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| Overcoming Severe Deficits in Vocal Behavior with The Association Method |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 124 A |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Mary Jane Weiss, Ph.D. |
| TERESA A. GRIMES (Whole Child Consulting, LLC), Judy Pollard-Licklidder (Pollard-Licklidder Clinic) |
| Description: The Asociation Method has proven to be an effective paradigm for establishing a vocal repertoire, even after other approaches have failed. Brief case studies of two such learners will be presented, in addition to video presentations of a number of students from the Pollard-Licklidder Clinic in Kansas. The workshop wil describe the etiology of disorders affecting vocal behavior. Lecture, video and data will be utilized to familiarize attendees with the techniques of The Association Method. The instructors will descrie how The Association Method can be integrated with the rest of a learner's programming. |
| Learning Objectives: 1. Be able to define The Asociation Method and describe how it is different from other approaches.
2. Be able to list the multi-dimensional aspects, (physical, visual and auditory)
3. Create fundamental materials.
4. Apply the method at basic/entry level |
| Activities: 1. Break out group to practice new terminology with flash cards.
2. Use of guided notes to facilitate acquisition.
3. Break out into groups to create introductory materials and practice entry level applications. |
| Audience: Parents and advanced professionals who work with learners demonstrating little or no vocal behavior. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Using the Verbal Behavior Approach to Teach Children with Autism |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 120 BC |
| Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Hannah Hoch, Ph.D. |
| MARY L. BARBERA (Barbera Behavior Consulting) |
| Description: Children with autism, regardless of age or severity of symptoms need effective, individualized programming. This workshop will provide an overview of the Verbal Behavior Approach and will outline specific techniques to improve language skills for learners diagnosed with autism or related disorders. Mary will highlight strategies from her book: The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders and will provide guidance using the scientifically proven strategies of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) specifically utilizing B.F. Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Through lecture, video examples and small group activities, participants will receive information which will enable them to get started incorporating the Verbal Behavior Approach with a wide variety of learners in home, clinic, community and school settings. |
| Learning Objectives: 1)Describe two similarities and two differences between traditional discrete trial teaching and the Verbal Behavior Approach.
2)Describe the importance of pairing with reinforcement and mand training when working with children with autism.
3)Give one example of a mand, tact, intraverbal, echoic and listener responding skill for early, intermediate, and advanced learners.
4)Describe the skills and programming needed to enable children to become conversational speakers. |
| Activities: This workshop will include lecture, discussion, video examples, and small group activities. |
| Audience: This workshop is recommended for all professionals working with children and adults with autism including behavior analysts, speech and language pathologists, educators, psychologists, and therapists. Parents of children with autism are also welcome and encouraged to attend. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Teaching the language of emotions: How Skinner's analysis can help |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 125 |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Lauren C. Wasano, M.A., BCBA, M.A. |
| LORI A. FROST (Pyramid Educational Consultants) |
| Description: B.F. Skinner provided an important guide to the analysis of language in his book, Verbal Behavior. In this book, he stresses the critical value to focusing on the function of various aspects of communication. His analysis includes a very interesting section on what he termed ‘private events’- that is, how do we learn to talk about things that happen inside of us? His insights into this process can be very helpful in designing effective lessons to help those with autism and related disabilities to describe their emotions as well as better respond to the emotional language of others. This talk will focus on Skinner’s analysis, review common strategies currently in use to teach these complex skills, and suggest ways to improve these lessons. Attendees will be given the opportunity to review their current lessons regarding emotions and plan revisions based upon Skinner’s analysis. |
| Learning Objectives: Objectives:
1. Define verbal behavior according to Skinner.
2. Distinguish between requests (mands) and comments (tacts)
3. Describe how children typically learn to comment about ‘private events’
4. What type of information do adults respond to when teaching children to tell us about their emotions? What may be missing for children with autism?
5. What are some common approaches to teaching ‘the language of emotions.’
6. How would these compare with Skinner’s description?
7. Can we create emotions?
8. Why is it not really easy to teach ‘really?’ |
| Activities: Review Skinner's definition of critical terms.
