Association for Behavior Analysis International

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

Individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder have qualitative impairments in social behavior, which can range from withdrawing from others to a failure to develop meaningful friendships. These impairments in social behavior can lead to negative long term outcomes such as loneliness, depression, and, in the most extreme cases, thoughts or attempts of suicide. In this symposium, three papers will be presented that evaluated different interventions to improve the social behaviors for individuals diagnosed with autism. The first paper will describe a modified teaching interaction procedure to teach specific social skills to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and who had an intellectual disability. The second paper evaluated the effects of conditioning social reinforcement to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The third paper evaluated the methodological soundness of previous studies evaluating social stories, opinions of several behavior analysts on social stories, and, finally, comparing social stories to the cool versus not cool procedure. Throughout the entire symposium, the authors and discussant will provide clinical recommendations and ideas for future research.

BCBAs, graduate students

Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have qualitative impairments in social behavior which can range from rejecting others to failure to develop meaningful friendships. Thus, it is important for researchers to evaluate various methodologies that engender social behavior. One methodology which has been implemented with may children diagnosed with autism, and has a growing body of empirical support, is the teaching interaction procedure (TIP). The TIP consists of labeling and describing the behavior, providing a meaningful rationale, breaking the skill into smaller components, teacher demonstration of the behavior, the learner role-playing the behavior, and the provision of the feedback. This study implemented a modified TIP to teach social skills to three children diagnosed with ASD and an intellectual disability. A multiple baseline design across social skills, replicated across participants, was utilized to evaluate the effects of the modified TIP. The results showed the TIP resulted in acquisition, maintenance, and generalized of the targeted social skills for all participants. Clinical implications and future directions will be discussed within the presentation.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have qualitative impairments in social interactions and often prefer food or tangible reinforcement to social reinforcement. Therefore, therapists working with children diagnosed with ASD often utilize food or tangible items as reinforcers to increase appropriate behaviors or decrease aberrant behaviors. The goal of the present study was to shift childrens preference from a highly preferred tangible item to an initially non-preferred social reinforcer using an observational conditioning procedure. Participants observed a known peer engage in a simple task and select the social reinforcer that was not preferred by the participant. The observation procedure resulted in a shift of preference toward the social reinforcer with all participants. Maintenance data demonstrated that although the preference change did not endure for one of the participants, it was quickly re-established with additional observational trials. Results provided further support for the use of observational procedures to alter preferences. Clinical implications and future directions will be discussed within the presentation.

Early intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder and other delays is essential. With the increased prevalence of autism and the ability to diagnose children at very young ages, interventions designed specifically for toddlers and preschoolers are requisite. Interventions, focused on food selectivity, play, and generative language, are vital skills to address in programming for this young population. Three interventions designed to target each of these areas will be presented. The first intervention increased food interactions in three toddlers through an antecedent treatment package. The second intervention increased pretend play skills in three preschoolers with autism through a system of least prompts. The third intervention increased receptive language skills by programming for generative language in young children with autism. With these three findings, implications for practice will be discussed with a focus on the developmental needs of toddlers and young preschoolers. Additionally, suggestions for future research will be presented.

This study investigates the system of least prompts, an antecedent teaching based strategy, to increase the amount of pretend play of preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a classroom setting. Three preschool students diagnosed ASD and enrolled in an inclusive preschool program participated in this study. Data was collected looking at the percentage of intervals participants engaged in independent, appropriate types of play during unstructured play time (free choice) in the classroom. Intervention was implemented with 100% procedural fidelity through brief training sessions prior to free choice using the system of least prompts to increase appropriate play actions. Data collection continued in free choice and demonstrated that this intervention was successful for all three participants. Percent of non-overlapping data points for all three participants was 94%, showing a high level of overall effectiveness.

This study investigated the use of a matrix training approach to program for the occurrence of generative receptive language in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other language delays. Matrix training is a teaching procedure that can establish recombinative generalization, thus leading to generative language. A matrix of action/object instructions were designed for each of the four participants. They were systematically taught specific action/object instructions, as outlined in the matrix, and probes were conducted to determine if the other action/object instructions were occurring without any teaching. Although recombinative generalization was partial, approximately 3050% of the learned action/object instructions occurred through direct teaching while the other 5070% occurred without direct teaching. Matrix training provided a systematic teaching layout that programmed for the occurrence of generative language. This is a teaching strategy that can be used in early intervention programs and other settings to increase acquisition of teaching targets.

Parent involvement in early intervention services is considered best practice for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (National Research Council, 2001). Pivotal Response Treatment, in particular, places emphasis on the naturalistic implementation of intervention and including parents as providers of treatment. Training parents to implement intervention with fidelity can maximize the intensity of treatment and extend beyond time, locations, and contexts of professionally provided services. Research has demonstrated that caregivers can be taught to implement Pivotal Response Treatment with fidelity in both group-based and individual formats (Symon & Koegel, 2002; Minjarez, Williams, Mercier, & Hardan, 2011). However, it is only recently that specific components of these programs have begun to be systematically evaluated or explained. While some parents succeed in short-term training programs, others make minimal gains with variable outcomes observed across families. Following effective parent training programs, skill maintenance can also be variable across time and participants. The presentations in this symposium will provide information about variables contributing to increased skill performance and maintenance for short-term parent training programs teaching Pivotal Response Treatment using community-based service models. These variables include parent measures of self-efficacy prior to a parent-training program, the provision of follow-up training sessions, and compliance with on-going training.

Parent involvement is a critical component of effective interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders with limited access to professional providers. Several short-term training models have demonstrated efficacy in teaching caregivers to implement evidence-based interventions (Koegel, Symon, & Koegel, 2002). However, recent research suggests that for caregivers who attain fidelity of implementation, approximately half of the participants do not maintain those skills over time (Gengoux et al., 2015). In the current study, 42 parent-child dyads participated in a week-long, intensive training model in a clinic setting (Koegel et al., 2002) with 17 dyads randomly selected to receive remote coaching follow-up sessions across a 12-week period. Results indicate that 9 dyads (53%) completed all scheduled follow-up sessions. Of these 9 dyads, 8 dyads obtained fidelity of implementation during the one-week training period. Following completion of follow-up sessions, 7 dyads maintained fidelity of implementation while 1 dyad achieved the fidelity criterion for a total of 8 out of 9 dyads (89%) demonstrating fidelity 12-weeks post-training. These results further support the short-term training model and suggest that follow-up sessions may enhance skill maintenance. Practitioners offering short-term parent training services may consider this practical, remote-coaching follow-up model to improve maintenance of fidelity for participants.

Many behavioral treatment models for autism spectrum disorder include a parent training component (Steiner et al., 2012). JumpStart is a 20-hour education and empowerment program for parents of young children considered at-risk or recently diagnosed with autism. Caregivers receive didactic instruction, guided observation, and in-vivo coaching in Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) in addition to didactic instruction about the autism diagnosis, Applied Behavior Analysis, and navigating funding and service systems. Upon completion, many parents are able to successfully implement PRT, however, there is considerable variability in parent fidelity of implementation. The current study examined parent fidelity of implementation of PRT, child responsivity to parent-implemented intervention, parenting self-efficacy scales, and depression measures for 31 parent-child dyads. Findings indicate increases in child responsivity, parent fidelity of implementation, and self-efficacy, with decreased measures of depression following completion of the program. Additionally, initial parenting self-efficacy measures predicted positive change in child responsivity and parent fidelity of implementation. These results suggest that meaningful outcomes can be achieved with minimal training and that parenting self-efficacy measures may influence the effectiveness of parent-training programs.

Feeding disorders occur frequently among individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Parents often report difficulties around mealtime. This panel will discuss several case studies and the interventions that were used in treating food refusal, limited repertoires of foods, and selective intake of certain food categories across individuals. Data collection procedures, behavioral interventions, determining the function of the feeding problem and generalization of skills to other settings and people will be discussed.

Some clinical behavioral analysts have suggested that psychological flexibility may be a fundamental aspect of psychological well-being and a mechanism of change in clinical behavior analysis. A mid-level term, psychological flexibility is often defined in the clinical context as involving open, ongoing awareness to private events in such a way as to decrease avoidance and facilitate effective, values-based behavior. This symposium includes two papers that link mid-level conceptualizations of psychological flexibility with basic behavioral principles. Each explores potential methods of measuring psychological flexibility directly rather than relying on self-report measures. The first paper explores potential relationships between performance on two behavioral measures of body image flexibility the Body Image Flexibility Assessment Procedure (BIFAP) and the Body Image Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). The second paper explores qualities of derived relational responding as indicative of flexibility and inflexibility and investigates the IRAP as a tool for predicting inflexibility in certain domains of living.

Body image flexibility has been described in the non-behavioral literature as the capacity to experience the body fully and intentionally while pursuing effective action in important life domains. Self-report measures of body image flexibility are psychometrically sound, but limited in their validity as they rely on the responders honesty and ability to tact their private experiences and reactions thereof. The current study aimed to explore potential relationships between performance on two behavioral measures of body image flexibility the Body Image Flexibility Assessment Procedure (BIFAP) and the Body Image Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). The BIFAP was designed to measure body image flexibility, while the IRAP was developed to measure brief immediate relational responses (a.k.a., implicit cognitions), and was adapted for this study to measure responses to body image. Responses on both tasks are considered in terms of response latencies, and rate of correct responses. Aspects of both divergence and convergence speak to the complexity of assessment of private events. Implications for assessment in clinical and research domains will be discussed.

The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) has most often been used to examine differences between the performances of groups of people with a particular set of stimuli and between specific trial-types. The present study is a continuation of several previous studies that examine the possibility of using analyses of the IRAP to identify relatively strong verbal repertoires at the level of the individual. These repertoires may be clinically relevant for the participating individual or for his/her community. They may also be seen as areas of psychological inflexibility. This paper examines multiple methods for examining IRAP outputs. Undergraduate students who participated for course credit chose IRAPs from an array of topics that they viewed as being related to areas of difficulty and areas of ease. The participants showed marked variability in IRAP performance across IRAPs and trial types. The discussion focuses on the potential to predict and develop interventions for specific domains for individuals where high levels of bias, rigidity, or fusion are present.

In the past few decades there has been an increase in the emphasis on importance of physical activity as one of the key factors affecting health. People often start engaging in physical activity following the no pain, no gain motto, which serves as a rule for behavior. While this rule may motivate a person, it also may prevent the operation of other contingencies that would be effective in the absence of this rule. In motor-skill activity, some discomfort may be helpful in some instances and harmful in others. It is difficult to discriminate between the two. Over time, faulty movement patterns may be developed - movements either involve unnecessary effort or pain leading to negative consequences. In some instances, pain leads to a deterioration of ones health, poor self-perception and quitting physical activity. The purpose of the present paper is to examine the relation between exercise, pain, verbal behavior and coaching practices. A case study of the faulty movement pattern change in a 55-year-old male is reported. Possible adjustments in the coaching and therapy practice are discussed.

Often times, Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) are asked to treat adults with both behavioral and medical complications. These BCBAs work within interdisciplinary teams that include medical practitioners, psychiatrists, and a smorgasbord of other professionals. The work of these teams is subject to significant organizational pressures and regulatory constraints. Working within such settings can pressure BCBAs to act beyond the purview of their certifications, and complicate the implementation of effective and sustainable treatment. The presenter will discuss a specific case of the ethical concerns faced by a BCBA working under such conditions. This BCBA served an individual in a residential setting with developmental disabilities, comorbid psychiatric diagnoses, and severe medical conditions. The discussion will cover the implementation of interventions while minimizing personal rights restrictions, evaluating appropriate treatment strategies, and working alongside professionals from other disciplines who have different sets of clinical objectives and ethical requirements. Strategies for navigating these interactions will be discussed.

The title of this talk reflects one of many prevalent, alarming, and real life student-generated scenarios provided to the author and instructor during a certification-board approved online course sequence in behavior analysis. Recent growth in online programs reflects an influx of non-behavior analysts to the field hired, in many cases, faster than certification (and training) programs can keep up. In the wake of fluctuating funding streams and new legislation, how can the community of behavior analysts plan to protect against ethical drift and prepare for new challenges? In order to explore this growing concern, we will review issues from the past 5 years of practice in diverse settings in Colorado, a state relatively new to behavior analysis and to insurance-mandated behavior analysis. Case studies and sets of potential solutions will be presented from several distinct practice contexts, including: Instructing new behavior analysis students with varying previous experiences and advanced degrees; supervision in clinical settings new to behavior analysis; and community behavior analysis settings supporting learners with autism, developmental disabilities, or needs addressed by state-reimbursed early intervention programs. Some implications are discussed for each area of practice, ending with a call to action.

The ingestion of inedible substances may result in serious medical complications including lead poisoning, intestinal obstruction, infection and even death. Pica has been described as being both treatment resistant and maintained in the absence of social consequences (Piazza, et al. 1998). The current study involves a six-year-old male who engages in pica and was admitted to a residential treatment facility with elevated lead levels. A competing items assessment was conducted and found that edible items competed with pica far more effectively than tangible items. However, these items were not successful in effectively suppressing rates of pica when provided on a continuous schedule during five minute sessions. The current study examines the effectiveness of differentially reinforcing the exchange of inedible items with edible items that have been shown to effectively compete with pica. This intervention was found to have reduced instances of pica to near zero levels across multiple inedible items. This study then attempts to extend the existing research in this area to include information regarding the thinning of the schedule of reinforcement in a socially significant manner, as well as generalization of the exchange across novel inedible items and settings. In addition, unit data is presented to illustrate the perseverance of this behavior over time in more natural settings then the one in which it was first learned.

Parent Management Training–Oregon Model (PMTO) is an evidence-based intervention that prevents and treats child and adolescent behavior problems by teaching parents strategies that reduce coercion and increase positive parenting practices (Forgatch & Patterson, 2010; Patterson, 2005). The intervention, which was developed by the group of colleagues led by Gerald Patterson, has emerged over several decades with a programmatic focus on families with youngsters with externalizing problems such as aggression, antisocial behavior, and delinquency. PMTO's staying power over nearly five decades is likely tied to the continuing integration of theory, science, and practice with a focus on improving outcomes at every level. In the last fifteen years, PMTO has been implemented internationally. Reliable and valid data using multiple method and agent assessment from U.S. and international PMTO implementations illustrate the challenges of making empirically-supported interventions routine practice in the community. Technological advances that break down barriers to communication across distances, the availability of efficacious programs suitable for implementation, and the urgent need for high quality mental health care provide strong rationales for prioritizing implementation. The next challenge is to reduce the prevalence of children's psychopathology by creating science-based delivery systems to reach families in need, everywhere.

This lecture will be of interest to applied researchers interested in mechanisms of behavior change and of implementation of evidence-based programs, and to practitioners who work in a variety of applied settings, particularly those who work with children with aggressive and other antisocial behavior.

Any perturbation of the stream of behavior has numerous effects. Delivery of a food reinforcer will activate approach and alimentary responses, elicit search modes, and instigate species typical foraging or predation repertoires. Any correlated stimuli will become conditioned--as an occasion-setter, conditioned stimulus, discriminative stimulus, or conditioned reinforcer. If the correlation is positive those stimuli will be approached; if negative avoided. Theories of conditioning have focused on one or another of these factors; that is called analysis. Synthesis requires understanding the development of these processes, each at its own rate, and as each interacts with the others. The resulting system is complex, in that it involves dynamic networks of interactions. The degree to which responses support or compete with each other, and each with higher-level organizations, may be described with the Price Equation. The evolution of dynamic and average steady states requires other models. This lecture provides an introduction to this next step in the evolution of the experimental analysis of behavior, toward the Syncretic Approach to Behavior, SAB.

Researchers in both basic and applied behavior analysis who are wondering "where next?".

Behavioral variability was characterized as an operant dimension of behavior (Page & Neuringer, 1985). Three studies examined the effects of reinforcement and extinction on three-response sequences under lag reinforcement schedules. Resistance to change of each response position was measured under lag 3 and lag 5 schedules. Variability increased under lag schedules as expected. However, contrary to what would be expected based on temporal contiguity of each response position with the reinforcer, backward progression of extinction was observed, as the first and not the last response was the most resistant to change. As responding did not cease, it was concluded that an interaction between both reinforcement and extinction is involved in the variability observed under lag schedules.

A classic study by Hefferline, Keenan and Harford (1959) showed that thumb movement can be established by avoidance and/or scape contingencies, while participants are unaware of the contingencies in effect. A systematic replication of the experiment was performed by changing the instructions used. A semi-descriptive instruction (this is an experiment on muscle movement), as used in the original study, and a distracting instruction (this is an experiment on relaxation) were presented to two groups of participants. Thumb movement was recorded using a glove equipped with a flexion sensor connected to an Arduino-Visual Basic interface. Movements of the right thumb were reinforced with a continuous reinforcement schedule. Points earned, a happy image, and a phrase were presented on the screen contingent on movements that reached a criterion. At the end of the session, money was delivered in exchange for earned points. Evidence of response acquisition was observed only in the participants in the semi-descriptive instructions group. Response-induction gradients and cumulative responses were analyzed and compared to those reported by previous studies. Even though participants were unaware of the reinforced response with the two sets of instructions, instructions apparently guided responses towards the criterion for reinforcement.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) can face difficulties in many aspects of life. They often have weak social skills (Gresham, Sugai, & Horner, 2001), poor academic performance (Trout, Nordness, Pierce, & Epstein, 2003), more restrictive school placements (Yell, 1995), and more frequent suspensions or expulsions (Department of Education, 2013). One method for improving outcomes for students with EBD may be to explicitly teach students how to communicate with peers and adults in their lives. The purpose of this symposium is to present research about communication interventions for students with EBD. The first paper will present the results of a comprehensive literature review of functional assessment based interventions for students with EBD to determine the extent to which the interventions employed meet the technical definition of functional communication training (FCT). Of the studies using FCT, participant characteristics, intervention components, and general outcomes will be discussed. The second paper will present findings from a research study designed to teach students how to effectively communicate about their behavior by reporting antecedents, behaviors, and consequences. Authors will discuss results, and implications for research and practice.

Functional communication training (FCT) is a technique used to reduce problem behavior through systematic training of a communicative response serving an equivalent function as the target behavior (Carr & Durand, 1985). It is most often used for individuals with limited or no vocal language. Of 204 participants in a recent review of FCT, all but six had intellectual, developmental, or autism spectrum disorders (Tiger, Hanley, & Bruzek, 2008). FCT has been used to remediate problem behavior of individuals with high-incidence disabilities such as ADHD or emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). However, a review limited to these cases is difficult due to inconsistent terminology: Researchers in EBD use procedures congruent with FCT but do not typically label the procedures as such. Before the efficacy of FCT for students with EBD can be analyzed, it must first be determined which functional assessment-based interventions are, in fact, FCT. The purpose of this review is to determine the extent to which and how FCT is used for this population. Participant characteristics, intervention components, and intervention outcomes will be discussed.

One way to increase student involvement in their educational programming is to give them the opportunity to contribute during the functional behavior assessment process. Unfortunately, current research shows that that without training, some students are unable to accurately report on their behavior (e.g., Chan & Cannella-Malone, under review; Murdock, O'Neill, & Cunningham, 2005). One way to increase meaningful student engagement may be to explicitly teach students to identify antecedents, behaviors, and consequences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an explicit instruction package designed to teach students to identify antecedents, behaviors, and consequences using video clips of challenging behavior scenarios. Results indicated that students learned to accurately report what happened in the video clips; however, they struggled to generalize the skills to reports about their own behavior. Authors will make recommendations for future research and discuss implications for practice will be discussed.

Behavior analysts continuously seek to identify efficient and effective procedures to teach novel skills to fluency. Fluency can be measured in terms of celeration, or change in frequency across time, or behavioral agility as measured on the standard celeration chart (SCC). Behavioral agility has been measured as the change in celerations across the acquisition of skills, which can include steeper slopes, rising bottoms, and fewer timings to reach aims (goals). The first study evaluated the effects of differential consequences on the fluency and celeration of learning the endangered Hawaiian language within the stimulus equivalence framework. The second study evaluated the effects of self-management procedures, specifically self-charting, on measures of self-control in addition to changes in celerations, bottom frequencies, and the number of timings to fluency for a series of skill slices. Participants from both studies were typically developing. Outcomes will be discussed in terms of applicability within and across populations, skillsets, settings, and areas for future research.

The purpose of the current investigation was to explore whether self-charting or teacher-charting would produced steeper celerations, rising bottom frequencies, and/or fewer timings to fluency (i.e., behavioral agility) for typically-developing children between the ages of 4 and 6. In addition, the purpose of this study was to identify if there was a relationship between measures of behavioral agility and measures of self-control during delay probes in which participants waited to consume highly preferred edibles. Participants were separated into three groups: experimental self-charting, control teacher-charting only, and control temporal delay probes only. Results did not provide evidence that self-charting was more beneficial than teacher-charting in producing indicators of behavioral agility. In addition, the data did not show a clear relationship between measures of self-control and charting. However, all participants who received instruction became fluent in multiple slices of instruction across multiple programs. In addition, five out of seven participants across experimental and control groups improved their performance on waiting for a large portion of a highly preferred edible when having free access to the item. Findings should be considered with caution due to the small sample size, and future research should continue to explore ways to increase the rate of student learning and possible avenues to measure correlations between self-control and self-management.

Instructional strategies that incorporate more opportunities for active student responding have been shown to increase student academic and social outcomes. Response cards and student response systems (e.g., clickers) are two effective and efficient ways for teachers to increase opportunities for active student responding. In this symposium, the study by Khan, Miltenberger, and Singer examined the effects of response cards on student disruptive behavior, percentage of questions answered, and accuracy of questions answered while alternating the number of teacher-directed questions across sessions. As a result of using response cards, the investigators found decreases in disruptive behaviors and increases academic behaviors. The second study by Horne and Blair examined the effects of an electronic student response system to improve student behaviors across two classrooms. Although limited, the results indicated that the classroom teachers implemented the electronic student response system with fidelity, and their implementation of the intervention resulted in reduced disruption and increased academic engagement. Social validity data indicated that both interventions were acceptable to teachers, effective, and most students enjoyed using the alternative method to respond to a teacher?s question. Victoria Fogel will serve as discussant and provide comments on each of the papers.

A student response system is a technology that allows an entire classroom of students to respond to questions and receive immediate feedback from teachers during instruction. However, little research has examined the use of student response systems to support student behavior in elementary schools. This study focused on using an electronic student response system to improve class-wide behavior in two general elementary school classrooms. An ABAB and ABA reversal designs embedded within a multiple baseline design across classrooms was employed to evaluate the outcome of the intervention. Although limited, the results indicated that the classroom teachers implemented the electronic student response system with fidelity, and their implementation of the intervention resulted in reduced disruption and increased academic engagement. Social validity data indicated that the electronic response system intervention was acceptable to both teachers and students to some degree.

In organizational behavior management (OBM), Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) has been advocated as a complementary approach combining principles from general systems theory with operant contingencies governing at the level of individual behavior, leading to improved results in organizational interventions beyond what might be achieved using either approach in exclusion. Numerous researchers have suggested that effective organizational interventions must account for higher-level and often delayed consequences for behavior stemming, for example, from contingencies associated with the selection of a product by external consumers, and from organizational strategies, goals, and policies. Similar suggestions have recently been observed in discussions of metacontingent analysis and the role that behavioral interventions may play in affecting cultural change. Mattaini (2004; 2006) cautioned that recent developments in a particular area of systems theory, specifically related to self-organizing systems, may ultimately limit the efficacy of interventions that might stem from either behavioral systems or metacontingent analyses. Self-organizing systems, for example, construct their own boundaries and have much of their behavior determined by internal dynamics rather than external contingencies, potentially thwarting the effectiveness of designed interventions. Krispin (submitted for review) outlined necessary and sufficient conditions that have been defined for the emergence of self-organization and extrapolated them to cultural systems. The present paper first considers the impact that these conditions may have on the design of organizational interventions, and secondly highlights principles and criteria for increasing the effectiveness of such interventions through the application of these conditions, potentially leading to enhanced adaptive capabilities within organizations.

It is important for educators to select efficacious treatments so that children meet the goals on which they are working. This progress occurs with the selection of evidence-based practices. With the increase in the number of children diagnosed with a developmental disability (e.g., autism), however, there has been a corresponding increase in the number fad treatments disseminated to the public. Given the rapid proliferation of alternative unproven treatments, teachers and practitioners face serious challenges in identifying empirically-validated treatments models. Unfortunately, far too many well-meaning professionals continue to incorporate pseudoscientific strategies into their daily practice. Fad treatments, popularized in the media and often endorsed by celebrities, waste money that can be used in providing effective treatments to children with developmental disabilities, and whereas some fad treatments may be ineffective, others may be out right dangerous. In this panel, we will discuss (1) strategies to help teachers and practitioners differentiate between science and pseudoscience, (2) some of the questionable interventions that have been promoted in the media, and (3) potential reasons why behavioral professionals may choose to implement alternative unsupported treatments.

