Association for Behavior Analysis International

There are a significant proportion of drug users who do not finish your intervention. Often users leave the intervention before the first month of treatment, when they have not received the expected benefits with the procedures. Therapists behavior has influence in the users behavior. The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between the therapists behavior and users treatment attendance after a one session of brief counseling using motivational interviewing. We worked with 8 therapists (87.5 % female) aged 22 to 43 years old and 8 men aged 18 to 57 years old who used marijuana, cocaine or tobacco, at the public institution created to prevent drug abuse. We used a sequential behavioral coding system in motivational interviewing that includes 20 behavioral categories. We obtained a reliability of 0.83 through kappa index and we performed a sequential analysis. The results showed that 80% of users that received the brief counseling attended at one additional treatment session and therapists behaviors consistent with motivational interviewing were more likely to be followed by users behavior descriptive. By understanding the behavior performed by the therapist and his connection with users attendance we will hope foster the behaviors that increase adherence to treatment of users substance.

A two-year old child with typical development was referred for consumption of only baby food and yogurt mixed with water. His parents fed him these smooth foods by spoon. He refused to drink from a cup, bottle, or straw and consumed only liquids mixed with smooth foods. His table foods were limited to cheese balls, angel hair pasta, crackers, and pretzels. In the past, he drank from a bottle until the nipple broke and he refused all further liquids. Due to his reliance on watered-down food to meet his hydration needs, he was seen in an intensive outpatient feeding program for 11 days. This child was treated with a parent-led shaping procedure for his adipsia. His food selectivity was treated with Plate A-Plate B, which involves reinforcement of novel food consumption with preferred foods. Results showed the stimulus fading procedure increased acceptance and consumption of liquids from a cup. In three baseline sessions, he consumed no liquids for his parents. For the last three meals of treatment, his average per meal consumption for his parents exceeded five ounces. Using the Plate A-Plate B intervention, his consumption of novel table foods increased from 0 to 36.

Stimulus stimulus pairing (SSP; Sundberg et al., 1996) and mand training (Tincani et al., 2006) are technologies that have proven effective in increasing vocalization in children with autism. Teaching manual signs and gestures for this population is also effective not only in symbol acquisition but also in related outcomes such as speech comprehension and production (Schlosser and Wendt, 2008a). In the current study, three children with autism aged between 4.5 and 5 with low vocal-verbal repertoire of between 0 and 2 syllables were undergoing sign mand training in conjunction with SSP and vocal prompting procedures. Acquisition of vocals was improving only marginally, therefore a prompt delay was introduced (Carbone et al, 2010) to test if that would be more effective in inducing vocalization. Vocals were emitted under relevant motivating operations and with vocal models in the very first session of prompt delay intervention by two participants and after 4 weeks by third participant. Over a 4 months period of continued training, all three participants acquired additional 9-14 novel sounds or word approximations prompted or independent.. At 4 week follow up, the specific vocal sounds had generalized to a total of 24-56 vocals including other operants, namely, tacts, echoics and intraverbals.

The researchers created a video self-modeling (VSM) intervention for increasing on-task classroom engagement for three elementary school males diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). VSM is a form of video modeling that enables the individual to perform specific, targeted behaviors by watching himself execute a positive behavior effectively. The effectiveness of VSM has been empirically validated by previous studies on youth with ASD, but few studies have investigated its usefulness in improving academic engagement. Numerous studies have shown that engaged time-on-task is directly related to higher levels of student achievement. Similarly, research has shown that off-task, unengaged students struggle academically, resulting in withdrawn, isolated, unmotivated, and failing students. For the purpose of this study, “on-task” is defined as attending to math worksheets by writing or focusing attention on worksheet instructions; raising hands for teacher assistance; or by preparing materials, such as sharpening pencils, opening binders, and putting worksheets away. The strong evidence-base for VSM for children with autism suggests that this intervention may promote appropriate classroom behavior. Results of the intervention, including data collected using a multiple baseline design from baseline to maintenance phases will be presented. Conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness, study implications, and future directions will be discussed.

Ingvarsson and Hollobaugh (2011) found that tact-to-intraverbal-transfer-of-stimulus-control (i.e. a picture prompt) was more effective than echoic-to-intraverbal-transfer-of-stimulus-control (i.e. an echoic prompt) in teaching correct responses to intraverbal questions in three preschool-aged boys with autism. The current study was a systematic replication of Ingvarsson and Hollobaugh with a 14-year-old girl with Down Syndrome as a participant. A multi-element design with baseline and best condition was used to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of picture prompts presented on an iPad, in vivo picture prompts, echoic prompts presented on an iPad, and in vivo echoic prompts in teaching correct responding to targeted WH questions when utilizing tact-to-intraverbal or echoic-to-intraverbal transfer of stimulus control procedures. Reliability data were collected in 50% of sessions and averaged 96%; treatment fidelity data were collected in 53% of sessions and averaged 99%. Although all prompt conditions eventually were effective (Figure 1), results showed that echoic prompts presented on an iPad were most efficient in terms of trials to acquisition (i.e. 3 consecutive sessions of at least 80% correct responding) in teaching correct responding to the targeted WH questions followed by picture prompts presented on an iPad (Figure 2). A best condition phase with new Wh questions reflected a consistent pattern of acquisition for iPad echoic prompts. Generalization probes for both iPad conditions reflect criterion level performance. Prompting method preference of the participant was assessed via a paired choice procedure; results indicated a preference for the iPad Echoic condition Conclusions and recommendations for future research are presented.