Review traditional ABA and non-ABA approaches to teaching children language related to emotions.
Review their own current lessons regarding emotions.
Plan revisions of current lessons to incorporate Skinner's analysis. |
| Audience: Practitioners who work with children with autism and related language disabilities and aim at teaching these individuals to learn to 'express their emotions' and use subtle aspects of language. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Evidenced-based Practice in the Promotion of Healthy Lifestyles with ASDs across the Lifespan |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 122 BC |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Jennifer Zarcone, Ph.D. BCBA |
| JEFFREY JACOBS (Caldwell College), Allyson Sudol (Bernards Township) |
| Description: Regular exercise promotes fitness and health benefits as well as improves appearance. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders may be at risk for being physically inactive. The characteristics of the disorder may interfere with successful participation in traditional forms of physical activity or the limited number of fitness and recreation programs designed for individuals with developmental disabilities. Achieving an appropriate fitness level can help learners with ASDs participate more fully with their families and peers in leisure activities, activities of daily living, as well as education, vocational, and community environments. Acquiring appropriate fitness skills may promote the productive use of leisure time in less restrictive settings. Extensive research supports the effectiveness of a behavioral approach for individuals with ASDs. This presentation will address the application of behavioral principles to promote the physical fitness and safety of individuals with ASDs as well as inclusion in home. educational, volunteer, leisure, and works settings. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this workshop, attendants will be able to:
1) Identify the components of health and fitness and how they are measured.
2) Identify the benefits of fitness programs.
3) Describe the importance of physical fitness related to inclusion in home, community, volunteer, and employment settings.
4) Use a checklist to assist individuals with ASDs or caregivers in the selection of fitness, leisure, and recreation programs.
5) Identify research-based instructional strategies used to promote physical fitness, safety, sports performance, and leisure skills for individuals with ASDs.
6) Identify measurement procedures to promote accountability in fitness programs, including measures of social validity.
7) List the necessary components of an effective leisure and fitness programs for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (e.g., Tae Kwon Do, swimming, running, gym).
8) Describe three ways in which to train staff.
9) Problem solve behavior and discuss programmatic and environmental modifications to promote continual behavior chnage toward targt fitness, perforamnce, and safety goals. |
| Activities: Participants will view a Power Point presentation, receive handouts and view videos. They will have opportunities to participate in didactic presentations, problem solving discussions |
| Audience: The workshop is appropriate for behavior analysts who are interested in starting, expanding, or enhancing health and fitness programs for individuals with autism spectrum disorders across the lifespan. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Toilet Training Children with Autism: Case Studies and Procedures |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 129 A |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Mark O'Reilly, Ph.D. |
| MELANIE ALLISON ROSE (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale) |
| Description: Various toilet training interventions have been identified and discussed in the literature. This workshop will present an overview of toilet training procedures used with children with disabilities. Common elements of effective programs will be discussed.
The Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a comprehensive applied behavior analysis regional center for children with autism, their families, and service providers. Consistent with findings in the literature, needs assessments have identified toilet training to be a parent need and priority for children receiving autism intervention services through the Center. Case studies of family consultations, including footage of parent implementation of interventions, will be presented. |
| Learning Objectives: Identify effective toilet training interventions.
Recognize toileting readiness skills.
Arrange an environment to promote toileting success.
