Association for Behavior Analysis International

Search for stimulus class formation in animals has been elusive. There is no replication of reported positive findings. An experimental model should allow replication intra and inter subjects, with reduced variability, in any laboratory minimally equipped. True matching to sample - MTS has been demonstrated for identity but not for arbitrary stimulus relations in Capuchin Monkeys. Monkeys with history of generalized identity MTS were trained with success in a repeated shift simple simultaneous discrimination procedure with 3 and 12 stimuli to choose the stimulus of a category. Twelve categories with 5 members each were positive in shifts. Later they showed consistent performance when a new stimulus was introduced in each category. Silhouettes were then introduced and consistent performance was obtained. Transfer of simple discrimination to new stimulus, including silhouettes, is still stimulus generalization. Icons will be inserted and training will be provided if necessary. Arbitrary stimuli will be inserted to form a functional class with 5 pictures, one silhouette, one icon and one arbitrary stimulus in each class. Transfer to category conditional discrimination in the MTS format with 3 and 12 simultaneous comparisons with the pictures will be tested and trained if necessary. Emergence of conditional relations of silhouettes, icons and arbitrary stimuli -trained in the simple discrimination format- to the pictures will be tested. Consistent association of arbitrary members to every baseline member with training of symmetric and transitive relations may facilitate the insertion of the new stimulus into the category set by functionality.

Behavior analysts have been investigating false memories using the stimulus equivalence paradigm. In this experiment, we aimed to investigate if transfer of different function after equivalence class formation would affect false memories. The Experimental Group (EG) learned matching-to-sample (MTS) relations to establish three four-member (Classes 1, 2 and 3) and three 12-member (Classes 4, 5 and 6) equivalence classes. Stimuli were familiar pictures (nodes) and nonsense words. In Classes 4, 5 and 6, the familiar stimuli were pictures of faces portraying emotions of happiness, neutrality, and anger, respectively. Participants who meet criteria in equivalence MTS tests and participants who did not perform any MTS tasks (control group- CG) evaluated two nonsense words from Classes 4, 5 and 6 and the pictures portraying emotions, using the Sematic Differential (SD). A week later, participants from EG saw three lists with nine nonsense words from Classes 4, 5 and 6, in a total of 27 stimuli in the list. After a three minutes distracter task, participants saw three new lists composed by all stimuli from previously list (Targets), the remaining nonsense words form Classes 5, 4 and 6 (Critical Distractors) and the nonsense words from Classes 1, 2 and 3 (Non-related distracters). Participants should indicate witch stimuli were presented on the first lists. The seven participants from EG who finished the experiment evaluated the nonsense words of each equivalence class similar to the evaluation of the faces by the CG. They also recognized significantly more critical than non-related distracters only in the list composed by stimuli from neutral class.

The current study tested if names given by adult participants to the stimuli when asked to talk aloud became a part of the stimulus classes. Training the conditional discriminations and testing for emergent relations was conducted with a Many-to-One training structure in 6-s delayed Matching-to-Sample (DMTS) setup, with potentially three 3-member classes. After the test, the vocal names given by the participants were included as textual stimuli in sorting tests. In the sorting tests, the three first stimuli drawn from the stack of cards were names given by the participant, one name from each class. The next nine stimuli were the stimuli used in the DMTS procedure, with the three last stimuli in the stack being the stimuli corresponding with the names at the beginning of the stack. If the participants put a stimulus on top of one of the names, the card with the name automatically hid the stimulus. Initial results show that the names given by the participants become a part of the stimulus classes (see Table 1). Thus, the three-member classes seemingly also include the names participants give the stimuli.

This experiment investigated whether mixing baseline among symmetry and equivalence test trials enhances the yields of equivalence class formation. Twenty adults were exposed to two test protocols, in counterbalanced order: Simultaneous with Baseline Intermixed and Simultaneous with Post-test of Baseline (Conditions A and B, respectively). The conditions varied in respect to the test procedure and stimuli set. Both started by training AB, AC, AD, and AE relations concurrently. Next, a test assessed the maintenance of baseline and the emergence of symmetry (BA, CA, DA, EA) and equivalence (BC, BD, BE, CB, CD, CE, DB, DC, DE, EB, EC, ED) relations. In Condition A, baseline, symmetry, and equivalence test trials were presented simultaneously. In Condition B, baseline test trials were presented after the test for symmetry and equivalence intermixed. All participants formed equivalence classes in both conditions. Condition A presented slightly lower yields of immediate emergence (16 participants) than Condition B (18). Three out of the four participants with delayed emergence in Condition A initially failed in symmetry trials; the other two in Condition B, failed exclusively in equivalence trials. Condition A produced significantly faster responses to the first five equivalence test trials.

The role of instructions in stimulus equivalence research has often been discussed without being considerably empirically investigated. Generally, as little information as possible are given to participants, to limit the potential effects of instructions on stimulus equivalence responding. In this present stimulus equivalence experiment, instructions are investigated by using a linear series training structure with three 3-member classes. Participants were assigned to either one of three conditions, consisting of: general instructions (e.g., "your task is to find out which stimuli that belongs together"), specific instructions (e.g., "this stimulus is a fish and belongs together with the car which is this stimulus") or a control group without instructions about the task. The depended measures are number of training trials and equivalence responding. As shown in Table 1, the results show that the condition with general instructions gave a higher result of equivalence responding (i.e., 60 %) compared to the other conditions (i.e., 10 % and 0 %, respectively).

Symmetry is an emergent relation for stimulus equivalence. Although human participants are relatively easy to show evidence for symmetry, nonhuman animals typically do not. However, Urcuioli (2008) reported that pigeons demonstrated symmetry in his studies using successive (go / no-go) matching-to-sample procedure, and proposed a theory of pigeons' equivalence-class formation. In the present study, we checked Urcuioli's experiment. Four pigeons received hue-form arbitrary, hue-hue, and form-form identity matching training. In the training, fixed-interval (FI) 5-s schedule was arranged to positive trials and extinction (EXT) was arranged to negative trials. Each training session consisted of 48 positive and 48 negative trials that randomly appeared. Each pigeon was trained until it achieved a discrimination ratio of 0.80 or higher on each matching task for 5 of 6 consecutive training sessions. After the training, form-hue symmetrical relations was tested in non-reinforced trials. The test consisted of 104 trials that included 96 training trials and 8 symmetry probe trials. Figure 1 shows the results of four pigeons. Three of them (P1, P4, P5) responded more to the positive comparison stimuli than to the negative comparison stimuli and demonstrated symmetry. As we reproduced the results of Urcuioli's experiment, we conclude that Urcuioli's theory is correct.

Understanding how symbolic behavior may be enhanced can result in advances in the development of applied technologies. Participants in this study were eighteen university students ranging from 18-40 years (average = 29 years). Participants were asked to group 15 flashcards with black-and-white abstract shapes individually printed on them. Participants were then assigned to one of the two groups: Tact or Mand. Participants in the Tact Group were taught to say "Paf" in the presence of shape 1; "Vek" for shape 2, and "Zog" for shape 3. Participants in the Mand Group were asked to choose three snack items of their choice and were taught to mand for exchanging shape 1 for snack 1, shape 2 for snack 2, and shape 3 for snack 3. After serial training of AB, BC, CD, and DE relations, all probes for stimulus equivalence were presented in one block. Participants were again asked to group flashcards. Results showed no differences between groups suggesting that pre-training stimuli to exert control over tact and mand responses do not produce equivalence class enhancement. We suggest other types of pre-training of verbal operants to clarify the role of stimuli with a trained history to control verbal behavior in equivalence class formation.

Neuroscientific measures such as electroencephalography (EEG) can increase our understanding of complex human behavior. The N400 component is a negative peak elicited 400 ms after stimulus presentation and was originally observed when the end of a sentence was not related with the word presented before. The N400 is not observed if a relation has been established between the stimuli. The N400 effect also applies when the stimuli are not directly trained as in the test for equivalence class formation and can also be elicited by other meaningful stimuli, including pictures. This can be argued to be a measure of the relational strength between two stimuli as a result of the participant's learning history. The current poster presents an experiment with six healthy adult volunteers where we investigated the N400 during a priming procedure after forming three 3-member classes with C-stimuli as familiar pictures. The results showed a reduction of the N400 component over repeated presentations of the unrelated stimulus pairs when the unrelated stimulus pairs were analyzed separately in four consecutive blocks (see Figure 1). Hence, the findings indicate a possible habituation after repeated stimulus pair presentation.

In the present experiment, 12 conditional discriminations were trained as a baseline for three 5-member equivalence classes. All stimuli were abstract shapes. The research question was to study the effect of introducing new stimuli in a sorting test after MTS training or after MTS training and testing. In the experiment, 30 adults participated randomly assigned in two groups. Group 1 had the MTS training and test, followed by a sorting test, while Group 2 had the MTS training, sorting, MTS test and another sorting. Both groups were presented for five new stimuli in the sorting tests. The results show that 13 out of 15 participants in Group 2 sort the new stimuli in the experiment-defined classes (see Figure 1). In Group 1, four out of 15 participants sort new stimuli in the experiment-defined classes, while five participants sort the new stimuli together with three of the experiment-defined classes. In Group 1, three participants do not form equivalence classes. In Group 2, one participant does not respond in accordance with stimulus equivalence. There are higher total scores during MTS test in Group 2 than in Group 1, but the difference is not significant.

The present integrated series of experiments was designed to identify whether the differential order of exposure to test phases (Standard, Inverse, Mixed) respect of a training structure Many to One (MTO), One to Many (OTM) or Lineal Series (SL) has an effect on the emergence on the emergence of equivalence relations. Sixty psychology undergraduates from several universities of Guadalajara participated in the experiments. A Matching To Sample task software was programmed to training the conditionals discriminations (three conditions) and to testing three 3-member equivalence sets of stimuli, symmetry, transitivity and equivalence in four conditions. Overall, for these preparations we observe an effect, it seems has identified an explicit interaction between certain training structure and certain order of exposure to test phases. Hence, the results suggest that the performance in testing for emergence relations depends of order of exposure to test phases respect of the training structure used. Furthermore the accuracy was better with the SL training structure.

Saccade adaptation is a form of motor learning that maintains saccade accuracy in response to new sensorimotor contingencies. We know that reinforcement learning can induce saccade adaptation. Previously, an arbitrary reinforcer was used such as an auditory tone or viewing the target on the fovea to control saccades amplitude. This experiment asks whether changes in saccade amplitude may be induced by the ability to perform a visual discrimination task as a consequence. In a 4AFC task, five subjects were instructed to report which symbol was briefly (60ms) displayed across the whole screen immediately after a saccade. The possibility to perform the discriminative task was contingent on meeting a specific saccade amplitude criterion: when saccades did not meet the criterion, one of four irrelevant symbols was displayed such that the participant could not perform the discriminative task. We observed consistent changes in saccadic amplitude across sessions that followed the criterion manipulations. We conclude that saccades are operant behavior reinforced by the ability to perform visual tasks.

A procedure to study self-controlled behavior is the "refraining-from-eating" situation in which a food dispenser is presented once (SR1) within a repetitive time cycle, and it can be presented again (SR2) after the cycle has elapsed according to the following contingency: If the pigeon tries to consume SR1, the food is immediately withdrawn and the SR2 presentation is cancelled; if, however, the pigeon refrains from attempting to consume SR1, then it can consume SR2. In the present study, the contribution of stimulus control to "refraining" from taking SR1 was assessed. The effects of (a) signaling both SR1 and SR2 with the same color, (b) signaling both the SR1 and SR2 with different colors, (c) adding a houselight during SR1, and (d) adding a response key (which did not have to be pecked) during SR1 were evaluated. Fewer SR1 interruptions occurred when different stimuli signaled each food-dispenser presentation than when the same stimulus signaled both food presentations. When an illuminated response key was presented concurrently with SR1, interruptions were markedly reduced, to near-zero levels in those pigeons that pecked the key. These data are evidence that "resistance to temptation," an example of self-controlled behavior, is affected by stimulus control.

When reinforcement is contingent on a response in the presence of a compound stimulus, the contingency will be satisfied even if the response occurs under the control of only one of the elements. In this study, 12 bees received simple discrimination training followed by probes of stimulus control for isolated elements of the compound. The learning criterion was at least 90% of correct responses in two consecutive blocks of 20 trials. For half of the bees, the positive stimulus (S +) was a circle with blue border and white center and the S- was a circle with black border and yellow center; for the other half, the function of the stimuli was reversed. In the Probes phase, each compound was decomposed into two elements (a circular border and the inner circle) and all combinations of two elements were probed, in 16 trials. Stimulus control by both positive elements was strong for 8 of 12 bees (but somehow higher for the inner element of the circle), while four bees showed evidence of responding almost exclusively to only one of the positive elements. Probing stimulus control after discrimination training with compounds should be a standard protocol to identifying restricted stimulus control. Key word: discrimination learning, stimulus control, compound stimuli, bees

Available procedures to study working memory capacity in rodents generally use manual arena or maze tasks. For example, the odor span task uses an incrementing non-matching- to-sample procedure in which digging in cups scented with novel olfactory stimuli results in reinforcement on each trial, while responses to previously presented stimuli are not reinforced. The present study modified this procedure for use in an automated operant chamber using a 15-channel olfactometer. Rats were trained on a go, no-go procedure to make nose-poke responses in a port through which odorants were delivered. Responses to each odorant were reinforced on an FI 5-s schedule the first time it was presented, but once an odor had been presented, responses to that odor were no longer reinforced. Rats rapidly learned to differentiate between session-novel and session-familiar odors and responded at high rates to new stimuli and much lower rates to repeated stimuli. Determinants of remembering were assessed by manipulating a number of variables including frequency and recency of repeated odors, a mid-session delay, and a distractor task. Accuracy was affected by all these variables, but the greatest disruption was observed after a mid-session delay, with or without a distractor task.

When a light source is aimed at a surface, its luminous flux is dispersed across the surface. The intensity of the surface illumination defines "illuminance." Rats, as nocturnal animals, are sensitive to illuminance. Our interest is in their ability to discriminate small changes in relatively low levels of illuminance. Two rats' lever presses were maintained on a multiple schedule in which a variable-interval schedule of food reinforcement alternated with extinction. The components were signaled by different degrees of illuminance as measured in lux near the floor of the chamber. Across five conditions, we studied illuminance levels ranging from 0 lux (complete darkness) to 64 lux. The pairs of stimuli were arranged to produce absolute differences from 6 lux to 28 lux. The proportion of responding in the presence of S+ (the discrimination ratio) was used to assess the rats' ability to discriminate between the pairs of stimuli. Each rat's discrimination ratio was highest in the condition in which one of the stimuli was 0 lux (S- for one rat, S+ for the other). There was no systematic difference across the other conditions, with ratios consistently above 0.80. These results indicate that rats can discriminate relatively small differences in illuminance.

Forgetting the names of significant others can be demanding for people diagnosed with neurocognitive disorders (NCD) and their significant others. Therefore, the purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of using the simultaneous protocol (SP) and the Simple-to-Complex (STC) protocol while exploring stimulus control of relatives' names, faces, and family relations in a patient diagnosed with Vascular Dementia. We also studied different lengths of the inter-trial-interval (ITI) (i.e., 2000 ms vs. 5000 ms).The experimental conditions were presented using a single-subject experimental design, ABA1B1A1B1 with the SP in the A and A1 conditions, and the STC in the B and B1 conditions. The A1 and B1 conditions had 5000 ms ITI. The results showed that the participant made a number of incorrect responses during intial tests for responding in accordance with stimulus equivalence. However, with the use of the STC and increased ITI, the participant responded correctly on the different conditional discriminations and responded in accordance with stimulus equivalence in the last experimental condition.

The intruded stimulus (IS) paradigm explores the extent to which temporal control and stimulus control affect responding (Farmer & Schoenfeld, 1966). In this paradigm, a keylight color change is imposed on a fixed interval (FI) schedule. Deviations in responding from the expected FI scallop reflect control of the IS. In the current study, the IS paradigm was utilized with four Silver King pigeons. After establishing baseline responding on a FI 60 s schedule reinforcement, researchers administered two trial types in a series of sessions. Each session included 30 baseline trials and 30 IS trials randomly interspersed. Baseline trials consisted of an IS1 presentation for 10 s at the trial onset (immediately following reinforcement from the previous trial). IS trials included IS1 at the trial onset with the additional presentation of IS2 for either 5 or 10 s at different temporal locations. Results suggest the IS1 functioned as a stimulus delta (S?). Furthermore, the extent of stimulus control by IS2 was a function of distance from the reinforcer. Disruption of responding by IS2 was observed for both IS2 duration values (5 and 10 s).

Transfer of stimulus function within equivalence classes has been shown to vary as a function of both varying delays in delayed matching-to-sample and number of nodes. Fourteen adult participants were allocated to two experimental groups (simultaneous and 0-sec delayed MTS) and trained with twelve conditional discriminations (AB/BC/CD/EF) in a linear series (LS) training structure. The training was followed by testing the formation of three 6-member equivalence classes. The A-stimuli consisted of three different facial expressions where each expression was shown by four different individuals. The A1 stimuli were four angry faces, the A2 stimuli were four neutral faces, and the A3 stimuli were four happy faces. For each group, five participants rated the D stimuli and two participants rated the F stimuli by a Semantic Differential rating scale. The main findings show a correspondence between the facial expressions and the Semantic Differential Scale ratings for both groups. Participants in the DMTS group required a higher number of training trials to criterion than the SMTS group.

Verbal processing has been proposed to be necessary for associative learning in humans; however, numerous reports of first-order learning in preverbal infants refute this view for first-order learning. But there are no published reports of higher-order conditioning that test this hypothesis with nonverbal humans. Here we assessed the necessity of verbal skills for higher-order associative learning in preverbal babies. We employed a sensory preconditioning procedure that was quick and used no instructions. CS2-CS1 and CS3-CS4 trials were presented during phase 1, and CS1-US+ and CS3-US- trials were presented during phase 2. The CSs were colored geometric shapes, the US+s were entertaining video clips, and the US- an unpleasant sound. The conditioned response was looking at the location where the US+s had appeared. At test, babies exhibited conditioned responding to CS2, despite their being nonverbal. Thus, verbal processing is unnecessary for higher-order learning as well as first-order learning. In addition, our eye-tracking preparation for babies could provide a useful tool for examining cognitive functioning very early in human development without any instructions.

This work aimed to identify the effect of ontogenetic response cost on cultural selection in an experimental microculture. Three groups of three participants played a pizza game. The participants had to choose 6 ingredients of 20 possibilities. The IBC was the sequence of six ingredients, chosen by the participants. The AP was the pizza resulted of choses. The cultural consequence was 60 points if the pizza was the one expected for the current condition. The experiment was divided in two Phases. In Phase 1, the response cost consisted in solving individual tangran puzzles, every time they chose correct ingredients of pizza that received 60 points. In second Phase the correctament ingredientes choses demands the solution of n tangrans for the group and the participants decided how many puzzles each one would solve. In both phases, the conditions were: A baseline; BCD with 1/2/3 individual tangrans by correct ingredient for Phase 1 and 2/4/6 tangrans for the group at Phase 2. The results showed that individual response cost produced avoidance and low production of cultural consequences. In Phase 2, the response cost wasn't enough to produce avoidance, and the cultural consequences were systematically produced and greater than the other possibilities of IBC.

A progressive-ratio (PR) schedule is a schedule in which the response requirement increases following completion of the previous schedule requirement. PR schedules are used as a measure of reinforcer efficacy. Break points tell us how strong a reinforcer is: high breakpoints indicate that a reinforcer is more potent, and low breakpoints indicate that a reinforcer is less potent. However, there are no standardized methods for determining PR array values or breakpoint criteria. This study examined basic and applied PR schedules in the literature via a PsychInfo search, using key words "progressive ratio" and "schedule," and reviewed studies from the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Data were categorized by schedule type, stability criterion, termination criterion, breakpoint, response topography, and basic/applied. No published studies included schedule correlated stimuli. Future research should systematically evaluate the effectiveness of these procedural differences and identify variables that will increase stability in PR schedules. Interobserver agreement was 100% for 38.5% of data sets.

Differential reinforcement of low rates (DRL schedules) have been used in the experimental analysis of behavior as baselines to study other variables. They have also been used in applied settings to reduce rates of responding. Bruner and Revusky (1961) studied response patterns in humans during a DRL schedule using an apparatus with four keys. Although only one key was part of the DRL contingency, the experimenters observed identifiable patterns of responding on the other three keys. They suggested that these alternative, collateral responses helped the participants meet the DRL requirement. The first purpose of the current study was to replicate Bruner and Revusky's results using the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab (PORTL). A second purpose was to examine how response patterns would change as the number of alternative responses decreased. Preliminary results showed that patterns of behavior similar to those observed by Bruner and Revusky can be obtained using PORTL and that some participants were still able to meet the DRL requirements even with fewer experimenter-provided alternatives.

Humanoid robots (aka humanoids) may offer several advantages for experimental analysis of human behavior. Much like operant chambers, humanoids can be programmed to record data and deliver consequences for specific responses. However, the concept thaFt participants' behaviors can come under the control of a robot's behaviors has not been tested. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate whether Meebie, a humanoid robot, simulating a child engaging in compliance and noncompliance, could be used to gain systematic control over participants' behaviors. In Phase 1, participants'target responses (e.g., touching Meebie's head) resulted in Meebie complying with participants' instructions. During Phase 2, Meebie engaged in noncompliance regardless of the participants' behavior. We programmed Meebie to collect data on participants' responses, and generated cumulative records, to determine whether their behavior was being shaped. In Phase 1, 2 of 3 participants' cumulative touches to the target sensor were higher than touches to other sensors. During Phase 2, cumulative touches to all sensors decreased. Our preliminary findings support the use of a humanoid robot as an operandum to study human behavior; however, variables such as rule-governance and schedules of reinforcement should be taken into consideration with regard to analysis of human behavior.

Economic demand for alcoholic beverages can be assessed using the Alcohol Purchase Task (APT) where participants hypothetically buy drinks at escalating prices. The APT allows for detailed behavioral economic analyses including elasticity and breakpoint. Previous research has demonstrated that hypothetical academic constraints decrease certain measures of demand. In this experiment, participants completed two abbreviated versions of the APT with distinct prices over a similar range. In the experimental (EXP) version, participants were told that they had an exam the next morning, while the control (CTRL) version explicitly told them that they did not have an exam or class the next day. A full 2X2 factorial experiment was conducted where participants received 1) CTRL then EXP versions of APT, 2) EXP then CTRL versions of the APT, 3) CTRL then CTRL, or 4) EXP then EXP. Results from sixty participants (n=65) directly replicated within-subject the effects of academic constraints on alcohol purchasing demonstrated between groups. Demand curves obtained from the CTRL version first saw a reduction in that curve under the EXP version. Conversely, participants that saw the EXP version first showed an increase in demand in the subsequent CTRL version. There were no changes in the CTRL-CTRL or EXP-EXP conditions.

Positive and negative reinforcement contingencies have been compared in terms of preference, but what remain unclear are their differential effects on reaction time and accuracy while controlling other variables. Participants took part in a sound discrimination task involving random mixed-trial presentation of positive and negative reinforcement contingencies. Participants' goal was to identify whether the tone was shorter or longer than 600 milliseconds. On positive reinforcement trials, participants only received feedback and money tallies if they identified the sound length correctly, with each correct response in the positive reinforcement trials earning the participant 10 cents. On negative reinforcement trials, the participants only received feedback and money tallies if they identified the sound length incorrectly, with incorrect trials subtracting 10 cents from the participants' total money (which began at $4.00 to equalize the weights of the positive and negative reinforcement contingencies). Results indicated negative correlations between comparison stimulus duration and reaction time with different slopes between positive and negative reinforcement trials. These findings may have implications for improving training techniques and are evaluated within the context of Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) such as the P300 speller device.

Overt behavior always requires moving objects—including the organism itself—certain distances to function. Those distances can be characterized by both the absolute minimum distance an object must be moved to function and the aggregate minimum distances an object could be moved to function. While the effects of distance have not been extensively studied by behavior analysts, they have been researched by computer scientists, particularly those interested with Fitts' Law. In regards to computer cursors, two-dimensional models based on Fitts' Law typically state that the average time to move a cursor to a target area on the screen is a function of the distance between the cursor and the target area and the height and width of the target area. The current project compared the predictability of models based on Fitts' Law to broader, more behavioral-economic models using data from a human operant task similar to tasks used in Fitts' Law research. Molecular interactions between interresponse time, pausing, and response distance were also assessed.

This poster describes the development of an effect size measure called Ratio of Distances (RD), developed by Carlin and Costello (in preparation). Communication between the psychological disciplines may improve if both group and single case experimental research used comparable measures of effect size. In group research, effect size measures that reflect distance between means (e.g., Cohen's d) are commonly used. The goal of the present work was to develop a measure that can be easily compared to effect size measures (e.g., d), used in group research. Modeled from other effect size measures, we developed a measure of level change for single case experimental research that met several practical requirements: the measure is adaptable to designs with varying numbers of observations per, and across, phases. The measure is adaptable to situations in which slope does and does not exist. The measure has no ceiling, as is the limitation with commonly used overlap-based measures of effect size. The measure is computationally transparent and easily performed using widely available analysis tools.

