kyong-Mee Chung (Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea) |
| CE Instructor: Katharin Gutshall, M.A.. |
| Abstract: A new behavior intervention clinic was open in at the Seoul Children’s municipal hospital in 2008. The clinic provides assessment and treatment services for children with various developmental disabilities and their families. Also, the clinic has been provided consultation services to the related fields including inpatient unit. This symposium consisted of 4 research activities based on clinical services conducted at the clinic over the past 6 months. Although continuous efforts have to be made for research and clinical areas, these presentations suggest that this clinic so far contributed the establishment of ABA in Korea both research and clinical areas. Suggestions for the future will be discussed. |
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| Effectiveness of group behavior intervention program for parents of children with developmental delays and autism spectrum disorders |
| KYONG-MEE CHUNG (Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of group behavior intervention program for mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders and mental retardation. Participants were 23 mothers whose child ages from four to six years. They were randomly assigned to two groups: Theory-Based Group (TBG) vs. Practice-Based Group (PBG). The parent training, lasting 8 weeks for 1 1/2 hours per session, targeted 12 basic skills to increase positive behaviors and reduce problematic behaviors. The only difference was mothers of the PBG group actually developed and implemented a behavior management program for their own child and received feedback from the therapist. The training effectiveness was evaluated through direct observation using an observational coding system as well as self-report questionnaires. For both groups, less problem behaviors and more positive behaviors were observed during the post-treatment and 3 month follow-up. However, TBG group performed better than the PBG group in reducing problem behaviors during task and play condition. These results suggested that, theory learning is more effective for improving mothers’ and children’ behaviors during task and play settings. Clinical and research implications and future directions were discussed. |
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| The Effectiveness of Positive behavior support(PBS) for children with developmental disabilities in an inpatient unit. |
| SEUNG-AH LEE (Yonsei University), Hyeonsuk Jang (Seoul municipal children's hospital), Dongsoo Suh (Seoul Children’s municipal hospital) |
| Abstract: The present study evaluated the effectiveness of PBS implemented by 12 staffs for 23 children with developmental disabilities in an inpatient unit of a city hospital. Children engaged in a variety of problem behaviors including self-injury, tantrums and noncompliance. The staffs consisted of nurses and assistant nurses working in 3 shifts. Trained graduate students used a behavioral checklist to collect data on the behaviors of children and staff through partial interval recording(10-second interval for one child and 60-second interval for one staff, respectively). After baseline measurements, an instructional session was provided to inform staff about PBS and underlying basic behavioral principles. The staffs were advised to give praise and attention for children’s positive behaviors and ignore any problem behavior. Weekly training sessions were also held and feedbacks were provided on their behavioral progress. The results showed that children’s problem behavior decreased while the level of positive behavior remained the same. In addition, staff’s positive interactive behavior increased while negative behavior decreased. The use of PBS has barely been assessed in unit setting. With reduced problem behaviors of children, it would be possible to expect cost-effective management of unit by saving time and labor for taking care of problem behaviors. |
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| The Effect of Individual Parent-Training on Discrete Trial Training (DTT) for Mothers of Children with Developmental Disorders |
| U-JIN LEE (Yonsei University), Yeon-Jin Jo (Seoul Children’s municipal hospital) |
| Abstract: This study investigated the effects of individual parent-training on DTT for mothers of children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and autism aged from 2 to 4 years (1 boy and 2girls). A multiple baseline design across subjects and behaviors were used. During treatment phase, individual parent-training on DTT was provided focusing on three target behaviors; compliance with instructions (B1), imitation (B2), and eye-contact (B3). Performance of mothers was measured by a checklist consisting of 4 subscales; prompting, reinforcement, procedure, and data-collecting. Results demonstrated that the individual parent-training was effective to improve levels of performance of mothers on DTT. The maintenance effect was also reported from follow-up data for one mother. Three mothers demonstrated generalization of acquired skills to trained target behaviors. Additionally, children showed improvement in a few target behaviors. This result implies that individual DTT training for parents has the advantage of generalization and cost effect. |
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| The Effectiveness of Using Stimulus Control in Treatment for Problem Behaviors with Diverse Functions |
| JEAN H CHOI (Yonsei University), You-na Kim (Seoul Children’s municipal hospital), Hyeonsuk Jang (Seoul municipal children's hospital) |
| Abstract: The aim of present study was to examine the effectiveness of treatment package including stimulus control for problem behaviors with diverse functions. The participants were 3 boys with multiple problem behaviors. P1, a 16-year-old boy who was showing self-injurious behaviors (SIBs), P2, an 8-year-old boy who was referred for aggression, and P3, an 11-year-old boy referred for severe SIBs, aggression, and stereotypic behaviors. Functional Analyses (FA) were conducted, and indicated that P1’s SIBs were maintained by demand, attention, and escape. P2’s aggression was mainly maintained by pursuit of sensory stimuli. P3’s problematic behaviors were also maintained by escape and demand. Changing criterion design was used for all three participants’ treatments. Treatment package for P1 and P3 included stimulus control, three-step prompts (verbal, gesture, and physical), Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped children (TEACCH), extinction, and parental training; P2’s treatment contained stimulus control, three-step prompts, vocal control practice, and extinction. The results showed successful reduction of problematic behaviors in all of the three participants and indicated the effectiveness of stimulus control regardless of functions of behaviors. Several suggestions and practical issues are also discussed. |
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| Teaching Social Skills to Children with Developmental Disabilities through Early Intensive Intervention in Group Based Settings |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 128 |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Junelyn Lazo (Center for Behavioral Sciences, Inc) |
| Discussant: Joyce C. Tu (Center for Behavioral Sciences, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Children with developmental disabilities such as autism typically receive early intensive behavioral intervention in home-based settings. Home-based settings may limit the generalization of social skills unless otherwise programmed into the intervention plan. As such, the overall purpose of the three papers is to examine the effectiveness of intensive behavioral intervention in a group-based format. In this symposium, the researchers examine the learning of social skills during early intensive behavioral intervention in group-based settings. Thus, all the participants were in a 1:1 ratio receiving a minimum of ten hours per week of intensive services in a group-based setting. The group-based setting occurred outside of the home of the participants. The three papers compared rates of learning vocal imitation during group-based play, examined the effectiveness of early intervention in a group-based setting, and studied the critical components for a social skills group for children with autism. |
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| Comparing Rates of Vocal Imitation Response in
Structured Settings versus Play Settings |
| JOHANNA F LORCA (Center for Behavioral Sciences, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Vocal imitation is a lesson often taught to children with developmental disabilities. The lesson is typically implemented in a structured environment using discrete trials teaching methodology and shaping. Research suggests that vocal imitation has been also been taught during play. Our study compares the rate of vocal imitation responding during structured settings versus play settings. Three children with developmental delays who qualify for Early Start services from the Regional Centers of California participated in the study. Their ages range from 17 months to 29 months. The independent variable for this study is the implementation of vocal imitation lessons during play and structured settings. The dependent variable is the rates of responding (i.e. number of words imitated) in structured settings versus play settings. The results show that when vocal imitation is taught during play for young children with developmental delays, the rate of learning is higher when compared to the rate of responding during structured settings. In addition, the results found the generalization of imitation skills is more likely to occur during play. |
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| Examining the Effectiveness of Early Intensive
Intervention in a Group-Based Setting for Children with Developmental
Disabilities |
| TRICIA M. CANTON (Florida Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: Research has shown that early intensive behavioral intervention has been effective in addressing skill deficits in children with developmental disabilities. Intensive behavioral intervention is typically conducted in-home. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine if early intensive behavior intervention conducted in a group setting at a 1:1 ratio will result in a decrease in the percentage of delays for young children identified at risk for autism. Three young children whose ages ranged from 31 to 33 months participated in this study. During baseline, all three children showed delays of more than 33% in the areas of cognitive development, receptive language, expressive language, gross/fine motor development, and social/emotional participated in this study. The independent variable of this study is the implementation of at least 10 hours per week of 1:1 early intensive behavioral intervention (both home and group-based) for at least eight months. The dependent variable is the percentages of delays in the above mentioned areas. The result shows that all three children decreased their percentage of delays across the seven domains. In addition, the group-based component of the intervention proved critical in transitioning these children to lesser restrictive educational environment. |
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| Studying the Critical Components to a Successful Social Skills Group for Three Children with Autism |
| RHYSA MORENO (Center for Behavioral Sciences, Inc.) |
| Abstract: A lack of social skills is a hallmark to children with autism. Because this is a major area of skill deficit for individuals with autism, there is a plethora of research that has shown the importance and effectiveness of applied behavior analysis in addressing this area. Typical home-based intensive behavioral intervention teaches individuals with autism basic skills such as engaging in conversation, eye contact, or taking turns, etc. However, the opportunities for generalization of these skills are often lacking in home-based programs unless programmed for generalization. Therefore, this study examines critical components for a successful social skills group for children with autism. Three children diagnosed with autism participated in this study. Their age ranged from 5 to 6 years old. All had participated in home-based ABA program for at least 6 months. The independent variable for this study is the implementation of social skills group. The dependent variable is the number of skills learned and generalized in social group. |
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| Professional Development Series: Understanding the Publication Process |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 121 BC |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Theory |
| CE Instructor: Tom Sharpe, Ed.D. |
| Chair: Kelly M. Vinquist (University of Iowa) |
| GREGORY J. MADDEN (University of Kansas) |
| DOROTHEA C. LERMAN (University of Houston-Clear Lake) |
| GREGORY P. HANLEY (Western New England College) |
| JENNIFER R. ZARCONE (University of Rochester Medical Center) |
| Abstract: The publication process is essential in the development, expansion, and dissemination of research in behavior analysis. During this event, panelists will describe the publication process and provide the audience with useful tips to help authors publish their work. |
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| ABA in the schools: Using behavioral techniques to help students in general education classrooms |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 121 A |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Monika M. Suchowierska (Warsaw School of Social Psychology) |
| Discussant: Linda S. Heitzman-Powell (University of Kansas) |
| CE Instructor: Steven Ward, Master's |
| Abstract: This symposium will consist of three presentations and remarks from the discussant. The first presentation will provide a review of applications of ABA in the schools and will create conceptual and empirical background for the following two presentations. Four main teaching paradigms that have been derived from behavior analysis will be discussed. Challenges to the wide use of ABA in the schools will be presented. The second presentation will show data on implementing a training package to improve behavior management skills of one teacher and the effects of the changes in the teacher’s behavior on the students’ behavior. The last presentation will show data on using behavioral techniques to improve academic skills and participation in the lessons of three typically-developing children attending first and third grades of public general education classrooms. The discussant will be asked to remark on the three presentations and conclude with comments on the role of behavior analysts in the schools. |
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| Review of applications of ABA in the schools |
| MONIKA M. SUCHOWIERSKA (Warsaw School of Social Psychology) |
| Abstract: This presentation will provide an overview of using behavioral techniques to improve students’ performance and teaching methods as well as to reduce problem behavior in the general education classrooms. Four main teaching paradigms that have been derived from behavior analysis will be discussed (i.e., programmed instruction, personalized system of instruction, direct instruction and precision teaching). Major accomplishments of ABA in general education classrooms and challenges to the wide use of ABA in the schools will be presented. |
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| The effectiveness of implementing a training package on the behavior management skills of one teacher |
| RAFAL J. KAWA (University of Warsaw), Monika M. Suchowierska (Warsaw School of Social Psychology) |
| Abstract: The study was aimed at testing the effectiveness of a training package on the behavior management skills of one teacher working in public general education classrooms. A training package describing the principles of reinforcement and extinction was used to improve a teacher’s skills and to reduce problem behavior in four students. The results show that the teacher learned to use effectively reinforcement and extinction and the change in her behavior positively affected the students’ behavior. Social validity measures confirm the positive results. |
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| The use of behavioral techniques to teach academic skills and to increase the level of participation in the lessons by three children in elementary school |
| MONIKA M. SUCHOWIERSKA (Warsaw School of Social Psychology) |
| Abstract: The study was aimed at testing the effectiveness of using behavioral techniques to teach three 8- and 9-year-old typically-developing children language and math skills and to increase their participation in the lessons. Children were taught language and math skills during individual sessions. The results show that participants achieved significantly higher scores on achievement tests and they also participated more often in the lesson activities relating to the taught skills but not to other, untrained skills. |
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| The Evidence Base for Speech-Language Interventions: Behavioral Interventions of Stuttering, Manual signs, and PECS |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 122 BC |
| Area: EDC/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Ralf Schlosser (Northeastern University) |
| Abstract: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is gradually gaining momentum applied behavior analysis. Behavioral interventions play a critical role for speech-language pathologists. To engage in EBP, it is important to understand the empirical support behind various interventions. In order to determine the evidence-base for any one treatment, it is preferred to rely on a systematic review (and meta-analysis, if possible) of the evidence aggregated from multiple studies rather than any individual study. Thus, the purpose of this invited symposium is to present the results of systematic reviews on selected speech-language interventions. Chad Nye will present the findings from two systematic reviews on behavioral interventions in stuttering, one based on studies using group design and the other on studies using single-subject experimental designs. Oliver Wendt will highlight the results from systematic reviews of intervention research on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Jamie Schwartz will present findings from a systematic review of manual signing in individuals with autism. Finally, Ralf Schlosser will present a systematic review on the effects of PECS in children with autism and PDD-NOS. |
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| The Effects of Behavioral Interventions on Stuttering: Two Systematic Reviews |
| CHAD NYE (University of Central Florida) |
| Abstract: Two systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the research relating to behavioral stuttering treatment will be presented: one involving group designs and the other involving single-subject experimental designs. The presentation will provide a summary of the eight key steps involved in the systematic review process, including but not limited to a detailed descriptions of the information retrieval (electronic and hand-search strategies, inclusion criteria, study coding, and effect size computations. The results will be discussed in terms of the support for the evidence base for behavioral treatments of stuttering and directions for future research. |
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| The Effectiveness of Augmentative and Alternative communication (AAC) for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Evidence from Systematic Reviews. |
| OLIVER WENDT (Purdue University) |
| Abstract: This presentation will highlight the results from recent systematic reviews of intervention research on AAC for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Applying rigorous inclusion criteria and systematic review methodology, experimental research from 1976 to 2008 was evaluated relative to the impact of AAC on (a) increasing functional communication skills, (b) facilitating natural speech production, and (c) improving social regulation functions. Methodological gaps in the current research base will be revealed and directions for future research will be derived. |
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| The Effects of Manual Sign Interventions in Individuals with Autism |
| JAMIE SCHWARTZ (University of Central Florida) |
| Abstract: This presentation will highlight the process and outcomes of a systematic review on the effects of manual sings (sign alone or total communication) on the signed or oral communication skills in children with autism. The key steps of a systematic review will be described including information retrieval, the formulation of inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction, data analysis and aggregation, and interpretation. Both group and single-subject experimental designs qualified for inclusion, but the results will be discussed separately. The results will be discussed in terms of the empirical support for manual sign interventions for this population and in terms of directions for future research. |
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| Effects of PECS on Speech, Language, and Communicative Behaviors in Children with ASD: A Systematic Review |
| RALF SCHLOSSER (Northeastern University) |
| Abstract: Children on the autism spectrum disorder frequently rely on the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and other exchange-based approaches as an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technique. While more and more treatment studies are being added to the body of literature, a systematic review of this literature has not occurred. Systematic review methodology was used to minimize bias in locating, selecting, and synthesizing treatment studies involving PECS. In this session, the methods, findings, and implications for practice and future research will be presented. |
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| Managing your Organization: Taking a Systemic Approach for Optimal Success |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 221 AB |
| Area: OBM/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: H. Keith Massel (Vista Center for Behavior Analysis) |
| Discussant: Manuel A. Rodriguez (CLG) |
| CE Instructor: Allen Karsina, M.S. |
| Abstract: Managing an organization requires the understanding and appreciation of many internal and external variables, which interact in complex ways. For an organization to reach its full potential, these variables must be accounted for and managed. External variables, such as third party payment systems, industry best practices, and governmental regulations, to name a few, regularly effect the ways that agencies take on new clients and provide services. Internal variables such as goals and strategies, staff training, hiring & recruiting, consequences & feedback, and management practices can affect the quality, timeliness and cost of services. In order to effectively manage an agency that meets the demands of its cliental while achieving it’s mission, the interactions and influences of these external and internal variables must be measured and managed. This symposium will begin with a brief overview of a systems perspective of an organization and an introduction to the tools required to establish an Optimal Performance System. This paper will be followed by an example of the application of these tools within an ABA service provider agency, and finally the presentation will conclude with first hand accounts and testimonials from employees working within the agency. After seeing Optimal’s approach to system management and seeing the results of its application, audience members should leave with a rudimentary understanding of a systems perspective to organizational management and an understanding of the potential for such an approach, in a clinical ABA program. |
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| Optimal’s Approach to System Management |
| SHANE D. ISLEY (Optimal), Donnie M. Staff (Optimal) |
| Abstract: Optimal encourages the application of evidence-based approaches, which enlists tools from human performance technology (HPT). These tools drive the analysis and design of systems that can be maintained by employees within the organization. The goal of a system design should be to provide agencies with a strong infrastructure that will support highly proficient, sustainable services, prevent inefficient processes, and as a result, minimize costs. Optimal emphasizes a value-adding, results-driven, systemic, partnership approach to system design, and specializes in establishing a comprehensive performance improvement culture for organizations, which encourages ongoing performance enhancing efforts long after Optimal has completed its intervention efforts. Organizations who adopt comprehensive performance-centered systems effectively generate services and link adaptively to their environment. Organizational and performance deficiencies occur when essential workplace variables (mission-goals, process quality, feedback systems, and alignment among organizational levels) interfere with performance. Understanding and appreciating an organization’s systemic nature is the key to a successful design of a successful organization.
Brethower, D. M. (1995.) Specifying a Human Performance Technology Knowledgebase. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 8(2), 17-39. |
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| Vista Center for Behavior Analysis: Implementing an Optimal Performance System to Individuals with Autism and their Families |
| H. KEITH MASSEL (Vista Center for Behavior Analysis), Shane D. Isley (Optimal) |
| Abstract: Providing highly effective, consistent, and sustainable services to individuals with autism and their families requires more than skilled clinicians and willing clients. While it is an often-overlooked feature of effective services delivery, providing such services requires comprehensive performance analysis and improvement efforts at all levels of an agency. Recognizing this, Vista initiated an agency-wide reorganization, based on a comprehensive performance analysis of their organization. In a desire to expand, Vista began to deconstruct and rebuild their organization’s foundation, in accordance with the methods and practices of human performance technology (HPT) and systems theory. These efforts began with a functional mission statement collaboratively created between Vista employees and Optimal. Disseminated throughout the agency, the mission statement was the beginning of an entire agency re-alignment that allowed the managerial staff of Vista to direct their performance improvement efforts towards a resolute outcome. Employees’ performance goals and decisions can be steered and evaluated by this organization-wide objective. This was followed by objective and quantifiable work outputs developed for all job levels, designed to align with and support the elements of Vista’s new mission statement. Phase I of the reorganization also involved the development of a restructured client scheduling process that is efficient, streamlined, tested and was systematically rolled out in order to insure its sustainability. Continuing efforts include the streamlining and systemizing of other key internal processes, as well as an advanced measurement and employee reimbursement process. |
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| The Effects of a Reorganized System on Vista Center for Behavior Analysis’ Clinical Staff and Services |
| MARIA G. JIMENEZ (Vista Center for Behavior Analysis), Mario Vega (Vista Center for Behavior Analysis), H. Keith Massel (Vista Center for Behavior Analysis) |
| Abstract: True systemic interventions create noticeable changes throughout an organization. When internal and external variables are being measured and manipulated throughout the organization, employees and clients at all levels should be able detect these changes. The emphasis on organizational alignment during performance improvement efforts exists for several reasons, one of them being so that employees and clients are directly tied into the inner workings of the agency at all times. When this occurs, it provides employees and clients with a direct and immediate feedback loop concerning the effectiveness of services. During this section of the symposium, Vista’s Program Managers will report on the effectiveness of Vista’s performance improvement efforts, allowing audience members the opportunity to see the systemic effects of such efforts, as well as an example of an efficient and well-managed human service organization. |
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| Learning Technologies: Complexities, Cams,
Contingencies, Concerns, and Consequences |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 129 B |
| Area: TBA/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Brett Grant Kellerstedt (Salem State College) |
| Abstract: Arranging contingencies for successful learning via technology is an important consideration when selecting for student behavior. The three presentations in this symposium cover (a) student self-paced, adaptive technology to teach statistics and other course content; and (b) the use of distance technologies in training behavior analysts. The first paper is a data-based presentation in which comparisons are made between two sections of a self-paced course, one with contingencies for completing work and exams at a mastery level, and the other without such contingencies. The second paper details a system that can be used for a variety of course content, along with a behavioral analytic explanation of the key components. The final paper addresses concerns with distance supervision of students who may become eligible for BCBA certification. All three presentations are linked through an emphasis on the conditions under which computer-a and internet-based technologies may be used in a way consistent with effective behavioral principles conducive to learning. |
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| Mastery-Based Contingencies for Learning Statistics: A Significant Step Forward in Shaping Student Behavior |
| DARLENE E. CRONE-TODD (Salem State College) |
| Abstract: One of the most difficult (and avoided) courses in Psychology is an undergraduate course in statistics. This is partially due to not taking into account individual differences in skill level, and then using shaping steps to increase complexity of response sets. Two sections of undergraduate courses are compared: (a) one without a contingency in place to complete work before exams; and (b) one with such a contingency in place. In addition, the latter course required exam scores to be at, or above, mastery criteria prior to continuing to the next exam. Differences between the courses indicate a higher level of mastery, and more work completed, for the contingency-based course when compared with the non-contingency-based course. |
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| MediaMatrix Presenter: An Internet-based System for Incorporating Cascading-Complexity in Question and Answer Types |
| ROGER D. RAY ((AI)2, Inc.; Rollins College) |
| Abstract: This paper reviews features of a new Personal Response software system, called MediaMatrix Presenter. The Presenter allows for various levels of difficulty/complexity both in presentations and in types of associated question-based response demands in either synchronous (in-class) or asynchronous (distance learning at individual pace). The system allows use of multimedia presentations, including video, designed to approximate individualized adaptive instructional strategies described by Ray and Belden’s (2007) expert-system electronic text and tutoring system called MediaMatrix. The Presenter incorporates wireless internet services to manage multiple instructor, course, section, and student records that store individualized data on each student's responses to presentation questions. During presentations classmate-based summaries for each question provide aggregated data immediately following each individual question. Daily summary scores for each student across all questions for a given presentation are also accessible. Question types accommodated by the system include multiple choice, sentences with a single fill-blank typed production, selection-based paired-associates of verbal/graphic stimuli, and "multi-blank" associates involving production of four freely typed answers to a single verbal or graphic prompting stimulus. |
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| Distance Supervision for BCBAs: What is the Evidence? |
| CHRISTINE HOFFNER BARTHOLD (University of Delaware) |
| Abstract: Many professionals are offering supervision via distance learning technologies such as web cam. Distance learning provides the opportunity for some individuals who would not otherwise be able to participate in training and supervision opportunities to become certified professionals. Does distance learning supervision produce the same quality of practitioner that traditional face-to-face supervision provides? In this presentation, I will discuss models of distance learning supervision, empirical support for these models, and suggestions for future research. |
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| PSI & PI: The pluses and the minuses |
| ROBERT W. ALLAN (Lafayette College) |
| Abstract: The Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) and Programmed instruction (PI) are well proven, data-driven methods of enhancing student learning of course materials. Why have these methods not been more widely adopted? This paper will explore some of the contingencies punishing the use of PSI and PI and some of the contingencies that might still be profitably used to improve student performance even in the face of arranged punishers. |
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| Incontinence as a Function of Wearing Diapers |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 120 BC |
| Chair: Kathryne Balch Schooley (BEST Consulting, Inc.) |
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| Incontinence as a Function of Wearing Diapers |
| KATHRYNE BALCH SCHOOLEY (BEST Consulting, Inc.), Kristen Lein (CSU, Fresno and BEST Consulting, Inc.), Erin Bowen (CSU, Fresno and BEST Consulting, Inc.) |
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| Abstract: There is evidence to suggest that increases in urinary and bowel accidents and decreases in successful voids are functionally related to extended use and return to diaper wearing for individuals with disabilities. Two children, age 7 and 8, both with a diagnosis of autism, served as subjects. Frequency data was collected on successful voids for both urination and bowel movements. Extended use and return to diaper conditions occasioned a decrease in successful voids and an increase in accidents, relative to conditions without diapers being worn. This study provides further evidence for the complete elimination of diaper wearing when teaching bowel control. |
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| INVITED: Why Children With Autism Often Fail to Acquire a Functional Intraverbal Repertoire |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:20 PM |
| West 301 CD |
| Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: William H. Ahearn (The New England Center for Children) |
| Presenting Authors: : MARK L. SUNDBERG (Sundberg and Associates) |
| Abstract: Many children with autism acquire an extensive vocabulary of mands, tacts, and listener discriminations, but have difficulty answering WH questions or engaging in meaningful conversational behavior. In addition, the intraverbal behavior they do have may be rote, scripted, or irrelevant to the preceding verbal context. This tutorial will present several examples of intraverbal problems experienced by children with autism along with an analysis of why these problems are occurring and suggestions for possible intervention programs. It will be proposed that the stimulus control relevant to intraverbal behavior involves primarily verbal conditional discriminations where one antecedent verbal stimulus alters the evocative effect of another antecedent verbal stimulus, and that this type of discrimination requires special training for many children with language delays. It will also be suggested that intraverbal development in typically developing children can serve as a guide for sequencing these complex discriminations for purposes of intraverbal assessment and intervention.
Dr. Mark L. Sundberg received his doctorate degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University (1980). He is the author of the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (the VB-MAPP), and the co-author of The ABLLS; Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities; and A Collection of Reprints on Verbal Behavior. He has published over 45 professional papers, including a chapter titled “Verbal Behavior” in Cooper, Heron, & Heward (2007). He is the founder and past editor of the journal The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, a twice past-president of The Northern California Association for Behavior Analysis, a past-chair of the Publication Board of ABAI, and was a member of the committee that developed the BACB Task Lists. Dr. Sundberg has given over 500 conference presentations and workshops, and taught 80 college courses on behavior analysis, verbal behavior, sign language, and child development. His awards include the 2001 “Distinguished Psychology Department Alumnus Award” from Western Michigan University. |
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| MARK L. SUNDBERG (Sundberg and Associates) |
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| OBM Research and OBM Practice: Shall Ever the Two Meet Again? |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:20 PM |
| West 301 AB |
| Chair: Alicia M. Alvero (Queens College, CUNY) |
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| OBM Research and OBM Practice: Shall Ever the Two Meet Again? |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JOHN AUSTIN (Western Michigan University) |
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| Abstract: Early OBM applications appeared in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and were largely characterized by the application of feedback, reinforcement, and systems analysis to solve organizational problems and improve performance. Soon after the initial studies, The Journal ( Journal of Organizational Behavior Management ) was founded in 1977 by Aubrey Daniels, with Larry Miller serving as Managing Editor (Dickinson, 2000). At the first MABA and ABA conferences there was a strong presence from members of the University of Kansas and BSI (a consulting firm headed by Aubrey Daniels) (Dickinson). Since that time, OBM presence at universities, in consulting firms, and inside organizations has grown steadily, although not dramatically. In the early days, research and practice were essentially one in the same – as evidenced by the applied nature of most early articles appearing in JOBM . However, it appears to me that the link between the research we publish and the OBM practice in which we engage has become increasingly faint. I will discuss this issue, give some ideas for how it might be remedied, and discuss some things about practice that I have learned as a researcher of 15 years.
Dr. John Austin is an internationally recognized expert in providing behavior-based solutions to organizational challenges. He is a Professor of Psychology at Western Michigan University. He has conducted research and consulted with organizations to improve productivity and safety in various industries including:
-Aviation Health care and hospitals
-Chemical Higher education
-Construction Public accommodations
-Food service Transportation
-Glass and plastics manufacturing Utilities
-Government Retail
John has experience in occupational safety, motivation, performance measurement, leadership development, coaching, and organizational change management.
In the area of improving human performance he has published more than 85 articles and chapters, delivered nearly 200 presentations at regional, national, and international conferences, and has published three books, Organizational Change, Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis, and Mindfulness at Work.