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of vocal and motor distractors on sequencing arbitrary stimuli. Seven undergraduate students were exposed to different sets of stimuli and were given either vocal or motor (hand signs) instructions to sequence them in a multielement design. The effects of tact, echoic/mimetic, and joint control training were evaluated in a multiple baseline design, while distractor tasks were presented in a reversal design. The results indicated that four participants arranged the sets taught vocally and with hand signs in novel sequences after tact and echoic training. Three participants required additional training for the set taught with hand signs prior to accurate novel sequencing. In addition, accurate responding deteriorated in all participants for sets taught vocally and with hand signs, when a vocal distractor task was required. Accurate responding also deteriorated for four participants during distractor tasks that required tapping to the sound of a metronome, but when consistent tapping without the sound of a metronome was used, responding in three participants was not affected.

Hexane is a solvent used in extraction of soybean oil. Little is known about the behavioral effects of chronic and low concentration exposure. The aim of this study was to do a neurobehavioral screening using the Behavior Assessment and Research System and the Romberg Test, to verify if workers might have neurobehavioural impairments. 81 exposed (n=35) and control (n=45) workers participated. The screening occured at the beginning of their work week. Confounding factors were analyzed by surveys. Two statistical approaches were used. Permutation tests (PT): compared control and exposed groups for confounds and neurobehavioral outcomes. Linear regression (LR): compared outcomes adjusted for age and education. For PT, the groups did not differ on confounders; exposed workers showed a lower sway latency on Romberg (p<0,05), and a slight increase in one measure of Simple Reaction Time (p<0,05). For LR, there was no statistical difference between the groups for any neurobehavioral outcome. However, most neurobehavioral measures typically related to solvent exposure were lower for the exposed group, raising concern for worker risks. These concerns should be addressed in follow up studies.

The present study attempted to establish a useful dosing recommendation for methoxetamine, a drug previously unstudied in controlled behavioral studies. We evaluated the effects of methoxetamine on responding of rats under a multiple Fixed Interval 240 sec Fixed Ratio 30 schedule. The two schedules alternate, allowing for sensitivity to various effects. Four rats responded under the schedule with drug doses of 0.1, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 mg/kg. This study partially replicated Wenger and Dews (1975), which evaluated effects of phencyclidine, ketamine, d-amphetamine, and pentobarbital on schedule controlled behavior in mice under a multiple FR 30 FI 300 sec schedule. The Fixed Interval had lower response rates, was more variable, and had an ED50 between 1-2 mg/kg. The Fixed Ratio had higher response rates, and had a higher ED50 between 2-2.5 mg/kg. Results suggest doses ranging from 0.6 3.0 mg/kg could be used in a future dosing regimen.

Obsessive-Compulsive disorder is characterized by behaviors repetitive in character. These behaviors initially are strengthened due to the termination of aversive events. However, the appearance of these behaviors can persist even after long periods where the presentation of aversive events have ceased. This phenomenon often is attributed to the termination of dysfunctional thoughts. The present study provides additional support of the two-factor theory with the addition of a third factor that of safety signals, which postulates that avoidance behavior also is reinforced by the production of safety periods. In a simulated game, four participants with high levels of obsessive-compulsive behavior (OCB) learned to avoid losing treasure by pressing a pedal, which produced a period free of punishers together with a blue sidebar. Next, they were exposed to two conditions where they were given either stable blue or yellow sidebars, while pedal depression changed the sidebar to the opposite color. Results showed that blue and yellow sidebars maintained pedal depression. These results were compared with the results of six participants with low OCB. Participants with high OCB were unable to discriminate between experimental conditions retaining stable pedal pressing in both conditions. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

The purpose of the current study was to train Sprague-Dawley rats to tolerate increasing inter-response times (IRTs) using a percentile schedule. This procedure employed a percentile schedule to differentially reinforce longer intervals between a left response and right response. At the beginning of a trial the left stimulus light illuminated. A left response extinguished the left light, began the interval timer and illuminated the right light. A right response would then extinguish the right light, terminate the timer and either result in a reinforcer or a 2-s blackout. If the interval satisfied the criterion arranged by the percentile schedule (i.e., longer than six of the last eleven trails) a reinforcer was produced immediately following the right lever press. Inter-response times systematically increased for all subjects. However, three rats continued responding on the left lever into the target interval despite the responses having no programmed consequence. These data suggest that rats are learning to produce longer left-right IRTs at the expense of a concomitant decreased reinforcer rate. Additionally, an analysis of the post-reinforcer pauses (time prior to first left response) indicated that despite the systematic increase in inter-response times, the post-reinforcement pauses (PRPs) remained relatively constant -- suggesting little induction between the target IRT and the PRP.