Nakajima & Izumida (2015) demonstrated that students' price estimation of consumer items are increased by credit card logos presented with the items. This study aimed to replicate that effect with a Mexican student sample. An experiment was conducted with 10 pictures of consumer items to estimate its price. All pictures for the first group (n=25) were presented without the credit card logos, for the second group all pictures were presented with credit card logos (n=23), and in the third group (n=22) the logos were shown in 50% of trials. As shown in the original study, the pairing of credit card logos increased the average price of consumer items. Results show that students that owned a credit card (n=27) were more likely to increase the price of consumer items compared to those that didn't own any credit card, suggesting that participants' history with credit card use affect their price estimation. Although gender was not controlled, higher price estimation was observed particularly in women. Implications for product advertising and consumer experience with credit cards in low income countries is discussed.

In Mexico, 6.1% of the population has presented child behavior problems at some time in their lives. In these behavioral problems, as well as in their progression, various factors intervene, such as the perceived family environment, the substance abuse in the parents, among others. The research points out that there is a continuity between childhood behavior disorders and those of adolescence and adulthood (Frick, 2016), some inappropriate behaviors including aggression predict delinquent, aggressive and risky behaviors in adolescence and adulthood (Rodríguez, López- Cepero, Rodríguez, & Estrada, 2012, Frick, 2009; Campbell, 2005). The objective of the study was to increase prosocial behavior and decrease aggressive behaviors in children, through the management of behavior and reinforcement models, we worked with 3 groups of 1st grade of primary school with an average of 20 children in each group and a average age of 6 years. A multiple baseline design between groups and between behaviors was used. The behaviors were evaluated through a system of direct observation of prosocial and antisocial behavior, a Placheck record was carried out with a duration of 10 minutes at recess time in the school playground. The results showed that the percentage of prosocial behavior increased and the aggressive behavior decreased in most of the observed behaviors, likewise a size of the treatment effect was observed through the NAP index. Therefore, it can be concluded that the intervention strategy was effective in generating changes in the target behaviors.

Measurements of practitioner performance are rare even in research studies of the effect of interventions. Fidelity measurements provide information that increase generalizability of research findings and can be found useful in praxis when providing feedback to executors. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the provision of training on a regular basis could increase treatment fidelity of three teachers using Direct Instruction (DI) in teaching reading to first graders. A multiple baseline across subjects experimental design was used to measure the effect of training teachers to use DI. Training consisted of three variables: modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. The three variables were used simultaneously and the effect of each one was therefore not measured separately. Teachers' treatment fidelity was measured using a tool based on Corrective Reading Decoding Fidelity of Implementation Observation Checklist by Benner, Nelson, Stage and Ralston (2011). The teachers reached the set goal of 80% treatment fidelity and maintained their performance scores throughout the study. When teachers had reached the 80% fidelity goal, training was systematically reduced.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the effects of using direct instruction on English as a Second Language learners' acquisition of new vocabulary. Wanzek (2014) and Ellis (2010) stated that direct instruction in second language learning has showed positive results. Rupley et al (2009) acknowledged the importance of direct and explicit instruction in teaching reading comprehension to students who exhibit difficulties in this skill. In this present research, The researcher, who is also the class teacher, has started collecting data to measure the effects of direct instruction technology on learners' acquisition of vocabulary. The subjects are 30 learners of English as a Second Language. Choral responding, use of Active Student Responses and response cards were used to introduce and teach new vocabulary. Thirty-minute sessions run three times a week from September 3, 2017 to October 1, 2017 were conducted for data collection. These sessions will continue until the end of November 2017. Preliminary results have shown that the technology of direct instruction has indeed a positive effect on the acquisition of vocabulary by learners of English as a Second Language. The researcher aims at encouraging educators to use the technology of direct instruction, especially in the field of second language teaching.

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) vary greatly in reading proficiency. Reading fluency is a skill that they often struggle with. The Reread-Adapt and Answer-Comprehend (RAAC) is an intervention that has been proved effective by previous research in helping students with disabilities improve both reading fluency and comprehension. This study aims to extend previous research and investigates the effectiveness of an intervention that combines both RAAC and positive reinforcement (i.e., 10 minutes iPad time) on reading fluency in three elementary students with ASD. An oral reading fluency curriculum-based measurement was administered first to determine individual student's reading level before implementing the intervention. For intervention, participants are asked to read the material (e.g., a paragraph) three times with a one-minute break in between, followed by a few general questions about the reading material. Whenever the students are able to finish reading the designated materials within a certain time limit (e.g., 1 minute), they will be provided with 10 minutes iPad time as positive reinforcement. This study employs a multiple baseline across participants design to collect data. The intervention is introduced to participants sequentially one by one after baseline data collection and students' reading performances are measured and graphed accordingly.

The current study was designed to investigate the applicability of the IES/NSF pipeline-of-evidence protocol for identifying a given instructional intervention as research-based. To test the protocol, we retroactively examined the empirical evidence for two interventions used for literacy instruction and mapped this evidence to the six steps in the protocol: 1) Foundational studies that examine phenomena in the absence of a direct link to educational outcomes; 2) Early Stage/Exploratory studies that examine the connections or relationships among constructs; 3) Design and Development studies involving the design and testing of individual components of an intervention; 4) Efficacy studies of the intervention under ideal circumstances; 5) Effectiveness studies of the intervention under typical circumstances; and 6) Scale-up studies of the intervention under typical circumstances but in a wide range of contexts and populations. We found that in the case of Reciprocal Teaching, empirical evidence was manifest at each stage of the pipeline. In the case of Shared Book Reading, foundational, early stage, design/development, and efficacy research were absent. Results indicate that the IES/NSF pipeline-of-evidence protocol offers a productive approach to identifying evidence-based practices because it takes into account the role of methodological designs in lines of research inquiry.

Reading screening measures for Kindergarten students typically have lower predictive validity than other types of reading screening measures for older students. We conducted a pilot study of a simple goal/reward procedure ("skill/will") to distinguish between performance and skill difficulties on Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) and Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) in a multiple baseline across students design. Before baseline, nine students scored below benchmark on PSF and/or NWF at Middle of Year (MOY) benchmark assessment without changes. Baseline included progress monitoring 2-3 days/week with standard assessment directions. Intervention included adding a goal/reward for students. A "reward" was delivered when students met or exceeded their highest previous score (1 reward item) and met or exceeded the MOY benchmark (2 reward items). Across students and skills (n = 13 legs of study), nine met/exceeded MOY benchmark during baseline (suggesting additional exposure to the assessments was adequate), two exceeded benchmark during goal/reward procedures (suggesting adding a simple performance component was adequate), and two required extended exposure to goal/reward or skill-based review to exceed benchmark. At End of Year benchmark (follow-up), 12 of 13 skills were at or above the benchmark on PSF and/or NWF, suggesting lower risk than predicted by Middle of Year screening.

Reading comprehension is a necessary demand for students' achievement in schools (Crabtree, Alber-Morgan, & Konrad, 2010). However, students with learning disabilities (LD) face more obstacles learning to read (Vaughn, Levy, & Coleman, 2002). While self-questioning as a reading comprehension strategy has been promising in improving reading comprehension for typical students and students with disabilities (Joseph, Alber-Morgan, Cullen, & Rouse, 2016), little is known about the effective self-questioning approaches for students with learning disabilities. This review included 13 empirical studies conducted between 1998 and 2017, investigating the use of self-questioning approaches to improve reading comprehension particularly for students with learning disabilities. Results indicate five self-questioning approaches concerning instructor-provided (e.g., Crabtree et al., 2010) or student-produced questions (e.g., Rouse, Alber-Morgan, Cullen, & Sawyer, 2014). Each of the five approaches asserts the positive role of self-questioning on improving reading comprehension. However, comparing between approaches to determine the most effective self-questioning approach has been proved inconclusive due to the effects of confounding factors (e.g., discrepancies in assessment procedures) and the limited information on generalization across the reviewed studies. particularly for students with learning disabilities.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of instructional strategies on letter identification for two Kindergarten students who experienced letter identification difficulties. All procedures were conducted in the participants' school. Across both participants, IOA for task accuracy and instructional strategy use was assessed across 31% of sessions and averaged 97%. A three-phase analysis was conducted within a multielement design. Phase 1 evaluated the number of letters participants correctly identified when an instructional strategy was not provided. Phase 2 evaluated the effects of two different instructional strategies and rewards on participants' correct letter identification, and Phase 3 evaluated the effects of instruction, specifically strategic incremental rehearsal (SIR), plus the most effective instructional strategy, identified in Phase 2, on participants' correct letter identification. Results (Figures 1 and 2) showed that an effective, yet different, instructional strategy was identified for each participant during Phase 2. Specifically, a letter line was identified as most effective for one participant, whereas picture cards were identified for the other. For both participants, strategies were insufficient in fully improving their letter identification skills. Thus, results of Phase 3 showed that SIR plus an instructional strategy was effective for further increasing both participants' correct letter identification.

The current study examined the effectiveness of a novel method of delivering classwide literacy instruction in preschool. The need to improve preschool instruction with evidenced based techniques, especially in the area of literacy instruction is warranted. Four preschool classrooms were involved in the study for a total of 95 students and 4 teachers. Data was collected using AIMSweb Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), AIMSweb Letter Sound Fluency (LSF), and a researcher-created accuracy probe. The classwide matching to sample instruction occurred four days a week for 3-6 mins. It was implemented during opening circle time. Each session consisted of 1 letter that involved a series of steps that were completed within the matching to sample instruction. There were two matching to sample instructions delivered in a week: letter naming and letter sound. Each session consisted of a stimulus being presented with three comparative stimuli, a stimulus being paired with a verbal word, or a stimulus being paired with a verbal sound. Overall, A = print, B = picture, C = letter name, and D = letter sound. Results from the current study provide preliminary support for matching-to sample instruction to be used to improve letter name and sound acquisition, letter naming fluency, and letter sound fluency with preschool students. The current study highlights the effectiveness of utilizing explicit instruction using scaffolding techniques, frequent review and practice opportunities, visual aids, and specific feedback when activating prior knowledge to teach an academic skill.

Reading is an important skill in life. It affects how we understand what the world communicates to us and getting by generally. Most studies in the literature on reading focus on high-functioning autism, but there is limited information on teaching reading to those with severe autism. Jolly Phonics is a synthetics phonics program used to teach reading and writing using multisensory modes by breaking up the English Language into 42 sounds and incorporating various activities. This study was done on a 14 year old boy in Kaizora, a day-centre located in Kenya. Many methods were tried in previous schools and none were successful. By breaking down the jolly phonics program into small steps, he began learning group 1 sounds (s, a, t, p, i, n) and completed these successfully in 25 sessions. He is now able to blend short c-v-c words by learning just these 6 sounds. As he progresses across the 7 groups his ability to blend longer words is predicted to increase whereby he will be able to work on comprehension as well. Jolly phonics has been a successful strategy with other students in this centre and this study shows how much impact it can have on learning to read.

Proficient reading is essential for school success. This poster will present data from the OSU, Special Education Reading Clinic that is housed in an inner-city elementary school. The student population is 75% African American, 13% Caucasian, 4% Hispanic, and 4% Multi-racial. The children are primarily from low SEs families. The school's children typically score below the state mean on standardized reading assessments. Therefore, many children could benefit from supplemental biweekly reading instruction. Tutoring sessions are one hour in length. The clinic targets children (with or without a disability label) who are first and second graders and who are recommended by their teacher due to poor reading skills. The clinic is a service-learning opportunity for pre-service special education students. Our special education students are trained to implement reading instruction using direct instruction strategies. OSU students assess children's progress using both standardized tests and curriculum-based measures. Children often double their reading fluency, increase decoding skills, and demonstrate improved comprehension. End of the semester assessments indicate that many of the children have reduced risk for reading failure as measured by the standardized test (e.g., DIBELS). This poster will provide individual data for children on reading fluency and comprehension using Standard Celeration Charts.

Meta-analyses and literature reviews are important for synthesizing research on a topic, assessing trends in a field, and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions research. Calls for adoption and utilization of evidence based practices in special education warrants the need for methodological rigor in research practices to inform policy and practice. Recent efforts have also been aimed at improving the methodological quality of reviews and meta-analyses, as well as replicability of reporting procedures. Meta-analytic studies have previously excluded studies conducted using single case designs (SCD) owing to absence of standard measures to aggregate effect sizes across studies. The purpose of this review is to examine the characteristics of literature reviews and meta-analyses of reading interventions for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. The paper examines the extent to which previous meta-analyses have included SCD studies, and examine effect size measures that have been used in assessing efficacy of the interventions. A brief review and discussion of a novel effect size measure for SCD is provided.

The most common treatment for Attention-Deficity Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) currently is stimulant medication. Medications can have side effects and are not always effective. White noise is an alternative to medication for children diagnosed with ADHD to decrease off-task behavior in classrooms. Continuous white noise was used in this study to examine off-task behavior in college students diagnosed with ADHD. In a single-subject reversal design two students performed an academic task while listening to no noise or 75 dB white noise through headphones for 15 minutes sessions. Results indicated a moderate decrease in off-task behavior for one participant and a negligible change in the other. Being that the nature of the intervention is simple to implement and no known adverse effects, white noise is worth exploring for reduction of off-task behavior in college students with ADHD.

Media multitasking involves alternating between completing academic tasks and using technology for nonacademic purposes and has detrimental effects on task performance (Wood et al., 2012). We used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effects of technology breaks on media multitasking during independent study with two undergraduate students. During baseline, we observed the participants studying independently and recorded the frequency and duration of media multitasking. The intervention involved teaching participants to implement noncontingent technology breaks. The initial schedule of breaks was determined by the participants' media multitasking during baseline, and then the schedule of breaks was gradually thinned. During breaks, the participants were instructed that they could check their text messages, e-mails, or social media. There were no programmed consequences for media multitasking. The results showed that the technology breaks decreased media multitasking for both participants even though there were no programmed consequences for media multitasking or on task behavior. In addition, the participants implemented the technology breaks with a high level of fidelity. Our findings demonstrate the utility of an antecedent-based self-management strategy for decreasing media multitasking with college students.

Academic procrastination implies a tendency to put off important academic task until their deadline approaches. A study of nursing students in Mexico indicated that 100% of participants reported procrastinate in their academic activities. Previous researches on this phenomenon have linked academic procrastination to higher levels of stress and poorer well-being among university students. To date, only a few studies have analyzed procrastination in a Mexican context; furthermore, there is no one scale that specially measures academic procrastination in a Mexican population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Academic Procrastination Scale by McCloskey & Scielzo (2016) which consists of 25 items Likert-type scales (5 point). As a first phase of the study, translation and cultural adaptation was done according to recommendations and guidelines for validating and cross-cultural adapting research. In a second phase, the scale was administered to 600 students of a public university. The third phase, a factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory) was used to estimate the validity and reliability using the internal consistency method (Cronbach's a). The results support that the adaptation of the scale is a valid and reliable measure of Academic Procrastination in university students.

In college classrooms, group contingencies have increased performance of weaker students, reducing variability on assessment scores. Forty-nine undergraduates completed multiple unannounced, in-class quizzes; scoring 80% or better resulted in extra-credit. In baseline, students studied individually for 5 min prior to each quiz, and during the experimental conditions, they studied with an assigned group. Two conditions were compared within-subjects: group study/individual reinforcement (i.e., extra credit based on the student's score) and group study/group reinforcement (i.e., extra credit based on the group's mean score). For one class, the conditions alternated regularly throughout the semester, and for two other classes, the conditions were blocked (students completed multiple quizzes in each condition prior to experiencing the next condition; the order of conditions was counterbalanced). Figure 1 shows the percent of students who scored below 40% in each condition; there was a decrease in very low scores in the individual reinforcement condition. Results from a social validity assessment indicated aversion to group work; students indicated group extra credit was unfair because group members varied in the quality of their contributions. These latter results contrast with those for school-age children, suggesting the need to better understand social contingencies before implementing cooperative strategies with this population. Keywords: group contingency, variability, college classroom, undergraduate students

Interteaching (Saville et al. 2006) is an empirically-derived and validated teaching method using a dyadic interviewing method that revolves around questions given in advance on a "Preparation Guide." Two students query each other in class, filling in gaps, and offer feedback on the material to the instructor that informs subsequent class periods and lectures. The format of interteaching allows for a more intimate relationship between student and instructor, reduces lecture fatigue, and flows more flexibly than traditional courses, but it requires substantial preparation for a significant number of class periods on the part of the student. However, the relationship between preparing prior to class and course success has not been assessed. In addition, it is presumed that conducting an interteach session with different partners each class improves performance, another hypothesis that has not been tested. In this experiment, three conditions were applied to three sections randomly of the same course during the same semester. In one section, preparation guide "checks" were completed by a trained graduate assistant. In another section, partners were randomly assigned every interteach period. The third section served as the control condition. Performance on quizzes ("probes"), final exams, and attendance will serve as dependent measures. Grading was completed by the course instructor, although they were blinded to condition.

For educators and education institutions, it is always an important concern to insure adequate level of students' learning. This concern is even more important in large enrollment courses as the return on investment in terms of student learning become more apparent for the university administration. This importance should be examined at the social and consumer levels to highlight the value adding nature of behavior analytic approach to learning in college settings. Chase and Houmanfar explored the effect of basic feedback (simply correct or incorrect answer) and the elaborate feedback (basic feedback + information on the topic addressed in the question) on the students' performance when taking the weekly assessment quizzes, demonstrating a significant effect, above all, in the case of "hard questions." By drawing upon the recent literature on feedback plus the follow-up data pertaining to the implementation of Chase and Houmanfar's methodology in a large enrollment course, we will discuss ways by which eye-tracking technology can be used as an assessment technique for selection of effective feedback in an on-line training process.

Two procedures that are often used by practitioners to reduce errors during teaching are superimposition and fading. Early research by Terrace (1963) showed that these procedures could be used with pigeons to transfer stimulus control from a color discrimination to a shape discrimination with zero responses to the s-delta. The present study first attempted to replicate Terrace's superimposition and fading procedures with college students. Unlike Terrace's pigeons, our participants made some errors during the procedure, often during the final fading step. For several participants, when the shape stimuli were presented for the first time without the colors, the individual performed at chance level. During the second part of this study, another fading phase was added, in an attempt to further reduce errors. This included slowly reducing the size of the colored circles. However, some participants still continued to make errors. Further variations are currently being tested with additional participants.

Tosti (1978) described two types of feedback. Motivational feedback should be given immediately after the learner makes a response. Formative feedback should be given immediately before the learner makes the next response. Tosti suggested that instead of correcting errors when they occur, the teacher should wait and provide formative feedback during the next opportunity to respond. This study compared these two types of feedback using college student participants. Participants learned to name symbols using nonsense words. In both conditions when a participant responded correctly, reinforcement was provided. In the formative condition, the experimenter began each trial by modeling the correct response and then allowed the participant to perform the response. No consequences were provided for incorrect responses. In the motivational condition, the experimenter first allowed the participant to respond. If the participant made an incorrect response, the experimenter said "no" and then modeled the correct response. In the formative condition, participants responded faster, reported that they were learning, and said that they felt good. In the motivational condition, participants took longer to respond, reported feeling frustrated, and said that they were not learning.

This case study compared the effects of a Numbered Heads Together, a cooperative learning strategy with and without peer led opportunities to respond. The study took place at a University in an undergraduate classroom management class. The participant was a college student with Autism who took the class as part of his post secondary course work. During the Numbered Heads Together condition students were assigned to small groups and responded to teacher questions. During the Numbered Heads Together plus peer led opportunities to respond sessions, in addition to teacher questions, the peers asked the participant questions at a rate of at least 3 per minute. Questions for the quizzes were taken from a book on Applied Behavior Analysis. The results of an alternating treatments design indicated that the student had higher percentage of intervals of on-task behavior and weekly quiz scores during the Numbered Heads Together condition with peer led opportunities to respond. Student satisfaction ratings suggested that Numbered Heads Together with peer led opportunities to respond was a preferred strategy to Numbered Heads Together alone. Data in the form of graphs, a discussion of study limitations, implications, and future research directions will be presented.

The importance of critical thinking for effective decision-making is emphasized by educators and practicing professionals in many fields. However, critical thinking skills are not usually directly taught in traditional educational settings. A subset of these skills, identifying logical fallacies, could be amenable to direct instruction using procedures that establish conditional discriminations, such as equivalence-based instruction. Equivalence-based instruction procedures have been shown to be effective and efficient when teaching a variety of skills, including the identification of 5 logical fallacies. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the relative effectiveness and efficiency of a web-based equivalence-based instruction program for teaching students to identify 13 logical fallacies by comparing the outcomes of equivalence-based instruction to a self-instruction and a no-instruction control group. Thirty-five undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: equivalence-based instruction, self-instruction or no-instruction. Using a pretest-train-posttest design, performance on multiple-choice tests that target relations among logical fallacy names, descriptions, and examples were compared. Results showed that equivalence-based instruction was more effective and efficient when compared to both self-instruction and no instruction control groups. Results from this study might inform future strategies used to teach critical thinking.

The present study evaluated the effects of different types of teacher commands on response latency for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. Two different types of commands were assessed—alpha commands and beta commands. Research on instructional time in schools shows that loss of instructional time during transition periods may result in decreased academic achievement (Berliner, 1990). The current study evaluated the effects of both alpha and beta commands within a multiple baseline design across participants on response latency for students who did not respond adequately to teacher-led transitions. Results indicated that both alpha and beta commands were effective for all participants for reducing response latency, including a participant with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Initial results also demonstrated generalization of response latency to non-targeted commands in the classroom.

Limited college teaching research suggests that compared to voluntary question answering, random oral questioning increases written quiz scores (McDougall & Cordeiro, 1993), yet this has not been evaluated in online courses. In the context of an online master's course on single subject design, we evaluated the effects of oral quizzes on points earned on four written assessments: two quizzes, a midterm exam, and a final exam. During four quasirandomly selected weeks, oral quizzes were administered during the first 15 minutes of 2-hour, interactive videoconference sessions in which questions from the previous week's content were randomly asked to the students. Written quiz/exam points correlated with content from oral quizzes were compared to written quiz/exam points from content with no oral quiz; there were 84 points available in each condition. Six of 8 participants had more points in the oral quiz condition; 1 participant had more points in the no oral quiz condition; and 1 participant showed no difference between the conditions. Interobserver agreement for one of the written quizzes was 100%. Procedural integrity with one instructor on one oral quiz was 84%. These preliminary data suggest that weekly oral quizzes can improve written exam performance in online behavior analysis courses.

Literature has shown that parent training enables parents to develop behavior analytic skills that result in more effective treatment for their children (Matson, Mahon, and Matson, 2009). Other studies have shown that the skills mastered during a parent training program were not maintained under natural circumstances (Moore and Symons, 2011). This study focuses on the effects that a parent training program has on families with children with autism spectrum disorders. All participants currently receive in-home ABA services and approximately half of the participants had participated in an in-home 6-week parent training program. Participants completed a survey designed to assess parent's behavior analytic knowledge and skills and opinions regarding their child's ABA program. Comparisons between the two groups show the effects that parent training has on parent's implementation of ABA, understanding of the ABA program and behavior plan, and perception of their role as behavior change agent. The responses from the parent participation group show the extent to which the skills mastered during the program were maintained after the program's completion. Survey data also allows for recommendations to be made regarding areas of strength and areas of need in parent training programs.

After achieving the BCBA certification, many BCBA's immediately seek employment at an in-home ABA agency with having little to nfo actual supervisory experience managing staff and overseeing a diverse caseload of clients, diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. There has often been a discussion that there has been a lack of quality control amongst BCBA practitioners, as currently, there is no mandate in terms how many years of experience a BCBA practitioner must work with clients and staff, in a supervisory capacity. The question becomes, how do in-home ABA agencies ensure that BCBA's are not only competent to work with clients and staff but also, have a certain level of competency? Additionally, how do they maintain that level of competency, to provide quality services for clients and families? An overview of how one in-home ABA supervises BCBA's will be discussed, including frequency of supervision, content of supervision, how feedback is provided to BCBA's, frequency of feedback to BCBA's, how BCBA's are formally evaluated, and how continued training for BCBA's are supported. Further discussion and future directions for maintaining continued supervision BCBA's will also be addressed.

The time-honored mantra of training medical students and residents, "See one! Do one! Teach one!," has a catchy sound, but often isn't adequate for the complex and even not so complex procedures and practices of clinical medicine. It is especially inadequate for teaching generalization to the myriad circumstances, and human tragedies, of day to day clinical medicine. It is time honored, but more and more readily seen as inefficient and unsafe. Integrating basic principles of behaviorally based education into the traditional practices of medical education can be challenging in that it must overcome several hundred years of learning history and traditional practices of those teaching. Examples of behaviorally based education include direct supervision in real time of procedures by students and junior residents, greater emphasis of teaching basic skills in preclinical years before they are expected to be performed in clinical clerkships on "real patients," the widespread use of technologically sophisticated simulation labs, and the particularly behavioral yet often not done practice of actually deconstructing a complex procedural skill into component skills and behavioral objectives, and then practicing these component behavioral chains until the basic pattern is learned well, and then generalized by gradually altering the practice circumstances including increasingly complex variables and decision trees. Facilitating attempts to implement more behaviorally based teaching strategies for healthcare providers creates a culture of higher expectations. This talk reviews examples of behaviorally sound teaching in the classroom, clinic, and bedside, as well approaches to changing habits of medical educators.