John has taught college and graduate level courses and conducted research in the areas of occupational safety, organizational performance improvement, consultation, motivation, and behavior change for 15 years. He earned his BA from the University of Notre Dame, and his MS and PhD from Florida State University. He served as Editor of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management from 2000-2008, Associate Editor of Behavior Analysis and Practice, and is on the board of editors for four other comparable scientific journals, including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
John is a leading member of the UK & USA based BMT Federation, a group of independent consultants that specialize in using behavioral science techniques to improve business performance. |
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| Skill Acquisition: Alternatives for Teaching Tooth Brushing to Children Diagnosed With an Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 124 B |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Paula Ribeiro Braga-Kenyon (NECC) |
| Discussant: Cynthia R. Blackledge (UHS Schools, Inc.) |
| CE Instructor: Joel Hundert, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Tooth brushing is an important skill for increasing independence among individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Commonly used training methods for teaching tooth brushing include forward or backward chaining but are not always effective. The current symposium will describe three teaching procedures for training teenagers diagnosed with autism to brush their teeth. The first study describes the use of frequent training sessions and a modified task analysis, one that isolates a few steps from the total sequence to be taught. The second study evaluates whether isolating skill deficits prior to training the tooth brushing sequence would be helpful. Deficits identified were problems with fine motor skills and the occurrence of an incompatible behavior. The third study evaluates the utility of video prompting for teaching tooth brushing. All three studies have positive results. |
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| Tooth Brushing: Overcoming Interfering Behaviors |
| LEAH KARA (The New England Center for Children), Sorrel Ryan (New England Center for Children), Paul Mahoney (New England Center for Children), Paula Ribeiro Braga-Kenyon (NECC) |
| Abstract: The current study presents a method for training tooth brushing for two teenagers diagnosed with autism. The participants engaged in stereotypy (e.g., water play and turning on and off faucets) that interfered with skill acquisition. Tooth-brushing task analyses were modified by excluding tooth-brushing preparation steps (e.g., turning on the water and applying toothpaste). In addition, participants were required to complete multiple trials per day. Task analyses were conducted every hour during the school day. Results indicated that the inclusion of mass trials and removal of preparatory tooth-brushing steps resulted in both participants efficiently acquiring the steps of a tooth-brushing task analysis. The steps that were removed from the task analysis during skill acquisition are currently being re-introduced as part of the routine, and both students continue to make progress. |
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| Tooth Brushing: Overcoming a Fine Motor Skill Deficit and an Incompatible Behaviors |
| PAUL MAHONEY (New England Center for Children), Paula Ribeiro Braga-Kenyon (NECC), Leah Kara (The New England Center for Children), Sorrel Ryan (New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: The current study presents alternatives for teaching tooth brushing to one 9-year-old female diagnosed with autism. The participant was being trained on a tooth brushing sequence using a forward chain task analysis. The participant presented fine motor deficits that interfered with acquiring the step of turning the toothbrush from bottom teeth to upper teeth. In addition, the participant engaged in the incompatible behavior of sucking on the toothbrush. The specific tooth brushing steps associated with poor performance were isolated and re-trained, using a new strategy to turn the tooth brush (rolling the toothbrush on fingers instead of moving wrist); and the sequence was trained multiple times per day in a different setting, the classroom. Removal of the water was also implemented to address sucking on the toothbrush. After the two identified steps were trained to criteria, and the student met mastery criteria in the new setting, the entire task, including preparatory and terminal steps, was transferred to the natural environment; and water was again added to the sequence. Results of this study showed that identifying deficits in performance and modifying the training program to target there areas led to independent acquisition of the tooth brushing task analysis for this participant. |
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| Tooth Brushing: Overcoming Lack of Motivation Related to a Task |
| SORREL RYAN (New England Center for Children), Paul Mahoney (New England Center for Children), Paula Ribeiro Braga-Kenyon (NECC), Leah Kara (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: The current study evaluated the utility of video prompting to teach a 9-year-old boy diagnosed with autism to complete the steps of a tooth brushing chain. Forward and backward chaining procedures had been attempted and found ineffective. It was hypothesized that lack of motivation and attention to the stimuli were interfering with acquisition. At times, the student would also engage in incompatible behaviors, such as biting on the toothbrush. Direct observation indicated that the student enjoyed watching videos, suggesting the use of video prompting. Results showed that the participant learned to perform most of the steps of the tooth brushing behavior chain independently using the video prompts. In addition, progress was faster than previously attempted procedures and mastered steps were maintained over time. |
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| Practice-based evidence in public education: systematic on-site consultation and special education for students with autism. |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 124 A |
| Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Michael Miklos (Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Net) |
| CE Instructor: Keith D. Allen, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Technical support to special education teachers often consists of verbal “stand and deliver” trainings removed from classroom environments. Teachers often attend didactic trainings in order to receive continuing education credit without a systematic process for transferring verbal training to actual repertoires in the classroom setting. The brief reports included in this symposium will highlight efforts to provide direct on-site training to special education staff. Each report will review components of a system of technical support driven by procedural integrity and supporting data based systems of instruction. Data summarizing a variety of consultative efforts will be presented. Primary emphasis of discussion will be on explicit procedural processes for instructional staff that generate evidence of individual student performance. The range of processes to be discussed include training in single subject design to enhance instructional skills of teachers, use of procedural descriptions of consultation to improve instructional fidelity, third party review of instructional implementation as a system of classroom organizational management, and explicit feedback as a means to training instructional fidelity for discrete trial instruction. |
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| Getting the analysis in public special education through single-subject case study requirements |
| MICHAEL MIKLOS (Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Net) |
| Abstract: This presentation will review data collected for formal case studies completed over the past two years within Pennsylvania public education autism support classes participating in the Pennsylvania Verbal Behavior Project. Approximately 40 case studies per year have been developed in participating classrooms. Summary data for case studies from the past two years will be discussed. The case studies have required public education classrooms to develop, implement and review case studies with increasingly empirical designs. The process to be reviewed involves submission of a case study proposal including consideration of study design to demonstrate functional relations, verification of both dependent and independent variable definitions, and steps to ensure treatment fidelity. The proposal is then implemented in the classroom. Case studies are summarized and an informal review with public presentation of findings is completed. The case study format allows teachers and other special education staff to come in contact with the process of scientific verification of instructional interventions. |
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| Systematic feedback and procedural descriptions of consultation outcomes: the value of written consultation reports in relation to student outcomes. |
| AMIRIS DIPUGLIA (PaTTAN/ PA Verbal Behavior Project) |
| Abstract: Multiple written procedural descriptions derived from data based observations will be described in relation to student performance in autism support classes within the Pennsylvania Verbal Behavior Project. Procedures for classroom organization, teaching mands, tacts, and intraverbals as well as problem behavior reduction plans will be highlighted. The session will include description of the integration of assessment systems used in consultation with formal observation, data review, and intervention development. Included will be a description of a format for consultative reports that specifies the consultative issues in objective terms while requiring relevant behavioral data review, an interpretation of the data, and specific recommendations based on the data. The report format serves to reduce ambiguity in the consultative process while increasing the probability of consultation functioning to alter student repertoires. Several examples of the written reports from actual classroom consultations will be presented. The value of written notes as means of increasing procedural compliance will be discussed. |
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| Formal site review of classroom implementation and its relation to planning instructional delivery: does telling them what they do lead to changes in what they do? |
| DEBRA NAMEY (Pa Verbal Behavior Project) |
| Abstract: Through the process of delineating performance criteria for classroom teachers serving students with autism, targeted priorities for behavioral consultation can be developed. Outcomes suggesting the relation between site review data, specific instructional design, consultation and changes in classroom practice will be summarized. The PA Verbal Behavior Project site review form includes ratings of:
1. classroom organization
2. data systems
3. consultation and training processes
4. instruction including mand training, intensive teaching, group instruction, and social skills
5. problem behavior interventions.
Ratings in each domain specify instructional behaviors that, if not in place for participating classrooms, are targeted for development through systematic consultation.
Data on the reliability of the site review process and change in levels of implementation will be presented. The session will describe how the information from site reviews is used to guide the behavior of consultants in the PA Verbal Behavior Project. Implications for planning individual student programming will be considered. |
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| Integration of manualization and direct feedback processes for training intensive teaching of the verbal operants. |
| MARY L. BARBERA (PA Verbal Behavior Project) |
| Abstract: Through transcription of instructional behavior, direct feedback can be provided to instructors in relation to established discrete trial procedures. Examples of this process will be provided. This report will describe implementation of a system for feedback based on direct observation of teacher behavior as a training system and its relation to student skill acquisition. The model of discrete trial instruction used includes interspersed trials, with balanced high probability and low probability tasks, errorless procedures for instructional acquisition targets, and focuses primarily on acquisition of the verbal operants as identified in Skinner, 1957. The transcription process involves coding instructional behavior of discrete trial instructors in relation to student behavior with formalized codes. The staff training procedure to be described here will include four components:
1. Viewing and documenting a training DVD which specifies the components of the discrete trial teaching process.
2. Practicing presenting discrete trials with guided practice
3. Receiving direct feedback on actual teaching practice with data derived from the transcription process
4. Continuous process of student acquisition of skills taught through the discrete trial teaching. |
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| Contemporary Assessment and Treatment Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 126 |
| Area: AUT/CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Melanie Mills (Judevine Center for Autism) |
| Discussant: Rebecca Rubie (Judevine Center for Autism) |
| CE Instructor: Michael Weinberg, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: The assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorders are becoming increasingly more relevant given the drastic increase in the diagnosis of the disorder. The following symposium will target some key issues in the assessment process that will lead the clinician to the implementation of more efficacious interventions. In addition to addressing key assessment issues, the symposium will also target the parenting aspect of effective autism interventions. Parent training is a crucial aspect of autism treatment that helps to facilitate generalization and maintenance of behavioral gains. This topic will be discussed in the context of competency based training and testing, as well as video and audio coaching strategies for parents of children with autism. The final talk in this symposium will detail a behavioral system for providing behavior analytic services in a public school system, discuss barriers to successful implementation, as well as show clear clinical improvements in individual students – when the organizational system is in sync with clinical goals. |
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| Assessing Preference for Attention in Children Diagnosed with Autism |
| JODI NUERNBERGER (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Cierra Ann Micke (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Kelly Paulson (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Carrie Haessly (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Kevin J Schlichenmeyer (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Matthew Newquist (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Kevin P. Klatt (University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire) |
| Abstract: The social skills of children with autism are an area of focus for most professionals working in this population. Some of the core deficits of children that are on the autism spectrum include a lack of spontaneous eye contact or joint attention skills. Children with autism will typically fail to seek out social attention or to share in social experiences with peers or family. The following project will assess the preferences that children with autism have as it relates to attention. Given some of the deficit areas of this disorder and how they impact the level of attention that is requested can be key determinants of tretament strategies for children that are on the spectrum. Issues with joint attention have been shown to be related to the intensity of the social skills deficits that some of these kids demonstrate. The manner in which attention is delivered and the types of attention were examined in this study. |
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| Competency Based Parent Training for Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| JOHN M. GUERCIO (Judevine Center for Autism), Melanie Mills (Judevine Center for Autism), Brooke Diane Walker (SIU Carbondale) |
| Abstract: The project will assess the effects of a 3-week staff/parent autism training program. The program is comprised of a series of workshops, videotaped modeling, and feedback geared towards successful intervention with individuals with an autism spectrum disorder. Each module of the training is accompanied by a competency based post test. Each trainee had to score at or above a pre-set criterion score in order to move on to the next module. The teaching skills of each of 3 parent dyads will be assessed via a multiple baseline design across parents. A variety of dependent measures will be used to assess treatment efficacy for the parent training package described above. The measures that will be used will include the frequency of specific contingency statements, correct implementation of reinforcement protocols, and the frequency of inappropriate responding observed across 20 minute therapy sessions. Results showed that each family dyad demonstrated an increase in appropriate teaching and therapeutic scales as well as decreases in subjective measures of stress and anxiety. |
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| Performance Management in Schools Serving Children with Autism |
| CHRISTINA A. WEISE (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University), Dawn J. Scheff (Southern Illinois University - Carbondale) |
| Abstract: Clinical interventions for children with autism have been highly successful over the past decade. Demand is increasing as well as the supply of BCBAs. Unfortunately, the organizational system that needs to adopt the newly developed behavioral programming is often far from adequate to support the increased work requirements of teachers and associated staff. This presentation will present a behavioral system for providing behavior analytic services in a public school system, discuss barriers to successful implementation, as well as show clear clinical improvements in individual students – when the organizational system is in sync with clinical goals. |
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| Using Video-Based Instruction to Train Stakeholders of Children with Autism in Evidence-Based Practices. |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 125 |
| Area: AUT/TBA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Suzanne Robinson (California State University, Fullerton) |
| Discussant: Jan S. Weiner (California State University, Fullerton) |
| Abstract: Despite the progress the field has made toward developing empirically supported treatments for children with autism and other disabilities, there remains a research-to-practice gap as most of these evidence-based practices are conducted by highly trained and supervised clinicians. Given that students with disabilities spend the majority of their time with parents and teachers, it seems particularly important that these stakeholders be provided with adequate training. This symposium will present the findings of 3 studies that utilized video-based instructional programs for the purposes of offering effective, efficient, and socially-valid training programs for parents, teachers, and paraprofessionals. Specifically with respect to parents, the use of an interactive DVD with manual (a self-directed learning program) was shown to improve parents’ fidelity of implementation of PRT, parent-provided opportunities for language, observed parent confidence, and child functional verbalizations. With respect to school staff, the use of video-based feedback has resulted in teacher and paraprofessional fidelity of implementation of PRT and other behavioral techniques, improved levels of involvement, as well as improvements in students’ social communicative behavior and observed affect. Implications and future directions will also be discussed. |
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| Using a Self-directed Learning Program to Train Parents of Children with Autism in PRT |
| NICOLETTE NEFDT (STAR) |
| Abstract: As a result of the increased incidence of autism spectrum disorders, the gap between the current need and availability of empirically supported treatments (EST) has widened. Researchers facing this need vs. services discrepancy with clinical populations other than ASD have been successful at using self-directed learning models as an effective and cost efficient way to educate parents about how to implement effective intervention methods. Despite its potential there is very little published research evaluating the use of self-directed learning models to teach parents to provide intervention for their child with autism. This study evaluated, through a randomized clinical trial, the use of a self-directed learning program (an interactive DVD with manual). Results indicated significant differences between treatment and control groups at posttest on all of the dependent measures: fidelity of implementation, parent opportunities for language, observed parent confidence and child functional verbalizations. The data suggest the efficacy and effectiveness of a self-directed learning program as an introduction for parents on the implementation of an empirically supported treatment as part of a comprehensive intervention plan for children with autism. Limitations and directions for a programmatic line of research are discussed. |
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| Using Video-Based Feedback to Train Paraprofessionals of Students with Autism in PRT |
| SUZANNE ROBINSON (California State University, Fullerton) |
| Abstract: Despite the development of effective intervention approaches for treating autism, there remains a research-to-practice gap as most of these evidence-based practices are conducted by highly trained and supervised clinicians in home and clinic settings. Given that students with autism spend the majority of their days in the school setting, largely supported by paraprofessionals, it seems particularly important that the school staff receive adequate training to implement these treatments. Unfortunately, most paraprofessionals begin and continue their work with little to no training. In-service workshops, a common training model provided by school districts, are quite ineffective in producing sustained behavior change, thus researchers are calling for effective training models. A training package consisting of modeling and video-based feedback as a means of training paraprofessionals to implement PRT in the inclusive school setting was examined using a multiple baseline across participants design.The findings indicate that the training package was effective and efficient in improving paraprofessional fidelity of implementation, paraprofessional levels of involvement, and the social-communication target behaviors of the students with autism. Additionally, the paraprofessionals reported high satisfaction with the training, and the affect of the students with autism either maintained or improved as a result of the paraprofessional training. |
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| Using Video-Based Training to Address Teachers' Perceived Barriers to Inclusion |
| JANICE MYCK-WAYNE (California State University, Fullerton) |
| Abstract: Researchers and practitioners alike have recognized the significant gap that exists between what has been found to be effective instructional practices in the research, and what teachers are actually doing in their classrooms on a daily basis (King-Sears, 2001; Snell, 2003). Given the recent emphasis in the law (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) on qualified educators and the use of research-based instruction, there is a renewed sense of urgency for researchers to close the gap by establishing reliable, efficient ways of ensuring that effective instructional techniques get infused into teachers’ repertoires (Kohler et al., 1999). To accomplish this end, researchers have examined a variety of training techniques however, there is limited research on the efficient use of these strategies within the general education classroom, and fewer still have documented teacher implementation (i.e., the actual use of the instructional skills), skill generalization (i.e., the ability to use the skills in new situations), skill maintenance (i.e., the ability to maintain the learned skills over time), teacher perceptions of the training program, and the overall utility of video-based instruction. |
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| Behavioral Intervention With Special Tobacco Addiction Population |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 224 A |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Sherman Yen (Asian American Anti-smoking Foundation) |
| SHERMAN YEN (Asian American Anti-smoking Foundation) |
| ALLISON Y. LORD (Tobacco Outreach Technology, Inc.) |
| MICHELE MATTSON (Asian American Anti-smoking Foundation) |
| ANDY CHENG (Asian American Anti-smoking Foundation) |
| Abstract: A form of simple behavior analysis, but including other forms of tobacco cessation techniques, such as nicotine replacement therapy, green tea therapy, computer therapy, etc. will be the focus. Several cases, which compared the clinical effectiveness of the above mentioned tobacco cessation techniques will be reported. A-B-A designs were utilized in the data collection process. Tobacco users' unique backgrounds, such as history of other drugs used, including heroin, cocaine, and alcohol, which affected tobacco cessation treatment success, will be discussed. Being Asian American, an immigrant, ethnic, or culturally different and its effect on treatment outcome will be reported. The non-smoker's spouse, children, and other social supportive roles will also be discussed. Utilizing adjust clinical intervention procedures, such as information on high blook pressure and diabetes will be included in the reported case discussion. |
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| ACT and RFT: New Directions in Clinical and Educational Work |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 222 C |
| Area: CBM/EDC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Chad Drake (Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Train) |
| Discussant: Chad Drake (Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Train) |
| CE Instructor: Janet Ellis, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relational Frame Theory have made significant strides in applied science endeavors of significant social concern and interest. The technology involved in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relational Frame Theory assists in understanding complex issues such as the influences on high risk behaviors and fantasizing responses. In addition, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relational Frame Theory concepts and applications can demonstrate how value directed behavior can improve academic achievement. Each of the presenters will show how experiential avoidance can influence individuals to engage in various clinically relevant behaviors. The presenters from each team will also describe the relational conditioning processes that set the occasion for complex human repertories. The discussion among all of the presenting teams will have focus on how normal verbal processes lead to psychological struggle and seemingly unconventional and high risk behavior. Where relevant, treatment implications will be discussed as well as avenues for further research. |
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| A Relational Frame Theory Account of the Emergence and Maintenance of Rape Fantasies |
| FAWNA STOCKWELL (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), Daniel J. Moran (Trinity Services) |
| Abstract: A sexual fantasy is a series of private events which either evoke or increase sexual arousal. Current research indicates that as many as 33% of women report experiencing at least one sexually arousing rape fantasy in their lifetime, and 10% engage in this fantasy as often as once a month (Shulman & Horne, 2006). This paper will provide a primer on Relational Frame Theory and how the normal processes involved in classical, operant, and relational conditioning can build more complex repertoires that eventually influence the emergence of private stimuli, which may appear taboo or unconventional, to take on reinforcing properties. The influence of metaphorical relating will be discussed. This presentation will develop an account of how sexual fantasy is a type of covert verbal responding which can lead to more complex repertoires, and how rape fantasies can be a selected feature of a person’s repertoire as a result of normal verbal processes. |
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| Experiential avoidance and at-risk behavior patterns |
| SUSAN E. CLARKE (Dorset Healthcare NHS Trust), Jessica Kingston (University of Southampton), Bob Remington (University of Southampton) |
| Abstract: Many maladaptive behavior patterns (e.g., deliberate self-harm, drug use, risky sexual practices, excessive exercise, binge eating) are of social concern. Well documented risk factors for such problem behaviors include childhood trauma (an environmental risk factor) and negative affect intensity (a temperamental risk factor). According to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), however, the relationship between such risk factors and maladaptive behavior is mediated by Experiential Avoidance (EA), the tendency to avoid unwanted private events (e.g., thoughts, feelings, memories). This study used a cross-sectional design to test these hypothesized relations using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). An opportunity sample of 690 volunteers completed the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ), the Maladaptive Behavior Questionnaire (MBQ), a reliable and validated composite measure of problem behaviors developed by the authors, and two self-report measures of key risk factors (the Affect Intensity Measure-Negative Intensity Scale and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire). SEM analysis revealed that EA fully mediated the relationship between negative affect intensity and the MBQ scores, and partially mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and the MBQ measure. These findings implicate EA as a key process through which childhood adversity and negative affect intensity impacts on maladaptive behavior. |
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| Psychological Flexibility, Academic Success, and Valued Living |
| A. NICKI JEANE (University of Mississippi), Emily Kennison Sandoz (University of Mississippi), Kelly G. Wilson (University of Mississippi), Kate Kellum (The University of Mississippi) |
| Abstract: College is a difficult venture. Increased academic, social, and practical demands associated with the adjustment to college make academic success a challenge for most. The significant implications of successfully navigating those demands likely make it worse. Behavior analysis has had a hand in improving educational environments for all ages and academic levels. Through operant and relational conditioning processes, school can come to exert aversive control, which can make avoidance increasingly likely, and success increasingly elusive. The authors will discuss how experiential and emotional avoidance can have a significant impact, not only on vaule directed behavior, but also on important academic achievement scores. Emerging behavior therapies (e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) suggest that interventions on school success might be improved by focusing on increasing flexibility with school-related stimuli, and contact with chosen values. The current study examines the relationship between psychological flexibility, academic success, and valued living. Further directions will be discussed. |
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| Peter Harzem: A legacy of steel and velvet |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 132 BC |
| Area: DEV/TPC; Domain: Theory |
| Chair: Martha Pelaez (Florida International University) |
| Discussant: M. Jackson Marr (Georgia Tech) |
| Abstract: Peter Harzem died this last year after an extended illness. For nearly 40 years he was a significant contributor to the conceptual and historical foundations of behavioral science. Reflecting both broad and deep scholarship in the experimental, historical, and philosophical literature, he was a steely and trenchant critic of some of the most common assumptions and practices of basic and applied behavior science. He thus kept mindful behavior analysts on their toes in either acceding to his judgments or vigorously defending their own--in either case, he could not be ignored. Yet, he was equally skilled at velvety persuasion through his extraordinary wit and charm. His many talents and skills not only inspired students and colleagues alike, but found powerful expression in the organization and dissemination of behavior analysis world wide. This symposium will honor his memory and contributions |
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| Harzem's Contributions to the Analysis of Behavioral Development |
| HAYNE W. REESE (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: This paper is a review and critique of Peter's many contributions to developmental psychology, which came mainly from his conceptual analyses of issues in that field. Peter did not disvalue conceptual analysis, as indicated by a remark he made at the 1980 meeting of ABA. I had criticized the use of "hyphenated reinforcers," and he replied "Won't you allow us any hypotheses?" By extension from the actual uses of hyphenated reinforcers, conceptual analyses are hypotheses and they are scientifically worth while if they are well-justified generalizations from prior empirical research, in this case behavior analytic research, and if they are at least potentially susceptible to empirical tests |
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| On Peter's Intellectual Heritage to Psychology |
| MARTHA PELAEZ (Florida International University), Jacob L. Gewirtz (Florida International University) |
| Abstract: Peter Harzem reflects both broad and deep scholarship in the experimental, historical, and philosophical literature. He kept mindful behavior analysts on their toes in either acceding to his judgments or vigorously defending their own. The authors discuss some of Peter's intellectual challenges and heritage, in particular, his arguments on the 'disasters' that have derailed psychology. |
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| A bridge between Europe and USA |
| PAOLO MODERATO (IULM University ITALY) |
| Abstract: Peter Harzem was a bridge between Europe and USA. Born In Turkey he went to UK, first to London and then to Bangor, where he established the Department of Psychology. Then he crossed the Atlantic ocean to land in Alabama.
When he invented and developed the series "Conference on behaviorism and sciences of behavior" his spirit brought him back to Europe (Italy, Spain,and Swiss) and not only: Japan and Taiwan. Unfortunately, due to nine eleven, he coudn't accomplish the last mission, bringing the conference to his hometown, Instanbul |
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| Fixed-ratios, Delay-to-reinforcement & Signals: Methodological Issues and Extension |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 225 |
| Area: EAB/BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: David P. Jarmolowicz (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: The effects of delay-to-reinforcement have been examined on a variety of schedules of reinforcement such as variable interval schedules (e.g., Lattal, 1984), differential reinforcement of low rate schedules (e.g., Lattal & Ziegler, 1982) and on fixed-ratio (FR) schedules (e.g., Kendall & Newby, 1978). Since Lattal and Gleeson (1990) published their seminal article on acquisition with delay-to reinforcement, delay to reinforcement on FR1 schedules has received considerable attention. For example, experiments have examined the effects of delay duration (e.g., Sutphin, Byrne, & Poling, 1998), signals (e.g., Lattal, 1984), and the use of these schedules to examine the effects of various drugs (e.g., LeSage, Byrne & Poling, 1996) and strain differences (animal models of various disorders; e.g., Anderson & Elcoro, 2006). The work presented in the present symposium builds upon previous work using delay-to-reinforcement on FR1 schedules by examining the effects of end-of-delay stimuli on acquisition with delay to reinforcement and by evaluating acquisition with delayed reinforcement with Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (a purported model of ADHD). Procedural issues in the use of acquisition with delay-to-reinforcement are then reviewed; and work extending from FR1 to a range of FR schedules is presented. |
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| Further Failure to Demonstrate Blocking of Response Acquisition with Delayed Reinforcement with End-of-Delay Stimuli |
| ANDREW T. FOX (Central Michigan University), Mark P. Reilly (Central Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Previous research has shown that stimuli at the end of long response-reinforcer delays can attenuate acquisition of lever-pressing in rats. The explanation for this result is that the intervening stimulus “blocks” (in a Pavlovian sense) the response-reinforcer association. Several attempts to replicate this finding in our lab have failed. Two such experiments are reported here. In the first, a houselight was explicitly paired with food reinforcement before acquisition sessions under a 30-s non-resetting delay condition were conducted. This arrangement was more explicitly analogous to a Pavlovian blocking preparation. Blocking did not occur; all subjects in all conditions acquired lever pressing. In the second, one of the major differences (manner of food restriction) between our experiments and the previous ones was explored. Two types of food restriction (2-hour access versus 85% free-feeding weight) were imposed on the subjects during response acquisition sessions with end-of-delay stimuli. Five of six subjects gained weight when given 2-hour access to chow and only one subject acquired lever pressing. When the same rats were subsequently restricted to 85% of their free-feeding weights, all acquired lever pressing, precluding unequivocal interpretation of the failure to acquire lever-pressing in the 2-hour access phase in terms of Pavlovian blocking. |
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| Response Acquisition with Signaled Delayed Reinforcement in a Rodent Model of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder |
| DENNIS HAND (Central Michigan University), Andrew T. Fox (Central Michigan University), Mark P. Reilly (Central Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Impulsivity has been characterized as a hypersensitivity to delayed reinforcement, and this characteristic has been proposed to contribute to the learning deficits reported in children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR), a purported model of ADHD, has been shown to exhibit this hypersensitivity to reinforcer delay. Previous research by Hand, Fox and Reilly (2006) showed that response acquisition was retarded in SHRs relative to control rats when unsignaled delays of 15 s separated responses from food delivery. To further explore the variables that underlie this sensitivity to delayed reinforcement, the present study exposed SHR and Wistar-Kyoto rats to signaled, response-reinforcer delays of 15 s (chain FR 1, DRO 15 s). The present study tested the idea that signaled delays should facilitate response acquisition in SHRs thus resulting in no strain differences: The signal should function as an immediate conditioned reinforcer and thus reduce the overall effect of the delay. As predicted, response acquisition was similar between strains. Although SHRs averaged slightly more responses and DRO resets, the number of pellets earned was identical. Thus, signaling response-reinforcer delays eliminated previously demonstrated differences in response acquisition deficits between SHRs and Wistar-Kyoto rats under 15-s resetting delays of reinforcement. |
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| Drug Effects on Response Acquisition with Delayed Reinforcement: Procedural and Definitional Issues |
| ALAN D. POLING (Western Michigan University), Thomas P. Byrne (MCLA) |
| Abstract: Several studies from our laboratory and elsewhere have examined the effects of a number of drugs on response acquisition under conditions where neither shaping nor autoshaping were arranged and putative reinforcers were delayed by different intervals. This presentation will summarize work in this area, with particular emphasis placed on methodological issues. Although procedures involving response acquisition with delayed reinforcement have some appealing features for studying drug effects on learning, their use is fraught with difficulty. |
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| Fixed-Ratio Schedules: Effects of Delay-to-Reinforcement |
| DAVID P. JARMOLOWICZ (West Virginia University), Kennon A. Lattal (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: A number of studies have examined the effects of signaled and unsignaled delays-to-reinforcement on behavior on FR1 schedules (e.g., Critchfield & Lattal, 1993; Sutphin, Byrne, & Poling, 1998); however, notably less is known about the effects of reinforcement delays on other FR schedules (e.g. Kendall & Newby, 1978). The current experiments examined some effects of a range of signaled and unsignaled delays to reinforcement on behavior maintained by FR schedules. In Experiment 1, behavior maintained on a FR50 schedule was rapidly exposed to a range of delays-to reinforcement (i.e., 1-s to 320-s). In Experiment 2 behavior maintained on a range of FR schedules (i.e., FR10 to FR400) was exposed to delays of various durations. In general, negative relations between rate and delay and positive relations between delay and post reinforcement pause were observed. |
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| Language: Its Role in Indigenous Education, Poverty, and Culture |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 122 A |
| Area: EDC/CSE; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Abigail B. Calkin (Calkin Consulting Center) |
| Abstract: Indigenous and minority education has not kept pace with the educational progress of Western Europeans in the same regions. Confronted by language and cultural losses, indigenous and minority people try to meld yet retain their way of life. Looking at the circumpolar nations’ practices as well as Native and minority cultures, we notice that cultural practices and language have often been snatched away in favor of the more dominant, western way of life. These small groups and the governments around the Northern Hemisphere have begun to look at the impact of these practices and how to preserve Native integrity while blending into the local, national pot. Is this even possible? Yes, but the results and potential for success hinge on the role central government plays and on increasing the present low language skills through programs such as Direct Instruction and Language for Learning. The participants, who work with the education of minority groups, will share standardized and standard celeration charted data from their work with Native Americans, First Nations, African Americans, and Hispanics. Data collected and analyzed from thousands of students show that we can educate people at the 80th percentile while retaining cultural heritages. |
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| Indigenous Education in the Far North and the Lower 48 |
| ABIGAIL B. CALKIN (Calkin Consulting Center) |
| Abstract: Tribe in Canada’s Yukon Territory asked what were the academic achievement levels of other peoples in the Circumpolar Regions. This question has many answers—some areas have high achievement, others do not, and on top of any answer given is the cultural overlay. In the Far North of Russia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Scandinavia, education systems have been used to acculturate native populations as well as destroy the local native culture. Even though countries do not use the same yardstick, we can begin to glimpse cross-national and cross-cultural comparisons by using standard scores, researched, authoritative opinions, and achievement test scores. In an effort to help indigenous populations in the Far North and southern areas cross the bridge to Western culture and achievement, village and tribal schools in many areas have used the Morningside Academy model. Two schools showing significant achievement growth are in British In 2003, Chief Darren Isaac of the Selkirk First Nations band of the Northern Tutchone Columbia and Oklahoma. |
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| The Intersection and Culture |
| KRISTINE F. MELROE (Morningside Academy) |
| Abstract: Native nations in the US are facing a critical juncture to assimilate or maintain their culture. Historically, education, a discipline that can have a profound effect on social change, has played a destructive role in U.S. Native cultures and languages. Two saving options are to become proficient in English and move off the reservation to be economically stable, or stay on the reservation with few job opportunities yet surrounded by native culture. In order to move forward into positive educational and cultural developments, we offer a historical review of the role educational systems have played.