In 2015, the United States Supreme Court legalized marriage for everyone. This long-awaited, ground-breaking ruling allows everyone, for better or worse, to live openly as the person they are, legally married to the person they love. However, lower courts are slower to catch up, and service provision is impacted on several fronts. What are the responsibilities of employers to their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual (LGBT) therapists? What are the obligations of providers towards the LGBT parents of the individuals they serve? What are the obligations of the provider towards the individual they serve, when the individual identifies as LGBT? Explore the moral, ethical and legal dimensions of practice when recipients and their families are still living in "grey areas" in the society and culture in which they live. Areas such as adoption, divorce, parenthood, and employer/employee rights, will be discussed, as well as common terms within the national LGBT community. *Every effort will be made to obtain the latest national and state-specific LGBT legislation prior to the presentation.

Program evaluation is the use of planned activities to monitor process, outcomes, and impact of a health program or intervention. The application of program evaluation to behavioral analytic treatment programs for children with autism or similar programs for individuals with disabilities is a useful and necessary activity to inform practitioners and funders of the efficacy of these programs and to promote adherence to best-practice treatments. A survey of providers and search of the literature revealed that the practice of program evaluation is underutilized among providers of behavioral services. Current organizational practices involve primarily reporting on program participants goals. The purpose of this presentation is to inform the audience of more robust evaluation procedures including clearly defining the population served, describing the program and intervention, selecting evaluation goals and objectives (including process goals, outcome goals, and impact goals) and reporting. Identifying and overcoming barriers to performing a program evaluation and ethical considerations will also be discussed.

Dixon et al. (2015) ranked graduate programs in behavior analysis on the basis of their faculty research productivity. Although controversial, this paper prompted a number of responses from researchers and practitioners in ABA on the important of research in graduate ABA training and how to appropriately rank graduate programs according to the productivity of their faculty. The purpose of this panel is to continue that discussion in an open forum. The panel includes three members with experience in both research and practice in ABA. The panel will discuss the importance of research in graduate ABA training, the importance of formal ranking systems for graduate programs in ABA, whether programs should be ranked on additional factors, such as the research productivity of its students and / or graduates, and the relationship between research productivity and clinician competency. The panel will be chaired by a fourth participant with an interest in this topic.

Intervention programs based on the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA) have repeatedly been shown to be effective in reducing problem behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual or developmental disabilities. This symposium includes four presentations that depict how the principles of applied behavior analysis can be effectively used in a clinical setting to reduce behaviors that impede learning in children of varying ages whom are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The first presentation describes the assessment and treatment of rumination in a nine-year-old male that was conducted in collaboration with Dr. David Wilder of the Florida Institute of Technology. The second presentation discusses the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at decreasing the stereotypy of a four-year-old male while simultaneously increasing his self-monitoring skills. The third presentation presents the effects of a feeding intervention on decreasing food refusals and increasing food tolerance in a 13-year-old male. The fourth and final presentation depicts the effects of a response-cost intervention that was put in place for a three-year-old who engaged in high levels of spitting. The social significance of each topic will be addressed and data based outcomes will be discussed.

The acceptance of a variety of foods is a necessary skill in order to receive proper nutrition to keep ones body healthy. This skill is also socially valid in that loud and repeated food refusals not only distinguish a child from his or her peers, but also cause unnecessary and unwanted attention in public situations. The participant in this case study is a 13-year-old male with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who demonstrated a limited repertoire of foods and extreme refusals when presented with non-preferred food items. Previously, his feeding program involved contingent reinforcement while rotating between over 30 different types of food. It was determined that food refusals were not decreasing due to the fact that the participant was not contacting the same food at a high enough frequency. Once the number of different foods that were presented concurrently during each session were decreased, food refusals also began to decrease and tolerance for new food items increased. This outcome was consistent when probed in maintenance trials.

An assessment and function-based treatment intervention was utilized to address the spitting behavior of a three- year- old boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An intervention was warranted as the behavior was serving as a barrier to learning, it was unsanitary, and it was also rapidly increasing in frequency. After determining that spitting appeared to be maintained by automatic reinforcement, the team assessed the effects of non-contingent access to one or more items and non-contingent access to a preferred item with contingent removal of the item following the target behavior. Results indicated that the clients spitting behavior maintained at high levels when he was given free access to preferred toys and to a preferred Pediasure shake. When the Pediasure shake was removed contingent on emittance of the spitting behavior, however, the frequency of this behavior decreased to near-zero levels. Furthermore, this decrease in spitting was maintained across different environments and time with continued implementation of the response cost procedure.

Despite demonstrations of treatment efficacy, research suggests some learners fail to make significant gains in Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) programs, particularly in the domain of language acquisition. A possible explanation for insufficient progress is that some children do not have the prerequisite skills to effectively benefit from language and social skills instruction. Discrimination ability and assessment of stimulus control are often overlooked when assessing and choosing intervention targets, and the failure to identify these important foundational skills can lead to the introduction of beginning targets that are too difficult for the learner. The following symposium examines the impact of discrimination ability, as assessed by the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities-Revised, on rate of learning in EIBI, focusing on the role of auditory discrimination in echoic acquisition. In light of the above findings and an examination of learning trajectories of typically developing children, preliminary treatment modifications for early learners in EIBI will be discussed, with a focus on identifying prerequisite skill areas that are critical for a child to master prior to teaching language. By attending to discrimination ability and prerequisite skill acquisition, we can better teach early learners in EIBI settings important language and social skill repertoires.

When implementing intensive intervention plans for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), we tend to see two profiles of children, those who are in the best outcome group and those who are not. The typical profile of a child in the best outcome group is one with some basic language, imitation and a multitude of available reinforcers. Auditory discrimination has been linked to the development of these early learning skills. By using the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities Revised (ABLA-R) to assess a childs ability to discriminate we can determine if they are likely to respond well to a typical ABA curriculum. If a child does not discriminate, it will be necessary to teach earlier developmental skills in visual and auditory discrimination, that when missing, are likely to hinder a childs response to treatment. This presentation will focus on preliminary treatment modifications aimed to teach early discrimination skills identified from comparison studies between children with ASD and those that are typically developing between the ages of 0-1. If these early developmental discrimination skills are targeted in treatment before working on language, imitation and play skills, children with poor discrimination skills may more readily respond to intensive ABA treatment intervention techniques.

Effective instructional programs are critical for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities; however, many factors are involved in developing effective instructional programs. This this symposium, we present research regarding recent advancements in instructional programs. The first presentation will address considerations of mand topographies on functional communication training (FCT). Results indicate that mand proficiency should be considered when selecting mand topographies during FCT addressing problem behaviors that serve multiple functions. The second presentation will discuss the effectiveness of a discrimination training procedure to teach participants when newly-aqauired mands would be honored. Results suggest mands acquired during FCT can be successfully placed under stimulus control while maintaining low levels of challenging behavior. The third presentation will address the effects of preferences incorporated into non-preferred tasks on task engagement and indices of happiness. Results indicate incorporating preferences into tasks will increase behavioral indicators of happiness. The final presentation will discuss the effectiveness of two error correction procedures within a discrete-trial instructional program. Results suggest that error correction with and without vocal feedback produce similar rates of skill acquisition and problem behavior. The final discussion will summarize these studies, highlight the applied value of the results, and discuss future research.

Although functional communication training (FCT) has been demonstrated in myriad studies to be an effective treatment of problem behavior, less is known about the possible influence of specific mand topographies on treatment outcomes. One exception, Ringdahl et al. (2009, found that high-proficiency mand topographies were more effective when targeted during FCT relative to low-proficiency mand topographies. Whereas Ringdahl et al. targeted single functions, no studies have evaluated the influence of proficiency across multiple functions of problem behavior. We conducted mand proficiency assessments with children who engaged in multiply maintained problem behavior. The results suggested that proficiency varied with mand topographies within and across functions of problem behavior. Next, we conducted FCT using high and low-proficiency mands across all demonstrated functions of problem behavior. Results varied within and across functions of problem behavior in terms of the effects of high and low-proficiency mand topographies. Implications regarding the selection and targeting of mand topographies during FCT when multiple functions of problem behaviors are indicated will be discussed.

Functional communication training (FCT) is an evidenced--based treatment of challenging behaviors in which an individual learns to appropriately request reinforcers as an alternative to engaging in challenging behaviors. However, there are situations in which the mand simply cannot be honored because the reinforcer is unavailable, resulting in the reemergence of challenging behavior. Few studies have empirically demonstrated methods to deal with these applied situations. In the current clinical investigation, stimulus control of the mand was established for 2 children with autism spectrum disorder to decrease challenging behavior. First, reinforcers for challenging behaviors were identified for each child and the children learned appropriate mands to functionally replace the challenging behavior. Next, the children entered into discrimination training in which colored cards indicated when appropriate mands would be honored (i.e., green card) and put on extinction (i.e., red card). Challenging behavior and appropriate mands were measured and an AB with multielement single--case design was utilized to evaluate discrimination training. Results showed that both children learned to mand when the green card was present but not when the red card was present. In addition, challenging behaviors remained low in both conditions.

We present four papers related to the establishment of complex verbal functions. The papers will cover a range of learned verbal functions from learning the names of things to learning to write complex algorithms to solve math problems. The first paper traces the conditioning process that allows individuals to learn more stimuli relations. The second paper tests the presence of naming for Mandarin Chinese phonemes in monolingual English-speaking preschool children. The third paper tested the effects of a social learning condition on the acquisition of writing as both direct and indirect reinforcement. The fourth paper tests the effects of a writing and peer-editing package on the acquisition of problem-solving repertoires in fourth grade students. Together, these four papers show the reinforcement sources for function in verbal behavior.

I tested for the presence of Naming in six preschool students with developmental delays. Participants were presented with Naming experiences in which they had opportunities to observe a visual stimulus, an auditory non-spoken stimulus and an auditory spoken stimulus (i.e., the name of the stimulus). Probes were then conducted to test for the 1) presence of the listener half of Naming for visual stimuli, 2) the speaker half of Naming for visual stimuli, 3) the listener half of Naming for auditory stimuli, and 4) the speaker half of Naming for auditory stimuli. All participants demonstrated the listener half of Naming for visual stimuli. Next, I repeated the probe sequence in the same order, and participants emitted increasing numbers of correct responses. Following 3-4 sessions, all participants met criterion (80%) for each of the four responses.

I tested the effects of a writing and peer-editing package on the acquisition of problem solving, as measured by the outcome of how to solve a problem, with fourth grade students, using a delayed multiple probe design across dyads with counterbalanced stimuli. In Experiment 1, 4 participants in the fourth grade (ranging in age from 8 to 10 years) participated in the experiment and were selected because they could not write about solving multi-step word problems. Participants were placed in a dyad that consisted of a problem solver (writer) and a listener (peer editor as the target participant). The problem solver and listener interacted in a written topography in order to solve the problem. The writer produced an effective algorithm and the editor edited the algorithm using a checklist. Each dyad competed against a second dyad, using a peer yoked contingency game board as a motivating operation. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that a written dialogue, the role of peer editing (with the use of an algorithm), and the establishing operation of competition through the peer yoked contingency game board through peer editing (with the use of an algorithm), increased participant's writing about their word problem responses, which may be an indicator of problem solving.

Values have long been vital to the psychological flexibility model and valuing has been the topic of countless papers in the Contextual Behavioral Science community; however, relatively little investigation has been done in regards to how valuing effects behavioral variability and sensitivity to changing contingencies. It is thought that holding rigid ideas about what values one must pursue and how one must pursue them can create fused values, which can result in inflexible behavioral repertories and lowered ability to contact present contingencies of reinforcement. The current study examined behavioral flexibility and sensitivity to changing contingencies of reinforcement by having participants engage in a game, the point of which was to amass the most points by clicking on different stimuli (i.e. chosen value words, meaningless words, non-sense syllables, and arbitrary stimuli), while the point value associated with each stimulus changed periodically. Preliminary data suggest that sensitivity to reinforcers may be inhibited in the presence of values. Implications of contingency sensitivity in the presence of values and future directions will be discussed.

Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) is an effective teaching package that is often used to teach new parenting skills. It has been found to be effective in teaching these to mastery, but performance often returns back to baseline levels due to competing contingencies and histories of ineffective practices. In an effort to positively affect treatment integrity across time, this study examined the effect an Acceptance and Commitment Training protocol may have on implementation integrity of key parenting skills learned in a BPT workshop. The parent was exposed to a behavioral parent training workshop targeting four parenting tools using a standard behavioral skills training procedure. Follow up measures were collected on implementation integrity and rate of parental coercive behaviors. When mastery of implementation and a low rate of parental coercives were observed, both of these returned toward baseline levels after a period in which no training was in place. Following this, the parent participated in an Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACTr) workshop consisting of experiential exercises, metaphors, and homework assignments. After the workshop, implementation integrity of parenting tools increased further, and frequency of negative parent-child interactions decreased, as well.

The use of criterion based assessments to establish baseline skills for developing ABA program goals has been a long established practice. However, in recent years there has been growing use of two specific assessments in the field: the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills- Revised (ABLLS-R) and the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP). Despite the widespread use of these assessments there is little published research documenting the reliability and validity of these measures. This presentation will share initial pilot data on the reliability and validity of each measure as well as convergent validity between measures. This session will take an in-depth look at the alignment and overlap in items between the two measures and how they are conceptually similar and different in their construct of verbal behavior. Participants will also be provided with recommendations for assessment use, practical strategies for enhancing consistency amongst assessors, and sample fidelity checklists.

Should I approach this dog? Whether children with autism or animal shelter volunteers approaching a member of canis familarius, steps should be taken to reduce fear in and to recognize risk to homo sapiens. At least 29.8% of individuals diagnosed with autism are diagnosed with a clinical phobia such as a fear of dogs. Behaviorally, phobias may involve exposure to a highly aversive stimulus that elicits negative emotional behavior (e.g., crying, increased heart rate, etc.) and/or occasions excessive escape/avoidance. In this symposium, respondent and operant conditioning were used to teach three children with autism to approach dogs. In a different study, shelter volunteers that exclusively worked with cats, were taught using videos, then real dogs, to recognize dogs that, for safety’s sake, they should not approach.

At least 29.8% of individuals diagnosed with autism are diagnosed with a clinical phobia (Van Steensel & Bogels, 2011). Behaviorally, phobias may involve exposure to a highly aversive stimulus that elicits negative emotional behavior (e.g., crying, increased heart rate, etc.) and/or occasion excessive escape/avoidance. In our practice, several groups of parents reported their child with autism avoided dogs and would often exhibit emotional behaviors. The childrens dog phobia prevented parents from going on walks with their child around the neighborhood, to the park, and to play dates with peers that owned a dog. Moreover, parents that expressed an interest in owning a dog could not do so until their childs dog phobia was treated. Using a multiple baseline design, we evaluated the effects of contact desensitization plus operant reinforcement on approach toward a dog in three children with autism. During baseline behavioral avoidance tests, none of the children approached the dog. Our results show that the treatment package produced clinically-significant changes in approach towards dogs; mean IOA was 100%. All three children interacted with dogs in analog and natural settings, and parents/caregivers provided high ratings of consumer satisfaction regarding the goals, treatment, and outcomes.

The emergence of insurance funded Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) benefits has introduced new requirements and complexity for providers of ABA services. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) are finding themselves in a new contractual relationship with health care plans without prior experience with utilization management and submission of claims. Managed care plans apply traditional insurance principles including medical necessity to the authorization of autism services to ensure appropriate treatment is being provided. They also demand knowledge of insurance terminology, billing practices and information sharing that may be outside the realm of a BCBA practitioners historical practice. The panelists will address the barriers that can arise between a managed care plan and ABA providers and focus on steps for facilitating the development of a collaborative relationship between provider and health plan. The panel will include professionals from managed care organizations that will discuss the importance of using data to inform and direct treatment progress, keys to obtaining authorization for treatment and critical information that is consistently reviewed by care managers. Other panelists will be ABA service providers who will share their perspective as to lessons learned and effective strategies used in their work with managed care organizations.

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the application of shaping technology to establish direct line of sight, visual regard, as a propaedeutic behavioral cusp for the further development of more complex and multiply determined joint attending capacities. The participants were three boys classified with autism with ages ranging between three and five years old. All three learners attended an ABA-based special needs school for children with autism. A multiple probe design across participants was used to document the impact efficacy of the procedure, which consisted of several systematically applied steps, with some variations, per learner. Visual regard was observed in different settings and at different times to determine maintenance and generalization of the skill.

The purpose of the current study was evaluate the effects of peer competition and feedback during recess on childrens step counts. Participants were exposed to a comparative feedback intervention according to an ABAB reversal design. During baseline, participants wore a pedometer during the recess period of the school day. However, the device was sealed and therefore no feedback was available from the pedometer. Additionally, no performance feedback was made available to the participants. During intervention, participants with higher step counts, identified during baseline, were paired with participants with lower step counts. Once placed into teams, participants were allowed to look at their pedometers and share their step counts with their partners, as well as other teams. Results of the study demonstrated an overall increase in step count from baseline to intervention. These results suggest that childrens steps during recess can be maximized by being placed into small teams and receiving immediate feedback about their performance on the playground.

Many schools have scaled back or completely removed their physical education programs. Therefore, promoting physical activity during times of the day when children have the opportunity to be physically active, such as recess, is increasingly important. We evaluated a pedometer-based intervention consisting of comparative feedback between two teams of students, with additional self-monitoring, goal setting, and reinforcement components, to increase the physical activity level in an elementary school classroom. We found that in the absence of self-monitoring, performance feedback alone did not increase activity levels above those observed during baseline. Additionally, higher levels of physical activity were observed when goal-setting was introduced, with the highest levels of activity observed when raffle tickets could be earned for exceeding a specified step-total goal. We will discuss classroom, team, and individual data, and their implications, in terms of responders and non-responders to the intervention.

Perspective taking is an important skill in the interaction of humans. Perspective taking can be defined as the ability to understand ones own experience as separate from another individuals experience. It is typically studied in developmental psychology using Theory of Mind Tasks. Relational Frame Theory offers a behavioral conceptualization of perspective taking as based in deictic relational responding relational responses that involve discrimination of a particular perspective (i.e., here vs. there, or now vs. then). This symposium explores deictic relational responding in children on the autism spectrum, individuals who are deaf, or individuals with traumatic brain injury. The first paper will extend previous research on the convergence between deictic relational responding and true and false beliefs in children with autism. The second paper will present data on teaching perspective taking skills to adults with TBI through established protocols, which utilize deictic relational frames. The third paper will review the literature on perspective taking in the Deaf and will offer an overview of the adaptation of the Deictic Relational Task for use with deaf individuals.

Perspective taking is a pivotal behavioral repertoire essential for social functioning, and is what some recognize as a hallmark deficit of the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Relational Frame Theory conceptualizes perspective taking in terms of deictic relational responding, or the ability to relate events based on the discrimination of a particular perspective. Advances in the study of deictic relational responding have included the development of a perspective taking training protocol shown to improve performance on false belief tasks in typically developing children; however, there has been little research on the generality of these findings in children with ASD. The role of deictic relational responding in social interaction is also undetermined. The following data extend on previous findings of the role of deictic relational responding on true and false belief and lend support to their application on advanced Theory of Mind tasks. Implications for promoting social skills in children with autism are also discussed.

Each year in the U.S., around 1.7 million people sustain a TBI and of those, approximately 52,000 die, 275,000 are hospitalized, and 1.365 million are treated and released from an emergency department. There are several factors which contribute to potential outcomes for people with TBI related disabilities, including the age at which the person sustained the injury, amount of time since the injury occurred, and the severity of the injury. Behavior analytic approaches to TBI recovery generally include basic behavior change programming involving both reduction and acquisition. One repertoire known to be severely affected after brain injury is perspective taking. The ability to take the perspective of another greatly contributes to social interactions and involves a complex set of skills. To date, behavior analysis has not shown the ability to adequately affect the re-acquisition of this repertoire. A small number of studies have attempted to train perspective taking skills in populations lacking the ability, but none with people with TBI. This study aimed to teach perspective taking skills to adults with TBI through established protocols, which utilize deictic relational frames.

In general, when we as Applied Behavior Analysts carry out behavioral interventions, we must look carefully to address or eliminate potential ethical concerns. When working with sexual behaviors in particular, potential ethical concerns abound, especially when those we work with have intellectual or developmental disabilities. There are also legal implications of which we must be cognizant when working in the delicate domain of sexual behavior. Using research and clinical case examples to illustrate their points, members of this panel will address some of the legal and ethical concerns and themes that commonly arise when clinicians are called upon to address issues related to sexual behavior in applied settings. Panelists will also discuss reasons why behaviors that are sexual in nature may warrant targeted behavior change efforts through empirically verified sex education curricula and behavior reduction programming, as well as situations in which it would be unethical to target such behaviors.

Judges and juries easily accept information that is consistent with stereotypes but tend to resist information that is inconsistent with them. When groups like gangs, terrorists, or prostitutes are demonized the facts become framed in a manner that a guilty verdict or severe sentence becomes likely. Experience in dozens of gang-related trials is drawn on to confirm how stereotypes can produce processes of injustice. Language from police interrogations, prosecutor's arguments, and Hagedorn's court testimony are examined to explain how in gang-related criminal trials it is often the frames that matter not the facts. When the frames are hard, Lakoff says, the facts sometimes bounce off.

Certified Behavior Analysts and graduate students.

Ample research has demonstrated that behavioral interventions implemented directly with children with autism are effective in producing a large variety of socially meaningful behavior changes. However, parents will always be the ones who have the greatest influence on the outcome of their children. Parent training, therefore, continues to be a major priority, if behavior change is to be broad and enduring. This symposium brings together two presentations that push the envelope of standard behavioral parent training. The first presentation, by Taira Lanagan, consists of an evaluation of a tele health approach to training parents to treat their children's food selectivity. The second presentation, by Evelyn Gould, consists of an evaluation of a acceptance and commitment-based approach to training parents of children with autism. The symposium concludes with a discussion by Dr. Karen Kate Kellum.

Ample research has established the effectiveness of behavior analytic approaches to treating feeding disorders in children with autism. However, very few experts in feeding disorders are available to provide treatment. Therefore, methods for disseminating expertise more broadly are needed. This presentation consists of a study that evaluated a telemedicine approach to training parents to treat their child's food selectivity. Overall, parents were amenable to training at great distances and child gains resembled that which is normally obtained with behavior analysts directly implementing treatment.

Behavioral parent training is a critical component of effective treatment for children with autism, however, practitioners frequently encounter challenges with respect to parent involvement and the delivery of parent training. The potential role of covert verbal behavior in parenting interactions and compliance with treatment protocols has not been addressed significantly by the behavioral parent training literature. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behavior analytic intervention that seeks to increase adaptive, flexible responding by decreasing the influence of problematic private events, such as overly rigid rule-deriving and rule-following. ACT has been shown to be effective with a wide-range of populations and issues, however, research involving parents of children with ASD is currently in its infancy. This ongoing study will examine the effects of a brief ACT-based parent training protocol on involvement (e.g., attendance and participation in team meetings), treatment adherence, and child problem behavior. In addition, this study will assess the feasibility and benefits of implementing this brief protocol within the context of community-based ABA service delivery.

Although the experimental analysis of behavior often seeks to generalize the principles of behavior to a diverse range of species, invertebrate research is still relatively uncommon. This is unfortunate as invertebrates are good candidates for many experimental paradigms and invertebrates are more practical subjects in terms of cost and maintenance than many traditional vertebrate subjects. This symposium will discuss several experiments in behavior analysis using invertebrates as subjects. The first will discuss the ability of honey bees to use social stimuli in an aversive conditioning paradigm, the second will discuss a chaining task in honey bees that is analogous to some vertebrate problem solving tasks, and the third will discuss an olfactory sign-tracking experiment in hissing cockroaches. The presentations will relate the findings to the behavioral ecology of the subject species, and compare and contrast the trends in invertebrate behavior analysis with what is commonly observed in traditional vertebrate subjects.