Interteaching is a behavioral teaching method with a growing body of evidence to support its efficacy. Interteaching has led to higher exam scores, increased student participation in class, and more positive course evaluations. No study has yet determined whether prep guides alone could be added to standard teaching to increase exam scores. This study used an alternating treatments design, using interteaching in some weeks, standard teaching in some weeks, and standard teaching plus prep guides in the other weeks. The standard lecture online format consisted of a video lecture and exam. The interteaching format involved a prep guide, a written group discussion in Canvas, and a brief clarifying lecture. Participants (N= 70) were undergraduate students between 19-60 yrs of age enrolled in Psychology of Learning. In the two classes complete so far (out of three), exam scores were higher in interteaching weeks (M= 89.76) compared to standard teaching weeks (M=82.94). Scores were not significantly higher when prep guides were added to standard teaching (M=84.42). If students score significantly higher in interteaching conditions, this will expand the application of this teaching method to an online asynchronous environment. It may also show that prep guides alone are not enough to affect scores.

Remote parent training has helped familes in rural or remote areas whom have limited access to evidence-based intervention for their children with disabilities. Recent literature has focused on the importance of parents knowledge of ABA strategies such as reinforcement, behavioral management, and improved their implementation of ABA strategies with their children.The current study sought to examine the effectiveness of delivery of postive reinforcement with feedback via GotoMeeting.Two of the three parents were able to increase their delivery of postive reinforcement. Future studies are warranted on a bigger sample size and with different technological outlets.

Technology has resulted in the emergence of Whatsapp and FaceTime as competitive alternate training platforms to in-person training sessions. The wide reach of Internet based technology has made Tele-health an effective and low-cost method of training parents as interventionists using the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The parent of the 6-year-old child with autism was trained to work on a given set of goals based on the VBMAPP (Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program) assessment. The treatment package consisted of in person training, watching the session over video call, playback of recorded footage and self-evaluation,both in person and using email. The objective was to shape the parent's teaching skills in using Verbal Behavior with the child, with a specific focus on contingencies for delivery of reinforcement, and application of extinction procedures. Results show that following the model, treatment fidelity improved and the child's inappropriate behaviors decreased, with an increase in rate of skill acquisition. These results suggest that use of technology in implementing ABA services can serve as a low-cost tool to effectively empower parents as interventionists.

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficiency of two prompt strategies (echoic versus echoic + picture) on establishing the intraverbal behavior (i.e., question answering) for three 4-year-old children with ASD in China. All three children had mand, tact, and echoic behavior in their repertoire, but had a limited intraverbal repertoire. An adapted alternating treatments design combined with a multiple probe across two behaviors (two question sets) was used. Results indicated that both strategies were effective to teach and maintain question answering for all three children. However, the echoic prompt strategy required fewer trials to criterion than the echoic plus picture strategy, suggesting the efficiency of echoic prompts to establish intraverbal repertoire for these children.

Many science instructors incorporate laboratory activities to facFilitate students' understanding of scientific principles that they are exposed to in traditional lectures (Hofstein & Lunetta, 1982). The Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab (PORTL; Rosales-Ruiz & Hunter, 2016) is a tabletop shaping game designed as a parallel to Skinner's operant chamber. We evaluated the effects a sequence of PORTL activities on undergraduate students' understanding of reinforcement, extinction, differential reinforcement, and shaping. Students in five undergraduate introductory behavior analysis courses were given one of two versions of a pre/posttest before and after the PORTL sequence. The results suggest that the average pre/posttest scores in four of the five course sections improved after the PORTL activities; however, students from three of these four sections received posttest in form A. The average scores for the pre/posttest form A were also higher than the average scores for the pre/posttest form B regardless of when it was administered. The results are discussed with respect to the importance of developing functionally equivalent pre/posttests to determine if laboratory activities are effective in facilitating students' understanding of behavioral principles and the limitations of assessing changes in students' verbal repertoires as a function of participation in laboratory activities.

If a child is put in the product part of a shopping-cart the risk of accidents due to falling from the cart increases. Eirîksson & Sigurdardottir (2011) demonstrated how an intervention based on antecedent control could dramatically decrease the rate of a child being put into the shopping-cart. Since the original study was conducted in 2010, larger scale studies have been executed more recently with the aim of measuring the long-term effects of the original intervention and, of a similar but new one; studying how common the target behavior is, as well as of identifying the active ingredient of the intervention. Results revealed that the effects of the original intervention maintained at 1, 2, and 3-year follow-up. Also, the target behavior is common, especially in low price supermarkets. Results also revealed that using a pictogram instead of a photograph of a real child proofed nearly as effective. Combining the picture with written instructions (as in the original study) proved more effective than the picture alone (of a real child or a pictogram) but the instructions alone were almost as effective as the picture and instructions combined. Systematic replications in other societies are needed before recommendations can be made for large-scale interventions.

The vast majority of all legal cases are resolved via plea bargain arrangements. However, relatively little research in the area of psychology and behavioral economics has evaluated how contextual factors, such as impulsivity, risk aversion, and sensitivity to immediate outcomes, influences defendants' legal decision making. Using the delay-and-probability discounting model, the purpose of the current project was to evaluate the degree to which college students' decision making involving legal outcomes (i.e., jail time and registration on the sex offender registry) was affected by delayed or uncertain consequences. Participants completed a series of probability discounting tasks or delay discounting tasks, each designed to assess the rate at which the subjective value of rewards and costs diminished as a function of uncertainty or delay and consequence magnitude. Results suggest that legal outcomes are discounting differently according to the magnitude of the consequence, the type of consequence, and the delays to and odds against receiving the legal consequence. Accordingly, these results potentially inform best practices for individuals working with young adults in legal decision-making contexts and add to extant domain-specific behavior-economic discounting literature.

The increased inclusion of individuals with intellectual disability (ID) in the community has been accompanied by a concomitant increase in their involvement with the criminal justice system as suspects and/or victims (Davis 2006). Limitations in both intellectual and adaptive functioning can result in a person displaying poor communication and reasoning skills, decreased social awareness, and poor mobility due to the potential physical challenges sometimes associated with ID (National Research Council 2001; Modell & Mak 2008), increasing their risk of being detained even when they have not been involved in a criminal act. Most police officers receive little training on how to recognize that someone may have a developmental disability and how to interact with these individuals. Research examining trainings used to educate police officers about disabilities shows that those strategies are not always effective in changing their behaviors. Teaching individuals with ID appropriate responses if stopped by a police officer is another option. However, there is limited research examining educating someone with a disability how to respond when stopped by a police officer. This project focused on developing a video modeling intervention to teach adults with ID how to respond when stopped by a police officer.

In today's sociopolitical climate, the discussion of individuals wrongly shot by cops is the forefront on the news. The Ruderman Family Foundation, a disability organization, found that about half of individuals that have been killed by police have a disability. Individuals on the Autism Spectrum Disorder are not immune to this reality; in fact, with ASD being such a spectrum disorder, it is easy for a police officer to mistake a mildly impacted individual with ASD as neurotypical, instead of needing further assistance. Furthermore, many individuals in law enforcement do not have the necessary skills or training to understand various disabilities and mental health disorders that occur amongst individuals. With this harsh reality, it is important to discuss how to teach individuals with ASD (and other developmental disorders), how to safely respond to law enforcement when stopped. This poster will discuss the use of social stories, scripts, and role-playing, to help teach individuals how to respond and "resist arrest" correctly. Furthermore, the ethical discussion of when to focus on teaching minority individuals with ASD and other developmental disorders will be discussed.

Sedentary lifestyles are becoming more common in today's populations leading to an increase in serious health issues. Behavioral interventions to increase physical activity are needed to address this socially significant issue. This study used a changing criterion design to evaluate the effects of a self-tailored deposit contract on physical activity for six weeks with three sedentary adults. Each participant deposited a monetary amount that could be earned back or forfeited contingent on meeting weekly goals. A fixed-ratio schedule was used to increase gradually the minutes exercised per week. Each participant met 100% of their weekly goals across the six-week intervention demonstrating that the intervention was effective, but the behavior did not maintain when the intervention was discontinued. Self-tailored deposit contracting with a changing criterion design was an effective intervention for increasing physical activity, but further research is needed to determine how to successfully fade the intervention while maintaining the target behavior.

A smaller portion of the behavior analytic literature has established literature in assessing and increasing physical activity. The need to increase physical activity has been a talking point for several national organizations. Therefore, one can consider physical activity as a socially significant behavior that may require intervention. This study assessed how often participants modified physical intensity during treadmill exercise when heart rate biofeedback was available. Modifying physical intensity was defined as participant initiated increase or decrease in treadmill speed or incline. The methods used successfully increased the frequency participants modified physical intensity (M=97%) for two of the three typically developing women included in the study. It is suspected that the third participant did not achieve stable responding because of the inconsistency in study session attendance. However, across all participants, average heart rate was higher, but within healthy ranges during intervention phases (M=9%). The results of the study suggest that the use of biofeedback during treadmill exercise increases the frequency participants modify physical intensity to achieve a heart rate that aligns with effective cardiovascular exercise practices. Additionally, the technology used in the study provides a method for recording physical activity that can be considered more valid than other recording devices commonly used in the physical activity literature (e.g., pedometer-based devices).

Bullying has been an increasing national and international concern over recent years. However, despite this growing concern and the negative impact of bullying for both perpetrators and victims (e.g., academic, interpersonal, physical health, and mental health problems), a limited amount of research examines bullying from an interventional or functional position. The clear majority of research is correlation based, and simply looks at variables that may relate to the presence bullying, not any way to decrease or eradicate it. It is unclear based on the current research when bullying begins to be an issue with children, how to prevent it, and how to address existing bullying. Additionally, researchers have not agreed on a single definition of bullying. The present meta-analysis reviews bullying research in the psychological and behavioral literature over the past 10 years. A discussion of the current research trends, limitations of current research, and ideas for future research will be included.

During emerging adulthood, the developmental period between 18 and 25 years of age, behaviors of aggression are common among dating couples (Woodin, Caldeira, & O`Leary, 2013). College is a main arena for dating aggression, defined as physical, psychological, and sexual violence and harassment (Carr & VanDeusen, 2002). Busby, Holman, and Walker (2008) claimed that if aggression happens in the family, aggressive behaviors might be normalized, so making them highly likely in adulthood. Since exposure to aggression in one's family of origin may affect aggression in romantic relationships (O'Keefe, 1998), college students in a dating relationship may respond to anger in a way that they have observed and learned from their parents. Wolf and Foshee (2003) found that experiencing aggression from parents was positively related to children's use of detrimental anger expression styles for both gender, and that such anger expression styles made the rate of perpetration of dating aggression among college students higher. The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of anger expression styles as mediators of the association between experiencing parental psychological aggression and psychological dating aggression perpetration among dating college students. The sample of the study comprised of 614 college students from a public university in Turkey. Emotional Abuse and Neglect Subscale of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, (CTS), Anger Expression Style Subscale of State-Trait Anger-Anger Expression Styles Inventory (STAXI), Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA) were used to collect data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the hypothesized model. The results of single-sample SEM demonstrated that the proposed model explained 15% of the variance in the perpetration of psychological dating aggression. The findings revealed indirect effects of experiencing parental emotional aggression in predicting psychological dating aggression perpetration via expressing anger outwards and controlling anger types of anger expression styles. Therefore, the findings of the study demonstrated the importance of both parental and behavioral variables in use of psychological dating aggression. The theoretical and practical implications and recommendations for future research will be presented.

A lack of English proficiency in the Latino community living in America has great repercussions in education, access to healthcare, the workplace, and in communication between family members, as well as with education and health care providers. Latin parents are left to rely on their children to act as translators; furthermore, they have a limited understanding of the U.S. school system, curriculum, and what they are entitled to as parents. Latin-American parents could benefit from learning specific education-related terms to better understand the education system. Stimulus equivalence is a behavioral technique that can be applied to language learning and target these specific terms. This study worked with Latin-American parents with a lack of English proficiency. Six education-related terms were selected and participants were tested and trained for these through match-to-sample procedures. Stimuli were presented in five different modalities: name, acronym, picture, English definition, and Spanish definition, creating a total of twenty possible relations. Results showed the emergence of 4 to 12 relations, while only two to four were explicitly taught. This adds to the literature on stimulus equivalence and demonstrates the effectiveness of using stimulus equivalence procedures to teach language to parents in the Latino community.

The purpose of this poster is to describe staff self-monitoring training that was introduced with employees at a residential facility providing services to individuals with intellectual disabilities and emotional behavior disorders. The participants in the intervention range in age from 18-65 years old, with educational backgrounds from High School Diplomas to Masters Degrees, and both male and female staff. The training included preventive and reactive techniques for employees to engage in to avoid feelings of frustration and agitation while at work. Self-monitoring techniques were taught, and practiced through competency based skills training within the staffs' initial onboarding process. This training was one hour in length, and done in addition to three initial days of training on de-escalation with students and clients. Survey results indicate initial positive feedback from staff. The staff will have to be followed for at least a year, or longer, to indicate whether or not the training has had significant increases in retention.

Finding someone with expertise to assist organizations in implementing positive behavior support across universal, secondary, and tertiary tiers in human service settings can be challenging, especially in rural areas. Costs related to travel and staff time can be prohibitive even when training is offered at no cost by the state and efforts are made to establish regional trainings. Professionals at the University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration, are integrating telehealth systems into universal, secondary, and tertiary training systems as part of a statewide training in person-centered practices and positive behavior support to help address challenges related to travel in rural areas. Telehealth refers to leveraging technology to monitor, assess, and intervene in medical, therapeutic, and behavioral health service delivery. Access to telehealth systems can help address the challenges many states face reaching out to organization-wide teams in rural areas interested in implementing positive behavior support trainings. This poster will describe one statewide organization-wide training system for counties, mental health, public health, and provider organizations supporting people with disabilities. Details describing how telehealth is incorporated into the layered training systems across universal, secondary, and tertiary tiers are included.

Research in the field of applied behavior analysis has investigated methods for supervising and providing feedback to direct care providers in order to deliver the most effective treatment possible. Despite this, very little research has been done to assess caregiver satisfaction in regards to BCBA supervision. The present study aims to assess the impact of presenting caregiver feedback on supervision practices. We used surveys to collect data on supervision practices of BCBA's. Surveys were distributed to the families of individuals receiving ABA services, and therefore BCBA supervision. Individual survey responses were blinded from the BCBA and analyzed to provide feedback to BCBA's across professional behavior and social validity measures. Completed surveys were collected, and average score per question was calculated and displayed in a bar graph. Results were presented to BCBA's in numerical and graphical format regarding their average performance on each question. This process was then repeated after 3 months, and results were analyzed to determine if providing anonymous, graphical feedback made an impact on future survey results. As data collection continues, the authors anticipate an increase in scores across second survey collection. Results will be discussed in terms of improvement from initial scores and social validity.

Feedback can be delivered in many formats and it is one of the most commonly used interventions in the field of OBM (VanStelle, 2012). Daniels and Daniels (2006) offer a number of suggestions for the construction of publicly displayed graphs. The authors assert that line graphs are the easiest to construct and to understand; further, that it is important to utilize time-series graphs, which allow viewers to analyze a variable over time. However, Daniels & Daniels (2006) offer no data to support this suggestion. The purpose of the current study was to assess direct staff preference for graphic display of data. Specifically, staff were presented with a line, time-series graph of performance, a bar time-series graph of performance, and a single bar graph depicting most recent performance. In addition to identifying preference for graphic display, staff was questioned on how well he/she was able to interpret each graph. Forty-one direct care staff employed in a hospital serving individuals with intellectual disabilities participated in the study. Results suggested 72% of staff who completed the survey preferred the bar graphs over the line graph. Additionally, staff understood all graphs equally, with an average of 85% accuracy across questions related to graphic interpretation.

Johnson (2013) found a combination of evaluative and objective feedback was necessary to improve undergraduates' performance, however it is unclear if the same is true for employees in a workplace setting. The purpose of this study was to replicate Johnson's findings to reduce the number of time clock adjustments forms (TCAFs) submitted by approximately 120 direct care staff employed on a hospital unit. TCAFs are necessary to correct time sheets when employees fail to swipe in/out of shifts. Failure to swipe is against hospital policy, and results in additional hours of work for administrators and inaccuracies in staff pay. During feedback conditions, graphs depicting the frequency per week of TCAFs were displayed daily during shift change and supervisors provided a combination of objective and evaluative feedback statements to staff describing their performance. When feedback failed to change performance, a response cost component was implemented whereby staff lost the ability to trade staff-patient assignments among each other. This component was effective at reducing TCAFs by more than 50%; however, deleterious effects were observed across other related staff behaviors. Implications of using aversive consequences in human service settings will be discussed.

While working in human services that provides support for adults with developmental disabilities, it is important to have staff that are able to deliver treatment with accuracy and consistency. Good staff training guarantees that the organization provides a high quality of services. It helps in developing the staff job skills and expands their efficacy. Reviews of the literature for people with disabilities, reports that treatment fidelity is very restricted. In order to get treatment fidelity staff needs to demonstrate competency as measured by their performance. Moreover, staff members who have little or no professional training in a clinical field are the ones who provide the vast majority of treatment services. The lack of training presents barriers such as, difficulty in identifying errors that affect the treatment fidelity. This poster presents treatment fidelity in an applied setting for adults with disabilities. A treatment fidelity checklist was implemented to increase treatment fidelity across several staff members. Baseline and intervention data for treatment fidelity will be reviewed and the results of increased treatment fidelity will be reviewed. Poster viewers will discuss how this approach can be used to increase the reliability and validity of treatment across applied settings.

Data based decision making is a core feature of the field of Applied Behavior Analysis, however varying graphical displays can provide practitioners with different information. The Standard Celeration Chart (SCC) is a universal and standardized measurement system (Pennypacker, Gutierrez and Lindsley, 2003). The SCC is ideal for making data based decisions as related to a range of targets for various learners. iChoose is a day habilitation program in Reno, Nv. that serves adults with disabilities from 18-80. Over the past two years the iChoose program has switched to using the SCC as its primary graphing system. An implementation strategy to increase the quality of the data collected daily throughout the year of 2017 was selected, this led to an increase in the total number of plans ran per day. The goal for 2018 was to increase the number of mastered plans by increasing data based decisions of 3 managers. The data from 2017 and from 2018 on plans meeting the success criteria and the number of changes made by managers will be presented. Viewers will be encouraged to participate in a discussion on complex data based decision making related to managing multiple learners with a wide range of personal goals. References: Pennypacker, H., Gutierrez, A. J., & Lindsley, O. (2003). Handbook of the Standard Celeration Chart: Standard Edition. Cambridge Center for Behavioral .

Approximately 53% of students experience depression at some point during their college career (Furr, Westefeld, McConnell, & Jenkins, 2001). Social anxiety has been shown to be related to depression (e.g., La Greca & Hannah Moore Harrison, 2005) and as many as 19% of undergraduates experience high levels of social anxiety (Beidel, Turner, Stanley, & Dancu, 1989). There must be moderating variables involved in the relationship between social anxiety and relationship, however, because not everyone who is reports experiencing depressive symptoms experiences social anxiety. One such moderator may be psychological flexibility, which is the ability to engage in values-based action despite what one is thinking or feeling. The aim of this study was to examine whether psychological flexibility moderates the relationship between social anxiety and depression. Participants consisted on 961 undergraduate students. Participants completed a battery of assessments online. Results showed that psychological flexibility was significantly and moderately related to social anxiety and depression. Additionally, psychological flexibility moderated the relationship between social anxiety and depression. This means that at low levels of psychological flexibility, depression is high. Implications and future directions will be discussed.

Approximately 19% of undergraduate college students report experiencing social anxiety (Beidel, Turner, Stanley, & Dancu, 1989; Izgic, 2004). Social anxiety is related to relational aggression (e.g., Gros & Simms, 2009), which involves behaviors that intentionally harm others through damage or threats to interpersonal relationships (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Loudin, L.L., Loukas, A. & Robinson, S., 2003). Although there is a relationship between social anxiety and relational aggression, there must be moderators involved because not everyone who experiences social anxiety engages in relational aggression. One such moderator may be psychological flexibility, which is defined as the ability to engage in values-based actions despite experiencing unpleasant thoughts and feelings (Hayes et al., 2016). The purpose of the current study was to examine whether psychological flexibility moderates the relationship between social anxiety and relational aggression. Approximately 961 undergraduate participants completed a battery of measures in an online format. Results showed that relational aggression was significantly but weakly positively associated with social anxiety and psychological flexibility. Additionally, psychological flexibility moderated the relationship between social anxiety and relational aggression. These moderation results mean that at low levels of psychological flexibility, relational aggression is high. Implications and future directions will be discussed.

Among college students, approximately 19% experience social anxiety (Beidel, Turner, Stanley, & Dancu, 1989). Studies have also shown that there is a relationship between social anxiety and loneliness (e.g., Panayiotou, Panteli, & Theodorou, 2016; Huan, Ang, & Chye, 2014). Loneliness is associated with poorer health and psychological distress (Stickley et al., 2013). There must be moderators involved in the relationship between social anxiety and loneliness because not everyone who reports experiencing social anxiety is lonely. One such moderator may be psychological flexibility, which is ability to engage in values-based behaviors even when one is experiencing unpleasant thoughts and feelings. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to examine whether sychological flexibility moderates the relationship between social anxiety and loneliness. Undergraduate participants completed surveys in an online format and responses from 961 subjects were analyzed. Results showed that psychological flexibility was moderately correlated with social anxiety and loneliness. Regarding moderation, analyses showed that psychological flexibility moderated the relationship between social anxiety and loneliness, which means that at low levels of psychological flexibility, loneliness is high. Implications and future directions will be discussed.

Approximately 56% of young adults aged 18-25 have used illicit drugs across their lifetimes (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2016). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been shown to be related to illicit drug use (e.g., Sareen, Chartier, Paulus, & Stein, 2006; Zatzick et al., 2012) and as many as 9% of college students experience PSTD (Read, Ouimette, White, Colder & Farrow, 2011). There must be moderating variables involved in the relationship between illicit drug use and PSTD, because not everyone who repForts using illicit drugs has PTSD. One such moderating variable may be psychological flexibility, which is the ability to engage in values-based action despite what one is thinking or feeling (Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, & Lillis, 2006). The aim of this study was to examine whether psychological flexibility moderates the relationship between PSTD and illicit drug use. Participants consisted of 391 undergraduate students. Participants completed a battery of assessments online. Results showed that psychological flexibility did not moderate the relationship between PSTD and illicit drug use. Limitations and future directions will be discussed.

Self-monitoring problem behavior is an important component of habit-reversal procedures. Traditionally it is done using paper sheets or with the aid of mechanical counters. Recently smartphone apps have also been used. These methods, however, can be problematic. Traditional methods can be inaccurate and apps can interact unpredictably with other apps running simultaneously in the smartphone. The present poster describes the design and test of an electronic open-source device, in the form of a bracelet, for easy self-monitoring of nail-biting behavior that provides visual and tactile stimulation. Using open-source programs the bracelet allows recording target behavior and signals when an exercise contingent on problem behavior must occur. Two female nail biters participated in a study involving a multiple-baseline design. During baseline, participants pressed a button to record nail biting. In the treatment condition, the bracelet vibrated after the response was recorded to signal that participants had to press the bracelet until it stopped vibrating. Frequency of nail biting was reduced to zero for both participants in the treatment condition. The design of the device and the programs to use it can be downloaded for free, and it can be built with almost no experience in electronics with components easily available worldwide.

The emergence and maintenance of substance use/abuse, and the acquisition of alterFnative behaviors to it, are explained from basic principles that dictate organisms' behavior. Brief interventions for addictive behavior assume that substance abuse is learned, and they are administered within a dynamic interaction process between therapist and client. This study's purpose was to assess the relationship between client's abstinence and the therapist's implementation of basic learning principles in natural settings. A microgenetic design was used to analyze the interaction of 30 psychologists with previous training and 20 clients with substance abuse. A direct observation system of therapist-client interaction was used (a cheklist of levels of implementation, and sequential record of interaction). Therapists videotaped each session with their clients (all with informed consent), and a supervisor registered and provided feedback for the recordings. Results showed an increase in the number of significant patterns along the progress of the sessions. There are behavioral patterns related to behavioral trials and feedback, which are basic components of behavioral training; and there was an increase in the mastery of the skill in relation to the progress of sessions and the feedback in areas of functional analysis of consumption and planning of alternative behavior.