This presentation examines the effects that the loss of language has on culture. Through surveys and interviews, we share the concerns of parents and community and their vision of the role education should play in saving the language and culture. We compare this to what has been written about the various cultures and languages. The behavior analyst’s understanding of human behavior places us in a unique position to make substantial contributions in creating an array of successful interventions for social change.
An applied behavior analysis approach to education helps determine the appropriate interventions that support the culture and language so students can move between the cultures. |
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| Low Language Skills = Low Learning |
| DEBORAH L. BROWN (SCOE/Morningside Academy) |
| Abstract: The cultural and educational history of bilingual students often shows they have low language skills and proficiency in both languages. Because of these low skills, their social and academic achievement are the lowest in the country. In Hart & Risley’s longitidunal study, the lower the socio-economic status, the lower the oral language. In early childhood, meaning is often communicated within a common social context and understanding. When contextual language is used out of context, e.g., in a bilingual situation, however, language cannot be understood. Therefore these young people are not prepared to interact in an educational setting with the context of language and cannot comprehend written text. As a result, the vocabulary gap between professional people and lower SES groups is huge and continues to grow larger. |
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| Language for Learning |
| CATHY L. WATKINS (California State University, Stanislaus) |
| Abstract: Language for Learning is a Direct Instruction language development program designed to teach language, concepts, information, and knowledge that will benefit children in the classroom. The program was designed to address the needs of children who entered the school system without having mastered ‘the language of instruction.’ Language for Learning is used to teach oral language skills to children whose language is inadequately developed, including students for whom English is their second language, special education students, and children in speech/language classes.
There is a strong foundation of research supporting both the Direct Instruction method and the Language for Learning program. This presentation will provide an overview of the content of Language for Learning and outcomes for various learners. |
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| Teaching Verbal Behavior and Language Pragmatic Skills to Children With Autism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 127 |
| Area: VBC/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Vincent Joseph Carbone (Carbone Clinic) |
| Discussant: Patrick E. McGreevy (Patrick McGreevy, Ph.D., P.A.) |
| Abstract: Many children with autism fail to develop vocal behavior as their primary method of communication. In addition, many in this group of children also fail to develop the pragmatic skills that typically accompany verbal responses and make their verbal responses more effective. In the first paper the authors will describe methods of vocal shaping with young children with autism. Procedures for phonetically transcribing utterances to establish shaping criteria will be discussed. A system for classifying vocal productions as they improve toward adult form will be described. In the second paper the authors will present a behavioral analysis of eye contact as a language pragmatic skill. Procedures, derived from the analysis of eye contact as a pragmatic skill in young children with autism will be described and illustrated through video. The authors of the final paper will describe procedures for making data-based decisions within the context of teaching verbal behavior to young children with autism. Data along with video illustrations will accompany each paper. |
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| Teaching Language Pragmatic Skills to Children With Autism |
| KRISTIN M ALBERT (Carbone Clinic), Leigh Mariano O'Brien (Carbone Clinic), Claire Hesse (Carbone Clinic), Vincent Joseph Carbone (Carbone Clinic) |
| Abstract: One of the defining characteristics of children with autism is their failure to engage others in reciprocal social interaction. The absence of eye gaze is frequently one of the first indicators of the disorder. As children with autism develop verbal behavior they frequently do not make eye contact when addressing their communicative partner’s or listene’s. The purpose of this paper is to provide a behavioral analysis of eye contact as a language pragmatic skills. A case study of the implementation of procedures based upon the analysis will be presented. The effects of the treatment on the eye gaze of a three and one-half old child will be discussed. Video illustrations and performance data will presented to support the treatment methods. |
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| Shaping the Vocal Production of a Child With Autism |
| CLAIRE HESSE (Carbone Clinic), Heather Ventrella (Carbone Clinic), Kristin M Albert (Carbone Clinic), Vincent Joseph Carbone (Carbone Clinic) |
| Abstract: About 50 percent of children with autism fail to develop vocal verbal behavior as their primary form of communication. Consequently, effective treatments to teach vocal responding to children with autism may have substantial benefits for many children. The purpose of this paper is to provide and case study illustrating the benefits of the evidence-based behavior analytic methods based upon B.F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior. The case study involves a young boy with autism starting at about age three to about age 6. The author will discuss the use of manual sign language and differential reinforcement to support vocal production. The effects of sign mand training, time delay and shaping procedures will be illustrated. The implementation of a phonetic coding method for transcribing phoneme production during treatment sessions will be highlighed. Video illustrations and learner data will be presented in support of the methods used. |
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| Data-based Decision Making in a Center Based Program for Children With Autism |
| EMILY SWEENEY KERWIN (Carbone Clinic), Margaret Murdoch Hagerty (Carbone Clinic), Kristin M Albert (Carbone Clinic), Vincent Joseph Carbone (Carbone Clinic) |
| Abstract: The use of learner performance data to inform instructional decisions is as hallmark of Applied Behavior Analysis. Many reports have documented the benefits of objectively defining outcomes, measuring progress, displaying the progress on a line graph, setting decision rules, analyzing the data sets against the pre-determined standards and then changing instructional practices when appropriate. The purpose of this paper is provide the participants with case study data showing the implementation of the data based decision making process as outlined above within a center based program for the treatment of children with autism. Video illustrations of the implementation of each step will be provided. In addition, learner performance data and subsequent instructional decisions and changes will be highlighted. |
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| Non-Standard Lab Animals |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 4:00 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 226 AB |
| Chair: James Kopp (University of Texas at Arlington) |
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| Effects of Reinforcing with Combined Food and Praise on Eating and Weight Gain in Dogs. |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MARY E. TRAVERS (Hofstra University), Richard M. O'Brien (Hofstra University) |
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| Abstract: Food and praise are often combined in training. Such pairing might establish food as a conditioned reinforcer even when the oganism is no longer food deprived. This would to lead to weight gain. To test this proposition, 40 small dogs (4-25 lbs.) were randomly distributed among four regimens for training. The reinforcers used were: 1. food, touch and praise, 2. food only, 3. praise and touch only, and 4. a no training control. Appropriate groups were given equvalent non-contingent food and praise as a control. Weight and food intake were measured thoughout the five phases of the study: 1. Free feeding baseline, 2. Restricted feeding baseline, 3. Training with restricted feeding, 4. Return to free feeding baseline, and 5. Food satitated training of a new response. Mean weight differences subtracting end of baseline from end of the return to baseline were +1.02 for Food and Praise, +.35 for Food Only, -.07 for Praise Only and -.47 for no training. By ANOVA and paried comparisions, the combined group differed significantly from the praise only and no training groups. The difference with food only approached significance (p.<.08). Learning under satiation also differed between groups. These results suggest that food paired with praise, may become a conditioned reinforcer. |
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| Reinforcement Control in the Zebrafish Using Readily Available Materials to Detect and Reinforce Swimming Behavior |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Tara N McKelvy (University of Texas at Arlington), JAMES KOPP (University of Texas at Arlington) |
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| Abstract: In an earlier report (Kopp, Ferguson, Magee, & Mueller 1999), the rate of a swimming response breaking a photobeam infrared light sensor in zebrafish was shown to increase when the fish's response turned off a light behind a piece of semi-silvered glass (making the glass into a mirror) in the fish's immediate vicinity. This has recently been replicated using the presentation of live, conspecific fish in an adjoining tank as a reinforcing stimulus (Al-Imaria & Gerlai, 2008). The present experiment replicates the Kopp, et al study with the Danio rerio species of zebrafish (wild type AB strain) using a commercially available photobeam apparatus (Med Associates ENV 253) along with a one-way mirror made of automotive anti-glare glass instead of the more expensive, and harder to locate, semi-silvered glass. Rates of beam breaking in the fish were higher during 30 minute FR1 sessions than they were during 30 minute extinction sessions. Rates were also higher during FR1 sessions lasting 24 hours as opposed to 24 hour extinction sessions. |
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| Licensing of Behavior Analysis: Protecting the Profession and the Public |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 4:00 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 120 D |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Cheryl Davis, M.S.Ed. |
| Chair: Michael Weinberg (Orlando Behavior Health Services, LLC) |
| MICHAEL F. DORSEY (The Vinfen Corporation and Endicott College) |
| THOMAS L. ZANE (Sage Colleges) |
| MICHAEL WEINBERG (Orlando Behavior Health Services, LLC) |
| Abstract: Panelists in this presentation will discuss future directions for the field with regard to licensure of behavior analysts. The panel will discuss why the time has come in the evolution of the field to pursue licensure as the next step in the process. An examination and discussion of legal and ethical issues will be presented along with how to pursue proposing and passing licensure legislation, how licensure ensures protection of the public, and requirements and standards being proposed for becoming licensed as a behavior analyst. The presentation will include activities to date by the Practice Board to achieve licensure status, as well as discuss ways to achieve third party payment for behavior analysis services. |
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| Traumatic Brain Injury: Assessment and Treatment |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 4:00 PM–4:20 PM |
| North 132 A |
| Chair: Ted G. Schoneberger (Stanislaus County Office of Education, Modesto, CA) |
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| Functional Trials: A Behavior Analytic Approach to Assessment and Awareness-Building for Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CHRIS M. SCHAUB (ReMed), Christina M. Peters (ReMeD Rehabilitation) |
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| Abstract: This paper provides a preliminary but systematic introduction to and evaluation of the “Functional Trial Assessment Strategy,” which has been developed and refined by clinicians at ReMed, in their work with individuals who have sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury.
The strategy takes into account a more traditional definition of “function”, and utilizes behavior analytic techniques in areas of assessment and skill building. It creates a framework in which a multidisciplinary team of clinicians can construct analog conditions to either test or work toward developing an individual’s skills in a safe and structured manner. This study seeks to describe and explore the utility of this strategy in guiding the rehabilitation efforts with this unique population.
The data generated within these assessments guide programming toward skill building and/or toward the modification of the individual’s environment in order to promote safety and stability across critical areas of function. Concurrently, this methodology can play an important role in the treatment of a phenomenon known as anosognosia, or the lack of awareness of deficits; which presents this population and treating clinicians with a specific set of challenges. |
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| ABA as a Profession: Challenges Without and Within |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 4:00 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 131 BC |
| Chair: Douglas S. Lee (Behavioral Solutions Inc.) |
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| Analysis of mainstream news media as it relates to Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Domain: Theory |
| DOUGLAS S. LEE (Behavioral Solutions Inc.), Mike R. Johnston (Behavioral Solutions, Inc.), Cristin D. Johnston (Behavioral Solutions, Inc) |
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| Abstract: The term Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is becoming increasingly associated with a myriad of services and programs in the human service area (e.g., Positive Behavioral Support, Behavior Based Safety etc). Keeping track of how ABA is being linked with various endeavors and services is of benefit not only conceptually (how Behavior Analysis is doing as a science) but also for consistency amongst professional services described as having an ABA component (how Behavior Analysis is viewed as a profession). A sampling of mainstream news articles made possible through an ongoing Google search using “Google Alert” of Applied Behavior Analysis, Positive Behavior Support, Behavior Based Safety, Precision Teaching, Direct Instruction, and Behavioral Modification for a period of the past 24 months has been conducted. Data indicate a striking lack of reference to ABA across these service areas typically thought of as very closely linked to the field of Behavior Analysis. Our sampling to date also points to very limited public news awareness of several areas and outmoded and potentially misleading information is commonplace. Implications of this result as well as recommendations for improving this situation are discussed. |
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| Our Growing ABA Field and its Players….How do YOU Play the Game? |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| THOMAS P. KITCHEN (Achievement Center; Mercyhurst College) |
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| Abstract: Over the better part of the past decade, the ranks of professionals carrying the title "Behavior Analyst" and practicing within the field has grown considerably. This growth has presented the field with both tremendous opportunity and tremendous challenge.
This paper will describe the divergent progressions established by this growth. On one hand, growth has brought new leaders of the field who are pushing behavior analysis into greater levels of scope and precision. On the other hand, the spawning of a large new generation of behavior analysts has arguably had a "watering down" effect on the entire ABA field, as the fastest-growing group includes those with the least amount of reverence for the scientific rigor and precision inherent in true behavior analysis. There is a growing majority of practitioners representing ABA who receive minimal training in advanced theoretical and scientific aspects of the field, and subsequently fail to realize the importance of the data-based analytical hallmarks of the field. Through presentation of common traits of such behavior analysts, the paper aims to discourage inconsistent implementation of both behavioral technology and behavioral philosophy. |
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| Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 4:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 227 A |
| Chair: Edward K. Morris (University of Kansas) |
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| Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism: Conceptual Confusions about Science and Essence |
| EDWARD K. MORRIS (University of Kansas) |
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| Abstract: In this paper, I address conceptual confusions (a) about what applied behavior analysis (ABA) is in autism interventions and (b) in misrepresentations of ABA as an essentialist intervention. The conceptual confusions about ABA in autism arise in the distinctions among ABA as a subdiscipline of the discipline of behavior analysis, applied behavior-analytic interventions based on that subdiscipline, and Lovaas’s particular style of ABA early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI). ABA, for instance, is often identified solely as Lovass’s ABA EIBI and vice versa. This is confusing to parents, policy makers, and journalists. I seek to clarify these distinctions. The misrepresentations of ABA as an essentialist intervention confuse the means of discovering interventions that work from interventions themselves. Just as Watson (1928) had no essentialist childrearing advice and Skinner (1948) had no utopian blueprint, ABA has no essentialist interventions in autism. I argue that the interventions are ever-evolving and dependent on context (e.g., clients, parents, cultures). |
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| Presidential Address |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 5:00 PM–5:50 PM |
| West 301 CD |
| Chair: William L. Heward (Ohio State University) |
| CE Instructor: Raymond G. Miltenberger, Ph.D. |
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| Why Are We Not Acting to Save Lives? |
| Abstract: Applied behavior analysis has a rich history of helping people change a wide range of socially significant behaviors. In spite of ABA’s great success in changing behaviors to better people’s lives, some life-or-death behaviors have not received as much attention from behavior analysts. Let’s face it, many people regularly fail to engage in safe behaviors and instead, willingly engage in unsafe behaviors that can (and often do) end up killing them. Changing these behaviors has the potential not only to better people’s lives but to save lives. If behavior analysts did a better job of saving lives, recognition of behavior analysis and its contributions to society would likely grow. In this address I will discuss what I believe to be important target behaviors for behavior analysts to address in future research and practice with the likely impact of saving lives. I will review some of my own work in safety skills training as an exemplar of this research and discuss important issues that need to be addressed in future research and dissemination efforts.
Ray Miltenberger received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Western Michigan University in 1985 after completing a pre-doctoral internship at the Kennedy Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Currently, he is the director of the Master’s Program in Applied Behavior Analysis at the University of South Florida. Dr. Miltenberger serves on the Executive Councils of ABAI and FABA and is a member of the board of directors of SABA. He is on the editorial boards of JABA, Behavioral Interventions, and Journal of Positive Behavioral Interventions and serves as an associate editor for Behavior Analysis in Practice and Education and Treatment of Children. Dr. Miltenberger’s research focuses on teaching safety skills to children and individuals with mental retardation, analysis and treatment of repetitive behavior disorders, and functional assessment and treatment of problem behaviors. He has published over 175 journal articles and chapters, has co-edited a text on analysis and treatment of tics and repetitive behavior disorders, and has written a behavior modification textbook, now in its fourth edition. Dr. Miltenberger has received a number of awards for his teaching and research including the 2008 APA Division 25 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Behavioral Research. |
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| RAYMOND G. MILTENBERGER (University of South Florida) |
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| AUT Poster Session 5 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 6:00 PM–7:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 1. Does Nanny 911 really work?
The efficacy of a short-term intervention on long-term outcomes for behavior problems in children with autism. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| EVELYN M. FLAHERTY (Eden II Programs), Frank R. Cicero (Eden II Programs) |
| Abstract: Popular television series such as Nanny 911 and Supernanny that deal with unruly children and their parents have portrayed that intense short-term behavioral interventions improve children’s disruptive behavior. Although much is known about the efficacy of parent training in methods of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) to reduce children’s behavior problems, less is known about the effectiveness of these short-term interventions in the home for parents of children with autism. The following study examines the effectiveness of an in-home, short-term parent-training model in treating behavior problems in children with an autism spectrum disorder. Participants were parents and their children ages 6-18 who displayed one or more disruptive behaviors such as aggression, noncompliance, or tantrums. A 7-10 session ABA parent-training model was employed and consisted of behavioral recommendations and procedures, therapist modeling, and parental practice with the techniques. Results showed that disruptive behaviors were significantly reduced from baseline levels after just 2 sessions of intervention. Further improvements in behavior were noted after the full course of treatment and at follow-up. |
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| 2. Naturalistic Language Intervention for At-risk siblings of children with ASD |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| THERESA L MACFARLAND (Vanderbilt University), Ann P. Kaiser (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: The study analyzes the effects of a parent-implemented naturalistic language intervention, Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT; Kaiser, 1993), on the communication skills of two young at-risk siblings of children with ASD. The study was conducted using a multiple baseline design across EMT strategies with intermittent generalization probes across untrained activities and children. The intervention was replicated across two-parent child dyads.
The results indicated that both parents were able to perform the EMT strategies in play with their children in their home. In addition, one parent was able to generalize strategies to untrained activities. Neither parent was able to generalize skills to their other child with ASD. Such generalization did occur after a few brief, direct coaching sessions were provided. Effects of the intervention on the at-risk siblings included increases in the number of utterances and diversity of language. Changes were also observed in the children’s play skills, imitation skills, and general functioning.
The findings support previous naturalistic language research. This study further extends the literature on teaching parents naturalistic language strategies, working with at-risk siblings, planning for generalization of strategies, and the possible effects of naturalistic language intervention on other areas of development. |
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| 3. Increasing Teacher-Student Engagement Using Structured Practice and Feedback |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| GEOFFREY D. DEBERY (The Eden II School), April J. Bramell (Devereux New Jersey), Kendra Warren (Devereux New Jersey), Louis K. Darley (New Jersey Center For Autism) |
| Abstract: Research in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis has demonstrated a strong relationship between response opportunities and student learning. In the current study, response opportunities were conceptualized as teacher-student engagement and operationally defined with 8 specific instructional components. The Behavior Skills Training (BST) method (instruction, modeling, rehearsal and feedback) was utilized to train accurate teacher-student engagement to 19 instructional staff members (collectively teachers) at an approved private school for students with autism. Data were collected on teacher-student engagement with ‘consistent implementation’ of greater than 90% of one minute intervals being the primary dependent variable. An ABAC design was used. The intervention consisted of (1) structured practice in which the authors modeled all 8 instructional components for teachers and then teachers practiced modeled components and (2) structured feedback that consisted of 15-minute observation sessions (same as baseline) followed by a feedback session during which teachers were informed of performance (with and without supervisory presence). Experimental control was demonstrated via a reversal design during the no feedback condition (return to baseline conditions). The results demonstrated an average 49% increase in teacher-student engagement when structured feedback was provided with supervisory presence. |
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| 4. A comparison of different methods for collecting data on students’ performance during discrete trial teaching |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LAURA HARPER DITTLINGER (University of Houston, Clear Lake), Dorothea C. Lerman (University of Houston-Clear Lake), Genevieve M Fentress (University of Houston-Clear Lake), Taira Lanagan (Center for Autism and Related Disorders), Susie Balasanyan (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Lynn Williams (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.) |
| Abstract: Data collection and progress monitoring are an integral part of effective teaching. Educators use many different forms of data collection. Methods that provide greater precision (e.g., recording the prompt level needed on each instructional trial) are less practical than methods with less precision (e.g., recording the presence or absence of a correct response on the first trial only). However, few studies have examined which method will best suit client needs. In this study, precise data collected by therapists while working on skills with four children were re-analyzed several different ways to determine if less labor intensive methods would be adequate to make programmatic decisions. Results suggested that, for most of the children and targeted skills, less precise methods of collecting data would have led to similar conclusions about the effectiveness of the intervention. |
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| 6. The Analysis of Multiple Treatments to Increase the Rate of Trial Presentation of Paraprofessional Staff in an EIBI Program. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KRYSTL GIORDANO (ACES), Cara M. Cappalli (ACES - EIBI) |
| Abstract: Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention programs have consistently proven to be effective in educating young children with autism. One approach often utilized in this type of program is Discrete Trial Instruction. Discrete Trials are most often delivered in educational settings by trained paraprofessional staff. Some of the intensity of this programming lies in the correct presentation and repetition of trials. Much research has been conducted on increasing staff performance in highly controlled or university settings. However, in non-university settings, staff motivation to complete trials at an appropriate rate can be an ongoing challenge. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of multiple treatments on the behavior of entry level paraprofessionals in a public school, EIBI setting. Within this study, we examine a baseline rate of trial presentation per staff member, followed by a series of conditions designed to increase this rate. Independent variables include self-monitoring/reporting, the setting of personalized goals, and anonymous public posting. |
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| 7. Discrete-Trial Teaching and the Effectiveness of DTkid in Staff Training |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| IWONA KUBACH (Highfield Centre), Sigmund Eldevik (Center for Early Intervention, Oslo, Norway), J. Carl Hughes (Bangor University, Wales), Corinna F. Grindle (University of Wales Bangor, UK), Rachel Lowe (Bangor University, Wales), Dimitra Tavoulari (Bangor University, Wales) |
| Abstract: Evidence suggests the effectiveness of Early Intensive Behavioral Interventions, and in particular Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT), in increasing the skills and reducing the symptoms of autism. Delivery of effective DTT relies heavily on adequate training of tutors. Recent technological advances have led to the development of a computer simulation program, DTkid, as a staff-training tool, providing a way for tutors to learn and practice DTT skills without exposure to vulnerable children. The present study looks at the effectiveness of DTkid as a training tool with ten novice tutors at a school for children with autism. Tutors completed a set of baseline measures to assess the extent of their knowledge on DTT procedures. DTkid was then used to train the tutors in matching and receptive procedures, before repeating the baseline measures at post-testing. The results showed significant improvements in tutors declarative knowledge and practical skills following exposure to DTkid at intervention, supporting the utility of DTkid as a training tool for novice tutors of children with autism. |
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| 8. Behavioral definitions: Is a picture worth a thousand words? |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ROBIN M. KUHN (University of North Texas), Shahla S. Ala'i-Rosales (University of North Texas), Jesus Rosales-Ruiz (University of North Texas) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study is to help us refine our practices with regard to defining behavior and enhance our measurement tools to aid in observer and staff training. This research will assess which modality of behavioral definition (textual or textual augmented by video exemplar) is more effective in terms of accuracy, consistency, and agreement both within and across observers. Participant observers (undergraduate college students) will be exposed to behavioral definitions accompanied either by written examples and non-examples or video examples and non-examples. Observers will then score video using the behavioral definition provided. Results regarding observer accuracy, consistency, and agreement will help us assess which method of defining behavior may be more effective. (Data to be collected.) Applied implications of this research may be brought to bear in our development of measurement tools and our training of staff and observers. The study also has methodological relevance in that it encourages an examination of the process by which we define behavior and replicate research. |
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| 9. Comparing two methods for training parents with children with autism to implement pivotal response treatment |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Daniel Adam Openden (Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC), RACHEL MCINTOSH (Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center), Alexis N. Boglio (Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center) |
| Abstract: Parent empowerment programs have been shown to have a positive effect on both children and families, but little is known as to what type of parent education models are most effective. Additionally, in light of shortages of therapeutic personnel, techniques to increase the efficiency of training parents promises to be an important way to meet the need of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of two methods for training parents to implement intervention with their children. Families of children diagnosed with or at-risk for ASD were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: a parent training program with guided video observation only training (GVO), or a parent training program with guided video observation plus in-vivo parent coaching (GVO + PC). Posttreatment assessments indicated that both conditions resulted in improvements in parent-child responsivity and the parents’ fidelity of implementation. Comparisons of the 2 treatment conditions indicated that the GVO + PC group’s improvements were greater than those from the GVO only group. The clinical and social significance of these findings is discussed. |
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| 10. The Relationship of Training and Job Satisfaction in Behavioral Therapist Retention |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ALYSSA RYLANDER (California State University, Northridge), Joanna Norstedt (California State University, Northridge), Diane Morovati (California State University, Northridge), Ellie Kazemi (California State University, Northridge) |
| Abstract: Most of the research in applied behavior analysis (ABA) and children with autism focuses on improving treatment for these children. There has been no research in this field on the employees providing services and, with the increasing number of children with autism, there is need to rapidly train and place individuals in the field to provide ABA services. Consequently, there is a common knowledge amongst employers of behavioral agencies that therapist retention within companies is a problem. Research in other fields has shown that low quality training of new employees is related to low job satisfaction. As a result, job satisfaction is related to therapist turnover. This study looked at the relationship of training, job satisfaction, and therapist turnover. We hypothesized that therapists who report intentions to leave a company will report lower total hours of organized training and lower satisfaction with the quality of that training. Furthermore, total training hours will be related to job satisfaction. Participants from multiple behavioral agencies in southern California anonymously completed online measures. Results confirmed our hypotheses. Identifying factors related to therapist retention will aide employers in understanding therapists’ needs to increase retention within the company and provide consistent care to families. |
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| 11. The effects of parent and staff training program on language acquisition in naturalistic intervention procedure for children with autism. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| YUNO TAKEUCHI (Keio University), Hitomi Kuma (Keio University, Japan), Yoshiko Hara (Keio University), Hiroshi Sugasawara (Keio University), Jun'ichi Yamamoto (Keio University, Japan) |
| Abstract: The effects of parent and staff training for children with autism are demonstrated in several studies, but there are few studies which examined the effect of language acquisition in naturalistic intervention procedure. The purpose of the present study was to develop the training program for parents and students-therapists to acquire the naturalistic ABA intervention and evaluate the “indirect” effects on the language development of the children. The program was consisted of (1) a lecture of basic knowledge about naturalistic ABA method and the procedure of the training of verbal behavior, (2) training for analyzing behaviors by using video in naturalistic and interactive setting and (3) role-playing of interaction. We measured the basic knowledge about naturalistic ABA procedure, the self-efficacy assessment, the therapist-skill check sheet, fidelity of implementation and social validity assessment. Additionally, the behaviors of the children in free play sessions were also observed and analyzed at pre- and post training program. As a result, each measurement score improved and the positive interactions of both parents and student-therapist with the children in free play sessions increased. The results suggests that parent and therapist training was effective even in naturalistic ABA intervention procedure. |
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| 12. Maintenance of Intervention Outcomes in Functional Communication Training: A Quantitative Synthesis of Research |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TRACI ELAINE RUPPERT (University of Nevada-Las Vegas), Renee K. Van Norman (University of Oregon), Matthew Tincani (Temple University), Deborah Russell Carter (Boise State University), Shannon Crozier (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Kim McArthur (University of Nevada-Las Vegas) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the literature with respect to the degree to which response maintenance was evaluated as a component of functional communication training (FCT) intervention, including the extent to which procedures were implemented to promote response maintenance. Twenty-six single subject studies on FCT were quantitatively evaluated for (a) inclusion of data on response maintenance, (b) evidence of procedures to promote maintenance, (c) timing and duration of maintenance data reported, and (d) the degree of behavior change maintained. Results indicated that seven studies (26.9%) met Carr et al.’s (1999) definition for reporting maintenance. Only two of the seven studies reporting maintenance data also reported procedures for promoting maintenance. The mean number of sessions for which maintenance data were reported was 4.2 over a mean number of 21.9 weeks. Overall mean percentage of nonoverlapping data points across participants, settings, and behaviors was MPND 86% (range, 18% – 100%), suggesting that, when measured, levels of responding established with FCT tended to maintain after partial or full withdrawal of intervention. Results highlight the need for future FCT researchers to evaluate response maintenance and to explore specific strategies to promote response maintenance when FCT is the intervention of choice. |
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| 13. Congruence Between Contingency Space Analysis and Functional Analysis Results |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| NORM DAHL (Melmark), Juan-Carlos Lopez (Melmark), Jen Joyce (Melmark), Bradley John Bartosiewicz (Melmark) |
| Abstract: The use of contingency space analysis allows clinicians to estimate if a contingent relation exists between behaviors and events that follow. The analysis is completed with direct observation data that are easily collected in natural environments; the summary data can be calculated without advanced statistical analysis tools and are amenable to graphing for visual inspection. Although the use of contingency space analyses as described by Martens et al. (2008) provides a compelling argument for the utility of such an approach, little empirical evidence is available to support the validity of inferences clinicians may draw from direct observation data subjected to this form of analysis. The present study is designed to compare results generated using contingency space analyses with the results of traditional consequent-based analyses completed for 3-5 students with autism who display challenging behaviors. All students attend a private residential school in southeast Pennsylvania. Similarities and differences in the inferences clinicians may draw from the results of contingency space analyses and functional analyses will be discussed. Benefits and limitations of each approach will also be discussed in relation to the data collected in this study. |
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| 14. EVALUATION OF INTERRUPTION AND REDIRECTION PROCEDURES TO DECREASE VOCAL STEREOTYPY IN YOUNG CHILD WITH AUTISM |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| LIBA GAJDOS (wm+a (Williams Marijan and Associates)), James C. K. Porter (wm+a (Williams Marijan and Associates)), Simmi Santha (wm+a (Williams Marijan and Associates)) |