Honey bees were trained to perform a cap pushing task developed by Abramson, Dinges, & Wells (manuscript in preparation). The bees were trained to gather sucrose from a food dish. Following multiple independent visits, the bees were shaped to press a cap to gain access to the reward. Nave bees were unable to perform the task without shaping. Following training and acquisition of steady state responding, a physically distinct cap was introduced to cover the sucrose well and the previously trained cap was moved to the side to present the bee with a discrimination task. Honey bees returned to and pushed the previously trained cap even in the absence of food reward. Error rates rapidly reduced over consecutive trials. A second introduction of a new cap resulted in recovery of erroneous responding that quickly disappeared over consecutive trials. Introduction of multiple caps resulted in pushing of previously trained caps only. These results indicate that bees can be trained to perform arbitrary tasks to access food reward; in this case, the cap pressing response and food reward are associated. Behavior that can be interpreted as problem solving or insightful are the result of prior experience as bees absent training do not perform the cap pushing response. More complex cognitive faculties that direct insightful behavior, such as object permanence or an understanding of the physical and mechanical nature of objects, are absent.

Sign-tracking is the response we sometimes see when repeated presentations of a signal stimulus indicate the availability of a preferred stimulus. The organism then learns the association so well that it responds to the signal stimulus, even if it jeopardizes the organisms ability to obtain a preferred stimulus. Hearst and Jenkins (1974) identified several variables that influence sign-tracking. Principally, sign-tracking has been shown with environmental arrangements that include a correlation between the presentation of signal stimulus and the availability of a preferred stimulus, a localizable signal stimulus that does not create additional cues, and a dependent measure of an approach response towards the signal stimulus (Hearst & Jenkins, 1974). However, the majority of these studies were performed with rats and pigeons (Hears & Jenkins, 1974). This study investigates the relevant arrangements with the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (MHC) in a cross-species replication. Determining stimulus saliency and preference in the MHC are the key elements of this investigation. Pilot investigations have shown associative learning in the MHC with scent as the conditioned stimulus. Sign-tracking will be demonstrated by stability criteria, and persistence in responding to the signal stimulus when the spatial distance of the signal stimulus from the preferred stimulus is increased in successive trials.

As costs and bureaucratic considerations have diminished the existence of traditional animal labs in the study of the basic processes underlying behavior, advances in the research of non-traditional organisms have advanced considerably over the past decade. The symposium will discuss how to build an invertebrate laboratory in behavior analysis graduate programs, evaluate the use of robotic technology in application with aquatic vertebrates, and discuss the past, present, and future of the use of animal models in behavior analytic research. Together, these talks will highlight a method for building an animal laboratory when resources may not be available to maintain traditional laboratory arrangements, as well as discuss the idiosyncratic advantages associated with each of the species examined.

Scientists have used animals to better understand the natural world as early as the ancient Grecians, and this practice continues today. One of the earliest types of animal research conducted by scientists was the dissection of animals to try and understand how the body works. Our science, behavior analysis, also began with animal research from dogs, to cats, and most famously, rats & pigeons. These latter species were the conduit through which much of our understanding of behavioral principles were discovered. Skinner first described the effects of varied schedules of reinforcement after hundreds of sessions with rats in an operant chamber. Today, most in the field have an applied focus, solving real world problems with principles of behavior, and sometimes the training programs forego any exposure to animal labs. A trending area in our field, translational research, includes the parallel investigation of phenomena both in a basic laboratory as well as in applied settings, this has been tremendously valuable to the progress of our science, and promises to be critical to our future. As such, it becomes more and more apparent that animal labs are critical for the training of graduate students as well as the continued growth of our understanding of behavioral phenomena. Unfortunately, the number of animal labs in our field seem to be shrinking as costs and bureaucratic hurdles overwhelm the resources allocated. This paper will discuss the state of our animal labs in the US and propose a solution in the form of non-traditional species.

Determining what language we use with English Language Learners (ELLs) is an important research endeavor as findings have implications for inclusion in bilingual education programs, may influence academic achievement, and provide evidence for home language support. This symposium will include recent research on how language can influence responding. The first study presents a protocol for evaluating preference for a specific language in which praise is given. Specific language praise is then examined in a reinforcer assessment to determine reinforcing efficacy of praise in different languages. A second study examines the effect of listener language on the number of child initiations and mean length utterance (MLU). This study also replicates previous research examining the conditions under which children adjust their language to match the language of their listener. Predictive validity and utility of language proficiency assessments will be discussed. Effects of home language and English language usage for increasing responding and providing second language supports in educational settings will also be discussed.

Assessing preference for stimuli has been shown to be of value when determining potential reinforcers for individuals with disabilities. This study conceptualized different languages as different types of social stimuli. Assessing preference for languages may be of use to identify forms of social reinforcement that can be used with English Language Learners (ELLs) with disabilities. Five ELLs with disabilities between the ages of 10 and 17 years old participated in the study. We conducted a paired-stimulus preference assessment for specific language praise statements in English and Spanish to determine the language in which the participants preferred praise. Following the preference assessment, we conducted a concurrent-chains reinforcer assessment to determine reinforcing efficacy of praise in each language. We found two of five participants preferred Spanish praise to English praise. Three of five participants preference was undifferentiated between Spanish and English praise. All participants preference assessments predicted, to a degree, the results of their reinforcer assessments. From these results we concluded our paired stimulus preference assessment was effective for evaluating preference for different types of praise. Preference was also indicative of reinforcing efficacy of praise.

Safety skills are important for children with and without disabilities. Children with autism typically have difficulties with safety skills often related to problems with communication and problem solving. The first presenters evaluated the effects of video modeling and programming for common stimuli on children with autism answering or making a FaceTime call on an iPhone 6 or exchanging an identification card when approached by an employee or after approaching an employee when lost. Results demonstrated that children with autism can learn and generalize low-and high-tech help-seeking behaviors. The second group of presenters examined the use of video modeling for teaching children with autism to use the telephone to call someone for help. Results of the study suggest that teenagers diagnosed with autism can be taught problem solving skills by breaking down problem solving scenarios into task analyses and using video modeling strategies. Typically developing children also have issues with safety skills, particularly regarding abduction. The third presenter focused on the differential effects of verbal instructions, social stories, video modeling, and practice on child responses during in-situ abduction assessments. Results demonstrated that each participant performed better following practice compared to verbal instructions, social stories, and video modeling.

Deficits in safety skills and communication deficits place individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at increased risk of danger. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of video modeling and programming for common stimuli to teach low- and high-tech help- seeking responses to children with autism when lost using a multiple probe across participants. All of the participants with autism acquired the skills of answering or making a FaceTime call on an iPhone 6 or exchanging an identification card when approached by an employee or after approaching an employee in a contrived setting, generalized the skills to novel community settings, and maintained the skills over a one and two- week follow-up. Normative data were collected with typically developing peers (i.e., without a diagnosis of a developmental disability) across the dependent variables during pre-baseline and post-intervention phases, with all participants being able to seek help when lost. Additionally, social validity measures showed that the procedures, goals, and outcomes of the study were acceptable to direct consumers, indirect consumers, immediate community members, and extended community members. Results demonstrate that children with ASD can learn and generalize low-and high-tech help-seeking behaviors.

For many teenagers diagnosed with autism, problem solving can be a complex skill to teach. Research indicates that using video modeling can be successful when teaching children with autism skills such as reciprocal conversation and play, but few studies address video modeling to teach problem solving skills. This study utilized a multiple baseline research design, to teach three teenagers diagnosed with autism the skill of using the telephone to call someone for help. During intervention, video modeling was introduced for each step of the problem solving task analysis, then faded as participants demonstrated the skill independently. For all participants, maintenance probes were completed one year after the initial training. Following intervention, all three participants completed 100% of the problem solving task analysis independently. One year later, two out of three participants maintained the skill at 100% of the task analysis. Results of the study suggest that teenagers diagnosed with autism can be taught problem solving skills by breaking down problem solving scenarios into task analyses and using video modeling strategies.

Family members or friends of the family commit the majority of child abductions (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2015). Much of past research has focused on conducting in-situ assessments with novel confederates to determine if abduction prevention training was successful (Beck & Miltenberger, 2009, Johnson et al., 2005). The purpose of this abduction prevention analysis was to analyze the differential effects of verbal instructions, social stories, video modeling, and practice on the responses of children. A multi-element design was used to examine the differential effects of the various instructional modalities on child responses during in-situ abduction assessments. Four participants, two female and two male, participated in this study. They were all typically developing and ranged in age from four years of age to seven years of age. Following each instruction period, the in-situ assessment was done with an adult friend of the parents who the child knew. Results demonstrate that each participant performed better following practice compared to verbal instructions, social stories, and video modeling. Verbal instructions had no positive effects during the in situ assessments. Social stories and video modeling had mixed results as indicated on the graphs.

Dance training historically focuses on training methods of a coercive nature which lack the use of behavioral coaching procedures with positive reinforcement (involving praise and specific feedback). This symposium covers three papers which provide the first behavioral data based observations of dance teacher training methods, as well as the development and testing of the application of three behavior analysis training methods (public posting, video modeling, and video modeling and video feedback), to novel populations within a dance studio context.

This study identified antecedent behaviors and behavior specific consequences dance instructors use during competitive dance classes to train their students. Data was collected at over 12 studios within a 20-mile radius from the University of South Florida. Antecedent behaviors observed on behalf of instructors included instructions and modeling. Behavior specific consequences observed included: ignore, hands on correction, positive physical contact, specific and general verbal correction, specific and general praise, specific and general yelling, rehearsal, and coercive statements. Data was collected via a continuous recording method. All classes were scored continuously for the duration of the class (55 minutes). No experimental manipulations were conducted and the instructors did not receive feedback at any point during the study on results of the data collection. However, instructors were debriefed at the conclusion of the study that consisted of informing them which antecedent behaviors and behavior specific consequences were observed by data collectors including a summary of the results across all sites. Results informed us that dance instructors use high amounts of specific verbal corrections, general praise, and coercive statements during their classes. Very small amounts of specific praise were provided. The results did not differ greatly among studios of different locations in urban and rural settings or within the type of dance instructed. These results demonstrate that while dance instructors are well-versed at providing specific verbal correction, very rarely is specific feedback provided for specific correct elements of performance. Implications of these results and how they should direct future behavioral research will be discussed.

This study evaluated the use of public posting and feedback to enhance dance movements for adolescent dancers on a competition team. Four dancers, each performing two or three dance movements (a turn, kick, and/or leap) had their scores posted on a bulletin board at their studio. Dance movements were scored as a percentage correct by using a 14- to 16-step task analysis checklist. Intervention was evaluated in a multiple baseline across behaviors design. The students received graphical feedback on their performance from the previous weeks and saw the scoring sheet that reviewed the incorrect and correct aspects of their performance. This study found that public posting and feedback enhanced each of the dance movements for all participants. Implications and suggestions for future dance research will be discussed.

This study evaluated the use of video modeling and video modeling and video feedback to increase the proficiency of dance movements for students on a competition team. Specifically, this study evaluated the effectiveness of video modeling and video modeling and video feedback in teaching dance skills to children in a competitive dance class on a ballet movement (a brise). Video modeling was used as an antecedent procedure where students were shown a video of a technically perfect execution of a dance movement and directed to salient elements of the move and then attempted the movement during the session. In video modeling and video feedback phases, video modeling was used as an antecedent procedure and video feedback as a consequence procedure the participant was shown her video side by side with the expert video. The student received specific verbal praise and specific verbal corrections for her performance as compared to the expert. For the participant who has not improved from either intervention, the perspective of the video will be altered and re-tested since dancers typically learn movements mirrored in the context of a dance classroom.

Relational frame theory (RFT) is sometimes said to provide a foundation in basic behavior analysis for acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and ACT is said to be part of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) writ large. This lecture will consider the potential role that RFT could play in grounding ACT, and perhaps some CBT concepts, in more functionally based theorizing. The first part of the lecture will argue that the so-called “middle-level terms” employed in ACT, such as acceptance, defusion, values, and self-as-context, may be seen as lacking the (functional) analytic precision that many concepts in traditional CBT also lack. This lack of functional precision is entirely understandable for CBT, given its explicitly mentalistic origins, but it could be seen as placing a question mark over the functional-analytic “credentials” of ACT. The second part of the lecture considers the argument that RFT can “rescue” ACT from its apparent lack of functional precision, and concludes that it cannot do so without additional substantive conceptual development of the theory itself. A brief outline of how this conceptual development might be realized is presented in the form of a multi-dimensional, multi-level (MDML) framework for analyzing the dynamics of relational framing as generalized relational operant behaviors.

Individuals with an interest in conceptual issues pertaining to translational research, particularly in the domains of clinical behavior analysis, and human language and cognition.

Among the behavior analysts who first appreciated the scope and power of Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, Jack Michael has been by far the most influential. In addition to having trained many of the most prominent figures in the field, Jack relentlessly refined and sharpened Skinner's analysis over the course of five decades. In honor of his unparalleled contributions, the Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group annually acknowledges a prominent figure in the field with the Jack Michael Award. The first three winners of the award will speak about Jack's influence on their work and on the field as a whole. Among the topics they will discuss are multiple control, establishing operations, automatic reinforcement, recall, and private events.Dr. Jack Michael was born in 1926 in Los Angeles and entered UCLA in 1943, majoring in chemistry. He served two years in the US army and returned to UCLA in 1946 as a psychology major. He obtained a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. at UCLA, finishing in 1955. As a graduate student, his main interests were statistical methodology, physiological psychology, and learning theory. During his first teaching job (Kansas University), he was much influenced by B. F. Skinner’sScience and Human Behaviorand, throughout his teaching career, he was primarily involved in teaching behavioral psychology (Kansas University, University of Houston, Arizona State University, and from 1967, at Western Michigan University). In 1957, as a result of influence by the rehabilitation psychologist, Lee Meyerson, Jack Michael began to apply Skinner’s approach to individuals with developmental disabilities, mental illness, and physical disabilities. During the next several years, “behavior modification” was in a period of rapid expansion and Dr. Michael contributed with his teaching, writing, and public presentations. He spent much of his academic career concerned with the technical terminology of behavior analysis, basic theory regarding motivation, and verbal behavior. He contributed to the founding of the Association for Behavior Analysis (International) in 1974 and served as its President in 1979. Among his many awards are: 1989 Western Michigan University’s Distinguished Faculty Scholar; 2002 Award for Distinguished Service to Behavior Analysis: ABAI; 2008 The Murray Sidman Award for Enduring Contributions to Behavior Analysis: Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy; 2009 Ellen P. Reese Award: Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies; 2012 Victor Laties Lifetime of Service Award: Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (SEAB); and in 2012, he was the first recipient of the award named in his honor: The Jack Michael Outstanding Contributions in Verbal Behavior Award from the Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group at ABAI.

This symposium will focus on current issues in the applied analysis of animal behavior in zoological settings while covering conceptual, theoretical, and methodological considerations of behavior analysis. Thus, while experimental in format, this symposium emphasizes translational work. The first presentation is mainly theoretical/methodological (with data-based examples) and concerns the application of single-case methodology to the evaluation of environmental enrichment efficacy in research and practice. The second presentation is data-based with theoretical implications of two widespread animal care strategies and will discuss a comparison of zoo animals choices for participating in positive reinforcement training or enrichment strategies. The remaining two presentations and the discussants remarks will comment on the content of these two presentations. These presenters will provide commentary on the two presentations from different perspectives and different areas of expertise, including experimental, translational, and applied analyses of behavior. By bringing together presenters with different areas of expertise, we hope to draw an audience that might not typically attend applied animal behavior presentations and offer perspectives that audiences at AAB presentations might not typically hear.

Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACTraining) is a non-psychotherapeutic variation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The methodology involves experiential exercises which aim to: loosen one's rigid adherence to rule governance, promote response variability, and contact the natural contingencies of living according to one's "values." ACTraining studies have been shown to be effective in a wide variety of settings with a wide variety of populations including: mental health and innovation, stigma, stress, burnout, sick leave, physical and psychological well-being, absenteeism, college performance, and worksite distress. This symposium will provide an overview of applied research pertaining to implicit behavioral assessment and ACTraining with the focus on healthcare practices. The primary research topics will include: weight loss management, training interprofessional communication skills between nursing and medical students, implicit behavioral assessment pertaining to burnout, and integrating ACTraining into a medical school curriculum.

Human-induced medical error results in 210,000-440,000 American fatalities annually. Faulty teamwork and communication amongst healthcare providers has been identified as the root cause of such adverse events. To enhance teamwork, communication, and as a result patient safety, the incorporation of interprofessional education (IPE) into healthcare training has been advised. Introduced in June 2011, the I-PASS handoff bundle curriculum is one evidence-based technology currently used in IPE settings. Interprofessional teams who have completed the I-PASS handoff curriculum demonstrate improved communication, coordination, and leadership skills within groups. One component that remains missing, however, is the psychological training of individual values and perspective-taking skills. Within behavior analysis, a methodology known as ACTraining exists to address these psychological deficits. Given this information, the current study will implement of a comprehensive IPE program (based on the I-PASS curriculum and ACTraining literature) into a medical and nursing school. Behavioral measures related to interprofessional communication (e.g., simulated patient handoffs) will be taken before, during, and after exposure to the curriculum intervention.

The impact of medical practitioners� implicit biases on the quality of care provided to patients perceived as different from themselves has been well documented.� Medical education has frequently addressed these biases in classroom settings, but there is evidence that in some cases, simply teaching about cultural differences may only reinforce some negative stereotypes.� Therefore, understanding the nature of implicit biases and acknowledging the potential negative effect on doctor-patient relationships may offer an effective approach to enhancing the cultural competence curriculum in medical education.� At the University of Nevada School of Medicine (UNSOM), a variation of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure has been developed to determine areas of implicit bias in the student population, with the intent of shaping the curriculum to address these biases.�This presentation will discuss the process of developing this assessment tool for UNSOM, and ways by which the data have been utilized in guiding curriculum development at UNSOM.

Medical schools seek curricular elements that increase resiliency, self-compassion, and empathy towards diverse patients to combat these effects. Previous studies have shown that the likelihood of stress, burnout, and depression tends to fluctuate depending on students degree of academic progression. By using a curriculum-based intervention, all students in a medical school, over time, are taught skills to prevent burnout and depression when the inevitable stressors set in. Understanding the effects of ACTraining in medical school settings may increase students compassion and resilience to burnout and depression. This presentation will discuss the development of modules teaching each of six essential components of ACTraining as a means of decreasing the likelihood of medical student burnout and increasing compassion for medical students. Both implicit and explicit measures of attitudes related to empathy, compassion, and bias will be discussed and explained from a behavior analytic perspective as a means of assessing the effectiveness of an ACTraining approach.

Scientists have long studied the motivation to perform certain behaviors. Motivation has been proposed as a way to explain why people engage in goal-directed behaviors and is sometimes invoked as an explanatory construct/fiction. Behavioral scientists often avoid the problems associated with such constructs by conceptualizing motivation in terms of antecedent and consequences that impact goal-directed behavior. A long-standing debate emerged many decades ago about how to best motivate behavior and this debate has been one of the centerpieces in the divide between behavioral and non-behavioral perspectives. Although many theories such as the cognitive evaluation theory and the overjustification effect have been proposed, the argument comes down to one key issue: Do rewards/reinforcers provided by external forces harm ones natural interest in performing certain behaviors? How this question is answered has profound implications for business, education, or any other settings where it is important to manage the behavior of others. Six decades worth of objections to external rewards will be summarized, along with their counterarguments and the implications for organizational practices. Understanding this contentious history is important in order to critically evaluate the more recent variations of this debate, such as the arguments outlined in popular books such as Drive.

The utility of reinforcement-based procedures has been well established in the behavior analysis literature. The overjustification effect is one commonly cited criticism of programs that use tangible rewards. The overjustification hypothesis suggests that the delivery of an extrinsic (socially mediated) reward contingent on engagement with an activity that previously occurs at some level without apparent socially mediated reinforcement will result in a reduction in the amount of engagement in that activity from baseline levels when the reward phase is discontinued. One of the most commonly cited series of studies on the overjustification effect was conducted by Deci (1971). Deci evaluated the effects of money and verbal praise on undergraduate students performances on a puzzle task. Deci concluded that intrinsic interest decreased when money was used as a reward. This study is a direct replication of the landmark study evaluating the overjustification hypothesis conducted by Deci. The subjects were undergraduate psychology students. The findings did not replicate those obtained by Deci, and the results did not provide support for the overjustification hypothesis. Additional investigations of the overjustification effect with first grade children will also be presented leading to implications for the use of rewards in child behavior management will be discussed.

In 2009 Dan Pink published what would become a New York Times best-selling book for 159 weeks, thereby rekindling the longstanding debate over intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and the adverse effects of reinforcement on performance. This talk will build on the foundational overview of the research presented in previous talks, and will discuss the implications of Pinks book, and contemporary debate around motivational theories. This talk will critique Pinks arguments and conceptual analysis of extrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the research base of his book, and his contentions that if-then rewards are out of place in todays creative workplace. Implications of this perspective will be discussed, particularly in the context of Organizational Behavior Management, including a discussion of why we as behavior analysts should not be too hasty to dismiss out of hand all of the suggestions made by Pink. The talk will conclude by suggesting ways that behavior analysts can make practical use of Pinks book, both as a source of data, and a method for addressing organizational performance.

Despite the debate around the history and theory of Dan Pink's conceptualization of motivation, his notions of Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose can be put to use in the workplace by applied practitioners. This framework can easily be broken down into behavioral principles and procedures, and used as an approachable toolset. For example, Mastery and Autonomy are facilitated through meaningful goal-setting during an evaluation period, the use of shaping techniques for successive approximations of independent functioning, intermittent feedback on worker performance, and dependent and independent group contingencies for team project completion. Purpose is established and maintained via the articulation of the organizations mission and values, the explanation of individual employees role in this mission, and the crafting of setting events that easily connect an individual employees behavior to the organizations mission. This talk will present a case study to demonstrate to audience members how Pinks approach has been integrated with the principles and procedures of ABA in both a school setting, and a human resource setting in a non-behavior analytic government contracting firm.

Food refusal is a severe feeding problem in which children refuse to eat all or most foods which often leads to insufficient caloric intake and malnutrition. Food refusal can be effectively treated using a variety of multicomponent intervention packages. The purpose of the present study was to use an alternating treatments design to compare two intervention packages-- differential reinforcement (DRA) with escape extinction and response cost (RC) with escape extinction for treating food refusal in a 2-year-old boy with developmental delays and failure to thrive (FTT). There were not differences across conditions in the childs level of acceptance and interruptions initially; however, the childs acceptance was consistently higher and percentage of interruptions were consistently lower in the DRA condition after implementation of a phase in which empty spoons were presented in both treatment conditions. In addition, the childs total volume of solids and liquids was greater in the DRA condition. Potential explanations for results as well as suggestions for future researchers will be discussed.

This study used a multiple baseline design to examine the effects of a combined behavioral skills training (BST) and general-case training (GCT) package for teaching caregivers how to implement an intervention to treat food selectivity in their children. Following baseline during which caregivers were given written instructions of the intervention, experimenters implemented BST training which involved instructions, modeling, rehearsal and feedback as well as GCT which involved the experimenter following scripts which simulated the range of child responses (e.g. accepting bites, expelling, refusal, etc.) caregivers could encounter during post-training sessions with their child. The food selectivity intervention involved having caregivers implement single-bite taste sessions with several target foods using exit criterion. Following training, all caregivers increased their percentage of correct steps performed of the intervention compared to their performance in baseline. In addition, all children demonstrated increases in the cumulative number of bites accepted under 30 s during post-training compared to baseline.

University programs in applied behavior analysis (ABA) have increased at a rapid rate in the past 5 years, with minimal empirical information about optimal practices used to teach ABA content to college students. This study will examine whether using an online textbook (Autism Training Solution, ATS) improves student quiz scores when compared to a standard textbook only condition (i.e., students read Cooper, Heward, & Heron, 2007) in a fully online graduate course in applied behavior analysis. A total of 22 first year graduate students in special education and behaviour analysis participated in this study. This was the participants first graduate course in ABA. An alternating treatments design was used to compare a condition consisting of assigned readings and guided notes only with a second condition consisting of assigned readings, guided notes, and ATS. The outcomes provide information about the effects of a comprehensive online learning resource, ATS, on student demonstration of knowledge via weekly quizzes.