Psychological treatment prevents and reduces distressful psychological symptoms (Rickwood, Deane, & Wilson, 2007), which many emerging adult college students experience (Beiter et al., 2015). Yet, research indicates university psychological services are under-utilized (ACHA, 2014). The Healthy Minds Network study (2017) revealed an unexpected significant, negative relationship between positive attitudes toward seeking treatment and engagement in treatment seeking behavior. This study sought to investigate distress level as a potential moderating variable. Undergraduate students aged 18 to 25 (N = 964, 42.5% White/European American, 67.7% females) completed online self-report measures. A logistic regression utilizing distress severity, attitudes toward treatment seeking and their interaction as predictors of treatment seeking behavior was conducted. In this sample, severity of distress did not significantly predict treatment utilization. Attitudes toward treatment seeking did however significantly, and negatively, predict treatment utilization, (B = - .055, p = .000, OR = .946). The interaction also did not significantly predict treatment seeking. Given that even the significant finding was a small one, the implications of this study should be interpreted with caution. Discussion of these results, limitations of the study, and future directions for studies that promote treatment seeking behavior in emerging adults will be discussed.

The consumption of substances has increased in the last years. The Translational research allows the implementation of the basic principles in applied practice and feedback to basic models. The objectives of interventions in addictions are abstinence and moderation of consumption. The basic principles of behavior allow us to understand that consumer behavior remains as an inhibited learning which resurgence depends on the level of maintenance of alternative behaviors that compete with consumption. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the relative value of alternative reinforcement in the choice of substance use behavior. A unique case design was used where two drug user's participate (cocaine and alcohol; 19 and 25 years old), who presented abuse in their consumption and received brief interventions about their addiction. The results suggest that having two or more alternative behaviors that were reinforcing for each drug user decreased their consumption. Thus, the precise follow of alternative behavior is necessary, when effective one is not implemented or it loses its value, the user is likely to return to the previous pattern of consumption.

Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder are impairing and distressing for the 2-3% afflicted. Research demonstrates associations between OC symptoms and other cognitive vulnerabilities (i.e. disgust sensitivity and emotion regulation). This study examined the specific impact of Obsessive Compulsive (OC) symptoms on behavioral avoidance controlling for other cognitive vulnerabilities. Undergraduate students (148) completed a questionnaire packet including the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and Disgust Scale Revised, and participated in eight behavioral avoidance tasks (BATs; avoidance measured in distance between participant and stimuli). Participants were predominantly female (72.2%) and White (71.3%) with ages ranging from 18-36. A hierarchical regression was conducted with Disgust Sensitivity (DS) and Emotion Regulation (ER) in Model 1 and OC symptoms included in Model 2 to predict behavioral avoidance. Model 1 was significant, F (2, 74) = 6.20, p = < .01, and accounted for 14.4% of variance in behavioral avoidance. Model 2 was also significant, F (1, 73) = 4.18, p < .05, with OC symptoms accounting for an additional 4.6% of variance. Overall, OC symptoms significantly predicted behavioral avoidance controlling for DS and ER ( = -.66, p < .05). These findings highlight the unique impact OC symptoms have on behavioral avoidance.

The aim of this study was to which media modalities is best to disseminate the Parent Training by providing: a e-learning, text messages, video and workshop and measuring the acquisition of skills using the self-report of the parents. Participated 548 caregivers (M = 37.08 years) of children between 2 and 12 years old (M = 7 years) from Mexico City and the metropolitan area. A quasi-experimental pre, post and follow-up design was used . Participants answered the Parenting Practices Inventory (CPI) , the Child Management Skills Questionnaire (CMSQ) and the Child Conduct Inventory (CCI) . The intervention modalities lasted 4 weeks where they were trained in functional behavior analysis, reinforcement of desired behavior, simple correction of behavior and control of stimuli. The modality of workshop plus messages and videos increased the means of using Ignore, praise, clear instructions and problem solving. The use of punishment in the modalities of video, e-learning and workshop plus messages and videos was reduced. Likewise, the report of aggressive child behavior in all modalities was reduced. The use of technologies allowed the dissemination of Parent Training functioning as a reminder of the skills. Key words:, parent training, media modalities, skills, dissemination.

Dissemination is one step of translational research. The goal of the study was to assess if giving information, modeling, essaying behaviors and giving feedback, in a distance training, increase knowledge's on addictions terms, motivational interview, behavioral principles and behavioral assessing; and increase interactional brief intervention skills in addictions clinical settings. We worked with 100 psychologist (50 on training and 50 control) from 10 entities of Mexican republic, that use to work on public health institutions to give primary attention on addictions. We used a General Knowledge Test and a Checklist of professional skills. We used a cuasi-experimental design of pre-post assessment and control group. For the training we design 16 modules of information and skills modeling, essaying, and getting feedback on Moodle platform. Results showed a significant effect of distance training on the professional psychological knowledge and skills on brief interventions. Distance training for acquisition of competences and have been created CIT for training are, both, important achievements for brief intervention procedures area and to reduce drugs use on clinician settings.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of two common antecedent strategies on problem behavior occasioned by restricted access to attention. Ian was a typically developing four-year-old male who engaged in aggression and property destruction when his parents' attention was diverted from him. All procedures were conducted in a 90-min outpatient clinic. IOA was assessed across 30% of sessions and averaged 90%. During Phase 1, an antecedent analysis was conducted within a multielement design and restricted attention was identified as occasioning problem behavior (Figure 1, left panel). During Phase 2, two common antecedent strategies were evaluated within a multielement embedded within a reversal design. To receive his parents' attention, Treatment 1 consisted of instructing Ian to play alone in a designated area for 1-min, as indicated by the sound of a timer, whereas Treatment 2 consisted of instructing Ian to complete a discrete task (i.e., a puzzle) alone, followed by raising his hand to inform his parents the task was completed. If problem behavior occurred, the timer was paused or Ian was reminded of the task requirement. Results (Figure 1, right panel) showed that Treatment 2 was most effective at decreasing the occurrence of Ian's problem behavior.

Developmental disabilities affect nearly one in six children in the United States, and up to 30% of these individuals have problem behaviors causing stressors in both the child and their caregiver's life. These problem behaviors have various topographical and functional forms, such as property destruction, aggression, tantrums, self-injurious behavior, and many others. If these behaviors are not nipped in the bud during younger years they have the capability of bringing about academic failure, alienation from typical peers and other adults, and in the longer term, substance abuse issues, and a decrease in functioning skills for the community. Evidence-based practices are shown to be effective for treating problem behaviors for children with developmental disabilities. These effective interventions can change behavior making it more socially acceptable, and can be implemented by various individuals in the child's life. This study utilized a multi-element and multiple baseline across participants ABAB, single-case research design to examine the effects of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) on child behavior. The caregivers in this study are graduate level therapists, and the child participants are four and six with characteristics of a developmental disability. The researcher coaches the therapists on both ABA and PCIT techniques, providing feedback on their skills while interacting with the child.

Low levels of engagement can lead to reduced quality of life for individuals with dementia. Research on increasing engagement with this population is limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reinforcing value of multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) activity preference rankings for individuals with dementia. To date, two participants have completed a reinforcer assessment (RA). A multielement, progressive-ratio (PR) design was initially used for both participants. Later, the PR was eliminated for one participant due to undifferentiated responding. Participants were exposed to four-, three-, and two-choice conditions in which activities were presented in a concurrent-operant arrangement. During session, the participant was given the option to choose a high-, moderate-, or low-preferred activity or the control. Interobserver agreement (IOA) was collected on activity selection (IOA 100%) and engagement (IOA 100%). Activities ranked high preferred were validated during the RA for 1 of 2 participants. Activities ranked moderate and low preferred were not validated for either participant. These results suggest the reinforcing value of activities may need to be systematically evaluated for individuals with dementia. Researchers should continue to investigate best methods for identifying reinforcers and increasing engagement to better serve this population and increase their quality of life.

In the care of elderly and specially in nursing homes one of the main problem is that there is often a lack of competence in implementing functional analysis. One of the easy administrative functional analysis with limited need for pre-training is the use of scatterplot (Touchette, MacDonald, & Langer, 1985). Important aspects to consider, are good operationalisation of the behavior and defining timeframes when behavior is monitored. In this study scatterplot was used to map behavior six different times for 32 days. The problem behavior in the study was screaming with high intensity. The behavior of interest in the study was how many screams occurred during a 15 minutes session during different times of the day, and if the environment contained differences in social interaction. This data was analysed to see if it was differences in the count compared with supplemental data on medication, sleep pattern and time of day but the data was inconclusive and didn't show differences in occurrence linked to the supplemental data. However, data on social interaction indicate a differences in occurrence linked to the magnitude of social interaction during the session. A small number of semi - experimental sessions confirmed the analysis and added confirmation to the analysis that the behavior was maintained by social reinforcement. This study shows that the use of scatterplot is easy to implement in nursing homes for elderly, and can give supplemental knowlege in the treatment of people with dementia and behavior problems.

Identifying emerging problem behavior can be an important first step in the prevention of severe problem behavior. The purpose of this study is to use a functional analysis to screen behavioral risk factors in at-risk preschool children. First, information was gathered from kindergarten teachers regarding specific establishing operations (EOs) that typically precede problem behavior in their classrooms. Next, preschool students were assigned to groups of three based on teacher ratings of behavior severity. A small-group, trial-based functional analysis was then conducted by embedding specific EOs within classroom activities. Data were collected on the occurrence of varying levels of problem and appropriate behavior. Preliminary data analysis shows that problem behavior occurs most often during EOs for escape and attention. Minor to moderate problem behavior is more common than severe problem behavior, and "tapping self to surface/object" (e.g., hitting a table) is the most frequent topography of problem behavior across children. Preliminary results also show that all participants have multi-word functional communication responses in their repertoire, which leads to interesting speculations regarding reinforcer allocation by caregivers. Researchers plan to use the outcomes of this analysis to design functional communication training as an inoculation against the emergence of severe problem behavior.

Children with Developmental Disabilities may encounter several "road blocks" when going through their daily lives. Sometimes these road blocks may present themselves in the form of challenging behaviors. When challenging behaviors prove to be resistant to extinction elimination, finding effective strategies becomes increasingly difficult. Allowing and reinforcing challenging behavior (at lower levels) has proven to be an effective strategy for reducing intense screaming episodes. An 18-year-old male student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) frequently engaged in screaming episodes. Several behavior strategies previously put in place to reduce and/or eliminate the screaming episodes (including a DRO), proved to be inconsistently effective. Often times, attempts to interrupt screaming episodes resulted in aggressive behaviors. We hypothesized that allowing and reinforcing screaming at lower levels, would bring screaming under the stimulus control of the criteria that was set. This would allow for the criteria to be reduced over time, until screaming was at or near 0 occurrences per day. Differentially reinforcing low levels (DRL) of screaming episodes while concurrently using a Changing Criterion Design brought screaming episodes under stimulus control of the criteria set daily. Once screaming episodes were reduced to lower levels, academic and vocational skills were expanded and focused on.

In the present study, a 91-year old woman with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) participated. She had a Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score of 17. The participant was presented for identity matching with the colors of yellow, blue, and red. The study was arranged as an ABABAB-design, where it was alternated between (A) delayed matching-to-sample 0s (DMTS 0s) and (B) simultaneous matching-to-sample (SMTS) in six phases. To assess generalization of colors, the participant was presented for the same phases again but with another set of color stimuli (green, orange, purple). The results showed that the number of trials needed to reach criterion for training, decreased as the phases were repeated (see the upper panel in Table 1). Further, when the new set of color stimuli was presented, the number of trials needed to reach criterion meet the minimum mastery criterion except in the first phase (see lower panel in Table 1).

Impulsivity is a hallmark and a common symptom of many psychiatric and behavioral disorders (e.g., ADHD, pathological gambling, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, etc.). Researchers have suggested that impulsivity in young children may be a predictor of maladaptive behaviors later in life. In psychology, impulsivity is defined as a lack of regard for future consequences and an inability to delay gratification. The most common procedure used to assess impulsivity in young children is the delay of gratification test (informally called the “Marshmallow” test). In behavior analysis, impulsivity (or impulsive choice) has been defined as a preference for smaller-immediate rewards over larger-delayed rewards. The most common procedures used to assess impulsive choice are delay-discounting tasks. Although impulsivity can be assessed using both delay-of-gratification and delay-discounting procedures, previous research suggests that the two are not equivalent; but rather, two discrete, related measures of impulsivity. In both procedures, individuals are asked to choose between a smaller reward available immediately and a larger reward available after a delay. The current study replicated and extended previous research by directly comparing the “Marshmallow” test and the delay-discounting task with preschool children. The preliminary results show similar responding across both assessments for three children.

J.R. Kantor's theory of referential behavior is a natural science approach to studying linguistic interactions. Referential behavior refers to the interaction of a speaker (the referrer) and their simultaneous adjustment to both a listener (the referee) and the referent (the thing talked about) under specific circumstances (setting conditions). The interaction is complete when the listener, in turn, reacts relevantly to the speaker and the referent. Thus, the unit of analysis is the behavior of two people in relation to and as a function of the environment. The current study employs an observational, longitudinal design to examine the utility of this theoretical approach with respect to the emergence of referential behavior between typically developing siblings, ages 2, 3 and 5. Separated into dyads, five-minute social interactions were videotaped over the course of 12 months. A set of procedures, devised by Sidney W. Bijou and his colleagues, based on Kantor's Psychological Linguistics, was employed to train coders to identify and analyze referential interactions. Videotapes were analyzed in two phases. The primary analysis, based on quantitative measures, identifies complete and incomplete speaker-listener units and the secondary analysis identifies qualitative measures of referential interactions. Implications for studying language development will also be discussed.

Self-feeding with a spoon and cup represents an important step in a child's progression toward age-typical feeding, which emerges in the absence of intervention for most children. Children with feeding disorders, by contrast, may lack the motivation to self-feed, which impedes progress toward age-typical feeding (Rivas et al., 2014). In the current study, we used meal termination as reinforcement to transition two children with a feeding disorder from caregiver-fed to self-fed bites and drinks. Caregivers conducted 40-min meals in which they alternated between feeding the child or prompting the child to self-feed. The caregiver told the child that he or she could end the meal and leave the room if he or she self-fed the next bite or drink the caregiver presented at about minute 30 of the meal. The caregiver continued feeding the child if the child did not self-feed the presented bite or drink. Self-feeding increased for end-of-meal bites and drinks for both participants. We discuss these results relative to their potential to inform interventions for children with feeding disorders that progress the child toward age-typical feeding patterns.

This study investigated the effects of self-monitoring and recruiting teacher attention on pre-vocational skills of students with autism. Previous research has demonstrated that the combination self-monitoring and recruiting teacher attention was effective for acquisition and maintenance of pre-vocational skills of students with developmental disabilities (e.g., Rouse et al., 2014). The current study extends previous research by examining the effectiveness of self-monitoring and recruiting teacher attention on the accurate completion of pre-vocational task steps, as well as appropriately following the steps to recruit teacher feedback for middle and high school students with autism. A multiple probe design across behaviors (tasks) was used to examine the effects of self-monitoring and recruiting attention on number of task steps completed accurately. The following experimental conditions were implemented: baseline, training, intervention, maintenance, and generalization. To measure the student's completion of each step, a 10-item task-analysis recording sheet was used. Results demonstrated that all three students acquired, maintained, and generalized each of their three target pre-vocational tasks.

Mealtime difficulties of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are well documented. Difficulties faced by parents often include rigidity around textures, color, and temperature with the result that children with ASD often have significantly restricted diets and/or challenging mealtime behavior. In addition, there is relatively little information available on mealtime interventions in natural settings with parents as the primary interventionists. The authors of this paper, a dually certified speech and language pathologist and board certified behavior analyst and an occupational therapist initially conducted a single subject research (SSR) mealtime study in the homes of four children with ASD using -among other evidence-based practices - the evidence-based practice of parent-implemented intervention (PII). Using a framework called Easing Anxiety Together with Understanding and Perseverance (EAT-UPTM) the authors created individualized mealtime plans that covered four areas of mealtimes: Communication, food, physical and social environments. Subsequently the same authors conducted a quantitative research study with 14 more families and six professionals across two States using EAT-UPTM. The SSR study contributed significantly to the subsequent quantitative study design. Both studies resulted in significantly improved parent reported measures of mealtime behaviors. Data for both studies will be presented and discussed. Implications for interprofessional practice, professional and parent training will also be discussed. The challenges of doing applied research in natural, messy, everyday settings will be also be discussed with emphasis on methods to ensure fidelity of implementation of the intervention by professionals and parents.

This study provides a model of program evaluation that can be used to compare treatment efficiency. Comparisons can be made across interventions (or lack thereof), across participants, or in relation to normative data. Assessment scores from the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) were utilized, however the model could be applied using other assessments scores or other quantitative data. Assessment results from clients of ABC Group were examined for potential inclusion. Only clients who were assessed at least twice, using the VB-MAPP were included. All included participants were children with autism ages 2-8 years old, most received clinic-based Applied Behavior Analysis services following initial assessment. Scores were plotted on a monthly per month Standard Celeration Chart and patterns of celeration were compared. Results indicate a trend of an initial burst of gains after initiation of services with the celeration of skill acquisition decreasing after 6 months to a year. Unintentional repeated baselines indicated that this pattern occurred only after ABA services began. Assessments were scored by multiple practitioners with little to no IOA.

According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans annually and 41,000 deaths occur from secondhand smoke. The cost of smoking-related illness is projected to exceed $300 billion per year. The purpose of this study was to increase smoking cessation using a cost-effective procedure that took place for one month. In experiment 1, one participant was provided with a cessation contract and as they met the criterion established weekly, they would access continuous amounts of reinforcement of $12.50 each week. In experiment 2, one participant was provided with a cessation contract and as they met criterion they would access progressive amounts of reinforcement starting at $5 and eventually reaching $20 by week four contingent on the cessation of smoking. Criterion was not met in baseline for either participants but was observed 100% during treatment for participant 1 and 75% for participant 2. The experiment suggests that the internet based cessation procedure was effective in decreasing overall rates of smoking and that the continuous schedule of reinforcement was more effective than progressive schedules. Future research should address how different amounts of total money offered could affect smoking cessation regardless of the reinforcement schedule.

Poor fidelity of treatment plan implementation is a significant barrier to effective treatment in applied settings. In consultative situations, when continuous supervision of staff running the behavior support plan is not feasible, fidelity is especially poor. Furthermore, direct care staff responsibilities are demanding and time constraints may also result in decreased fidelity of a multicomponent treatment plan. The effects of task clarification, job aids, and feedback were assessed on staff's implementation of a treatment plan consisting of multiple components across program sites. The treatment consisted of a package that included an incentive system, scheduled praise, and ignoring and redirection of problem behaviors. The plan was implemented for an adult woman with developmental disabilities who engaged in food seeking, food stealing, and a variety of other disruptive behaviors. The settings included the client's place of employment and day program. Prior to the addition of task clarification and job aids, an initial staff training and feedback were attempted. After the implementation of task clarification with job aids combined with feedback, improvements of the application of the treatment plan by staff were accompanied by a substantial decrease in the client's problem behaviors at both locations.

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) such as head banging, hair pulling, scratching and biting oneself are common among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). According to Soke et al. (2016), more than 30% of children with ASD in the United States, engage in some form of SIB. These forms of behavior can cause serious tissue damage as well as interfere with acquisition of skills being taught. The current study examined the effects of a differential reinforcement and visually cued alternative response procedure used to establish control of self-injurious behavior, finger biting, in the child's home. The procedure involved the provision of direct physical and verbal attention when finger biting was absent and theses forms of attention were removed for 15 seconds when finger biting occurred. The data indicate that this procedure was effective in decreasing the number of occurrences of finger biting during the training conditions, but this behavior was not eliminated. The results are discussed in terms of the function of finger biting, and establishment of stimulus control, social validity as well as future directions.

Abstract Time sampling procedures are compromise systems of measurement, which can accommodate routine practice as well as accurate measurement procedures. Momentary time sampling (MTS) is a system of observing a target behavior were a session of time is broken into equal intervals, where if the behavior is observed at the end of the interval the entire interval is scored. This research aimed to examine the relative accuracy between fixed- and random-interval MTS. It further examined data patterns in time delays 0, 12, 24, 36, 48 for 0, 10, 20, 30 seconds and 1, 3, and 5 minute intervals used during a 15-minute session of gum chewing behavior (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). Random intervals were generated by using the same number of observation points used in FI-MTS in variable points throughout the interval. Data shows that VI-MTS is similar to FI-MTS in terms of generating accurate data points and estimated duration. It was also found that both FI- and VI-MTS produced similar errors when increasing time between intervals.

Caregiver compliance with the implementation of behavioral treatment can greatly impact caregiver training, treatment generalization, and the accurate assessment of treatment efficacy. Although there is some literature evaluating caregiver compliance once treatment has been identified, very little research has explored the effects of caregiver compliance during treatment development. The current study described caregiver compliance with ongoing treatment evaluations as part of an inpatient admission for the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior in an 11 year old boy. A reversal design was then used to evaluate treatment effects with and without caregiver compliance. Results indicated that caregiver compliance was necessary for the reduction of severe problem behavior, even in the absence of the parent. The current study will discuss methods of data presentation that may increase caregiver compliance with treatment recommendations and provides a foundation for future investigations into caregiver non-compliance during earlier phases of treatment.

Engagement of direct support professionals (DSP) with individuals is a common concern among many adult residential programs (Mensell et al., 2002). In many cases, there is a considerable amount of time when the individual is not participating in meaningful, functional activities (Bratt & Johnson, 1988). Though inactivity is not a measure of the individuals' behavior, it highlights an important concern regarding the behavior of DSPs. As it stands, there are few solutions available in the current body of research focusing on methods to increase DSPs engagement with individuals in residential and vocational settings. Implementing structured schedules is a common intervention used with a variety of populations and settings. They have been used to increase the engagement in the daily activities of dementia patients (Engelman, Altus, & Mathews, 1999; Engstrom, Mudford, & Brand, 2015), to teach complex response chains in children with autism (MacDuff, Krantz, McClannahan, 1993), and to teach appropriate play skills in children with autism (Brodhead et al., 2014). Despite the widespread use of structured schedules, there has not been an exploration in the application of this technology to improving DSP's performance. The present study examines the effects of engagement integrity when implementing structured schedules with DSPs in an adult residential facility.

Ethical ambiguities present themselves at all levels of practice in Applied Behavioral work. It is important that all employees within a human service organization are prepared for many inevitable situations. Regularly updated BACB ethics codes, guidelines, and CEU requirements help keep the conversation present at the BCBA level as well as for supervisor-supervisee interactions. However, at present, there is little focus on the ethical compliance within the BACB certification system for front-line staff (RBTs) outside of the exposure within the 40 hour training requirement. This exposure may be insufficient to inform new professionals of the need to be knowledgeable of the BACB and organizational ethical guidelines or prepare them for ethically ambiguous situations. In addition, the current system of BACB certification lacks formal measurement and follow-up at the RBT level. Inevitably, it falls on the organization under which RBTs work to address this dilemma. This raises a conceptual question of how to develop abstract ethical problem-solving at the level of the front-line employee. The present review examines the current literature and practices around ethical training of front line staff. A preliminary approach for evaluating the ethical intelligence of RBTs working at a human service agency is presented followed by implications for the adoption of a future multi-level training model, linking front line staff duties to abstract ethical understanding.

Compliance and noncompliance are terms frequently utilized within behavior support plans to describe target behaviors. However, the definitions of these terms can vary immensely and may include on/off task behaviors or disruptive behaviors that may prevent an individual from engaging in a task. The interventions, even among home settings with parents as the interventionist, also tend to vary. The current review examined articles specifically related to parent training for children's compliance in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, Journal of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention, and Behavior and Social Issues. The key search terms were "compliance, defiance, instructional control, following directions, and caregiver training." The authors investigated definitions of compliance/non-compliance, trends in research over time and across journals, as well as types of compliance assessments and interventions. Additionally, the authors explored how often behavior analytic researchers have studied appropriate noncompliance like situations when children should refuse or protest requests (e.g. stranger danger).

Children with feeding disorders do not consume enough food or liquid to meet their caloric or nutritional needs, and in the case of food refusal, can result in placement of a feeding tube (Kerwin, 1999). Feeding disorders are often diagnosed in young children with complex medical histories and/or autism or related neurological disorders. Escape extinction (nonremoval) combined with reinforcement is a well-established intervention to treat food refusal. When these procedures alone are ineffective, physical guidance procedures (e.g., jaw prompt, finger prompt) have been shown to increase food acceptance and decrease refusal behavior. The finger prompt (e.g., Borrero, Schlereth, Rubio, & Taylor, 2013) has been evaluated minimally in the literature and needs further examination, because we believe it is commonly used by practitioners when more passive refusal occurs (e.g., teeth-clenching, lip-pursing) during nonremoval procedures. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess a variation of finger prompt procedure and caregivers' acceptability of it. Three children aged 1 to 6 years admitted to an intensive day program and their caregivers participated. We evaluated the finger prompt using a multiple baseline across participants design. Data suggest the finger prompt was effective to increase 5-s acceptance for all participants.