| Abstract: Vocal stereotypy, especially when exhibited in high rates may interfere with skill acquisition, and can be viewed as socially unacceptable behaviour. The evaluation of the efficacy, as well as the effectiveness of the available treatments to decrease vocal stereotypy is essential for successful reduction of these disruptive behaviours. Ahearn, Clark, MacDonald, and Chung (2007) used verbal response interruption and redirection (RIRD) procedures to decrease vocal stereotypy in children with autism. This treatment resulted in decreased levels of vocal stereotypy, as well as increased levels of appropriate communication. Kodak and Karsten (2008) extended this research by comparing motor and verbal RIRD procedures. Their research showed that both procedures were effective in reducing levels of vocal stereotypy. The current study was designed to replicate and extend the findings of these researchers by comparing the two RIRD procedures in an alternating treatment design to reduce vocal stereotypy in a 6 year old child with autism. The results are consistent with previous findings that both verbal and motor RIRD procedures are effective in reducing vocal stereotypy. Levels of vocal stereotypy reduced substantially with both verbal and motor RIRD, when compared to baseline rates, with vocal RIRD showing slightly greater reductions. Future research should replicate this study with larger sample size in order to further substantiate the efficacy of these procedures. |
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| 15. Teaching Appropriate Alternatives to Disruptive Behavior During Unexpected Events |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| PAUL SHREIBER (somerset Hills Learning Institute), E. Dennis Machado (Somerset Hills Learning Institute), Sandra R. Gomes (Somerset Hills Learning Institute), Kevin J. Brothers (Somerset Hills Learning Institute) |
| Abstract: For many children with autism, interruptions to daily routines can set the occasion for disruptive and other inappropriate behavior. This poster describes the procedures used to teach Marcus an 11 year-old boy to use appropriate verbal and motor responses when unexpected events occurred. Staff observed Marcus engage in disruptive and other stereotypic behavior whenever preferred items (e.g., Play Station, VCR) were inoperable. The purpose of this program was to teach Marcus to engage in an appropriate repertoire of behavior when unexpected changes occurred to his daily routine. The data show that Marcus initially responded inappropriately each time the Play Station or VCR did not function properly. After teaching, Marcus demonstrated the skill of asking his teacher to fix the Play Station and/or VCR in the absence of disruptive and stereotypic behavior on 100% of the opportunities. Over time the reinforcement shifted from the device being fixed and Marcus gaining access to the preferred item, to Marcus being rewarded via his individualized motivation system for appropriately making a different choice. Marcus demonstrated the target response on 100% of the opportunities in each of the subsequent conditions. |
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| 16. Assessment of Hand to Head Self Injury and Appropriate Hand Use With Protective Equipment |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Barbara Hoffmann (Alpine Learning Group), Bridget A. Taylor (Alpine Learning Group), Wayne Fisher (Munroe-Meyer Institute, UNMC), KATHLEEN COOPER (Alpine Learning Group) |
| Abstract: The participant was a nine year old boy with autism with a history of severe self injurious behavior (e.g., slapping face, punching ears) that occurred at a high rate throughout the day in many contexts. A functional analysis indicated that it served multiple functions. Due to lack of behavior change using reductive procedures, it was necessary to protect the participant from injury. Use of a protective helmet yielded less than desirable results, as the participant shifted responding to hit areas not protected by the helmet. Arm splints were used that prohibited the participant from bending at the elbows, thereby preventing hand-to-head contact. The present analysis examined rates of hand-to-head self injury, other topographies of self injury, and appropriate hand use (e.g., manipulating toys, feeding self) in two conditions: with arm splints and without arm splints. Data were collected during 10 minute sessions consisting of brief demands (i.e., five simple discrete trials) alternating with brief access to leisure activities (e.g., TV). In both conditions, self injury was ignored and the participant wore protective equipment (e.g., helmet). Data indicate near zero rates of hand-to-head self injury in the “with splints” condition, and similar rates of appropriate hand use in both conditions. |
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| 17. Evaluating the Effects of a DRO Plus Response Cost Procedure on Aggression and Non-Compliance |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ALLISON STUBITS (RCS Learning Center), Christina M. Boyd-Pickard (RCS Learning Center), Denise Rizzo (GBABA) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a DRO plus response cost procedure in reducing severe aggressive behavior and non-compliance in a 12 year old girl with autism. In the first condition a DRO procedure was used in which the student was reinforced for the absence of aggression and non-compliance following specified time intervals. In the second condition a response cost was introduced in addition to the DRO in which one highly preferred item was removed from the child’s classroom following any instance of aggression or non-compliance. The student’s classroom contained various highly reinforcing items that the student had earned throughout the course of the school year. Items were reintroduced into the child’s classroom for compliance and intervals without aggression. Data indicated that the DRO plus response cost was effective in reducing the rate of aggression and non-compliance as well as the duration of non-compliance to near zero rates. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. |
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| 18. Indirect Effects of Positive Practice Overcorrection |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LINDSAY C. PETERS (The New England Center for Children), Rachel H. Thompson (New England Center for Children), Nicole M. Rodriguez (New England Center for Children - West. New England College), Amy Constantine (New England Center for Children), Catia Cividini-Motta (New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Positive practice overcorrection (PP OC) (Foxx & Azrin, 1972), involves the interruption of problem behavior followed by a period of physically guided practice of an appropriate alternative response and has been shown to be effective in the reduction of self-stimulatory behavior (e.g. Foxx & Azrin, 1973, Harris & Wolchick, 1979). The effects of this procedure on preference for the prompted response, however, have not yet been investigated. The purpose of the current research was to first evaluate the effects of PP OC on both motor stereotypy and the appropriate alternative response practiced. In addition, relative preference for the prompted task versus the unprompted task was also measured. A reversal and a multiple baseline designs were used. One 17-year-old male with autism living in a residential school participated. All sessions included 5 min during which the participant was free to engage in all measured topographies of behavior. After the identification of high (HP) and low (LP) preference vocational activities, PP OC was implemented contingent upon motor stereotypy in the presence of each activity individually. Preference probes, where both items were concurrently available with a different therapist, were conducted every 4 sessions, 2 with the HP activity and 2 with the LP activity. Results showed PP OC to be effective in reducing stereotypy across activities, that appropriate engagement with the activities increased with the implementation of PP OC, and that the implementation of the procedure did not disrupt preference for either item. |
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| 19. Manipulation of Establishing Operations and Contingencies in a Functional Analysis of Perseverative Comments |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KATE E. FISKE (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Heather K. Jennett (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Nicole Marchetto (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: Research on the effects of establishing operations (EOs) on behavior in functional analyses indicates pre-session conditions may alter the reinforcing effectiveness of consequences (Vollmer & Iwata, 1991). Functional analyses have been used to identify the maintaining variables for perseverative verbalizations (e.g., Ewing et al., 2001-2002), and we extended previous research by examining the effects of the presence of an EO on perseverative language. The participant was a 13-year-old female diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder, autistic disorder, anxiety disorder NOS, and depressive disorder NOS who exhibited perseverative comments about body image. We hypothesized that when the EO for escape from demands was present, the contingent delivery of attention would maintain the comments. A multielement design alternating the consequence for comments, nested within a reversal design assessing the presence of the EO, supported our hypothesis that the behavior only occurred when the EO was present. Over time, comments in the attention condition with EO present decreased to match levels observed with escape extinction, indicating the behavior was maintained by escape. Further assessment confirmed the delivery of attention with escape did not produce differentiated responding compared to escape. This procedure has implications for the future study of idiosyncratic responding in functional analyses. |
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| 20. Decreasing Aggression Toward a Household Pet in a Young Child with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| RYAN BERGSTROM (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Jonathan J. Tarbox (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc.), Katharine Gutshall (Center For Autism and Related Disorders) |
| Abstract: DRO procedures have been implemented successfully to reduce a wide array of behaviors such as aggression, self injury, and other challenging behaviors. The present study applied a DRO procedure to a novel challenging behavior, specifically to decrease aggression toward a family dog. One child with a diagnosis of autism was included in this study. A DRO procedure was implemented using a reversal design to demonstrate experimental control. Results demonstrated that this intervention was effective in reducing the target behavior and the duration of the DRO interval was successfully increased to 10 minutes in length. |
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| 21. A Modified Habit Reversal Procedure: The Additive Effects of Attention to Increase a Competing Response |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ERIN PERRY (The University of Southern Mississippi), Brad Dufrene (University of Southern Mississippi), Kim Martell (The University of Southern Mississippi) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a brief functional analysis of motor tics for developing treatment for a 12-year-old male diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder and Tourette’s Disorder. Results from the brief functional analysis indicated an attention component for motor tics. Following the brief functional analysis, a modified, simplified habit reversal procedure was developed based on the results from the brief functional analysis. A time series multielement design was used to evaluate analysis indicated and contraindicated treatments. Treatment analysis indicated substantial reduction in rate of tics during the analysis indicated treatment. Inter-observer agreement and procedural integrity data were acceptable. Results are discussed in terms of the treatment utility of functional analysis for tic disorders. |
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| 22. Manipulating Analogue Functional Analysis Procedures to Account for the Synergistic Effects of Motivation |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| NATHAN LAMBRIGHT (Rutgers University), Amy Hansford (Rutgers University), Jill A. Szalony (Rutgers - DDDC), David Kieval (Rutgers University), Shara Marrero (Rutgers University), Suzannah J. Ferraioli (Rutgers University), Kimberly Sloman (Rutgers University), Robert LaRue (Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center) |
| Abstract: Traditional models of functional analysis procedures typically involve the manipulation of a single motivating operation at a time. While these manipulations allow practitioners to identify single and multi-operant behavior, they do not test for behavior that is better accounted for by the synergistic effects of multiple MO’s. In the current investigation, a traditional functional analysis was conducted to address screaming. The results of the analysis indicated that the behavior was multioperant in nature. However, anecdotal report indicated that a false positive function may have been identified. To test this, a modified procedure was developed to test if there was a synergistic effect for restricted access and escape functions. Conditions included traditional demand and tangible conditions, a demand condition with tangible items provided during breaks and a demand condition with noncontingent access to tangible items The data indicate that rates of screaming were significantly higher in the demand condition and with tangible items provided during escape as compared to the other conditions. These results suggest that maladaptive behavior was primarily maintained by restricted access, however, this motivation increased in the presence of demands. |
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| 23. Effects of Pre-Session Matched Stimulation on Stereotypy |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KATE DESMOND (May Institute), Katherine Gilligan (The May Center for Child Development), Stephanie Orman (The May Institute) |
| Abstract: Research has demonstrated that treatments focusing on matched stimulation may effectively reduce automatically maintained stereotypy. Providing matched stimulation may change rates of stereotypy by altering motivating operations. The purpose of this study was to implement a pre-session stimulation treatment to assess potential satiation effects of free access to less stigmatizing stimulatory behavior. The procedure was implemented, prior to work sessions and included 5 minutes access to a box containing items designated as matched stimulation. Baseline consisted of data collected on stereotypy throughout the typical school day. Results of the assessment indicated that pre-session stimulation had no effect on stereotypy. Although rates of stereotypy were high during matched stimulation, rates of stereotypy directly following and 30 minutes after remained at levels similar to baseline. Pre-session matched stimulation was not an effective treatment for stereotypy and did not serve as an abolishing operation. Results of the current study suggest that the use of pre-session stimulation may not be an effective approach for all individuals even when stimulation is topographically matched. |
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| 25. Integrating Applied Behaviour Analysis Teaching Methods into Education for Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CORINNA F. GRINDLE (Bangor University, UK), Richard P. Hastings (Bangor University, UK), Maria Saville (Bangor University, UK), Elin Walker-Jones (Bangor University), Hanna Kovshoff (University of Southampton) |
| Abstract: The ABA class at Westwood School in the UK offers intensive ABA programmes for ten pupils with significant ASD in a mainstream school context. Children attend the centre for 6 hours a day, five days per week during school terms (total in-school instruction equates to 30 hours a week). Throughout the day, the curriculum is delivered during one-to-one lessons which alternate with small-group activities. Most children, as their skills develop, also spend increasing amounts of time in a mainstream class, usually with their same-aged peers. Each child is accompanied by an ABA therapist, who shadows the child and unobtrusively prompts and reinforces the child when necessary (e.g., for peer interactions, following group instructions and classroom routines and participating in such activities as circle time and music).
A systematic evaluation of the outcomes for children in the ABA Centre is being conducted. The children’s skills are evaluated in the classroom, usually just a few days into their ABA education and then approximately every 12 months thereafter, using a variety of standardized tests. This presentation summarizes some preliminary results on children’s gains in intellectual functioning, communication skills and adaptive behaviour. |
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| 26. Southeastern Pennsylvania Autism Resource Center (SPARC): Designing an Effective Social Skill Group Using Empirically Validated Approaches |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CHERIE ANN FISHBAUGH (Southeastern Pennsylvania Autism Resource Center), Corinne M. Murphy (West Chester University), Jennifer E. Dawson (SPARC), Phillip K. Duncan (West Chester University) |
| Abstract: Students with autism spectrum disorders have difficulty acquiring, maintaining, and generalizing appropriate social skills such as looking at speaker/listener, initiating a conversation, and sustaining a conversation. Arranging social opportunities in the natural environment is a critical, but challenging, component of effective social skill training programs. Another challenge is finding empirically validated treatment approaches focusing on social skill development. A need exists for empirically validated social skill development programs. This poster will identify the process taken to develop a social skill program for students, ages 3-12 years, as well as provide initial evidence collected on the effectiveness of the program as measured by student outcomes. The poster will also include 1) application process 2) development of social skill objectives 3) participant grouping 4) protocol development and 5) data collection. The poster emphasizes the planning, implementation and evaluation of a social skills program provided by SPARC. The poster will highlight areas of future research. |
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| 27. Preliminary outcomes of children with autism who received community-based
behavioural intervention: short-term follow-up |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| E. ALICE PRICHARD (York University), Adrienne M. Perry (York University) |
| Abstract: Research based on data from multiple sites in Ontario has demonstrated that community-based treatment for children with autism, Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI), is associated with reductions in autism symptom severity and improvements in cognitive and adaptive functioning and developmental rate. Despite the demonstrable success of IBI, very few studies have followed children up years after termination of treatment.
The purpose of this study was to follow up children who have previously received IBI from a community program in Ontario. This poster will present data on 40 children ranging in age from 5 to 12 who were discharged from the program 1 to 5 years ago. The varying outcomes of these children in terms of cognitive and adaptive functioning, autism severity, academic skills, and social emotional functioning will be presented. Changes made from exit to follow-up will be detailed for all children and predictors of outcome from the discharge date from IBI will be outlined. Developmental trajectories for a minority of children from entry of IBI to exit to follow-up will be available. In addition, we will present some qualitative data from interviews with parents about other services that their children have received and the important changes that their children made in IBI. |
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| 28. Comparing Apples to Apples: Examining the Impact of Community-Based EIBI for Children with Autism using Inclusion Criteria Employed by Model Programs |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| HELEN E. FLANAGAN (York University), Adrienne M. Perry (York University), Nancy Freeman (Surrey Place Centre) |
| Abstract: Additional research is needed that examines the effectiveness of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) in community settings. Previous research suggests that community-based EIBI is effective but may produce smaller changes than model EIBI programs. However, comparisons between model programs and community-based programs are confounded by differences in inclusion criteria.
This study examined changes over time in 19 children who received community-based EIBI and 19 individually-matched Waitlist controls. Similar to a number of model programs, we only examined outcomes for children who were under 48 months of age and had adaptive ratio composite scores greater than 35 at intake.
Prior to the treatment or waitlist period, groups did not differ with respect to age, autism severity, or adaptive functioning. The duration between test periods was longer for the EIBI group, but duration was not significantly correlated with outcome.
At time 2, children in the IBI group had significantly higher IQ scores and significantly milder autism severity. Adaptive scores were higher for the IBI group in Communication and Socialization, but not Daily Living Skills, domains. Similar to model EIBI programs, approximately 40% of the EIBI group had very good outcomes, versus 10% of the Waitlist sample. |
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| 29. Increasing Appropriate Transitions in an Adult with Autism Through a Shaping Procedure and Antecedent Instructional Modifications |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| HAROLD MAHECHA (Eden II Programs), Niall James Toner (Eden II Programs) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this case study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of a graduated DRA procedure in addressing problem behavior displayed by a 35 year old male with autism during morning transitions entering his adult day program. In baseline, the participant would display problem behaviors in the form of aggression, refusal to walk, dropping to the floor and screaming. These behaviors resulted in transitions with a duration of up to 45 minutes and often in the need for physical restraint. Functional assessment data revealed that the function of problem behavior was escape maintained. In treatment, a DRA procedure was initiated where the participant received a highly preferred reinforcer for partial transitions. In order to facilitate the reinforcement contingency, the SD was changed from “let’s go to class” to “let’s go get (reinforcer).” The requirement of the DRA was lengthened every three consecutive successful trials until ultimately the rienforcer was withheld until the participant appropriately transitioned to his classroom desk. Results indicate that transition duration reduced to a maximum of 5 minutes and the need for physical restraint reduced to zero. This study demonstrates how a relatively simple behavioral procedure can be employed to significantly improve the quality of life of an adult with autism as well as decrease the potential for sensitive situations in the community. |
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| 30. CANCELLED: “Stimulus fading and differential reinforcement for the treatment of public bathroom phobia in a youth with autism” |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CHRISTINA COLON (Achievement Center), Lynne Orengia (Achievement Center), Robert Gulick (Achievement Center), Thomas P. Kitchen (Achievement Center; Mercyhurst College), Phillip J. Belfiore (Mercyhurst College), Monica Weaver (Achievement Center) |
| Abstract: Treatment of phobias has proven to be problematic for clinicians and researchers who work with children diagnosed within the autism spectrum. Parauresis, the fear of public restrooms, is the specific phobia being examined in this study. Our participant is a child diagnosed with autism whose public bathroom phobia has limited his ability to interact within community settings for 1 year. The subject has a history of engaging in tantrums (in the form of yelling, spitting, and crying) when prompted to use public restrooms. In this investigation, we applied stimulus fading and differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors and differential reinforcement of other behaviors as the independent variables. Stimulus fading included gradually increasing exposure to public restrooms while reinforcing the absence of tantrums. Reinforcement was also contingent upon the subject approaching the public restroom without engaging in tantrums. The dependent variable being measured is the number of unprompted approaches to a public bathroom. Utilizing a changing criterion design, preliminary data suggest that the treatment is successful in increasing public bathroom use and community outings. |
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| 31. Teaching Appropriate Behavior During Dental Examinations |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SANDRA R. GOMES (Somerset Hills Learning Institute), E. Dennis Machado (Somerset Hills Learning Institute), Paul Shreiber (somerset Hills Learning Institute), Kevin J. Brothers (Somerset Hills Learning Institute) |
| Abstract: Some children with autism display difficulty tolerating dental examinations. Such was the case for, Nick, a seven-year-old child with autism who presented significant challenging behavior that prevented examination by his dentist.
Capitalizing on Nick’s successful history of acquiring skills with shaping, a dentist practice program was implemented. Through shaping, Nick successfully acquired the skill of engaging in appropriate dental-visit behavior while at his school. Nick displayed generalization of these skills across people and settings within the school. Assessment of these skills at the dentist office, however, indicated that Nick did not generalize his skills to that setting.
In this study, sequential modification was used to program for Nick’s success at the dentist. Initially, steps of the shaping procedure that took place at school took place in the dentist’s office. Systematically, the presence and involvement of the trainer and teacher were faded as the presence and involvement of the dental hygienist and dentist was increased until Nick displayed appropriate behavior during a dental visit. |
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| 32. Use of a Token System to Reinforce Healthy Snack Choices |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| PATRICIA EGAN (SUNY College at Plattsburgh, NY), Laci Charette (SUNY Plattsburgh) |
| Abstract: An ABAB design was used to evaluate the effects of a token system to increase selection of healthier snack options over the course of two years. The participants were 10 children with autism spectrum disorders. Some children were more likely to choose the healthy alternative when tokens were in effect, but when tokens were withdrawn, they resumed eating the less healthy option. |
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| 33. Reducing Bowel Accidents During Overnight Hours: The Effects of Manipulating Undergarments |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KATIE ALLEN (The Childrens Foundation) |
| Abstract: Bowel and urinary continence is an important milestone for both typical children and children with developmental disabilities. However, this skill can be difficult to teach throughout the night while individuals are asleep. Results of a recent study (Simon & Thompson, 2006), assessing undergarment types, found that different undergarments were associated with different levels of continence in typical children. Based on those results, this study examined the effects of wearing a diaper, underwear, or no garments during sleeping hours on the continence of a 9 year old boy with Autism in a residential setting. An ABC design was used to evaluate the effect of each undergarment on two dependent measures: percent continence and frequency of bowel accidents. Results indicated an increase in continence in the condition in which no garments were worn. In the no garments condition an increase in continence during sleeping hours generalized and also produced a higher percentage of both urinary and bowel continence during waking hours. |
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| 35. Decreasing Grocery Store Problem Behaviors of Children with Autism by Increasing Involvement in the Shopping Task |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Ashley Greenwald (University of Nevada, Reno), Holly Seniuk (University of Nevada, Reno), SHANNON SPRINGER (High Sierra Industries), W. Larry Williams (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: One major problem reported by parents of children with autism is their inability to take their child to the store without the child engaging in embarrassing tantrum behaviors. Two children participated in this study: an 8-year-old girl diagnosed with autism and a 6-year-old boy diagnosed with autism. Direct observations prior to implementation indicated that both children displayed tantruming behavior (e.g., hitting, kicking, screaming, running, and dropping) maintained by access to tangible items in the store. The procedure involved in-home training of matching word or picture cards to a tangible item and then placing the item in a shopping bag. The children were also taught to push a cart for a sustainable amount of time. These two skills were then generalized to the grocery store. The intervention utilized a changing criterion design to gradually increase in-store time. Preliminary results indicate that for both participants involvement in shopping tasks increased while tantruming behaviors decreased in both frequency of occurrence and duration. |
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| 36. Teaching an Adolescent with ASD to Compose an Email |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ALLISON LETCHER (Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of), Jamie Rose Feddock (FEAT of WA), Sara J. Pahl (Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Washington) |
| Abstract: Communicating and reporting important information such as events of an individual’s day can be a difficult skill for some learners with ASD. The use of email is one tool we use in the Transitions for Teens program to teach adolescent clients with ASD how to communicate important information to others. Before reporting important information in an email, clients must also learn how to navigate a web-based e-mail service. Data presented on the Standard Celeration Chart will demonstrate how the use of forward chaining and prompt fading procedures helped teach an 18-year-old adolescent girl with a diagnosis of ASD to navigate a web-based email service and compose an email. The email composition included reporting events of the client’s day, while also including the client’s likes and dislikes. Intervention was provided at our center in a 1:1 instructional arrangement and in the community during the Transitions for Teens program at Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Washington. |
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| 37. Teaching an Adolescent to Tact Environmental Triggers and Private Events to Help Improve Self-Management Skills |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SARAH PROCHAK (Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Washington), Jamie Rose Feddock (FEAT of WA), Sara J. Pahl (Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Washington) |
| Abstract: Learning how to tact known, and potential environmental triggers, in a variety of settings is an important skill for improving self-management behaviors with clients that are learning how to mange or regulate their problem behaviors independently. Identifying triggers and private events are not only skills that are needed to help cope with stressful situations, but also gain independence and control over one’s environment. Discussing stressful situations in a structured setting provides the client the opportunity to identify these triggers without yet having to engage in them in the natural environment. This poster will demonstrate how we taught a 13-year-old female client diagnosed with Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome and ASD, how to tact known and potential triggers in her environment, while also tacting private events that may correlate with overt responses or problem behaviors. Data collected on problem behaviors and tacting triggers as they occurred in the natural environment or community setting will be presented using the Standard Celeration Chart. Intervention was provided at our center in and in the community during the Transitions for Teens program at Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Washington. |
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| 38. The Effects of Learning a Series of Intraverbals in the Description of Objects |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Gladys Williams (CIEL, Spain), Luis A. Perez-Gonzalez (University of Oviedo), Monica Rodriguez Mori (CIEL, Spain), Anna Beatriz Queiroz (Applied Behavioral Consultant Services), Daniel Carvalho de Matos (Applied Behavioral Consultant Services), KIMBERLY VOGT (Columbia University Teachers College) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effectiveness of a procedure based on intraverbals (“Where does the cow live?- In the farm”) and their symmetry (“Which animal lives in the farm?- The cow”) to teach children with autism to describe novel objects. The procedure consisted of selecting one stimuli belonging to a category (i.e., animals), and creating a booklet with a total of ten intraverbals referred to that stimuli. First, we run a baseline phase with different stimuli within and out of the category. The training was done with only one of the stimuli and it consisted of teaching the intraverbals, the symmetry and a probe where the child had to say all the characteristics of the stimuli with visual cues. After the child learned the objective, we run the baseline again to see if the learned behavior emerged with the untrained stimuli. |
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| 39. Fluency and Agility: Outcomes of Teaching Background Knowledge to a 9 Year-Old Boy with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TERESA MCCANN (Organization for Research and Learning), Holly Almon-Morris (Organization for Research and Learning) |
| Abstract: Children with autism often lack fluent language skills related to general knowledge about places, people, and things common in their communities. These dysfluent tact and intraverbal repertoires often restrict student participation in general education curriculum and limit conversation topics. However, teaching every background information concept would require extensive effort and time. Designing instruction related to “infinite” instructional topics should target the goal of agility. Instruction should proceed with the goal of learners “learning to learn” by acquiring new information with less effort and in less instructional time. This poster will present data on applying Fluency Based Instruction to improve the background information of a 9 year-old boy with autism. Inadequate progress in a language Direct Instruction program called for more specialized instruction to improve his rate of acquisition of sequellically controlled targets. Charted performance data on the Standard Celeration Chart indicate the learner not only reached predicted frequency aims for the Hear/Say learning channel (Fabrizio & Moors, 2003), but he also achieved agility. Student performance data will also show the learner passing empirically validated outcomes related to retention, endurance, stability, and application. |
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| 40. The Effects of Figurine Role-Play in Teaching Simple Games with Rules to a Child with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| COURTNEY LANAGAN (FirstSteps for Kids, Inc.) |
| Abstract: While a breadth of research has documented the efficacy of behavioral approaches in expanding language and communication skills in children with autism, comprehensive treatment for social deficits appears more elusive. Numerous studies have described the use of applied behavior analysis technology and procedures to increase social behavior, with focus on participants’ responses to peers’ initiations and the use of independent play initiations. However, relatively little behavioral research has looked at the development of the actual play content that may be used once play with peers has been initiated. The purpose of the current presentation is to describe our efforts to evaluate the efficacy of a different teaching procedure to promote novel play repertoires. A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of role-playing with figurines to teach three different simple games with rules. In-vivo probes were conducted throughout the intervention phase to assess for generalization. Results suggest figurine role play was effective in developing new play behaviors, which may serve to expand the current body of play skills training programs. |
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| 41. Go up! Language and Communication Skill Acquisition in a Young Boy with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ROSEMARY A. CONDILLAC (Brock University), Lisa Danielle Giewercer (Surrey Place Centre and Brock University), Jessica Rae Wood (Family Relations and Human Development Program, University of Guelph), Paul Szikszai (Surrey Place Centre) |
| Abstract: Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by qualitative impairments in socialization and communication along with restricted and repetitive behaviour and interests. Behaviour analytic interventions for Autism typically emphasize the development of communication skills, social skills, and language development. There are many different modalities of intervention that can be used, however there is limited knowledge regarding which intervention to use with which children at which skill levels. In clinical practice a multi-modal approach is often used, however there has been limited study on the effectiveness of combinations and/or sequencing of approaches. This poster will present a detailed case study of a young boy with Autism who began intensive behavioural intervention (IBI) with only 1 consonant sound and did not have any gestural or augmentative communication skills. We implemented a series of modalities in his training (e.g. picture exchange, sign language, echoic training) including combinations of modalities. We will present the progression of his intervention and skill acquisition using a within-series single subject design. The results provide empirical support for the use of multi-modal communication training and the importance of re-introducing modalities of communication that had previously been unsuccessful. |
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| 42. Teaching Children with Autism to Ask Questions About Unknown Auditory Stimuli |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Gladys Williams (CIEL, Spain), MONICA RODRIGUEZ MORI (CIEL, Spain), Manuela Fernandez Vuelta (CIEL, Spain), Catherine Mallada (CIEL, Spain), Carmen Rodriguez-Valgrande (CIEL, Spain), Amy Davies Lackey (Hawthorne Country Day School), Heather Carew (David Gregory School), Stephen John Wuensch (David Gregory School) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this intervention was to teach several children with autism to ask questions about unknown auditory stimuli. All of them had some basic verbal behavior (echoic repertoire, mands, tacts, and intraverbals); however, they did not ask questions about unknown stimuli. We used a multiple baseline design across materials (pictures, items in the house, and items in the community). The procedure consisted of asking the children to select items they were familiar with. Sometimes the words were presented in a different language and the children were taught to ask “What is (unknown word)? The results indicated that, in the condition of selecting items, the procedure was effective to teach children to ask a question about the unfamiliar word. |
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| 43. Incorporating Voice Output Devices into Communication Modality Assessments for Nonverbal Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JULIA BARNES (Institute for Child Development, Binghamton University), Stephanie Lockshin (Institute for Child Development), Courtney A Pooler (Institute for Child Development, Binghamton University) |
| Abstract: Since the provision of assistive technologies was mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 and the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, the use of voice output communication aides (VOCAs) with students with autism has increased (Mirenda, 2003). Given the increased interest in this technology, service providers may be asked by parents or school administrators to profer opinions about the appropriateness of a VOCA for a child with autism. While there are a handful of studies supporting the use of these devices with individuals with autism (Lancioni, O’Reilly, Cuvo , Singh, Sigafoos, and Didden, 2006), selecting a modality that enables nonverbal children with autism to effectively communicate with others requires careful, individualized assessment.