The number of universities offering course sequences approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) has grown steadily over the years (M. Nosik, personal communication October 12, 2015). With the development of new programs, it may be helpful for schools developing new training programs if the readings assigned by successful programs are disseminated. Saville, Beal, and Buskist (2002) surveyed former and current board members of journals in behavior analysis to develop a list of essential readings for graduate students. The goal of the present study was to extend the work of Saville et al. by performing a content analysis of the readings included in the syllabi of BACB-approved course sequences for the fourth edition task list. Inclusion in the study required that schools had a BACB-approved course sequence, at least six students that completed the 2014 certification examination, and an average pass rate of 80% or higher. Readings listed on each syllabus were categorized by topic (e.g., ethics, concepts and principles, single subject research), and reading type (e.g., empirical studies, discussion papers, books). We analyzed the data to generate a list of the most commonly assigned readings in each topic area. We identified the top 10 readings for each of the 12 different topics. Interobserver agreement was calculated for 100% of the coded data. Disagreements about reading type and category were resolved through a consensus process. The results will be discussed in terms of teaching behavior analytic content in higher education settings.

The funding and monitoring sources for behavior analysts have changed over the last five with the introduction of behavior analyst licensure and health care coverage for families affected by ASD. Additionally, the number of BACB certificants continues to grow nationally. Due to the high number of new BACB certificants, new licensing laws, and increased health-care funding sources for ABA treatment, behavior analysts must be responsive to pertinent field based ethical issues associated with the practice of behavior analysis in homes and communities. This discussion will introduce the topic of applied ethics as to identify the common ethical issues encountered by practicing proving home/communizing based ABA services. Furthermore, the discussion will address cross reference these identified ethical concerns with the BACB compliance code and behavior analysts licensing regulations across the country. Finally, the presenter will recommend the best course of action based on established case law when behavior analysts encounter these ethical dilemmas.

Effective January of 2016, the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts (the Code) outlines the expectations of professional and ethical behavior for individuals practicing in the field of behavior analysis. Despite its intentions, behavior analysts are likely to encounter ethical dilemmas that may not be fully resolved with application of the Code. For example, based upon the Code, behavior analysts are obligated to tailor behavior-change programs to the uniquegoals of each client. However, with nonverbal adult patients there is a unique challenge in determining their goals. New, but similarly complex ethical dilemmas are likely to develop as a result of changes to the landscape of fee-for-service models. For example, accountable care organizations, which have been established under the auspices of the Affordable Care Act, employ a pay-for-performance reimbursement model that may compel behavior analysts to develop performance metrics for behavioral interventions. This talk explores ethical questions for behavior analysts that may challenge the Code and provides a breakdown of such questions from the perspective of an ethicist and a practicing behavior analyst.

BCSNA currently offers services based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) principles including: skill acquisition for young children with ASD and other neurological disabilities and disorders, functional behavior assessments and analyses for individuals demonstrating challenging behavior, parent training, school consultation, supervision services, etc. One of the recent services requested of BCSNA by the state of Arizona (motivated by cost containment issues) includes a Placement Stability Package (PSP) to assess, treat/stabilize children and adults in their home settings prior to transferring them to an inpatient facility in another state. The PSP is a program where parent and care provider training is vital to keeping the individual stable and abate the need to send them out of state. As licensed Behavior Analysts in Arizona (under the Board of Psychological Examiners), BCBAs are held to both the APA and BACB ethical guidelines. Issues and challenges surrounding how services are provided to rural culturally and linguistically diverse minority health populations will be discussed.

The Global Autism Project, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, partners with individual centers for children with autism in the under-served communities of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Jakarta, Indonesia, Nairobi, Kenya, and Chandigarh, India. The Global Autism Project specifically partners with centers run by local individuals who seek to establish evidenced-based behavior analytic principles to schooling for those in need. There are currently 70 million people in the world with autism, 85% living in developing countries without access to proper treatment and where limited understanding of autism spectrum disorder is evident. Instead of giving centers resources the Project uses a bottom-up approach to work alongside the centers, helping them to develop tools allowing for self-reliance and sustainability. While the Global Autism Project offers training for BCBA Supervision, a training protocol for the teachers in these centers is emergent. This paper outlines a behavior analytic teacher training protocol developed with the Centre in Jakarta allowing teachers to create tools evaluating parent workshop effectiveness and subsequently analyzing data. This study is pioneer in behavioral research with therapists that work with children with special needs in under-served communities in under-resourced communities and is the beginning of teacher training protocols that will be used around the world.

The current service model for learners with ASD is falling short of the goal to provide skills required to transition seamlessly into adult life. It is critical that practitioners rethink the current model of 1:1 or 1:2 staff to student ratios prior to students "aging out." Additionally and more critically, as the incidence of ASD has recently increased by 30%, with further predictions that in 5 years 122,493 students will turn 22 nationwide at an annual cost of $3,623 million dollars. Clearly the current model falls short of the goal to provide learners with skills required to transition more effortlessly into adult life. We need to consider preparation for next environments as a primary obligation of service provision. Working in groups, working independently, identification of relevant outcome measures, targeting functionally relevant skills and working with minimal and reduced supervision must be explicit goals for learners with ASD. Furthermore, we must develop creative and cost-effective methods to more efficiently prepare, teach, support and monitor adults with ASD in community and employment settings. Moreover, identification of relevant outcome measures and targeting functionally relevant skills must take precedence. The panel will discuss the topic and possible solutions within behavioral frameworks.

Identifying effective communication systems is a top priority in service provision to individuals with developmental disabilities. It is routine for communication modalities to be selected based on a clinicians expertise or the learners history instead of on individually relevant characteristics that might influence success with the system. The current literature supports the use of a number of communication modalities for people with disabilities, but does not provide comparative studies or clinical assessment methods. These papers will present unique methods for identifying effective systems on an individual basis. Data will be presented on relative rates of acquisition, indices of preference, and evidence of discrimination across different modalities. In addition, a model for analyzing specific elements of an identified communication system that could enhance its utility will be discussed. The papers will present varied models to help make these decisions in data-based ways, and will highlight ways for effective collaboration across disciplines.

Carr and Durrand (1985) evaluated communication modalities for functional communication training (FCT) as a way to reduce and replace problem behavior for individuals with developmental disabilities. However, there is minimal empirical research evaluating the most appropriate mode of communication for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, especially in regard to discrimination across modalities. As discussed by Tiger, Hanley, and Bruzek (2008) the main areas of research examining the selection of a communication modality include: a) response effort; b) the social recognition of the response; and c) the rate of acquisition. The current study looked to expand on current research by examining the rate of acquisition and accuracy of discrimination. The modalities examined included a button press, picture exchange system, sign, vocal responding, and three-dimensional objects. This study also further examined an individuals communication system by manipulating possible variables that influenced his accuracy of communication. These variables included pre-exposure, board positioning, and icon placement.

In both children and adults, physical activity has positive health benefits on overall health. However, according to the CDC, only 48% of adults engage in the recommended 150 minutes a week of physical activity. They also note that fewer than 30% of children get the recommended 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity a day. The World Health Organization estimates that globally, 3.2 million people die from health conditions due to physical inactivity per year. The development of behavioral interventions to increase physical activity could therefore have direct impacts on individual health, and potentially ease great financial burdens of physical inactivity in healthcare systems. The papers in this symposium target physical activity in children and in adults by altering activity choice or delivering reinforcers for improvements in physical activity. Specifically, the three papers address: 1) effects of activity choice on physical activity in children 2) using intermittent monetary reinforcement to increase walking in underactive adults, and 3) using tokens to increase walking in adults with intellectual disabilities.

Less than half of United States adults meet the physical activity guidelines given by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Interventions can be designed to increase physical activity, but may not work for everyone. The goals of the current study were to 1) develop a successful intervention to increase step counts in adults who walked fewer than 10,000/day during a baseline period and 2) investigate which individual and behavioral variables predict intervention outcome. An ABA changing criterion design was used during the five-week intervention. During the one week baselines, ten participants wore a Fitbit device that tracked activity but no goals or monetary reinforcement were given. During the three-week intervention phase, participants were given step goals based on their previous performance using a percentile schedule. If their goals were met, they could draw a ticket out of the prize bowl. Half the tickets were winners, and monetary prizes ranged from $1.50 to $50. Finally, a one-week return to baseline condition occurred. On average, there was ~41% improvement in step counts during the intervention phase. Delay discounting, age, baseline physical activity, exercise motivation, expectation of success, and percent body fat were investigated for predictive utility

Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) are at risk for negative health conditions due to high levels of sedentary behavior. Research is limited in evaluating physical activity interventions for this population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a token reinforcement intervention for increasing distance walked for adults with mild to moderate ID at an adult day training center. An ABAB reversal design was used with five participants to evaluate a token reinforcement intervention where participants earned tokens for walking 50 m laps, and exchanged tokens for backup reinforcers identified through preference assessments. Token reinforcement resulted in a noticeable increase from baseline in laps walked for four participants. Baseline levels were recovered once the intervention was removed, and treatment effects were replicated during the second treatment phase, demonstrating experimental control in 4 out of 5 participants.

Achieving the best outcomes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in adulthood begins with an early interdisciplinary teamwork including multiple types of activities related to transition. Practical and ethical considerations should include who should be involved, what skills should be taught, where these services should be offered, when they should be delivered, how services should be delivered, and why they should be taught. This symposium will address ethical considerations involving interagency collaboration across the lifespan, creating a balance in teaching academic, functional, and self-determination skills, the need to consider community settings and programming for generalization across settings, and how technology can facilitate skill acquisition across settings. There is a need for practitioners to consider these areas when working with children as they transition through various services with a mindful approach about factors related to adult outcomes including quality of life, sustainability of naturally occurring contingencies, resources allocated, and both individual and societal benefits. The symposium will present the various ethical considerations associated with selecting skills that are most relevant to long-term goals, precursory skills, and environmental factors related to the utilization of those skills.

The research on treatment of behavior disorders shows clearly that treatments are more effective when they contain an extinction component. However, clinical situations arise wherein the extinction component is not an option. Some examples of situations in which the extinction component is not an option include but are not limited to: a) the client is too large, fast, or strong to guide through a task in the case of escape behavior, b) the behavior is too dangerous to "ignore" in the case of attention-maintained behavior, and c) the specific source of reinforcement is unknown in the case of some automatically reinforced behavior. In addition, factors such as poor treatment integrity and dangerous extinction bursts at times compromise the extinction component even when it is prescribed as a part of the intervention. The presenter will review some of his own research and other literature on concurrent reinforcement schedules, differential reinforcement, and noncontingent reinforcement in order to suggest partial solutions to the extinction problem.

Behavior Analysts and Behavior Psychologists

The development of the recognition of self-like individuals, including relatives and conspecifics, often relies on critical experience with parents, siblings, and other predictable referents during early life. For example, in birds, exposure to conspecifics in the nest reliably cues species-recognition for flocking and mating. How then so brood parasitic birds, that lay their eggs in other species' nest, develop conspecific referents when raised by foster parents? And how do hosts recognize and reject foreign eggs and chicks in the nest if they have not yet laid a clutch before? The presenter’s research focuses on the experimental analysis of self-recognition in both parasites and hosts through phenotypic manipulation of the available cues for species recognition during development. The results reveal how a long-hypothesized mechanism, namely self-referenced phenotype matching, enables the evolution of brood parasitism in birds, and perhaps contributes to the ecological flexibility of recognition systems under socially unpredictable conditions in general.

Licensed Psychologists

Although basic behavioral research was one prevalent, numerous factors have contributed to the current scarcity in basic research programs in university settings. However, ensuring the future of behavior analysis will certainly require the training of basic behavioral scientists. Panelists will be asked to share their experiences in training students (undergraduate and graduate) in basic and translational research. Additionally, panelists will be asked to provide recommendations for future researchers on how to obtain and maintain their own animal labs and get students interested in basic and translational research at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Panelists will discuss how to incorporate basic and translational research components into existing programs, even programs with a currently heavily applied focus. Panelists will also be asked about their predictions about the future of basic behavior analytic research, and will be asked to provide advice for researchers interested in pursuing a career in basic and translational research.

Nature and nurture always work together. Genetic determinism in any form is not a viable concept. Evolution is a continuous process. Do contemporary "evolutionary psychologists" give these facts more than lip service? Some talk as if human behavior is determined (somehow) by genes that were selected 10,000 years ago and unchanged since then. Many evolutionary psychology observations can be explained more parsimoniously by the principles of behavior, mediated by a nervous system, that have been selected for just such plasticity. Indeed, behavior is both a product and a driver of evolution. Then, there are the implications of the immense flexibility in the larger biobehavioral system. The "systems" approach offers an evidence based alternative encompassing everything, including the many complex, nonlinear interactions across all levels of behavior and its development. This panel discussion compares the typical views of evolutionary psychologists with the systems approach and explores where behavior analysis fits in.

Behavior analysts and others interested in evolutionary psychology.

Pavlovian pairing procedures are often used in practice to condition reinforcers. However, applied pairing studies have produced mixed results. This symposium will cover a review of the research on stimulus-stimulus pairing procedures and some empirical studies evaluating the effects of different pairing procedures.

Children with autism often display deficits in social interaction and communication. One of the first signs of autism is lack of eye contact and responding to ones name. Given these behaviors are often prerequisite for additional social interactions, it is critical that they are targeted during early intensive behavioral intervention. Unfortunately, it is often the case that commonly used teaching procedures such as prompting and prompting fading strategies are ineffective. In the current study, we used a response-stimulus (R-S) pairing procedure to condition participants names as reinforcers. We then evaluated whether the name acquired discriminative control over the response of looking at the researcher. During test probes we presented the participants name and recorded whether he responded by looking at the researchers face. During pairing sessions, following every instance of eye contact, the researcher used a delayed pairing procedure to condition the name with a preferred edible. Results suggest that this procedure may be an effective alternative to more traditional prompting strategies.

Programming that simultaneously targets communication and social deficits is common in Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention. Previous literature has taught children to mand for preferred items from peers, targeting communication and social skills (e.g., Kodak, Paden, & Dickes, 2012; Taylor et al., 2005). The pairing trials that occur during mand training with peers may mimic conditioning procedures and could establish peers as reinforcers. Several studies have evaluated using response-stimulus (RS) pairing and stimulus-stimulus (SS) pairing to condition neutral social stimuli as reinforcers; however, results have been idiosyncratic. In the current study, Experiment 1 compared SS pairing procedures and RS pairing procedures in conditioning preschool-aged peers as reinforcers. Response-stimulus pairing may be more effective and efficient than SS pairing (i.e., 3 of 6 participants had a successfully conditioned peer using RS pairing). Experiment 2 evaluated the effects of peers as conditioned reinforcers or peers with a history of pairings on the acquisition of manding to peers. Mand training to conditioned peers was just as effective as to novel peers for 3 of 4 participants.

Parents of children diagnosed with autism face a variety of stressors. Parents who are unable to successfully cope with these stressors are often given labels such as anxious, angry or depressed. The typical treatment approach is pathological and focuses on the problem, often through counseling, behavioral therapy, tutoring, and/or drugs. This presentation will show data from a study that assessed an alternative approach, the constructional approach (Goldiamond, 1974). Three parents were taught how to build off of their strengths and assets and how to analyze their life, formulate goals, and develop programs to reach these goals. Teaching this new repertoire enabled the parents to make changes in their lives and reach their goals. Also, for each parent, the percentage of time each day during which she felt happy increased. Each parent was able to reduce or eliminate her stressors by analyzing the circumstances and focusing on her ideal outcome, rather than focusing on her psychological deficits and misfortunes of life. The results suggest that the use of a constructional program is very effective in helping parents develop a new repertoire that will ultimately improve their overall quality of life.

Functional analysis (FA) and functional communication training (FCT) have been conducted via remote teleconsultation for approximately 10 years now. Since the earliest demonstrations of its effectiveness as a service delivery system, the use of teleconsultation has been expanded in a variety of ways. This symposium will feature recent applications of teleconsultation and discuss the issues related to its use. Alyssa Suess will present first with a demonstration of FA and FCT for individuals with autism who are on a waiting list for treatment of problem behavior. Jessica Simacek will give the second presentation on teaching young children with neurodevelopmental disabilities to mand across home contexts. The third presentation, by Traci Ruppert, will address the effects of coaching and performance feedback on parent acquisition of intervention strategies for challenging behavior across family routines. Matt O'Brien will deliver the fourth presentation on a multi-site study that employs a randomized control trial of functional analysis and treatment for challenging behavior. Wayne Fisher will serve as the discussant and synthesize the presentations as well as discuss implications for future research.

There are numerous barriers to children with severe neurodevelopmental disabilities accessing recommended early and intensive intervention services that are related to optimal outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to determine the efficacy of parent-implemented assessment and intervention with coaching via telehealth (i.e., video conferencing) on the acquisition of early communication skills for three young children (3.5-4 years old) with severe neurodevelopmental disabilities. A structured descriptive assessment and functional analysis were used to identify idiosyncratic/potentially communicative responses and communicative contexts for each child. Functional communication training (FCT) was implemented to increase early communication skills. Parents conducted all sessions with remote coaching via telehealth by experts in functional analysis and FCT. The effects of FCT were evaluated using an adapted, multiple-probe design across three contexts for each child. Prior to intervention, none of the children engaged in reliable or easily recognizable communication forms; however, the results indicated that during FCT intervention all three children acquired the targeted communication skills. Implications from this study support the efficacy of parent-implemented intervention delivered with coaching via telehealth and the potential for future research to examine telehealth within a service delivery model to increase access to services for children with disabilities and their families.

Although prior studies have evaluated and supported the use of telehealth to deliver coaching and performance feedback to parents of children with developmental disabilities, there have been few studies that have evaluated the use of telehealth to provide behavioral consultation across family routines. The current investigation examines the effects of coaching and performance feedback provided via telehealth on parent acquisition of intervention strategies across desired family routines for three parents of children with developmental disabilities who engage in challenging behavior. A multiple-probe design across participants was used to examine the effects of immediate performance feedback on parent implementation of intervention strategies and of parent implemented intervention on challenging and adaptive behavior. This study broadens the existing research base by training graduate students to deliver behavioral consultation via telehealth to train parents on how to implement multi-component interventions in their home. Suggestions for future research will be discussed.

Published studies on the use of telecommunication technology in the field of applied behavior analysis date back nearly 10 years (Barretto et al., 2006). Recent research has established the telehealth model as an effective service delivery modality for behavior analytic services. For example, Lindgren and Wacker have recently completed a series of studies using telehealth in home and clinic settings (Lindgren & Wacker, 2009, 2011). In the most recent study (Wacker et al., 2014), telehealth was used to conduct a randomized controlled trial of functional communication training in the home setting. The results revealed outcomes similar to face-to-face service delivery and telehealth in clinic settings. Given robust findings on the effectiveness of the telehealth model for service provision, this model should also be considered an appropriate modality for conducting behavior analytic research. A new, multi-site research grant (Lindgren & Wacker, 2015) is underway using telehealth to conduct a randomized controlled trial of functional analysis. This presentation will provide insight into the use of telehealth as a research tool to evaluate functional assessment and treatment and will offer a look at case studies from early grant participants.

There is increasing use of antecedent-based treatments in the treatment of pediatric feeding disorders, but limited reporting of systematic assessment of antecedent manipulations. In the current study, we developed an experimental assessment method to evaluate the effects of varied antecedent manipulations (e.g., changes to liquid or food properties) on acceptance or mealtime problem behaviour. Conditions showing the most improvement are matched to an individualized treatment protocol for each child. This study is conducted in family homes in New Zealand, with children that are dependent on some degree of tube feeding to meet their nutritional needs. Preliminary results from five participants have shown that this assessment may identify effective treatment protocols to increase oral nutrition in the absence of escape extinction.

Psychopharmacological and behavioral interventions are used to treat challenging behaviors in individuals with intellectual disability (ID), often in combination. However, little is known about the interaction between medication pharmacodynamics and behavior function. A better understanding of these mechanisms could serve as the conceptual foundation for combined interventions. We conducted extended functional analyses to assess the impact on behavior function of various dosages of primarily antipsychotic medications. We explored the relation between the changes in medication (i.e., new prescription, dosage change in an existing prescription) and problem behavior by conducted a very long series of functional analysis sessions. Four individuals with ID and challenging behavior who were also receiving psychotropic medications participated. Behavior function remain the same after a change in medication in 14 out of the 21 medication manipulations examined.

The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend the findings from Luczynski and Hanley (2013) by evaluating the effects of implementing the Preschool Life Skills program to increase communication skills and decrease problem behavior in 17 boys and girls ranging from 3 to 5 years old. During baseline sessions, all behavior was reinforced. During Preschool Life Skills training, children were taught appropriate communication skills using a combination of modeling and social reinforcement. A concurrent, multiple-probe, multiple baseline design was used in combination with a between groups design to analyze the effects of the Preschool Life Skills training on both childrens performance of skills and occurrences of problem behavior. Results show improvements for all participants once Preschool Life Skills training was implemented. These results, as well as modifications required to implement the Preschool Life Skills training program with these participants, will be discussed in terms of applied practice and recommendations for future research.

Previous research has shown that both fixed-time reinforcement delivery and the high-probability (high-p) sequence can be effective to increase compliance. However, previous studies on these topics have used two different topographies of instructions: compliance with relinquishing a preferred item, and compliance to completing a non-preferred task. Previous research has shown that fixed-time reinforcement delivery may only be effective with the latter type of instruction. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of the fixed-time delivery of reinforcement and the high-p sequence on both topographies of instruction using reversal designs. Results show that neither a fixed-time reinforcement schedule nor the high-p sequence was effective at increasing compliance with either topography of instructions, which is inconsistent with previous research on noncompliance. Differential reinforcement of compliance was effective to increase compliance with the low-p instruction. Implications and suggestions for future research with regard to the different topographies of instructions are discussed.

Noncompliance is reported to be a major problem by parents and teachers. To date, functional analyses of noncompliance and subsequent treatment procedures have been restricted to single response topographies (e.g., cleanup or matching task). The current study evaluated a modified functional analysis of noncompliance consisting of attention, escape, and control conditions across multiple response topographies (i.e., physical, gestural, and vocal) with three 6-year-old children with autism. Subsequently, an additive intervention consisting of (a) tokens and (b) guided compliance or time-out was implemented systematically across the response topographies to measure generalization within and across response types. Results showed that the function of noncompliance was consistent across response topographies within participants but varied across participants. Additionally, generalization within response types and across (to the vocal response type) was observed with 2 of the 3 participants without direct intervention when the intervention was applied to physical and gestural response types; however, no generalization occurred with the third participant. These findings suggest that for some individuals compliance may be a response class and offer an efficient method for increasing compliance to multiple response types.

Delay discounting, a measure of impulsive behavior, refers to the decline in value of an outcome as the delay to the receipt of that outcome increases. How quickly delayed outcomes lose value is a powerful predictor of problematic behaviors such as drug abuse, obesity, and risky sexual behaviors. A growing body of research demonstrates the way one outcome is discounted is highly related to the way other outcomes are discounted. This holds true even when outcomes are discounted at different rates. However, other research suggests that this finding is not universal and that how some outcomes are discounted is not related to other outcomes, suggesting that different processes may be involved in the discounting of different outcomes. Delay discounting is also related to important personal characteristics such as obesity, income and education. Establishing characteristics related to delay discounting could lead to better identification of individuals at risk for engaging in problematic behaviors. The presentations in this symposium investigate consistencies and inconsistencies of delay discounting across different outcomes as well as identify the important characteristics related to how an individual discounts delayed outcomes.

Current smokers, former smokers and never smokers were recruited to explore the role of smoking history and nicotine dependence in the valuation of commodities differentially related to cigarettes: alcohol, money. All participants performed the MCQ (Kirby et al 1999 JEP: General 128, 78-87) to assess delay discounting (choice between small rewards available immediately versus larger rewards available after a delay) as a function of commodity type and three delayed commodity amounts. An MCQ task was developed to assess probability discounting (choice between small rewards available with p(receipt)=1 versus larger rewards available with p(receipt)< 1). Both MCQs were compared to standard discounting tasks. Participating were sensitive to delay and probability, and were affected by commodity amount. Never and current smokers conformed to previously reported findings for delay and probability discounting for money but also for alcohol. However, differences between former smokers and never smokers varied as a function of discounting type and commodity. For delay discounting, former smokers discounted delayed money and alcohol more than never smokers. However for probability discounting, former smokers discounted money more but alcohol less. These data will be explored from the perspective of dependence history effects on commodity valuation, and differences between delay and probability discounting.