Multiply controlled problem behavior includes behavior which has two or more maintaining variables. Beavers and Iwata (2011) assessed the prevalence of multiply controlled behavior within the published, behavior-analytic literature, through 2010. An analysis of the results of Beavers and Iwata indicated that the prevalence of multiple control in the published literature was due to an aggregation of data, rather than multiple maintaining variables. In the current study, we attempted to replicate Beavers and Iwata's procedures. Specifically, we assessed the published literature from 2011-2017 within the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. We collected data on single and multiple response topographies, then analyzed and compared to find the prevalence of multiply controlled behaviors. The results suggest that, in the presence of aggregated data, relatively more of the functional analyses reviewed demonstrated multiple control. When data were not aggregated, relatively less demonstrated multiple control. A discussion of the implications and consistency with Beavers and Iwata is provided.

Author's Note This study is ongoing and authors anticipate data collection for a minimum of 5 additional participants as well as implementation of a concurrent operant reinforcer assessment for at least 3 of the participants. Abstract Preference assessments have been widely evaluated and utilized for individuals with developmental delays (Hagopian, Long, & Rush, 2004). However, in treatment of typically developing individuals, it is often assumed that self-report correlates with preference (Wine et al. 2014). There is particularly scant literature on behavioral interventions with detained adolescents who engage in verbal behavior. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the correspondence between a rank order report and verbal multiple stimulus without replacement assessment (MSWO) against an edible MSWO (DeLeon & Iwata, 1996) with adolescent males adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior. Authors calculated Spearman's rank order correlation (rs) across assessments. P1 showed a strong correlation between the edible and verbal MSWO (rs= .857) that was statistically significant (p=.014). Additionally, P1 showed a strong correlation between the edible and rank order (rs = .643) but this correlation was not statistically significant (p = 0.119). P2 and P4 showed strong correlations between all three assessments (rs =1) and all correlations were statistically significant (p<001). P3 showed a strong correlation between the edible and verbal MSWOs (rs =0.964) that was statistically significant (p<.001) and a strong correlation between the edible and rank order (rs =0.964) that was statistically significant (p<.001). References DeLeon, I. G., & Iwata, B. A. (1996). Evaluation of a multiple-stimulus presentation format for assessing reinforcer preferences. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 29, 519–533. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1996.29-519 Hagopian, L. P., Long, E. S., & Rush, K. S. (2004). Preference assessment procedures for individuals with developmental disabilities. Behavior Modification, 28, 668–677. doi: 10.1177/0145445503259836 Wine, B., Reis, M., & Hantula, D. A. (2014). An evaluation of stimulus preference assessment methodology in organizational behavior management. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 34:1, 7-15. doi: 10.1080/01608061.2013.873379

Cumulative record data presented by Deochand and Fuqua (2016) suggest that the number of individuals holding a certification of Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) has increased substantially in recent years. While Deochand and Fuqua's visual displays show clear changes in trend, the graphs do not provide any quantification of these trends, limiting the ability provide more precise descriptions of the field's growth. The current poster seeks to add to Deochand and Fuqua's analysis by charting the number of individuals with a Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) certificate on a standard celeration chart (SCC). Measurement of the different celerations are provided along with measurement of any changes in trend. This quantification is compared across the three major BACB designations (BCBA, BCaBA, and BCBA-D). The data are also projected to provide a estimation of the total number of future certificants within the next 10 years. Finally, the poster speculates on the implications these data may have for the further development of the field of behavior analysis.

Activity Based Intervention (ABI) (Johnson, Rahn & Bricker, 2015)) is a framework for delivering intervention services to young children in a naturalistic environment. ABI uses distributed trials to embed child goals in home and center based programs. Through routine, child directed and planned activities, therapists and interventionists planfully embed multiple goals throughout each activity across each session. ABI is differentiated from incidental teaching in that specific activities (e.g., lesson plans) are developed for each routine and/or activity that specifies how and when the embedding of a specific goal will be applied. Furthermore, the activity plans include a column for data collection that allows for cumulative analysis of child progress towards goals as well as evaluation of therapist/interventionists use of embedding. ABI can be used to teach initial skills and to promote generalization by applying the framework to a wide range of activities and by including other adults and/or children into the activities.

This study investigated whether an instruction could facilitate welfare-school students' effective treatment of changing diapers for wandering clients. Although they learned the way of changing diapers for clients lying in beds, they did not know effective ways of changing diapers for wandering clients. We carried out task analysis on effective ways of a change of wandering clients' diapers and developed the instruction based on the task analysis. Then we taught the students effective diaper-changing ways through the instruction. Seven role-play sessions were conducted for each student, the first three sessions as baseline, the next three as intervention, and last as follow-up. In each session they were required to change diapers of other students playing as wandering clients. The mean duration of each student's treatment was measured for wandering behaviors in sessions. The rating score for each student's treatment was independently estimated on five-point scale by two practitioners. Figure 1 shows the mean duration of their treatment for wandering behaviors in sessions and the rating score of each student. Five students improved on the rating score and all students decreased mean duration of their treatment. Thus, the instruction was qualitatively and appropriately effective for a change of diapers for wandering clients.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of the Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI) on the emergence of Naming. Three kindergarten students, who were 3-5 year old males and diagnosed with Developmental Disability. A multiple probe design across participants was employed to identify a potential relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The dependent variables of this study was the emergence of Naming. The independent variable of this study was the mastery of the MEI in which listener (matching and pointing) and speaker (tact and intraverbal) responses were taught in a randomized sequence. This study was observed and recorded using the frequency recording method. The interobserver reliability (IOA) was calculated to demonstrate the reliability of the observations and the interobserver reliability was 98.5%. The intervention fidelity of this study was measured by making a total of 8 items. The intervention fidelity was 95%. Social validity was measured using the Intervention Scale Profile (IRP-15), which had a total of 15 items. The social validity score was 72.5. The results depict that the MEI effectively increased the number of correct responses to the Naming probe trials (i.e., the emergence of Naming).

The purpose of this study is to investigate if English Vocabulary words can be taught to Spanish-speaking pre-schoolers using an equivalence approach. The approach utilized simple discrimination training with compound stimuli and compound class-specific reinforcers. Results suggest that written vocabulary, pictorial representations, and pictorial reinforcers did indeed form an equivalence class. Moreover, novel pictorial examplars were also responded to class-consistently although they never appeared during training.

Current educational practices may benefit from a complex analysis of relevant verbal behaviors related to common core standards. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of two behavior analytic programs to promote response generalization and the emergence of derived metaphorical tact extensions in a nuerotypical preschool child using the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Language (PEAK) generalization and equivalence curriculum guides (Dixon, 2014; 2015). The participant was first trained to describe a visual stimulus (A) using a metaphor (B) e.g. what does a hot stove feel like? "lava." Following multiple exemplar training, test probes were conducted to measure response generalization to novel stimuli: e.g. when shown a picture of a hairbrush participant said it feels like "a cactus." Next, the participant was taught to select a picture (A) corresponding to tactile sensory experiences (C) e.g. tactile sensation of a hairbrush. This training promoted the emergence of untrained generalized metaphorical tact extensions (B) to describe novel tactile sensory stimuli. Sensory metaphors such as these are used in common language "my mouth is on fire" (after eating hot wings), or "my stomach is in knots" (when feeling nervous).

The Mandarin Chinese version of assessment was created for the Promoting the Emergence of Advance Knowledge, Direct Training Module (PEAK-DT). After confirming the quality and accuracy of the translation by a back-translation process, the alternate-form reliability was evaluated. Thirty-two typically developing children under 10 years old (19 males and 13 females) residing in USA, Canada, and mainland China were recruited and assessed by bilingual parents with both language versions of PEAK-DT assessments. Statistical results show that the two language versions had strong correlations between the PEAK raw scores (r = .98), the component raw scores (r ranged .93 to .98), and the component age-referenced scores (r ranged .77 to .93). Equivalence between the two versions was also demonstrated by high test-retest percentage of agreement on all assessed items, as well as scored items (88%, and 92% respectively). No significant testing effects were observed across various test-retest intervals of participants. The assessors' English proficiency had insignificant influence on the agreements too. In summary, the Chinese version of the PEAK-DT assessment exhibited cross-cultural reliability and validity, which invites more future research on the use of the PEAK system in the Chinese community affected by autism and other related disorders.

The verbal summator was a device created by B.F. Skinner to assess imitative and summative behavior, more commonly known as echoic and intraverbal behavior, respectively. In the original study, published in 1939, a set of distorted non-word sounds were played in the presence of participants, and participants were asked to write down what they heard. Recently, we replicated B.F. Skinner's 1939 study, evaluating the feasibility of a verbal summator created with modern computer technology based on the descriptions in B.F. Skinner's 1939 study. The current study further examines the use of the modern verbal summator by presenting either nonsensical speech (sounds similar to those heard in Skinner's original study) and sensical speech (ordinary dialogue) to participants. Participants entered what they thought they heard into a computer program. Responses were compared with responses from Skinner's 1939 study using the visual and statistical analyses employed by Skinner (1939). The results were largely consistent with Skinner (1939). Moreover, participants who heard sensical speech more accurately described the samples than the participants who heard nonsensical speech.

The traditional recommendation for the sequencing of speaker and listener instruction has been to teach listener, or receptive, skills prior to teaching the corresponding speaker, or expressive, skills. In a review of the research literature prior to 2011, Petursdottir and Carr (2011) concluded that research did not support this recommendation. They suggested that not only may it be more beneficial to teach speaker skills prior to teaching listener, teaching listener skills before speaker may actual hinder acquisition of speaker relations. The purpose of the current review is to identify recent literature (published since 2011) examining the efficiency of skill acquisition during, and emergence of skills from, speaker and listener instruction. We identified five articles that compared the efficiency of speaker to listener instruction, all of which support the conclusion that speaker instruction is more efficient than listener instruction in terms of trials to criterion and emergence of the untaught relation. Implications for practice and future research will be discussed.

The purpose of Skinner's (1957) text was "...to be a better was of talking about verbal behavior" (p. 456). Verbal behavior research over the past five years was reviewed to examine the methods authors use to describe the verbal deficits of their participants. Across behavior-analytic journals, research in which at least one of the verbal operants was used as the dependent variable to measures the effect(s) of an independent variable were included in this review. Measures of the participants' verbal behavior deficits were coded according to procedures employed by each author. Results indicate no systematic assessment of verbal behavior deficits, with the majority of authors relying on simple descriptions.

We tested the effects of Intensive Tact Instruction (ITI) on the establishment of the speaker component of Naming and the joining of the listener and speaker component of Naming to induce a Bidirectional Naming (BiN) (Miguel, 2016) capability for typically-developing early intervention children. We selected 3 participants, aged 1.9- to 2.3-years-old, who demonstrated the presence of listener component of Naming in the absence of speaker component of Naming to participate in the study. The independent variable was ITI, in which experimenters delivered 100 learn units of tacts daily to each participant. The dependent variables were the number of untaught speaker responses for novel non-contrived stimuli using Storybook Naming experiences, the percentage of untaught speaker responses for novel stimuli, and the number of vocal verbal operants emitted across non-instructional settings (NIS). We employed a multiple probe design across participants to test the effects of the intervention on the acquisition of BiN. Two participants demonstrated BiN for non-contrived stimuli and Participant B reliably demonstrated the presence of unidirectional Naming. While Participants A and B acquired BiN for non-contrived stimuli, we cannot suggest based on the presented findings that tact instruction functioned to induce BiN or if the establishment of the capability was a function of repeated Naming experiences. We discuss these findings with regards to repeated probes versus tact instruction and multiple stimulus control associated with a Naming cusp that is capability.

This study investigated the effects of the probability of checking on children's do-say correspondence in a card game. Five children aged six to nine years-old participated. The "doing" task consisted of counting the number of stars displayed in a card. The "saying" task consisted of reporting the number of stars (correspondently or not) to the experimenter. Using a reversal design, the number of corresponding reports was evaluated as a function of different probabilities of checking (0%, 10%, or 50%). During No Checking condition, do-say correspondence was evaluated in a situation in which no checking on the report accuracy occurred (i.e., number reported by the child was not compared to the actual number of stars in the card). During Checking conditions (10% or 50%), after reporting the number of stars, the child would be asked to show the card she/he had in hands (to compare the correspondence between the actual number of stars and the number reported by the child). Results indicated that during No Checking conditions, all children presented high levels of non-corresponding reports. When checking was implemented, levels of correspondence increased, especially during the 50% checking condition. Probability of checking showed to be a relevant controlling variable on children's report accuracy.

Functional analysis of behavior allows for the identification of the environmental conditions that influence the occurrence of behavior. Although previous researchers have conducted functional analyses of verbal behavior, relatively little work has been devoted to functional analysis of manding (LaRue et al., 2008; Lerman et al., 2005). The current study evaluated a functional analysis of manding for two participants with autism spectrum disorder. Mand-training was only implemented for participant 1. A multielement design was used during the functional analysis, and a multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment was used to identify edible and activity reinforcers. During the test conditions of the functional analysis, reinforcers were delivered for 30 s contingent on target manding, whereas reinforcers were freely available during the control condition. During mand-training, a progressive time-delay was used to fade vocal prompts. For participant 1, rates of manding were highest in the test condition only after mand-training was implemented. For participant 2, rates of manding were highest in the test conditions. The data for both participants indicate that the functional analysis of manding was effective in identifying the function of the target responses.

Differential reinforcement of compliance is a common treatment for children that present with escape-maintained problem behavior. This treatment involves providing positive and/or negative reinforcement following compliance with tasks. Traditionally, this arrangement involves brief, fixed-ratio schedules (i.e., small, distributed work requirements) to result in brief reinforcement periods. However, recent research has suggested that individuals may prefer to complete longer ratio schedules (i.e., larger, or accumulated work periods) to access longer reinforcement periods. However, for children with escape maintained problem behavior, accumulated work periods involve prolonged exposure to aversive events and delayed access to positive reinforcement, and thus may occasion increased problem behavior. In the current study, we exposed 3 children with escape-maintained aggression to distributed and accumulated work conditions to assess the efficacy of both arrangements. We then assessed these children's preferences for both arrangements using a concurrent-chains procedure. Across three participants, not only did accumulated work periods not occasion additional problem behavior, it was associated with decreased problem behavior relative to distributed work periods for 2 of 3 participants. Preferences for these three conditions were idiosyncratic across participants.

Functional analyses yield low and undifferentiated problem behavior rates if test conditions fail to include potentially idiosyncratic establishing operations to potentiate relevant reinforcement. Escape-maintained problem behavior during academic instruction may only occur during a functional analysis if sufficiently non-preferred tasks or teaching strategies are incorporated. In the current study, an initial functional analysis of aggression with a child with autism yielded low, undifferentiated rates across conditions. We modified our assessment based upon parental report to increase the likelihood of making errors and contacting an error-correction procedure. This modification led to the identification of aggression being maintained by negative reinforcement in the form of escape from demands where errors are likely to be made. This outcome led to the development of an effective function-based intervention involving differential reinforcement of alternative behavior.

In the current study, a functional analysis showed that problem behavior demonstrated by an 8 year-old male was maintained by adult attention in the form of social disapproval. Functional communication training (FCT) for a commonly used attention-type (i.e. praise), produced low rates of functional communication responses (FCRs) in the form of handing a specific card to a therapist. We conducted a Rapid Assessment of Attention-Types (RAAT) to identify attention-types that could be used to reinforce FCRs as functionally equivalent replacements for problem behavior. The RAAT identified two attention-types likely to produce higher rates of FCRs. We used a reversal design to evaluate the rates of FCRs when using praise to reinforce FCRs in comparison to RAAT-identified attention-types. Results suggested that the RAAT accurately predicted the attention-types that would reinforce FCRs. Additionally, we report outcomes of a function-based treatment for attention-maintained problem behavior that included the attention-types identified with the RAAT.

When problem behavior (PB) is maintained by multiple functional reinforcers, we often assume that different treatment components are needed. However, there are very few studies systematically testing this assumption. This study aimed to evaluate multiply-maintained PB (escape and automatic reinforcement) in a demand context following implementation of treatment targeting automatically-maintained PB with two participants. For participant one, self-injurious behavior (SIB) was multiply-maintained. Treatment included arm splints and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) targeting SIB. For participant two, disruption was at least in part automatically-maintained while aggression was escape-maintained. Treatment included a DRO and punishment, targeting only disruption. Following demonstration of control in an austere environment, we returned to escape baseline. In baseline, the treatment for automatically-maintained problem behavior was in place, but we provided a break from demands contingent on SIB (participant 1) or aggression (participant 2). For both participants, low rates of PB occurred during escape baseline. Potential explanations include that a break was only reinforcing when combined with access to automatic reinforcement, that treatment increased the response effort of SIB (participant 1), or that treatment targeted PB lower in the response class for escape (participant 2). We discuss results in the context of future research and recommendations.

Problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement is difficult to treat because we are not able to manipulate the reinforcers maintaining the behavior. Piazza et al (1996) used a component analysis to address pica (eating cigarette butts) maintained by automatic reinforcement. In the current study a component analysis was conducted to identify the factors (sensation of heft and resulting noise) that reinforced destructive behavior (i.e., throwing items) maintained by automatic reinforcement as identified within a functional analysis. The participant, a 9 year old non-verbal boy diagnosed with autism and attention deficit disorder was referred to an intensive behavioral outpatient service to address destructive (throwing and kicking), aggressive, and self-injurious behavior. During the component analysis, the occurrence of throwing was compared across three conditions: (A) items with heft and noise, (B) items with heft but no noise, and (C) items with minimal heft and minimal noise. The results showed that throwing was maintained by heft and was not sensitive to noise. The treatment package provided access to heft using appropriate behaviors (e.g., throwing balls into a basket), a schedule to reduce down-time, and to teach appropriate play skills. Inappropriate throwing decreased to near zero levels as did kicking items.

Behavior analysts commonly employ functional analyses to determine the function of destructive behavior (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994). However, a traditional functional analysis is sometimes insufficient to clearly identify the function of destructive behavior. We evaluated the use of a transition assessment with two children for whom a traditional functional analysis produced inconclusive results. We first conducted an activity preference assessment to determine a hierarchy of preference for a variety of activities. We selected low, moderate, and high-preferred activities to use in the evaluation. We then systematically manipulated which of those activities were available in different contexts in which the client was required to transition to and from. Results indicated that both children engaged in destructive behavior when required to transition from a context with a high-preferred activity to a context with a low-preferred activity. We discuss the implications of the results and provide suggestions for future research.

Individuals with developmental disabilities may engage in severe problem behavior to escape social interaction. Patterns of responding within a standard functional analysis can serve as a source of evidence for social avoidance as reinforcement of problem behavior (Harper, Iwata, & Camp, 2013). In the current case study, an adolescent male admitted to an inpatient unit for assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior displayed frequent aggressive behaviors during the toy play and demand conditions of a functional analysis. Therefore, a social avoidance assessment was conducted to identify the antecedent condition that served as an establishing operation (EO) for problem behavior. High-quality social attention provided by a therapist while near the client was the condition with the shortest average latency to problem behavior. This condition was incorporated into an assessment to evaluate problem behavior related to escape from the proximity of individuals or their social attention. Results suggested the client engages in problem behavior to escape social attention, specifically when individuals are near him. Treatment targeted functional communication and proximity fading of low-preferred staff across different activities. Additional fading procedures were conducted in a demand context to decrease problem behavior maintained by escape from the presentation of demands by low-preferred staff.

Escape Extinction (EE) is a component in effective reinforcement-based treatments (Reed et al., 2004) such as Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior for pediatric feeding disorders. Investigations of why extinction works have analyzed procedural form based on function of targeted behavior (Iwata, Dorsey, et al., 1994; Piazza, Fisher, et al., 2003). However, few studies evaluated the mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of extinction. The current study hypothesized that EE would result in exposure to foods and change preferences for the targeted foods; compliance would result in positive reinforcers. The hypothesis was tested using preference assessments (Pace et al., 1985) conducted before and during EE treatment. Participants are three individuals who engaged in inappropriate mealtime behaviors. Treatment results indicated that EE resulted in decreases in food refusal during treatment. Preference assessment results showed that the food targeted during the EE treatment changed from a nonpreferred food at the start of treatment to a preferred food during treatment, suggesting that positive reinforcement may have a role in maintaining food acceptance. These results support the hypothesis that positive reinforcement may play a role in the maintenance of food acceptance. Future research could evaluate the role of attention as a reinforcer for food acceptance.

Functional communication training (FCT) is an empirically-supported treatment for severe problem behavior in persons with intellectual disability. During FCT, a communicative response is differentially reinforced to provide an appropriate alternative to problem behavior. Selection of a communicative modality for FCT is often based on the individual's current skills and/or caregiver preference. However, research suggests that an individual's preference for communication modality can impact treatment outcome. In this study, a nonverbal 6-year-old male with a degenerative neurological disorder was trained to request a preferred item using two modalities: a picture card and an augmentative communication device (i.e., GoTalk). Proficiency was demonstrated with both modalities, and decreases in problem behavior were observed during FCT with both the picture card and the GoTalk. However, when both modalities were presented concurrently a clear preference for the GoTalk emerged. Additionally, when a blank distractor card was paired with each modality, accurate discrimination between the target and distractor card was observed with the preferred modality, but never with the non-preferred modality, even after multiple training exposures. Results suggest that including preferred communicative modalities into communication-based treatment packages may increase the speed of skill acquisition. Implications for assessment and treatment are discussed.

When presenting reinforcers to individuals with developmental disabilities, many researchers use food. One issue with using food as a reinforcer is that there may be other types of reinforcers which may be equally or more effective. Although preference assessment methods have been well-researched, one area that has not yet been resolved is concerned with whether food reinforcers are always more preferred than non-food reinforcers, when both are used in the same assessment. This study compared preference for food and non-food items with similar and dissimilar reinforcing values in people with developmental disabilities, in order to understand how food and non-food stimulus groups interact with reinforcing value. Participants were four individuals with developmental disabilities. The study first involved measuring the reinforcing value of each food and non-food item through the use of a reinforcer test. The food and non-food reinforcers identified were then paired based on their known reinforcing values, and a paired-stimulus preference assessment was conducted. The data from each participant was examined to determine how frequently each item was selected. A better understanding of how choice options from different reinforcer groups interact may provide insight on the best methods to select and present reinforcers to people with developmental disabilities.

Some individuals engage in aggression and self-injury to avoid challenging instructional situations (Horner et al., 1991). We used a multi-element design to evaluate the role that different forms of corrective feedback on frequency of problem behavior with four individuals admitted to an inpatient unit for the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior. All participants engaged in problem behavior when presented with feedback during demand situations. During the control sessions, only praise was provided. In the test conditions, verbal (4 of 4 participants) or physical (3 of 4 participants) corrective feedback was provided, regardless of response accuracy. Contingent on problem behavior during all tests conditions, the participants were allowed to finish the task their way. This suggested that problem behavior was maintained by negative reinforcement in the form of escape from corrective feedback. Treatment for all four individuals consisted of positively-stated feedback with verbal and gestural error correction. With the treatment in place, overall rate of problem behavior decreased for all four participants as compared to baseline (see figure). These results suggest that positively-stated feedback with verbal and gestural error correction may be an effective treatment for individuals who exhibit problem behavior when corrected during demand contexts.

Spoon acceptance, defined as full lip closure over the spoon resulting in the bite being deposited into the mouth, is an important factor for children with feeding disorders. Although food can be deposited using alternative strategies, such as physical prompts, these procedures are unnatural and invasive, and may lead to increased meal durations and levels of refusal. The purpose of the current study was to increase spoon acceptance through the use of finger-to-spoon fading when escape extinction (EE) and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) were ineffective. We used a reversal design with probe reversals to baseline following each fading step. The study included one 4-year-old male diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and severe food selectivity who consumed nonpreferred foods with behavioral treatment, but required an invasive procedure (i.e. finger prompt and side deposit) in order to accept each bite because he would not accept any bites from a spoon. Prior to finger-to-spoon fading, spoon acceptance was 0% during baseline with EE and DRA, and increased to 100% following the intervention. These results indicate that using finger-to-spoon fading may be an effective intervention to increase spoon acceptance when other commonly used interventions, such as EE and DRA, are ineffective.

This study evaluated the use of a differential reinforcement of alternative behavior without extinction procedure to treat food refusal and oppositional behavior for an 8-year-old boy being treated through a combination of pharmacological and behavioral interventions. For this individual, we hypothesized escape from food and escape from instructions maintained refusal behavior. In addition, potential side effects due to psychotropic medications may have decreased appetite (Barkley, McMurray, Edelbrock, & Robbins, 1990). Specific reinforcement contingencies included negative reinforcement (i.e., removal of feeding context) and positive reinforcement (i.e., access to highly preferred activity). In baseline, the child consumed near zero levels of food. In treatment, completion of the response requirement resulted in access to a highly preferred activity (e.g., playground). Initial implementation of treatment procedures resulted in consistent consumption of the requisite response requirement (e.g., 10 g.). The child's food consumption was systematically increased to an age-appropriate serving size (e.g., 300 g.) using a changing criterion design. This study provides one example of the use of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior without extinction procedures to reduce food refusal behavior. These results offer an approach to treatment of food refusal, without the use of escape extinction.