Pinpoint barriers to implementing a successful toilet training program. |
| Activities: Case study film footage will be reviewed and effective toilet training procedures will be discussed. |
| Audience: Parents and professionals interested in toilet training children with autism. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Small Group Instruction; Readiness Assessment, Curriculum and Instruction for Children with Autism |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 129 B |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Terri M. Bright, M.S.Ed. |
| ANN FILER (BEACON Services), Katie Artiano (BEACON Services), Sarah Kingery (BEACON Services), Amie Hahn (BEACON Services), Robert K. Ross (BEACON Services) |
| Description: The purpose of this workshop is to train participants to effectively instruct, 2 or more children with autism, within a small group setting. Preparation for successful participation in teacher directed small group instruction is often not a formal component of many ABA curricula. However, the ability to demonstrate these skills is essential to successful learning in most pre-school settings. . As children move from home based services to school based services, 1:1 instruction becomes less prevalent and small group and large group instruction more common. Because this is a predictable change in instructional format, ABA programs must prepare students to successfully learn within a group setting. This workshop will provide participants with many tools to move students from 1:1 instruction to small group instruction. First, research related to typical preschool learning behavior, identified within group instruction, will be presented. This will act as a guide for the selection of prerequisite behavior for pre-teaching purposes. Second, curriculum and materials related academics, language, play and social skills, which support group learning, will be reviewed. Third, within a group instructional format, research related to potential strategies aimed at increasing communication, attending and pro-social behavior, will be shared and strategies reviewed. |
| Learning Objectives: Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Identify the typical learning behavior preschoolers possess when involved in a small group setting.
2. Identify and describe curriculum, which is best suited to teach academic, social, language and play skills within a group setting.
3. Identify evidence of successful learning strategies within group settings.
4. Develop materials, which assist with instruction in small group settings.
5. Implement curriculum within the areas of academics, language, play and social skill within the context of small group instruction |
| Activities: Activities: Schedule of the day
Overview of research pertaining to:
Peer prerequisite behavior
Group activity schedules
Group D.I.; Reading and Language
Group conversation
Video demonstration of interventions
Material preparation demonstration and practice
Small group implementation |
| Audience: Persons working in or supervising 1:1 ABA home based settings with children with Autism as well as behavior analysts and teachers working in school settings where children are required to participate in group activity. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Addressing Challenging Behaviors: Practical Application for Working with Individuals with Autism |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 126 |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Holly Almon-Morris, M.S. |
| RAYNI L. ANDERSON (NHS Human Services) |
| Description: This introductory workshop will review methods to determine the functions of behavior, common triggers for behaviors in individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), practical means for collecting data and measuring outcomes across various settings/programs, and proactive interventions to address targeted behaviors. |
| Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to list the five functions of human behavior, discuss ways to determine the functions of behavior, identify common triggers for individuals with an ASD, create appropriate and practical data collection formats, and implement proactive interventions to address behaviors of individuals with an ASD. |
| Activities: 1) Group discussion of functions of behaviors
2) Individual practice in identifying functions
3) Group discussion of behavioral triggers
4) Review and individual practice of data collection procedures
5) Group discussion of proactive interventions |
| Audience: BCBAs, BCABAs, behavior specialists, teachers, parents, undergraduate and/or graduate students in ABA programs, direct care professional supervisors |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| CANCELLED: Encouraging Happy Learner Participation in ABA Programming: Teaching Assent Withdrawal and Self-Advocacy Skills |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 225 |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Helena Maguire, Master's |
| HOLLY ALMON-MORRIS (Organization for Research and Learning), Kristin N. Schirmer-Foley (Organization for Research and Learning), Kristin N Wilkinson (Organization for Research and Learning), Rebecca E. Phillips (Organization for Research and Learning) |
| Description: In order to assure a “goodness of fit” standard in autism intervention programs, it is of utmost importance that students be active and willing participants in their learning environments. Therefore, students must be able to advocate for themselves in a manner appropriate to their language level. If students can appropriately advocate for themselves, misbehavior during instruction should be either non-existent or present at very low levels. This workshop will address several topographies of assent withdrawal and self-advocacy skills, questions to consider when determining the function of assent withdrawal behaviors, strategies for teaching appropriate assent withdrawal/self-advocacy behaviors, and modifying instruction according to various student assent withdrawal/self-advocacy behaviors. The content of this workshop will be related to ethical guidelines from the BACB Guidelines for Responsible Conduct For Behavior Analysts©. |
| Learning Objectives: At the end of this workshop, participants should be able to:
• Name at least five behaviors that learners can be taught to appropriately “opt out” of an instructional arrangement.
• List at least three critical steps to take when a student displays “inappropriate” assent withdrawal behaviors.
