Association for Behavior Analysis International

This is the annual ABAI Business Meeting were the leadership of the Association will provide an update ofon-going activitiesand major developments in the Association. Attendees will learn from ABAI’s president the directionsof the ABAI Council, from ABAI's CEO the status of finances and administration.Attendees will also hear from all of the board coordinators including Science, Education, Practice, Program, Membership, Affiliated Chapters and Publications.

While applied behavior analysis has been researched and implemented for over 50 years, the application of behavior analysis in general education has largely fallen out of use, with the exception of students with special needs. This eclipse has extended to many teacher education institutions, where radical behaviorism and applied behavior analysis are often misrepresented because of poor understanding and criticized as being obsolete. We analyze why this has occurred, and identify5 major misconceptions that have not only hindered the application of behavior analysis to education, but continue to ensure that the approach remains marginalized. These misconceptions are: (1) applied behavior analysis is concerned solely with overt behavior; (2) punishment was sanctioned by Skinner and his followers; (3) rewards destroy student's intrinsic motivation and performance; (4) behavior analytic approaches over-simplify instruction to the point of meaninglessness; and (5) structured environments are aversive and devalue the individual. By means of our own studies and those of others, we address these misconceptions, and make the case that a scholarly reconsideration of applied behavior analysis would result in the approach being repatriated from, as Skinner put it, "the Devil's Island to which it was transported for a crime it never committed."

Masters, check! Doctorate, check! Now what? For many graduate students, deciding what to do after graduation can be a daunting task. One option is identifying, applying for, and surviving a post-doctoral fellowship. This panel will outline the post-doctoral process through an open discussion with recent post-doctoral fellows. Panelists will draw from their experience to highlight the clinical, research, and training opportunities that helped them prepare for their professional careers.

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

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

When humans engage in organized gambling, they are generally choosing sub-optimally. That is, losses are almost always greater than gains. We have developed a model of sub-optimal gambling in which animals prefer an occasional signalled high payoff (10 pellets 20% of the time; 2 pellets on average) rather then a reliable alternative with a signal for a lower payoff (3 pellets 100% of the time). This effect appears to result from the strong conditioned reinforcement associated with the stimulus that is followed by a high payoff. Surprisingly, although it is experienced four times as much, the stimulus that is never followed by reinforcement does not appear to result in significant conditioned inhibition. Similarly, human gamblers tend to overvalue wins and undervalue losses. We have also found that pigeons gamble less when food is less restricted (rich people gamble less than poor people) and they also gamble less when they have been exposed to an enriched environment rather than being kept in an individual cage (for humans, gambling is said to be a form of entertainment). This animal model may provide a useful analog to human gambling behavior, one that is free from the influence of human culture, language, social reinforcement, and other experiential biases.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the decades since the "coercive family process" was introduced by Patterson (1982), it has become the defining explanatory framework for the problem behavior of children with conduct disorder. Unfortunately, no similar model exists for these behaviors as observed in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This talk will introduce the "concession process" as a new framework from which to understand how these behaviors develop over time. Important new longitudinal data from parents as well as children with ASD will be described along with data from a randomized clinical trial showing how addressing this concept can significantly improve treatment outcomes. Outcomes show that this new treatment—called "positive family intervention"—can result in significantly improved child behavior that maintains over at least 12 months. Implications for understanding challenging behavior at home, in school, and in the community will be discussed.

In 2009 the National Autism Center published the National Standards Project in an effort to address the need for evidence-based practice guidelines for Autism Spectrum Disorders. The authors conducted an empirical evaluation of all available services for this population and summarized all intervention types as either: 1) Established, 2) Emerging or 3) Unestablished. Although some of the interventions identified as Emerging are based on a foundation of ABA, the authors noted that an increased level of empirical evidence is required for these to be considered Established. Floortime (Emerging) is identified as a treatment based on developmental theory, with an emphasis on building social relationships. Although widely acknowledged amongst the behavior analytic community as a non-empirically supported treatment, some previous authors have noted that the approach involves a combination of procedures based on established ABA techniques (Metz, Mulick, & Butter, 2005). For the current investigation, retrospective analyses of video-recorded Floortime sessions were conducted in an effort to systematically identify the behavioral contingencies in operation. All sessions were conducted by a certified Floortime therapist and scored by two independent observers with advanced training in ABA. Data were recorded in a manner consistent with standard descriptive functional behavioral assessments, both therapist and child behaviors were recorded, and response measurement procedures were individualized per dyad. Results are presented with respect to the potential limitations and contributions presented by the Floortime model, and related implications for the dissemination of ABA-based services for individuals with ASD and the larger field of behavior analysis.

We conducted an Internet survey of parents who managed Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention programs for their young child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The survey presented questions about the number of hours of intervention provided, pay rates for teaching assistants and professional supervisors, training for intervention staff, and parent assessment of program success. In addition we obtained information on the total program costs over a one year period, source(s) of parent- provided program funds, parent loss of income due to program management and the availability of outside funding support. We asked a series of questions as to whether credentials in ABA served as a factor in hiring program supervisors or direct teaching staff. This survey has been completed. In this presentation we will provide highlights of the finding as well as a sample of the parents responses to open ended questions. The results will likely be of interest to those concerned with the quality and costs of EIBI programs, training for interventionists, and for those concerned with the public policy aspects of equitable provision of this resource-intensive yet highly effective program option for children with ASD. This survey was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Florida Atlantic University.

Valuing, as a verbal behavior, is an important aspect of many clinical interventions. Self-report measures like the Personal Values Questionnaire (PVQ; Blackledge & Ciarrochi, 2006) and the Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ; Wilson & Groom, 2002) provide important data for researchers and clinicians. Making these measures comprehensible and pragmatically useful is an ongoing process. Consistent with such efforts, modifications to content have been explored. Additionally, some people are calling for change in administration and interpretation. It is important to evaluate the utility and validity of these changes. Therefore, this symposium will review the PVQ and VLQ and some recent modifications to them. Hernandez, Schmalz, & Murrells research on the PVQ examines the possibility of a two-factor solution assessing freely chosen valuing and valuing controlled by aversive contingencies. Drake and Keusch introduce modifications to the VLQ to better distinguish accomplishment of goals associated with motivation and investment in a college sample. VanderLugt, Polk, Hambright, & Drake will cover modifications to the VLQ to make it more user-friendly with veterans. Several presenters will discuss the psychometric properties of modified scales and the practical implications of using these measures in specific samples. Discussant Emily Sandoz will lead the audience in summarizing and considering the significance of presented findings.

Togus Veteran's Affairs Medical Center is home to one of the briefest intensive outpatient programs (IOP) for posttraumatic stress (PTSD) in the nation. The IOP is a 5 day program based on an acceptance and commitment therapy model. The ACT model encourages ongoing assessment of the process and outcomes of the therapy. Thus, the following measures were given to each veteran in the program over a three year period: Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the PTSD Checklist (PCL), the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ), and the Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ). The purpose of this presentation is to describe the use of the VLQ and AAQ in the Veteran population, modifications that were made with the hopes of making the VLQ more user-friendly, and the resulting psychometric properties of the modified version of the VLQ. The data below show the results of the reliability of the measures used in this study. The modifications to the VLQ resulted in one successful scale and one questionable scale. The data will be described in detail from the scale analysis (EFA), reliability (alpha and test-re-test) and validity (content reliability). This project was approved by the Togus VAMC Research and Development Committee and the Bedford VAMC IRB.

Motivation continues to be a challenging focus for clinical behavioral assessment. Although self-report measures have notable limitations, they may be used as a means of focusing subsequent efforts to assess clinically relevant constructs. The Valued Living Questionnaire is one self-report instrument that has generated preliminary supportive psychometric evidence. However, the VLQ measures responses to relatively generic domains of life functioning that may not adequately distinguish between the accomplishment of goals associated with motivation and investment in activities toward those goals. The current study introduces a modified version of the VLQ. Modifications include more specific items, a zero floor for each item, and two additional questions for each domain that may provide additional specificity in respect to motivation and action. The VLQ-M was administered to a collection of undergraduate students in the southeastern United States. A collection of additional measures was provided assessing psychological flexibility, social anxiety, the emotional valence of thoughts, and suppression. Results indicate noteworthy trends among the domains assessed by the VLQ-M that may merit further development of this measure.

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

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

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

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

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

Three course-based studies relative to climate change are presented. 1. Water savings: Students audited water-use on 2000 square feet of turf, installed efficient sprinkler heads, re-audited and found overall savings with increased turf health. 2. Behavior change: 85 students conducted individual AB-Follow-up designs. Each targeted one climate-related behavior to increase and one to decrease. Phases were one week each. Individual results were collapsed within dependent variables. They include a reduction of water use from 6,192 minutes (baseline) to 3,281 (intervention) and an increase of recycling from 267 items to 1,033. Behavior change: 46 students conducted individual AB-Follow-up designs. Independent variables assessed in earlier semesters to be most effective were used by the students. Comparing these outcomes with previous studies allows for an analysis of easily-implemented IVs that result in relatively permanent behavior change.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Time is ubiquitous; an inherent component of every experimental procedure and natural behavioral phenomenon. Investigating the behavioral processes governing the acquisition, adaptation, and discrimination of temporal relations between responses and stimuli is important for understanding how these processes function outside of strictly "timing" experiments. This symposium features analysis of timing in3 distinct experimental paradigms. Fox and Kyonka will present results of an experiment comparing response-initiated versus stimulus-initiated fixed-interval schedules. Rice and Kyonka will describe a model for acquisition of temporal control in a highly variable environment using both signaled and nonsignaled changes. Marshall and Kirkpatrick will discuss the role of timing in a choice in a delay discounting paradigm. Understanding how the arrangement of experimental contingencies affects timing, even when timing is not the primary interest of study is important for a more thorough understanding of behavior. The3 papers that will be presented will approach timing using3 distinct experimental arrangements.