The failure to maintain clinically significant reductions in problem behavior under prevailing treatment conditions is a recurring challenge for behavior analysts. Lerman et al. (1994) examined contributing factors for treatment relapse and suggested that degradation of treatment efficacy may be attributed to a change in function for problem behavior over time. To evaluate this hypothesis, functional analysis (FA) outcomes were examined for 61 cases readmitted to an inpatient unit for severe problem behavior. Participants were ages 2-24yrs; 68% were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Time between admissions ranged from nine months to nine years. An exact match in function of problem behavior across admissions occurred in only 18% of cases. A partial function match (i.e., at least one correspondence and one noncorrespondence of function across admissions) occurred in 36% of cases, and a different function for problem behavior occurred in 46% of cases. Thus, 82% of cases had at least one new function for problem behavior identified at readmission. Finally, 75% of cases had either problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement, or undifferentiated FA outcomes. Results suggest that treatment relapse may occur with change in behavioral function, but may also be due to treatment challenges with specified behavioral functions.

Pairing, which may improve the therapeutic alliance or bond between therapist and client, has been positively related to enhanced treatment outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities. These include improvements in emotional problems and challenging behaviours. While pairing is an important treatment consideration, it does not appear to be explicitly examined in behavior analytic treatment studies. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, the aim of this systematic review is to identify how and at what frequency pairing is incorporated within behaviour analytic treatment studies. Databases searched were: PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Proquest Nursing and Allied Health Database, and Web of Science Core Collection. Individual journals searched were: Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, The Behavior Analyst, Behavior Analysis in Practice, and Behavioral Interventions. Study inclusion criteria included the following: published in English, peer-reviewed, included a pre- and post- measure, included a treatment component, and targeted individuals with a developmental disability diagnosis. Results from the initial search included 360 journal articles. After removal of duplicates and screening, 17 articles remained for the analysis. Results of this review will be discussed with potential research and treatment implications for individuals with developmental disabilities receiving behavior analytic intervention.

In humans, eye contact is one of the most important nonverbal communicative behaviors. However, deficits in eye contact are characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. Previous research has used a variety of procedures to increase eye contact in this population with limited success and has been dependent on human resources. Thus, the purpose of the present research was to evaluate the effect of eye tracking software on increasing eye contact in individuals with developmental disabilities using a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants design. This intervention included the following conditions: contingent video, contingent praise, manual acceptance, gesture prompts, stimulus prompts, and increased reinforcer access. Generalization assessments were conducted before and after intervention to assess generalization of eye contact across settings and over time. Limitations of this intervention are discussed along with suggestions for future research on the use of eye tracking software for increasing eye contact in individuals with developmental disabilities.

The hypothesis of this study was an intervention program comprised of elements from ABA-based intervention methods including discrete trial training (DTT), pivotal response training (PRT), social skills training (SST) and incidental teaching would improve the social skills of children with ASD and lead to generalization of those skills across conversational partners and environments. From the literature that was reviewed prior to the study, the researcher found that the practice of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) significantly improves deficits in social skills. Among ABA-based, research-supported treatment methods are DTT, PRT, SST and incidental teaching. The researcher used components of these to design a program to teach social skills to three participants. The guiding research question explored in this research study was as follows; How does a well-designed, ABA intervention method comprised of SST, DTT, PRT and incidental teaching components impact the development and generalization of social and communicative skills?

The purpose of this meta-analysis is to compile articles from several evidence-based sources to examine the effects of parent training when providing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services. The primary measurement tool identified in these studies were questionnaires that utilized a likert scale. Preliminary results of meta-analysis indicate that, overall, parents saw an increase across several of their child's skills by using Applied Behavior Analysis principles and procedures (McPhilemy and Dillenburger, 2013). Questionnaires and likert scales were also used to measure the stress level of parents before and after receiving Applied Behavior Analysis therapy. Preliminary results showed that parents reported feeling less stressed after their child received Applied Behavior Analysis services (Keenan, Dillenburger, Doherty, Byrne, & Gallagher, 2007). Articles reviewed also detailed specific methods of how to implement parent training through the use of video clips and child confederates (Stocco and Thompson, 2015). Parent training is a necessary component that can provide further education and assistance to families with children who engage in problem behaviors or require assistance with skill acquisition.

In Developmental support, the "Behavior consultation" technique has been proposed " to change behavior of both supporters and children" by intervention with supporters (Kato, Oishi, 2011). Until now, case studies of Behavior consultation have been built for teachers. However, applying the techniques to parents has been insufficient (Brookman-Frazee et al., 2009). Many studies on behavior consultation were focused on case studies. It is necessary to construct a systematic program in order to widely adapt this support technique. The current study was designed to make the fidelity checklist for behavior consultation and evaluate the novice consultant to demonstrate reliability and validity of this fidelity. Five mothers of children with ASD participated in this study. Consultant was the expert of developmental support and solving behavior problems. Each child was provided with development support for one year, and in parallel with support, consultation was given to parents four times. We recorded conversations during the consultation and converted it into text data. We classified verbal behavior of the consultant. As a result, we can extract consultant's verbal behavior into 11 items. We could create a fidelity checklist and can evaluate the consultation by the novice consultant using the checklist.

Families of children with autism often have a discrepancy between the availability of services in their community and their needs for services. The lack of compatibility can be either they live in distant areas or they are on long waiting lists for services. In recent decades, the technology to support online meeting has developed rapidly. Researchers have investigated that the telehealth technologies are an effective tool to increase the implementation of children's skills in parents and caregivers of children with autism. Also, they have found the effectiveness of using telehealth technologies to reach families who live in distant areas and difficult to receive services. Telehealth technology can be a tool to exchange information through electronic communications between therapists and families and also improve services to meet children's unique needs. Parents and caregivers participate in training at home with cost and time efficient. The purpose of this review is to examine the literature on parent and caregiver coaching by using telehealth technologies utilized a single-case design for families of children with autism. Researchers will provide the results and discussions on the implications for practice to bridge the gap in providing the telehealth technologies service.

Emotion recognition, both verbal and nonverbal, has been shown to be a pivotal skill in the development of meaningful relationships throughout an individual's life time. However, many individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience difficulty when engaging in social interactions and perspective taking skills which may inhibit their ability to develop these relationships (Cappodocia & Weiss, 2011). The present study focused on the effectiveness of a computer-based intervention program, The Transporters (Golan & Baron-Cohen, 2006), in teaching emotion recognition skills to individuals with ASD with limited language abilities. In previous research, using an experimental design with 20 children with high-functioning ASD, Golan and Baron-Cohen (2006) found that after 4 weeks of watching The Transporters the ASD intervention group significantly improved their ability to identify emotions. The current study, a multiple baseline design included three participants, ages 2-6 years old. Participants watched a minimum of 3 episodes of The Transporters focusing on a particular emotion every day for four weeks. Each participant was then tested twice weekly on their ability to identify each of the 15 emotions targeted, both receptively and through non-identical emotion recognition matching. Results revealed that The Transporters program did not consistently increase the participant's abilities to recognize the 15 emotions targeted in this study, with mastery ranging from 13-46% of emotions. Findings in the present study are contrasted to the original Golan and Baron-Cohen (2006) findings and are discussed in terms of design structure, sample size, and prerequisite skills of the participants.

A variety of prompting procedures have been used to aid in the acquisition of aquatic skills. The effectiveness of within-session and across-session variations of prompting procedures for teaching aquatic skills was evaluated for 1 participant diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The first variation, within session, consisted of varying prompts within session contingent on correct responding. The second variation, across session, consisted of using most-to-least prompting and decreasing the prompt level based on a predetermined number of correct trials (i.e., changing the prompts across sessions). Prior to implementation of both treatments, the participant was evaluated using American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim level 1 and level 2 criteria. Both treatments were evaluated using a multiple baseline across skills. Data indicated that both variations were effective on the acquisition of aquatic skills; however, varying prompts within session led to a quicker rate of acquisition. Implications for using varied prompts during swimming instruction of clients with ASD is discussed.

Rapid progress in robotics offers tremendous possibilities for innovation in training for individuals with ASDs. However, the efficacy and effectiveness research on this topic is in its infancy. This study aims to investigate how a humanoid robot can facilitate social interaction skills of kids with ASDs. Four children with ASDs age 5-10 were selected to participate in the investigation. Therapists were trained by attending workshop covering ASD, EIBI, ABA, DTT, NET and PBS, and under the supervision of a BCBA throughout this study. Each child participated in an average of thirty-two trials during a period of six months. The trials were designed to progressively move from very simple exposure to the robot to more complex opportunities for interaction. A quantitative and qualitative analysis was conducted. The four children with ASDs all showed improvement in their social interaction skills based on the multi-baseline designs across subjects. In some cases, the children used the robot as a mediator, an object of shared attention, for their interaction with other human beings. The findings clearly demonstrate the need for, and benefits of, long-term studies in order to reveal the full potential of humanoid robots in the therapy and education of children with ASDs.

Vocal stereotypy is a common characteristic of individuals with autism and can be defined as repetitive, topographically invariant vocal responses that have no apparent social function. In a community-based program this stereotypy can be particularly disruptive, stigmatizing, and can impact an individual's availability to learn. This study used a stimulus discrimination procedure using two different visual cues (green bracelet and red bracelet) in order to teach an adolescent with autism to differentiate when it was and was not appropriate to engage in self-talk. A multiple baseline design with changing criterion component was used to implement the intervention across targeted environments once control was established in the initial environment. Both stimuli were reinforced using a thick schedule of specific social praise paired with intermittent edible and contingent tangible reinforcers. Self-talk was reduced incrementally as criteria were achieved. Results indicated an increase in performance across several target skills and a 90% reduction in self-talk was achieved across environments. Generalization probes indicated that generalization could be achieved in the home setting (non-targeted environment). Social validity measures (parent survey) indicated high satisfaction with the procedures.

The purpose of this study was to extend previous research on RIRD for vocal stereotypy by comparing the effectiveness of extinction versus RIRD in reducing vocal stereotypy of a 15 year-old boy with ASD. Contingent on vocal stereotypy, during each session the researcher would interrupt vocal stereotypy by presenting vocal demands and redirection to appropriate vocalizations would occur after the student successful responded to the vocal demands. At the beginning of the study, on average, the participant engaged in vocal stereotypy for 47.9 minutes per session, which was reduced to 28 minutes per session by the end of the study. The intervention was effective in reducing vocal stereotypy and controlling the variability at which the vocal stereotypy occurred across sessions.

The purpose of the current study was to: (a) evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment package involving antecedent stimulus control and Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO) on the duration of acceptance for others to join in on the child's activity and to; (b) introduce the revised treatment package across different settings. This project was also to fulfill supervision hours of the Behavior Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA). Supervision was done remotely via real time video conferencing outside of the United States by Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA). Participant is a three year old child diagnosed with Autism. First, a structured ABC analysis was conducted to determine the possible function of the problem behavior and results indicated that it may be maintained by positive reinforcement (i.e., doing something by himself). Then a multiple probe design was conducted across three settings; table activities of KNZ(Beijing KNZ Autism Family Support Center), non-table activities of KNZ and the participant's home. Finally, different activities across different family members at home were targeted to ensure generalization. Results showed an increase on the duration of quietly acceptance for other to join in participant's activity across all three settings and also across multiple family members.

Motor stereotypy is a problematic behavior commonly displayed in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that interferes with skill acquisition during academic programming. Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD) is gaining support in reducing these behaviors, however, there are limitations specific to generalization. The current study sought to investigate the effects of RIRD in conjunction with stimulus control (SC) training and generalization probing (GP) on motor stereotypy when implemented during early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI). Eight children with ASD were assigned across four conditions using an A-B design: 1) experimental (RIRD + SC + GP), 2) traditional treatment (RIRD + GP), 3) clinical control (EIBI + GP), and 4) waitlist controls. Results demonstrated that RIRD + SC + GP produced immediate reductions in motor stereotypy to near zero rates during treatment, with reductions maintaining post-treatment. Participants receiving this intervention package also met mastery criteria across generalization conditions in the clinic setting in fewer sessions compared to other groups. Furthermore, large effect sizes (d = 0.86) were noted specific to motor stereotypy post-treatment based on parent report. Results of this study extend the literature by emphasizing the utility of combining RIRD and SC procedures to reduce motor stereotypy and enhance generalization. Considerations of using this procedure and avenues for future research are discussed.

Video modeling (VM) has demonstrated efficacy in teaching a variety of skills to learners with autism. Studies support the use of VM to teach many different skills, including: social skills, functional communication, generalized imitation, appropriate transition behavior, and vocational tasks to learners of all ages (Alexander, Ayres, Smith, Shepley, & Mataras, 2013; Cardon, 2012; Cihak, Fahrenkrog, Ayres, & Smith, 2010; O'Handley, Radley, & Whipple, 2015; Plavnick & Ferreri, 2011). This study examined the use of VM with three high school student-teacher dyads. Each of the three students learned a new skill with VM and achieved mastery criteria (80% or above across three consecutive trials); furthermore, all three teachers achieved high fidelity on the VM intervention (averages of 76.11%, 91.5%, and 91.5%). Results for both student skills and teacher fidelity are discussed. Lastly, recommendations for future research based on these findings are included.

We conducted a series of paired-stimulus preference assessments (PAs) with 5 individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities. First, we conducted single-category PAs with edibles, leisure activities, and social consequences. Next, we conducted combined-category PAs with the highest preference items from each category. Finally, we evaluated preference for choice using an 8-item paired-stimulus PA that included choice between the highest preference item of each category, choice between the highest preference items within a category, the highest preference item from a category (no-choice), and a control. All PAs were repeated until a Pearson product-moment coefficient of at least 0.6 was achieved. For 3 participants, edibles displaced preference for leisure and social stimuli. For all participants during the choice Pas, access to an item from the highest preference category was a more reliable predictor of preference than access to choice. We conducted progressive ratio reinforcer assessments with all 5 participants using the highest preference item from each category and a control condition; for each participant, results were consistent with their PAs. We collected IOA on at least 30% of PAs and reinforcer assessments with a mean IOA score of 100% and 98% respectively.

Differential reinforcement of compliance is a common intervention for escape-maintained problem behavior that involves (a) arranging escape-extinction for problem behavior and (b) delivering a break, often with access to positive reinforcers, following compliance. The early stages of this intervention are characterized by low-work requirements with simple tasks to increase the likelihood of compliance contacting reinforcement. After this initial intervention phase, task chaining is characteristically used to increase work periods to practically useful levels. This data-based case study including a seven-year-old female diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder details task chaining following an initial differential reinforcement of compliance intervention. An increase in the quantity of a task was fulfilled and subsequently followed by an increase in the task complexity and exposure to a novel discriminative stimulus. This case study demonstrates that this approach not only reduces problem behavior and increase compliance, but also results in the development of progressively more complex skills.

Parent training is an integral part of intervention programs for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Behavioral skills training has shown itself to be an effective training method. Research has shown it to be successful teaching staff and parents to implement applied behavior analysis programs, however, there has been limited research specifically on training parents to implement discrete trial training and the ability to generalize those skills to other programs. Discrete trial training is a component of many applied behavior analysis intervention programs that can lead to increased child outcomes. This study investigated the effects of using behavior skills training with three parent-child dyads. All children had an Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and both parent and child had had limited to no exposure to applied behavior analysis. Results showed that while behaviors skills training was an effective methods, generalization and social validity were mixed and long-term impact of training was likely minimal. Results were discussed in relation to developing effective and efficient parent training programs.

This research examined the barriers to assessment and intervention for people with autism in Nigeria. Participants were drawn from three different but purposive groups: 1) parents of children with autism, 2) professionals who worked directly with individuals who had autism or knew someone with autism and 3) the general population made up of individuals from all walks of life—menial labourers, corporate employees, students, church-goers, teachers and the unemployed. No standardised questionnaire was available so questionnaires were developed by the researcher. Questions were structured in a way that specific responses relevant to the research questions were elicited. Findings include the lack of adequately trained personnel that can assess and design intervention programmes for individuals with autism, low levels of awareness about autism, lack of services and cost of services as barriers. In addition, the attitude and beliefs of the people constituted barriers as well. Implications of the results were discussed with suggestions for future studies.

Historically, children with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty with medical procedures including, but not limited to, dental exams. A study by Loo, Graham, and Hughes in 2008, found that patients with autism were more likely to exhibit problem behavior (self injury, aggression, property destruction) during dental exams. 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 and preference assessments were conducted for each individual to determine level of toleration to dental cleanings and to determine potential reinforcers. Differential reinforcement was implemented for completion of task analysis steps comprised of actions completed during a dental cleaning using a set schedule of reinforcement. As progress was achieved, the schedule of reinforcement was thinned. Two individuals have progressed to generalization. Differential reinforcement has proved to be effective within this desensitization program. Inter-observer agreement was completed in 42 out of 83 sessions for one participant with an average of 100% and in 21 out of 36 sessions for a second participant with an average of 98.5%.

There are decades of research literature that support the effective application of applied behavior analysis (ABA) in schools that have students with special needs including autism spectrum disorder. Students ranging in age from preschool through secondary have benefited from ABA and its effectiveness. In light of the global economic downturn over the last decade, the costs of services for children having special needs has been analyzed and scrutinized across many levels of bureaucratic systems. Through its evidence-based methods, focus on relevant outcome data, and systematic measurement practices, ABA has offered many educational stakeholders the best way forward for one of modern society's biggest behavioral health problems. The present study partially replicates a treatment package and shows the outcomes of instruction in terms of cost in dollars using a cost benefit analysis. We reviewed three years of outcome data from an international school for students having special needs in Hong Kong. Special instruction with ABA was provided in individual, group, and inclusive classroom settings using learn units as the basic unit of instruction. A cost benefit analysis showed the relative dollar amounts of the learn unit and instructional objectives, adjusted for inflation, and compared across previous studies.

Individuals on the autism spectrum with co-occurring intellectual disorder have a delayed and very often limited academic achievement. Despite educational provisions pupils on the moderate and severe end of the spectrum fail to acquire meaningful reading and comprehension skills. This research supported by the charity RESPECT and Marie Curie actions, will focus on the reading and comprehension skills of individuals with autism and moderate to severe intellectual disability, using Headsprout early reading (HER) program on a touch screen device. The study had 6 participants with autism, 8-13 y, attending different classes of a special school. These pupils had minimal reading skills and exhibited challenges with learning readiness behaviour. Strategies were put in place to address, time on task, turn taking, waiting, read aloud and acquisition of reading skills. Single subject design using Intervention for 5-13 weeks with 2-3 lessons per week, showed gains in learning readiness behaviour and in reading skills. Pre- and post reading assessment was carried out using either Dynamic indicators of early literacy skills (DIBELS) or the Non-verbal literacy assessment (NVLA) tool.

Improving speech intelligibility in children with autism with limited vocal repertoires is the focus of many early intensive behavior programs. Phonetic hand cueing systems (HC) are commonly promoted in commercially available speech-language products (Carahaly, 2012; Kaufman, 2007; Strode, 1994), however, research on effectiveness is limited (Hall and Jordan, 1992, Jordan 1988, Klick, 1985, Stelton & Graves 1985). This series of exploratory studies examines the effectiveness of HC as a stimulus control transfer procedure to improve vowel duration and articulatory precision in participants with autism with limited vocal behavior. Results of the initial multiple baseline across HC for consonants revealed rapid acquisition of 20 HC, steady acquisition of 248 single word echoics when HC were used as an antecedent prompt, and an increase in words and phrases improved when HC were used as error correction during natural environment training. Preliminary findings of a multiple baseline design across HC for vowels with three participants showed improved vowel duration and the effectiveness of the HC as a stimulus control transfer procedure to syllables is currently being studied. Results confirm previous case study findings that phonetic hand cues may be an effective intervention in promoting speech production skills in children with autism with limited vocal repertoires.

The study aimed to evaluate the effects of a five-day parent training program to teach Chinese parents to use behavioral techniques with their children with autism. Ten parents and five children participated in the study. The training covered techniques such as reinforcement, DTT, NET. Both children and parents' behaviors were measured before and after the training. Main results indicated that parents' overall correct use of behavioral techniques improved from 25% to 78% of trials; the average number of effective DTT delivered by parents increased from five to 21 per hour after training; and the children's appropriate response to his or her name being called from 3 meters away increased from 23% to 82%; and the frequency of eye contact with parents increased from 5 to 15 per hour. Parents highly rated the training program and follow up evaluations indicated that parents continued to use the behavioral strategies with their children.

Stimulus control involves antecedent and consequent manipulations that establish a stimulus as highly correlated with the differential availability of reinforcement. A teacher's presence can come to function as a discriminative stimulus for a student's behavior through the repeated distribution of positive reinforcers contingent upon cooperation with demands. Colored cards can serve as more salient stimuli to facilitate stimulus control. In this study, an individual with autism in a behaviorally based residential program who engaged in ritualistic and routine behavior was selected as a participant. The speed with which the individual would complete routines surrounding transitions between environments had become a safety concern. A familiar teacher delivered verbal prompts ("stop" and "go slow") paired with visual stimuli (red and yellow cards, respectively) and provided edible reinforcers for responding appropriately to these prompts. This procedure was implemented across four distinct transition routines according to a multiple baseline design. Transition duration increased to acceptable levels in each context. Acceptable transition durations were based on those of a peer whose transitions were regarded as "appropriate" by staff members. In addition, successful probes were conducted with novel staff, during novel transition routines, and during non-routine activities.

Attention is a naturalistic and practical reinforcer for use in educational settings. However, limited research has been conducted on identifying preferred forms of attention among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In addition, it remains unclear whether attention may be displaced when included in stimulus arrays with leisure and edible items. We assessed the preference and reinforcing efficacy of edible items, leisure items, and forms of attention in an individual with ASD. Independent and combined pictorial paired-stimulus preference assessments of these three stimulus categories were conducted. Next, we conducted a concurrent-operant reinforcer assessment to determine the relative and absolute reinforcing efficacy of the highly-preferred stimuli from each category. Reliability data were collected for 25% of sessions and averaged over 99.2%. Leisure and attention were found to be more highly preferred than edible items, and leisure was found to be more highly preferred than attention. All stimuli functioned as reinforcers for push-ups in reinforcer assessment.

A number of studies have demonstrated that individuals with developmental disabilities are more likely to select edible items over non-edible items in formal preference assessments such as multiple-stimulus-without-replacement. However, this phenomenon has not been examined with pretask choice preference assessments. Due to time restraints in typical practice, pretask choice preference assessments are often used in place of formal preference assessments. The purpose of this ongoing study is to determine whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are also more likely to select edible items in pretask choice preference assessments. The pretask choice preference assessments consist of presenting one edible and one non-edible item and instructing the participant to choose one. Data collected in phase one of this study showed that in this type of assessment children with autism spectrum disorder selected non-edible items on 54% of opportunities, and significant individual differences in percent of edibles selection were revealed: For 10 participants the percentage of edibles selection varied from 11 to 96. The second phase of the study examines pretask choice between one edible and one non-edible item identified as highest preferred in two separate multiple-stimulus-without-replacement assessments with additional participants. Ethical considerations related to using various types of reinforcers will also be discussed.

Prompting procedures are supports and assistance provided to the child to help him or her acquire skills and successfully perform behaviors [Bellini & Peters (2008, p. 864)]. Although studies have indicated teacher prompting increases social interactions, [Gunter, Fox, Brady, Shores, et al. (1988)], prompting procedures face limitations in regards to the possible inability of children to generalize social skills after prompting has been removed. Current study involved using modeling prompting strategies to teach private and public behavior, personal safety and conversation skills to 6 -8 participants under Autism Spectrum Disorder during 1 hour of social instruction per week. Results showed that modeling prompts using peers and adults as models increases the outcomes of social skills training for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Pica, the ingestion of inedible items, is prevalent among individuals with developmental disabilities (Danford & Huber, 1982) and may have serious medical implications. The purpose of this study is to assess whether a differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) program, in which exchanging found items for edible items, is effective in reducing the pica of a 9-year-old boy diagnosed with autism. In prior publications, this type of DRA was typically used in conjunction with response blocking. Therefore, this study also included a component analysis of the efficacy of the DRA with and without response blocking, as well as an analysis of the effects of therapist proximity. Results showed that keeping the therapist in close proximity helped suppress pica, even when blocking was not in place. Finally, mixed and multiple schedules were evaluated as ways to fade treatment while maintaining low levels of pica. Results to date show that both mixed and multiple schedules are effective in thinning the availability of reinforcement while maintaining low levels of pica. Interobserver agreement data were collected for 33% of sessions and averaged 96%.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to be obese than their typically developing peers (CDC, 2014). One way to combat obesity is to increase physical activity. Although there are numerous recommended strategies for increasing leisure item engagement among individuals with ASD, there is limited research on increasing physical activity among this population. In the current study, a progressive treatment approach for increasing physical activity was evaluated in an individual with ASD. Multiple baseline across exercise activities and reversal designs were used to demonstrate experimental control. Treatment conditions included prompting alone, prompting combined with noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), and prompting combined with differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA). Dependent variables included activity engagement, stereotoypy, and heart rate. Prompting combined with DRA was most effective in increasing activity with two activities (pedaling on a stationary bike and stepping up and down on a bosu ball), and prompting alone was sufficient for increasing physical activity with one activity (walking on a treadmill). Minimal differences in stereotypy and heart rate measures were observed across conditions for all activities. Interobserver agreement was calculated for 33% of sessions and averaged over 95% across dependent variables.