At the Institute for Child Development in Binghamton, New York, assessments are routinely conducted with nonverbal and minimally verbal children with pervasive developmental disorders who have not demonstrated a clear preference for a specific communication modality. The aim of this poster is to present the method used in conducting the assessments and the results from communication modality assessments that incorporate VOCAs with other traditional modalities such as manual signs, PECS, and unaided speech. Discussion will focus on the educational implications of students’ preferences for VOCAs and other alternative or augmentative communication systems. |
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| 44. Effects of Video Modeling on Improving Social Skills in Adolescent with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SANDRA M. CERFE (Eden2/Genesis), Mary Ellen McDonald (Hofstra University), Peter Sturmey (Queens College, CUNY) |
| Abstract: Individulas with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often exhibit deficits in communication and socialization skills including displaying inappropriate affect and failing to initiate and maintain conversation with other persons. This study investigated the effects of instruction and video modeling on increasing verbal and non-verbal (touch) skills on 2 students with autism. The students viewed videos that targeted four verbal and five nonverbal (touch ) skills and modeled the targeted behaviors. Video modeling was effective in training rapid skill acquisition. Both participants reached criteria in the verbal scenario, but not in the non-verbal (touch) scenario. Targeted behaviors were not generalized outside the study environment. Findings support previous research on using video modeling to impove social skills for persons with autism. |
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| 45. The effects of video modeling in teaching play skills to children with autism. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| VIRGINIA S. WONG (Hawthorne Country Day School, Manhattan Annex), Amy J. Davies Lackey (Hawthorne Country Day School), Marisa Savard (Hawthorne Country Day School, Manhattan Annex) |
| Abstract: We examined the effects of a video modeling intervention on independent play using simple toys with 3 children with autism using a multiple baseline across subjects design. Each child watched a videotape showing a typically developing peer play with a toy. After viewing and learning the play skill in small increments from the video, the children played with the toy independently. For all children, independent play skills were enhanced through the implementation of video modeling. |
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| 46. The Effects of a Video Modeling Procedure on Increasing Accurate and Choral Responding During Group Instruction with Children with Autism |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JORDAN FREEMAN (QSAC), Ronald Lee (QSAC) |
| Abstract: Video modeling has been demonstrated to be an effective and efficient means of increasing a variety of social and language skills with students with autism. Video modeling may also serve as an efficient means for increasing adaptive classroom behavior for groups of students. In the present study, the application of video modeling was extended to instruction provided to small groups of children (i.e., pairs) diagnosed with autism. A multiple-baseline-across pairs of students experimental design was used to evaluate the effects of video modeling on the accuracy of responding to task demands and responding chorally with a peer. During baseline and treatment phases reinforcement was provided for accurate and choral responding. During treatment each pair of students were also exposed to a video model of accurate and choral responding prior to the session. The results are discussed in terms of conducting group instruction with children with autism, instructional efficiency, observational learning, and the transfer of stimulus control. |
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| 47. Teaching Social Initiation Skills to Children with Autism via Video Modeling |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CRYSTAL RINGENBERG (St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder generally characterized by deficits in multiple developmental domains. These deficits include language, imitation, play skills, and social skills (American Psychiatric Association, 1994; Whalen & Schreibman, 2003). The purpose of this investigation was to determine if a video modeling procedure would increase appropriate social initiations in children with autism. This investigation was successful in teaching two of the three participants using video modeling to make social initiations. |
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| 48. Teaching children with autism play skills using videomodeling. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MAGDA STRZYZ (Centre for Early Intervention Step by Step), Monika M. Suchowierska (Warsaw School of Social Psychology) |
| Abstract: Play skills are a very important part of social life in typically developing children. Children with autism often have difficulties learning how to play, how to organize time when they are alone. There are few techniques of teaching play skills: modeling, activity schedules, chaining, videomodeling. Videomodeling is a very fast and effective procedure for teaching more complex skills. A person watches a video model and imitates it. The present study was designed to show that videomodeling is a useful procedure for teaching children with autism play skills. A multiple baseline design across 3 plays was conducted. Two children with autism – a 3- year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy– participated in this study. During the learning phase children individually watched a video of the model performing a play. Each child was taught one play every school day. Once a week testing probes were performed. Results show that videomodeling is an effective and efficient procedure for teaching children with autism playskills. |
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| 49. Effects of video modeling for teaching "pretend play" in children with autism. |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| YOSHIKO HARA (Keio University), Hitomi Kuma (Keio University, Japan), Nozomi Naoi (Keio University), Hiroshi Sugasawara (Keio University), Jun'ichi Yamamoto (Keio University, Japan) |
| Abstract: It has proved that one of the central problems in autism is the deficiency in general symbolic capacity and pretend play. In the present study, the following two points were investigated; 1)what methods are the most effective for teaching pretend play? 2)what type of children with autism have specially deficit in pretend play? The pretend plays were taught to 3 preschoolage children with autism by using video modeling, prompting and reinforcement. Results suggested that there were two types of children. One type children had difficulties in social interactions although they could perform pretend play with toys for another objects, appropriate function or properties, while second type of the children, on the other hands, have difficulties to use toys for pretending play but they could engage in easy play and had skills of social interactions. Although video modeling is more effective in the first type of the children, for the second type of the children, training of social interactions would be needed before introducing video modeling. |
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| BPH Poster Session 5 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 6:00 PM–7:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 50. Effects of Cocaine on Automaintained Responding: Modulation of Tolerance Development by Duration of Food Delivery |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| AMY DURGIN (Western Michigan University), Lindsay Porter (Western Michigan University), Kelly P. Bradley (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The current study examined in five pigeons whether duration of food delivery influenced the pre- and post-chronic effects of cocaine (1.0-17.8 mg/kg) on the automaintained key pecking. Under the automaintenance procedure, 6-s key illuminations in one color were followed by 3-s food deliveries and 6-s key illuminations in another color were followed by 9-s food deliveries. Pre-chronic administrations of cocaine produced dose-dependent decreases in mean percent trials (key illuminations) as a function of duration of food delivery. Following pre-chronic drug testing, the birds were exposed to daily injections of 5.6 mg/kg cocaine for 20 consecutive sessions, after which post-chronic testing occurred. As in pre-chronic testing, cocaine produced dose-dependent reductions in mean percent trials with a response and mean responses per session. Comparing pre- and post-chronic dose-response curves indicated that tolerance developed to the disruptive effects of cocaine. Duration of food delivery modulated the post-chronic effects of cocaine, in that mean trials with a response and mean total responses were higher during trials followed by 9-s food deliveries than during trials followed by 3-s food deliveries. Across the final five sessions of exposure to 5.6 mg/kg cocaine, both measures also were higher during trials followed by 9-s key illuminations than during trials followed by 3-s food deliveries. These results, which are compared to prior findings with conventional operant conditioning procedures, indicate that duration of food delivery modulated the development of tolerance to cocaine’s disruptive effects of automaintained responding. |
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| 51. Differential Sensitization and Tolerance to the Effects of d-Amphetamine on Random-Interval and Random-Ratio Schedules |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| WESLEY P THOMAS (Utah State University), Amy Odum (Utah State University) |
| Abstract: The contingencies arranging reinforcement may play a role in determining whether tolerance or sensitization to the effects of a drug will occur. In a previous study we were interested in seeing if random-interval (RI) and random-ratio (RR) responding can produce differential sensitization and tolerance to the effects of d-amphetamine in rats. With an interval schedule, the relationship between responding and reinforcement is relatively nonlinear, and a relatively low rate of responding will still earn the maximum available food. In a ratio schedule, responding is directly related to the rate of reinforcement, resulting in rate-decreasing drug effects being incompatible with reinforcement. In that study we found sensitization developed on the RI schedule and neither tolerance nor sensitization developed on the RR schedule. In the current experiment, we were interested in replicating those results but with pigeons as subjects. The RI and RR phases of the experiment are ongoing. |
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| 52. Assessing the putative anxiolytic effects of Kava administration in rats using the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| STEPHEN H. ROBERTSON (James Madison Univeristy), P. A. Halsey (James Madison Univeristy), Sherry L. Serdikoff (James Madison University) |
| Abstract: The elevated plus maze (EPM) consists of two open-arms and two closed-arms and is a popular rodent model of anxiety. The anxiolytic and anxiogenic properties of various drugs have been documented using the EPM with the former leading to decreases in open-arm avoidance and the latter leading to increases in open-arm avoidance. The current study employs this methodology to study Kava, a nutraceutical advertised and sold as a sedative and anxiolytic drug. In animal models of anxiety, some researchers have indicated that Kava reduces anxiety when administered in acute doses; however, only chronic dose have been shown to alleviate anxiety in human populations. In this study, which employed an extension of the Solomon four-group design, the efficacy of chronic and acute administration of Kava was assessed using the EPM after three weeks of treatment. Preliminary data showed a main effect for testing history but no discernable drug effects. However, additional data collection following repeated conditions with longer tests and over a range of doses provide a more complete picture of Kava’s potential utility in treating generalized anxiety disorder. |
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| 53. Within-session Discount Functions in Rats with Randomly Ordered Delays |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| ELIZABETH WATTERSON (UNC Wilmington), Carla Marie Huff (UNCW), A. Scott Handford (UNC Wilmington), Raymond C. Pitts (University of North Carolina Wilmington), Christine Hughes (University of North Carolina, Wilmington) |
| Abstract: Eight Sprague-Dawley rats responded in a “self-control” experiment. Sessions consisted of five, 12-trial blocks. Within each block, there were six forced-choice and six free-choice trials. On free-choice trials, responses on one retractable lever produced 0.02 ml of sugar water immediately (i.e., the small reinforcer); responses on the other retractable lever produced 0.08 ml of sugar water after a delay (i.e., the large reinforcer). Delays associated with the larger reinforcer ranged between 0and 40 s and were presented randomly across blocks within a session. Four rats had experience with an ascending sequence of delays prior to switching to the random sequence; whereas, four rats started with the random sequence. Acquisition of delay discount functions occurred in all rats over several months of exposure to the random-delay sequence. The delay functions of the four rats with the ascending-delay experience appear to show more control by delay than the functions of the rats without such a history. After establishing a stable baseline, effects of saline and d-amphetamine were determined and compared to effects of similar drugs from studies in which the more typical ascending-delay sequence was utilized. |
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| 54. Relationship Between Delay Discounting and Demand for Sucrose, Cocaine, or Remifentanil |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| MIKHAIL KOFFARNUS (University of Michigan), James H. Woods (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: There is extensive evidence that human drug abusers discount delayed rewards to a greater degree than people who do not abuse drugs, and popular models of delay discounting and drug abuse are commonly used in experimental animals. However, there is relatively little evidence as to whether these procedures to measure discounting of delayed rewards and drug taking in experimental animals share the same relation that is seen in humans. In the present experiment, we chose to compare delay discounting measures in rats to demand for drugs of abuse or sucrose pellets. Rats were trained on a delay discounting task, followed by an assessment of demand for sucrose pellets, followed by an assessment of demand for self-administered cocaine or remifentanil, followed by a reassessment of delay discounting performance. Final data detailing the degree to which performance on each of these tasks correlate is yet to be collected. |
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| 55. Using the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) to Assess The Putative Anxiolytic Effects of Valerian |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| P. A. HALSEY (James Madison Univeristy), Stephen H. Robertson (James Madison Univeristy), Sherry L. Serdikoff (James Madison University) |
| Abstract: The elevated plus maze consists of two open-arms and two closed-arms and is a popular rodent model of anxiety. The anxiolytic effects of various drugs have been documented using the elevated plus maze. Specifically, drugs that have anxiolytic effects will increase open-arm activity. Valerian is an herbal supplement believed to have anxiolytic effects and the current study employed an extended Solomon four-group design to test the efficacy of acute and chronic administration during 5-minute tests in the elevated plus maze. Preliminary data show that during the posttest, animals that were not pretested made more entries into and spent more time in the open arms than animals that were pretested. There were no reliable differences between drug conditions at the doses tested. Additional data from 10-min tests and over a range of doses provide a more complete analysis and have implications for the use of valerian in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. |
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| 56. Amphetamine-Induced Deficiencies in Reward Sensitivity in Rats and Hamsters |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| LESLIE M WISE (Dept of Psychology, 4620), Valeri Farmer-Dougan (Illinois State University) |
| Abstract: The study compares the learning behavior of two species of rodents during low dose amphetamine exposure. The behaviors of rats and hamsters have never been directly compared under identical conditions. Further, differences in the sensitivity to reward and work effort of these two species during either baseline or amphetamine conditions has never been examined. In this study, the behavioral effects of low doses of amphetamine were examined using a concurrent variable interval schedule with both the operant conditioning chamber and the open field foraging chamber. The reinforcement model, the Matching Law, and The Behavioral Momentum Law were used to analyze the data. Implications of the study are critical to society in both the correct and responsible use of amphetamines as a pharmaceutical as well as for information in the fight against the abuse of amphetamines and amphetamine analogs. |
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| 57. Reliability of Quantitative Urinalysis Testing for Cocaine Abstinence
Reinforcement Procedures |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MICK J. NEEDHAM (Johns Hopkins University), John Crandall (John Crandall), Kenneth Silverman (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: Abstinence reinforcement using qualitative urinalysis testing can be effective in promoting cocaine abstinence in many, but not all patients. Preston and colleagues (1997) developed a potentially sensitive cocaine abstinence reinforcement intervention that arranges reinforcement based on amounts of decreases in benzoylecgonine (BZE) concentrations across days. The method involves the use of quantitative urine testing, which requires manual dilutions of urine samples that have BZE concentrations that exceed the measurable limits of the testing instrument. This follow-up study to data collected in 2005 was designed to assess reliability of this quantitative testing method involving manual dilutions. To assess the human error introduced by manual dilutions, reliability coefficients obtained during this quality assurance procedure were compared to the test-retest reliability coefficients for samples that did not require manual dilutions. Although occasional human errors were made, the procedures were successful in maintaining reliable results across multiple staff members for both undiluted and diluted samples. The results of this replication suggest that quantitative testing can be used appropriately in arranging abstinence reinforcement, however, the occasional errors suggest that staff and patients should be encouraged to request retesting of questionable results. |
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| 58. Some Discriminative Properties of Cocaine and Caffeine: Effects of A2a, D1, and D2 Receptor Antagonists |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| KATY M ORCHOWSKI (Allegheny College), Stephanie Ogilbee (Allegheny College), Rodney D. Clark (Allegheny College) |
| Abstract: Six female Zucker rats were trained to discriminate cocaine (3.0 mg/kg) from caffeine (10.0 mg/kg) IP injections under a fixed ratio ten (FR10) schedule of water presentation. Once response rates stabilized and the subjects reliably discriminated each drug (85% correct), the adenosine A2a receptor antagonist SCH58261, the dopamine D1 antagonist (+) SCH23390 and D2 receptor antagonist Raclopride are administered. It is hypothesized that the discriminative effects of both caffeine and cocaine share subjective effects that may be mediated through both dopamine and adenosine sites. To determine whether these sub-receptors were responsible, at least in part, for the discriminative effects of cocaine and caffeine generalization gradients and antagonism data are presented. |
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| 60. A Comparison of Mefloquine and Phencyclidine in a Place Preference Procedure in Rats |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| SARAH SNIDER (Allegheny College), Rodney D. Clark (Allegheny College) |
| Abstract: The present experiment compared the reinforcing properties of Phencyclidine (PCP), and Mefloquine Hydrochloride (MFQ) using the Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) paradigm. Largely based on classical conditioning, the CPP procedure consists of pairing a particular context (NS) with the effect of a drug (UCS). Conditioning allows the context itself to take on the properties of a (CS) with reinforcing properties. Presumably, if the drug’s effects are reinforcing, the animal will “prefer” the drug-paired context even in a non-drugged state. MFQ is an FDA approved anti-malarial prophylaxis that has been known to cause similar side effects to those of Phencyclidine (PCP) intoxication. Since it has been previously reported that PCP causes place preference, it was hypothesized that MFQ would produce similar results because of complementary effects of the drugs. In a between subjects design, PCP (0.17, 0.3, 0.56 mg/kg) and MFQ (1.0, 3.0, 5.6 mg/kg) were paired with either a checkered or black chamber in a three chambered apparatus. Conditioning occurred for ten days, and on alternating days saline was paired with the opposite chamber. Food was also used as a primary reinforcer to provide a control condition. The results suggested that MFQ did not produce any appreciable preference for the drug-paired chamber. |
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| 61. Progesterone Modulation of the Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Triazolam in Healthy, Pre-Menopausal Women |
| Area: BPH; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| SHANNA BABALONIS (University of Kentucky), Joshua A. Lile (University of Kentucky), Catherine A. Martin (University of Kentucky), Thomas H. Kelly (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: Previous research from our and other laboratories suggests that the effects of sedative drugs among women may be enhanced during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and following pre-treatment with the neurosteroid, progesterone. This ongoing study builds on the previous research by examining whether sensitivity to the discriminative stimulus effects of triazolam is enhanced by progesterone pre-treatment. The drug discrimination procedure has been described as an in-vivo receptor function assay and has been used in previous research to examine putative neuropharmacological mechanisms associated with the stimulus effects of drugs. After triazolam discrimination has been established (training dose: 0.25 mg/70 kg triazolam), test doses (0.00, 0.06, 0.12, and 0.25) of triazolam are administered alone and in combination with oral progesterone (200 mg). Prior (baseline) and subsequent to (30, 60, 90, 120, 150 minutes) drug administration, participants complete assessments consisting of drug discrimination task (post-dose only), cardiovascular measures, verbal reports of drug effect, and computer tasks designed to assess psychomotor and impulsive-like behavior. Drug effects are analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA with triazolam dose, progesterone dose and time as factors. It is hypothesized that progesterone will enhance sensitivity to the discriminative stimulus effects of triazolam. Supported by RR-15592, DA-024127. |
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| DDA Poster Session 5 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 6:00 PM–7:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 62. Descriptive Analysis of the Prevalence of Various State Funded Community Based Behavioral Interventions within Maryland |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| JAMES C. TOLAN (Comprehensive Developmental Services, LLC), William E. Stanley Jr. (Humanim, Inc.), Jessica L. Shriner (Humanim, Inc.), Karyn H. Tolan (Comprehensive Developmental Services, LLC) |
| Abstract: In recent years, principles of applied behavior analysis have been increasingly framed within a philosophical approach to the delivery of support services termed “Positive Behavior Supports (PBS).” PBS’s combined emphasis on personal choice and proactive supports has been embraced by advocacy groups for persons with developmental disabilities, and this in turn has influenced how public funds for community based behavioral support services for persons with developmental disabilities are being allocated. Although regional programs offering community based behavioral supports to this population often summarize the prevalence of various challenging behaviors, prevalence of supports is rarely provided. A database has been maintained concerning person and support characteristics for community based behavioral interventions rendered within the Central Region of Maryland since 1998.