Body image flexibility, as measured by the Body Image-Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (BI-AAQ), has been shown to uniquely predict disordered eating and moderate the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Hispanics are underrepresented in this research, however, despite having similar levels of body dissatisfaction as Caucasians. The aims of this study were to examine the psychometrics of the BI-AAQ and the role of body image flexibility in disordered eating among Hispanic college students. Results indicate the BI-AAQ has a one-factor structure and good internal consistency and concurrent validity. Although body image flexibility did not uniquely predict disordered eating after controlling for sex, BMI, body image dissatisfaction, and general psychological flexibility, it did moderate the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and food preoccupation/bulimia. These results suggest that greater body image flexibility may be a protective factor against the deleterious relationship between body image dissatisfaction and food preoccupation/bulimia in Hispanic college students.

Engaging in exercise has been shown to have many positive physical and mental health benefits, yet only 25% of Americans engage in the recommended amount. The acceptance of discomfort related to exercise, as measured by the Physical Activity Acceptance Questionnaire (PAAQ), has been associated with higher levels of exercise. The purpose of the current study was to examine physical activity-related acceptance and the psychometrics of the PAAQ in Hispanic individuals because no published study has examined this yet. Participants consisted of Hispanic undergraduates from a university on the Texas/Mexico border. Results showed that physical activity-related acceptance was significantly correlated with higher levels of vigorous exercise and obesity-related wellbeing and fewer identified barriers to exercise (p < .05 for all). The PAAQ was not significantly associated with body mass index (BMI), moderate physical activity, general experiential avoidance, depression, or mindfulness. Physical activity-related acceptance added to the prediction of vigorous exercise above and beyond BMI, general experiential avoidance, mindfulness, and depression (p < .001). These results suggest that physical activity-related acceptance plays a role in engaging in vigorous exercises and it may be beneficial for future studies to examine interventions with components targeting physical activity-related acceptance.

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) is a therapeutic intervention based in the Behavior Analysis that focuses on the functional relationships of individual behaviors. It creates conditions for the individuals? modification and expansion of their behavioral repertoires, solving their complaints and alleviating their suffering. FAP works with the individual behaviors that occur during the sessions, denominated clinically relevant behaviors (CRBs). This study aimed to evaluate the use of FAP in patients from an outpatient clinic at the University Hospital at the University of S?o Paulo. Nine adults patients were treated (mean=34.8 years; SD=10.4) for eight months. Their behavior changes were evaluated every four weeks with the behavioral inventories of Adult Self-Report (ASR) and Adult Behavior Check-List (ABCL) and changes in indicators of depression and anxiety with the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory, respectively . It was also assessed the quality of life (WHOQOL-brief), the general health status (General Health Questionnaire) and medication adherence (Morisky-Green Test). All sessions were recorded for the measurement of CRBs. The statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science). As we expected, previews analysis shown an improving in quality of life and decreasing of indicators of depression and anxiety behaviors.

Precision Teaching is a method widely experimented with clear evidences of advantages for trainees. The present experiment aims to confirm its superior efficacy against traditional training in the teaching of technical contents: the experiment compares the learning occurred in 2 groups of 10 people under 2 different experimental/control conditions. Assessment: 20 students (unemployed Spanish workers from 20 to 50 years old) underwent a pre-test about 2 subjects: 1) recognition of wood types, their family and color: 36 questions; 2) recognition of varnishing defects, related likely cause and solution: 27 questions. Researchers split 20 students in 2 groups with similar average in accuracy in the 2 tests. Results: In the 1st experiment, students in the experimental group, trained with hour of PT via eLearning about varnishing defects, learnt averagely about 2X in terms both of accuracy and fluency against the control group, trained with a classical lessons supported with slides and pictures held by an expert technician. Accuracy improve averagely of 12.2 correct answer in the PT group, against the 6.0 in the traditional training group (27 questions). In the 2nd experiments, the control group followed a frontal lesson about wood recognition made of choral responding: the technician provided pictures and questions to students by following some training paradigm as shaping, fading, and chaining (in 2 words, programmed instruction). The exercises were identical to the one provided in PT via eLearning. The results show that PT via eLearning is slightly more effective than the choral responding. The experiment has been conducted within the Tell Me project, a wide innovation program financed by European Commission.

