Association for Behavior Analysis International

This tutorial will begin by describing safety threats to children involving low incidence but highly dangerous situations that can result in injury or death (e.g., abduction attempts, home fires, finding a loaded gun). Two approaches to preventing injuries to children will be presented; changing adult behavior to remove the safety threat and teaching safety skills to children. The tutorial will describe and illustrate the essential components of behavioral skills training (BST) procedures for teaching safety skills to children. Recent research evaluating BST procedures for teaching safety skills will be reviewed with an emphasis on teaching children skills to prevent firearm injury. Various issues will be addressed including a) the distinction between skills deficits and performance deficits, b) strategies for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of BST, c) strategies for promoting generalization, d) and strategies for promoting wide scale adoption of effective training procedures.

The panel members will address issues surrounding universities developing and implementing training programs that will meet the new experience standards of the BACB. Panel members will provide examples of intensive practica, practica, and supervised fieldwork experience-based programs that have been implemented successfully. Panel members will review the new experience standards and describe barriers to their implementation accompanied by solutions to these problems. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions of the panelists as well as provide their own examples of barriers and solutions.

Call it what you will, behavior modification, behavior therapy, applied behavior analysis; these are all terms that attempt to understand and use behavior- environment relations for the benefit of individuals and the society in which they live. I have been doing this since the mid-fifties and would like to reflect on the way the early work has changed and the way it has stayed the same. I started with behaviorally dysfunctional hospitalized patients under conditions that permitted a good deal of environmental control. That the principles of behavior described by B. F. Skinner in Science and Human Behavior were effective in altering the behavior of these patients was, for me, a wonderful discovery. The discovery, of course, depended on the unique single-subject methodology that characterized the developing field of behavior analysis and that was essential for clinical psychologists who work with individuals. I eventually became involved in the extension of this theory and methodology to clients in more traditional out-patient clinical settings. From there it was an easy step--easy because the necessary concepts, principles and methodology are the same--to the area that is now referred to as behavioral medicine where the people's problems were not necessarily a form of behavioral dysfunctionality. It was clear by this time that I could participate in the alteration of any kind of behavior, normal or abnormal, and it seems to me that the area of behavioral clinical psychology is just a special interest area within behavior analysis. I think the future of behavioral clinical work is guaranteed by continuing and improving our effectiveness in our current areas of application, but perhaps even more important, in expanding to areas involving more subtle forms of social influence, and less overt or more private forms of behavioral control such as self-control.

Behaviorists seek to measure specific observable educators behaviors (e.g., opportunities for students to respond, praise delivered to students, and error correction procedures) rather than overall quality of classroom activities. To empirically assess the quality of teachers behaviors during instruction, it is imperative that measures are precise and reliable. When observable behaviors are recorded within a systematic framework and collected in an empirical manner, we can directly assess the extent to which teachers engage in research-based effective teaching behaviors. This is crucial in understanding and designing interventions to increase special educators effectiveness in the classroom and ultimately impact student outcomes. Often, personnel preparation programs and state offices of education rely on measures lacking direct behavioral observation methods and provide no evidence of validity. An instrument has been developed that captures the degree to which teachers engage in critical observable behaviors. The instruments reliability, and the relationship between the identified behaviors and student academic performance are being assessed. The purpose of this symposium is to: (a) discuss observable effective teaching behaviors, (b) describe a behavior analytic approach to teacher assessment, (c) present reliability data, (d) present longitudinal teacher data study, and (e) present a methodology to link teacher behavior to student outcomes.

This symposium consists of four data-based presentations of classroom interventions for students with behavioral problems. Studies include effects for (a) classroom implementation of School-wide PBS procedures including eco-behavioral observations and data analysis, (b) use of Class-wide Function Based Intervention Teams (CW-FIT), a group contingency program to improve student performance in elementary and middle school classrooms, (c) secondary level interventions within the Behavior and Reading Improvement Center model of positive behavior support, and (d) teacher self-evaluation to improve praise rates and student behavior. Presentations will describe methods, intervention procedures, and results for teacher and student behaviors. Results indicated positive outcomes for increased on task and decreased disruptive behaviors for challenging students. Interventions also resulted in increased levels of teacher attention to appropriate behaviors and reductions in negative peer attention.