Catatonia is marked by behavioral features involving disturbances in speech, movement (APA, 2013). Similarly, autism spectrum disorders are defined by behavioral deficits in social interaction and restricted, repetitive behaviors and interests (APA, 2013). Autism Related Catatonia is marked by increased slowness, difficulty initiating and completing actions, increased reliance on prompting, passivity, and an increase in repetitive and ritualistic behavior (Wing & Shah, 2000). Many individuals with autism related catatonia are noted to present with posturing, freezing, and to exhibit agitated movements. Current estimates suggest that autism related catatonia is present in 12-18% of individuals with an existing autism spectrum diagnosis (DeJong, Bunton, & Hare, 2014). Empirical literature supporting evidence-based treatment for autism related catatonia is limited and includes use of medication, electroconvulsive shock therapy, and behavioral treatments (DeJong et al., 2014). The current proposal describes the modification of a self-monitoring protocol (Everett & Dennis, 2009) that was implemented with a 19 year old male with autism related catatonia to reduce motor stereotypy. The protocol included a discrimination procedure to identify motor stereotypy, establishing stimulus control, self-recording, and shaping of the absence of behavior. Data demonstrates a 38% reduction in motor stereotypy, reflecting a meaningful change in behavior that allows for increased learning opportunities. The treatment protocol was then implemented in a multiple baseline across staff design. Reductions in motor stereotypy generalized across three additional staff with some variability in maintenance data. Findings support that implementation of a self-monitoring protocol has been effective in reducing, but not extinguishing rates of motor stereotypy in an individual with autism related catatonia. Findings will be discussed relative to the complexities of autism-related catatonia.

The Behavior Technician Level One (BTL1) Certificate Program is the first ever nationally accredited training and education program for behavior technicians who are delivering over 80% of the direct ABA treatment and services to individuals diagnosed with Autism. The program achieved American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation in June 2017. The competencies are solidly based in a comprehensive job analysis of the job role of the behavior technician. The program will prepare behavior technicians with a strong basic foundation in the basic concepts and principles of applied behavior analysis within the context of Autism treatment and Person Centered approaches. This certificate program is intended for workforce development to address an immediate broad service need. The achievement of ANSI accreditation sets the precedence for the need for standardized training and education for the behavior technician. Standardization of the training and education for the behavior technician is a critical component in establishing the behavior technician as a profession. Establishing the behavior technician as a profession is essential in the context of fidelity and continuity of treatment delivery to individuals diagnosed with Autism. Accreditation for the BTL1 is based upon ANSI/ASTM E2659-09 (Standard Practice for Certificate Programs). ANSI's accreditation process adheres to ISO/IEC 17011, the international standard defining quality third-party accreditation practices. The Behavior Technician Level One Certificate Program has been created and guided by an appropriate and aligned system of analysis, program design, development, implementation and evaluation. ANSI accreditation of the BTL1 Certificate Program signifies that the BTL1 certificate holder has completed a prescribed course of study designed specifically to meet predefined industry requirements-and that Innovative Learning LLC has met, and continues to meet, standards for quality improvement. ANSI accreditation is nationally and internationally recognized as a mark of quality and assures that ABA employers can have confidence that the BTL1 certificate holder has completed the prescribed course of study. Demonstrating compliance to ANSI/ASTM E2659-09 Standards, the BTL1 Certificate Program furthers the development of a well-educated, qualified, and professional workforce.

Children with autism spectrum disorders have shown more food selectivity than typically developing children. This study evaluated the long-term effects of feeding interventions for three young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In the first phase of treatment, a food interaction hierarchy paired with contingent reinforcement was evaluted. All three participants successfully engaged in food interaction beahviours during treatment. However, once portion sizes and amount for target foods were increased, the efficacy of the hierarchical approach decreased for all participants. This current 2 year follow-up study, compares the original experimental design to the modifications made for each participant in order to continue progress in various aspects of mealtime behaviour, specifically increasing rate of eating for two participants and decreasing packing behaviours for the other. Introducing a rate contingency for two of the participants, and texture fading procedure for the third. These modifications were successful in increase food consumption for all participants. These findings can provide additional strategies that can be used as part of a treatment package to reduce food refusal and increase food acceptance.

Parent-school communication is a highly valued type of involvement for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but parents report poor communication as a barrier to working with the schools. Although sometimes informally addressed using school-home notes, no research has examined the effects of school-home communication interventions for children with ASD. This multiple baseline across participants study evaluated the effects of school-home notes with home-based contingent reinforcement in decreasing off-task behavior of students with ASD at school. Participants included four student-parent-teacher triads. Two of the four participants showed clear behavior change, which precluded demonstration of functional relations. However, all participating parents and teachers reported the school-home note and parent-implemented contingent reinforcement were highly feasible and acceptable, and indicated positive outcomes relating to improved family-school partnership and communication. Findings of this study, which meets single case design standards and quality indicators, have relevant implications for future research and practice, including the importance of parent partnership with the school. Additionally, there is a need to replicate this study with participants who are similar to the two for whom the intervention was most clearly effective in reducing off-task behavior at school.

Functional communication training (FCT) is an efficacious treatment used to decrease problem behavior and increase communication in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). FCT involves reinforcing the emission of a functional communication response (FCR) with the functional reinforcers identified in a functional analysis and placing problem behavior on extinction (Carr & Durand, 1985). In the present study, a reversal design was used to evaluate the utility of the interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA; Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, & Hanratty, 2014) in the identification of functional reinforcers for problem behavior to be used in subsequent FCT. The participants were two students diagnosed with ASD, who were enrolled in an early-learner program in a private school for students with ASD. Both participants engaged in severe self-injury for which previous treatments were ineffective. For both participants, the IISCA led to the identification of functional reinforcers and FCT resulted in a decrease in self-injurious behavior and an increase in the target communicative response. Interobserver agreement was assessed during 54% (for Participant 1) and 50% (for Participant 2) of sessions across assessment and treatment conditions. Mean agreement was 98% (for Participant 1) and 96% (for Participant 2).

Learning PECS is associated with improved communication and reduced problem for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While functional analysis (FA) is best practice for determining the functions of problem behavior, there are some occasions in which severe problem behavior, or practitioner discipline and training may limit its use in communication intervention. To this end, practitioners may bypass FA and directly use PECS even though it only addresses a tangible function. Therefore, modifying the PECS protocol to teach mands across functions may be an efficient solution to address varying functions of problem behavior. In this study, we taught PECS to three children with ASD who exhibited problem behavior using the FA paradigm (e.g., LaRue et al., 2011). The children were exposed to three conditions in which PECS mands were taught: attention, tangible, and escape (e.g., LaBelle, Jones, Charlop, & Thomas, 2016). Acquisition rate of PECS mands and presence of problem behavior in training sessions were used to infer probable function of the children's problem behavior. Results showed differentiation in mand acquisition across the PECS-FA training conditions for all three children. Treatments were then designed according to PECS-FA results, and all three children decreased problem behavior and improved appropriate behavior.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disability that impacts social interactions, as well as restrictive, repetitive, and stereotypical behaviors (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Currently, there is an increasing trend of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a 57% of rise from 2002 to 2006, as well as bilingualism or English Language Learners (ELL) in the US. Bilingualism is the ability to speak two languages and ELL are those who study in public systems that require modified instruction in English. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicated that, "the percentage of public school students in the United States who were ELLs was higher in school year 2014–15 (9.4 percent, or estimated 4.6 million students) than in 2004–05 (9.1 percent, or an estimated 4.3 million students)." (U.S. Department of Education, 2017). Due to the rising rates of bilingual individuals and the diagnosis of ASD, it is likely practitioners will work with this population during their career. The purpose of this study is to review literature on what research based interventions there are for this population. Information from 70 different articles are studied to compose of a mapping review for what literature says are the best practices for bilinguals with ASD.

Despite the fact that the presence of restricted repetitive behaviors is one of the diagnostic features of autism (American Psychological Association, 2013), these characteristics have not received the same level of attention in the research literature as social and communication deficits (Murray & Healy, 2015). Restricted repetitive patterns of play are commonly observed in individuals with autism (Wilson et al., 2017). This may result in limited contact with social reinforcement (Miller & Neuringer, 2000). Research has demonstrated that implementing lag schedules of reinforcement can increase toy play variability in children with intellectual disability (Baruni, Rapp, Lipe, & Novonty, 2014). The current study replicated and extended Baruni et al. (2014) with three children with autism in the United Arab Emirates. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was employed to investigate the effects of lag schedules of reinforcement on producing novel toy play responses. At baseline, probes assessed novel play responses in a natural play setting. During intervention, tokens were delivered using lag 1 and 2 schedules of reinforcement. Post-intervention generalization probes, maintenance probes and social validity measures were conducted. The findings are discussed along with limitations and areas for future research.

Many children with autism experience challenges related to healthy sleeping. Poor sleep can impair availability to instruction, reduce potential skill acquisition, and disrupt quality of life for other family members. Connor, a four-year-old boy diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), began experiencing challenges related to falling and staying asleep after his parent stayed with him while he fell asleep while Connor was ill. Specifically, Connor would engage in tantrum behavior if the parent did not lay on his bed with him or attempted to leave the bed. A remotely-delivered coaching intervention was implemented to help parents manage Connor's sleep by using a bedtime routine, systematically fading proximity, and placing overnight out-of-bed behavior on an extinction schedule. Minutes of sleep and proportion of time asleep overnight increased as a result of these interventions, and outcomes generalized across settings. At the conclusion of intervention, Connor's parents were positioned outside his bedroom while he fell asleep. Limitations, future steps, and replication of these outcomes will be discussed.

Sabrina, 6-year old girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder, displayed aggressive behavior when prompted to the bathroom and lifetime history of urination and bowel movement accidents prior to intervention. After acquiring toileting skills and initiations to use the restroom, she initiated at rates high enough to be disruptive to instruction throughout the school day (i.e., at times upwards of 10 initiations per hour) following this. The hypothesized function of access to tangibles (i.e., preferred movies) was disrupted and initiations were successfully brought under control of experiencing a full bladder. Special consideration was needed given Sabrina's prior history of along A treatment package consisting of magnification of establishing operations to create teaching opportunities (i.e., increasing fluid intake), instructor prompts to use the restroom based on reliable idiosyncratic toileting precursors (rather than time intervals), and thinning reinforcement was effective to increase the percentage of toileting visits resulting in successful voids while maintaining an appropriate level of initiations and voids during school hours and zero-levels of accidents. Taken together, results suggest that toileting initiations are currently evoked by appropriate motivating operations rather than inappropriately maintained by access to tangible reinforcement. Sabrina has had only one, illness-related, accident in the past 15 months. Over the past three months, Sabrina has initiated for the restroom an average of 4 times per day in the absence of instructor-mediated reinforcement, resulting in successful voids 3.9 times per day on average.

A potential limitation of first-trial data collection is fewer teaching trials per session when compared to trial-by-trial or continuous data collection. The current study examined the effects of self-monitoring with a set criterion on the frequency of acquisition trials conducted per two-hour ABA session. Subjects were three Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs), with low rates of teaching trials during sessions as a basis for selection. During baseline, an independent observer recorded the frequency of teaching trials and RBTs were directed to run as many trials as possible on acquisition targets. During the intervention phase, instructors were provided with a data sheet to tally each teaching trial for acquisition targets, including a set criterion for frequency. No data on the performance of the learner was collected as part of the tally. For all three participants, the number of teaching trials increased during the self-monitoring phase. The overall mean was 3.4 trials during baseline, and 22.7 trials during the intervention phase.

Previous literature has examined the efficacy of the high-probability request sequence to treat food selectivity in young children. Results of these studies have varied and have mostly been conducted with a population of children diagnose d with developmental delays or feeding disorders. The current study extended previous research by examining the efficacy of the high- probability request sequence to treat food selectivity in children diagnosed with ASD aged 3- to 5-years old in the absence of escape extinction procedures. A multiple baseline design with an embedded withdrawal condition was utilized to examine the effects of the high-probability request sequence on food acceptance across food groups. A sequential high-probability request sequence consisted of three presentations of a high-probability request immediately followed by a low- probability request. Participants were gradually exposed to nonpreferred food items through a hierarchy of responses that began with touching the food and ended with the terminal response of chewing and swallowing the food.

The Core Skills Assessment (CSA) evaluates a set of 52 socially validated foundational skills necessary for higher-level learning and independent functioning for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and related disabilities. Understanding how performance of these skills in children with ASDs compares to typically developing children may help educators and clinicians better understand the impact of skill deficits and prioritize skills to teach, and may help in generating questions for future research. The CSA was administered to 24 typically developing children and 24 children diagnosed with ASDs in their typical school environments. Significant differences between groups were found (p<.05) for 9 skills, and 5 of these skills were related to speaker and listener repertories. Performance on all 9 of these skills in the ASD group was correlated with overall performance on the CSA for these children, further suggesting their importance as critical foundational skills and the need for prioritization in treatment. Interobserver agreement was collected in 33% of sessions and was 98% (range 80-100).

Several decades of research by Frances McSweeney and colleagues have documented decrements in operant responding over the course of basic research sessions with rats and pigeons. These decreases in rate of response are primarily due to the repeated contact with reinforcement that occurs over the course of operant sessions. Decreases in the effectiveness of reinforcement due to repeated contact is generally referred to as satiation in the applied literature but basic research has shown that this phenomenon has much more in common with respondent literature on habitation and therefore McSweeney and colleagues suggest the adoption of the term habituation to describe these effects. Despite the ubiquity of habituation to reinforcement in basic research, very little research has attempted to identify whether the same phenomenon occurs during applied behavior analytic (ABA) treatment. The current study evaluates latency to response during learning opportunities during the course of regular daily ABA sessions in children with autism in order to detect whether dishabituation to reinforcement is occurring during therapy sessions. The study is still ongoing but preliminary data suggest that habituation may be occurring for one of three participants. Frequent preference assessments and breaks during instruction likely serve to mitigate against habituation to reinforcement during high-quality ABA therapy sessions. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of behavioral skills training on the implementation of an evidence-based teaching method by student interventionists for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three elementary school students were trained to use an applied behavior analysis (ABA) based instructional method, known as discrete trial training (DTT), to teach academic skills to children with ASD. A multiple baseline across individuals was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the behavioral skills training and peer-mediated DTT procedures. Generalization of the interventionist's ability to teach new, previously untrained target behaviors was assessed by conducting generalization probes throughout the study. The results of this study replicated the results of previous studies that have demonstrated the utility of BST to train others to implement DTT in school settings. And, similar to previous research, peer-mediated DTT resulted in an improvement in the acquisition of targeted academic skills. Furthermore, this study provided preliminary evidence that the elementary students may generalize DTT procedures across a variety of target skills. Additional research is needed to determine the long-term effectiveness of peer-mediated DTT in school settings.

In Mexico, there is no data about the prevalence of problems in eating behavior in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The aim of this study was to identify the frequency and type of inappropriate mealtime behaviors as well as the variety of food consumed in this population. Parents of 45 children with a diagnosis of ASD answered a questionnaire to obtain information about demographic characteristics of children and their families, problematic behaviors and the type and number of foods consumed by the child and the family. Additionally, to those parents who reported inappropriate mealtime behavior for their child, we applied the Spanish version of the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF). It was found that 63% of the children reported at least one problem behavior during mealtimes, being the most frequent to leave the table before finishing to eat. We found a correlation between the number of foods consumed by the family and the child, independently if they presented inappropriate mealtime behavior. The functions for problem behavior were predominantly escape and attention. The results of this study represent an initial approximation to the evaluation of pediatric feeding problems in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in a Mexican population.

DSM-5 (APA, 2013) indicated that person with ASD have deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors for social interaction. Eye-contact is a form of nonverbal behavior which serves as the basic skill for social interaction. In addition, eye-contact is also a prerequisite skill for developing joint attention mechanism. Responding to joint attention, which includes following to other's pointing and gazing, is an important ability to share affection with others,. The purpose of this study was to enhance eye contact and respond to pointing for a child with ASD. The participant was a 5-year-old nonverbal boy with autism. A single-subject of delayed multiple baseline design across behaviors was used in this study. Preference assessment was implemented before intervention to determine the reinforcers for training. The independent variable was eye contact and joint attention teaching. Eye-contact training is divided into four stages with different prompting strategies: (1)Full reinforcer: Select reinforcers such as cookies or interesting toys to draw the child's attention and make eye contact with the trainer. (2)1/2 reinforcer+1/2 gesture: Used reinforcers and then change to gesture to lead the child to make eye contact, and provided tokens or social reinforcers after an average number of responses. (3)Gesture: Guided the gaze by full gesture intervention. (4)No prompt: Call the participant's name but no prompting strategy, the child turned his face and looked at researcher's eyes. For responding joint attention intervention, the researcher made the eye contact with the participant first, then point to one of interesting toy. Contingency upon the target behavior, the participant could get some tokens and social reinforcers if he did follow to pointing. The dependent variables were the percentage of participant's eye contact and responding to pointing. Visual analysis was used to analyze the effects of the training. Findings emerged from this study: After training, the percentage of responding to eye contact and pointing increased, and the effect of the intervention can exhibit generalization to a variety of settings. The results showed positive effects on the intervention for the child with ASD. Implications and suggestions for practice and further research were also presented at the end of the paper.

An important component of independently completing daily living and vocational skills is to ensure the tasks are completed correctly and completely. We taught a 16-year-old male with autism spectrum disorder to correctly complete all steps in a task analysis for daily living and vocational skills using a prompt-delay procedure. Thereafter, we taught the client to use a self-rating checklist to self-monitor his accurate completion of all steps in the task analyses. The experimenter monitored the client's completion of the self-rating checklist and provided praise for correctly completed steps and corrective feedback for steps that were missed or inaccurately recorded on the checklist. The experimenter's proximity to the client during task completion and self-monitoring was faded to outside the room. The intervention was successful in increasing accurate completion of the skills and self-monitoring of task completion in the absence of supervision.

Tolerance of the denial or removal of preferred items or activities is a skill that is often lacking in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This deficit may be especially apparent in children whose problem behavior is maintained by access to tangible items. Tolerance training, as described by Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, and Hanratty (2014), is composed of functional communication training (FCT) for appropriate requests (e.g., "toys please"), FCT for a tolerance response (e.g., "okay"), and extinction of problem behavior and inappropriate requests. This procedure was replicated and extended with a 10 year old male with ASD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD/H) diagnoses hospitalized on an inpatient unit for the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior. The purpose of the current assessment was multifaceted. It aimed to extend previous methods by (a) teaching tolerance for the unexpected termination of preferred activities, (b) teaching tolerance during contexts where delays to reinforcement mirrored the natural environment, (c) adding in non-preferred activities to the delay. Results showed low to zero rates of problem behavior across all conditions. To conclude, these data show that the procedure developed by Hanley et al. (2014) can be applied in children with a joint diagnosis of ASD, ODD, and ADD/H.

In Japan, it is common for children with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum to make regular visits at support facilities. In 2018, the law which enables outreaching will be enforced. Due to this enforcement, severely disabled children who have difficulties with going outside will be able to receive the home-based rehabilitation. However, in the cases of those who can hardly go outside, not only the severity of disabilities, but also their serious behavior problems and poor mental health of their parents can become a difficulty. For families whose child has serious behavior problems and who have heavy burden for child-rearing, our research team designed and conducted a three-month extensive program based on functional communication training, incidental teaching and parental training.

Restricted or repetitive behavior is a symptom of autism (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and therefore, identifying procedures to improve variable responding continues to be a research focus. Some researchers have evaluated whether variability could be improved with various prompting strategies within discrete trial instruction (DTI; Peterson, Rodriguez, & Pawich, in press; Carroll & Kodak, 2015). Peterson et al. found initial variability with the use of a variable echoic prompt during DTI of intraverbal categorization. Similarly, Carroll and Kodak demonstrated increased variability during a similar task when providing a variable echoic model with, and without, instructive feedback. Providing picture prompts within DTI could also improve variability of intraverbal categorization . Researchers found picture prompts to be efficacious in the acquisition of intraverbal tasks (Ingvarsson & Hollobaugh, 2011; Kodak, Fuchtman, & Paden, 2012; Vedora & Barry, 2016). However, we are unaware of any research evaluating the use of picture prompts on the variability of responding. We used a picture prompt to teach intraverbal categorization with four children diagnosed with autism. Initial variability occurred for all participants, but all participants emitted a dominant order for the majority of trials within sessions. Additional research should be conducted to determine teaching procedures that promote variable responding.

Relatively little research has been devoted to the treatment of problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement, in particular when the topography of problem behavior involves automatically maintained disruption. Data from the existent literature suggest that consequent interventions might be more effective than antecedent interventions to promote socially significant changes in problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement (Rapp & Vollmer, 2005). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of a treatment package on the levels of disruptive behavior hypothesized to be automatically maintained, of an 11-year-old boy with autism in a school site. We used a multiple baseline design across settings to demonstrate the effects of the treatment on the levels of problem behavior. The treatment package included differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA; i.e., keeping hands close to his own body), blocking and overcorrection of target disruptive behavior. The results demonstrated that the treatment package was effective in decreasing the levels of disruption across all settings. The outcomes of the current study provide a potential treatment option for behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement. We will discuss these results in terms of the basic principles responsible for behavior change.

Community-based Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) programs often use a "mediator-model," where behavior analysts develop intervention strategies and train caregivers on program implementation (Gambrill, 2012). Programs focus on the referral area of need considered paramount to the family; however, doing so may challenge behavior analysts to operationalize conceivably unobservable behaviors. One example includes decreasing adolescent lying behavior. From a behavior-analytic approach, Fryling (2016) conceptualized lying less as something that develops internally, but rather as an interaction between the individual and their behavior as it functions within their environment. This poster focuses on extending Fryling's (2016) research by implementing a community-based ABA program focused on reducing the lying behavior of an adolescent girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Introducing an intervention including correspondence training and differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors decreased the participant's lying from an average of 3.1 instances a day during baseline (range = 0–8 instances) to 0.8 instances during intervention (range = 0–2 instances). This poster will additionally present parental stress reports using the Parenting Stress Index (Abidin, 2012) pre- and post-implementation. Last, program strengths and technical improvements for future implementation will be highlighted, emphasizing the importance of environmental context and family dynamics in community-based ABA program development.

We used a changing criterion design to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention designed to teach a 12-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder to wear an anti-strip suit to reduce anal digging in a school setting. The intervention consisted of using differential negative reinforcement of other behaviour (DNRO) to increase wearing the anti-strip suit during activities while engaging in zero rates of challenging behaviour. We trained school staff to conduct the procedures with behavioural skills training, we scored a treatment and feedback integrity checklist during implementation, and we measured interobserver agreement for 21% of sessions. Our results indicated that the duration for which the participant wore the suit systematically increased from 2 s at the start of treatment to the duration of a full school day at the termination of the study. Moreover, we observed maintenance and generalization of these effects for several months. These findings replicate prior research on DNRO and further support the use of the intervention to increase compliance with wearing protective items in practical settings.

A functional analysis indicated that problem behavior of a 9-year-old boy diagnosed with autism was sensitive to escape from specific demands (e.g., waiting, demands with limited teacher attention) and access to teacher attention and preferred tangible items. A systematic shaping procedure, based upon the methods of Ghaemmaghami, Hanley, Jessel, and Landa (2017), was used to teach a complex functional communication response to include an obtaining a listener response ("excuse me") and 6 different specific mands (e.g., escape from work, do work with me, hang out, bubbles, snacks, and toys). A skill-based treatment was implemented to teach the child to appropriately tolerate delays and denials to reinforcement using an unpredictable and variable schedule of reinforcement in which the child was taught to engage in instructional tasks without teacher attention. Throughout all teaching sessions, problem behavior occurred at zero rates. Behavior skills training and a detailed rubric was used to transfer the treatment to his teachers. Results replicate the functional assessment and treatment process described by Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, and Hanratty (2014) and demonstrate the efficacy of a training rubric for transferring skill-based treatments to relevant teachers (Rajarman, Hanley, Ruppel, & Gover, 2017). Interobserver agreement averaged 90% (range, 80-100%).

The delivery quality of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been neglected. This is surprising in face of the fact that in community settings trainers often lack formal EIBI education. Using a randomized controlled design, the effect of enriched as well as regular supervision on delivered EIBI quality in ASD were compared over a period of 4-6 months. EIBI was conducted in 30 young children with ASD by preschool staff in a naturalistic setting, where n =18 of the children's trainers received enriched, and n = 12 regular supervision. In addition to the regular supervision process, the enriched supervision included video reviews on the preschool staffs performed EIBI together with an extra education on important quality factors. EIBI quality was evaluated using the York Measure of Quality of Intensive Intervention (YMQI). Compared to regular supervision, preschool staff receiving enriched supervision improved on the quality of EIBI delivery, especially for training organization and density as well goal-directed treatment. Findings endorse the significance of adequate education and supervision for delivered EIBI quality.