Response-initiated fixed-interval (RIFI) schedules are tandem fixed-ratio (FR) 1 and fixed-interval (FI) schedules that may produce ratio- and interval-like responding. Very little research has systematically assessed responding on RIFI schedules compared to FI schedules. To compare patterns of responding in the 2 types of interval schedules, 4 pigeons were exposed to RIFI- and FI-15 s, 30 s, 60 s, 120 s, 240 s schedules of reinforcement in counterbalanced order across 10 conditions. For all conditions, post-reinforcement pauses were a function of the interval duration. Post-reinforcement pauses were more variable and included more long pauses in RIFI conditions than in FI conditions. Response rates in RIFI conditions were higher than in corresponding FI conditions. The shape of response rate distributions differed for RIFI and FI conditions in a way that suggests lower temporal control in RIFI conditions. RIFI schedules are not analogous to FI schedules, and may have emergent properties that are different from those of FI and FR schedules. For these pigeons, the onset of visual stimuli (red and green key lights) were more effective time markers than the pigeons own key pecks.

When intervals vary pseudorandomly across sessions, temporal control of behavior is acquired rapidly with minimal carryover from previous sessions. To determine whether temporal control can carry over from previous sessions in a highly variable environment, 4 pigeons were exposed to multiple peak-interval schedules in which the programmed intervals on food trials were changed for both schedules midsession. In a signaled condition, a 5 minute blackout preceded the midsession change. In an unsignaled condition, the midsession change occurred with no accompanying signal. Each pair of intervals was in effect for the second half of 1 session and the first half of the following session; a total of 72 trials separated by approximately 23 hours of nonexperimental time. To determine how temporal acquisition varied as a function of this unsignaled mid-session change, start and stop times were obtained from occasional no-food trials. Temporal control in both conditions was weaker than reported in previous research where intervals were changed at the start of a session. Further analyses will identify whether the addition of a signal to the mid-session change to intervals affects acquisition of temporal control and sensitivity of start and stop times to current and previous intervals.

The choice between alternatives often requires a delay until receipt of the chosen alternative; how an individual behaves during such a delay may be critical to the choice itself. In 2 experiments, rats made choices between 2 alternatives. In a delay discounting experiment, rats reared in either an enriched or an impoverished environment made a choice between a small reward that would be available after a short period of time and a larger reward that would be available after a longer period of time. In a probability discounting experiment, different rats housed in pairs made a choice between a small reward that was certainly delivered and a larger reward that was probabilistically delivered. Measures of timing behavior during the choice-outcome interval are generally lacking, even though the ability to time such intervals may affect choice behavior. An analysis of interval timing behavior was conducted in the two discounting tasks to explore the mechanisms that factor into the choices individuals make, particularly with regard to timing processes.

Equivalence classes can be established and expanded in a variety of ways. This symposium presents data on2 distinct methodologies: the use of complex stimuli and programming for the emergence of different relational frames. The first study (Nunes& Maguire) investigated the formation of equivalence classes following simple discrimination training using complex stimuli. The expansion of the subsequent classes was limited only by the number of elements that formed the complex. The second study (F. Persson & Maguire) tested for the formation of stimulus classes following conditional discrimination training using complex samples. Testing revealed the emergence of all stimulus-stimulus relations, including all of the interelement relations. The final paper, (Goff& Maguire) examined the role of contextual stimulus control in equivalence class formation. The initial conditional discriminations trained were relations between words that were antonyms (opposition). The untrained emergent performances were relations based on synonyms (coordination). Thus, it appeared that both relational frames, opposition and coordination, coexisted in the same class, and emerged contingent on context. The results of this symposium are discussed in terms of methodologies for setting the occasion for and the expansion of equivalence classes.

Past research has documented the formation of 3, 4-member stimulus classes when prerequisite training involved only teaching a common name to all members of the potential class. Once this simple discrimination training was complete participants were not only able to match each stimulus that received a common name to one another (visual-visual matching-to-sample) but also to select each member of the class contingent on its spoken (auditory-to-visual matching-to-sample). Thus, simple discrimination training was followed by the untrained emergence of equivalence relations. The current study expanded on this efficiency by using a multielement complex during the naming training (applying a name to a stimulus consisting of 4 physically dissimilar visual elements). Thus, if the complex contained 4-elements then the number of emergent relations that followed a simple discrimination (naming) training was 12. The results of this study documented this outcome and attempted to identify the upper limit of the elements within a complex.

Three typically developed individuals were taught conditional discriminations; matching 2, 4-element complex samples to a specific and invariant color comparison (e.g., red versus green). Training was conducted errorlessly, suing a positional prompt (initially the 4-element complex appear over the S+ stimulus. Contingent on correct responding the complex moved toward the center. Once the participant was able to select the relevant color when both complexes were centered training was complete. Following training testing was conducted to assess all possible stimulus-stimulus relations to evaluate the formation of 2 5-member equivalence classes (the fours individual elements and the related color comparison). Participants demonstrated that conditionally related sample and comparison stimuli had become equivalent generating two sets of 4-member classes. Additionally, participants were able to name the elements despite the fact that no verbal or auditory stimuli were present during the study. These data extend the research on the development of stimulus control following training with complex stimuli. Further, the use of complex stimuli during training expands the already efficient nature of the stimulus equivalence paradigm.

This study examined the role of contextual stimulus control in equivalence class formation. The participant was a 9-year-old boy with a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder. All training and testing occurred in a typical public school and the stimuli employed were typical vocabulary words. Two conditional discriminations were initially trained to establish relations based on antonyms: A-B and A-C: A was in opposition to B and A was in opposition to C). Then testing was conducted to determine the emergence of untrained symmetrical and transitive relations. Testing revealed not only the emergence of the symmetrical performances of opposition (B-A and C-A) but also the transitive performances, B-C and C-B, of coordination. Thus, it appeared that both relational frames, opposition, and coordination could be occasioned by context, using the same class of stimuli. The results are discussed in terms of the role of contextual stimulus control and its important in the analysis if complex human behaviors.

Conditional-discrimination procedures offer a powerful experimental framework for examining how antecedent and consequent events control behavior. When conditional stimuli are temporally distant from choice, these procedures allow the investigation of working memory; and when choices are temporally distant from conditional stimuli, delay of reinforcement effects can be addressed. The present symposium explores the complex interplay between control by sample stimuli, immediate and delayed choice stimuli, differential payoff for matching performance, and differential payoff for reporting 1 stimulus class versus another. The papers investigate (1) how differential outcomes following delays to choice result in delay-specific memory (White); (2) the contextual control of matching accuracy and persistence as a function of delay to choice when reinforcer magnitudes differ across contexts (Berry & Odum); and (3) how discriminability and bias between prior colors versus prior response contingencies are controlled by relative reinforcer frequencies (Davison, Podlesnik, & Elliffe). Each of these papers provide data germane to the development of general theories of conditional discrimination and the 3-term contingency.

Remembering over short times is best studied in the delayed matching-to-sample procedure because the 2-alternative choice requirement is amenable to a detection analysis. The procedure is a conditional discrimination in which a successive discrimination between the stimuli to be remembered is combined with the simultaneous discrimination between the choice stimuli. A third element, however, has been somewhat neglected although it is the hallmark of a memory procedure—the retention or delay interval. In the present paper, several experiments are describedthat confirm the importance of the retention interval as a conditional cue. That is, remembering can be delay-specific. These include some new data which suggest that the differential outcomes effect can also be delay-specific. The differential-outcomes effect is manifest as enhanced discriminability at long delays when choice responses are followed by different outcomes such as small versus large rewards. The enhanced discriminability, however, can be countered by strong response bias generated by the differential outcomes. A delay-specific differential-outcomes effect challenges current theories based on the notion of expectancy.

The present experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of reinforcer magnitude on resistance to disruption of remembering and response rates. Pigeons were exposed to a variable-interval (VI) delayed-matching-to-sample procedure (DMTS) with 2 components (rich and lean). Specifically, completion of a VI 20 s multiple schedule resulted in DMTS trials in both components. Four delays (0.1, 4, 8, and 16 s) were introduced between the sample and comparison stimuli, and were presented equally across rich and lean components. The difference between rich and lean components was the length of hopper exposure [either 4.75 s (rich component) or 0.75 s (lean component)] following a correct response. Accuracy and response rates were higher in the rich component relative to the lean during baseline. Following baseline, extinction was introduced, during which initial accuracy decreased more in the lean component relative to the rich component. Response rates also decreased more in the lean relative to rich component. Comparable results were observed using the same VI DMTS preparation with different disruptors.

In the 3-term contingency, can we manipulate selective control by discriminative stimuli versus food reinforcers? Responding on a 2-key concurrent variable-interval schedule under 1 of 2 key colors produced a choice phase in which pigeons were asked about either (1) the color they had just seen in the concurrent phase, or (2) which response they emitted to produce the choice phase. In Condition 1, we varied the relative frequency of asking the 2 questions; in Condition 2, we varied the relative frequency with which left or right responses produced the choice phase; in Condition 3, concurrent-schedule responding produced food prior to the choice phase; and in Condition 4, the food was replaced by a blackout of the same duration. Relative question frequency controlled the discriminability of stimuli required for accurate choice, but relative frequency of payoff for left versus right responding did not control discriminability. The addition of both reinforcers and blackouts following the concurrent phase strongly decreased this control, suggesting that reinforcer-controlled divided attention attenuates rapidly across time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Online delivery of graduate academic programs has greatly enhanced the professional opportunities, training, and development of applied behavior analysts. The Center for Applied Behavior Analysis is uniquely situated as an academic department within the School of Education at The Sage Colleges. Our academic department offers a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism. The primary goals of the MS program are to give students the educational and skill competence necessary to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and prepare students to perform ABA research and therapy for individuals with autism. The current symposium discusses recent innovations in our online delivery of this MS program, to include (1) the initiative to develop the Center for Applied Behavior Analysis Laboratory, (2) the academic success of an EAB-ABA translational research course as part of our online curriculum, and (3) an analysis of the relationship between teaching and assessment procedures and student outcomes in our online graduate classes. These innovations and their interconnections have endowed our MS program with a degree of student scholarship and research mentorship that strongly rivals conventional face-to-face delivery of graduate education for behavior analysts.