• Describe at least three common functions of assent withdrawal related to instructional delivery.
• Describe one way to modify instruction based on learner’s assent withdrawals both within a session and across multiple sessions.
• List at least 3 self-advocacy behaviors that learners can be taught to assist in modifying their instructional arrangements. |
| Activities: Activities will involve didactic instruction, group discussion, and small group activities where participants will be able to practice data analysis techniques and practice generating teaching examples related to various assent withdrawal/self-advocacy behaviors. |
| Audience: Clinical behavior analysts, parents, teachers, or other professionals working with students with special needs. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Current Advancements for Students with Autism in Inclusive Environments: Pragmatic Applications of Behavior Analysis |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 124 B |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: |
| KATHLEEN MCCABE-ODRI (Advance, Inc./ Partners in Learning Inc.), Laura Kenneally (Advance Inc.) |
| Description: While much of the current media interest in autism focuses on possible/future cures, the technology of applied behavior analysis continues to advance treatment and improve outcomes for individuals presently diagnosed with this serious neurological disorder. The quality of and increasing opportunities for inclusive educational experiences for many students with autism is made possible through the science of ABA. This workshop focuses on specific strategies and treatment packages that have been proven successful for learners with autism in typical classrooms and community activities. Participants will receive practical curriculum suggestions and classroom-friendly motivation systems in order to increase attending, improve independence, and expand social competencies for students with autism. |
| Learning Objectives: Using the samples provided, at the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to:
1) develop classroom-friendly motivation systems for inclusive settings
2) develop concrete adaptations of standardized curriculum to improve student comprehension and responding
3) develop visual systems to increase attending/on-task student behavior
4) Use systematic shaping techniques to increase independence and social behavior of students |
| Activities: Activities include lecture, video examples/demonstrations, and sample lesson to create adaptations of standardized lesson(s). |
| Audience: Behavior consultants, teachers in inclusive classrooms, support staff assigned to students in inclusive environments, child study team members involved in placement of students with autism |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| A Behavior Analytic Approach to Using Social Stories to Increase Appropriate Behavior in Individuals with Autism |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 131 A |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Sarah M. Dunkel, M.S. |
| DAWN ALLISON BAILEY (Behavior Management Consultants, Inc) |
| Description: Individuals with autism are most often identified by deficits in social interactions and social skills. Behavior analysts consulting with parents and teachers are frequently asked to assist in developing Social Stories for clients; however, the research available to behavior analysts can be described as inconclusive at best. The most promising results to date indicate that social stories are most effective when combined with prompts and/or reinforcement. These conflicting data present challenges to the behavior analyst seeking to provide the best service to his clients. This workshop will include a brief review of the existing literature on Social Story interventions from a behavior analytic perspective. This will be followed by a presentation of basic guidelines for developing a social story and a discussion of how to include both prompts and reinforcement as part of the Social Story intervention. Participants will develop a Social Story of their own during the workshop and will devise strategies for including prompts and reinforcement in the natural environment. |
| Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will identify and define a specific deficit or excess for a target individual with autism or a developmental disability
2. Participants will evaluate the environment where behavior change is desired and will identify variables to be addressed before implementing their social story intervention
3. Participants will define social deficits (or excesses) in such a way that objective data may be collected to evaluate their social story intervention
4. Participants will develop data collection tools in order to evaluate their social story interventions
5. Participants will learn to write each of the prescribed sentence types for a social story (including sentences that are more "behavioral" than those initially prescribed in current social story literature)
6. Participants will identify all of the necessary components for a Behavioral Social Story and will learn to write a story that satisfies these requirements. In this way, participants will develop a social story to address a specific social deficit (or excess) and a fading procedure for the presentation of the social story