This symposium will focus on current research conducted with children diagnosed with ADHD. The first paper will present a summary of a meta-analysis of the assessment and treatment literature related to problem behavior exhibited by children diagnosed with ADHD. The second paper will present a study evaluating the predictive validity of preferences assessments when conducted with children under different levels of medication status. The third paper will present a study demonstrating the effects of peer-mediated interventions for children displaying problem behavior in an afterschool program. Finally, the discussant will summarize the contributions and suggest avenues for future research realted to behavioral approaches working with children diagnosed with ADHD.

Behavioral interventions targeting problem behavior often include a component involving differential reinforcement for some alternative response (DRA) or for the absence of the targeted response (DRO). In this symposium, research illustrating various applications of differential reinforcement will be presented. In one study, research examining DRA without escape extinction applied with and without instructional fading will be presented. Another presenter will discuss DRA with and without escape extinction across various types of transitions. The third presentation will describe the role of DRO, relative to instructions and self-recording, in self-management training. The final presenter will discuss methods for thinning schedules of reinforcement under DRA arrangements.

This panel will address specific and concrete interventions designed to promote independence in children with autism and related disabilities. Parents and educators in home-based programs are challenged to systematically achieve or maintain an individuals independence in a variety of home and community settings. As a result, many parents request further assistance in maintaining mastered skills or shaping their childs independence when trained staff is not working or when such services are unavailable. The panel will benefit parents and educators working with children where greater independence in the home and community is desired. A variety of interventions, beyond the basics, will be presented that address how to increase an individuals ability to independently engage in activities, display appropriate behavior in the supermarket, restaurant or similar settings, and to develop self-monitoring and other community-based skills. The panel will examine and discuss interventions that are feasible and achievable based on resources available to staff and family. Parents and professionals are encouraged to attend. Panelists will offer suggestions and the remainder of the time will be devoted to open discussion.

Making behavioral treatment available to more children with autism entails convincing others, including health service providers, parents, insurance companies and public policy makers, that this treatment is effective. Unfortunately, all too often behaviorists are relying on assessment instruments with unknown or unproven reliability and validity for this special population. The 3 presentations in this symposium present data that significantly advances the psychometric knowledge for some of the most widely used measures of intelligence, language and behavior problems in the autistic population. Data was collected from comprehensive assessments of over 100 children diagnosed with autistic disorder as they participated in behavioral treatment programs. Sample sizes for the data analytic procedures are thus larger than usually seen in this area. The first presentation examines the most popular comprehensive intelligence test, the WPPSI-III, in terms of its applicability for children with autism. The second presentation looks at construct validity for several widely used language measures. What do they really measure, and what is the overlap in what they do measure? The third presentation investigates the utility of an efficient behavior report instrument for this special population. Together, these presentations provide insight into our ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of behavioral interventions.

A large and growing array of procedures exists for evaluating stimulus preferences and selecting reinforcers for people with developmental disabilities. The presentations in this symposium examine factors that affect the outcomes of preference assessment and reinforcer effectiveness. The effects of variables including the extent of assessment, contingent delivery, noncontingent delivery, restriction, presession exposure to potential motivating operations on stimulus preferences were examined. Also, effects of choice and task difficulty/effort on reinforcer effectiveness were examined. The results of these studies indicate that these variables may alter preferences among stimuli, although some effects appear to be idiosyncratic across participants, and that choice and work requirements may interact to alter the effectiveness of reinforcement. Outcomes of these studies will inform both research and practice for those interested in effective methods for selecting and implementing reinforcement procedures with persons with developmental disabilities.

The education of children with autism in natural environments poses a unique set of challenges to the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. Rather than transporting children to environments that have specifically been designed to meet their needs, inclusion strives to both help children adapt to their community and to change these natural environments to meet their needs. This symposium examines different issues in the education of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the natural environment.