The research undertakings of the Center for Applied Behavior Analysis Laboratory (CabaLab) are performed largely online, except for the students interacting with research participants within the experimental setting. Our CabaLab faculty provide mentorship for select MS student's thesis prospectus that follows from the faculty person's active research (e.g., translational research on self-control and behavioral momentum, social skills training using electronic technology, and error correction strategies in discrete-trial training). The specially-selected students are volunteer research assistants or research awardees within the CabaLab. All students enjoy the available resources regarding the ethical conduct of research, lectures and tutorials, grant funding and writing, the publication process, and a journal club. The current presentation illustrates the integration of the CabaLab into a comprehensive training model for our MS Program in ABA and autism. This presentation also highlights the student-faculty relation that permits the3 aims of the CabaLab: (1) train students in conducting publishable-quality ABA research, (2) prepare students for careers in ABA therapy and research, and (3) advance applied research on the understanding and treatment of the behavioral features of autism spectrum disorders. These innovations provide a degree of student mentorship that strongly rivals conventional face-to-face delivery of graduate education for behavior analysts.

An innovative topical course on translational research was introduced into the online curriculum for our MS Program in applied behavior analysis and autism. The course provided a select overview of interrelated research drawn from the experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) and applied behavior analysis (ABA), such as behavioral momentum, matching law, self-control, and conditioned reinforcement. Epling and Pierce (1986) suggested that EAB and ABA should move toward a form of analytic pragmatism (i.e., a better balance between being analytic and pragmatic). An analysis of student's EAB and ABA test performance showed students did slightly better overall on the ABA tests than the EAB tests across the semester. Interestingly, the slopes of the trend for the ABA tests were at zero, although the slopes for the trend for the EAB tests were steep and positive. An analysis of students' verbal behavior during EAB and ABA discussion forums were likewise consistent with behavioral movement toward the ideal of analytical pragmatism. Thus, the students were becoming more EAB-like over the semester and were showing a better balance between EAB and ABA (i.e., better analytical pragmatism). This teaching innovation strongly rivals conventional face-to-face delivery of graduate education for behavior analysts.

This presentation looks at the ways in which behavioral teaching procedures are used in our online MS Program in applied behavior analysis and autism to prepare students to take the BACB exam. The program overview will be described, followed by a detailed discussion of how positive and negative reinforcement, shaping, chaining, performance feedback, fluency drills, and other procedures are used to increase students' verbal behavior in accurately discussing applied behavior analysis and the treatment of autism. Data will be presented showing how these particular procedures are associated with varying outcomes including test scores, assignment grades, and specific statements made by students in discussion forums and assignments. Additional data will be presented showing students' individual preferences for different types of interactive activities, including live/verbal and asynchronous/written activities, and how participation in these activities is associated with learning outcomes. These teaching innovations in online courses strongly rival conventional face-to-face delivery of graduate education for behavior analysts.

In everyday life, people distinguish between themselves and the world. Behaviorism rejects dualism in general and the distinction between an inner self and outer world in particular. What does this imply about the reality of the self and the world? Is behavior part of a real world? Is it really there for us to observe? What about the mental world? Such questions of ontology may be important and fruitful. Studying the verbal behavior of scientists may help to answer them.

Most, if not all, current behaviorisms attempt to escape ontology. However, not only is this exceedingly restrictiveit causes more problems than it solves. It also is unfeasible and ultimately self-defeating, as ontology is inescapable. All forms of behavioristic pragmatism, relativism, and idealism in particular, rely on metaphysical claims, often surreptitiously and deceivingly so. I propose a more honest, feasible, coherent, liberating, powerful, and comprehensive form of behaviorism, namely: realist behaviorism (ReB). ReB abandons the anti- and a-ontological escape from ontology as futile, and embraces ontology as indispensable to science and philosophy. ReB does not take the easy way of whimsically walking away from, or remaining silent about, ontological matters. ReB takes the hard way of plunging head-on into ontology as a far more profitable and fun venue. ReB opts for the luscious and dangerous jungle of ontology than the arid and safe (and boring) desert of a- and anti-ontological stances. ReB is thus free to tap any resources available in the ontology bazaar. This stance facilitates clear, precise, and thorough rationales for a wide variety of claims about dualism, the behavioral nature of the mental, the nature of behavior, and even the objective existence of behavior.

This paper examines one of the many points of contact between behavior analysis and traditional issues in philosophy. Such points of contact involve an analysis of verbal practices of both fields. Specifically, the question is whether the scientific nonverbal and verbal practices of behavior analysis allow for descriptions of "reality" or the "real world." The key to answering this question is found in radical behaviorism. Evidence will be presented that while radical behaviorism acknowledges the physical world (or the one world, as Skinner noted as an alternative), there is no way to access the "real world" in and of itself. All behavior is inextricably related to multiple and interactive environmental variables over time, and thus it is impossible to make discriminations of "reality" that do not entail the influence of such variables. All such discriminations must be, in part, a function of a history in the relevant verbal community and culture. Support for this position may be found in a variety of sources, including Skinner's writings and the documented relations between radical behaviorism and pragmatism. The scientific (if not philosophical) benefits of such a position will also be discussed.

The philosopher George Berkeley pointed out in 1710 that no reason exists to think that the world we experience is real. Thousands of years before him, sages in India declared that the world of experience is an illusion and that reality is one indivisible, eternal whole. The physicist Erwin Schrödinger studied Indian philosophy derived from the ancient teachings (Vedanta) and commented on the peculiarity of the scientific worldview. In particular, he criticized the objectivation of the world—treating the world as separate from the observer. For behavior analysis based on pragmatism, the question of whether the world is real or not is useless, because it cannot be answered. Skinner, for example, was careful to avoid it. One might argue that scientists may assume the world is real with no untoward consequences. Assuming the world is real, however, leads to different practices from remaining skeptics about the reality of the world. Pragmatic skepticism allows more flexibility in practice and theory.

A revised conceptualization of the learn unit is presented. A discrete trial is a brief unit of instruction, and is generally conceptualized as having five essential components: the (1) cue, (2) prompt, (3) response, (4) consequence, and (5) inter-trial interval (Smith, 2001, p. 86). However, each of these broad components may actually contain multiple independent variables. For example, within the context of a matching pictures to objects program, the antecedent conditions programmed to evoke target responding include presentation of (1) the visual sample stimulus, (2) the visual comparison stimuli, (3) auditory sample (instructional cue), and (4) the programmed interval between the onset of the first antecedent condition and the offset of the last antecedent condition. For the purpose of procedural integrity, just scoring the antecedent as one variable may be insufficient to capture the accuracy with which the antecedent procedures, cumulatively, are implemented; the same goes for the other components. Implications of this conceptual analysis are significant for applied behavior analysis practitioners.

Studies of learning without awareness involve an individual learning some experimental task and then responding to questions about what has been learned. If the individual does not adequately answer the questions, learning without awareness is said to have occurred. In this presentation, I will discuss the concept of learning without awareness. After introducing the topic, I will provide a brief review of the literature from the past several decades and outline my current research in the area. It is clear from the literature that learning without awareness does take place. However, I will show that awareness is nothing more than verbal behavior and that learning without awareness is simply behavior for which accompanying verbal behavior is lacking. Perhaps not surprisingly, verbal behavior is rarely explicitly mentioned in the learning without awareness literature. Behavior analysts obviously have a great deal to say about verbal behavior and thus about learning without awareness. Relevant statements from both behavior analysts and philosophers such as Gilbert Ryle will be included.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The purpose of the current research was to investigate whether early intervention for at-risk, developmentally disabled, and typical children altered developmental trajectory. The intervention model included Risley's designed infant & toddler environments, multiple developmental assessments over time, developmentally targeted goals and objectives,and parent training. Treatment validity and concurrent validity data will be presented as will data demonstrating the extent to which continuous enrollment in the model program altered developmental trajectory of all childrenand lessened the severity of diagnoses to a statistically significant level. Data from a replication of the same model with different children, staffand parents will also be presented as this study achieved comparable results.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Teaching standards-based academic skills affords students with severe disabilities a complete educational opportunity and need not preclude personally relevant instruction. Students who have access to the general education curriculum are expected to make progress in the academic content areas of reading, mathematics, and science and teachers are expected to teach academic skills using evidence-based practices. The purpose of this symposium is to present evidence of three investigations in teaching science and literacy skills to students with severe developmental disabilities. The first paper, presented by Fred Spooner, will focus on the outcomes of teaching vocabulary and concepts via an early science curriculum to three elementary students. The second paper, presented by Melissa Hudson, examines an application of peer-delivered system of least prompts to teach comprehension skills with literacy content. The third study, presented by Bethany Smith, investigates the application of embedded computer-assisted instruction to teach science content to high school aged students with Autism and severe developmental disabilities. The implications for instructional interventions and evidence-based practices will be discussed.