6. Participants will identify prompting and reinforcement strategies that can be used in concert with the social story intervention |
| Activities: Audience will complete worksheets and participate in a variety of activities designed to help them (a) write a social story, (b) identify necessary prompts for evoking appropriate behaviors, (c) identify ways to incorporate "natural" and "contrived" reinforcers into the story intervention, (d) take baseline and treatment data on targeted skills or behaviors |
| Audience: Practitioners and teachers |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| A Behavioral Approach to Teach Developmental Play Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 131 BC |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Adrienne Perry, Ph.D., C. Pysch. |
| NANCY J. CHAMPLIN (Autism Concepts, Inc.), Suzanne Taylor (Autism Concepts, Inc.) |
| Description: Children with autism spectrum disorders lack skills in generating ideas for spontaneous play and may lack the mental representation and language competencies for symbolic and socio-dramatic play. Research states that children with autism have deficits in the frequency and complexity of different symbolic sequences (Guralnick & Hammond. 1999). Children who engaged in more complex play at earlier developmental periods were rated as more sociable. Complex peer play may serve as one indicator of social competence with peers (Odom and Strain, 1984)
Direct instruction on each of the developmental stages of play across multiple play schemes enables children with autism to appropriately play with toys, engage in vocalizations and socially interact with typical peers. This workshop will provide participants with a behavioral approach to teach each developmental stage of cognitive play to children with autism. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
Identify the developmental stages of play
Describe and demonstrate the steps to teach play using principles and procedures of behavior analysis
Identify the prerequisites for each stage of play
Demonstrate play skills within the context of an ABA program
Learn how to collect data and track progress
Apply knowledge for teaching multiple play schemes
Plan for generalization to the home environment and community |
| Activities: This workshop will provide didactic and interactive instruction.
Participants will observe through video modeling multiple children at various stages of developmental play learning new play skills.
Participants will plan programs and collect data for each stage of play using forms provided by instructors. |
| Audience: This workshop is designed for a general audience of behavior analysts, psychologists, social workers, speech language pathologists and teachers who serve children with developmental delays and autism spectrum disorders in clinical/school settings or home-based programs. It is also appropriate for parents who want to develop skills in the use of a behavioral approach to teaching play. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Behavioral Marriage and Family Therapy: Nuts and Bolts Content You Can Use |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 226 AB |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Bryan Crisp, M.A. |
| BRYAN CRISP (East Carolina University) |
| Description: Abstract
Accountability has become the focus of therapy. Parents and spouses in therapy want positive change for their money. This workshop delivers the goods by emphasizing hands-on, here’s-how-it’s-done, family behavior therapy based on the new book, Behavioral Family Therapy (Crisp and Knox, 2009) http://www.cap-press.com/books/1870 Rather than clients guessing about whether therapy is working, data verifying the increased frequency of positive behavior and the decreased frequency of negative behavior (along with the desired emotions/feelings) are required by the therapist and provide the answer. The focus of the workshop is on how to complete behavioral contracts covering an array of family problems that are used to treat problems presented to therapists working with families. These are preceded by a review of basic learning principles showing how children learn negative/undesirable behavior and how new positive behavior can be learned through structuring positive and negative consequences via. Issues of rapport with clients, compliance in following through with delivering the consequences specified in the contracts and resistancies parents have to using behavioral contracts are also dealt with. Case histories from the book covering over 25 specific problems areas illustrate the various ways contracts are used. |
| Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify common objections to behavior analytical assessment and intervention in the home.
2. Describe the rationale for careful data gathering in a natural setting.
3. Utilize various methods of in-home assessment.
4. Design concurrent interventions to replace and teach behaviors.
5. Describe effective ways of engaging parents to accomplish therapeutic goals.
6. Identify and deal with challenges the Behavior Analyst has as the analyst utilizes behavioral interventions in the home setting. |
| Activities: Discussion of course content.