Several different mechanisms have been proposed to account for the different patterns of drug intake observed in humans and other animals. Recently it has been proposed that drug intake is the result of both sensitization and habituation to the drug during consumption. Factors controlling human cigarette smoking and nicotine consumption by rats will be presented and discussed in the context of specific notions related to the regulation of drug intake.

Relational Frame Theory (RFT) is a modern behavior-analytic approach to the study of human language and cognition. The tutorial will focus on the main concepts of RFT and how they are currently being used to develop conceptual and empirical analyses of areas such as symbolic meaning, analogical reasoning, rule-governance, and implicit attitudes. The first part of the tutorial will involve defining and explaining the core concepts of RFT, focusing in particular on the operant nature of the theory. The second part of the tutorial will explore recent examples of basic research in RFT, and how the results emerging from this research may be seen as challenging some established views within behavior analysis. The third and final part will consider possible lines of future research in RFT.

The goal for the nicotine analogue program was to find a molecule that would not affect the cardiovascular system, but would mimic nicotine's effects on the brain. The practical application of this research would enable a company to remove nicotine from tobacco, substitute the synthetic analogue, and produce a "safer" cigarette that still had the reinforcing effects of nicotine. Self-administration tests were established to examine the reinforcing properties of nicotine. The studies showed that nicotine has reinforcing properties, which is one of the hallmark characteristics of predicting drug abuse liability. Attempts to publish this work were suppressed by Philip Morris. On April 5, 1984, the laboratory was closed, the data was confiscated, and Dr. DeNoble and his associate were fired. Over twenty research reports on self-administration, tolerance, physical dependence, and smoke biochemistry were suppressed from the public for more than 22 years by a confidentiality agreement. However, since his 1994 congressional release he is now able to discuss the research and its implications.

Overcoming fine and gross motor deficits, analyzing the smallest components of target skills, and developing interventions that lead to the demonstration of independent skills are some of the greatest challenges in teaching students with autism. New solutions are needed to assist students in crossing these barriers. Fine and gross motor deficits are obstacles to skill development in traditional behavioral programming. At times, it has been determined that a student does not have a target skill in his or her repertoire, when closer investigation may yield that motor impairments are simply preventing the demonstration of the skill in the given context. Additionally, when students are unsuccessful in following typical curriculum progressions, a closer analysis of component skills should be completed to ensure proper prerequisite instruction and individual adaptation of the curriculum hierarchy. When it has been prematurely determined that a student is unable to acquire a specific skill, that students advancement may be limited. Furthermore, students are often limited by their ability to demonstrate skills independently. If students are able to perform skills accurately without the presence of an instructor, limitations to inclusion and success in a variety settings are lessened. Utilizing remote monitoring is an effective method to acquire independence in vocational, self-help and leisure skills.

The presentations in this symposium describe analyses of common teaching methods. The first presentation describes a study in which the experimenters examined the effects of video modeling as a supplement to a least-to-most intrusive prompting method in establishing behavior chains. In the second presentation, the experimenters describe a study in which they evaluated the effectiveness of, and preference for, three teaching strategies that are commonly implemented in early childhood classrooms. In the third presentation, a study is described in which the experimenters used a concurrent-chains procedure to evaluate the effectiveness of and preference for three teaching methods. In the fourth presentation, a human-operant study is described in which the experimenters investigated variables controlling teachers placement of stimuli in a discrete-trial format.

Research on and the development of new preference assessment procedures has advanced rapidly over the past decade. In this symposium, presenters will describe research examining procedures designed to identify preferred activities and stimuli of individuals with developmental disabilities. The first presenter will describe research comparing an engagement-based and an approach-based multiple stimulus preference assessment procedure. Next, research examining how stimulus access time can affect outcomes of a multiple stimulus preference assessment will be presented. The third presenter will discuss research examining the use of picture stimuli and videotaped presentation of the selected activity. The Discussant will offer commentary on these studies and the larger body of research on preference assessment.