The mand is critical for obtaining preferred items and getting needs met and as such, should be the initial verbal operant targeted when working with individuals with autism (Sundberg & Michael, 2001). Therefore, it behooves researchers to continue to investigate ways to refine mand training methodology. This symposium includes four studies that have systematically assessed procedures for training both mands and mands for information. In the first study, the investigators examined a method for replacing generalized mands with mands for specific items. In the second study, the investigators evaluated the effects of manipulating themotivating operationon tact to mand transfer after tact training. In the third study, the investigators evaluated the effects of multiple exemplar instruction in conjunction with extinction-induced variability to produce variability in mand production. In the fourth study, the investigators examined a method to teach mand-for-information frames, targeting two frames for the “How?” mand (“How do I _____?” and “How many _____?”).

The development of verbal behavior is a crucial step in gaining access to a variety of preferred items and activities. Children with developmental delays sometimes initially learn what has been termed generalized mands (e.g., "more," pointing). These responses may lead to access when items are present, but are not specific enough to lead to access when items are not present. The current study extended previous research on replacing generalized mands by (a) conducting a response class analysis to determine the participant's current manding repertoire, (b) teaching item-specific mands in the form of vocal or sign language, (c) assessing manding when items were and were not accessible, and (d) programming for and assessing stimulus generalization. All participants learned at least six new item-specific mands that occurred under appropriate stimulus control.

The form of a tact and mand may be identical; however, they involve separate functional relations, which can only be explained by separate controlling variables (Skinner, 1957). Research on functional independence of verbal operants has demonstrated inconsistent findings. One explanation may be that these studies may not have manipulated the motivating operation (MO) to facilitate the emergence of mands (Hall & Sundberg, 1987; Lamarre & Holland, 1985). The current study evaluated the effect of MO manipulations on tact to mand transfer following tact training. One individual, diagnosed with autism, participated. He followed simple instructions to imitate caregivers when asked, "What is this?" He did not independently request items. The participant was taught to tact preferred and low preferred leisure items, and acquisition of mands was tested under varying MO conditions. Results suggested that in a state of deprivation, transfer of stimulus control from discriminative to motivational conditions may occur in the absence of formalized mand training.

Language development and the ability to access reinforcement in young children with autism may be impeded by lack of behavioral variability in verbal behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of simultaneously teaching multiple responses and extinction of repetition on producing varied verbal behavior in young children with autism. In particular, we examined the effects of these procedures on increasing the behavioral variability of mands used to request edibles in preschool children with autism. For all3 participants, neither increasing mand repertoires via teaching multiple responses, nor extinction of repetition, by themselves or in combination were effective at producing stable behavioral variability. However, antecedent strategies (presence of visual cues) were effective at producing varied manding for all3 participants.

The current study extends the mand-for-information literature by examining a method to teach mand-for-information frames, targeting2 frames for the "How?" mand ("How do I _____?" and "How many _____?"). Additionally, assessments were conducted to determine whether the mands for information generalized across motivating operations (MO) and response topographies. Two children with autism were taught to emit the mands for information using both frames ("How do I _____?" and "How many ____?") using one behavior chain, and generalization probes were conducted with the remaining behavior chains. Separate behavior chains were used to target the2 frames. Behavior chains the participants were unable to perform independently and that produced a desirable outcome for the participant (e.g., tornado water) were used to contrive the relevant MO. For both participants, there was generalization of the mands for information across MOs and response topographies.

Four Presentations will demonstrate the use of Applied Behavior Analysis procedures across a variety of learners, all diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and receiving services from the Applied Behavior Center for Autism in Indianapolis, Indiana. ABC is a full-service center that utilizes Applied Behavior Analysis to increase the independence of children with Autism. Language, social, and academic skills are shaped through applied verbal behavior procedures . This symposium offers a brief look at some of the evidence-based techniques used at The Applied Behavior Center. Topics discussed will include creating a transitional classroom for learners approaching integration into a classroom, teaching mands as a replacement for undesirable behavior, teaching appropriate social skills for the real world, and using unconventional but effective methods to improve speech. This symposium will demonstrate how a variety of behavior analytic methodologies coalesce to produce a full-service center for children with varying skill levels.

Transitioning children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into school classrooms can be a challenge for both school systems and behavior analysts. An overview of teaching children with ASD within an ABA classroom using researched-based ABA methodologies, including Precision Teaching and direct instruction skills, will be described. Explanations of how ABA principles were implemented to increase the likelihood of successful integration of students into school classrooms will be discussed and will include a data review and video examples of instruction. Video examples will depict curricula, including phonetic reading and direct instruction programs, and will also show theme-based instruction.

Social skill deficits are a defining characteristic of people with autism spectrum disorder. Often times, clinicians teach social skills that may be desired by adults, but are not age appropriate. In clinical settings, it is frequently the case that females lead social therapy groups that are comprised of mostly males. It is very important for instructors to be aware of social skill behaviors that are typical for a client's peer group. This presentation will discuss behavioral procedures for targeting social skills based on researched cognitive approach. Information about choosing appropriate targets and description of a weekly social skill program that incorporates thematic instruction and natural settings will be presented.

Speech deficits can significantly inhibit effective communication. Sometimes, desired sounds or suprasegmental sound qualities (i.e., pitch, loudness, duration) are present under certain circumstances, but not under others. This presentation discusses several utilized behavioral procedures, specifically, altering stimulus control, to increase loudness and vocal quality and decrease substitution errors in a 7 year old male with autism spectrum disorder. In addition, this presentation will provide prompting method suggestions to treat common speech errors.

Functional Communication Training (FCT) is a strategy used to replace challenging behaviors (i.e., aggression, screaming, taking items from others) with a more socially acceptable form of communication. B.F. Skinner outlined his analysis of Verbal Behavior, decribing a group of verbal operants, or functional units of language, with each type serving a different function. He coined the term "mand", whose form is controlled by states of deprivation and aversion. A mand is used to request or obtain a desired item or activity. When using FCT, a mand can often be used as a replacement behavior for other undesired behaviors.

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

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

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

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

Autism treatment has focused on the delivery of services to early intervention and school-age children who are diagnosed on the spectrum. However, there is increasing need to provide services to adolescents and adults who fall into this disability category. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research and top-notch quality services based on behavior analysis that exist for this group of individuals. This symposium will address programming needs of adolescents and adults with autism. Issues discussed will include the development of community-based and independent living skills, the generalization of learned behaviors, and the use of technology for teaching and staff training. The common themes of the symposium are the development of services for adolescents and adults, and the delivery of such services in the communities and environments in which these individuals will be living and working.

Community based instruction is a complex process made more complicated by the stigma associated with overt and conspicuous levels of prompting. Independent functioning in community settings can be increased and the stigma associated with such instruction decreased through the use of technology devices such as smart phones, Mp3 players, and tablet computers. As the implementation of assistive technology across environments has become more readily available with recent advancements in functionality and the improved portability of electronic devices, there is a need to examine the efficacy of such commonly available technology in the promotion of community independence and reduction of stigma associated with instruction in the community. A multiple baseline study was conducted across several adolescents with autism utilizing technology as the independent variable to measure improved performance in training in the community. Data on the stigma associated with the intervention was also assessed. Data indicated that the use of technology improved performance of the percentage of tasks independently completed by the individual while decreasing the stigma associated with behavior analytic instruction in the community.

Individuals with autism continue to enter adult service systems lacking the basic skills necessary to successfully navigate community settings. Despite the growing numbers of individuals entering adult service, resources have failed to keep up with the needs of these growing numbers, forcing providers to find creative methods to meet needs. The current study expanded Satriale and Glickman (2009) who investigated the use of bluetooth technology to reduce verbal prompting and increase acquisition. A multiple baseline design study was conducted across several staff utilizing blue tooth technology to deliver prompting to staff as the independent variable to measure improved staff performance in implementing instruction in the community. Results showed that such technology improved staff performance, demonstrating another use of personal technology in autism treatment.

Given the growing emphasis being placed on independence and community inclusion for individuals with autism, the need to teach complex, context based safety skills becomes of central importance. Unfortunately, and with notable exceptions, there exists little relevant research. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a software program to teach safe street crossing in a large city through the use of Smart Board technology. Participants were adolescents with autism who were learning independent living skills in the community. After baseline assessment showed an inability to cross streets safely, staff used a classroom-based software program to teach this skill, with subsequent generalization assessment showing improved crossing in the community. Results were explained in terms of instructional techniques that can automatically enhance generalization of skills.

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

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

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

A major impediment to outcome research on the action and effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is the lack of valid and reliable measures on the primary constructs, including valued living. The Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ; Wilson, Sandoz, Kitchens, & Roberts, 2010) was designed as a clinical tool, but is being increasingly used in research protocols. This symposium consists of three presentations regarding various psychometric issues of the VLQ. First, researchers must define the best method of scoring the VLQ to yield the most valid data. As such, the first paper reviews common scoring methods and the relation to common dependent variables. The second paper presents potential variations of the VLQ for specific populations, as the original VLQ contains domains which may not pertain to all samples. Finally, the third paper presents an attempt at gaining normative data among a distressed sample. Continuing work in this area will help to refine the VLQ and improve the quality of process research in this area.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Stroshahl, & Wilson, 1999) is an empirically-based approach to therapy which posits that when ones life consists of value-congruent behavior, there is less psychological distress. A major impediment to outcome research is the lack of valid and reliable measures on the primary constructs, including valued living. The Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ; Wilson, Sandoz, Kitchens, & Roberts, 2010) is an early attempt to measure valued living. One psychometric concern of the measure appears to be the effect of value domains which individuals are not currently engaged. We hypothesize that the domains of parenting and occupation have inflated error variance among younger populations. Removing these items should increase construct and convergent validity. Participants (N = 143; ages 17 to 25) completed the VLQ, POMS, BDI, and BAI. Using the difference scoring method, the 10-item and 8-item VLQ was correlated to the BDI (r= -.225 and = -.84, respectively). In addition, convergent validity improved, in that the 8-item was more highly correlated with the Bulls-Eye (r=.34). The relationships to other measures were similar. Current studies are specifically examining the effect of being employed and being a parent on the measurement variance.