Therapeutic fidget devices, notably fidget spinners and fidget cubes, have been suggested to be useful for individuals with impulsivity and attention issues. The prevalence of these devices has risen tremendously in the past year. Manufacturers and sellers often make claims of benefits for individuals with autism and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). However, these claims are rarely supported by any empirical evidence. This study utilized a multi-element design to compare the effects of access to a fidget cube with verbal prompts versus verbal prompts alone on off-task behaviors and for one participant, reading comprehension. The participants were two boys diagnosed with autism, ages eight and six. Results demonstrated that the fidget cube did not decrease the participants' off-task behavior nor did it increase participant Terrence's accuracy with reading comprehension questions. Off-task behavior was higher during several sessions with fidget cube access. The discussion will highlight the need for systematic evaluation of trending treatments and other interventions.

Extensive empirical support exists for the use of a standard functional analysis in the identification of function for a variety problem behaviors (Iwata et al., 1994) such as aggression, self-injury, and property destruction. However, procedural variations of the standard analysis such as the synthesis of functional contingencies and the pairwise design have also received support in the behavior analytic literature. The present study utilized three participants, 16 to18 years old with a diagnosis of autism, whose multiply maintained problem behavior was identified using modified functional analysis procedures. Treatment included individually modified delay and denial tolerance procedures as described in the Hanley et al. (2014) study. However, due to the participants' complex mand repertoires, an omnibus mand was not taught. Instead, individualized, specific mands were targeted for the delay, denial, and tolerance chaining treatment components. Results indicated low rates of problem behavior during teaching sessions, a decrease in immediate reinforcement of mands and a simultaneous increase in the number and complexity of work tasks completed during the delay to reinforcement. Results are discussed in terms of individual participant procedural modifications, delay and denial tolerance acquisition, participant generalization, and suppression of problem behavior.

Task analyses are commonly used by behavior analysts to teach complex skills across many types of tasks. One variation in task analysis teaching procedures that has been discussed in the literature has been the use of the single-opportunity method (SOM) versus the multiple-opportunity method (MOM). In the SOM, the entire task is presented, and all steps that are completed by the subject are scored as correct. Once the subject meets termination criteria the task is ended and all remaining steps are counted as incorrect. In the MOM, the therapist presents the task, and if the subject stops responding the therapist sets up the next step in the task for the subject, who then has the opportunity to respond independently. Concerns have been raised regarding how each of these methods might change the baseline performance of a task, affecting the interpretation of experimental control. The purpose of the current study, therefore, was to conduct a within-subject comparison of both the SOM and MOM procedures. We extended the within-subject procedures of Williams and Cuvo (1986) with children with autism spectrum disorder and analyzed the individual data using methods similar to those used by Alexander et al. (2015).

Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show little to no interest in academic assignments that are challenging or uninteresting. This may lead to increases in disruptive behavior in order to avoid or escape non-preferred tasks. By incorporating motivational components of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) in homework tasks, previous studies have found faster completion rates, decreases in disruptive behavior, and improved interest (Koegel, Singh, Koegel, 2010). Overall, there is a substantial body of evidence indicating that motivation plays an important role in academic success, however, there is a gap in the literature about the incorporation of motivational strategies during academic tasks for children with ASD in classrooms. This study uses an alternating treatments design to investigate student behavior and the percentage of correct responses in reading and writing tasks during two conditions: a) Premack Principle condition and b) Natural Reinforcement Condition. The results suggested that incorporating natural reinforcers into academic tasks increased student interest, affect, and percentage of letters/words correct for two elementary students.

This study examines whether a seven-month, 20 hours-per-week Early Intensive Behavioural program (EIBI) can significantly improve skill acquisition in a sample of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Previous research has shown that children diagnosed with ASD make significant gains in EIBI programs that provide at least 20-25 hours per week when delivered over an extended period of time. However, previous research has not yet demonstrated that these gains can be replicated in a shorter program. It was hypothesized that the short-run program under study would be effective at improving skill acquisition in children with ASD. Service data were analyzed retrospectively using a within-subjects group comparison as well as a dependent samples t-test to compare mean skill acquisition before and after receiving treatment. Children, on average, made significant skill gains from intake to exit in the seven-month program. These results have implications for both service providers and clients. The success of this program suggests that shorter programs are a valuable option for children with ASD. Additionally, short-run EIBI programs may target long wait-lists that accompany publicly funded EIBI programs and as a result more children diagnosed with ASD will have access to effective treatment.

Prior research has demonstrated that response rate pertaining to target responding can determine levels resurgence (Reed & Morgan, 2007; Da Silva, Maxwell, & Lattal, 2008). For example, the results of Da Silva et.al (2008) indicated that higher response rates during baseline produced higher levels of resurgence during extinction even when rate of reinforcement was held constant across responses. However, these results have not been replicated with clinically relevant population. In the current study, we evaluated the extent to which the results of Da Silva et.al would translate by assessing resurgence of respective mands with distinct response rates including a relative high response rate (i.e., under a FR 6 schedule of reinforcement) versus a relatively low response rate (i.e., under a FR 1 schedule of reinforcement) with an equal rate of reinforcement in individuals with autism. With our pilot participant, inconsistent with the results of previous studies, mands that were reinforced to produce low response rates during baseline recurred at higher rates during the test for resurgence relative to mands that were reinforced to produce high response rates. Future avenues of research and potential implications of the current results will be discussed.

Functional communication training (FCT) based on functional analysis (FA) results is highly effective for treating socially maintained problem behavior. In cases of multiply controlled problem behavior, combined FCT conditions have been documented to be efficient and produce immediate treatment effects (Wacker et al., 2013; Slaton, Hanley, and Raftery, 2017). In the present study, we evaluated the generality of initial FCT under combined conditions when the identified function of the target behavior was both escape from demands and access to tangibles. The participants included six families located in a large U.S. city and one family located in a small city in Greece. The caregivers received coaching from a behavior analyst via telehealth to implement FA and FCT with their children. The children participants, aged 4 years to 6 years, engaged in high rates of disruptive behavior and had autism diagnoses. Initially, all participants received FCT under combined conditions (toy removal and demand delivery). Following demonstration of treatment effects under combined conditions, the participants were tested in isolated conditions. The behavior of just one of the seven participants demonstrated immediate generalization under isolated conditions. The findings suggest that, combining conditions during FCT training may lead to treatment failures during exposure to isolated conditions or may lead to differential success following schedule thinning

Functional communication training (FCT) is the most commonly published treatment for socially reinforced problem behavior (Tiger, Hanley, & Bruzek, 2008) and involves teaching a functional communication response (FCR; e.g., "Break, please") in order to access the reinforcer maintaining problem behavior (e.g., escape from academic demands). However, teaching and evaluating separate FCRs (e.g., escape, attention, and tangible FCRs) for multiply controlled problem behavior can be time-consuming and less effective if all relevant establishing operations are not addressed simultaneously (Ghaemmaghami, Hanley, Jin, & Vanselow, 2016). One alternative is to teach an omnibus FCR (Ghaemmaghami et al., 2016; Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, & Hanratty, 2014), which is a request that produces all reinforcers known to maintain problem behavior (e.g., escape to attention and tangibles). We evaluated omnibus FCRs across successive antecedent conditions (i.e., with certain establishing operations present) for two children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder whose problem behavior was multiply maintained. The omnibus FCR quickly reduced problem behavior across all antecedent conditions for both children, albeit with more variability for one participant as compared to previously published data. We discuss our data with respect to increasing the efficiency of FCT evaluations while maintaining the precision of interventions informed by a functional analysis.

Social motivation theories of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) suggest that individuals with ASD may be relatively insensitive to social reinforcers, leading to downstream deficits in social interaction. Although tangible items may be preferred by individuals with ASD, it does not necessarily follow that social consequences are ineffective reinforcers in an absolute sense. In this study, participants completed a paired stimulus preference assessment (PSPA) for social stimuli and another for tangible stimuli. The most highly preferred stimuli were then evaluated in a combined PSPA. The top stimuli of each type were then used in concurrent-schedule reinforcer assessments. When a preference for one type of reinforcer emerged, it was removed from the array, leaving the less preferred consequence as the reinforcer in subsequent sessions. Results showed that participants tended to prefer nonsocial to social stimuli, but completed tasks at similar rates for each type of reinforcer. Thus, a relative preference for nonsocial stimuli may not be indicative of the absolute value of social stimuli as reinforcers in this population.

The purpose of the presented study was to demonstrate the efficacy of using echoic responses as differential observing responses during auditory-visual conditional discriminations that include the identity match prompt within the least-to-most prompting hierarchy. Two children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder participated in this evaluation. Sessions consisted of nine trials where three stimuli were placed on the table in front of the child and provided the vocal SD. During the intervention phase, picture cards were placed in front of the child, their hands were blocked, and they were presented the discriminative stimulus (e.g., "whistle"). If the child independently echoed the SD within 5s of the presentation, we removed our hands and allowed the child to select a card. If the child did not echo the target within 5s, we provided an additional vocal prompt (e.g. "say whistle"). Following the second vocal prompt, we allowed a selection response, regardless of the child's response to the vocal prompt. If the child engaged in an independent correct receptive response, we provided descriptive praise and access to an edible item or the iPad for 20s. If the child selected the incorrect stimulus or the prompt delay interval elapsed prior to the child engaging in a response, the therapist held up a picture identical to the target response. Both children showed increases in the percentage of correct responding, and both acquired auditory-visual conditional discriminations with teaching procedures that included the echoic DOR and the progressive delay to the identity match prompt.

A competing items assessment can be used to identify items that effectively reduce stereotypy displayed by individuals with autism. Items included in the assessment may or may not match the type of sensory reinforcement produced by stereotypy. We used an alternating treatments design to evaluate the effects of matched and unmatched items (identified in competing items assessment) on the rates of stereotypy displayed by two students with autism. For one participant, both the matched and unmatched items reduced stereotypy compared to baseline levels. When offered a choice between the two items, this participant consistently chose the matched item. For the second participant, only the matched item produced reductions in stereotypy. When offered a choice between the two items, this participant chose the unmatched item across all opportunities. Results indicated that matched items might be more effective at reducing stereotypy, even though it may not be the most preferred item.

Due the way disability services are funded in Australia, we were looking to create a new service delivery model of parent training that uses a short time frame (3 months). Our clients are school-aged children with autism, and their families. We interviewed the parents, using an adapted Functional Assessment Interview questionnaire, and conducted a parent self-efficacy questionnaire. We observed the clients over two weeks, gathering baseline data. A Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Plan was developed. Parents will receive 5 home sessions (1 hour each). Sessions include implementation support by a BCaBA, in areas such as skills teaching, and reinforcement, using Behavioural Skills Training (BST). Parents will receive handouts, summarising topics including prompting and responding to challenging behaviour. We provide an implementation checklist, listing strategies, environmental supports, and skills teaching from the plan, to prompt parents to support the client throughout the week. Initial reports from families in regards to the service have been positive. Initial data indicate the rates of challenging behaviour have decreased for clients, and social validity data indicate parents feel more equipped to support their child. This is promising research, to show we can provide a short-term service, that is individualised, and beneficial.

Caregiver Buy-In to a behavioral intervention is a critical piece to successfully reducing problem behavior and maintaining low rates. However, there may be a gap between how a caregiver perceives their own performance and how a therapist perceives the caregiver's performance. Such a gap between what the caregiver actually does versus what is actually needed, may have large effects on the results of a behavioral intervention. A questionnaire was provided to families receiving in-home services, asking caregivers to rate different aspects of their performance (e.g., comfort, confidence, enthusiasm, accuracy). A comparable questionnaire was filled out by the behavioral therapist to compare the perceptions of the caregiver and the therapist. Preliminary results suggest that one family was able to perceive their performance in the same way as the therapist and one family perceived their performance significantly different than the therapist. Narrowing or eliminating the gap between caregiver and therapist perception of performance may result in better understanding of what is needed to acquire and maintain behavioral change.

To increase access to applied behavior analysis (ABA) training, an evaluation of the instructional effectiveness of an online ABA training program for parents/staff with children with autism spectrum disorder was conducted. There were three staff members- and one parent-child dyads who completed the program. During phase 1, online, interactive, instructional modules concerning basic behavioral principles and procedures were completed by participants until they scored 80% or higher on a knowledge assessment. Of the four participants, two staff members required supplemental instruction. During phase II, online synchronous behavioral skills training was delivered to participants by a BCBA behavior analyst using Webcam and bluetooth technology within Blackboard Collaborate software. A multiple probe design across three staff-child dyads was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the online behavioral skills training. Compared to baseline levels, each of the three staff members showed increases in percent quality training behaviors (i.e., prompting appropriate play, behavior specific praise, clear instructions) with their child following training. Using a case study design, the parent's training behaviors with her child also showed improvement. Social validation outcomes were also favorable. This online training strategy has implications to make behavioral skills training more accessible.

An effective teaching strategy for children with autism is discrete trial instruction (DTI); DTI is criticized for contributing to rote or repetitive responding, which is already one symptom of autism (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Therefore, identifying procedures to improve variable responding within DTI remains a research focus. Peterson, Rodriguez, and Pawich (in press) evaluated response variability during the acquisition of intraverbal categorization with a variable and rote vocal model prompt within an adapted alternating treatments design. They found initial variability during both conditions. It's possible only initial variability occurred due to carry over from the rote prompt condition. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate both prompt types in isolation to eliminate the possibility of carryover. During Study 1 we evaluated response variability during the acquisition of intraverbal categorization with a variable vocal model prompt for six children diagnosed with autism; initial variability occurred for all participants. During Study 2 we conducted a similar evaluation with a rote vocal model prompt with four children diagnosed with autism; initial variability occurred for three participants. Additional research is needed to determine teaching procedures that promote response variability within DTI.

Previous research has demonstrated that environmental enrichment procedures (i.e., noncontingent reinforcement) can reduce problem behavior during functional communication training. The current study applied a multi-component environmental enrichment procedure to functional communication training with a nine-year-old male diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Following preliminary assessments, we began traditional functional communication training for attention-maintained problem behavior; however, we discontinued this treatment due to the occurrence of problem behavior during pre-training. To reduce problem behavior and minimize the establishing operation for problem behavior we implemented a phase of continuous reinforcement (i.e., toyplay) followed by a phase of multi-component functional communication training including fixed-time delivery of attention plus continuous access to tangibles. Using ABA reversals, we compared the multi-component treatment varying reinforcement for mands and problem behavior across phases as well as the multi-component treatment to traditional functional communication training. We observed changes in mands in the former comparison and changes in problem behavior in the latter. We attempted, but were not able to replicate these effects with escape- and tangible-maintained problem behavior as traditional functional communication training was effective across both. We conducted toyplay probes throughout treatment and lastly, conducted reinforcement thinning across all treatments. Results offer implications for troubleshooting ineffective functional communication training programs.

In the present study we have investigated the effects of a motor training carried out in a naturalistic and inclusive context on the increase of Daily Living Skills (DLS), social and prosocial interactions, a decrease of problem behaviors and Body Mass Index (BMI). The participants were six students with Autism, with different level of verbal behavior (Greer & Ross, 2008) and an average age of 12 year and 6 months. For the DLS we create 4 different task analysis, (put and take off clothes, make a shower and take care of personal belongings) teaching by total task chaining and Constant Time Delay. for physical activity we created a curriculum based training that included jump, walk, balance and activity with ball. The results after one year of training showed a functional relation between the composite training and increase fo prosocial and social behavior, DLS and decrease of problem behavior.

This investigation studied the effectiveness for increasing spontaneous, self-initiated contextually relevant verbalizations in a 5 year, 5-month-old boy diagnosed with Autism and exhibiting minimal self-initiated language. Two distinct instructional strategies were implemented using an A-B-A design across several days within 5-minute time sample intervals noting the frequency of self-initiated verbalizations. The two instructional conditions consisted of Condition A: child determined use of language application on I-Pad with no external reinforcement, and Condition B: preferred primary reinforcers were delivered intermittently contingent upon increased self-initiated verbalizations. Results indicated a 34% reduction in verbalizations during the contingent reinforcement condition. The self-determined condition also provided a more fluid naturalistic instructional experience (Lane, Lieberman-Betz & Gust, 2015). Historically, self-determination is a relatively new behavioral concept but with historical ties to self-control (Premack & Anglin, 1973), self-regulation (Mahoney, 1976), and self-reinforcement (Rachlin, 1974). Later, the concept of self-management (Carr, et.al., 2002) brought the focus to the establishment of positive socially functional skills reducing the emphasis on decreasing socially undesirable behaviors. This positive nature of naturalistic instructional strategies spurred the current investigation.

Psychomotor development is a maturation process that allows children to acquire postural, motor, cognitive and relational skills in the first few months and years of life. In typical developing children, progression is steady and continuous, and this essentially depends on the maturation of the Central Nervous System (CNS), with varying times and modes for each child, but where it is possible to identify milestones that are reached according to a universally similar sequence (Jean Le Boulch, 2008). In motor development of students with autism or other developmental difficulties this is not true; It is also important to think that as a student with autism, motor activity can represent an important opportunity to develop functional abilities in areas that are most affected by the disorder: ??communication, social interaction, interests and behavior in general (Pontis, 2011). In the present study we have investigated the positive effects of a motor curriculum based training on the recovery of the deficit development milestone in students with developmental disabilities. we compare 2 year of training in two different groups of students; one received curriculum based training, the other one eclectic training. the results show that a curriculum based training is more efficient to recover the compromised motor milestones.

Eye-tracking equipment has traditionally been used to assess gaze behaviours across populations. However, the present studies use eye-tracking equipment as a teaching tool to operantly condition the gaze behaviour of individuals with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) towards social stimuli. Study 1 is a lab-based study in which 12 children with a diagnosis of ASD are taught to look towards social stimuli (i.e., faces) on a computer screen through reinforcement procedures in which points were accrued contingent upon the child fixating on a face for 1 second. All 12 children showed increased gaze duration and frequency towards faces post-training. Study 2 was a replication of Study 1 carried out in a classroom setting. Whilst the training was the same, the children's gaze behaviour was assessed using eye-tracking glasses in a real classroom environment. All 12 children showed increased gaze duration and frequency towards faces post-training.

The purpose of the present study is to develop a user-friendly leisure activities assessment that considers both client preference and aptitude in determining appropriate leisure activities for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who require significant support. Two adult clients participated. The assessment is divided into three phases. During Phase 1 concurrent operant arrangements were used to develop a client profile for each of three critical leisure skills components: social interaction versus no interaction; electronic versus non-electronic tasks; and stationary tasks versus those that require movement. Learners were able to freely switch sides within session. Figures 1 and 2 show the percentage of session time learners spent on each side of room for each of the three component comparisons. Phase 2 will utilize a leisure activity matched to the profile generated in Phase 1 and compare it to an unmatched profile to determine if the clients are on-task more often for the matched activity. Phase 3 will assess client preference for the matched versus the unmatched activity using another concurrent operant paradigm. Future research will determine if clients learn new leisure activities more quickly if they are matched both to their critical skills profile and to their preference.

Photographic activity schedules have been shown to be effective at increasing appropriate and independent play skills with children with autism and other developmental disabilities (e.g., MacDuff, Krantz, & McClannahan, 1993) and are commonly used in clinical settings. However, little is known regarding the effects of fidelity of implementation of activity schedules on learner outcomes. It is possible, and likely, that improper implementation may hinder acquisition of schedule following. The purpose of the current study is to assess the level and types of errors that are being made by therapists implementing activity schedules, and to systematically evaluate the effects of poor and high procedural fidelity on learner outcomes. Data collection for this study is currently in progress. Three therapist-student dyads are participating (all students are diagnosed with autism). We have observed that therapists are making three main types of errors, and that improvements in therapist fidelity has resulted in improvements in student engagement with and acquisition of activity schedules for at least one participant.

Functional analyses have found that the presentation of different forms of attention, escape and tangible items following food refusal could maintain that behavior. In the current investigation, we conducted descriptive analyses for children who present food selectivity to determine the kind of consequences delivered by parents following food refusal and food acceptance during parent conducted meals. The participants were five typically developing children and five children with an Autism Spectrum Diagnosis. The conditional probabilities for the delivery of attention, escape and tangible objects were obtained and compared to unconditional probabilities for those same events. Results showed that attention followed by escape were the consequences delivered most frequently by parents for both groups of children. The importance of tailoring procedures developed with children with developmental disabilities to evaluate food refusal and food acceptance with typically developing children, and to compare results between groups, will be discussed.

A component analysis is being conducted for a punishment procedure that targets self-injurious behavior (SIB) maintained by escape and access to tangibles in a 16-year-old girl diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Components of the procedure includes: a contingent ponytail, vocal reprimand, blocking and/or physical redirection, and removal of reinforcers. The topographies include: hair pulling, face slapping, gagging, and hand/arm biting. All topographies of the target behaviors shared the same response class. Each component of the procedure will be systematically removed from the intervention as data on SIB are stable. Additionally, an 11-question social validity survey on a Likert Scale was administered to the participant's parents and therapists, all of whom were trained to implement the punishment procedure. Before each phase change, the survey targets the specific component that will be removed next. Questions on the survey target the validity, acceptability, preference, and reliability of treatment components. Thus far, results of this analysis indicate that SIB remains at a low, stable rate as components are removed. Additionally, results from the social validity survey suggest that the parents and therapists were likely to adhere to all of the punishment procedure components and believed all components were helpful for decreasing SIB.

Telehealth is a promising approach for delivering functional analysis and functional communication training for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who display problem behavior (Wacker et al., 2013a; Wacker at al., 2013b). Researchers have investigated various aspects of behavioral assessment and treatment delivered via the telehealth model, such as cost benefits (Lindgren et al., 2016) and treatment fidelity (Suess, 2014). However, no research to date has evaluated dropouts within this model. The current study analyzed data from a telehealth behavioral assessment and treatment program, which is part of a randomized clinical trial of functional analysis procedures in progress across three sites (Lindgren & Wacker, 2015-2019; NIMH R01MH104363). Young children diagnosed with ASD who engaged in problem behavior and their primary caregivers participated in this study. Within a weekly assessment and treatment model employing functional communication training as the primary treatment, this study looked at the percentage of dropouts and the major themes among the reasons for dropping out. The results suggest that a common time for dropping out is prior to or at the beginning of assessment and common themes for dropouts include "family issues" and technology problems.

No previous research has been published that identified access to olfactory stimuli as a functional reinforcer maintaining severe problem behavior, however, one study has assessed olfactory preferences for individuals with developmental disabilities. In that study, Wilder et al. (2008) assessed three participants' preferences for various scents using a modified paired stimulus preference assessment procedure and subsequently confirmed the reinforcing value of these stimuli in a reinforcer assessment. In the current study, the self-injurious behavior of a 19 year old male diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and moderate intellectual disability, was assessed. A functional analysis identified that attention from a medical professional combined with the administration of liquid bandages functioned as a reinforcer. Based on the identified function, a paired choice olfactory preference assessment using methods similar to those described by Wilder et al. (2008) was conducted to identify scents that could be safely delivered on a dense schedule of reinforcement. Treatment consisted of functional communication training and noncontingent reinforcement throughout entire day using stimuli identified via the olfactory preference assessment. The effects of treatment were evaluated based on data collected continuously throughout the entire day and demonstrate the efficacy of the combined treatment for decreasing self-injurious behavior.

In Japan, existing intervention services are generally insufficient in terms of their quantity and quality to meet the identified needs of young children with ASDs and their families. To complement existing services, various ABA-based techniques combined with parental training are provided at a limited number of universities and private agencies, although of a lower intensity. This study reported of the 2-year outcomes in ASD young children who received low-intensity early behavioral intervention in community settings. Two children with ASD participated in this study. The training sessions at the training center in the university were offered once a week in about 90 minutes. Their parents participated in the parent training and trained their children at the home setting. The parents recorded movies of their home training, shared with the university staff and kindergartens using closed SNS, and received feedback from the staff. Also, the tasks at the training center were shared with kindergarten teachers through closed SNS and contributed to generalization in kindergarten. As a results, DQ and the adaptive behaviors and the other scores improved, and the generalizations were observed in their home setting and kindergarten. It was discussed that the usefulness of the support system by combining ABA with Japanese public service such as parent training and consultation to kindergarten.

The technology revolution in the past two decades has resulted in a society in which technology pervades every aspect of social and work life. In particular, the proliferation of smart phones and social media, and the necessity to use smart phone apps to navigate virtually every aspect of daily life, results in a lifestyle in which humans are connected to electronic devices on a near continuous basis. Most parents find it highly difficult to regulate phone and social media use and children often therefore never have the opportunity to learn what life is like without depending on interaction through devices. While there are certainly many threats posed by social media, there may be many potential benefits, especially to populations who may have challenges with traditional social interaction, such as those with autism. This poster reviews research on technology and autism. Results indicate that videogame use is generally negatively correlated with social success and positively correlated with challenging behavior. Little research has evaluated the potential positive contributions of social media to individuals with autism and what does exist has generally showed little or no benefit. However, relatively little research has been done on this issue and even less, or none, has been done within behavior analysis. After summarizing and discussing the current state of research, this poster provides tentative recommendation for practitioners on how to navigate social media until research is available that provides empirically derived guidelines.