Alcohol dependence is associated with steep discounting of delayed rewards, but its relation to the discounting of delayed losses and probabilistic rewards is unclear. Moreover, patterns of alcohol consumption vary considerably between communities, but previous research has not examined the relation between discounting and alcohol dependence in low-income African Americans. The present study evaluated whether low-income, alcohol-dependent African Americans differ from controls in their discounting of delayed rewards, delayed losses, or probabilistic rewards. African American participants, both alcohol-dependent cases and controls, were recruited from the same low-income neighborhoods, and propensity-score matching was used to further control for demographic differences. Three tasks assessed discounting of hypothetical monetary outcomes: delayed rewards, delayed losses, and probabilistic rewards. Alcohol-dependent cases discounted delayed gains, but not delayed losses or probabilistic gains, more steeply than their matched controls. The difference in discounting of delayed gains was localized to the male cases, whose discounting was steeper than either the male controls or the female cases; no gender difference was observed between male and female controls. The present results suggest that in low-income African Americans, alcohol dependence, particularly in males, may be more a reflection of choosing immediate rewards than of ignoring their delayed negative consequences.

Impulsive delay discounting (DD) is a core process in the reinforcement pathology of addictive disorders. This meta-analysis examines the magnitude of associations between DD and continuous addiction variables (e.g., quantity/frequency of use and addiction severity). A total of 63 studies met our inclusion criteria: alcohol (k = 19), tobacco (k = 15), cannabis (k = 1), stimulants (k = 3), opiates (k = 1), mixed (k = 14), and gambling (k = 10), yielding a total N = 9,428 across studies. Effect sizes (Pearsons r) for associations between DD and addiction variables were extracted. Preliminary results indicate that across studies there is a significant association between DD and both quantity/frequency (r = .14, Z = 5.89, p < .00001) and severity (r = .14, Z = 7.74, p < .00001), with varying effect sizes across addiction type. Additional analyses will compare effect sizes across different addiction types and will examine differences as a function of sample severity (e.g., clinical vs. subclinical). These results reveal consistent associations between DD and continuous measures of use and severity. More broadly, these findings converge with previous categorical studies to further support impulsive discounting as a core behavioral phenotype of addictive behaviors.

Reinforcer accumulation occurs when organisms forgo consuming available food in favor acquiring a cache of food to be consumed later. This symposium presents experiments that involve the factors that determine reinforcer accumulation or the effects of an obligate reinforcer accumulation contingency on responding. Bruner and Feregrino manipulated the temporal interval separating a component where lever pressing queued up reinforcers (procure component) that were delivered in a separate component (access component). Reinforcer accumulation increased as a function of the interval. Flores, Mateos, Madrigal and Bruner varied both the temporal interval separating procure and access components and the duration of the two components. They found that in addition to the temporal interval the duration of each component determined to the amount of reinforcers accumulated. French and Reilly investigated the independent effects inter-trial intervals (separating the access and procure component transitions) and response reinforcer delays (separating the procure and access component transitions) on reinforcer accumulation. Reinforcer accumulation increased when the response reinforcer delay was increased. Finally, Smith and Jacobs used a second-order token reinforcement schedule to investigate the effect of increasing the procure requirement on response rate when either two or four tokens had to be accumulated prior to the access component. Response rate was found to be a bitonic function of the procure requirement. The collective results of these studies have implications for response gradients, relative-time effects, delay discounting and conditioned reinforcement.

Food accumulation in rats is an increasing function of lengthening the interval between access to two alternating retractable levers. Each press to the food-procuring lever programs the delivery of one pellet for each press on the food-obtaining lever. While in previous studies access to each lever has been held constant at 20 s, in the present investigation access to each lever was lengthened to either 40 or 60 s, with four rats in each condition. On successive phases the intervals between access to the levers were 0, 2, 8, and 32 s. For all rats the number of obtained food pellets increased in the range between 0 and 8 s. With 32 s the number of food pellets decreased. The number of food pellets and of procuring and obtaining responses was higher with lever-access constant at 40 s than at 60 s. It was concluded that lever-access duration controls both, the number of obtained pellets and the point of inflexion of the increasing food-accumulation functions, in a manner similar to relative-time effects.

The present experiment investigated the effect of second-order token reinforcement schedules (requiring the accumulation of multiple tokens prior to receiving an opportunity to exchange the tokens for food) on response rates and evaluated those data in terms of Killeens (1994) Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement (MPR). Two Long-Evans Hooded rats (J164 & J165) were trained to earn and exchange steel ball-bearings (token reinforcers) for sweetened-condensed milk (unconditional reinforcers) throughout 2-hr sessions. The fixed-ratio (FR) token-production schedule requirement was increased following a block of three sessions (values varied between FR 2 FR 20). In condition 1, the exchange-production requirement was a second-order FR 2 schedule that required two tokens to be accumulated prior to transition to the token-exchange component. For condition 2, the exchange-production requirement was a second-order FR 4 schedule. The effects of successive token production across the second-order schedule components on response rates were evaluated and characterized using the MPR equation. The overall response rate data, plotted across the token-production schedule values, revealed the typical bitonic pattern that is described by the MPR equation. These data extend Killeens principles into second-order schedules and reveal some limitations of their application.

Functional behavior assessments and function-based interventions represent effective methods for addressing the challenging behaviors of children. However, traditional functional analysis has limitations that impact feasibility in school and community settings. Trial-based functional analyses have been shown to address concerns relating to the length of time, level of expertise required, and the contrived nature of analogue functional analyses. The current study expanded on previous research by using trial-based functional analyses to determine the function of challenging behaviors within an educational setting for four early childhood education students with autism spectrum disorder. Results of the trial-based functional analyses were then used to create corresponding individualized function-based interventions for three of the four students assessed. For two students, the intervention was based on differential reinforcement of other behavior, and one students intervention was based on differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior. Each of these individualized function-based interventions resulted in both decreases in problem behaviors as well as increases in classroom engagement. The students teachers conducted all assessment and intervention procedures, and collected trial-by trial student data during assessment.

Researchers have only recently begun assessing the function of selectively mute behavior likely due to the fact that selective mutism (SM) is defined by the absence of verbal behavior, and because it has historically been attributed to unobservable, private events (i.e., anxiety). More recently, research has begun exploring the treatment of SM through the use of functional behavior assessments (FBA). In this study, an FBA was conducted in order to determine the function of a female kindergarteners selectively mute behavior. It was determined that the behavior was maintained through escape. A differential reinforcement procedure was designed to shape the students communicative behavior. Teacher collected frequency data and direct observation measures were used to evaluate the effect of the intervention on the students communicative behavior using a changing criterion design. Direct observation data were also used to evaluate the influence of intervention procedures on the students behavior, as well as to obtain peer comparison data, using an AB design. Results indicated that intervention procedures effectively increased the target students vocal behavior to rates similar to classroom peers. Discussion focuses on contributions to current research, implications for the practice of ABA in educational settings, and suggestions for further research.

English language learners (ELL) are at risk of academic failure when classroom expectations are not effectively communicated and they are unable to engage in classroom instruction. A delayed multiple baseline design across participants was utilized to investigate the effects of a video self-modeling (VSM) intervention on the classroom behavior of ELLs. This study was implemented in the preschool setting with ELLs exhibiting low levels of engagement and/or high levels of off-task behavior during group time. Prior to group time, the child viewed a brief self-modeling video of appropriate behavior. A parent of the child provided voice-over in the childs home language, clearly stating the classroom expectations described by the teacher. Through visual analysis, the results indicated an increase in engagement and decrease in off-task behaviors for all 4 children to levels comparable to English-fluent speaking and ELL peer comparisons in the classroom. These results were maintained during the brief follow-up phase. In addition, teacher and child social validity data suggested the intervention was viewed favorably by both the teachers and children. This study demonstrates promising evidence that VSM may be an effective antecedent intervention for ELL children in the preschool classroom setting.

Historically preschool has been primarily focused on social behavior; however in recent years there has been an increased emphasis being placed on academics particularly due to increased academic standards within grades K-12. In this study, an intervention was created to examine the effects of a matching-to-sample intervention on the preacademic skills of a preschool student. This case was implemented in a preschool with a student who was well below the expected level associated with being able to identify shapes, colors, numbers, and the letters of his name. During free play, the classroom teacher implemented one of the matching-to-sample interventions with the preschool student per day. A different matching-to-sample intervention was completed each day of the week. Results indicated that the intervention was effective in increasing the number of correctly identified shapes, colors, numbers, and letters compared to baseline. Social validity data also suggests that the teacher viewed the intervention positively. This study demonstrates promising evidence that a matching-to-sample intervention for preschool students struggling with acquisition of preacademic skills may be an effective technique for teachers to utilize in the preschool classroom.

According to the CDC, obesity and related comorbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease cost the United States at least $147 billion dollars a year. Although diet and physical activity have been robustly demonstrated to improve health outcomes related to obesity, there is little empirical evidence of effective and publically available interventions. Interestingly, little behavior analytic research has been published on the topic, potentially due to the large scale level of change that must occur across a wide variety of settings and behaviors. As a means of addressing this dearth of research, the current symposium incorporates translational behavior analytic approaches to the study of diet and physical activity. The present studies evaluate behavior analytic strategies with typically developing adults to reduce sedentary behavior, increase physical activity, and improve dietary behaviors across a range of environments. Procedures include treatment packages with both antecedent and consequence based interventions, measurement of physical activity via wearable technology, and an emphasis on goal-directed behavior via goal setting and delay discounting. In conjunction, results suggest that behavior analytic intervention strategies can result in clinically relevant changes in dieting, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors, and warrant further exploration.

Approximately one in four adults and one in ten children, comprising more than six million Canadians, are obese. The economic, social, and personal impact of our collective weight problem is immense, with an estimated $6 billion directed towards the treatment of obesity related illnesses annually. Medical research has demonstrated that sustained weight-loss and increased physical fitness can drastically improve outcomes for individuals at risk of obesity related health problems. Unfortunately there is little evidence to indicate the effectiveness of any diet or exercise program currently accessible to the public. A recent systematic review of weight management programs has suggested that a comprehensive behaviour management strategy is the missing component in most weight management programs. This talk will outline the authors weight management efforts, a hybrid of self-management and contingency contracting strategies supported by the use of personal health monitoring technology and will suggest that behaviour analytic strategies could be used to complement most diet or exercise programs. The extension of such strategies to clinical settings will be suggested as the logical next step with preliminary data on similar fitness related interventions on a forensic inpatient unit presented as an example.

The current study evaluated if an extended couch to 5k program (IV) would increase physical activity thereby lowering participant rates of delay discounting (DV). Higher relative rates of discounting (i.e. a propensity to choose a smaller immediate reward over a larger delayed reward) have been associated with a variety of clinical issues such as substance abuse, pathological gambling, and obesity. Conversely, lower rates of discounting have been associated with exhibiting a higher frequency of healthy behaviors such as diet and physical exercise (Axon, Bradford, and Egen, 2009), however, there are no studies to our knowledge that have studied the effects of a physical exercise intervention on rates of delay discounting. In the current study, delay discounting was assessed three times a week and participants were instructed to wear Fitbit devices 24 hours a day. Using a concurrent multiple baseline design, three of the four participants demonstrated reduced rates of delay discounting in the treatment condition (i.e. exercise) and the same three participants maintained lower discounting rates than baseline at one month follow ups. The present study suggests that physical activity should be further explored as a method of reducing an individuals propensity to overvalue immediate rewards.

Various fitness-related behaviors have been examined previously using behavior analysis, but none have specifically studied behavior change in bodybuilders. This study examined the use of goal-setting and self-monitoring of calorie and macronutrient intake, along with non-contingent reinforcement, in preparation for a bodybuilding competition. Data on compliance to daily and weekly calorie and macronutrient goals were examined using a changing criterion design using the website My Fitness Pal. Once a week, the participant set a weekly goal average for macronutrient and calorie intake for the following 7 days. No external consequences were given for following or not following the scheduled intake. Non-contingent reinforcement consisted of one higher-calorie meal day per week, designated as refeed day. Along with weekly goals, a terminal goal was set for the participant to compete in a bodybuilding competition after the completion of the study. Results of the intervention demonstrated that self-monitoring was effective in increasing compliance to weekly goals for calorie intake. However, daily calorie intake data during the intervention continued to show some variability, albeit lower than in the baseline phase. In conclusion, self-monitoring of macronutrient and calorie intake may be an effective strategy to increase compliance to goals set, but further replication is needed.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a multi-component process in which practitioners select, refine and deliver clinical services based on a) the best available scientific evidence, b) unique client and contextual features and c) ongoing clinical progress monitoring and decision making. Developed initially in medicine, EBP has been extended to the delivery of applied behavior analysis (ABA) services and is considered an essential feature of ethical and high quality (ABA) service delivery. This symposium reviews the defining features of EBP as applied to ABA service delivery and provides a synopsis of the challenges encountered in implementing the EBP process in ABA. This symposium will offer practical advice for ABA practitioners and supervisors who are interested in improving the quality and accountability of ABA and clinical behavior analysis service delivery. Additionally, it will offer guidance for instructors and researchers who are interested in the dissemination of ABA technology and quality assurance.

As Applied Behavior Analysis principles and procedures have been shown to be effective, many ABA practices have become standardized with non-individualized procedures. The idiosyncratic practices of some of these standardized programs' have eroded their ABA scientific foundations. These practices often ignore the research supported principles and application procedures of ABA creating possible ethical violations. This symposium will present examples of ABA practices which have possibly eroded and compromised the efficacy of ABA. We will also discuss the possible ethical implications of these trends.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) has typically evaluated its outcomes using reliable and valid observational data of increases in adaptive behavior, decreases in maladaptive behavior, generalization, maintenance and social validity and more recently systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Despite the evidence for effectiveness, wide spread adoption, beyond adoption of simple contingency management has been scarce. Once important and neglected aspect of evidence-based practice is economic evaluation. This paper highlights opportunities for promoting ABA by demonstrating economic benefit of ABA.

Sometimes the best-intentioned practitioners implement ABA interventions that fail to produce behavior change of sufficient magnitude, generality and durability to resolve the presenting problem. This presentation will review the ethical obligation to incorporate clinical benchmarks and clinical progress monitoring in a manner that allows for early detection of treatment failures and shortcomings. It also reviews seven practical strategies for troubleshooting treatment failures.

Core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include both language and social deficits. A wealth of research has been dedicated to the study and acquisition of early vocal language with children and adults on the autism spectrum (e.g., manding, tacting, simple intraverbals). Although increasing vocalizations makes it possible for those with ASD to communicate with others, further training is often needed to teach more nuanced uses of vocal behavior. The talks in this symposia seek to teach individuals with ASD and other developmental delays these more directed skills. The topics in this symposia span a variety of topics including manipulating establishing and abolishing operations to promote requesting social information and missing items from peers, responding to stimulus cues to promote sharing of a common preferred items, and delivering and accepting compliments. The instructional techniques used across the studies span a variety of strategies including discrete trial training and behavioral skills training.

Children diagnosed with autism are less likely than their typically developing peers to engage in positive social behaviors such as turn taking (Shabani et al., 2002). The purpose of the current evaluation was to evaluate whether a multiple schedule could be used to promote appropriate turn-taking behavior. Participants included two dyads of siblings and two dyads of non-related peers who were identified as having poor turn taking skills. One set of siblings included a 6-year-old diagnosed with autism and his typically developing sister. The other set included 4-year-old twins both diagnosed with autism. Two dyads of peers included a 3-year-old, 4-year-old, 5-year-old, and 7-year-old all diagnosed with autism. During sessions, an auditory and visual stimulus in the form of a PowerPoint presentation played in the background to signal each child's turn with the highly preferred item. Following baseline, a progressive prompt delay was used to teach the children to attend to and appropriately respond to the stimuli presented in the PowerPoint presentation. Preliminary findings suggest that an auditory and visual stimulus can be used to increase appropriate turn-taking behavior. We are currently continuing to implement this protocol and collect data for four dyads of participants.

Several studies illustrate the efficacy of contrived establishing operations (EOs) to teach the mands for information, What? Who? Where? Which? and How? (Raulston, et al., 2013). Asking others questions regarding personal information is considered an important social conversational skill. The current study taught children with autism to emit differentiated mands for social information under conditions in which a contrived EO or abolishing operation (AO) was present. Participants were presented with intraverbal questions related to a partners social information such as, Whats Sarahs favorite color? Questions to which the answer was known or unknown were assigned to the AO or EO condition, respectively, based on prior assessment results. Following baseline, therapists prompted participants to orient toward a conversational partner and ask the appropriate question during EO trials (e.g., Sarah, whats your favorite color?). Primary and secondary data collectors scored cumulative (study 1) or percentage of (study 2) trials with mands for information. Results were analyzed using a multiple baseline design. All participants emitted mands for social information and demonstrated use of acquired information by subsequently answering the intraverbal question. This study extends prior research by demonstrating a novel procedure to teach children to mand for others personal information.

Due to deficits in social communication children with autism often struggle to develop functional language skills. Specifically, language and social interaction skills often require intensive intervention that typically includes the manipulation of motivating operations (Wallace, Iwata, & Hanley 2006; Shillingsburg, Bowen, Valentino, and Pierce 2014). In addition, once language skills are acquired generalization to novel people, specifically peers, has been demonstrated to be an additional barrier to social communication development (Pellecchia & Hineline 2007). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to addresses social communication deficits for three children with autism and one child with developmental delays. A non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants is utilized to teach participants to request for missing items from peers, when those items are required to complete a preferred activity. All participants demonstrate an increase in spontaneous requests to peers during the targeted activity. A manipulation of Establishing Operations (EO) is utilized in this study and further extends pervious EO manipulation literature. Implications for generalization across peers as well as activities will also be discussed.

Black and Hazen (1990) suggested that social status is dependent on competent and cohesive social interactions. The purpose of the present study was to improve social interactions by increasing giving and accepting compliments with three high-functioning individuals with developmental disabilities. Selection of the skills was based on direct observation of the individuals social-skill deficits and caregiver preferences. Initial teaching consisted of behavioral skills training in a trial-based format with a textual prompt, followed by teaching in a session-based format in which textual prompts were provided following incorrect responses. We assessed the effects of our teaching on stimulus generalization of giving and accepting compliments, and treatment extension across unfamiliar adults. We obtained stakeholder responses on the social acceptability of the improvement in social skills. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to demonstrate experimental control. The teaching procedures were effective at increasing giving and accepting a variety of compliments, as well as maintenance, and generalization. The results provide initial support of an intervention for increasing a variety of compliments given and accepted during unscripted conversations.

Zoos and aquariums strive to provide the highest levels of welfare for the animals under their care. This goal is achieved through evidence-based management where research, animal care and veterinary services work together to answer questions regarding animal welfare and turn findings into practice. Behavioral data is one of the many tools used within zoos and aquariums used to make informed management decisions. Historically, zoos primarily utilized negative indicators of welfare such as stereotypic or abnormal behavior. However, the absence of negative indicators of welfare does not suggest that an animal is thriving. The presentation will highlight the many different ways behavior data can be utilized within a zoo environment to ensure high levels of welfare. Examples include behavioral monitoring of the collection, asking specific questions regarding animal behavior, and preference assessments. Ultimately, behavioral data combined with many other positive and negative indicators of animal welfare can help ensure each individual animal within a zoo has the opportunity to thrive.

The target audience should have a basic understanding of animal behavior and preferably some experience with environmental enrichment and animal welfare.

Applied Behavior Analysis is a science and, therefore, involves progressive approaches and outcomes. In this panel discussion we argue that the spirit and the method of science should be maintained in order to avoid reductionist procedures, stifled innovation, and rote, unresponsive protocols that become increasingly removed from meaningful progress for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We describe this approach as progressive. In a progressive ABA approach, the therapist employs a structured yet flexible process, which is contingent upon and responsive to child progress. We will describe progressive ABA and provide rationales for both the substance and intent of ABA as a progressive scientific method for improving conditions of social relevance for individuals with ASD. The chairperson will pose a variety of questions to the other panel members to engender a discussion about how, as a field, we can move toward a more progressive approach and the potential obstacles behavior analysts might face along the way. Finally, we will take questions from the audience members to help facilitate the discussion. The goal of the panel is to help the audience to identify what constitutes progressive ABA and how we as behavior analysts can reach these high standards.

International service delivery for individuals with autism varies in relevance, mode of delivery, and ethical considerations. This panel highlights individuals working in Kenya, India, and the Dominican Republic with children with autism and their respective partnerships with the Global Autism Project. Each partnership is unique in terms of methods and expected outcomes. While some partners have worked with the Global Autism Project for behavior analytic dissemination for over five years, others have only been partners for months. Lessons learned, challenges, and successes with long-standing partners will be discussed as well as systems currently in place that dispel many of the challenges faced in the infancy of the Global Autism Project. There are systems in place to prevent attrition, to ensure dissemination within communities, and combat local prejudice about service delivery. What works for autism treatment around the world varies by geography, culture, and climate; our partners will attest to the challenges faced within their communities and how those are both unique and archetypal within the field.

There is a demand for more certified behavior analysts globally to meet the needs of individuals with autism globally. With the increase in demand, how to do we face the challenges nationally and internationally related to certification requirements and supervision. Panelists will discuss challenges in recruiting and maintaining staff, cost, minority populations, and low-resource settings. Furthermore, misconceptions of applied behavior analysis and certification from current/potential consumers and possibly future behavior analysts will be mentioned. Recommendations for moving forward to meet the demand of certified behavior analysts and reduce the misconceptions of certification and applied behavior analysis in the treatment of autism will be suggested.

In our 6th year of collaboration with Morningside Academy, Haugland Learning Center recognizes that the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction, which focuses on systematic programming and quality instruction is effective in a setting where all students have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Using an assessment system based on the one used at Morningside Academy, Haugland Learning Center has demonstrated that using the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction with students with ASD leads to generative outcomes and academic growth. Past presentations have shown initial success with the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction and explored how writing instruction can lead to generative outcomes. This presentation will focus on assessment data in all academic areas and how Haugland Learning Center uses it to make programming decisions that will continue to lead to academic success for our students.

The current study extends previous research on developmental trajectories in autism, and examines whether the use of The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills® Revised (ABLLS®-R) can be used to build learning trajectories that provide similar information as those developed using standardized assessments. ABLLS®-R assessment results from 15 individual learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) between 1 and 5 years of age, were converted to trajectories using normative scores. Results show similar findings to research conducted by Szatmari et al. (2015) in that those children with less severe autistic symptomology had improving trajectories, whereas those children with moderate to serve autistic symptoms had stable or worsening trajectories. For behaviour analytic practitioners, attention is drawn to how development impacts learning, how normative scores can help guide behaviour intervention, how progress can he measured more effectively, and how to communicate with families regarding their child's development.

The panel presents possibilities and challenges of a multidisciplinary and inter domain approach, applying Behavior Analysis to two nationally renowned public hospitals in Brazil. Three different applications are shown, at three different units and faculties at the largest University in South America (USP), inside and outside it, with professionals coming from diverse organizations. It involves, mainly, two different domains of Behavior Analysis: applied research and service delivery, all of them in the context of a partnership between public university, public hospital and private initiatives. It involves different disciplines: psychology, psychiatry, art, nursing and education, with the common context of Behavior Analysis. It describes and discusses three different approaches: 1) a program of creating a behavioral environment at a Children Ward, at the Psychiatry Institute; 2) a research on the process of adults behavior change during one year of Behavioral Therapy at a University Hospital; 3) a parent training program for those parents at the Children Ward and for those at the Daily Hospital Program. Results shows: 1) pivotal changes in the behavior of the nursery staff, related to the knowledge and application of Behavior Analysis; decreased in the organizational indexes of contention due to aggressive behavior of children; 2) positive correlation between progresses in the behavior of clients and points in psychiatry and social scales; 3) changes in the parents behavior in the direction of a more positive reinforcing contingencies. Considering the involvement of different disciplines and professionals originated from different organizations, discussion will be conducted in the light of the possibilities and challenges of a multidisciplinary and inter domain approach application of Behavior Analysis.

The need for behavior analytic approaches to environmental sustainability has become apparent over the last several years. Many community leaders and citizens are looking for a scientific approach to these problems, and behavior analysis can offer a solution. While environmental sustainability may be a non-traditional research question for the field, behavior analytic researchers are producing important experimental findings, and offering invaluable solutions for future research in the field. The presenters for this panel will be Mark Alavosius, William D. Newsome, and Molli M. Luke. All three presenters have published research in the area of environmental sustainability, offering invaluable insights into effective interventions and suggestions for future research. Research into environmental sustainability is becoming more and more socially valid, and this panel event will allow participants to hear from top researchers in environmental sustainability, their empirical understanding where behavior analysis has been, and where behavior analysis can go to helping improve the sustainability of our planet.