The Valued Living Questionnaire (Wilson, et al., 2010) is a clinical tool used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Stroshl, & Wilson, 1999) that provides guidance to clinicians regarding clients valued living. However, for researchers, it is becoming increasingly important to investigate and gather empirical data regarding valued living. Since the VLQ was not initially designed to serve this role, we must now work to evaluate the scoring methods and psychometric properties of the VLQ. In addition, for researchers, it would be greatly beneficial to have data concerning how the measure relates to clinical levels of psychological distress. In the current study, 143 college students completed the VLQ, BDI, BAI and POMS. We compared the outcomes using the composite scoring method (10 and 8-item version) (Wilson, et al, 2010), a difference score (10 and 8-item version) (Rost, 2010), and simply the behavioral concordance score. Results indicate that the difference scoring method (8-item) may be more effective at identifying psychological distress. Based upon the difference scores, results indicate that the numerical points of <12 and >28 represent clinical differences. Further work should investigate age-related differences and continue to explore the potential utility of these criterion scores.

The broad generality of behavioral principles facilitates their application to a wide variety of socially relevant problems. This study aims to bring sophisticated behavioral and physical technologies to bear upon the unnecessary depletion of natural resources, specifically, through the identification of conditions supportive of more efficient driving behavior. We posit that systematic measurements, analyses and interventions guided by behavioral principles will lead to pragmatic prescriptions for generating more fuel efficient driving repertoires.

Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America and surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mountains, is widely regarded as a premier vacation destination offering year-round activities. The Lake Tahoe Basin is home to approximately 66,000 permanent residents with approximately 3,000,000 visitors annually. Lake Tahoe provides a high visibility laboratory to study climate change and human behavior and is routinely monitored to create a record of change in one of the world's most beautiful and vulnerable alpine lakes. The Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe, a Hilton Corporation hotel located in South Lake Tahoe, California, has become a leader in green lodging by installing technological upgrades, using behavior based programs to encourage guests and employees to engage in ecologically friendly practices, and influencing local individuals and business to adopt similar initiatives. This talk describes the innovative sustainability efforts within the Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe resort as a practical example of environmental stewardship. The impacts of these efforts indicate that investments in green technologies and practices can have positive impact on the environment as evidenced by reduced costs associated with energy use and waste. Additionally the "green" initiatives described align with community values towards environmental preservation and positively affect business outcomes.

This talk considers environmentally significant behaviors and outcomes changed by applying behavior management to work practices related to energy conservation, recycling, and employee education with a supply chain. Supervalu, Inc. is a major grocery/pharmacy distributor in the United States. Several distribution centers have been recognized for exemplary behavioral safety programs. Using CAM (Critical Activities Management), behavioral approaches to worker safety have been extended to behavioral targets related to productivity and sustainability. This talk describes the CAM process and presents data indicating the impact of these efforts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gambling is a multibillion dollar activity that is associated with simple entertainment, significant financial gains and losses, and damaging compulsive involvement. The variables that influence persistence, rule-following, and subjective discounting in gamblers have been investigated by the authors included in this symposium, through the natural gambling environment (in which people can win or lose personally significant amounts of money) and in experimental settings, using either gambling analogues or hypothetical wagering. These studies indicate that (a) online players of Texas Hold'em persist longer at tables where betting activity is most intense, rather than at tables where they have won or lost the most money (Witts & Lyons), (b) that preferences between slot machines can be influenced by derived rules emerging from prior conditional discrimination training (Wilson & Dixon), and (c) that gains and losses are discounted differentially by participants completing a self-reported functional assessment of gambling (Weatherly & Derenne). The discussant (Ghezzi) will critique these papers from the perspective of having participated in several prior gambling studies using both naturalistic and laboratory settings.

Having access to real gambling data is seldom achievable, given the restrictions of gambling environments. There may be stark differences between contrived gambling situations and those of real gambling situations that may alter the gambling behaviors of individuals. The current study analyzed persistence to gamble in online poker players (N = 10) who gambled in either $3/$6 or $0.01/$0.02 no-limit Texas Hold'em poker. Using poker-analysis software, actual online poker players were tracked over1 to3 days. Data regarding persistence at a table were analyzed with respect to individual wins and losses, table wins, amount of action seen, and whether the player was on one table at a time, or played multiple tables simultaneously. Data were recorded electronically from the commercially available software. Results indicate that persistence is more highly correlated with action, as defined by number of bets won at the table, and the frequency of winning hands that a player experiences, but not with total monetary outcome that the player experiences at the table. These data suggest, then, that players prefer tables with higher pot sizes than tables where individual earnings are high.

The present study investigated whether a verbal rule could be derived and subsequently followed after discrimination training. A multiple-baseline design across6 adult gamblers was used to assess rule stating and rule following during a gambling task. Prior to the gambling tasks, participants were instructed to complete a fill-in-the-blank and a forced-choice worksheet regarding the arbitrary stimuli covering the payout rates on the slot machine (i.e. stimuli A1, A2, and A3). Preference among 2 concurrently available coin options, red and silver, was assessed during the slot machine activity. Duration of play during each gambling task was systematically predetermined, for a total of 24 min. After the first gambling task, a conditional discrimination procedure was used to train3 3-member stimulus classes (i.e., A1-B1-C1, A2-B2-C2, and A3-B3-C3). The C stimulus class incorporated the rule "play red/silver coins." Following discrimination training, rule stating, and rule following were re-assessed. Derived rule stating emerged for all6 participants while derived rule following emerged for 5 of6 participants.

Discounting occurs when the subjective value of a consequence is altered because its delivery is delayed or uncertain. Research on discounting has suggested that how individuals discount is associated with the disorder of pathological gambling. The Gambling Functional Assessment— Revised (GFA-R) is a self-report measure that was designed to determine whether the respondent's gambling behavior is maintained by positive and/or negative reinforcement. Research on the GFA-R has suggested that scoring high on gambling as an escape is associated with the disorder of pathological gambling. The present study was designed to determine whether participants' scores on the GFA-R would be predictive of their discounting of delayed or probabilistic gains or losses. Undergraduate students completed the GFA-R and then a discounting task using the multiple-choice method of measuring discounting. Participants discounted losses differently than they discounted gains and participants' GFA-R scores were predictive of discounting of losses, but not gains. The present results inform us as to how the contingencies that potentially maintain gambling behavior and the process of discounting are related.

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

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

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

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

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

A common area of referral in schools is mathematics, specifically in the skill development of numbers and operations (e.g., fact accuracy and fluency). The purpose of this symposium is to present three papers that investigated various intervention components with explicit timing procedures and evaluate the effect on digit correct per minute scores. The components under review included set size (i.e., the amount of items targeted) as well as various iterations of goal setting and performance feedback techniques. Participants in the symposium will be exposed to various combinations of explicit timing procedures and how to incorporate these into practice. Discussion will focus on how these components can be used to fit the needs of students with math fact fluency problems. Specifically, the presenters will speak about how these components can increase the efficiency of student growth. The presenters will also address limitations and practical concerns of adapting these intervention procedures to applied contexts.

This study used a 3 x 1 stratified random group design across 3 classrooms to evaluate whether explicit timing procedures with various problem set sizes resulted in increased learning rates. The first group used 4 sets of 5 problems, the second group used 2 sets of 10 problems, and the third group continually practiced 1 set of 20 problems. Results indicated that using 4 sets of 5 problems resulted in the highest rates of learning, followed by 2 sets of 10, and lastly the set of 20 problems. Although, students reached criteria most efficiently under the small set conditions; post-test data combining all 20 problems showed demonstrable fall off in digit correct per minute scores. Discussion will focus on ways to manipulate the number of fact stimuli to increase the efficiency with which math fact fluency is developed and hypotheses regarding methods that could help ensure generalization and/or maintenance (i.e., reduce learning decay) across time.

This study used a 4 x 1 randomized group design to investigate the relative effectiveness of various combinations of goal setting and performance feedback techniques to increase basic fact fluency with explicit timing. Goal setting and performance feedback were provided in 1 of 4 ways: no goal setting or feedback (control), a graphed goal with graphed feedback, a written goal with written feedback, and a marked goal with marked feedback. Results indicated that graphed goal setting and feedback showed significant effects in student digit correct per minute scores while the written and marked approaches to providing goal setting and feedback showed digit correct per minute growth commensurate with the control condition. Discussion will focus on how, when, and if these approaches should be used to enhance explicit timing procedures in educational settings. Also, discussion will address the efficiency of these procedures on student learning rates. Lastly, authors will examine the practical and theoretical underpinnings important to the results.

This study used a 2 x 1 randomized group design to examine the use of individualized accuracy feedback (i.e., providing feedback to accurate responding) to increase the effectiveness of a computerized implementation of explicit timing with goal setting and reward. Specifically, the study examined the effect of explicit timing with reward and goal setting with and without immediate feedback on student responding on basic math facts. To accomplish this immediate feedback regarding accuracy in the form of a short audio sound was provided after each correctly answered math fact. Analysis of group pre-test and post-test performance revealed that both explicit timing conditions resulted in significant gains. A between groups analysis determined that the addition of accuracy feedback to explicit timing, goal setting, and reward resulted in a significant gain over explicit timing, goal setting, and reward alone. Results indicate that the effectiveness of explicit timing can be significantly enhanced with the addition of immediate feedback for each response. Discussion focuses on the benefit of the application of this research to computer-based instruction and the unique characteristics of computer technology that makes these advancements possible.

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

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

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

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

The purpose of this presentation is to present an overview of blended instruction as it applies to the education and training of behavior analysts and to highlight research strategies for understanding the effects of blended instruction methodologies. We will present methods of inquiry and variables of interest. Each of these will be discussed in the context of the subject matter and the cultural considerations that are inherent in blended education.