The Pathways to Literacy reading program (Lee, Mims, & Browder, 2011) is a task-analytic approach to addressing engagement, comprehension, and communication during shared reading for students with exceptional needs. Previous research on Pathways to Literacy has been limited to students in segregated elementary classrooms rather than preschool classrooms, which is when shared reading is usually emphasized. The program has been heavily critiqued due to the lack of generalization data available, with critics claiming students would be unable to engage with new books. The current study adds to the literature by investigating the use of the reading program in inclusive preschool settings. Three questions were addressed. First, using a multiple baseline design, the question of whether the reading program remained effective for preschool students in inclusive classrooms was asked. Second, teachers? perceptions of the reading program were explored through pre- and post-intervention interviews. Finally, generalization to new books was investigated. Results suggest the reading program was effective in increasing engagement, comprehension, and communication for the targeted students. Social validity data suggest the teachers found the procedures were generally appropriate for preschool students, although they did recommend changes to the protocol. Finally, all participants generalized their new skills to new books.

Due to the specific symptomology associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), interactions between parents and children with ASD are often different than those of typically developing children. The Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-III (DPICS-III; Eyberg, Nelson, Duke, Boggs, 2010) is a standardized observation system consisting of coded categories for observed verbal and physical behavior that occur during parent-child interactions. The DPICS-III is frequently used to assist clinicians in measuring treatment changes and progress in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). With the increased use of PCIT for children with ASD, empirical research is needed in order to determine the validity of the DPICS-III when used with this population. Participants for this study included 85 mother-child dyads (46 ASD, 39 Typical), who each completed the 20 minute DPICS-III interaction tasks. Frequencies of parent and child behavior as well as child compliance were collected during the structured observations. Significant differences on multiple categories were revealed with predominately moderate effect sizes (labeled praises, commands, questions, & criticisms). Results from the current study suggest that the DPICS-III demonstrates discriminative validity for typically developing children and children with ASD symptomology and future research on the DPICS with children with ASD is warranted.

Problem behaviors, such as self-injury or aggression, exhibited by children with intellectual disabilities pose serious risks to the individual and their caregivers. These risks are greatly increased when an individual engages in problem behavior in certain environments. For example, bathrooms can represent a high-risk area in that there are many hard or slippery surfaces in a constricted space. Treatments for reducing problem behavior during bathroom visits are not frequently evaluated for individuals who engage in aberrant behavior across different settings. Therefore, individualized bathroom treatments were evaluated with three individuals diagnosed with Intellectual Disabilities to determine effective treatments that would reduce problem behavior during routine bathroom visits. Treatment components evaluated included noncontingent reinforcement (participants 1 and 3), differential reinforcement (participants 2 & 3), demand fading (participants 1 and 3), and task analysis (all participants). Results indicate that rates of problem behavior decreased significantly when compared to baseline levels for all 3 participants. Implications for the successful use of multiple treatment components targeting behavior that was resistant to change will be discussed.

Competing stimulus assessments (CSAs) are a common means to identify stimuli that reduce the occurrence of problem behavior; however, in some cases problem behavior consistently increases during some CSA conditions. One possible explanation for this increase is that the behavior and stimulus may have a complementary relation. This research evaluated both the prevalence of increases in problem behavior during CSAs, as well as the probability of problem behavior and stimulus interaction co-occurring during these conditions. We examined the rate of problem behavior in the presence of each stimulus across 36 competing stimulus assessments (for 32 individuals with intellectual disabilities) to identify cases when problem behavior increased in the presence of particular stimuli (possibly suggesting a complementary relation). Problem behavior increased, when compared to the control condition, in the presence of at least one activity in 89.2% of assessments and on average across 3.7 of the stimuli included in those assessments. A descriptive assessment was then conducted during these sessions and in a subset of cases, problem behavior was highly correlated with stimulus interaction, suggesting a complementary relation.

Many of the same obstacles present for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder occur in individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Delayed referrals for diagnoses in both conditions postpone access to the potential gains that occur through early and intensive intervention (Blair, 2011; Dawson, 2008). The current case study describes the longitudinal assessment of a young child diagnosed with Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified. The patient participated in an ABA-based Verbal Behavior treatment program to target communication impairments and functional skill deficits. Because ABA-based interventions have demonstrated efficacy in improving levels of functioning across various developmental disabilities (Sturmey, 2002), it was reasonable to assess the clinical utility of these same strategies when applied to a patient presenting with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and associated developmental delays. The current study relied on scientifically-based single subject design methods to measure treatment outcomes and to inform clinical decision making. Dependent measures in the study included standardized, norm-referenced assessments of cognitive and adaptive functioning, as well as behavioral data collected throughout treatment to measure gains across skill areas. The impact of treatment on global areas of functioning will be reported.