The field of Applied Behavior Analysis continues to expand its reach to many around the world. With 41 non-US chapters, the Association for Behavior Analysis International illustrates the geographical reach of our science. The advent of technology has assisted professionals in connecting across vast distances which previously were impenetrable. With this international reach, many behavior analysis products, therapists and consultants find themselves working across significant distances and with colleagues, clients and customers who do not share the same cultural norms and life experience, often with people whom theyve never had the benefit meeting in-person. Providing applied behavior analytic service internationally is rewarding, yet challenges unique to cross-cultural service delivery often present themselves. Technology provides new opportunities for some countries whom quality ABA service and supports were previously unavailable. This panel presentation, includes professionals using technology to provide services in multiple countries across four continents. Learn about the challenges faced in providing quality and ethical services across multiple geographic regions through technology. Success stories achieved will be shared as well as challenges that continue to exist.

Digital technology is ubiquitous. It has exponentially extended our ability to contact molar and molecular phenomena across all areas of science. This symposium offers two presentations and a discussion of the evolving symbiotic relationship between behavior analysis and digital technology. With the increasing ease of computer programming, non-computer science professionals can develop powerful apps beneficial to research and application. Researchers who have taken advantage of technological advancements have not only benefited in efficiency, but have been able to investigate increasingly complex phenomena otherwise too cumbersome for analysis. This symposium celebrates the success of behavioral researchers in applying modern technology to basic and applied phenomena. This symposium also aims to empower audience members to hack their own hardware and software to create truly unique applications. Audience members will walk away able to identify and participate in a growing community of do it yourselfers committed to the free-sharing of information. We welcome all scientists, practitioners, and hackers.

Darwin's Sexual Selection Theory has had an important impact on the understanding of male-female differences in morphology, physiology, and behavior, as well as in mate selection and competition for access to reproductive resources. Using an avian model (Coturnix japonica) the presenter and colleagues have found that males and females differ in the expression of sexual learning, both Pavlovian and instrumental. They have also explored how early learning affects sexual preference and receptivity in males and females later in life and how learning contributes to improve male reproductive success in sexual competition situations. For example, male quail trained in a Pavlovian learning situation are better able to copulate with females than non-trained males, and male quail who lose in a male-male competition, improve their success after training that allows them to predict the presence of a female partner. Females, on the other hand, improve their proceptive behavior if provided the opportunity to have access to areas occupied by males. The presenter will discuss results of their work, but will argue for a comparative approach to better understand the evolution of the sexual behavior system.

If one looks for data on the presence of Applied Behavior Analysis-based (ABA-based) autism services in Latin America, nothing systematic will be found, besides a few clinic names and professionals. In another example, if you search for Board Certified Behavior Analysts you will find two in Brazil, two in Mexico, and one in Peru; the numbers in other countries are not very different. People trying to implement and disseminate ABA-based autism services in Latin American countries have been finding different obstacles such as (a) limited resources in their languages; (b) few well prepared professionals; (c) few students and professionals willing to be trained in ABA, (d) lack of openness from schools, parents, and health professionals to implement ABA procedures, (e) lack of awareness and many misconceptions regarding ABA, autism and other developmental disorders. Despite the obstacles, solutions are being designed and implemented, including lectures and workshops to decrease prejudice and misconceptions about ABA; training parents, students, and professionals; creating educational resources in peoples languages; and media dissemination (e.g., radio and TV programs). This panel will discuss different obstacles and solutions related to the lack of well-trained applied behavior analysts who provide autism services in Latin America.

This symposium will present a review of the 7 Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as outlined by Baer, Wolf and Risley (1986/87) as well as the cumulative number of published articles and citations across BCAB approved program faculty. In regards to the dimension review, both a review of The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), from 2000 to 2015, as well as a variety of non-evidence based autism practices were evaluated on each dimension. Preliminary results indicate that some dimensions, such as effective were met with rigor while other dimensions are minimally considered in applied studies, such as generalization. The citation review was based on Dixon, Reed, Smith, Belisle, and Jackson (2015) who asserted that research productivity measured by the total number of published articles in behavior-analytic journals is a quality metric for analyzing graduate training programs. The current study examined the number of citations that each published study produced. In addition, the authors searched for the total number of publications and citations in any journal for all faculty in all BACB-approved graduate programs. The cumulative number of published articles and citations across faculty, graduate program and journal were calculated.

The word "consciousness" has many meanings, but that characterizing a "self-descriptive repertoire" is probably the most behaviorally tractable. Skinner, principally in Verbal Behavior (1957), provided a plausible account of how such a repertoire might be established and maintained. But, for some, this meaning of consciousness seems quite constrained in that it fails to capture what might be deemed "immediate experience"—a far more elusive notion—but one engendering a huge literature filled with mystery and even anguish over the seeming impossibility of mere matter, that is, a brain, manifesting such a miracle. The key concept said to embrace this mystery is "qualia," an utterly incoherent notion. The real mystery is why anyone ever believed such an idea was needed. Rachlin, in his book The Escape of the Mind, appears to assume that those who argue for a role for private events in a science of behavior must attribute qualia to at least some of these events. This is wrong. This presentation will attempt to respond to his critique of "Marr's list" as well as other tenets of "teleological behaviorism."

In recent times, some behavior analysts have ventured, and others may have been dragged, into the multidisciplinary debate on the nature of consciousness. The main question for behaviour analysts is whether within the field we can do experimental analyses of questions about consciousness that meet our standards of evidence. One of the best candidates for conceptual research in this area is work done by Hineline and colleagues and there are links between that and the relatively large body of empirical research on relational frame theory. One question posed in this paper will be, does relational frame theory generate findings that begin to provide a behavioral account of consciousness? Another strategy is to examine the conceptual and empirical work of others who reject the implicit cognitivist consensus that human behavior can only be explained by causal mental events. Some of these are the intellectual heirs of J J Gibson, and some of their work, sometimes termed embodied cognition, will be reviewed,

Applied behavior analysis and the experimental analysis of behavior are not disparate. Although seemingly divergent in their analytic goals, these two branches of behavior analysis are in many ways interdependent. This symposium will offer two examples of how current theoretical and basic research can help inform and advance not only applied behavior analysis, but also the field of behavior analysis as a reticulated whole. Work developed out of the laboratory has implications for practitioners, and can only benefit from a practitioners insights regarding application in a more natural setting. General laws and principles revealed in the laboratory can be leveraged as behavior change technologies. The presenters will bring new light to the Premack principle, disequilibrium models, and the behavior analytic study of time as it relates to both basic and applied domains. There are unique predictions to be tested and controls to be studied in both the laboratory and field. Behavior analysis is not a house divided, as its various branches could not prosper, one without the other.

While behavior analysts have historically recognized the importance of time and verbal behavior, it is still unclear how we account for these interrelated factors when studying complex human behavior. Many research areas, such as delay discounting (DD; Madden & Johnson, 2010) and time horizons (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999) aim to measure and evaluate an individuals relationship to time. Other areas (Hayes, 2004) highlight the role of verbal behavior as it influences our relationship to temporally-related issues (e.g., PTSD, anxiety). Hayes and Hayes (1992) discuss the differences in how verbal and nonverbal organisms behave with respect to time-based schedules. Dixon and Delaney (2006) address the importance of verbal behavior as it pertains to gambling addiction, traditionally studied through DD procedures. A better understanding of time, as it relates to verbal humans interacting with their environment, may inform researchers and practitioners on a vast array of applied issues such as: substance abuse, financial management, and performance management. The current paper will discuss how well, and to what degree, behavior analysts have investigated and understood how verbal organisms behave with respect to time. By synthesizing and advancing what we know about time via basic research, there is potential to enhance the breadth and depth of interventions in the applied realm.

Normal hormonal fluctuations produce measurable, differential outcomes in experiments with female participants. However, the effects of circulating gonadal steroid hormones and the menstrual cycle on human decision-making, specifically, loss aversion, remain undetermined. We used the SubSearch Game to examine loss aversion to determine if womens loss-averse behavior in a monetary gain/loss procedure varied as a function of the menstrual cycle. Twenty-five college-age, regularly-cycling females participated in 12 sessions wherein they played the SubSearch videogame. Each session corresponded to either menses onset, ovulation or the mid-luteal phase. The SubSearch Game involves a concurrent-operants method in which the player uses a mouse to move a submarine icon to retrieve underwater objects. The screen is divided vertically in half. The player can switch between the half-screens at any point. Occasionally, according to concurrent variable-interval variable-interval (VIVI) schedules, the retrieval of an object results in the delivery of points via an on-screen counter and which are exchanged for money following the session. Retrieval may also produce the loss of points. Each session consisted of four 9-min components in which the reinforcer ratio varied, as did the background color on the screen. Punishers were delivered in half of the components.

Adding reinforcers into a context, whether contingent on behavior or not, typically results in increased persistence of behavior in extinction. Increases in reinforcers occur when differential reinforcement of alternative behavior is used to reduce problem behaviors. Whilst there is often success at reducing problem behaviours, research also suggests that persistence of the problem behaviour may actually increase due to the increased reinforcement in the context. Training the alternative behavior in a separate context does not increase the reinforcers in the target context and can prevent the increased persistence of the problem behavior when the alternative behaviour is introduced. An analogue of this procedure, with domestic hens, confirmed that training the analogue alternative behavior in a separate context resulted in the analogue of the problem behavior being less persistent during extinction than when the alternative had been trained in the same context (i.e., under traditional differential reinforcement conditions). It is however, often unfeasible to implement extinction completely in applied contexts, so investigation as to whether such differences in the persistence of the problem behavior would be seen with other disruptors, such as alternative sources of reinforcement, were carried out.

In this investigation, we used an approach-avoidance paradigm to examine how different methods of presenting cues correlated with aversive stimulus presentation (or threat) modulate control by positive reinforcement. Using a between groups design, we examined the effects of impending or immediate threat on avoidance behavior. Two versions of a novel approach-avoidance choice task were used. On a trial, both tasks presented a monetary reward alongside a discriminative stimulus (CS+ threat) that signaled the current probability of a money loss (range= 0-1.0). Pressing an approach button produced the reward or probabilistic loss, while pressing an avoidance button prevented loss. Each trial of the Immediate Threat task presented a CS threat level during the choice period. In contrast, each trial of the Impending Threat task began with the lowest CS threat level which increased one level every 2 s until the choice period. Results showed impending compared to immediate threat was associated with increased avoidance to low threats and decreased avoidance to higher threats. Choice reaction times also showed a decreasing trend under impending threat while reaction times showed an increasing trend under immediate threat. These findings suggest aversive control and avoidance in humans is modulated by how threats are encountered.

Two experiments with four rats each were conducted to investigate the resistance to change of responding maintained under conditions of response-independent food and delayed reinforcement. In both experiments, lever pressing was maintained under a three-component multiple schedule in baseline. Variable interfood intervals programmed the same rate of food in each component. In components 100% and 10%, the percentage of response-dependent and immediate food was 100 and 10, respectively. In Component Delay, a tandem variable-interval (VI) fixed-time (FT) schedule (Experiment 1) or a tandem VI differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior (DRO) schedule (Experiment 2) was in effect. Across baseline sessions, the delay value (i.e., FT or DRO) was yoked to that obtained in Component 10%. Responding was disrupted by extinction tests in both experiments. Responding generally was more resistant to change in Component 10% then in Component 100% in both experiments. In Experiment 1, resistance to change in Component Delay was assistematic. In Experiment 2, for three rats, resistance to change in Component Delay was similar to that in Component 10%. These results indicate that resistance to change can be affected by conditions in which the response-reinforcer relation is altered but reinforcement rate is equated across multiple-schedule components.

Every individual has a tolerance level for environmental threat and aversive stimulation that aids self-preservation. As threat intensity escalates, a tipping point is reached whereby behavior switches from being under the control of positive reinforcement (approach) to negative reinforcement (avoidance). Approach-avoidance conflict paradigms are commonly used to understand the competition between appetitive (e.g., food) and aversive (e.g., shock) contingencies. In this investigation, we examined the effects of increasing the magnitude of positive reinforcement on human choice to approach or avoid (N=5). We developed a novel approach-avoidance task where a monetary reward appeared in the presence of a conditioned stimulus (CS+ threat) that signaled increasing probability of a money loss. Across trials, reward was fixed while CS threat level varied unpredictably. Approach produced the reward or probabilistic loss, while avoidance prevented loss. Results showed increasing the CS threat level produced the desired switch from approach to avoidance. However, increasing the magnitude of positive reinforcement for approach only marginally increased approach responding. These results provide important insights into the competition for control over behavior that can occur between appetitive and aversive contingencies and highlights the disproportional control often exerted by aversive events.

Resistance to prefeeding was studied under three different variability requirements. Across three baseline conditions, four lever-press sequences by rats were maintained on a two-component multiple schedule. In the VAR component, a threshold contingency of 0.1 was in effect. In the REP component, only one sequence was reinforced. In the YOKE component, no variability requirement was in effect. Reinforcement probabilities were equated across multiple schedule components in each baseline condition. In baseline, U values were greater in the VAR than the REP and YOKE components, and similar between the latter two. In the prefeeding test after the multiple VAR YOKE baseline, resistance of U values was greater in the VAR than in the YOKE component. In the prefeeding test after the multiple REP YOKE baseline, resistance was similar between schedule components. Finally, in the prefeeding test after the REP VAR baseline, resistance of U values was greater in the VAR than in the REP component. Thus, baseline variability levels were directly related to the behavioral persistence, regardless of whether this level was required (VAR and REP) or allowed (YOKE) by reinforcement contingencies in each schedule component.

The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (MHC) (G. portentosa) has been studied extensively by ethologists, with a principal focus on several innate behaviors, like mating behavior and the eponymous alarm call they emit when startled or in distress. These animals have the potential of becoming an advantageous animal in operant research, particularly at a time when vertebrate laboratories are becoming prohibitively expensive and the regulatory environment increasingly onerous. With their simple nervous systems, they might also become excellent subjects for coordinated behavioral-neurobiological inquiries. While there seems to be a growing interest in this species among operant researchers, there is relatively little lab lore nor relevant behavioral information about the MHC. The present study represents an initial foray into simple avoidance behavior by these animals. The experiment involves simple choice in a T-maze between escape arms with either light or an electromagnetic field.

The present experiment examined the relation between alternative rates of reinforcement and resurgence by using the within-session procedure. Each session consisted of the following three phases: In the Acquisition phase, lever-pressing response of rats was reinforced on a variable-interval (VI) 20-s schedule until 40 reinforcers were delivered. In the Elimination phase, this target response was eliminated while the alternative response to the other side lever was reinforced according to either VI 5-s, 20-s, or 80-s. This phase lasted for until 40 reinforcers were delivered and the number of target response decreased less than 3 for each of the last three 30-sec bins. The Resurgence phase ended after 10-min during which all reinforcers were withheld. Rats were exposed to each of three alternative reinforcement conditions (i.e., VI 5-s, VI 20-s, or VI 80-s) for five times, but the order of each condition was randomly assigned for each session. Although all rats showed resurgence in all conditions (Figure 1, left panel), the magnitude of resurgence increased as a function of the reinforcement rates (Figure 1, right panel). These findings were consistent with previous studies and supported the prediction of models of resurgence based on behavioral momentum theory.

Timeouts are sometimes used in applied settings to reduce target responses, and in some circumstances delays are unavoidably imposed between the onset of a timeout and the offset of the response that produces it. The present study examined the effects of signaled and unsignaled timeouts in rats exposed to concurrent fixed-ratio 1 fixed-ratio 1 schedules of food delivery, where each response on one lever, the location of which changed across conditions, produced both food and a delayed 10-s timeout. Delays of 0-38 s were examined. During longer delays, multiple reinforcer deliveries were available. Delayed timeouts often, but not always, substantially reduced the number of responses emitted on the lever that produced timeouts relative to the number emitted on the lever that did not produce timeouts. In general, larger effects were observed with signaled timeouts. These results demonstrate that delayed timeouts, like other delayed consequences, can affect behavior, albeit less strongly than immediate consequences.

The effects of different percentages of response-dependent food on resistance to change were investigated in two experiments with rats. In Experiment 1, percentages of 100, 50 and 10 of response-dependent food were in effect in a three-component multiple schedule in baseline. In components 50% and 10%, dependent and independent food were programmed dependently. Responding was disrupted by a variable time 30 s in each component. In Experiment 2, the effects on resistance to change of how food was programmed were investigated by using a three-component multiple schedule. In one component, 100% of the food was response-dependent and in the other two, 10% of the food was response-dependent. In components 10%-I and 10%-D, respectively, dependent and independent food were programmed independently and dependently. Responding was disrupted by extinction tests. In Experiment 1, responding generally was more resistant to change in Component 10% than in components 50% and 100%. In Experiment 2, resistance to change was similar in components 10%-I and 10%-D, and greater in these components than in Component 100%. These results indicate that resistance to change is affected by the response-reinforcer dependency and that the effect is not specific to how the response-dependency was programmed and how responding was disrupted.

Fear conditioning procedures are widely used to study fear and anxiety. During fear conditioning (FC), a neutral stimulus is paired with delivery of an aversive stimulus, such as electric shock or money loss. Over trials, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned aversive stimulus (CS+) that elicits fear indexed by an increase in autonomic responses, in particular, skin-conductance responses (SCRs). A second neutral stimulus never paired with an aversive stimulus (CS-) is used as a control. In this investigation, we used a within-subject design (N=20) to examine two questions about FC and SCRs: (1) Can SCRs be maintained to a 12 s CS+? (2) Do equivalent SCRs occur to a CS paired with aversive money loss and a CS paired with money gain? We found that a 12 s CS+ presentation produced a sustained SCR, but a 12 s CS- presentation and 12 s CS paired with money gain did not. These findings suggest SCRs can be maintained for a substantial time period, which may index anxiety rather than fear, and SCRs were restricted to stimuli paired with an aversive stimulus.

Treatment integrity failures are commonly studied by measuring response rates when errors are consistently made during intervention implementation. For example, St. Peter Pipkin and Vollmer (2010) programmed commission errors by specifying a constant probability of reinforcement for problem behavior during an intervention based on differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA). Consistent commission errors have detrimental effects on DRA. The consistency of these errors may not always be the case in real-life situations. An intervention agent may implement treatment perfectly for a couple of days and then the next day or two implement treatment with low integrity. Effects of inconsistent treatment integrity have not yet been compared to those of consistent errors, but emerging evidence suggests that periodic exposure to interventions implemented with high integrity may reduce detrimental effects of low-integrity implementation. The current study uses nonclinical participants engaging in arbitrarily selected responses to evaluate consistent and inconsistent treatment integrity failures when commission errors occur during DRA applied to an arbitrary response. Results support emerging evidence by showing that inconsistent integrity failures are less detrimental to treatment effects than consistent integrity failures.

In order to evaluate the effect of the amount of information provided before and during the solution of the Tower of London task. This study included three groups: General Instructions group, which presented global aspects of the task; Specific instructions group, which also described conditions of response and its relationship with feedback; and Precise instructions group, these included the previous aspects of the other groups but added to each trial the number of moves required. After training, all groups performed two tests, both without feedback or additional instructions, Test 1 only changed the number of movements required and Test 2 only color stimuli was changed. At the end of each phase they were asked: 1) What did you do to solve the task? and 2) How would you explain to another what to do to resolve it? The results show that all groups exceed by at least 40% of the trials the number of moves, however the general instructions produced lower latency. Verbal reports showed a relationship between the quality of the report and the type of group. These findings are discussed in light of the evidence in the area with matching to sample and reinforcement schedules.

Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) perform lower than their peers across subjects, age groups and settings (Reid, Gonzalez, Nordness, Trout, & Epstein, 2004). There is a continual need to implement effective instructional strategies to increase student learning. The purpose of this study was to explore the implications of using response cards in a self-contained classroom with students identified as having emotional behavior disorders. The specific questions addressed were: What are the effects of response cards on the on-task behaviors of students with EBD during large group instruction?, What are the effects of the response cards on participation of students with EBD during large group instruction? and What are the effects of response cards on scores of next session quizzes? A single subject A-B-A research design was used to study the effects of using response cards on student participation, academic achievement and off-task behavior. Participants for this study were selected from a self-contained classroom for students with EBD in a western state. Four 8th grade students ages 13-14 were selected for participation in the study. The dependent variables for this study included participation, engagement in off-task behaviors, and correct answers on next session quizzes. Across all participants, off-task behavior decreased 23.54% from baseline to intervention. Participation for all four students increased 64.5% from baseline to intervention. The percent of correct answers on quizzes increased 34.65% from baseline to intervention. Student off-task behavior decreases and participation increases when response cards are used.

The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of individualized student-teacher conferencing on mathematics performance of three, sixth-grade students at risk for academic failure in a middle school general education setting. For the purpose of this study, Student-teacher conferencing includes teacher-student interactions resulting in (1) self-monitoring or self-goal setting, (2) error correction, and (3) corrective feedback or self-evaluation. Data were analyzed using a single-subject multiple baseline design across the three students. Results showed that Student-teacher conferencing, when paired with components of self-regulation, increased the accuracy of mathematics problem completion as measured by a web-based, performance-leveled academic assessment tool.

eCarrot is an application that provides contingent access to free time on a tablet by quickly and correctly answering arithmetic questions. Students across two second grade classrooms completed addition problems in a multiple baseline design. Standardized computation and application probes were used to evaluate the effects of the tablet contingency

Mathematics is very important in daily living in modern society. Most students master the fundamentals of math through traditional teaching in school but there are some students in every class that have difficulties and fall behind their peers in math. It is important to help them by using instruction that is effective and accelerates their learning. Direct Instruction (DI) and Precision Teaching (PT) are methods that have been shown to be very effective in math instruction. In this study, a multiple baseline across participants and changing criterion design was used to assess the effects of using DI and PT in math instruction with Icelandic students who have math skills below their age average. 4 students, aged 8 to 15, received individualized DI and PT instruction in basic math. They all showed progress when these methods were used. These results indicate that DI and PT are effective in math instruction with Icelandic students.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often experience academic difficulties in mathematics; however, there is a need for additional research identifying effective academic interventions with this population (Hodge, Riccomini, Buford, & Herbst, 2006). An alternating treatments design was used to investigate the differential effects of a worksheet condition and an iPad condition on math fluency and active academic engagement during a high school math class in an alternative school setting for students with challenging behaviors. Following group instruction, the three participants engaged in independent seatwork either by completing problems on a worksheet or completing problems presented on an iPad. Based on visual analyses, students solved more math problems correctly in less time and demonstrated higher levels of active engagement in the iPad condition as compared to the worksheet condition. Social validity assessments indicate that the teacher and three students preferred the iPad condition to the worksheet condition during the math lessons. The positive outcomes suggests that iPad technology may be a viable intervention to increase the use of effective independent work time by promoting extended practice opportunities, immediate feedback, and integrating previously presented content matter.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) that struggle to construct sentences stand a high likelihood for continued academic difficulty across content areas. Several studies have used sentence instruction with picture-word prompts to improve sentence level writing skills, including construction of simple sentences, capitalization, and punctuation. Research in other academic areas, such as mathematics and reading, have found students benefited from deliberate practice procedures stemming from a behavioral fluency perspective. The present study combined sentence instruction with a practice procedure emphasizing behavioral fluency and measured its impact on the writing performance of four elementary-aged students with EBD and behavioral concerns. The study used a single case experimental design: multiple-baseline across participants. The intervention produced gains in the frequency of simple sentences and other sentence level writing skills across participants, suggesting a functional relation between intervention and dependent measures. Results suggest instruction and practice procedures stemming from a behavioral fluency perspective have potential to impact the written behavior of students with EBD.

It is a current understanding that Cover-Copy-Compare procedures promote math fact accuracy and fluency in students with low cognitive functioning. However, studies have found that it is difficult to achieve the generalization of fluent response to addition and subtraction facts. This study investigates the effect of training with the focus on a calculation strategy designed to promote the generalization of fluent response. Responses of eight addition facts to eight unrelated addition facts and eight subtraction facts to eight unrelated subtraction facts were measured. The training comprised derived fact strategies: decomposing and compensating. Kenan elementary school fifth grader without disorders but with low math calculation skillswas the participant. He was required to verbally respond to accuracy and fluency derived fact strategies while a PowerPoint slideshow displayed calculation processes. Results successfully demonstrate that generalized fluency promotes the calculation of addition and subtraction facts. In addition, a students strategy of calculation changes from counting on/up to automaticity. This study discusses future directions of the generalization of fluent response in addition and subtraction, focusing on calculation strategies

It is understood that differential reinforcement can be applied to select successive approximations toward a target behavior (shaping) and that schedules of reinforcement may be manipulated to influence the rate of responding. The percentile schedule [k=(m+1)(w-1)] standardizes shaping allowing the practitioner to systematically apply differential reinforcement and schedule thinning in concert. However, published research on the percentile schedule is sparse, which has resulted in few outlets for practitioners and researchers to consider incorporating this in their activities. The goal of this poster is to share clinical outcomes achieved by manipulating k, w and m values in the percentile schedule formula. At Fit Learning we have observed that a k5 schedule has been effective in reducing response variability as well as decreasing errors in responding. Whereas a k7 schedule has been successful in increasing frequency. Overall, the implementation of a k schedule has been correlated with a reduction in problematic behavior. Our participants have diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Down Syndrome, or autism. Possible implications for both research and practice are discussed.