The present analysis focuses upon the prevalence of various proactive and reactive interventions contained in 330 behavioral support plans developed over two fiscal years. Reliability checks were completed on 10% of all entries and ranged from 97.4% to 100% agreement. The results indicate that although reactive supports, such as analogue reinforcement, were the most prevalent interventions across support plans (63%), over 50% of the protocols referenced at least one organized set of proactive supports (i.e., photographic communication training, activity sampling). |
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| 63. Assessing Value of Qualitatively Different Reinforcers in Children with Developmental Disabilities Using Preference Assessment and Behavioral Economic Procedures |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNIFER L. BREDTHAUER (Auburn University), M. Christopher Newland (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: The relationship between reinforcer effectiveness and response requirement has important implications for maintaining treatment effects of individuals with developmental disabilities. Tustin (1994) and DeLeon et al. (1997) suggested that reinforcer effectiveness when requirements increase should be assessed frequently as part of treatment. However, it is unclear whether commonly used preference assessments make accurate predictions about reinforcement effects under varying response requirements. Behavioral economic procedures using demand curve analysis may provide new methods to identify reinforcers under these conditions. Specifically, the exponential demand model (Hursh & Silberberg, 2008) can provide a single quantitative measure of essential value. In the present study paired-stimulus preference assessment was completed with edibles and tangibles before a behavioral economic reinforcer assessment was conducted with children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Participants dropped blocks into a slotted box for access to the preferred item. The fixed ratio schedule increased across sessions with a 1.5 step size. Results indicated that participants’ preference did not consistently change when paired-stimulus hierarchies were compared to maximal responding on the behavioral economic assessment. While elasticity of demand was not always consistent for reinforcers at low and high magnitudes, the exponential demand model could be applied after normalization for some reinforcers. |
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| 64. Further evaluation of a delayed time-out procedure in the treatment of problem behavior |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| WILLIAM J. HIGGINS (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center), Robert R. Pabico (Marcus Institute), Brian J. Feeney (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Med), Henry S. Roane (University of Nebraska Medical Center & Munroe-Meyer Institute), Rebecca A. Veenstra (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center) |
| Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that punishment procedures are most effective when implemented consistently and immediately following a response. However, immediate implementation of punishment may not always be practical. For example, parents may be unable (e.g. in a moving vehicle) or unwilling (e.g. in public) to implement punishment procedures, leading to intermittent or delayed delivery of the contingency. The current investigation evaluated the effectiveness of a punishment procedure on immediate and delayed schedules of implemented to decrease destructive behavior exhibited by a 6-year-old boy diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Both schedules were shown to be effective at decreasing aberrant behavior. Moreover, when given a choice, the participant consistently selected the delayed punishment procedure. Across the analysis, interobserver agreement data were collected on at least 25% of sessions and average agreement was 80% or higher across conditions. Results will be discussed in terms of the effectiveness of delayed punishment procedures in decreasing aberrant behavior. |
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| 65. Assessment and Treatment of Elopement Maintained by Automatic Reinforcement |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| EMILY D. SHUMATE (Kennedy Krieger Institute and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), Stephanie A. Contrucci Kuhn (Westchester Institute for Human Development) |
| Abstract: Elopement is a potentially deadly behavior that often results in the individual being placed in more restrictive settings to maintain their safety (Garner, 1991). Little research has been published evaluating the assessment and treatment of elopement (Tarbox, Wallace, & Williams, 2003). The purpose of the current investigation was to (a) identify the maintaining function of elopement behaviors for a 9-year-old male with autism and intellectual disabilities using an analogue functional analysis, (b) evaluate treatment components, and (c) generalize the treatment to the community. Treatment components consisted of differential reinforcement of other behaviors, competing stimuli, safety harness, and a punishment procedure. Results of the functional analysis suggested that elopement was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Treatment components were then evaluated and generalization was conducted within a multielement design embedded within an ABCACDE design. Treatment components were sequentially added until elopement was suppressed to an acceptable rate. With the implementation of all the treatment components, near zero rates of behavior were observed and the treatment was generalized with his parents and zero rates of behavior were observed. |
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| 66. Using Course Assessments to Train Teachers in Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and Behavioral Intervention Plans (BIP) Techniques |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Eun Joo Kim (Assistant Professor), Moira Anne Fallon (Associate Professor), JIE ZHANG (SUNY Brockport) |
| Abstract: As the need to train more teachers to work in inclusion classrooms increases, college instructors are required to identify and implement course assessments measuring their effectiveness in training practices. One area of particular need is training teachers to work with students with disabilities, including those students with autism. These students are increasingly being served in the inclusion classroom setting. The purpose of this poster presentation is to explore the use of course assessments in the pre-service level training of teachers working in inclusion classrooms. Such course assessment should meet the professional standards set forth by the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). The course assessments discussed will be in training teachers who currently hold general education certification in obtaining special education training, specifically in developing Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP). Field testing data will also be included for these pre-service levels teachers (N=65) over a four year period of time. The poster presentation will also include recommendations for institutions of higher education to utilize or adapt similar course assessments into their training programs. |
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| 67. Concurrent Schedules of Reinforcement and Adjusting Demand Requirements: Year Three Summary Results |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Jessica Frieder (Utah State University), Stephanie M. Peterson (Idaho State University), CARRIE M. BROWER-BREITWIESER (Idaho State University), Elizabeth Dayton (Idaho State University), Stuart M Mullins (Idaho State University), Shilo Smith-Ruiz (College of Southern Idaho) |
| Abstract: A summary of results from the first, second, and third year of a 3-year Federal grant project funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, Serious Behavior Disorders-Special Education Research Grants Program will be presented. Project participants included students with a variety of disabilities, all presenting severe escape-motivated problem behavior, ages 5 to 12 years, and grades K-6 in four school districts across the state of Idaho. Summary results of initial analyses and choice-making interventions that pitted compliance, break requests, and problem behavior against each other will be presented. Summary data will be presented for one participant. Social validity data will be highlighted, as will follow-up data to demonstrate the participant’s progress over time. |
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| 68. Analysis Of The Effects Of Choice Making On Toy Play |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| COURTNEY FLEMING (The Ohio State University), Sheila R Alber-Morgan (The Ohio State University), Quinn Vickers Montgomery (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: The opportunity to choose has been shown to increase task engagement of individuals with developmental disabilities in social contexts. However, literature on the effects of choice on activity engagement during social interactions is minimal, and has often been conducted in situations outside of typical classroom routines. The purpose of the current investigation was to a) extend literature on choice by integrating choice making opportunities into existing play routines of children with developmental disabilities and b) provide empirical evidence of a treatment package targeted to increase functional play that could feasibly be implemented by educators. Two students receiving special education services in an integrated preschool classroom serving both students with and without disabilities participated in the study. Four students without disabilities served as controls in play dyads. An alternating treatments design compared effects of choice, peer-choice, and no-choice on duration of play. Students expressed choice by touching the picture or saying the name of the item, and stimuli selected were presented to both students. No contingencies were in place for target behavior. Taken together, results for both participants suggest that 1) opportunity to choose served to increase engagement, and 2) that choice and relative preference may have increased functional play. |
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| 69. Analysis of Problem Behavior in Response to Item Restriction Within Symmetrical “Do” and “Don’t” Requests |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Nathan Call (Marcus Autism Center), DANA M. SWARTZWELDER (Marcus Autism Center) |
| Abstract: Requests may be phrased as “do” or “don’t,” with some evidence that “do” requests result in greater rates of compliance and decreased problem behavior (Neef et al., 1983; Adelinis & Hagopian, 1999), and other studies (Fisher et al., 1998) finding no difference in problem behavior between request formats. Fisher et al. hypothesized that request format was less important than whether the request restricted preferred activities. In the present analysis, “do” and “don’t” requests were equivalent in response effort, and restriction of preferred items was manipulated within both formats. Interobserver agreement data were collected for over 20% of sessions and always exceeded 80% agreement. Unlike previous findings, “do” requests that interrupted an ongoing activity were associated with higher rates of problem behavior. The participant, a 15-year-old male with a brain injury and PDD-NOS, engaged in problem behavior only following a “do” request to engage in a low preferred activity. Zero rates of problem behavior were observed in the “don’t” condition, even when compliance resulted in restricted access to preferred activities. These results suggest that problem behavior in response to requests for this participant was maintained by negative reinforcement in the form of escape from the low preferred activity. |
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| 70. A meta-analysis of clinical interventions for pica |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| DAVID MCADAM (University of Rochester), Jonathan Breidbord (Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge), Michelle Levine (Univeristy of Rochester), Don E. Williams (Texana BTTC) |
| Abstract: Pica is an eating disorder characterized by consumption of non-food items or compulsive eating of edible and non-edible items. Individuals who display pica have been found to eat a wide variety of items including glass, cigarettes, pebbles, metal screws, excessive amounts of food items such as ice or baking soda, and non-edible plants. This poster will present a meta-analytic review of the scientific strategies for clinical treatment of pica published between 1975 and 2008. Both descriptively summary and a quantitative meta-analysis will be presented. For the quantitative meta-analysis data on both Percentage of Non-overlapping data (PND) and Percentage of Zero data (PZD) will be summarized. Based on criteria of evidence-based practice, three behavioral interventions (i.e., differential reinforcement, non-contingent reinforcement, overcorrection) have well-established clinical efficacy; two other behavioral interventions (i.e., physical restraint and response blocking) and nutritional (e.g., mineral supplementation) approaches show probable clinical efficacy based on limited experimental evidence. Recommendations for the evidence-based treatment of pica and future research will be provided. |
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| 71. The Effects of Computer Practice on Academic Skills for Children with Moderate to Intensive Disabilities |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JULIE EVERHART (The Ohio State University), Ju Hee Park (The Ohio State University, Department of Special Education), Sheila R Alber-Morgan (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: A multiple baseline across behaviors design was used to examine the effects of a computer-based intervention on the acquisition and maintenance of academic skills by young children with moderate to intensive disabilities. The intervention required the students to practice academic skills (e.g., letter and number identification) using individualized computer games that provided immediate feedback for each response. For each learning trial, three choices appeared on the computer screen. If the child selected the correct answer, the next screen provided positive feedback (e.g., Right answer! Good job!), and a new learning trial was presented. If the child made an incorrect response, the next screen provided corrective feedback and repeated the learning trial. At the end of each five-minute practice, the teacher assessed acquisition by presenting the child with flash card prompts and recording their responses. Results demonstrated increased acquisition and maintenance of basic skills. Limitations, future directions, and implications for practice will be discussed. |
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| 72. Interactions between Brief Analogue Functional Analysis and Functional Communication Skills in an Outpatient Clinic |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| NEALETTA HOUCHINS-JUAREZ (Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Behavior Analysis Clinic), Jennifer Lynne Bruzek (Vanderbilt University), Kathleen J. Miller (Vanderbilt University), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: The Behavior Analysis Clinic at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center provides behavioral services to children and adolescents with neurodevelopment disabilities and problem behavior. A brief Analogue Functional Analysis (AFA) is conducted during an initial 90 minute session to determine potential functions maintaining problem behavior. Data from the brief AFA, along with caregiver interviews and descriptive assessments are used to develop Behavior Intervention Plans. However, there are some limitations when using the brief AFA. Data from brief AFA’s can be susceptible to false-negative, false-positives, as well as a lack of discrimination between test conditions. We will present data that illustrates a potential correlation between false-negatives during brief AFA’s, behavioral function and the level of functional communication skills of each child. Implications of our results will be discussed in relation to level of communication skills and outcomes of the brief Analogue Functional Analysis. |
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| 73. Decreasing Ruminative Vomiting Using Noncontingent Reinforcement |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ANNA E. CHIRIGHIN (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Stephanie A. Contrucci Kuhn (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Louis P. Hagopian (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Brandy Swain (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: Ruminative vomiting is the voluntary regurgitation and reswallowing of previously ingested food (Dudley, 2002). Long-term effects of rumination include malnutrition, dehydration, gastric disorders, weight loss (Winton & Singh, 1983), tooth decay, (Singh, 1981) and possibly mortality (Rast, 1981). Little research has been published on the behavioral treatment of rumination. However, the research that has been conducted suggests differential reinforcement, dietary manipulations and oral hygiene procedures are effective in reducing rumination. In the current study, the effects of post meal gum were evaluated in a 7-year-old girl who was admitted to an inpatient unit for the treatment of severe behavior problems, including rumination. Results of functional analyses suggested rumination was, in part, maintained by automatic reinforcement and, in part, by access to positive reinforcement in the form of edible stimuli. Data gathered across the day suggested the probability of rumination was greater post-meals. Initially, Lily was taught to chew gum using a changing criterion design and a task analysis. The effects of the gum on post meal rumination were then evaluated using a reversal design. With the intervention in place, rumination was significantly decreased. In addition, generalization sessions were conducted in Lily’s home environment, during which low rates of rumination maintained. |
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| 74. The Effects of Video Feedback on Correct Implementation of Treatment Components During Caregiver Training |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Yanerys Leon (Kennedy Krieger Institute), SungWoo Kahng (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Nicole Lynn Hausman (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Jessica Becraft (Kennedy Krieger Institute), MARIANA I CASTILLO IRAZABAL (Kennedy Krieger Institute; University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: Caregiver training is an essential component of behavioral interventions for children with severe problem behavior. The ultimate success of an intervention is generally a function of the extent to which caregivers implement the treatment accurately and reliably. Typically, caregiver training consists of several components including instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and verbal feedback during and following training sessions (Mueller et al., 2003). In some instances, this standard training is insufficient in producing acceptable implementation of treatment programs. In the current investigation, video-feedback was evaluated in conjunction with a standard caregiver training package. The father of a child admitted to an inpatient facility for the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior served as a participant for this study. Initially, caregiver training consisted of the standard training package. After the caregiver failed to meet mastery criteria (i.e., 80% correct implementation) for several treatment components, video-feedback was added to the training package and evaluated in a multiple-baseline design. It was determined that video-feedback in conjunction with the standard training package was an effective component in training a caregiver to accurately implement a treatment program. Interobserver agreement was collected for one-third of sessions and averaged above 80%. |
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| 75. Precision teaching and speed reading |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| GUNN LOKKE (University College of Ostfold, Norway), Jon A. Lokke (University College of Ostfold, Norway), Erik Arntzen (Akershus University College) |
| Abstract: Speed-reading techniques are widely used and generally accepted, but few reports on its effectiveness have been made. In one of few studies on the effectiveness of speed reading, students on average doubled their reading speed (Schmidt, 1972). Calef et al. (1999) conclude that measurable changes in reading eye movements and reading speed accompany successful completion of a speed-reading course in normally developed students. We have found no reports on the use of the techniques in children with retardation. We present the use of speed-reading and Precision Teaching procedures in a 14 year old boy with mild mental retardation and reactive attachment disorder. At baseline his average reading speed at school was 80 correct wpm with 4 learning opportunities, and 42 correct and 2 LOs at home. After four and 12 weeks respectively, average wpm increased to 150 correct and 1 learning opportunity at school and 100 correct wpm and 2 LOs at home. |
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| 76. Evaluation of Choice Making in the Assessment of Young Children with Problem Behavior |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JOHN F. LEE (University of Iowa), Jay W. Harding (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Wendy K. Berg (University of Iowa), Kelly M. Schieltz (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: We evaluated changes in choice making over time during concurrent-operants conditions to show preferences, pre- and post-treatment, across two classes (tangible and attention) of positive reinforcement. The participants were 2 preschool-aged children who had developmental delays and displayed problem behavior maintained by both positive and negative reinforcement. The concurrent choice options varied the availability of parent attention and access to preferred toys. Time allocation within choice conditions was evaluated within a reversal design, and sessions were conducted in the children’s homes by their parents. Inter-rater agreement was conducted across 30% of sessions and averaged 97%. Pre-treatment results showed that both children had distinct preferences as demonstrated by stable patterns of allocation, with one child allocating time to choice options associated with parent attention and the other child allocating time away from parent attention. However, during post-treatment probes using the same concurrent-operants conditions, neither child showed stability in choice allocation suggesting that changes had occurred in their preference. |
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| 77. Teaching Peer Reinforcement and Grocery Words: Acquisition of Non-Target Stimuli and Observational Learning |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ANN KATHERINE GRIFFEN (University of Kentucky), Donald M. Stenhoff (University of Kentucky), Robert Pennington (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: A multiple probe across behaviors design, replicated across participants, assessed the effectiveness of constant time delay in teaching appropriate peer reinforcement and grocery words to 3 elementary students with moderate intellectual disabilities in a small group instructional arrangement. Additionally, pretests and posttests assessed the acquisition of the participants' observational learning (acquisition of peers' grocery words) and non-target stimuli (related information supplied by the teacher in the consequent event). Results indicate that the participants learned (a) to appropriately reinforce peers, (b) to read their grocery words, (c) some of the target stimuli of their peers, and (d) much of the non-target stimuli associated with their own grocery words and their peers' grocery words. Errors for the delivery of reinforcement to peers significantly decreased across conditions (12.2%, 3.8%, and 0.1%). Maintenance data indicate that the participants maintained their target grocery words at high levels of accuracy. |
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| 78. Comparing Two Methods of Quantifying Behavior-Consequence Relations: Yule's Q and Contingency Space Analysis |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BLAIR PARKER HICKS (Vanderbilt University), Nealetta Houchins-Juarez (Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Behavior Analysis Clinic), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Several methods of analyzing descriptive data to investigate behavior-consequence relations have been proposed and debated in recent years. Determining a statistic derived from the odds ratio, known as Yule’s Q (Yule & Kendall, 1957), is one such method that is gaining increased recognition as the standard for quantifying behavior-consequence relations in children with developmental disabilities (Yoder & Feuer, 2000). An alternative method that has received relatively less attention but that nevertheless shows promise is Contingency Space Analysis (CSA; Gibbon, Berryman, & Thompson, 1974; Matthews, Shimoff, & Catania, 1987; Martens, DiGennaro, Reed, Szczech, & Rosenthal, 2008). CSA involves a comparison of conditional probabilities and conveniently provides a visual representation of the sequential relation. In the present study, data collected during a descriptive assessment are analyzed using both methods and subsequently compared. Results indicate that each method suggests different conclusions in regards to identifying possible reinforcers for problem behavior. Advantages and disadvantages related to each method are specified. |
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| 79. A Brief Method for Identifying the Least Restrictive Level of Mechanical Restraints Prior to Restraint Fading |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Samantha Hardesty (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Lynn G. Bowman (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), DAWN E. CONNOLLY (Kennedy Krieger) |
| Abstract: Programmatic restraints are often necessary to minimize the risk associated with severe self-injurious behavior (SIB). Given the restrictions mechanical restraints have on adaptive behavior, restraint fading is often an important treatment goal (Fisher, Piazza, Bowman, Hanley, & Adelinis, 1997). Mechanical restraints are faded by systematically modifying the rigidity of the restraints over time (e.g., changing the number or thickness of stays within each sleeve). Identification of a less rigid level of restraint prior to fading may help facilitate a more rapid fading process. Currently, no method exists for identifying which levels of restraint are optimal to begin restraint fading. Within the current study, 6 conditions were evaluated prior to the onset of the restraint pre-fading analysis with an 8-year-old male diagnosed with autism. Similarly to Wallace and colleagues (1999), data were collected on SIB and food consumption. Results identified 4 thin stays as a level of restraint associated with the highest percentages of adaptive behavior and lowest levels of SIB. A pre-fading analysis was conducted and results suggest that the probes conducted prior to the pre-fading analysis were effective in identifying a less intrusive level of restraint. Reliability data were collected for least one-third of observations and averaged above 80%. |
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| 80. The Use of a Comprehensive Behavioral Treatment Package for the Treatment of Elopement Behavior as Evidenced by Developmentally Disabled Children |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| STEPHANIE A JOHNSON (STAR, Inc.) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a comprehensive behavioral treatment package designed to effectively and durably eliminate or reduce elopement behavior, as evidenced in the developmentally disabled population. Three developmentally disabled children, ranging in age from 6.2 to 10.3 years, took part in a comprehensive behavioral treatment program, which included such behavioral techniques as Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviors (DRI), Premack Principle, Structured Instructional Training, Motivational Home/Community Token Economy, Stimulus Control and Self-Management Strategies, and Videotape Self-as-a-Model instruction. The treatment package was sequentially administered to each child, using a multiple baseline across subjects design. Results indicated that the treatment program was successful in reducing the frequency, as well as the duration, of elopement events for all three subjects. |
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| 81. The Effects of Differing Reinforcement Schedules on Pica Behavior in Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities. |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ERIN FAGAN (Evergreen Center), Lawrence L. Lockwood (Evergreen Center), Gordon A. DeFalco (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: Pica behavior is a serious and potentially harmful act. Students engaging in pica behavior are at an increased risk for gastro-intestinal problems, choking, or poisoning. This study examines the effects of two different reinforcement schedules, Non-contingent reinforcement and differential reinforcement of other behavior, in an attempt to treat pica behavior. Prior to the study, participants’ rates of pica behavior were at relatively high levels. During the study participants were reinforced with small edibles throughout the course of the day depending on the reinforcement method in place at that time. The frequency of attempted pica for two adolescent males with developmental disabilities was assessed using a reversal design. A parametric analysis comparing different 10, 15, and 20 minute intervals of reinforcement delivery for each schedule of reinforcement was implemented to determine the most effective schedule in reducing attempted pica. Results showed different rates of pica between the two reinforcement conditions but no difference within each reinforcement schedule between 10, 15, and 20 minute reinforcement delivery. |
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| 82. Increasing Attending Time for Children with Developmental Disabilities |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TARA-LYNN BURBEE (Evergreen Center), Gordon A. DeFalco (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: Attention to task is often difficult for children to incorporate into their daily routines. This may be even more challenging for those children with developmental disabilities and other learning difficulties. The purpose of this study was to determine if attending to task could be taught through the use of a standard shaping procedure to three students in a North Eastern Community Based Residential School. A changing criteria design was used to assess the shaping procedure in increasing the time attending to task. Attending to task was defined as the duration of attending from start of task until off task behavior occurred. Baseline data revealed that all three students had limited attending time of fewer than three minutes per task. Preferred reinforcers were chosen by the students to earn during the intervention. Interventions began with 10 seconds added to the individuals’ mean attending time during baseline. Baseline duration plus 5 minutes was desired for all three participants. Results indicated attending time increased to varying degrees, using shaping. |
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| 83. Idiosyncratic Functions: An Evaluation of Problem Behavior Maintained by Interruptions of Free-Operant Behavior or Transitions |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ALLISON T. SCHULTZ (Kennedy Krieger Institute), SungWoo Kahng (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Nicole Lynn Hausman (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Kristin Kiel (UMBC), Chris Dillon (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: One reason that a treatment might be ineffective is because an individual displays problem behavior maintained by idiosyncratic operant functions not typically assessed in functional analyses (Fisher, Adelinis, Thompson, Worsdell, & Zarcone, 1998). This failure to identify behavioral function may necessitate further analyses to determine additional variables that may maintain problem behavior. The purpose of the current study was to examine if the problem behavior of a 13-year-old girl diagnosed with mild mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorder-NOS was maintained by regaining access to interrupted activities or by escaping transitional demands. An Interruption Assessment was conducted to test for problem behavior maintained by interruptions from ongoing activities. A second Interruption Assessment was then conducted to assess problem behavior occasioned by “do” and “don’t” requests that were incompatible with ongoing preferred activities. These interruptions required the participant to transition to either another preferred activity or to a nonpreferred activity. Results from these assessments showed that problem behaviors occurred at comparable levels when transitioning to a preferred activity or nonpreferred activity, suggesting that the transition rather than the interruption of the ongoing preferred activity evoked problem behavior. |
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| EAB Poster Session 5 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 6:00 PM–7:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 84. The effect of screen flicker rate on hens’ discrimination of visual stimuli |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| RENEE RAILTON (University of Waikato), T. Mary Foster (University of Waikato, New Zealand), William Temple (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: The use of television and computer screens for presenting stimuli to animals is increasing as it is non-invasive and can provide precise control over the stimuli. However, conventional (CRT) television and computer screens have been designed for the human visual system and have a flicker rate of 50-60Hz. Domestic hens’ critical flicker fusion frequency ranges between 80-90Hz. Thus stimuli presented on CRT screens may appear a series of flickering images to them. This study aimed to investigate whether hens’ discrimination between two stimuli was affected by altering the flicker rate of a CRT screen. Hens’ were trained in a conditional discrimination (to 85% correct over 5 sessions) between a black circle and cross presented on a CRT screen, with the screen refresh rate set at 100Hz. The hens accuracy on this discrimination decreased as the refresh rate of the CRT screen was decreased. These results imply that the change in flicker rate changed the appearance of the stimuli enough to affect their discrimination. |
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| 85. CANCELLED: Reinforcing and Punishing Effects of Environmental Enrichment for North American River Otters |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| SARAH E. REISBERG (Franklin & Marshall College), Meredith J. Bashaw (Franklin & Marshall College), Julie Grove (Maryland Zoo in Baltimore) |
| Abstract: Activity budgets of captive animals often differ from those of wild conspecifics, and may include persistent stereotypic or abnormal behaviors. Captive carnivores are particularly likely to develop stereotypies because the contingency between hunting and food is reduced or absent. Environmental enrichment can change these behavior patterns in carnivores, but enrichment success is variable and rarely complete. We implemented two enrichment techniques for North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) to determine whether 1> enrichment reinforced target behaviors and locations within the exhibit and 2> enrichment reduced stereotypic and abnormal behaviors by creating more naturalistic contingencies. Enrichment did increase desired behaviors and placing enrichment in a portion of the exhibit increased the time animals spent there. However, enrichment did not consistently reduce stereotypic and abnormal behaviors. Stereotypies that were associated with food-related cues decreased during enrichment, but flipping, an established stereotypy no longer dependent on food-related cues, did not change (though a decreasing trend in flipping suggests longer intervention may have produced greater success). Our results imply that enrichment is more effective as a reinforcer than a punisher, and its effectiveness as a punisher may be determined by the extent to which undesirable behaviors have become emancipated from their original eliciting stimuli. |
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| 86. A Modified Fading Procedure for Teaching Tolerance to Delayed Rewards |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| JEFF S. STEIN (University of Kansas), Patrick S. Johnson (University of Kansas), Adam T. Brewer (University of Kansas), Monica T. Francisco (University of Kansas), Gregory J. Madden (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: Previous studies have demonstrated that a fading procedure has successfully increased tolerance to delayed reinforcers in pigeons (Mazur & Logue, 1978; Logue, et al., 1984). Currently, the extent to which this effect may generalize across species is unknown. Using rats as subjects, the present study seeks to replicate the findings of Mazur and Logue (1978) using a modified fading procedure. Rats in the control group (n = 4) choose between a small, immediate food reinforcer and a large, delayed food reinforcer. Rats in the experimental group (n = 4) receive training in which they initially choose between a small and large reinforcer presented after equal delays. Over the course of 300 sessions, the delay to the small reinforcer is gradually titrated, by increments of .05 s, according to a percentile-like schedule. The criterion to adjust the delay requires that the subject has chosen the large, delayed reinforcer on at least 59 out of the last 60 free choice trials. Additional data to be collected. |
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| 87. Reward sensitivity and individual competitiveness in an open field group foraging paradigm. |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| VALERI FARMER-DOUGAN (Illinois State University), Christopher Sorric (Illinois State University) |
| Abstract: Relations between competitive status and reward sensitivity across groups and individual rats were examined. Pre- and post- foraging competition tests were conducted. The 5 groups of 5 randomly grouped rats foraged for food delivered to opposite corners of an open field using a series of conc VT VT schedule ratios. Reward sensitivity, bias and competitiveness scores were obtained for individual rats. Percentages of competitive and foraging behaviors were collected for each rat during foraging sessions. Using reward sensitivity estimates, rats were regrouped into highest to lowest groups (N=5). The regrouped data were examined for differences in pre- and post-competition scores and competitive behaviors. Moderate correlations were found between competitiveness and reward sensitivity. Significant behavioral differences were found across the groups: Highest ranked rats showed more feeder-related competition. Lowest ranked rats engaged in more rearing and bottom foraging. The link between competition and reward sensitivity is discussed. |
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| 88. The Disruptive Effects of Negative Incentive Shifts Involving Reinforcer Delay and Magnitude in Rats |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| COLLEEN M. WHITE (College of Charleston), Chad M. Galuska (College of Charleston), Tammy Wade-Galuska (University of South Carolina-Salkehatchie) |
| Abstract: Negative incentive shifts in reinforcer magnitude engender excessive pausing on fixed-ratio (FR) schedules (Perone & Courtney, 1992). The present study seeks to extend this finding to situations involving transitions between immediate and delayed reinforcers. Six rats earned food pellets by lever pressing according to an FR 30 schedule. A two-component multiple schedule operated. In the immediate component (e.g., right lever), a pellet was delivered immediately upon completion of the FR. In the delay component (e.g., left lever), completion of the FR produced a signaled delay after which a pellet was delivered. Components irregularly alternated yielding four transitions: delay-delay; delay-immediate; immediate-immediate; immediate-delay (the negative incentive shift). Across conditions the delay was manipulated (15, 30, 60, 90 s). In some conditions the reinforcer magnitude associated with one of the components was increased (e.g., 3 pellets). Responding was primarily controlled by the upcoming conditions of reinforcement. Rats paused longer when the upcoming reinforcer was delayed, and paused longer with increasing delays. The immediate-to-delay transition produced a slightly longer median pause than the delay-delay transition. Pausing during the immediate-to-delay transition could be exacerbated when the immediate component produced a larger reinforcer and attenuated when the delay component produced a larger reinforcer. |
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| 89. Variability in domestic hens’ behaviour in extinction sessions following sessions with a fixed ratio schedule. |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| LEANNE NESHAUSEN (University of Waikato), James McEwan (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: Initially domestic hens were trained to peck a square stimulus presented on a computer screen under a fixed-ratio 5 schedule of reinforcement to receive 30 reinforcers per 10-min (approximately) session. Once responding was stable there were several 40-min extinction sessions. After the extinction sessions the fixed-ratio 5 was re-established for several sessions, followed by further extinction sessions, this sequence was repeated three times. The time and location of every peck on the screen was recorded. Results showed that response structures that developed during the fixed ratio remained in extinction, at least for the duration of previous reinforcement sessions. After approximately 10 minutes, pecks in extinction became more variable in terms of rate and location on the screen. There were no 'extinction bursts' in pecking. Variability overall was similar for all the extinction sessions, but response rate reduced over sessions. In the second and third extinction sessions of each series responding tended to occur more as 'peaks'; that is, short periods of increased responding with periods of non-responding between peaks. These alternating reinforcement and extinction series had little effect on peck variability overall, but did have some effect on peck rate in extinction sessions. |
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| 90. How effective is it t o motiv-aid staff? |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CHERYL J. DAVIS (Consultant), Ben Bruneau (Crossroads School for Children), Michele D. Brock (Crossroads School for Children), Mary Rosswurm (Crossroads School for Children) |
| Abstract: Reducing problem behavior in children with disabilities is most often our biggest challenge in working with our clients. Training staff in-vito and in-situ has often produced better results for our clients, but what do we do when that is not effectively changing behavior? Using technology has been helpful, but is there empirical data to show the effectiveness of technological aids? This poster will present data that shows implementing a Motivaider with staff to prompt positive verbal reinforcement with a child with autism reduced problem behavior by over 50% during the first week. Additional data will be collected to determine the long term effects of this treatment. |
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| 91. Identification of Functional Relations From Multiple Baseline Data With Delayed Change in the Dependent Variable |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| REBECCA G. LIEBERMAN (Vanderbilt University), Paul J. Yoder (Vanderbilt University), Brian Reichow (Yale University), Mark Wolery (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Background: We examined whether steepness of slope, consistency of latency of change, and expectancy of delayed change affect experts’ judgment of a functional relation in the MBL-P design where delay in change of slope is present, to what extent experts agree, and characteristics of data where ratings indicate a functional relation. Method: Thirty-eight experts completed a survey composed of 16 figures containing 3 graphs in MBL format. Results: Experts rated graphs with steep slopes (d=1.02) and consistent latency of change (d=0.43) as showing more evidence of functional relations. Graphs creating expectancy of delayed change were more likely to be judged as showing functional relations if there was a steep slope (d=0.52). The average total agreement between pairs of experts was 0.4 (SD=0.2). The proportion of expert pairs that were in agreement at .80 or above was 0.04. The figure with an average rating that indicated a confident inference of a functional relation illustrated consistent latency of change, steep trend lines, and contextual information designed to create expectancy of delayed change in the DV. Conclusions: Findings may guide visual analysts to be more consistent in judgments of functional relations when there are delayed changes in the dependent variable. |
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| 92. Go/no-go Procedure with Compound Stimuli and Emergent Conditional Relations in Children with Autism |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CÁSSIA LEAL DA HORA (Universidade de São Paulo), Paula Debert (University of Sao Paulo - Brazil) |
| Abstract: Matching-to-sample procedure is widely used for establishing emergent conditional relations. However, adventitious control by location, rather than the conditional control, can be established with this procedure in individuals with autism. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether emergent conditional relations could be established in autistic children with a go/no-go procedure with compound stimuli. In the go/no-go procedure only one operandum is used. One autistic child which showed adventitious control by location in matching-to-sample was trained to establish conditional relations with the go/no-go procedure with compound stimuli. During training, responses emitted in the presence of specifics stimulus compounds (A1B1, A2B2, B1C1 and B2C2) were followed by reinforcer. Responses emitted in the presence of other compounds (A1B2, A2B1, B1C2 and B2C1) were not. In tests, new configurations (BA, CB, AC, and CA) were presented resembling tests usually employed in equivalence studies. Participant took 50 training sessions to reach accurate performances. The participant exhibited emergent relations consistent with symmetry, transitivity and equivalence only after several repeated training and test sessions. In most of the training sessions participant responded to all compounds. These results show that refrain from responding is difficult to be established with the go/no-go procedure in children with autism. |
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| 93. Equivalence class formation of preposition locations for undergraduate college students |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| DANIEL C DEROSA DEROSA (Western Connecticut State University) |
| Abstract: Sidman (1971) proposed a method of teaching reading comprehension using existing teaching methods, called Equivalence. A matching-to-sample task was used to strengthen conditional relations for comprehension of written text. A convenience sample of undergraduate students at a northeastern university was randomly assigned to the Match-to-sample (MTS) group or the In Vivo (IV) group. The present study employed a match-to-sample task with the response topographies differing by group. In the teaching phase participants in the MTS group were asked to identify pictorial depictions of preposition locations in an array. A picture of the preposition corresponding to the sample appeared during each trial. Participants were informed of the correctness or incorrectness of each response. Mastery criterion was defined as five consecutive correct responses for each preposition location for each exemplar of that preposition. Tests for reflexivity, symmetry, transitivity and equivalence were conducted. In the MTS condition the test for equivalence was the same as the teaching phase for the IV condition and vice versa. A comparison of the number of trials required for mastery for each group was analyzed. The findings from this study will direct a future investigation focusing on children diagnosed with autism. |
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| 94. Contextually Controlled Derived Relational Intrusions Following Training |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| PAUL GUINTHER (University of New Mexico), Michael J. Dougher (University of New Mexico) |
| Abstract: A contextually controlled interrelated conditional discrimination training procedure was used to produce subsequent contextually controlled semantic false memory phenomena. All participants completed identical contextual discriminative training on a computer during the first phase of the experiment, during which a set of memory-test words participated in an equivalence class with one Set of words (S1) in Context 1 (C1) and participated in an equivalence class with a different Set of words (S2) in Context 2 (C2). Context consisted of the background color of the screen along with the font in which the words were presented. During a second phase of the experiment, the memory test words were presented for a free recall memory test. Half of the participants completed the free recall memory test in C1 and the other half of the participants completed the free recall memory test in C2. Although all participants were shown the same memory-test words for study, an interaction was demonstrated in which participants accidentally recalled S1 words with an elevated frequency when tested in C1, whereas they accidentally recalled S2 words with an elevated frequency when tested in C2. These results indicate that semantic relationships, and hence the particular false memory phenomena exhibited during the recall of semantic material, can be brought under contextual control. |
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| 95. Effects of Instructions and Descriptions, with or without Acquisition and Transfer Criterion, in a Conditional Discrimination, Matching to Sample Task. |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Emilio Ribes-Iñesta (Universidad de Guadalajara), ALEJANDRA ZARAGOZA SCHERMAN (University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: Three experiments were designed to evaluate the effect of criterion or non-criterion instructions and response descriptions use, on substitutive interaction contingencies. 32 university students (both genders) participated voluntarily in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to 6 experimental and 2 control groups. The experimental task consisted of a matching to sample procedure. Experiment 1 evaluated the effect of criterion instructions (Group 1) or non-criterion instructions (Group 2) on intramodal, extramodal, extrarelational and extradimensional transference tests in a first phase; as well as the effect of non-feedback training followed by the same transference tests in a second phase. Experiment 2 evaluated the effect of criterion (Group 5) and non-criterion (Group 6) response descriptions in a first phase; and the same non-feedback training and transference tests in the first and second phases. Experiment 3 evaluated the joint effect of criterion instructions and response descriptions (Group 7) and non-criterion instructions and response descriptions (Group 8), and the same second phase and transference test as in experiments 1 and 2. Groups 3 and 4 served as control groups.