Since the inception of our ABA online program at the Florida Institute of Technology, we have created and tested a variety of innovative approaches to teaching behavior analysis online. We have examined new ways to use behavioral technology in content delivery and testing to methods of enhancing our co-instructors' performance. In this presentation, we will describe some of these innovations, share data of their impact (good or bad) on the performance of our students and our co-instructors, and explain how we made decisions from these data.

Technology has provided instructors with capabilities that can enrich online instruction. Some of these include videocasts and podcasts of professors lecturing, online discussion groups, and "virtual classrooms." Although all of these instructional activities could be thought of as enriching student learning and engagement, there are no empirically derived data on their actual impact on student learning and participation. We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these activities, and the possible impact on dependent measures important to online instruction.

An unfulfilled need is to provide intensive behavior analytic training to entry level service providers (e.g., instructional aides). One such program involves intensive, competency-based training delivered online. An overview of the CABA-Tech program is presented with comparative data from the online and classroom-based models of the training program. The 2 models are compared by participants' rate of completion, accuracy on first-trial responses on quizzes, and social validity ratings from participants.

Shaping interpersonal, emotional, intimate behavior in others requires that the shaper be in contact with their own private emotional responses, as well as be able to express or amplify these responses in order to shape more effective interpersonal responding. The particular circumstance of an outpatient psychotherapy session provides many opportunities for the client to engage in emotionally intimate behavior that is amenable to shaping. The therapist, as a representative of the social/verbal community, will have private reactions to client behavior,that may guide the kind of consequences given. For example, a client crying may evoke feelings of compassion, tenderness and closeness in the therapist, and could also evoke irritation and impatience. It is likely that these two classes of reactions, occurring in session, are representative of what the client might evoke in others in their daily life. Thus, these private emotional therapist responses are essential stimuli that can be used to shape behavior in the client. This paper will consider the use of functional analytic psychotherapy to help examine how private emotional responses can be used to shape improvements in client intimate interpersonal functioning.

According to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, anhedonia is the decreased ability or inability to experience pleasure in normally pleasurable activities and is one of the characteristics used to diagnose major depressive disorders. It is often noted that depressed individuals lose interest in stimuli that serve as reinforcers for many nondepressed individuals. In extreme cases, even powerful unconditioned reinforcers such as food and sex can lose their reinforcing functions. Recently, behavior analysts have begun to examine the topic of emotion within the context of motivating operations (MOs)events that increase or decrease the effectiveness of particular stimuli as reinforcers or punishers. We believe that the phenomenon of anhedonia may be best analyzed and studied in the context of emotional MOs. This paper will provide a review of the literature on anhedonia, describe the MO concept as it pertains to emotion, and discuss the implications of emotional MOs in the treatment of depression.

Recently, interest in the topic of emotion regulation has dramatically increased within clinical psychology. Emotion regulation is referred to as a process by which an individual attempts to influence the incidence, intensity, or expression of emotion in service of long-term goals. Emotion regulation difficulties are suggested as relevant to various complex behavioral problems, including self-injury, substance use, and disordered eating. Despite widespread appeal of emotion regulation in applied psychology, this construct (and class of behavior) has remained unexamined by the behavioral community. This is likely due to controversy regarding how to address private events within a science of human behavior and the suggested implication that emotion regulation refers to emotional states mediating behavior, contradicting behavioral conceptualizations of private events as dependent, therefore noncausal, variables. However, consequences of excluding a behavior analytic perspective on this topic include a lack of precision in applied theories and interventions and inadvertent allocation of the study of emotion modulation to physiological domains, potentiating further mentalization of psychology. This paper will address how to approach the construct of emotion regulation behaviorally and will include an operant analysis of emotion, discussion of emotions as motivating operations, and examination of the role of verbal behavior in emotion modulation.

For decades the dialog between economists and behavior analysts has been facing obstacles, one of which is the difficulty economists find in understanding the exploration of behavioral-economic principles using animal experiments. Income is one of the most fundamental concepts in economics, also considered to be the main controlling variable of many behaviors such as consuming, working or investing, but so far it has not been picked as a relevant independent variable in the BA laboratory. BAs common lab practices to simulate income have been as a maximum number of responses or amount of goods (food, water etc.) delivered to the subjects within or outside experimental sessions. Therefore, it has been studied as a behavioral limit or as a motivational operation (deprivation). In economic theory, personal income is a flow of revenues (money) generated by work, rents, interests or dividends. Keynes (economist) proposed that there are only two units precise enough to measure quantitative economic data: quantities of money and hours of work. Work can be studied as responses, so the challenge resides in adapting the concept of money to the lab. Skinners 1953 definition of money as a generalized conditioned stimulus provides an initial step to this adaptation, suggesting that income should be environmental stimuli. However, there are many aspects of money still to be replicated and tested, as elasticity or substitutability. Behavioral economics studies should considerably develop by replicating money into laboratory procedures, therefore allowing the study of behaviors controlled by the gain, possession or loss of income.

Individuals with autism have sensory processing disorders that can elicit a response that is physiologically similar to the respondent behavior of activation syndrome. A trauma-informed care (TIC) model is recognized by an understanding of the neurological, biological, psychological and social effects of trauma on an individual with an appreciation for the high prevalence of traumatic experiences (Huckshorn, Stromberg, and LeBel, 2004). TIC can be a proactive approach to the treatment of individuals that considers the effects of trauma, and incorporates those effects when constructing treatment interventions. Behavior intervention plans based in the principles and practices of ABA have a place in TIC treatment planning. The sensory processing disorder in individuals with autism and traumatic or potentially traumatic life events can be painful, intense or unusual, therefore eliciting the respondent behaviors of activation syndrome. To proactively protect against the value-altering effect of these respondent behaviors when attempting to implement behavior change tactics, consideration should be given to antecedents and consequences that may be conditioned stimuli are a result of these painful, intense, or unusual events.

Applied behavior analysis is a discipline that prides itself in being conceptually systematic. As such, maintaining a vocabulary that is coherent and truthful to both research and practice is extremely important. The term "prompt" is widely used in both research and practice of behavior analysis. Textbooks tend to define prompts by their function, generally described as a supplementary antecedent stimulus that aids in the acquisition of new behavior, and its association with a specific social disorder (SD). Oftentimes in research articles, the stimuli authors refer to as "prompts" may be serving various functions, such as that of a: discriminative stimulus, rule, establishing operation, neutral stimulus, or instruction. We reviewed 15 years (1968–1972, 1987–1991, 2006–2010) of research published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and analyzed articles that used the term prompt in the method section. Of the 218 articles that were included in this review, only approximately 50 used the term in accordance to its current definition. We argue that an accuracy of less than 50% in its current use may lead to confusion and does not reflect technological purity prescribed by Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968). A new definition, irrespective of function, is proposed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Researchers

Children with Autism often do not provide enough detail and information when engaged in conversation. Narrating private events, or describing situations and topics in detail so that others understand them is often challenging. Teaching a child to provide more information to his listener improves conversation skills and decreases the strain on the conversation partner. We used Fluency Based Instruction to increase the level of detail the learner provided to his teacher when describing a picture for his teacher to draw, while systematically increasing the level of detail he needed to provide to his teacher. This poster illustrates both the process and the outcomes.

Since the passage of NCLB mandating the use of evidence-based practices for individuals with disabilities, teachers are in need of effective interventions to teach students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The purpose of this presentation will be to discuss whether or not activity schedules can be considered an evidence-based practice for teaching on-task and transition behaviors to students with ASD. For the purposes of this review, the authors considered activity schedules to be any sequence of visual cues used with a student. Overall, 27 articles retained for analysis that met the inclusion criteria (e.g., used a single subject design; published in a peer reviewed journal between the years of 1975 and 2011). Individual articles were coded according to (a) quality indicators according to Horner et al. (2005); (b) descriptive characteristics of the study (e.g., independent variable); and (c) evaluation of the composition of studies as providing an EBP according to Horner et al. Twelve of the original 27 studies met criteria for quality (Horner et al., 2005; NSTTAC, 2010). Presenters will discuss how these studies provide a moderate level of evidence. The impact of this presentation will be to provide recommendations for using activity schedules to teach students with ASD.

Symptoms of social impairment typically persist into adulthood for individuals with ASD (Wilkins & Matson, 2009). For two decades, video self-modeling (VSM) has been used to address a number of social skill deficits for individuals with ASD. However, research on social skills training using VSM for older individuals is limited. The demonstrated success of VSM in social skills training suggests that the model may hold promise for adolescents and adults diagnosed with ASD. This review provides a literature base for utilizing a VSM intervention in postsecondary educational setting for higher functioning individuals with ASD and explores the efficacy of such practice.

Social skills instruction is inherently difficult for children with autism, given the nature of the disorder. The ability to make significant gains with social skills in a group format adds additional challenge. Social skills groups must have clearly identified goals and well established methods to ensure successful skill acquisition for all of the group members (Stichter, et al., 2010). Effective social skills group instruction relies on the consistent delivery of planned instruction within a predictable group structure. This presentation describes several key components of a new social skills program. These components were developed on findings from the behavioral literature. Specifically there were four key assumptions. The first is the importance of establishing the purpose of the group. A clearly defined curriculum ensures that the group is adequately focused with measurable goals. Secondly, group formation is critical. Members of the group should have similar needs and abilities. A third factor is the group having well established methodologies. This ensures that those serving as instructors have a clear understanding of what instructional methods will be used during each session. Fourth, there should be a predictable structure to the group. Specifically, the group should have established themes and predictable sequence. These discriminative stimuli help to ensure that there is an expectation for learning. This promotes social skills learning versus unfocused social interactions such as those seen in simple experiential groups. This presentation describes each of the above components in detail. The ABA methods used in this new program are outlined, including clinical examples of programs. Outcomes are addressed, with detail on how data were collected and evaluated for each participant.

