Association for Behavior Analysis International

A frequent criticism of precision teaching in the field of applied behavior analysis is that this method of instruction has not undergone the rigors of empirical research. There is a growing interest, in particular, about the potential effects achieved by precision teaching with frequency building procedures with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). At present, there are no widely available empirical reports of precision teaching with frequency building procedures with students and adults with ASD. The limited research documenting the significant benefit of this teaching strategy has implications for education and the field of applied behavior analysis. Marlene Cohen and her colleagues at the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center at Rutgers University have conducted three years of empirical research in precision teaching with frequency building with older learners with ASD. Specifically, their research has addressed the impact of precision teaching with frequency building procedures for the Big 6 plus 6 motor skills on the functional skills of adolescents and adults with autism receiving applied behavior analysis treatment. They have also evaluated the impact of frequency building for component language skills on the conversation complexity of an adult with autism. Current research focuses on the selection of aims for this population and evaluating which aims will produce the most efficient results. While a modest beginning, the empirical evidence suggesting that precision teaching is both efficient and effective with adolescents and adults with ASD has important implications. Dr. Cohens research uses single subject designs to assess the impact of precision teaching with individuals with ASD. Dr. Cohen will address the need for additional research examining other empirical questions regarding precision teaching with this population, and will offer suggestions for further research.

Our discipline has been criticized as too focused on data and paying little attention to values that define our culture as human beings. Values are an inherent part of basic science, education, and organizational behavior management. Our methodologies, our analyses, and our approach to dealing with the contingencies we face when working in schools and in organizations, and conducting research projects are discussed in this panel. This panel will present the challenges as well as the strategies that are/could be implemented to ensure that in each of these areas behavior analysis can meet the societal challenges we face as we make our contributions to the betterment of the general culture.

A number of myths have been promulgated within the language acquisition literature. Of these myths, three have had a particularly deleterious effect on attempts to promote a behavior analytic approach to language acquisition. These myths are: Myth#1: Brown and Hanlon (1970), in their classic study, claimed that they were offering evidence that parents do not reinforce their children's grammatical utterances. This myth appears in the published works of psycholinguists, developmental psychologists, and even some behavior analysts. Myth#2: In his paper "Language Identification in the Limit," Gold (1967) proved that, without negative evidence (e.g., corrective feedback), a child cannot acquire a language. As with Myth#1, this second myth is widely and frequently cited. Myth#3: There is a single, valid definition of "verbal behavior." This myth is at the heart of the current call by proponents of relational frame theory to replace Skinner's definition with one they propose. In this paper, arguments and supporting evidence will be offered for rejecting these three myths.

Defining cigarette smoking as operant behavior that is maintained by both pharmacological-based (e.g., nicotine) and conditioned (e.g., taste) reinforcers leads to a number of interesting conclusions and implications. First, it may explain why relapse is such a problem when people try to quit smoking. Second, it suggests that treatment strategies designed to help individuals stop smoking need to prevent exposure to smoking and related cues or at least attenuate the reinforcing efficacy of cigarette smoking if exposure occurs. This could be accomplished through both behavioral and pharmacological means. Finally, it suggests that cigarette smoking prevention may be accomplished by keeping individuals from ever coming in contact with the reinforcing aspects of smoking (e.g., through educational programs or immunotherapy). The address will provide discussion of all of these areas.

Todays children confront parents with daily problematic behaviors involving repetitive inattention, forgetting, and manipulative clinging, whining, and emotional meltdowns. In addition, their communication with parents is often emotionally-laden involving back-talking, defiance, and in-your-face, confrontational, argumentative, and disrespectful interactions. Problematic children have low frustration, are oppositional, moody, and pay little attention to rules. While parents favor reasoning and logic in talking to a problematic child, he is impervious to such efforts. Instead, his learning style favors hands-on rather than word-oriented experiences. He needs concrete, reality-based experiences because he learns through active, two-way interaction with his parents. As it happens, parental responses to problematic behavior have unintended consequences that tend to maintain it. The focus of this workshop is two fold: first, to increase the clinical practitioners effectiveness by including a behavioral systems framework that looks at problematic behavior. The second objective is to familiarize the practitioner with the art of designing therapeutic interventions that respect the parents socio-cultural expectations and motivate them to collaborate and serve as the behavior change agents par excellence. Case studies illustrating functionally-driven strategies and tactics will be included in the workshop.