We examined the interaction between attention and task preference in maintaining on-task behavior of a fourth-grade girl who displayed frequent off-task behavior in the classroom. We administered a multiple-stimulus choice assessment, varying the amount of attention and the task preference, to determine under what conditions the student would select a task when negative reinforcement was continuously available. The results indicated that it was possible to bias responding towards academic tasks using attention, and that more attention was necessary to maintain on-task behavior for low preference tasks than for high preference tasks. An intervention was implemented based on these data. This extends previous literature on choice assessment procedures by demonstrating that a multiple-stimulus assessment can be used in the classroom to analyze the relative influence of attention and task preference, and that data from a multiple-stimulus choice assessment can be used to design an intervention that increases on-task behavior in the classroom.

In university class, a simple observing system, which continuously measures, instantly processes and visualizes the behavior of students and a teacher, would provide clues for educational improvement. This study developed and tested a prototype of apparatus for time-series measurement of teachers activity in class. A micro-vibration sensor, connected to a click circuit of a wireless finger mouse, was used to count teachers locomotion (steps) in classroom. The signals are converted into click events. Each occurrence time was acquired and a cumulative record of steps was graphed in real time by Microsoft Excel VBA. Laboratory tests and field tests in real class were conducted. Subjects were the author and a male adult. The laboratory tests compared the prototypes and typical pedometers counts. Pearsons r between both counts was higher than 0.95. The prototype could detect subjects step with high accuracy. It was also found that the value of sleep in VBA, setting for preventing misdetection by chattering, was appropriate around 300msec. The field test showed that the prototype could monitor teachers activity, however recording stability decreased partly because of deviation of the sensors position. For practical use, more reliable way should be developed in mounting the sensor to a human body.

We compared accumulated and distributed reinforcer arrangements to determine which arrangement produced the highest rate of academic responding and lowest amount of problem behavior in children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who engaged in chronic and severe problem behavior. The experiment expanded on previous research by using tokens to signal the amount of time they will have with the reinforcer when access is given. The most efficacious and preferred reinforcer arrangement was the accumulated condition for the one child in the experiment so far. The current study expands on the current research through using a different population that is prone to engaging in impulsive choice making. Previous research has shown that children with ADHD preferred reinforcer arrangements that are not the most efficacious. The current study hopes to expand on the current research and evaluate if using tokens can allow children with ADHD make a more self-controlled choice for reinforcer arrangement.

This study compared the efficacy of 2 reading programs in increasing the literacy skills of children who were "at-risk" of reading failure. The evidence-based programHeadsprout™ which adopts the main principles of Behavior Analysis was compared with Reading A-Z™which adopts a more widely used guided reading approach. Participants were 30 children (aged 5 to 6) from low socioeconomic backgrounds attending a mainstream inner city school. Participants' literacy skills were assessed prior to intervention using 2 standardised reading attainment tests. They were then randomly assigned to eitherHeadsprout™ treatment group,Reading A-Z™ treatment group or a waiting list control group. Participants in both treatment groups completed 5 20-minute literacy intervention sessions weekly, while the waiting list control group completed their classroom instructed literacy programs as usual. Results showed that participants in theHeadsprout™ group, made greater improvements from pre to post-test on measures of pre-phonics awareness and word/non-word recognition than participants in theReading A-Z™ treatment group and those in the waiting-list control group. For 7 out of 20 children across theReading A-Z™ treatment group and control group, performance on pre-phonics awareness measures actually declined throughout the 4-month intervention period.

Team organization is an integral part of many scholarly and work related tasks. Typically it`s dependent upon un-controlled, un-known or random factors. These series of studies presented here take a different approach to team organization and management: The direct identification of member specific competence and its contribution to the fulfilment of team goals. The concept of competence primacy is used to describe the prevalence, persistence or priority of a certain type of competence which each team member brings to the table in the solution of team based tasks. First, results that pin-point the primary competence of different university students are presented with in a five level model. Secondly, a general methodology for the construction and application of team based virtual tasks (such as, matching to sample, nonsense syllables and path completion) is presented given that each task is designed in terms a five level model of goal complexity. Finally, initial results are presented which describe the general success or failure to meet team objectives under three general conditions of correspondence between competence primacy and team goal complexity: a) total correspondence, b) partial correspondence and c) non correspondence. General conclusions point to the possibility of a behavioral driven methodology for the organization of efficient work or scholarly teams.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of individual and group feedback on work performance (both quantity and quality), feedback acceptance and group cohesiveness. Ninety participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: individual feedback, group feedback, and no feedback condition. Participants had to perform a conjunctive work task that required them work cooperatively in a group of three. The experimental sessions consisted of one 20 min baseline session and five 20 min treatment sessions. That is, 3 x 2 mixed design was adopted. The results showed that the group feedback was more effective than the individual feedback in improving the quantity of work performance although the two types of feedback did not produce a difference in the quality of performance. In addition, the group feedback produced higher level of group cohesiveness. However, the individual feedback produced higher level of feedback acceptance. These findings suggest that individual feedback is not always superior to group feedback and the relative effectiveness may depend on the types of work task.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of social interaction and group size on work performance under an equally distributed group incentive system. Participants were 120 undergraduate students and randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups: (1) 3-member group with social interaction, (2) 10-member group with social interaction, (3) 3-member group without social interaction, and (4) 10-member group without social interaction. A simulated work task which resembled online banking money transfer was developed and participants were asked to perform the work task. The dependent variable was the number of correctly completed work tasks. All participants performed six 15 minute sessions. For the participants who had social interaction opportunities, the different group size did not produce a significant difference in performance. For those who did not have social interaction opportunities, on the other hand, the performance of 3-member group was significantly higher than that of the 10-member group.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of self-monitoring accuracy on safe sitting posture. Participants in this study were sixty undergraduate students. During 30 min baseline phase, participants were asked to perform typing task and their safe sitting posture scores were obtained. Based on the scores, participants were divided into two groups through the matching procedure so that the mean scores of the two groups could be approximately equivalent. In one group, participants received self-monitoring training with accuracy training. In the other, participants received self-monitoring training without accuracy training. After the training, the self-monitoring phase started. This phase lasted for 60 min and participants were asked to self-monitor their own sitting postures and their sitting posture scores were obtained. The results indicated that safe posture scores in both group were significantly higher in the self-monitoring phase compared to the baseline. More importantly, safe posture scores of the group with accuracy training were significantly higher than those of the group without accuracy training.

Providing feedback is a critical component of supervision. One commonly recommended feedback procedure is the feedback sandwich (FBS; Henley & DiGennaro Reed, 2015). The purpose of this research was to examine the degree to which supervisors delivery of FBS continues post-training with high levels of fidelity over the course of three months. Videotaped feedback sessions following FBS training of 16 supervisors were coded to assess procedural fidelity. Data show that the average percent of correct implementation across sessions range from 75-100%, and that the average duration of a feedback sandwich across sessions ranged from 44-58 seconds. These results suggest that with relatively brief training that introduces the concept of the feedback sandwich, supervisors maintain acceptable levels of fidelity in use of FBS over time. Importantly, these results occurred in the absence of feedback to the supervisor regarding the implementation of FBS, suggesting that this method is easy to learn and implement. Implications for training and future research on types of performance feedback will be presented.

Behavior analysts commonly rely on caregiver report for information on an individuals sleep which is disrupted in up to 77% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Rzepecka et al., 2011). Few studies have looked into the validity of commercially available accelerometers, like the FitBit, which could provide an alternative method for obtaining this information. Participants in the current study were children and adolescents who were diagnosed with developmental and intellectual disabilities, admitted to a residential program for the assessment and treatment of severe challenging behaviors. Sleep data were collected using direct observation or a FitBit fastened to the participants wrist. Some agreement was observed between direct observation of sleep and FitBit report. Although overall agreement between the two measurements was variable across observation periods, comparisons between the methods did not appear to consistently over or underestimate total sleep. Results will be discussed in terms of sleep measurement calibration, and the clinical utility and validity of data gathered by sleep measurement devices.

Consistent use of antiretroviral medications by people living with HIV can reduce the amount of HIV in the body (viral load) and sustain good health, but most people living with HIV do not maintain adherence to antiretroviral medications. Participants were enrolled in a clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of monetary incentives for reduced viral loads in promoting adherence to antiretroviral medications. Initially, participants completed a computer-based training course on HIV and antiretroviral medication adherence that was delivered in ATTAIN, a program that allows for easy course development, repeated and random presentation of questions, delivery of immediate feedback for responses, and provision of monetary incentives for performance. A multiple-baseline across sections of the course was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the course in teaching participants the course content. Participants took three tests that tested the material presented in the first (Modules 1-7), second (Modules 8-14) and third (Modules 15-19) sections of the course. All tests were administered before training began and then again after each participant completed each section of the course. Preliminary results (see figures) show some degree of improvement following completion of the first two course sections. Future work should identify course features that can improve outcomes.

The tobacco use is a public health problem both in the world and in Mexico as it is associated with chronic degenerative, irreversible, disabling and deadly diseases. According to the National Survey of Addictions (2011) 21.7 of the population aged 12-65 years is active and on average smoker, states that started the daily consumption at 20.4 years. Although there are treatments to stop smoking standardized and research in Mexico which have proved their effectiveness it is essential evaluate the effectiveness of treatments for smoking cessation for women, particularly aimed at students as it is known that in the college a significant percentage women start smoking and them become occasional smokers or daily smokers of tobacco. Therefore, this study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral intervention for smoking cessation in college women. Participants were 15 college students who smoked less than 10 cigarettes daily, aged between 19-25 years. The intervention consisted of an evaluation session, four sessions of treatment and follow-up at 3 months. In such intervention techniques of self monitoring, problem solving, relaxation, exposure and nicotine fading were used. The pattern of consumption was obtained and compared before, during treatment and at three months follow-up. The results are discussed in terms of abstinence rates obtained at the end of treatment and at follow-up at 3 months and that set the tone for the establishment of effective strategies for early detection college women.

The effectiveness of smoking cessation treatments depends on the treatment used and the characteristics of patients. It is possible to improve the effectiveness of smoking cessation treatments by identifying predictors of treatment success and working on them. This study aimed to identify factors that predict consumption reduction when using a cognitive-behavioral treatment for smoking cessation. Participants were 24 women and 22 men in a smoking cessation treatment, with a median age of 42.74 years. The age of first use was 17.30 years; the mean years of regular consumption was 22.91 years. The average consumption pattern before treatment was 15.28 cigars, the average consumption at the end of treatment was 5.96 and the average cigarette consumption follow-up at six months was 6.83 cigarettes. 23.9% of participants have tried to quit once and the same percent of participants have tried three times. 84.4% of them have not used nicotine replacement therapy. Smoking is considered a major problem by 41.3% of participants. 52.2% have severe nicotine dependence. The mean level of anxiety at baseline was 15.96 points, after the treatment, 10.98 and follow-up level of 10.39. Regarding the level of depression, the average baseline was 14.70 points, after the treatment was 10.22 and 8.93 in follow-up. There were statistically significant associations between the variables age and age of onset (r=0.470, p=0.001), age and years of regular consumption (r=0.794, p<0.000), educational level and years of regular consumption (r=-0.444, p=0.002), age of onset and baseline anxiety level (r=-0.344, p=0.019), age of onset and baseline depression level (r=-0.324, p=0.028), use of nicotine replacement therapy and baseline anxiety level (r=-0.321, p=0.029), perception of smoking problem and dependence level (r=-0.308, p=0.038), dependence level and baseline consumption pattern (r=-0.746, p<0.000), dependence level and consumption pattern at the end of treatment (r=-0.575, p<0.000), dependence level and consumption pattern at follow-up (r=-0.476, p=0.001), baseline consumption pattern and consumption pattern at the end of treatment (r=0.492, p=0.001), baseline consumption pattern and consumption pattern at follow-up (r=0.479, p=0.001), consumption pattern at the end of the treatment and consumption pattern at follow-up (r=0.757, p<0.000). When comparing the averages of the consumption pattern, there was a statistically significant difference between the measurements of consumptio

The use of tobacco is considered a public health problem both internationally and nationally, being one of the first preventable causes of death worldwide. Several studies suggest that there are differences between men and women with regard to psychological factors related to smoking cessation. Therefore, the objective of this research was to compare the psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, consumption risk situations, consumption pattern and level of dependency on men and women, obtained at baseline and the end of treatment. Participants were 46 smokers (22 men and 24 women), aged between 22 and 61 years. The treatment was a cognitive behavioral intervention for smoking cessation and consists of 6 sessions, the results show that there are significant differences in the Beck Anxiety Scale both at baseline (t = -2.918; p <0.05) as the end of treatment in men and women (t = -2.296; p <0.05) it is the greatest anxiety in women in the two measurements. For other factors, no significant differences were found. However, this factor must be taken into account since at the time of the intervention can determine the effectiveness of treatment depending on gender.

Pediatric feeding disorders can be common in children with autism or other development disabilities, however; issues with feeding can also arise in typically developing children with complex medical histories. For instance, children with moderate to severe food and environmental allergies can experience harmful side-effects after food consumption which can make eating aversive. The aversive properties of eating can result in higher levels of food refusal and potentially total food refusal. This can cause poor weight gain, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, liquid dependency, and poor oral motor development. Therefore, the purpose of this case study was to increase regular textured food intake while decreasing liquid and puree dependency in two children with severe food allergies. In addition, we monitored their weight gain and growth across the course of treatment. By using basic principles of behavior (i.e., escape extinction, non-contingent reinforcement, and positive reinforcement) and skills training procedures, to address oral motor deficits, we successfully reduced liquid dependence and increased overall volume of regular textured food.

Behavioral assessment and treatment can be delivered in a variety of settings and be applied to a diversity of presenting concerns. A model of service delivery that is particularly well suited to a behavioral analytic orientation is Integrated Behavioral Health Care (IBHC). IBHC models embed a behavioral health specialist within a primary care clinic and are characterized by a problem-focused and solution oriented approach to treatment. Further, treatments are evidenced-based and originate largely from the behavioral literature. Given the behavioral nature of treatments provided and the problem-focused approach to assessment, clinicians with training in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) are well prepared to provide IBHC services. To demonstrate the fit between IBHC and ABA, medical chart review data were collected from two pediatric IBHC clinics (N=394) based in a mid-west university medical system. Data collected summarizes percentages of patient presenting concerns and treatment protocols used across patients. Patients presented with a wide range of concerns and the majority of protocols delivered were based on behavior principles. A case study is presented to show how functional assessment, implementation of behavioral principles, and data collection methods are used in the IBHC setting, demonstrating the suitability of this model for individuals trained in ABA.

Background: Rumination Disorder is the chronic regurgitation, rechewing, and reswallowing of previously digested foods. This condition is associated with many negative outcomes, and is considered to be one of the least understood functional upper gastrointestinal disorders. Persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities are the most at risk for rumination; however, rumination can occur in other patient populations. Traditional therapeutic interventions for rumination include teaching an incompatible behavior, thickened liquids and starch satiation, aversive/punishment procedures, and noncontingent reinforcement. Mindfulness is a philosophy that emphasizes introspection regarding physiological/psychological processes; mindfulness-based techniques have been found to be effective in combination therapy for a variety of medical and psychological conditions (e.g., chronic pain, depression, nicotine dependence). Methods: A novel treatment, Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior + Mindfulness-Based Self-Awareness Training (DRI + M-SA), was compared to DRI-only with a 10-year-old typically developing child with chronic rumination since infancy. Results: DRI + M-SA was more effective at significantly decreasing rumination when compared to baseline (BL; 98.7%) versus DRI-only (64.5%). Reductions in rumination were maintained at 1-month and 3-month follow up. Results suggest that mindfulness-based strategies may be an effective component for treating rumination for some individuals.

Teaching noncompliant children to engage in compliant behavior has long been a goal for many parents, teachers, and therapists (Patterson, Shaw, & Ebner, 1969). This goal has driven the development of behavioral technology, including entire manualized treatment programs, specifically intended for the treatment of noncompliance (Forehand & McMahon, 1981; Hembree-Kigin & McNeil, 1995). However, despite advances in treatment, these programs have continued to include punishment-based interventions that are associated with resistance to instruction (Roberts, 1982; Roberts, 1984; Roberts & Powers, 1990). A modified version of incidental teaching (Hart & Risley, 1974) termed naturalistic compliance training (NCT) may have particular value during compliance training with children because it has the potential to reduce resistance to instruction. As incidental teaching is conducted in the childs natural environment, and instruction is based on child-initiated interactions (Hart & Risley, 1974), it often serves to reduce childrens resistance to instruction. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness NCT procedures to increase the rate of child compliance and result in maintenance of compliant behavior in a non-teaching setting. Data collection for one participant is complete and additional data sets are expected to be complete before May, 2016.

Token economies are used with a variety of populations for many purposes including behavioral treatment, education, and in social settings. Furthermore, modifications to the value of the reinforcers and frequency of delivery increase responsiveness to these programs. (Kazdin, 1982). Tokens are conditioned reinforcers that are paired with established reinforcers to potentially increase appropriate behavior (Fiske et al., 2015). Token economies take on many variations when applied to the classroom setting for behavioral purposes. A group contingency such as the Good Behavior Game has been used across classrooms with successful decreases in problem behavior (Tingstrom, Sterling-turner, Wilczynski, 2006). Additionally, token economies work through the process of behavioral economics to determine functional relationships between the reinforcement contingencies and behavior (Hackenberg, 2009). The current study seeks to examine the effectiveness of an individualized token economy for behavior reduction in the classroom. As tokens are earned for appropriate behavior and absence of problem behavior, higher levels of tokens earned indicate lower levels of maladaptive behaviors. Overall, the treatment package data show an increase in tokens earned as well as a decreasing trend in all problem behaviors.

Residential treatment facilities are commonly known to be understaffed, prone to high staff turnover rates and often limited to hiring staff with limited qualifications. These facilities are often limited in terms of resources and have difficulty motivating staff to engage in appropriate staff behavior. As a result the staff are less likely to respond to the appropriate behavior of residents and more likely to overrespond to inappropriate behavior limiting the opportunity for the generalization of replacement behaviors that are often the focus of treatment. An increase in the use of restraints has been noted within residential treatment facilities posing a potential risk to both residents and staff alike. Staff are often unaware of the implications of using punishment-based procedures and often use them incorrectly. Many facilities are now moving toward reducing the use of restraints, but still experience difficulty improving staff behavior to prevent the escalation of inappropriate resident behaviors. Iwata and colleagues (1976) evaluated the use of a performance-based lottery system in a residential treatment facility to improve staff task completion using a multiple baseline design. Results indicated an improvement in overall staff behavior with the use of the weekly lottery. The present study sought to extend previous research to use a performance-based reinforcement system to improve staff-resident interactions within the classrooms of a rural pediatric psychiatric treatment facility using a multiple baseline design. Additionally, the present study evaluated the schedule of reinforcement and provided audible prompts at fixed intervals to address staff behavior. Results of the present study indicated an increase in staff-resident interaction within the classroom in a pediatric psychiatric residential treatment facility. Staff-resident interaction continued to increase and maintain across treatment phases, as the audible prompt was faded. These findings provide preliminary support for the use of reinforcement-based techniques to improve staff engagement in a psychiatric residential treatment facility. The use of performance-based lottery may be beneficial in increasing the use of positive reinforcement by staff members with residents potentially decreasing the likelihood of staff overresponding to problem behavior and the use of physical restraints.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness of an electronic data collection, management, and documentation system compared to pen and paper to computer-based software systems. The study took place at an adult day habilitation program and with home based consultation services for children. Timeliness data were collected for one month to determine the time between when the behavior occurred and when data were graphed. To track accuracy of transferring written tally marks into typed numbers, staff members from outside the day program entered data into spreadsheets, and percentage of agreement between day staff and outside staff was calculated. Efficiency was determined by timing one staff member entering 7 individuals data from paper sheets to computer spreadsheets. To measure documentation efficiency, 8 clinicians were timed while documenting services by hand and then in the electronic system, using a sample vignette. Results indicated notable differences between traditional data management and documentation compared to the electronic system across efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness in both settings. The time saved using the electronic system will allow time for staff to provide more direct services, make more timely decisions regarding progress, and act using more accurate data.

Discriminate before you generate is a common mantra among Precision Teachers. This poster will demonstrate how this idea can be practically implemented in reading instruction. The act of reading requires the reader to generate a wide variety of rule-governed textual responses accurately and fluently. For a fluent reader, subtle differences in textual stimuli come to exert discriminative control over the vocal or subvocal textual responses emitted. When an aspiring reader demonstrates dysfluency in textual responding, Precision Teachers commonly employ strategies to systematically isolate and measure the accuracy and fluency of the critical conditional discriminations required for a functional reading repertoire. These operant sub-classes of reading behavior are called tool skills or component skills. When dysfluency on the component skills of reading is identified, the adage Discriminate before you generate informs the most efficient, generative path to remediation. Case studies from Fit Learning are included to show how prioritization of fluency building on simple textual discrimination tasks can produce rapid improvements in the composite reading repertoire and readily generalize to novel text.

Maintaining competence through professional development is critical in this knowledge-based industry. The purpose of this study is to inform how, and to what extent, certified behavior analysts maintain competence by means of consuming research and obtaining continuing education. We sent a survey to all certificants through the Behavior Analyst Certification Board email campaign system. Questions addressed the methods, extent of access in various domains, and barriers to accessing literature. Questions regarding continuing education focused on the sources and domains of obtained continuing education units and the benefits and barriers to accessing online and on-site continuing education events. Based on the data reported from the 560 respondents of this survey, most board certified behavior analysts reported reading between 6 and 20 articles per year, and most certificants at the doctoral level reported reading 20 or more articles per year. The most commonly reported barrier to maintaining contact with scholarly literature was access to databases and the cost of relevant articles. Despite most continuing education opportunities currently being obtained on-site, the costs and effort of attending conferences were significant barriers providing ongoing motivation for interactive online continuing education events. Understanding the current trends in our field has important implications for its future. Additionally, approved continuing education providers can use these data to inform development of engaging continuing education opportunities that play to the benefits of the delivery format.

Decreasing behavioral independence levels is the most problematic aspect for patients with dementia. Despite the necessity of behavioral trainings, little is known about the changes in behaviors during the trainings. We examined the time course of changes in amount of cues given by the therapist in training to learn upper-body dressing, toileting and transferring. Four patients with dementia were enrolled in the study. The patients received behavioral trainings based on the time-delay method. If the patient responded with inadequate component actions or did nothing for 10 seconds, the therapist offered cues at four levels in the following order: verbal cue, gesturing, tapping, and physical assistance. When the patient carried out each component action, the therapist praised the patient. The results of the data of amount of cues fitted an exponential function gradually decreased during learning of the behavioral skills (dressing, t = 380.1, R2 = 0.59, p = 0.006; toileting, t = 1.7-2.2, R2 = 0.83-0.90, p < 0.0001; transferring, t = 0.4, R2 = 0.99, p < 0.0001). These results suggest that the amount of cues could be described by an exponential function, and dressing, toileting, and transferring were difficult to accomplish in a stepwise fashion.

The ultimate goal of rehabilitation in patients with schizophrenia is to optimize their participation in society. Restrictions to participation are problems an individual may experience in involvement in life situations or roles. In order to achieve the patients goals in his/her own life situations or roles, the behavioral intervention process is required to use collaborative approaches that always maintain a focus on the patients needs and desires and to ensure that the patient is actively involved in making decisions about the process of patient-centered. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of patient-centered behavioral intervention on participation in a patient with schizophrenia. The AB design treatment single subject experimental design was implemented, where baseline with interview about patients goals related individual life situations, intervention with collaborative approaches focused on patients goals related individual life situations. The target behavior was frequency of participation related to patients goal. Patient-centered behavioral intervention increased the frequency of participation related to patients goal (p = 0.001). These results suggest that the patient-centered behavioral intervention had an effect on the frequency of participation in a patient with schizophrenia. The present findings may serve to optimize participation of patients with schizophrenia.