Group 3 was administered non-correction instrumental training and group 4 was administered correction instrumental training. Data shows better transference test performance in the second phase of groups 1, 4, and 6. Results are discussed in terms of the linguistic and discrimination interactions each procedure allows for.
Keywords: contingency substitution, descriptions, instructions, transference, matching to sample. |
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| 96. Concurrent and Concurrent Chains Schedules of Reinforcement and Punishment in Human Subjects |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Harold L. Miller Jr. (Brigham Young University), JASON VAN DER HORST (Brigham Young University) |
| Abstract: Human subjects played a computer game in which concurrent variable-interval variable-interval (conc VIVI) schedules of reinforcement arranged for on-screen changes and the delivery of coins from a nearby device. A separate set of conc VIVI schedules of punishment was subsequently introduced in compound with the schedules of reinforcement. Under these schedules, effective responses produced on-screen changes and the necessity to deposit coins into a nearby device. In a second experiment subjects were first exposed to a different game containing a concurrent chains procedure in which the initial links were conc VIVI schedules and the terminal links were variable-time (VT) schedules of reinforcement. Later, VT schedules of punishment were compounded with the VT schedules of reinforcement in the terminal links. We report the results in the comparative context of existing models of distributed choice on both concurrent and concurrent chains schedules, including melioration. |
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| 97. Meta-choice in the positive and negative situation |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| MAYUKO HORI (Kwansei Gakuin University), Tsuneo Shimazaki (Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: The present study examined the preference between forced choice situation which consists of a single alternative and free choice situation which consists of multiple alternatives with concurrent-chains schedule. Such a choice between choice situations is called meta-choice. In this study, two conditions of acquisition or loss of points were set. The acquisition condition was the condition that points were added to as a result of choice behavior (positive situation) and the loss condition was the condition that firstly participants were given specific points, and then that points were lost as a result of choice behavior (negative situation). Most of the past study used experimental situations in which participants get reinforcers as a result of choice behavior. In addition to this, it is necessary to demonstrate that the situation which contains multiple alternatives has the reinforcement value even if it is under the aversive situation like the loss condition in this study. As a result, in both of the acquisition condition and the loss condition, higher preference for the free choice situation were consistently observed. The present study suggested that presenting multiple alternatives has the reinforcement value. |
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| 98. A Comparison of Antecedent and Consequent Interventions Incorporating Choice |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BRITNEY NICOLE BURTON (The University of Southern Mississippi), Heather Sterling-Turner (University of Southern Mississippi), Lauren Lestremau Harpole (The University of Southern Mississippi), Laura L Needelman (University of Southern Mississippi), Nichole Weakley (University of Southern Mississippi) |
| Abstract: Antecedent and consequent interventions incorporating choice have been shown to increase desirable behavior and decrease problem behavior. However, no comparative research on antecedent and consequent strategies involving choice has been conducted to date. The purpose of the presentation will be to discuss a recent investigation in which an alternating treatments design (ATD) was used to compare the effects of a common antecedent strategy (choice of task sequence), a common consequent strategy (choice of reward), and an escape extinction strategy. The goal of the investigation was to determine which strategy would result in a lower percentage of disruptive behavior and a higher percentage of task engagement for 3 preschool-aged males with developmental delays and escape-maintained problem behavior. Results showed that all 3 treatment strategies reduced problem behavior and increased task engagement, with no one treatment condition producing better effects. The methods, results, limitations, and implications of the investigation will be discussed in the presentation. Participants will benefit from the session because they will gain information related to the use of choice-related intervention strategies in a school setting. |
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| 100. Effects of the Manipulation of Reinforcer and Response Dimensions in a Self-Control Training |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Amanda Rana Ferreira (Universidade Federal do Para), EMMANUEL Z. TOURINHO (Universidade Federal do Pará) |
| Abstract: We manipulated reinforcer and response dimensions (reinforcer quality, reinforcer rate, reinforcer delay and response effort) in a self-control training. Eight 12 or 13-year-old participants were exposed to math problems in two concurrent schedules of reinforcement, in four experimental conditions: assessment of difficulty with math problems, baseline, training, and post training. Results showed that when only one dimension was in effect, responses were controlled by the favorable values. When two dimensions were in direct competition (e.g. rate x quality), responses were controlled by rate value (one participant), effort value (one participant) and quality value (six participants). Four participants showed impulsivity in the beginning of the self-control training and went through the training. Four participants did not show impulsivity and were exposed to maintaining sessions. Impulsive participants emitted self-controlled responses in the end of the training. In the post training assessment, all participants were exposed to direct competition between the delay and other two dimensions not manipulated in the training (or maintaining) sessions. Four participants showed impulsivity when delay competed with effort, but not when it competed with quality or reinforcer rate. These results suggest that the stability of self-control repertoires was conditioned to specific reinforce or response dimensions. |
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| 101. The Effects of Conditioning Toys as Reinforcers on Intervals of Toy Play, Stereotypy and Passivity for Two Children with Autism |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| R. Douglas Greer (Columbia University Teacher's College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences), SAMANTHA G BRODLIEB (Teachers College, Columbia University), Lin Du (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Abstract: We examined the effects of conditioning construction toys as reinforcers for play on the stereotypy, passivity and toy play of 2 seven-year-old males diagnosed with autism using a delayed multiple probe design. The participants functioned from pre-speaker to emergent reader/ writer levels of verbal behavior. The dependent variables included the numbers of intervals of appropriate toy play, stereotypy and passivity. Initial probe data showed the students engaged in frequent emissions of stereotypy and infrequent emissions of appropriate toy play in a free play setting prior to the implementation of the stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure. After the initial probe, toys were conditioned as reinforcers during stimulus-stimulus pairing sessions and students were observed in separate free play probe sessions. Results showed that when toys were conditioned as reinforcers, both students engaged in higher levels of appropriate toy play and significantly less stereotypy. |
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| 102. Correspondence training and two types of feedback: say-do correspondence or task precision. |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CARLOS MARTINEZ MUNQUIA (University of Guadalajara), Angela K Avila Hernandez (University of Guadalajara), Maria Elena Rodriguez (University of Guadalajara) |
| Abstract: Lloyd (2002) have argued that correspondence training may be controlled by multiple and different contingencies. Previous research combining matching-to-sample tasks and correspondence training procedures have shown that this may be the case since say-do correspondence feedback does not promote task acquisition. Therefore, a study was designed to evaluate the functional role of two types of feedback: one promoting say-do correspondence and other promoting task acquisition. Twenty college students participated. They were divided into four groups (three experimental groups and one control group). Group 1 and 2 received feedback on say-do correspondence and task precision, respectively. Group 3 received both types of feedbacks. Performance under transfer tests was similar for groups 1 and 2. However, group 3 showed better transference than groups 1 and 2. Data suggest that correspondence training combined with feedback on task precision can lead to task performance referred in the literature as “verbal”, “goal-oriented” or “higher-order” type.
* Lloyd, K. (2002). A review of correspondence training: suggestions for a revival. The Behavior Analyst, 25 (1), 57-73. |
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| 103. Reciprocity of Responding As Determinant of Partial-Altruistic Behavior In Humans |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Emilio Ribes-Iñesta (University of Guadalajara), NORA RANGEL (University de Guadalajara, Mexico), Lizbeth Pulido Avalos (University of Guadalajara), Ulises Valdez (University of Guadalajara), Elizabeth Ramárez (University of Guadalajara), Carlos Jimenez (University of Guadalajara), Mayra HernÁndez (University of Guadalajara) |
| Abstract: Eight female, 19 to 39 year old university students were randomly distributed in eight dyads (each participant had a confederate peer in the dyad). Participants were not informed that their peer was an experimenter’s confederate. In a situation of partial altruism, dyads solved a visual puzzle on two synchronized computers screens. Participants and confederates could track the performance of his/her peer, and place pieces in either puzzle. A within-subject design was used, comprising two individual baselines and five experimental phases, each one involving a specific confederate’s behavior toward a peer in the dyad: the percent of reciprocal placing of pieces in the peer’s puzzle. Dyads were randomly distributed in two different groups. Dyads in Group 1 were exposed to an ascending order of the percentage of reciprocity by the confederate (0, 25, 50, 75, 100%), and dyads in Group 2 were exposed to a descending order (100, 75, 50, 25, 0%). Results showed that participants placed their pieces in the peer’s puzzle in similar proportion to which confederates reciprocally placed their pieces in the participants’ puzzles. |
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| 104. Compensatory Conditioned Responses to Coffee Cues in Heavy Coffee Drinkers in a Reversal-Replication Design. |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CAITLYN A BOROWICZ (Youngstown State University), Stephen Ray Flora (Youngstown State University) |
| Abstract: Increases in body temperature, blood pressure and other autonomic responses are unconditioned responses to caffeine at relatively high doses; 600 mg or more per bout in humans. However, these responses are more likely to occur when caffeine tablets are ingested and less likely when equivalent amounts of caffeine are consumed in coffee. One possibility is that regular coffee drinkers develop compensatory conditioned responses to the smell and taste of coffee that counteract the unconditional responses to caffeine. In regular coffee drinkers previous research has found that the smell and taste of coffee have functioned as conditioned stimuli producing compensatory conditioned responses in the form of decreased salivation, as opposed to the unconditioned response of increased salivation. A reversal replication design was used in the current study to investigate compensatory conditioned responses to coffee cues by comparing the effects on blood pressure and body temperature of caffeine ingested by tablet and in coffee compared to responses to placebo and decaffeinated coffee. |
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| 105. Distinctiveness and serial position of wins: Effects on win rate recall and willingness to gamble. |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Stephen Ray Flora (Youngstown State University), CAITLYN A BOROWICZ (Youngstown State University) |
| Abstract: People typically have a better recall of items early in a sequence (primacy effect), late in a sequence (recency effect), or of items made distinctive. Compared to losses, wins in a casino are salient, or distinctive. Heavy gamblers frequently report early wins as important in establishing a pattern of gambling. The distinctiveness of early wins could artificially inflate their rate of occurrence during recall. Wins could also become more distinctive if they occur in rapid succession, rather than being spread apart. These factors may make problem gamblers falsely remember the number of their wins, and lead them to believe winning is more likely than it actually is contributing to chronic gambling. The present study investigated these possibilities. Participants are given repeated opportunities to bet on the turn of a card. The sequence and distinctiveness of wins systematically varied across participants. Dependent variables are whether or not participants chose to bet on each trial, participants’ recall of number of wins, and participants’ willingness to increase their wager on a final coin toss. |
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| 106. Probability Sequence Affects Choice on a Probability Discounting Task |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| AUGUST F. HOLTYN (Western Michigan University), Julie M Stine (Western Michigan University), Cynthia J. Pietras (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Within a probability discounting paradigm, subjects are repeatedly presented with a choice between a small, certain amount and a large, uncertain amount. Within a block of trials, the value of the certain outcome is systematically manipulated until the subject deems both amounts to be equivalent in value (i.e., an indifference point is determined). The probability is manipulated across blocks of trials to obtain a series of indifference points. Probabilities are typically presented in both an ascending and descending sequence. The current study randomly assigned participants from two different age groups (college students and older adults) to either an ascending or descending probability sequence. Hyperbolic discounting functions were fit to indifference points to assess rates of discounting. The rate of discounting in the ascending group was higher (i.e., choice was more risk averse) than that in the descending group, with this difference being more pronounced in the older adults. These results suggest that the order of presentation of probabilities during a probability discounting task can affect the rate of discounting. |
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| EDC Poster Session 5 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 6:00 PM–7:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 107. Behave Away: A Maintenance Manual
(How to Problem-Solve Challenging Behavior
While Helping Yourself Cope) |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| JOHN KOSMOPOULOS (York Central Hospital) |
| Abstract: “Behave Away” is a user-friendly, "how-to" manual provided to parents, caregivers and staff at the end of involvement to increase the likelihood of self-management and problem-solving while decreasing the likelihood of relapse and re-referral. This maintenance manual offers individuals the resources to systematically approach future behavioral challenges in a cogent way (i.e., prevention checklists, assessment and data collection methods to determine the function of behavior, function-based strategies, etc.) while helping themselves cope with everyday stressors in supporting someone with behavioral challenges through the use of cognitive-behavioral and acceptance-based techniques. |
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| 108. THE ACQUISITION OF SOCIAL SKILLS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN AS A FUNCTION OF THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MARCO W. SALAS-MARTINEZ (University of Veracruz, Mexico), Esperanza Ferrant Jimenez (University of Veracuz), Cintia S. Aguilar Salazar (University of Veracruz), Jocelyn Pitoll Garcia (University of Veracruz), Claudia Nakazona Peña (University of Veracruz) |
| Abstract: The National Program for Preschool Education (NPPE, 2004) is organized on the basis of competences. Besides of being subjective, it does not specify knowledges, skills and attitudes that teachers should possess, nor the activities to perform, nor identify the basic repertories that require children to learn the knowledge and social skills identified by the program (NPPE, 2004). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of the training of teachers and students in acquiring social skills for preschool students. Participants were 12 students who were enrolled in the third grade of a kindergarten school. Their aged ranged between 3 and 5 years old, with a low economical level. Two teachers also participated in the research. Once the students and teachers’ competences were behaviorally defined, a Within and Between Subjects Experimental Design, was implemented. Teachers were trained in both: the establishment of basic repertoires of students, and on the skills and activities that they need to perform in order the children acquire knowledge, skills and social attitudes. The statistical data show that the purpose of the study was reached. |
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| 109. Enhancing Data Collection Procedures for IEP Goals |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| REBECCA RENEE WISKIRCHEN (ACCEL), Christina Barosky (ACCEL), Bryan J. Davey (ACCEL), Jonathan Evans (ACCEL), Bradley Reed (ACCEL), Eli Lozada Jr. (ACCEL), Pamela Bolding (ACCEL), Jimmy R. Smith (ACCEL) |
| Abstract: Data collection is a pillar of Applied Behavior Analysis. Data collection procedures in classrooms document student progress in terms of academic, social and behavioral objectives. Classrooms often use data collections systems that are inefficient and inaccurate. These systemic issues arise from a lack in training, inadequate supervision, time constraints on staff, poor organization, immeasurable objectives and inaccurate prompting procedures. The presentation will highlight the changes in data collection and prompting procedures across 4 classrooms within a private special education day school.
Improved data collection procedures include the use of timely and accurate recording methods. This was accomplished through direct training and modeling. To facilitate student learning opportunities staff were trained to contrive situations and record outcomes. Further, staff were taught 3-Step-Prompting procedures to promote skill acquisition and compliance. IEP objective data will be presented for the 4 classrooms. Results demonstrate that these approaches lead to a significant number of objectives being mastered. |
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| 110. Effects of Parent Training on Parents' Use of Praise and Child's Spoken Words |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| QUINN VICKERS MONTGOMERY (The Ohio State University), Moira Konrad (The Ohio State University), Cuong (Ken) Luu (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: While it is important to study intervention strategies that can be used by teachers and clinicians, it is equally important to study effective strategies that can be used by parents within the home setting. Given the fact that parents are often involved in, if not in charge of, coordinating services for their children, studies involving effective and time efficient training strategies for parents are of absolute importance.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a parent-training package on (a) parents’ use of general and behavior-specific praise statements and (b) the number of spoken words used by a child with autism. The package consisted of training, feedback, and praise. A multiple baseline design was used to determine the effects of the parent-training package across two participants, the parents of the child with autism. The results of this study indicate that training, feedback, and praise were effective in increasing the praise used by the parents. |
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| 111. The Effects of Using the Good Behavior Game and Goal Setting to Increase the Rates of Praise of Teachers of Students with Disabilities |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CLINTON SMITH (University of Memphis), David Bicard (The Univeristy of Memphis), Sara C Bicard (University of Memphis) |
| Abstract: Six teachers were trained to provide praise statements to students at a summer camp for students with disabilities. A reversal design was utilized to assess the effects of the good behavior game and goal setting on rate of praise statements made by the teachers. The good behavior game consisted of teachers divided into two teams and the number of praise statements for each on the team was added together for a weekly total. The team with the most points at the end of each week earned a snack at a local ice cream establishment. The goal setting condition included the good behavior game in addition to the teachers setting a daily goal for the number of praise statements. The rate of praise statements increased during the good behavior game conditions (M=0.96 and 0.79) when compared to baseline (M=0.61). The rate of praise statements during the goal setting conditions (M=1.13 and 1.2) were higher than baseline and the good behavior game conditions. Goal setting for praise statements resulted in higher rates of praise statements than just utilizing the good behavior game alone or baseline. Future research should address the effects of goal setting and attainment on praise statements and the effects of reinforcer assessment or survey in conjunction with the good behavior game and goal setting on praise statements. |
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| 112. Promoting Reflection in Teacher Preparation Programs: a Multi-Level Model |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CANDACE MARY SAWYER (University of Northern Iowa), Susan Etscheidt (University of Northern Iowa) |
| Abstract: The preparation of reflective teachers is a complex process requiring structured and sequential opportunities throughout the program of study. This poster session presents a paper discussing a variety of models for conceptualizing reflectivity in teacher preparation programs. Based on these frameworks, a three-level model of reflection for students in the University of Northern Iowa's teacher preparation program is described. The levels include reflection of technical competence, informed and reasoned analysis, and ideological inquiry. Reflective opportunities provided to prospective teachers include self-evaluation of lesson planning and delivery, reflective journals for personal theory-building, and pedagogical seminars. Concurrent, multimodel opportunities to promote reflective practice begin early in the preparation program and are continued through the student teaching experience. Specific examples and discussion guides are presented, and recommendation for teacher preparation programs are offered. |
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| 113. Accountability in Training and Practice: Documenting Response to Intervention Outcomes |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| SHANNON MCGUIRE (University of Cincinnati), Jennifer Hailley (University of Cincinnati), Renee Hawkins (University of Cincinnati), Jennifer L Meek (University of Cincinnati) |
| Abstract: With an increased emphasis on prevention, early intervention, and accountability in schools, Response to Intervention (RtI) has emerged as a way to link assessment to intervention and effectively meet students’ needs. Based on the principles of applied behavior analysis and single case design, RtI relies on valid and reliable progress monitoring to make empirically-based decisions about intervention effects and services for students. School psychologists entering the field need to be well prepared in all of these areas in order to effectively support RtI service delivery. However, little research has focused on RtI preservice training. The current presentation will describe the training model and structured practicum experiences of a school psychology program emphasizing RtI training. The presentation will provide a summary of the intervention outcomes for school-aged (K-12) students (N = 108) served by trainees (N = 35) from the 2005-2006, 2006-2007, and 2007-2008 school years. Summary statistics will be reported for student progress in response to the behavioral and academic interventions collaboratively developed by trainees through the RtI process. Outcome data will be used to evaluate trainee skill and training program effectiveness. Discussion will highlight the challenges and suggestions for future research on preservice training in RtI. |
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| 114. Student Research at Gonzaga University 1978-2009 |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| THOMAS FORD MCLAUGHLIN (Gonzaga University), Kimberly P. Weber (Gonzaga University), K. Mark Derby (Gonzaga University), Anjali Barretto (Gonzaga University), Randy L. Williams (Gonzaga University) |
| Abstract: The basic data presented are the publication and presentation data authored by students from Gonzaga University's behaviorally-based Special Education Program.
The overall outcomes indicated that student publications and presentations were highest (52) during the 2001-2005 time period. Student publications and presentations ranged from 0 to 27 for the other five designated time periods.
Gonzaga University's Special Education Program's students published in peer reviewed journals such as Child & Family Behavior Therapy, Corrective and Social Psychiatry, International Journal of Special Education, B. C. Journal of Special Education, Education and Treatment of Children, Reading Improvement, Remedial & Special Education, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Modification, Journal of Physical and Developmental Disabilities, Behavioral Interventions, Journal of Positive Behavioral Interventions, Journal of Behavioral Education, and Psychology in the Schools.
Presentations were made at the Northwest Association for Behavior Analysis conferences, Council for Exceptional Children, the Annual Virginia Beach Conference on Behavior Disorders, the Third Focus on Behavior Analysis in Education Conference, the Association for Behavior Analysis conventions, and the Student Intercollegiate Research Conference. |
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| 115. Teaching Two 9 Year-Old Students Diagnosed with Autism the Structural and Functional Components of Writing |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNIFER L KNIPLING (Teachers College), Petra Wiehe (Teachers College Columbia University), R. Douglas Greer (Columbia University Teacher's College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) |
| Abstract: We examined the effect of a functional writer immersion program on the descriptive and structural components of writing. A multiple probe design across two participants was used. The participants were two elementary school students diagnosed with autism. For the probes, students were given a series of 6 pictures and told to write as much as they could about the pictures. They were given no feedback on their performances. A writer immersion manding program was then implemented. Students were required to write their requests for desired items or activities throughout the day in complete sentences on small strips of paper. These papers were then exchanged for the desired item or activity. Students were given feedback on the structural components of their writing, and continued to participate in the written mands program until they had 90% accuracy in their structural components across two consecutive days. The students were then given the same series of worksheets with the same instructions as a post-probe. Results showed an increase in the number of words and tacts used to describe the pictures while the percentage of correct structural elements remained the same or increased. |
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| 116. Using an Organizational Protocol to Facilitate Math Word Problem Solving in Children with Developmental Disabilities |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| WENDY L. KOZMA (BEACON Services/Evergreen Center), Gordon A. DeFalco (Evergreen Center) |
| Abstract: Math word problems are used to evaluate a student’s ability to apply mathematical skills to practical experiences. The process of solving a word problem requires the student to approach the task tactically, applying a variety of problem solving steps and strategies, and to choose and carry out appropriate mathematical operations with accuracy. Students with developmental disabilities have difficulty in acquiring and applying the skills required to accurately solve word problems. The first purpose of the current study was to validate a Direct Instruction curriculum, Corrective Mathematics, as an effective methodology for teaching math word problems. The second purpose of the study was to validate an organizational protocol that was introduced when students had difficulty solving math word problems. Six students with developmental disabilities between 12 and 20 years of age participated in the study. Students were assessed after every 5 lessons. An alternating treatment design was used to evaluate problem solution after review of every 5 lessons using either remediation or an organizational template. Result indicated that student s frequently required remediation sessions to effectively meet criteria. Use of an organizational protocol proved effective in enabling them to reach criteria. |
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| 117. Daily On-task Behavior Reports and Homework Tracking Sheets System to Increase Academic Success. |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Heidi Maurer (KentWood High School), Stephen Litster (Kentwood High School), RICK SHAW (Behavior Issues) |
| Abstract: A homework tracking sheet was created to report home daily for assignments, upcoming projects, on-task and nondisruptive behaviors, and teacher comments. Baseline data was collected across the school day from the teachers rating on-task and nondisruptive behaviors on a 5-point likert scale. A criterion was then established above baseline (differential reinforcement of high rates) for students to earn rewards or lose privileges if the daily and weekly goals were not met. Students had to write down their homework for that day, have teachers rate and sign the sheet, check-in at the end of the school day with an adult, and have parents review and sign. Students graphed their ratings during the end of the day check-in with a mentor teacher. The daily and weekly rewards and consequences occurred at school and at home for having the sheet signed and meeting the goals. Students were successful in decreasing challenging behaviors and detentions/suspensions, and increasing appropriate behaviors and grades. |
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| 118. Using a Backwards Chain to Teach Students a Morning Routine |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SAMARA COHEN (Teachers College Columbia University), Victoria Sterkin (Teachers College Columbia Univ.), R. Douglas Greer (Columbia University Teacher's College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) |
| Abstract: This study used a multiple baseline design across participants to determine if a backwards chain was effective for teaching students how to independently perform the behaviors in a morning routine that was completed daily upon arrival to school. Two five-year-old females and one six-year-old male participated in this study. These students were chosen due to their lack of performing any morning routine behaviors upon arrival to school at the beginning of the school year. They were selected from the members of a kindergarten classroom that used the CABAS® system of instruction, in a school that was located in a suburb of a large metropolitan area. All three participants were diagnosed with Autism. Each one functioned at the pre-listener level of verbal behavior, one participant was a pre-speaker, and two were emergent speakers (Greer & Keohane, 2005). After an initial baseline in which correct responding was 0%, a backwards chain was implemented. Results showed a functional relationship between using a backwards chain and students independently completing a morning routine. |
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| 119. A Functional Relationship Between Multiple Exemplar Instruction and the Emergence of the Naming Capability with Elementary School Students Diagnosed with Autism |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Nicole Luke (Columbia University Teachers College), RAPHAEL VIEIRA VASCONCELOS (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Abstract: This study assessed the effects of the Multiple Exemplar Instruction procedure on the emergence of the Naming capability with two male elementary school students diagnosed with autism. The study used a multiple probe across participants design. A probe was initially conducted to assess the performance of both participants in four different response topographies (matching, pointing, tacts and intraverbals). All stimuli used were 2-D. After the probe, Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI) was implemented, which consisted of rotating instruction between all four responses. Learn Units were used, which means that correct responses were reinforced and incorrect responses received feedback and corrections. Once criterion was met in MEI, a post-probe was conducted to assess the emergence of Naming. The results showed a functional relationship between the MEI procedure and the emergence of the Naming capability with both participants. |
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| 120. Peer Tutoring as a Tactic to Teach Vocabulary |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KIMBERLY N MOSCA FRANKLIN (Columbia), Mindy Bunya Rothstein (Teachers College Columbia University) |
| Abstract: A delayed multiple baseline across participants was used to examine the effectiveness of peer tutoring on teaching tutors novel vocabulary. Two 4-year-old participants were chosen from a preschool that served children diagnosed as preschoolers with disabilities and also children that were typically developing, to participate in this study. The participants were listeners, speakers, and beginning readers. They first were taught the process of peer tutoring. Following mastering the peer tutoring process, each tutor was given novel vocabulary words to teach a peer that neither the peer, nor the peer tutor had been taught previously. A probe was conducted to ensure that neither of the students had the vocabulary in their repertoire before starting the peer tutoring sessions. Probes were conducted on the tutor following each peer tutoring session to evaluate if they were learning the vocabulary words. Peer tutoring showed to be an effective tactic to teach both participants new vocabulary. |
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| 121. Something from Nothing: The Role of Automatic Reinforcement and Pairing in the Acquisition of Language |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| AMANDA W. DOLL (Hawthorne Country Day School), Tina Marie Covington (Hawthorne Foundation) |
| Abstract: In the past decade, there has been a line of research in the verbal behavior analysis community investigating how the very early vocal behaviors of children, such as babbling and parroting, are converted into the rudimentary verbal operants of echoics, mands, and tacts. This line of research includes questions of "automatic reinforcement" as a maintaining variable for early babble, and whether a vocal stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure may be able to induce vocalizations in young children for whom the "language window" might otherwise seem to be closing. This poster reviews a single-case systematic replication combining elements from three seminal papers on vocal pairing. One young child with autism participated. Eight months of data were collected on five separate target vocalizations. For all but two targets, there was no measured intervention effect. However, for two targets, there were some improvements both across time and with the introduction of increased delay between teacher-model and preferred-event delivery. |
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| 122. Picture Reader: Using Video Modeling, Picture Cues, and Matrix Training for Novel Task Instruction |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| SEAN M TOBYNE (Praxis, Inc.), Karen L. Mahon (Praxis, Inc.), Elise A. Warecki (Praxis, Inc.), Amanda M. Lockerbie (Praxis, Inc.), Dana Hurlbut (Praxis, Inc.), David Pasterchik (Abilities Software) |
| Abstract: A software program utilizing video modeling and picture cues implemented matrix training to teach novel single-step tasks to developmentally disabled children. Participants in this study were 8 to 21 years of age, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and enrolled in a private school serving that population. Pretests were conducted to assess incoming students’ ability to complete a set of one-step tabletop tasks using a still photo as a cue. Using a constructed response matching to sample (CRMTS) task, participants who failed the pretest were taught one of the failed tasks at a time in a computer-based environment. In training, the student was required to select a still photo of a completed task in the presence of a video model of the task being completed. Upon completing training, posttest tabletop sessions were administered to assess whether or not computer-based training facilitated students’ completion of the task using only a still photo as a cue. Results showed that instruction not only succeeded in transfer of the trained task to the tabletop, but for some students, accurate tabletop performance among untrained tasks also emerged. These results suggest that the Picture Reader program is highly effective in teaching novel tasks.
Supported by grant #HD046289 |
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| 123. Use of Response Cards to Teach Telling Time to Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CHANNON KAYE HORN (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: Relative efficiency of hand raising and response cards within the context of an ABAB design when teaching time to middle school students with moderate to severe disabilities. Effects of the two strategies were assessed on four dependent variables: (a) student active responding, (b) on-task behavior, (c) inappropriate behavior, and (d) acquisition of the target behavior. Results indicated that the response card condition resulted in higher levels of active responding and on-task behavior and lower levels of inappropriate behavior when compared to hand raising conditions. Published in Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 2006, 41(4), 382-391. |
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| 124. Picture Reader: Performance Generalization following Video Modeling and Picture Cue Training |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| DANA HURLBUT (Praxis, Inc.), Karen L. Mahon (Praxis, Inc.), Elise A. Warecki (Praxis, Inc.), Amanda M. Lockerbie (Praxis, Inc.), David Pasterchik (Abilities Software) |
| Abstract: Following successful training of novel one-step tasks using the Picture Reader program, six students with autism diagnoses, between the ages of 11 and 21 participated in follow up studies of generalization. The original computer-based training included a combination of video modeling and picture cue use in establishing completion of a single action-object task (e.g., open box). After receiving this training, students were able to successfully complete tabletop tasks using only picture cues. Upon completion of training for a single novel task, many students demonstrated emergent performances on untrained tasks.