This presentation will include information about statewide training program in applied behavior analysis and positive behavior support. Trainees are professionals who serve children and adults with disabilities and who work in related human service fields (e.g., foster care, mental health) and reimbursement for services is provided through Medicaid. The focus of training is on defining and collecting data on problem behavior, conducting functional assessment, and developing of positive behavior support plans. Additional training on emotional and mental health issues as they relate to problem behavior are also provided. In this symposium, program evaluation data will presented on the effectiveness of the training using a variety of measures as well as the outcome of the training on the behavior of the consumers identified for intervention. In addition, the impact of systems change on individual agencies, local service delivery, and state-wide strategic action planning will also be discussed.

This symposium includes presentations that focus on the practical applications of using the science of behavior for the educational needs of students with autism. Practical issues and suggestions for an ABA Consultant will focus on issues that an ABA consultant may face when proving those services. This presentation is applicable to individuals who provide ABA consultation services, as well as owners of companies that provide ABA consultation services. Practical applications and examples of: token-based motivational systems will focus on using token systems to increase academic skills, to increase appropriate social behavior, and to increase habilitative responses (academically, behaviorally, and socially). Practical applications and examples of behavior plans/contracts will focus on developing and implementing behavior plans/behavior contracts, based on the results of the functional analysis. Practical applications and examples of visual schedules will focus on various visual activity schedules used to promote independence, social interactions, & communication skills, as an instructional tool, and to replace inappropriate behaviors with habilitative responses. A comparison (on the target behaviors) will be made between the use of an individualized motivation system and a motivation system used in conjunction with an activity schedule. For each data-based presentation, data systems will be discussed in terms of analyzing the function of the inappropriate behavior, creating data sheets, visually representing data, and assessing the ongoing success of the activity schedule. Examples of specific token systems, behavior plans, and activity schedules, as well as visual representations of the corresponding data, will be shown during the presentation.

An introductory tutorial on equivalence relations and behavior. Procedural fundamentals and background.

The Six Boxes Model is a plain English derivative of Thomas F. Gilberts Behavior Engineering Model (BEM). Easier to comprehend and communicate to clients than the BEM, this framework provides a container for all the factors that influence behavior in a work environment. It also serves executives, managers, and performance improvement professionals as a simple but powerful tool for improving many management and performance development functions, including: organizational alignment, needs analysis, performance design, training support, implementation planning for new systems/programs/strategies, management development, and individual or group performance problem-solving. This tutorial introduces the model and provides an overview of each of its cells and the interdependencies among them with the plain English vocabulary that one might use with our non-technical clients and colleagues. The presentation will outline some key applications for this model and point to bodies of research and application from both behavioral and non-behavioral sources that can be encompassed and better understood in the context of The Six Boxes. Finally, the session will touch on our more recent applications of the model as a tool for enabling performance thinking across functions and levels in organizations to facilitate organizational agility and management effectiveness.

Skinner's earliest work was influenced by Harvard physiologist L.J. Henderson and by C.S. Sherrington's reflex arc. While attracted to physiology's experimental method, Skinner rejected hypothetical constructs referring to immeasurable brain and genetic events. He later noted that the skin is not an important barrier suggesting variables within a behavioral analysis may reside beneath the skin. Nonetheless, Skinner's antipathy toward reductionistic explanation led later behavior analysts to ignore the legitimate role neurobiological events can play as variables within the analysis of behavior. Objectively measurable neurochemical and neurophysiological events can serve as discriminative and reinforcing stimuli as well as functioning as establishing operations. Understanding developmental brain dysfunction can shed light on the reasons individuals with specific disabilities behave as they do and suggest behavioral intervention strategies. Developmental neuroplasticity affords the opportunity to promote synapse formation in brain structures lacking sufficient connectivity, preventing further neuronal loss through cell pruning. Behavioral assessment tools (e.g. ABLLS) can be used in conjunction with knowledge of which structures play a role in specific cognitive and behavioral functions to inform intervention strategies. The role of genes mediating neurochemical abnormalities associated with specific disabilities (e.g. autism, Prader Willi syndrome) will illustrate the relation between genes, neurochemistry and behavior analysis.