This poster will outline a single subject case study examining the effects of using an auditory trainer, the HearIt, on a five year old non-verbal girl diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, verbal apraxia, recurring otitis media, and symptoms of auditory processing disorder, which were exacerbated during a time of identified conductive hearing loss. Performance on standardized language measures and the rate of skill acquisition for receptive language targets with and without the use of the system over a four month period will be presented. At the time of the study, the subject had been receiving intensive behavioral intervention in the Early Childhood program at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism for two years. This poster will demonstrate the positive effects of using the HearIt in the classroom setting during times of identified conductive hearing loss and when hearing was determined to be within normal limits as identified by an audiologist. Clinical implications will be discussed.

Pacific Child and Family Associates is an agency which provides Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services to clients with autism and related disorders. One part of the quality assurance procedures which are in place, are the conducting of Teacher Performance Rate and Accuracy (TPRA) observations on therapists providing direct ABA services to clients. The TPRA observations are conducted by supervisors on therapists, to ensure that programing is being implemented correctly. During the TPRA observations direct feedback is provided to the observed therapist on the quality of his or her antecedents and consequences surrounding interlocking three-term contingencies between the therapist and the client. These observations are also used to collect inter-observer agreement (IOA) data and identify areas in need of change in current programing. In this study, an intervention was put in place using individual goal setting and immediate feedback to increase the number of TPRA observations conducted monthly by supervisors. The study utilized a multiple baseline design across participants, to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. The value of goal setting interventions, the creation of contingency specifying stimuli, and the general application of behavior change strategies in an agency setting are all discussed.

Approximately 40% of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have limited to no verbal behavior. Of the 60% who do speak, they may demonstrate behavior which interferes with their ability to learn language, limiting acquisition of new skills. One example of an interfering behavior is echolalia. Echolalia is the mechanical repetition of words and/or phrases uttered by another individual and can be immediate or delayed. It is often a symptom of a neurological or developmental disorder such as Autism. In the present study the effectiveness of response blocking and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) on immediate echolalia was assessed using a multiple baseline design across subjects. Response blocking and DRA were assessed with two children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Each child was taught to make an alternative, non-echolalic verbal response (i,e., I don't know) to an echoed statement or question. Preliminary analysis of data shows an 89% decrease in frequency of immediate echolalia with Participant 1 after implementation of the intervention. This procedure is efficient in that it produced rapid results and can be easily implemented across various environments.

Analogue functional analysis (FA) has been used as the fundamental experiment to identify the functional relationship between problem behavior and the environmental variables. As much as it is used extensively, the FA procedure has been conducted with variations adapted to particular characteristics of individuals with developmental disabilities. However such variations adopted in FA conditions may introduce confounds to the results of FA (Carter, Devlin, Doggett, Harber, & Barr, 2004). As an example, during the attention condition, the child manipulates tangible objects (e.g., toys) while the implementer pretends to do work. During a control play condition, the child plays with the tangible objects freely. At that time, depending on whether or not the child can access the tangible object to engage in the target behavior (S/R), the results can be different. The presence of tangible objects across FA conditions may cause especially undifferentiated results. This study reviewed previous studies in which analogue FA was conducted for participants whose target behavior was stereotypy/repetitive behavior with tangible items published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis from 1994 to 2011. This review provides a summary related to the exact conditions of the FA described in the literature and the relevant FA results. A total of 15 studies were identified from the inclusion criteria. Most studies did not provide a detailed description about which tangible items were used to engage in stereotypy/repetitive behavior or whether the items were present in the FA conditions (i.e., attention, play, and alone). Most studies also did not provide a specific criterion regarding tangible item presence or absence in the alone condition for the participants with these characteristics. Usually, during the alone condition, the tangibles were absent and false negatives are suspected. Based on the results, this study discusses and provides some suggestions regarding systematic experimental control of functional analysis for this population.

The highly preferred items selected through preference assessment are provided as a reinforcer during educational intervention. Children with autism and other developmental disabilities are more likely to engage in inappropriate behavior (e.g., stereotypy/repetitive behavior) than appropriate play with the preferred items given as a reinforcer. Unfortunately, reinforcers may unintentionally encourage the problem behavior (i.e., stereotypy/repetitive behavior) that the intervention is trying to reduce. It is important to select a reinforcer based on the object data; however, considering the above situation, it is necessary to look at not only the data, but also the whole picture when making reinforcement decisions. An alternative reinforcer that is still acceptably effective and encourages children to engage in less problem behavior may need to be identified. In this respect, the present study evaluates a possible alternative reinforcer: social interaction. The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness between the first preferred item and the social interaction (e.g., verbal praise, high five etc.) given as a reinforcer during the instruction period. The participants were three children, aged 3 to 5 years old, with developmental disabilities. This study had two phases: In the first phase, preference assessment was conducted to identify the most highly preferred items. The information about social interaction that the child preferred was obtained from their teachers. In the second phase, two different reinforcer conditions were compared in terms of skill acquisition, task engagement, and stereotypy/repetitive behavior. For this comparison, alternating treatment design was used and the type of reinforcer condition used in each session was randomly determined. The result suggests that social interaction would be an effective reinforcer to teach skills without promoting stereotyped behavior. Based on the results, this study discussed making an efficient reinforcement decision.

We tested the effects of Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI) across production and selection responses for spelling –ing words and words ending in -s, on the emergence of untaught spelling responses for 6 elementary school students. The independent variable was the MEI procedure. MEI was conducted across production and selection responses across 3 or 4 rules for spelling –ing words or words ending in –s. The dependent variables were the percentages of correct untaught spelling responses to –ing words/words ending in -s emitted by the participants during pre- and post-MEI probe sessions. Abstraction responses to –ed words following the same rules were also studied for words ending in –s. Experimenters utilized a multiple probe design across behaviors (rules for –ing words and rules for words ending in –s). The results demonstrated the number of correct untaught spelling responses increased for all participants across both sets of rules (rules for –ing words and rules for words ending in –s), following MEI. Abstraction responses to –ed words for words ending in –s also increased following MEI for 3 participants.

This poster presentation will provide results of a series of studies will be in which researchers used single subject research designs to evaluate the effects of the Book Builder program on the acquisition of vocabulary and comprehension of science content by middle school students with various disabilities (MSD, ASD). In the first study, three phases of the study included: (a) Book Builder with comprehension supports as recommended by CAST; (b) Book Builder with explicit instruction (i.e., use of model, lead, test, and examples and non-example), and (c) Book Builder with explicit instruction (including a referral to the definition). Visual inspection of the graphed data showed the strongest functional relation was between the intervention that used explicit instruction including a referral to the definition and the number correct on the probes. Another study using a multiple probe across participants design replicated the previous study using the most effective phase (e.g., Book Builder with explicit instruction including a referral to the definition) as the intervention. Findings from this study show that all students made progress on the comprehension probes. Finally, presenters will discuss the limitations of the studies, practical implications for teachers, and future research.

Multiple-stimulus-without-replacement (MSWO) preference assessment is one type of assessment teachers can utilize to identify preferred and effective reinforcers for use during instruction with individuals with developmental disabilities. Previous research has shown that single session training is able to produce mastery level performance in staff members (Roscoe & Fisher, 2008). In the current study, teachers were trained using a single session training format in an AB design and evaluated to determine if teachers could be taught to conduct an MSWO preference assessment with a high level of procedural integrity with students with severe to profound intellectual and developmental disabilities. After the teachers demonstrated mastery levels of performance with trainers, they were assessed with students in their classroom. Follow-up data were collected to measure teacher performance one and three months after training. We hypothesized teachers would be able to conduct, and maintain over time, a high degree of procedural integrity with MSWO preference assessments following a single session training with students with severe to profound intellectual and developmental disabilities.

We tested the effects of the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling or CABAS Training package on the acquisition of effective teaching practices in one adult. A district-employed teacher, who did not have in CABAS training repertoire, participated in the experiment. The dependent variables were the accuracy of delivered learn units, the accuracy of graphic decisions, and the accuracy of the rates of approvals and disapprovals. The independent variable consisted of the CABAS Training package which included formal instruction in the learn unit, formal instruction in the decision analysis protocol, and formal instruction in the uses of approvals and disapprovals. A single-subject delayed multiple probe design across behaviors was used, where probe sessions were conducted prior to the start of each intervention and following each of the instruction conditions. The results thus far showed that the participant mastered the delivery of accurate learn units, mastery of the decision analysis protocol, and mastery over tacting approvals and disapprovals.

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

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

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

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

Panelists will provide and discuss information relevant to applying to graduate school in behavior analysis. Panelists will explain the process of applying to graduate school, providing insight into the qualifications necessary to gain admission and characteristics that lead to a successful career as a graduate student. Specifically, panelists will discuss the importance and relevance of one's academic achievements (e.g., grade point average and standardized test scores), professional and extracurricular experiences (e.g., presentations at conferences and publications), research, and teaching involvement and how these factors influence admission into a graduate program in behavior analysis. Panelists will also provide unique perspective regarding the admission process, discussing characteristics and qualities that they find attractive on a prospective candidate's curriculum vitae and overall application. The panelist discussion will provide prospective graduate students with a comprehensive account on what constitutes a competitive application and how one should approach applying to graduate programs in behavior analysis.