The studies presented here are follow ups to the original single-task training. Students were assessed for across-setting generalization, across-object generalization, multi-step task completion, and completion of tasks using iconic (instead of pictorial) representations of tasks. All students who passed the original single-step tasks demonstrated generalization; however, the patterns of generalization showed variability across students. Possible explanations for these patterns will be discussed.
Supported by Grant #HD046289 |
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| 125. A Comparison of Teaching Interventions on the Rate of Skill Acquisition and Maintenance |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LISA TERESHKO (ACES- EIBI), Cyndi Giordano (ACES- EIBI), Krystl Giordano (ACES- EIBI) |
| Abstract: Teaching stimuli in isolation and then introduced in a discriminative set has been a successful strategy for teaching academic skills to children with autism. The purpose of the current investigation was to compare the rate of acquisition when stimuli are first taught in isolation with the rate of acquisition when stimuli are introduced in sets. Six male students and one female student, ages 7 to 12, diagnosed with autism participated. The dependent variable was the rate of skill acquisition. The independent variable was the number of stimuli introduced initially. Results suggest introducing stimuli in sets to begin teaching leads to a higher rate of acquisition. Results are also suggested for maintenance. |
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| 126. Using Choice and Picture Cues to Decrease Prompt Dependence in Adolescents with Autism |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| ANTHONY FOGLIA (CUNY Queens College), Carolyn S. Ryan (Institute for Children with Autism and Queens Coll) |
| Abstract: The present study compared the effects of assignment of tasks vs. choice of tasks to reduce prompt dependence in adolescents diagnosed with Autism. Attention as a maintaining factor for prompt dependence was also examined. Two adolescents (male and female, ages 13 and 14 respectively), took part in this study within a specialized day school for children with Autism. Baseline measured latency of task initiation after cue delivery for tasks that were assigned through verbal and gestural stimulus prompts without reinforcement. Intervention compared tasks assigned through pictorial cues to tasks initiated by use of a pictorial choice board in an alternating treatment design. Each task was ranked in preference order from previous assessment and presented in quasi random fashion. Attention was delivered by the presentation of contingent praise and noncontingent positive attention. Results show attention was the maintaining variable for prompt dependence. Latency of task initiation was reduced when students were given the opportunity to choose tasks and received contingent attention. |
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| 127. Teaching Prephonics to a Student Who is Nonvocal and has a Moderate Intellectual Disability |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| DAWN H. DAVIS (Georgia State University), Laura D. Fredrick (Georgia State University), Rebecca E Waugh (Georgia State University), Robert Gama (Georgia State Universiy), Paul A. Alberto (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: Students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities (MOID) learn to read many words through sight-word instruction; however, this approach does not give them strategies for reading untaught words they encounter in their environment. Students who are also nonvocal have even fewer opportunities to learn to read untaught words in their environment. A phonics approach to reading teaches students letter sounds and blending skills allowing students to generalize these skills to read untaught words. One systematic, explicit approach to phonics instruction that includes teaching letter sounds and blending skills is Direct Instruction (DI). Pilot studies show, however, that students with MOID have difficulty mastering blending skills even when instructed with DI programs. To increase the probability that students with MOID would learn blending skills we developed a prephonics instructional sequence modeled after Direct Instruction that includes developing fluency with letter-sound correspondences before teaching blending skills and then testing for generalization of blending skills with untaught words made up of taught letter sounds. A changing criterion design embedded within a multiple baseline across sound sets was used. A student who was nonvocal demonstrated mastery of blending skills by making selections from distracter arrays designed to indicate exact location of errors. |
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| 128. A Comparison of Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing Procedures with Young Children with Language Delays |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| REBECCA S. RAAS (The ABRITE Organization), Janice Doney Frederick (The ABRITE Organization), Ginger R. Wilson (The ABRITE Organization) |
| Abstract: Research suggests that stimulus-stimulus pairing may increase sound production in children with autism, yet has shown mixed results (Esch et al., 2005, Miguel et al., 2002). A procedural variable that requires further investigation is the delivery of the preferred stimulus immediately upon echoing the experimenter. The purpose of the current study is to compare two stimulus-stimulus pairing procedures: 1) a stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure cited in previous studies, with the removal of a changeover delay, and 2) a stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure with direct reinforcement. Participants were children under the age of 3 with language delays. A multiple baseline across sounds was employed, and experimental conditions included baseline, stimulus-stimulus pairing (procedure 1), and stimulus-stimulus pairing with direct reinforcement (procedure 2). Miguel et al. (2002) suggests that long-term maintenance did not occur in participants exposed to a stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure. In the current study, the maintenance of sound production was examined by tracking the emission of the target sound after the pairing procedure, as well as the tracking of echoics and mands to investigate the possible transfer of the target sound to other verbal operants. |
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| 129. Use of Script Fading to Increase Spontaneous Conversation Skills |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JENNIFER E. CONNELLY (New York Center for Autism Charter School), Jamie Pagliaro (New York Center for Autism Charter School), Hannah E. Hoch (REED Academy), Julie Fisher (New York Center for Autism Charter School) |
| Abstract: Limited conversation skills may predispose children with autism to failed social interactions with peers. They often demonstrate deficits in their ability to initiate converstation and respond to conversational statements made by others. This study used script fading to increase the conversation sills of three participants with autism, ages six to eight years. The participants, all of whom attended and ABA-based charter school for children with autism and participated in general education classes for at least thirty minutes daily, were taught to converse with one another during a group activity. no typical peers were present during sessions. In baseline, the participantsdemonstrated low rates of both spontaneous initiations and responses to conversational statements. Following introduction of a script fading procedure, data showed an increase in both scripted and unscripted intiatons and responses. Results suggest that script fading procedures can increase spontaneous conversation. Qualitative improvements and generalization would be important goals for future research. |
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| 130. A Comparison of Interspersed- vs. Massed-Trial Training: Effectiveness, Mechanism(s), and Preference |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Claudia L. Dozier (University of Kansas), BROOKE ASHLEY JONES (University of Kansas), Erica Severtson (University of Kansas), Stacy A. Layer (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: When evaluating the effectiveness of teaching strategies, one important variable is the order and composition of training trials that are presented. Several researchers have shown that interspersal of previously acquired (maintenance) tasks among new (acquisition) tasks is a superior training procedure as compared to a massed-trial procedure (Dunlap, 1984; Neef, Iwata, & Page, 1977; Schroeder & Baer, 1972), but the mechanism(s) by which interspersing previously mastered items with acquisition items has not been systematically assessed. The purpose of the current study is to (a) attempt to replicate the findings of previous research showing the superiority of interspersed-trial training with young children with and without developmental disabilities, (b) systematically assess the effects of high-density vs. low-density reinforcement and high stimulus vs. low stimulus variation on acquisition during interspersed-trial training, and (c) evaluate which teaching strategy is most preferred by participants. Results of the current study suggest that (a) massed-trial training is equally effective to interspersed-trial training with individuals without developmental disabilities, (b) acquisition under both conditions occurs in the absence of reinforcement (i.e., when error correction alone is delivered), and (c) all participants have shown a preference for interspersed over massed-trial training procedures regardless of whether reinforcers are delivered. |
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| TBA Poster Session 5 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 6:00 PM–7:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 131. The Effects of Weekly Workshops on the Graduate Student’s Usage of APA Style |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| LAUREN S. MORRELL (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), Traci M. Cihon (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology), John W. Eshleman (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Abstract: Educators often assume that a graduate student in psychology has had experience with formal writing and is familiar with American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines for writing. In fact, many undergraduate psychology programs require a research methods class where students prepare a research proposal. This is often students first and possibly only experience with APA Publication Manual Style (Smith & Eggleston, 2001). This study examined the effects of weekly workshops on students’ use of APA Publication Manual Style. Students met individually once a week to discuss various activities and assignments they completed on an individual basis. A multiple baseline across participants with replications across skill sets design was used to demonstrate experimental control. Results are discussed regarding the effects of the weekly workshops on post-quizzes and written assignments. |
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| 132. Behavior Analysis Training Systems |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KELLY STONE (Western Michigan University), Caitlin Elizabeth O'Boyle (Western Michigan University), Robert Sheffey (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Behavior Analysis Training System Mission Statements
The goal of BATS is to increase the number of Behavior Analysts effectively working toward the well-being of humanity. This includes saving the world with behavior analysis in a continuous manner.
The goal of the Behavior Analysis Training System is to produce, place, and maintain competent behavior analysts so they can “Save the World with Behavior Analysis.”
BATS Subsystem Mission Statement
The mission of the Behavior Analysis Training System is to facilitate the improvement of the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of the overall system. This is accomplished by improving performance within and across all subsystems. Improved performance will be obtained through increasing system accomplishments, minimizing the number of and responding in a timely manner to disconnects, and improving the quality and accuracy of system products. |
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| 133. Organizational Behavior Management Supervisory System |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CALVIN J GAGE (Western Michigan University), Erik D. Lerdal (Western Michigan University), Miles K Bennett (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The mission of the OBM system is to provide supplemental information about their OBM projects to masters’ level students that were unable to take the advanced systems course or future students if the course is not offered. The timely use of the information provided by the system will improve the quality, timeliness, and usefulness of the OBM projects being created by the students. |
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| 134. GRE Preparation Course |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| AMANDA JEAN KOWALSKI (Western Michigan University), Karolina Paszek (Western Michigan University), Jonathan Anthony (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: This course is designed to help students study for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and prepare for graduate school using performance management and self-management techniques. Each week students complete various tasks including preparing study materials for the GRE, creating a vitae/resume, and creating a personalized graduate school timeline. This course provides guidance, instructional materials, study tips, testing strategies, and other relevant information pertaining to the GRE. The GRE Preparation course provides students with tight behavioral contingencies to keep them from procrastinating on important pre-graduate tasks! After taking this course students will have a better mastery of the skills and concepts presented on the Graduate Records Examination and will have also prepared documents and other various materials necessary for graduate school applications. The graduate student instructors of this course have been consistently working on continuous quality improvement of the system. Pre and post GRE practice test data have been collected and the course continues to be updated to best fit the needs of the students. |
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| 135. The Language Facilitation Training System- Icon Exchange |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MICHELLE GAGLIANO (Western Michigan University), Rebecca A Markovits (Western Michigan University), Austin Mifsud (Western Michigan University), Lydie Biedron (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The mission of the Language Facilitation Training System is to give children with little to no functional language a way to communicate using an icon exchange system based off of Frost & Bondy’s Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). |
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| 136. Intermediate Practicum |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TIALHA NOVER (Western Michigan University), Rebecca M. O'Gorman (Western Michigan University), Amiee Howard (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Graduate students with experience in system management, course presentation, and supervision of graduate and undergraduate students over discrete-trial techniques for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.
Undergraduate students with additional experience and supervision over discrete-trial implementation for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, who are trained and knowledgeable for admission into the advanced practicum level experience. |
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| 137. Behavioral Research Supervisory System |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| TIFFANY MARIE SMIECINSKI (Western Michigan University), Kelli Perry (Western Michigan University), Russell P Buero (Western Michigan University), Lindsey M Donovan (Western Michigan University), Brittney M Vallender (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The purpose of the Behavioral Research Supervisory System is to monitor students’ progress on various projects, ensuring that they complete weekly tasks. The timely completion of tasks allows the students to maintain and improve the projects over the course of the semester |
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| 138. Advanced Autism Practicum |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JOSEPH T SHANE (Westen Michigan University), Abby Ferree (Western Michigan University), Amanda Smith (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The Advanced Autism Practicum is the final course in a series of three practica designed to teach undergraduate students to accurately and effectively implement Discrete-Trial Therapy with preschool-aged children with autism. A prerequisite of this course is completion of the Basic and Intermediate Autism Practica. Only those students who show exceptional skill and performance are considered for the Advanced Practicum. The practicum takes place in a preschool classroom for children with Early Childhood Developmental Delays. One purpose of the Advanced Practicum is to give the students the opportunity to write an original procedure that will be implemented with the child they implement Discrete-Trial with in the classroom. To accomplish this, the students are required to analyze the child’s specific skill deficits, to write a procedure to help with one or more of these areas, to evaluate its effectiveness, and revise any aspect of that procedure to increase its effectiveness. Each student also receives the opportunity to write a set of sub-phases for a procedure that their child is unable to master. Finally, the students also receive relevant information on different aspects of behavioral treatment including an introduction to functional assessments as well as training in effective and ineffective therapies. |
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| 139. Academic Self-Management |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MATT BRODHEAD (Western Michigan University), Madeline Budzen (Western Michigan University), Megan R Baumgartner (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Self-Management is an undergraduate psychology course and a subsystem within the Behavior Analysis Training System at Western Michigan University. The goal of Self-Management is to help students gain self-management skills that can be applied to academic tasks as well as their everyday lives. The course is a one credit class that meets for 1.25 hours once a week. Students earn points contingent on behaviors listed on their task verification forms (TVFs); these aid in eliminating procrastination by holding the students accountable with proof of academic task completion. Students are also responsible for completing a self-management project that focuses on increasing or decreasing a behavior that improves the quality of their life. Students share tactics, techniques, and procedures during class discussion that aid in the success of their projects. Student activities include completing performance contracts and TVFs, demonstrating proof of their accomplished tasks, and presenting performance graphs. |
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| 140. Pre-Practicum |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JOSEPH NORCROSS (Western Michigan University), Kelly Marie Hanlon (Western Michigan University), Kelly Wood (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The Autism Pre-Practicum is a subsystem of the Behavior Analysis Training System (BATS) which is a system in Western Michigan University’s Psychology Department. The purpose of the Autism Pre-Practicum is to develop a basic discrete-trial training repertoire in undergraduate and graduate students prior to their entrance into the Croyden Avenue School Practicum. Students in the Croyden Practicum work one-on-one with a child in a pre-primary impaired (PPI) classroom implementing discrete trials. All students within BATS must participate in the Croyden Practicum. Undergraduate psychology students at Western Michigan University may opt to take the Croyden Practicum to fulfill their practicum requirement. The Autism Pre-Practicum is a pre-requisite from the Croyden Avenue School Practicum. For graduate students, training occurs during their first summer in BATS. For undergraduate students, training occurs the semester before they enter the Croyden Practicum. The Pre-Practicum focuses on training in implementation of discrete trials but covers all rules and policies of the PPI classroom at Croyden and the roles and responsibilities of each student. Training includes lectures, articles, video instruction, video modeling, live modeling, and role play with feedback. Role play with feedback is the main emphasis of the training. This is a one credit course. |
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| 141. The Behavior Systems Analysis Project |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| MAEGAN KARAS (Western Michigan University), Elizabeth Saur (Western Michigan University), Alicia Olson (Western Michigan University), Matthew Semelbauer (Western Michigan University), Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: The production of students who can obtain a mastery level in the application of behavior systems analytic skills and OBM skills to a variety of applied setting through the practical experience of working at a real organization. The BSA Project is a two-credit course designed as a practical and advanced experience in systems analysis. This course is a supplement to the Survey Behavioral Analysis Research PSY 4600 course. Students will apply the principles and concepts from Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) that have been taught in PSY 4600 to this project. A crucial aspect of this project is that it is not hypothetical; all the problems, data and interventions should be real. Students are going to do a thorough study/analysis in a chosen setting, collect real data, and actually implement possible interventions. Common interventions consist of graphic feedback, monetary rewards, training or job aides. Students will be operating within the organization under the supervision of a psychology MA student. The MA student is supervised by Dr. Malott. |
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| 142. Studying as Fun and Games: Effects on College Students' Quiz Performance |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Nancy A. Neef (The Ohio State University), CHRISTOPHER J. PERRIN (The Ohio State University), Alayna Theresa Haberlin (The Ohio State University), Lilian C. Rodrigues (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: We evaluated college students’ participation in a game activity for studying course material on their subsequent quiz performance. Students were divided into 4 teams. Each week, students from two teams generated questions pertaining to the reading assignments before class. Each member of the two teams took turns posing questions to members of the opposing team for 20 min. The team that answered the most questions correctly was declared the winner and earned a bonus point. The effects of the game on subsequent weekly quiz performance was evaluated using a multi-element design in which pairs of teams alternated weekly between games and discussing individual project assignments with a graduate associate. The results showed that during almost all class periods, the mean percentage correct on quizzes was higher for the teams that engaged in games than for teams that discussed application projects. |
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| 143. The effects of cooperative learning groups on college students’ quiz performance in an ABA course |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| JU HEE PARK (The Ohio State University, Department of Special Education), Cuong (Ken) Luu (The Ohio State University), Sheila R Alber-Morgan (The Ohio State University) |
| Abstract: Most of college courses have depended on a traditional lecture which has been criticized for the failure in leading students to be active participants in class. Instructors have contrived useful strategies that may help students be more actively engaged in instruction. One of those strategies is including small-group activities as a part of the course requirement, which requires students to work together to solve problems or to complete tasks related to the topic covered in class. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of small-group activities on college students’ performance in weekly quizzes in an introductory applied behavior analysis course. All students alternately participated in the following three experimental conditions: (a) cooperative learning group condition, (2) cooperative learning group condition with a group contingency for bonus points, and (3) a control condition in which no group activity was provided. Limitations, future directions, and implications for practice will be presented. |
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| TPC Poster Session 5 |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 6:00 PM–7:30 PM |
| North Hall A |
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| 144. The Correspondence Between Information Gathered During Parent Interviews, Behavioral Data, and FBA Determined Functions of Behavior |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| JILL MCDANIEL (Vanderbilt University), Nealetta Houchins-Juarez (Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Behavior Analysis Clinic), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Gathering behavioral data via direct observation for children with disabilities and problem behaviors can be difficult. An accepted alternative to these data are standardized parent interview forms, such as the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating Form. Forms such as these are assessed for reliability and validity, but given their role as a substitute for direct behavioral data, measurements of the correspondence between what is reported on the form and what is actually seen in observation are rarely made. Conversely, unstructured parent interviews, such as those administered in functional behavior assessments, may result in a different set of data regarding parent perception of behavior. These data also may or may not be congruent with what direct behavioral data reveal. Additionally, it is unclear the extent to which these tools are capable of accurately identifying behavioral functions. In this study, the congruence between parent interview forms, behavioral data, and behavior functions is examined. |
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| 145. Defining Reinforcement: Is delay relevant. |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| KELLY P. BRADLEY (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: In providing formal definitions of reinforcement, some behavior analysts specify that the reinforcing stimulus must immediately follow the operant response. Others do not require such immediacy. A survey sent to members of the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, The Behavior Analysis, the Analysis of Verbal Behavior, and the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management in 1991 found no consistent agreement regarding whether receipt of grant money, delayed several months relative to submission of the proposal that was funded and accompanied by an increase in the rate of proposal writing, should be considered as a reinforcer. Similarly, no consensus was apparent regarding whether respondents excluded delayed response-consequence relations from their definition of reinforcement. The present study replicated this earlier survey, with very similar results. These results indicate that today, like 17 years ago, behavior analysts do not agree on how reinforcement should be defined. Given the term’s importance in behavior analysis, this is surprising and perhaps unfortunate. |
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| 146. The Rubber Hand Illusion as Verbal Behavior and Conditional Discrimination |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| BRADY J. PHELPS (South Dakota State University) |
| Abstract: When people feel tactile stimulation on one of their hands that is stationary and obscured from view while simultaneously viewing an artificial-rubber hand receiving the same type of stimulation, they will commonly come to report that the rubber hand is their own hand. The self-report of an altered body position is due to conflicting information from our kinesthetic, somatosensory and visual sensory systems. This effect has been termed the rubber hand illusion (RHI) and has been the subject of many studies from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. The RHI can be reconceptualized as self-report of body position, with the altered self-report being a function of primarily internal SDs from kinesthetic events interacting with somatosensory events that are primarily external SDs and visual events that are external SDs. The stimulus control from the internal and external events alters self-report as in a conditional discrimination. The self-report of body position is compatible with an analysis of verbal behaviors. |
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| 147. The Skinnerian Concept of Efficient Behavior |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Theory |
| Ieda Maria Bertola Mazzo (UEL - Universidade Estadual de Londrina), Jocelaine Martins Silveira (UFPR - Universidade Federal do Paraná), MAURA ALVES NUNES GONGORA (UEL - Universidade Estadual de Londrina), Paulo Cesar Morales Mayer (UEL - Universidade Estadual de Londrina) |
| Abstract: This report presents the result of an exam of Skinnerian texts, developed with the aim of making explicit the criteria with which Skinner uses the term efficient to qualify behaviors. Some texts in which he most uses this term were examined: those that deal with reinforcement contingencies, contingency planning and cultures survival. It was verified that Skinner tends to use the expression “efficient behavior” in reference to two themes: 1 – possibilities or reinforcement chances and 2 – cultural behavior and cultures survival. In the first case, he uses the term to qualify: operant responses, specific operant response classes and special behavior repertoire that present better possibilities of producing environmental reinforcing consequences. In the second case, the author names as efficient the behavior that produces, not only reinforcing consequences, but also socially relevant cultural consequences. It was observed, still, that the criteria here made explicit constitute part of the arguments with which Skinner defends the contingency planning as the only way of assuring the learning of efficient human behavior. These results are important as guidelinesfor interventions in different contexts, aiming at promoting more efficient behaviors. |
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| 148. A Behavioral Interpretation of Maslow's Hierarchy |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Theory |
| BREANN E. PLAMOWSKI (Salem State College), Darlene E. Crone-Todd (Salem State College) |
| Abstract: Little research has been done on the connection between Behaviorism and Humanism, or on the reasons why people conduct genealogy research. The current research proposes that there is a relationship between the levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy and the type of reinforcement that is most effective for increasing behavior due to motivating operations. Participants (n=121) were genealogy researchers who completed an online survey related to past and current reasons for engaging in genealogy research, as well as questions relating to hypothesized primary, conditioned and generalized reinforcers. The questions from the survey were derived from, and were analyzed through both a behavioral (motivating operations) humanistic (Maslow’s Hierarchy) framework. The results indicate that there is a relationship between various types of reinforcement and the levels Maslow’s hierarchy. Specifically, as individuals provide verbal reports consistent with higher humanistic levels, they also report that conditioned and generalized reinforcers are more likely to affect their behavior. This is important for understanding the relationship between humanism and behaviorism, and that humanistic approaches can be explained on the basis of behavioral principles. |
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| 149. Influences on Perceptions of Self-Efficacy in Behavior Interventionists |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| ROBERT W BURNS (California State University, Northridge), Marnie Nicole Shapiro (California State University, Northridge), Ellie Kazemi (California State University, Northridge) |
| Abstract: The growing number of persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) results in more individuals coming into the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to work with children with ASD. Thus, it is imperative for researchers to explore the variables that impact ABA interventionists. Previous research has shown a negative relationship between perceptions of case severity and perceptions of therapeutic self-efficacy. We hypothesized that the relationship between perceptions of case severity and perceptions of therapeutic self-efficacy is because perceptions of case severity mediates the relationship between perceptions of therapeutic self-efficacy and knowledge about ABA and ASD. In other words, increased amounts of knowledge about ABA and ASD are related to low perceptions of autism severity, which in turn is related to increased perceptions of therapeutic self-efficacy. A sample of ABA interventionists completed an anonymous on-line survey. Preliminary results support our hypothesis suggesting that increasing knowledge of ABA and ASD may lead to increased perceptions of self-efficacy. These findings have direct implications for material to be emphasized while training of behavior interventionists. |
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| 150. Cultural and individual influences on individual and group rates of temporal discounting. |
| Area: TPC; Domain: Theory |
| SHAWN R. CHARLTON (University of Central Arkansas), Caitlin Porter (University of Central Arkansas), Laura Crocker (Univeristy of Central Arkansas) |
| Abstract: In his seminal paper Selection by Consequences Skinner argued that behavior is shaped at individual, cultural, and evolutionary levels of selection. While natural selection is a distinct process, there is significant overlap between individual and cultural selection. In this poster, we present the data from an experiment testing the cross-cultural changes in individual and group rates of temporal discounting. Specifically, we examine the rate of discounting for money for Americans of European descent, Americans of Asian descent (Chinese), and Chinese students attending their first semester of school in America. Due to cultural contingencies, it is hypothesized that the Chinese students will have the lowest discount rates in the group discounting condition. However, due to individual contingencies, the Americans of Asian descent will have discount rates comparable to those of the Americans of European descent. This pattern of findings would suggest that temporal discounting, a behavior with a known physiological component, is influenced by cultural, individual, and physiological changes. The applied importance of this information for working with individuals from distinct cultural contingencies will be discussed. |
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| Behavioral Gerontology Special Interest Group |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:20 PM |
| North 129 B |
| Chair: Jonathan C. Baker (Western Michigan University) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| To provide intellectual, clinical, and organizational support to other professionals interested in aging and to foster behavior analytic research in aging. Meeting agenda will include discussing issues in the field as well as issues of professional development. |
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| Journal of Organizational Behavior Management Editorial Board |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:20 PM |
| North 132 A |
| Chair: Timothy D. Ludwig (Appalachian State University) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| Review editorial issues regarding the publication of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM). |
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| Behavioral Medicine Special Interest Group |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:20 PM |
| North 226 C |
| Chair: Craig A. Thomas (TCLC MS Behavior Clinic) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| This is the annual business meeting for the Behavioral Medicine Special Interest Group, during which the SIG will review and approve the annual agenda and vote on officers. |
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| Behavior Analyst Certification Board: Status and New Developments |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:20 PM |
| North 124 A |
| Chair: Gerald L. Shook (Behavior Analyst Certification Board) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| The meeting will address important developments within the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) relating to growth and changes in the BACB. Topics will include: continuing education and recertification ethics and professional requirements, disciplinary standards for BACB certificants, and online certification management. The presentation also will focus on future goals and actions of the BACB. |
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| Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:20 PM |
| North 126 |
| Chair: William F. Potter (California State University, Stanislaus) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| The Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group is dedicated to promoting research, application, and collaboration among behavior analysts working in the area of verbal behavior. The business meeting is open to anyone interested in the area of verbal behavior, whether or not you are a member of the SIG. |
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| ABAI Education Board |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:20 PM |
| North 121 A |
| Chair: Charles Merbitz (Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| Discuss future activities of ABAI's Education Board and determine the needs of professionals and students. |
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| Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:20 PM |
| North 129 A |
| Chair: Josh Pritchard (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| After having just being born, the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis SIG is ready to begin taking its first few steps during infancy– come watch while we unfold what has occurred during its first year of life, and help plan the future of this exciting new special interest group! We will have a brief presentation of the past year, some acknowledgements/awards to those who have contributed to its mission, and discussion of any items of interest to the members. The reinforcers for disseminating behavior analysis have been absent for too long. Too many behaviorists undergo extinction bursts and eventual loss of their proselytizing zeal for the field due to cognitive constructs like 'self-reinforcement.' (Heck – if you’re studying “self-reinforcement” you’re welcome too!) Is dissemination related to you? Take our brief abstract-sized survey: would you like to be a part of a burgeoning movement that is increasing acceptance of empirically validated, behavior analytic science in different areas of application? If you answered yes to this question – then this SIG is for you! Not a member? No problem! This meeting is especially relevant to YOU! Please join us and share your ideas, catch our enthusiasm, and talk about taking our science to the streets. All people attending this meeting will be granted FREE membership immediately. Think this description is full of flash but lacking in content? We especially need you and your ideas for dissemination! |
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| Military and Veterans' Issues |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:20 PM |
| North 131 A |
| Chair: Joseph D. Cautilli (Behavior Analysis and Therapy Partners) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| The Military and Veterans' Issues group has made an application to become a special interest group of ABA International. This business meeting is a preliminary planning meeting, held to gauge interest in the group and to set a preliminary agenda, contingent on approval of SIG status by the ABAI Council. Notification is expected in June 2009. Suggested listening before the meeting: http://shows.implex.tv/Qwikcast/Root/capella/1502/register.htm |
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| Professional Development Series: Applying to Graduate School in Behavior Analysis |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 7:30 PM–8:50 PM |
| North 122 A |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Theory |
| Chair: Alyson K Padgett (California State University, Fresno) |
| W. LARRY WILLIAMS (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| SHEILA R. ALBER-MORGAN (The Ohio State University) |
| MICHAEL J. CAMERON (Simmons College) |
| CHELSEA WILHITE (California State University, Fresno) |
| Abstract: During this event, our panel made up of faculty and students from ABAI accredited behavior analysis programs will answer questions from the audience and provide tips on applying to graduate schools in behavior analysis. |
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| Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) Network |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 8:30 PM–9:20 PM |
| North 132 A |
| Chair: John Austin (Western Michigan University) |
| Presenting Authors: |
| This is the annual meeting of the OBM Network. All are invited to attend and discuss topics related to OBM. In addition, Network officers will present data summarizing the status and development of the organization. |
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| ABAI Social |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 10:30 PM–1:00 AM |
| Valley of the Sun A-E |
| Chair: William L. Heward (Ohio State University) |
| Please join us, your friends, and colleagues for music and dancing at the ABAI Social. |
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