In this series of presentations, basic research models that relate directly to clinical disorders and clinical treatments are described. In the first paper, Michael H. May will report on a study showing that access to aggression functions as reinforcement in mice. Schedule control characteristic of common reinforcement schedules were obtained. In the second paper, Maria H. Couppis will examine the hypothesis that mesocorticolimbic dopamine modulates the reinforcing properties of aggression in mice. In a third paper, Kimberly Sloman, using a rat operant model, compares three reinforcement schedules commonly used as behavioral treatments for severe behavior disorders. The schedules include differential reinforcement of other behavior, fixed time, and momentary differential reinforcement. In the fourth paper, Andrew Samaha, also using a rat model, will present data showing the effects of various reinforcement contingency values on lever pressing. In addition, he will present a method for extending the research to humans.

While the health, sport, and fitness fields are historically dominated by theoretical orientations derived from medicine and traditional educational practices, behavior analysts are driving empirical innovation. We report on four very distinct and potentially burgeoning areas: (a) empirically-derived, individually tailored exercise programs for chronic pain/fibromyalgia, (b) parent-supported weight reduction in down syndrome, (c) the effects of controlling contingencies on healthy eating, exercise and fitness behaviors, and (d) behavior following instructions to perform sport-related visual imagery. Despite broad differences in the content areas under study, these investigations together function to extend the application of behavior analysis into new domains in health, sport, and fitness.

Teaching children with autism the skills necessary for effective social interaction has been a hallmark of quality behavior analytic programming for decades. Often, students need to learn these skills in a highly structured teaching arrangement first before attempting to apply the skills in a generalized social environment. For tracking and analyzing progress with social skills, data collection techniques vary logistically depending on the environment. This symposium will highlight the use of Precision Teaching methodologies and procedures as an underlying tool for successful data collection practices both within group and individual learning sessions.

Binder (1996) discusses the outcomes of fluency including, retention, endurance, application and performance standards. Fluency is an often overlooked stage in learning. Most training for staff and teaching programs for children focus on accuracy only methods. When a skill is fluent, it becomes second nature, increasing the probability for retention, endurance and application. Performance standards are individualized in order to promote these outcomes. The studies in this symposium, individualize strategies in order to attain fluent responding in staff and students. The monitoring of staff implementation could have a direct effect on child outcomes. Performance feedback and video modeling are two strategies that can be applied in order to increase treatment integrity in the absence of an on site consultant. Comparisons between its use within analogue vs. in vivo settings will be discussed. Binder (1996) discusses the outcomes of fluency including, retention, endurance, application and performance standards. Fluency is an often overlooked stage in learning. Most training for staff and teaching programs for children focus on accuracy only methods. When a skill is fluent, it becomes second nature, increasing the probability for retention, endurance and application. Performance standards are individualized in order to promote these outcomes. The studies in this symposium, individualize strategies in order to attain fluent responding in staff and students. The monitoring of staff implementation of programming when a consultant is not on site is a challenge. Improper treatment implementation could have a direct effect on child outcomes. Personalized systems of instruction and video modeling are two strategies that can be applied in order to increase treatment integrity in the absence of an on site consultant. Performance feedback is a more direct method of increasing performance. All of these strategies have been shown effective in increasing fluent responding in staff and students.

Behavior Analysts have been extremely successful in teaching a wide variety of skills to young children with autism including language, academic, imitation and self-help. Especially important to the long-term success of a child with autism is the ability to develop functional communication and play skills. This symposium presents three innovative approaches to improving communication and play skills to children with autism. The first presentation presents a shaping methodology to teach a non-verbal child to use expressive communication. The second presentation addresses making play an essential component of an ABA program. It looks at how to teach new play skills and expand social play while at the same time keeping play fun. While the first two presentations are from the perspective of home-based programs, the third presentation takes ABA into the classroom. Successful replication of the key features of a home-based program into a group setting will increase the accessibility of ABA.