A reversal design was utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of a DRL procedure on the reduction of challenging behaviors across two participants. The DRL procedures were implemented within the context of regular home-based service delivery. Both participants engaged in high rates of challenging behaviors prior to the implementation of the procedure. When the DRL procedure was in place, reinforcement was delivered contingent upon the number of responses within a period of time occurring below a predetermined criterion. In the reversal condition, the DRL was removed and modified behavior guidelines were implemented. For both participants, this plan consisted of high-probability request sequences paired with either a token economy or functional communication training. The reversal yielded differentiated results between conditions. In conditions where the DRL procedure was present, challenging behaviors decreased to low rates below the set criterion across both participants. In conditions where the DRL procedure was not present, challenging behaviors increased to differentially higher rates above the set criterion. Experimental control was demonstrated across both participants as a result of the reversal design, which indicated an effective intervention in a home-based setting.

We reviewed and analyzed studies that used environmental enrichment as treatment for automatically maintained self-injury and motor stereotypy. A search of behavior analytic journals produced 33 articles that included 57 cases of self-injurious behavior and 33 cases of stereotypy. We found that environmental enrichment was used alone or in conjunction with one or more of the following: prompting, reinforcement, response blocking, restriction, restraint, and punishment. Environmental enrichment, as a sole intervention, was effective for 26% (5/19 cases) of stereotypy and 38% (21/56 cases) of self-injury. Non-intrusive interventions (i.e., prompting and reinforcement) were added and effective for 65% (17/26 cases) of stereotypy and 29% (2/7 cases) of self-injury. Intrusive interventions (i.e., blocking, restriction, restraint, and punishment) were effective for 100% (9/9 cases) of stereotypy and 100% (34/34 cases) of self-injury. Preliminary results indicate that environmental enrichment alone was effective for a higher percentage of self-injury cases. When environmental enrichment was ineffective, stereotypy required less intrusive interventions compared to self-injury; thus, intrusive procedures were used more frequently with self-injury compared to stereotypy. This poster will summarize trends using environmental enrichment as an independent variable and will describe implications for future research.

Evidence-based treatment for problem behaviors is ABA, which is typically delivered in an individual format as a tertiary prevetion. Recently, several behavioral parent trainings have been identified as effective methods to deal with problem behaviors. Yet, these programs are still demanding in terms of training length and intensity. Therefore, continuous effort to search a more cost-effective training program (e.g., a shorter and more effective program) is still in need, mainly due to practical reasons. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a short-term parent training program to manage problem behaviors among persons with DD. A 4-week behavioral parent training program was developed and administered to 13 parents of children with DD. The training program included basic learning principles, functional assessment and function-based treatment. Data on the degree of problem behaviors, parents stress, parenting efficacy and knowledge of behavior principles were collected through the self-reported questionaries before and after the training. The results showed significant differences between pre and post total scores on knowledge of behavior principles. No differences were found in other measures. This suggests that a 4 week short-term behavioral parent training is effective to enhance the knowledge of behavior principles only. Implications and limitations are further discussed.

Previous research has indicated that multiple-respondent anecdotal (indirect) functional assessments of problem behavior can produce agreement across 80% of raters in roughly half of cases and, when agreement is obtained, the results often match those from functional analyses (Smith, Smith, & Dracobly, 2012). We replicated and extended previous research in this area by evaluating outcomes for the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) and comparing results for 7 additional cases in which agreement was obtained on either anecdotal assessment. Correspondence between functional analysis and anecdotal assessment results was found in all 7 cases. A further analysis was conducted for 12 individuals, including 5 participants from the Smith et al. (2012) study. The scores for functional categories on the MAS and QABF were ranked by averaging the scores for the raters who agreed on the primary maintaining variable. Functional analysis results were ranked by examining average responding across all conditions. A comparison showed a correspondence between the highest category and the functional analysis condition for 9 out of 10 cases for the MAS and 8 out of 10 cases for the QABF. Correspondence for the category and condition ranked second was found for 2 out of 10 cases for the MAS and 2 out of 10 cases for the QABF. The magnitude of difference between categories on the MAS/QABF did not appear to predict the amount of difference in responding in the corresponding functional analyses.

The current study serves an importance as it may aid in the emergence of social interactions and potential friendships with individuals with intellectual disabilities. This study aims to evaluate the effect of interlocked behavioral contingencies embedded in group activities, on social interactions of adults with intellectual disabilities. This metacontingency package will be evaluated by using a reversal design. Baseline data are being collected on the frequency of reciprocal interactions, defined as both participants engaging in a reciprocal gesture/response to each other, which will be recorded as a unit, and the frequency of individual initiations, defined as the participant who first engages towards the other participant. Intervention will consist of four homemade activities: 1) lemonade and pizza, 2) candles, 3) facials and 4) flower arrangements. Instructions for each activity were created in such a manner that required the behavior of one participant to be dependent on the behavior of the other participant, therefore the behavior of each participant will serve as a discriminative stimulus for all steps of the activities. Preliminary data include baseline and a generalization probe and are not yet complete. It is expected data collection will be completed within 3 months.

One common ongoing challenge regarding the functional assessment of problem behavior is the presence of undifferentiated results. It is possible that the presence of novel therapists or contrived environment contributes to these results (Hanley, Iwata, & McCord, 2003). An additional explanation involves the presence or absence of preferred therapists during functional analysis sessions. We investigated the relationship between therapist preference and the function of an individuals problem behavior. Two versions of a social avoidance functional analysis (Harper, Iwata, & Camp, 2013) were conducted with a child diagnosed with an intellectual disability. First, a non-preferred therapist implemented social avoidance (test) versus ignore (control) conditions in a reversal design. Then, a preferred therapist implemented social avoidance (test) versus contingent attention (control) in a reversal design. Results showed that problem behavior was maintained by both access to attention and escape from attention, with these functions dependent on which staff member served as therapist. The implications of these findings may inform subsequent treatment options, and potentially clarify inconclusive results of previous assessments.

Function-based intervention is a hallmark of Applied Behavior Analysis. Behavioral function is most often identified through the use of a functional behavioral assessment, with the Functional Analysis as the gold standard (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman, 1982/1994). A participants reactivity to a highly controlled environment and standard conditions may impact the potential for clear, differentiated functional analysis results. The current study assessed the problem behavior of an 8-year old female diagnosed with mild intellectual disabilities, progressing from more controlled to more natural assessments. A standard functional analysis yielded inconclusive, undifferentiated results but the highest and most consistent rates of target behavior occurred in the attention condition. However, the participant also commented on the unusual environment frequently and began to engage in avoidance behavior with respect to the session room. To further evaluate the variables that maintain problem behavior, a modified trial-based functional analysis was conducted. Four test conditions were evaluated, and each compared with a relevant control. The conditions were quasi-randomized to correspond with the establishing operation that was present. Latency to problem behavior in each condition was recorded. The results were significantly more differentiated than in the standard functional analysis, and indicated multiply-maintained problem behavior (attention, tangible).

Differential reinforcement of other behavior and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior was used as a behavior intervention for a 20 year-old male living that lives in a residential group home. Through direct and indirect observation it was identified that this individual has type I diabetes insulin dependent, and was not eating meals defined as healthy for an individual with diabetes throughout the day. Frequency data was used to assess the frequency of healthy eating and the effects it had on blood sugar levels. Results showed an overall decrease in blood sugar levels from 244 to 225, a 9% decrease is average blood sugar level.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate and promote the visual attention of children with (ASD) (4- to 5 years-old) using Head Mounted Camera wearing on the head of the therapist during Discrete Trial Teaching in early behavioral intervention. The therapist conducted the following two tasks; imitation task which needed the visual attention to the therapist and auditory comprehension task which did not need the visual attention. Head Mounted Camera could take motion picture of childs face including the eye direction to the therapist. The dependent measures were eye directions to the therapist and percentage of correct response in each trial. The result showed that children with moderate ASD directed their visual attention to the therapist more in imitation task than in auditory comprehension task. On the contrary, children with severe ASD directed their visual attention to the therapist less in imitation task. The scores of inter observer agreement were quite high in both tasks. These results suggest that we can accurately detect childrens visual attention by Head Mounted Camera and improve the procedure of teaching method using the motion picture data in behavioral early intervention.

Covert self-injurious behavior presents unique challenges for assessment and treatment, especially in non-clinical settings (e.g., home or school) where observation behind a one-way mirror is not feasible. In the current study, we evaluated the effects of a momentary differential reinforcement of other behaviors procedure (M-DRO;Toussaint & Tiger, 2012) on the treatment of covert skin picking maintained by automatic reinforcement, with all assessment and treatment taking place in a home setting. Reinforcement was provided for the absence of skin picking as well as the absence of new permanent product injuries. Initially, treatment was implemented by the caregiver, and later contingencies were transferred so the client self-monitored her own behavior and recruited reinforcement. The results indicated a significant decrease in skin picking based on direct observation of permanent product injuries using a frequency count and the Self-Injury Trauma (SIT) scale (Iwata, Pace, Kissel, Nau & Farber, 1990). These results extend past literature by incorporating reinforcement for the absence of injuries, transferring the intervention to a self-monitoring format, and utilizing the SIT scale as an outcome. Limitations related to difficulties conducting reversals in a home context will be discussed.

Functional Analysis methodology is a valid clinical tool for assessing function of challenging behavior in children with Autism (Wallace & Iwata, 1999). In a typical functional analysis, rates of behavior are assessed in test conditions and compared to control conditions (Wallace & Iwata, 1999). Many idiosyncratic variables have been assessed when evaluating behavior in a functional analysis. Previous studies have been conducted in which differing rates of challenging behavior and different functions of challenging behavior were assessed based on the therapist running the session (Ringdahl & Sellers, 2000). The current study evaluated the function of the individuals challenging behavior in correlation with the therapist running the session. One of the therapists was a novel staff member who did not interact with the individual on a regular basis, while the second therapist is a familiar staff member who interacted with the individual daily. After analyzing the data, it can be hypothesized that the individual engaged in challenging behavior to escape from demands when a novel staff ran functional analysis sessions and the individual engaged in challenging behavior to gain access to attention when a familiar staff ran functional analysis sessions.

Previous research has supported functional communication training (FCT) as an effective intervention for reducing problem behavior across socially mediated functions (Greer, Fisher, Saini, Owen, & Jones, 2015). In this study, an 11-year-old female diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder was taught to use a functional communication response (e.g., card touch; FCR) to access preferred activities. The FCR was then placed on a multiple schedule and thinned. We compared schedule thinning across two conditions; (1) when a visual stimulus signaled both components of the multiple schedule indicating the availability of reinforcement (e.g., the discriminative stimulus) and the nonavailability of reinforcement (i.e., the S-delta); and (2) when a visual stimulus signaled only the component of the multiple schedule indicating the availability of reinforcement (e.g., discriminative stimulus). The results indicated that schedule thinning occurred at similar rates in both conditions. In addition, the participant�s preference for signaled versus unsignaled s-delta multiple-schedule components was evaluated and a clear preference for signaled multiple-schedule components was identified.

Noncompliance with routine dental procedures can have detrimental effects on a persons ability to maintain dental hygiene. The current intervention initially provided a four-year-old boy who has a diagnosis of Autism with a systematic dental desensitization program aimed at increasing his ability to calmly tolerate routine dental procedures. This intervention was subsequently replicated with a seven-year-old boy who has a diagnosis of Autism. The intervention contained use of video models, stimulus control, shaping and desensitization procedures. Prior to the onset of treatment both clients demonstrated challenging behaviors at the dentist which resulted in routine dental procedures not being performed, or, the use of restrain was required. A task analysis was taught to each client. Once mastery of the task analysis was achieved (mastery of 90% or more of the task analysis for at least three consecutive sessions) the setting changed to the dentist office. Mastery of the task analysis took between four and fourteen weeks. Both clients were able to complete a routine dental visit without engaging in high-intensity challenging behaviors. Data indicate the intervention was effective with a high degree of confidence. The ability to tolerate routine dental procedures will likely result in improved dental hygiene for both clients.

A lot of children with autism have problems with sensory integration and repetitive behaviors that has big influence on children's everyday functioning. In previous research we evaluated sensory profile and repetitive behaviors in 18 children with autism. Sensory profile evaluation was made by the infant/toddles sensory profile (ITSP) , also other variables were evaluated by The Autism Spectrum Rating Scales (ASRS), Repetitive Behaviors Questionnaire 2 (RBQ-2) and The Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC). Research showed that sensory integration problems represents predictor variable for repetitive behaviors. Now we want to test if sensory integration intervention program combined with Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA) therapy will be more useful when single ABA for coping with repetitive behaviors. In this research are involved 3 children with autism. In this case we use Multiple Baseline Design to compare influences of single ABA and ABA plus sensory integration program. In addition we use ABLLS, ASRS, RBQ-2 and ATEC questioners to evaluate repetitive behaviors and general functioning. According to previous research results we expect that ABA therapy with sensory integration program will be more effective when single ABA in case of repetitive behaviors. Our research is now in process and will be finished in few months so we can't mention result now.

This study evaluated the accuracy of parents and teachers as predictors of preferred items for children with autism. One child with autism and his parent and teacher participated in the study. The parent and teacher were each given a checklist of items which they indicated preference on a scale of one to five; a selection of five indicated a most preferred item. If the items included in the survey were not highly preferred, five blank spaces were included for recording of preferred items. The items indicated as preferred by both the parent and teacher were assessed with a multiple-stimulus without replacement preference assessment to determine the accuracy of parents and teachers predictions and determine which items were most preferred by the child. The most preferred item as indicated by the parent survey, teacher survey, multiple-stimulus without replacement assessment, and a neutral stimulus were then utilized in instruction to determine the reinforcement value of the item using an alternating treatment design. The research sought to determine not only whether parents or teachers were more effective predictors of preference, but also whether or not the results of parent surveys, teacher surveys, and a multiple stimulus without replacement assessment demonstrate high-preference throughout instruction.

Many programs treating childhood noncompliance include a parent training component to teach effective command delivery and consequences. These programs are often delivered in clinic-based settings and focus on typically developing children and their parents. Research is lacking regarding parent training components in the home setting for parents of children with autism who display noncompliance. Behavioral skills training in a home environment was used in a multiple baseline design across participants to effectively teach four parents how to deliver an effective command sequence to children diagnosed with autism, whom also displayed low levels of compliance. The command sequence taught focused on command delivery, physical follow through following child noncompliance, and behavior specific praise following child compliance. Results indicated that behavioral skills training was an effective way of teaching command sequence delivery to parents of children with autism in the home, and overall, delivery of a proper command sequence by parents increased compliance for the children with autism.

For individuals who engage in severe self-injurious behavior (SIB), mechanical restraint devices, e.g., arm splints, may be used to restrict the behavior or to minimize the potential for damage. Wallace, Iwata, Zhou, and Goff (1999) evaluated a procedure to determine optimal levels of splint rigidity that produce both low levels of SIB while allowing for adaptive responding. DeRosa, Roane, Wilson, Novak, and Moolenschot (in press) replicated and extended the findings of Wallace et al. by assessing childrens ability to complete multiple adaptive responses while also comparing random versus progressive levels of rigidity. In the current investigation, we extended the findings of DeRosa et al. by including leisure tasks in addition to consumption and academic tasks with a two year old diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who was receiving treatment for severe SIB. Response opportunities, including food consumption, pre-academic skill tasks, and toy play, were presented at each level of rigidity in a random order while measuring compliance and SIB. The results of this assessment allowed clinicians to select a level of splint rigidity that allowed the child to engage in the adaptive responses presented but resulted in low rates of SIB.

A potential manifestation of Restrictive and Repetitive Behavior (RRB), an inclusionary criterion item for the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), is the engagement in stereotypic vocalizations (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Stereotypy involves repetition, rigidity, and a level of inappropriateness (Turner, 1999). Regarding maintenance of this behavior, the literature is shifting from that of solely automatic reinforcement or self-stimulation towards an operant function including positive and negative reinforcement (Cunningham & Schreibman, 2008). This supports the need for more assessment of these behaviors, including inappropriate vocalizations and vocal stereotypies using procedures such as functional analyses (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1994) in order to develop function-based interventions. In the current study, self-monitoring is investigated as a function-based treatment used to reduce inappropriate vocalizations displayed by an adolescent female diagnosed with ASD. The researchers seek to further support the growing stance that vocal stereotypies can serve alternative functions to automatic reinforcement, as well as to explore the utility of a function-based self-monitoring intervention for an individual with ASD using a multiple-baseline design, behaviors were intervened across changing topographies of tasks (e.g., reading, math, and leisure). While data collection is well under way, data are currently still being collected. References American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Association. Cunningham, A. B., & Schreibman, L. (2008). Stereotypy in autism: The importance of function. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2, 469-479. Iwata, B. A., Dorsey, M. F., Slifer, K. J., Bauman, K. E., & Richman, G. S. (1994). Toward a functional analysis of self-injury. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2, 197-209. Turner M. (1999). Annotation: Repetitive behavior in autism: A review of psychological research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 839849.

Children with autism can have difficulties attending and responding in classroom settings. Hand-raising is one skill that can help students with autism to respond effectively during group instruction as well as to ask for assistance. One study (Charania, LeBlanc, Sabanathan, Ktaech, Carr, Gunby, 2010) demonstrated an effective method of teaching students with autism to raise their hands in the presence of specific stimuli. The current study aimed to teach a child with autism to raise her hand under two distinct conditions: to answer known questions and to ask for assistance. During the Answers condition, trials in which the answers to questions posed by the teacher were known were interspersed with trials in which the answers were unknown. During the Assistance condition, trials in which the assigned task could readily be completed were interspersed with trials in which additional materials were needed to complete the task. A time-delay prompt procedure was used to teach the participant to raise her hand when a known question was asked and to keep her hand down when an unknown question was asked in the Answer condition and to raise her hand when she needed assistance and keep it down when she did not in the Assistance condition. A multiple baseline across conditions was used. Generalization probes with novel teachers and in a group setting were also conducted. Treatment resulted in the discrimination of hand-raising in both conditions and a group setting.

Children with feeding disorders may not develop appropriate chewing skills without intervention. Currently, there is an overall paucity of research evaluating treatments to teach age-appropriate chewing skills with a couple notable exceptions (Volkert, Peterson, Zeleny, & Piazza, 2014; Volkert, Piazza, Vaz, & Frese, 2013).In the present study we used a multiple baseline design across food groups (i.e., fruits, vegetables, proteins, and starches) to evaluate a treatment package consisting of feedback and a prompt to teach appropriate chewing in an 18-year-old young man with dysphagia, failure to thrive, food selectivity, and autism spectrum disorder. This young man persistently chewed his food using his anterior teeth (i.e., front teeth) ostensibly resulting in inefficient meals and texture selectivity (i.e., he would eat only soft or meltable solids). The treatment package resulted in an increased percentage of posterior chews (i.e., the food remained on the adolescents molars while chewing) relative to anterior chews for all four food groups.

Historically, children with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty with medical procedures including, but not limited to, routine dental exams. Lee, Graham, and Hughes (2008) found that more than half of the patients with autism exhibited uncooperative/negative behavior during dental exams. Due to limited cognitive functioning and communicative abilities that many children with autism present, medical procedures including dental exams can cause confusion, resistance, and challenging behaviors (self injury, aggression, property destruction). Research has shown that reinforcement schedules and shaping procedures can be effective in increasing positive behaviors and teaching skills. The current study examined the use of differential reinforcement during a dental desensitization program to increase compliance with dental cleanings across several students diagnosed with autism. Baseline was conducted for each individual to determine toleration of dental cleanings. Preference assessments were conducted to determine potential reinforcers. Differential reinforcement was implemented for completion of steps within a task analysis comprised of actions that are completed during a routine dental exam based on a set schedule of reinforcement. As progress was achieved, the schedule of reinforcement was thinned. Reinforcement has been thinned completely for one individual in the study. Differential reinforcement has proved to be effective within this desensitization program.

Although there has been a proliferation of research supporting the efficacy of early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, little research has explored whether treatment gains are maintained over time. Considering the time and money being poured into this intervention, research into long-term outcomes is critical, especially in community-based programs. The purpose of the current study is to compare developmental and diagnostic changes (IQ, adaptive skills, autism symptom severity) at four time points: prior to IBI (T1; from file review), upon completion of IBI (T2; file review), at follow up between 1 and 6 years after the completion of IBI (T3; new data collected), and at follow up between 9 and 14 years after the completion of IBI (T4; new data collected). Participants (estimated n=20) are aged 14 to 20 years at T4. Preliminary analyses based on three cases suggest that IQ increased during IBI, declined somewhat from T2 to T3 but was generally maintained from T3 to T4. However, maintenance of adaptive changes were more variable at follow-up (T3, T4). Autism severity generally decreased across the four time points. Individual data will be presented and implications of the results discussed.

In the treatment of challenging behaviours, there is strong evidence for using interventions that are informed by Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA). There is currently a paucity of research investigating the use of FBA to inform treatments for sleep disturbance in children with autism spectrum disorder, and a lack of evidence-based, effective treatments for sleep disturbance among such children. Multiple, individual variables can impact upon childrens sleep making it necessary to maintain consistent links between assessment and treatment. This presentation reports the results of three case studies that investigated the use of FBA to develop individualized, comprehensive, parent-implemented interventions for sleep disturbance in children with ASD. FBA was conducted using a combination of clinical interviewing and Video Somnography. FBA-based individual case formulations guided the development of specific, multiphase interventions for each child and the dependent variables measured included the frequency and duration of night wakings, sleep onset latency, and early awakenings.. Data will be presented on the effectiveness of behavioural-based interventions, the short- and long-term maintenance of treatment effects, the impact of successful treatment on parent and child well-being and quality of life, and parents perspectives on the treatment process.

In 2009 the National Autism Center published its initial National Standards Project (NSP) report detailing a list of existing treatments for individuals with autism. Recently, the report was updated and was made available to the public in April 2015. The 2015 report divided treatments into three categories: established, emerging, and unestablished. Among the 11 treatments identified as established, self-management interventions for children with autism were included. Although self-management was found to be effective, the NSP did not evaluate the extent to which this treatment has been studied in natural settings versus clinical/laboratory and mixed settings, nor the social validity of the treatments. Having knowledge on the effectiveness of a treatment in the natural setting and its social validity can assist teachers and parents in making better decisions regarding the adoption of a treatment. The purpose of this review is to extend the NSP report by evaluating the social validity of self-management interventions for individuals with autism, evaluate the extent to which these interventions have been conducted in the natural setting (as opposed to a clinical setting), and to provide a second evaluation of the methodological quality of these studies. Results of this review suggest that, self-management interventions for individuals with autism are effective in natural, clinical, and mixed settings. However, few studies have provided a formal evaluation of social validity. There are also some limitations to the methodological quality of the studies that should be considered for future research.

Spontaneous communication, the initiation of communication without prompting, is difficult for most children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; Duffy & Healy, 2011). Research has shown that children with ASD can acquire social-communication skills when they receive interventions based on applied behavior analysis (Sundberg & Michel, 2001) and developmental models (Rogers & Dawson, 2009). This poster describes a study that examined teaching paraprofessionals to implement a naturalistic behavioral social-communication intervention to children ages 3-6 years with ASD in a home setting. The researcher trained paraprofessionals using online modules, in-vivo coaching and ongoing feedback to apply specific strategies to increase spontaneous communication in young children with ASD. The researcher completed multiple baseline across behaviors designs for three paraprofessionals. Child measure was type and frequency of spontaneous communication. Mastery criterion for paraprofessionals included both frequency and treatment fidelity components. With ongoing feedback paraprofessionals quickly demonstrated mastery and maintained a higher level of strategy use after intervention ended. Child spontaneous communication increased in frequency and complexity for all three children. Interobserver agreement was 91-97% agreement in all measures. The results indicate that a model of initial training with ongoing feedback can increase paraprofessional use of naturalistic behavioral strategies for children with ASD.

The following literature review highlights the various components of functional communication training (FCT) that can be applied to serve a variety of functions. In the current evaluation of past research, we will elaborate on the amount of self-injury reduction exhibited within a population of individuals diagnosed with intellectual disabilities once FCT was implemented, as well as a number of behavioral techniques that comprised the intervention. The effects of mode(s) of communication, non-contingent reinforcement, and extinction implementation on self-injurious behavior as replacement strategies through differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) will be analyzed through a comprehensive method. This study provides the primary components that have comprised successful interventions in previous studies in order to implement successful behavioral protocols to target more specific populations of individuals with autism and effectively reduce self-injury as quickly as possible while also providing a lasting impact. It is meant to be used as a tool to summarize the strategies that have provided significant results in the past, while simultaneously demonstrating the gaps that can be addressed in future research that is targeted specifically to expanded this research in the realm of autism.