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

Clinical psychologists, BCBAs, practitioners, administrators, students

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

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

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

Resource guarding is a term used to describe a dog's tendency to protect food, toys, attention, or place of rest by growling, snarling, showing teeth, or biting when attempting to take the special item away or by getting too close to it. The problem has been addressed by procedures such as desensitization, counterconditioning, and DRA operant techniques. The present study investigates a shaping procedure using distance as a negative reinforcer. The subject is Rocky, a 5-year-old black lab mix who has had a history of resource guarding tennis balls. Every time a dog would approach while he is in the possession of a tennis ball Rocky would growl, show his teeth, and snap at the dog if it got too close. This shaping procedure consisted of a handler walking with a dog towards Rocky, while Rocky had the tennis ball in his mouth, and stopping at the moment Rocky looked at the dog. The handler and the dog would remain at that point and walk away when Rocky resumed his activity or displayed an alternative behavior. The results show a switch over from resource guarding to sharing and friendly behavior. The behavior generalized across multiple dogs.

Young birds are thought to imprint to the first object they encounter. They develop a preference for this object and treat it as a parent. When they mature, they often treat this kind of object as a potential mate. In captive breeding programs, human-reared birds often imprint to human caretakers and develop social and sexual preferences for humans. This often leads to inappropriate behaviors and a deficit in breeding efforts. Although these imprinted preferences are commonly thought to be unmodifiable, a consideration of contingencies of reinforcement suggests otherwise. Several experiments will be discussed relating to the general methodology required to demonstrate imprinting, as well as procedures to develop more appropriate behavior in human-reared birds by the modifying social contingencies that maintain imprinted preferences. The general results show that social and sexual behaviors expressed as a function of imprinting are greatly affected by stimulus conditions. Most subjects behaved differently in home cages than in the experimental apparatus. Several subjects also behaved differently in the presence of a human hand than a human face. The results also suggest that operant and respondent procedures may modify imprinted preferences, once the appropriate methods are found to detect those preferences in an individual.

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

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

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

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

As the number of autism therapies and service provides continues to proliferate, caregivers must make complicated decisions concerning program placement and treatment options. Contemporary behavioral scientists have begun to rely on quantitative models of choice to assess complex decision making behaviors. Specifically, a growing body of research on the topic of discounting has suggested that complex choices such as those associated with autism become devalued as the delay, uncertainty, or effort association with the decision increases. In the area of autism service delivery, such devaluation of treatments or outcomes could result in caregivers opting for therapies or service providers guaranteeing immediate effects with little to no evidence supporting such claims; while not only wasting economic resources pursuing such treatments, these therapies may also be harmful to the health and well-being of the client. This symposium will explore translational approaches to the understanding of discounting and how it relates to treatment options and outcomes for caregivers of individuals with autism. All contributing laboratories have extensive experience and expertise in translational research, discounting, and autism services. A discussion of how behavior analysts might bridge the gap between basic research on discounting and autism service provision will be provided.

A variety of factors influence caregiver choices about the interventions they select for their dependents. The present study examined the manner in which delays to treatment outcomes may contribute to caregivers discounting the value of ABA-based interventions. Fifteen caregivers of individuals with autism served as participants. Each completed two delay discounting assessments based on procedures described by Dixon, Marley, and Jacobs (2003) and Odum, Madden, and Bickel (2002). One assessment evaluated the extent to which participants discounted delayed hypothetical monetary outcomes. The other assessment evaluated the extent to which participants discounted delayed outcomes of autism interventions for their child. Results showed that caregivers discounted the value of both types of delayed outcome (i.e., money and autism treatment), although the correlation between results of the two assessments were not significantly correlated. In addition, caregivers of children who exhibit severe problem behavior showed greater discounting of delayed treatment outcomes than did caregivers of children who did not. Results will be discussed in terms of implications for clinicians and researchers who conduct and develop behavior analytic interventions for individuals with autism.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Behavior analysts have long been the primary engineers behind the development of effective, nonmedicinal interventions for chronic tic disorders (e.g., Tourette syndrome; TS). Recent efforts have brought these treatments into the mainstream of clinical psychology and medicine in the form of Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT), a "new-and-improved" version of Azrin and Nunn's (1973) Habit Reversal Training that is amenable and accessible to practice settings and practitioners outside of behavior analysis. However, this rapid expansion has been met by both familiar and unique criticisms and concerns about the use of behavior analytic interventions. We will discuss these recent advances in behavior analytic treatments for TS, research aimed at addressing empirical questions central to concerns of nonbehavior analysts, and basic research findings with potentially important implications for future refinement of existing treatments. Bringing these "bedside" questions and clinical phenomena into the laboratory for controlled evaluation has helped to allay concerns about behavioral interventions for TS, generated interesting questions for future basic research, and provided a foundation for efforts to further improve the efficacy of behavioral interventions for tic disorders. The lessons learned thus far from these endeavors can inform translational research efforts with other clinically relevant phenomena, in the service of bringing our powerful technologies to the masses while staying true to our philosophical roots.

For decades, behavior analysts have developed and implemented efficacious interventions for Chronic Tic Disorders (CTDs) such as Tourette syndrome. Beginning in the 1970s, Azrin and Nunn (1973) showed that Habit Reversal Training (HRT) could quickly produce drastic reductions in tic frequency. Azrin and his colleagues published numerous replications showing HRTs efficacy and superiority to other non-pharmacological interventions, but HRT remained largely unknown to mainstream practitioners and the general public. Fortunately, this trend is changing at last. The past decade has seen the development of Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT), an HRT-based treatment protocol that also includes functional analysis/intervention, relaxation training, and psychoeducation components. Large-scale, randomized controlled trials have demonstrated CBITs efficacy in decreasing tics in both children and adults, using research methodology palatable to non-behavior analysts, resulting in a drastic increase in the visibility and availability of behavior analytic interventions for tics. These successes are hugely encouraging, but much work remains to be done to disseminate CBIT to front-line practitioners (e.g. neurologists, pediatricians), and to refine the existing CBIT protocol to further improve outcomes. These endeavors can be aided by the continuation of the translational, programmatic research that has produced successes in this area to date.

Some have doubted that tic-suppressing skills can be successfully used in attention-demanding, stressful environments. We conducted evaluated these claims using a laboratory paradigm. In Study 1,children with CTDs were exposed to alternating periods of baseline (BL), DRO (DRO), and DRO with distraction produced by a requirement to engage concurrently in an attention-demanding task on which no contingencies were placed (DRO+DIS). Both DRO and DRO+ DIS reduced tics below BL levels and did so to a similar extent. Performance on the CPT was comparable during DRO+DIS and pre- and post- experimental administrations of the task. Study 2 exposed children with CTDs to alternating periods of BL, BL with stress (i.e. with a concurrent requirement to solve math problems that had increased self-reported stress levels during pre-experimental assessment (BL+STR), DRO, and DRO plus stress, (DRO+STR). Tic frequencies were comparable during BL and BL+STR conditions. However, tic frequencies were higher in DRO+STR than in DRO conditions. Results suggest tic suppression is unaffected by concurrent engagement in attention-demanding tasks (and vice versa), and that widely reported stress-induced tic exacerbations are mediated by a decrease in the efficacy of environmental factors maintaining tic suppression, as opposed to direct exacerbation of tics per se.

Tics associated with Tourette Syndrome (TS) are maintained in part by a negative reinforcement cycle in which ticcing produces escape from aversive somatosensory experiences known as premonitory urges. Behavioral interventions for TS are believed to produce short-term and long-term habituation to premonitory urges, and these processes are thought to be responsible for their efficacy. However, little controlled research has evaluated these phenomena directly. We exposed children with TS to periods of free-to-tic baseline (BL), DRO, and MULT DRO EXT (MULT) with subject-initiated component transitions. Subjects rated their urge strength every 30 seconds during BL and DRO. Overall, ratings were higher during DRO conditions than BL conditions. Urge ratings were stable within and across BL conditions. In contrast, a pattern of initial increases and subsequent decreases was seen within DRO conditions. Latency to transition to the EXT component during MULT conditions corresponded to the magnitude of the decrease in self-reported urge strength in previous DRO conditions, and to a validated pencil-and-paper measure of urge severity. Results suggest that habituation to premonitory urges accompanies prolonged DRO-maintained tic suppression. Further, latency to transition to the EXT component of the MULT schedule used herein may be a useful empirical proxy for premonitory urge strength.

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

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

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

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

Values are defined as freely chosen, verbally constructed consequences of ongoing, dynamic, evolving patterns of activity, which establish predominant reinforcers for that activity that are intrinsic in engagement in the valued behavioral pattern itself (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2011; Wilson & DuFrene, 2009). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999; 2011) is a third wave behavioral analytic model of psychotherapy focusing on mindfulness and values processes. ACT and its component processes have demonstrated efficacy in clinical and non-clinical populations. This symposium presents research findings exploring the utility of values and goals in the classroom; exploring means of constructing individualized valued patterns of living; as well as examining the role of values and mindfulness processes in the therapeutic relationship.

Values have been described, from a behavioral perspective, as freely chosen, verbally constructed consequences of ongoing, dynamic, evolving patterns of activity, which establish predominant reinforcers for that activity that are intrinsic in engagement in the valued behavioral pattern itself (Wilson & DuFrene, 2006). Emerging research from a variety of disciplines supports the psychological benefits of being in contact with ones values. There is, thus, a growing interest in experimentally manipulating contact with values to examine the impact of values on behavior. None of the existing paradigms (i.e., asking for thoughts and feelings about values) allow the investigator to quickly and easily make values present (or not present) for the participant, such as in a computer learning paradigm. This might be accomplished by having participants generate individualized values-related stimuli that could be presented at different points throughout the experiment. This study evaluated methods of generating values-related stimuli by comparing within-subject ratings of the stimuli they generated. Participants were university students. Preliminary data suggest that having subjects write about their deeply held values for a set amount of time may provide the conditions for subjects to generate stimuli that facilitate contact with values. In addition, these methods may be most effective for assessing how meaningful a certain value is to subjects. Implications for future research will be discussed.

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

People interested in a sustainable planet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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