Role play methods of teaching parental responses. |
| Audience: All professionals engaged in behavioral therapies with children and families. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Behavioral Counseling: Assessment and Intervention Techniques |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 222 C |
| Area: CBM/CSE; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Jamie, Ed.D. |
| JOSEPH D. CAUTILLI (Behavior Analysis and Therapy Partners), MICHAEL WEINBERG (Orlando Behavior Health Services, LLC) |
| Description: This workshop will provide participants an opportunity to learn essential clinical skills necessary for individual behavior counseling assessment and intervention treatment approaches. Basics will be reviewed including identifying client behavior, teaching clients to collect data, goal-setting, functional assessment interviews, use of FA data to determine effective treatment, contingency managmenet, self-management, covert sensitization, systematic desentization and others. Participants will engage in small group activities to practice use of behavioral counseling methods for use in individual therapy sessions using behavioral methods and approaches. |
| Learning Objectives: By the end of this workshop, participants will learn to:
1) State the difference between "behavioral counseling" and other behavioral approaches
2) What types of behavioral problems are best suited to behavioral counseling approaches
3) Identify at least three behavioral counseling intervention methods
4) Define "behavioral counseling microskills."
5) State how is functional assessment integrated into microskills
6) Describe how to use functional assessment in therapy sessions
7) Explain how clients are taught and encouraged to take and report data on behaviors
8) Describe effective implementation of techniques such as self-management, systematic desensitization, and other behavior management approaches in behavior counseling sessions (as time permits) |
| Activities: Group break-out activities to practice the various techniques (as time permits)
1) Identifying behaviors
2) Goal-setting in sessions
3) shaping client to shift from "feelings" to behavior
4) encouraging data collection and use of self-report and data
monitoring
5) use of "microskills"
6) interviews for functional assessment
7) incorporating FA results into intervention
8) Altering consequences of client behavior
9) Use of reinforcement; being solution-focused
Others (time permitting)
10) self-management techniques
11) systematic desensitization vs. flooding
12) Covert sensitization |
| Audience: behavioral practitioners, behavior therapists, outpatient counselors and therapists, applied behavior analysts |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Case Conceptualization in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 224 A |
| Area: CBM/TPC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Teresa A Grimes, Master's |
| Patricia Bach (Illinois Institute of Technology), DANIEL J. MORAN (Trinity Services) |
| Description: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (also said “ACT”) is a “third wave” behavior therapy approach that has been receiving a lot of interest and has also been generating important data. ACT is rooted in the basic natural science of behavior analysis, and is an evidence-based treatment which includes mindfulness & acceptance processes and behavior therapy interventions to help individuals live more value-directed lives.
This workshop will introduce the ACT framework for functionally conceptualizing client behavior problems, and will discuss selection and application of specific ACT interventions.
The workshop will use a case-based approach beginning with instructor supplied cases and later using participants’ cases for practice in ACT case formulation, selecting interventions, and assessing the effectiveness of interventions.
There will be a didactic slide presentation, plus participant demonstrations, large group exercises and case-based practice. Participants will be provided with handouts to use with their clients for assessment and homework assignments to augment in session interventions. Worksheets will also be distributed for the participants to use to facilitate ACT case formulation.
This workshop will be based on content from the publication ACT in Practice: Case Conceptualization in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, (Bach & Moran, 2008, New Harbinger). |
| Learning Objectives: Workshop participants will become familiar with the six core ACT principles of defusion, self-as-context, acceptance, values, committed action, and contacting the present moment, which will be described from a strict behavior analytic perspective
Workshop participants will be able to conceptualize clinically relevant behaviors as functional response classes, and discriminate when they are amenable to an ACT approach.
Workshop participants will be able to select ACT interventions appropriate for addressing specific core principles.
Workshop participants will learn how to apply specific ACT interventions based on the case formulation
Workshop participants will learn to use ACT case conceptualization to facilitate creating one’s own ACT consistent metaphors, exercises, and interventions for application in the context of a client’s unique history and presenting complaints. |
| Activities: The workshop will use a case-based approach beginning with instructor supplied cases and later using participants’ clinical cases for practice in ACT case formulation, selecting interventions, and assessing the effectiveness of interventions, and outcomes.
There will be a 75 minute slide presentation, demonstrations, large group exercises and case-based practice. Participants will be provided with handouts to use with their clients for assessment and homework assignments to augment in session interventions. |
| Audience: This workshop is suitable to clinicians with little exposure to ACT who would like to learn how to apply ACT broadly. It is also suitable for participants who have attended ACT experiential workshops and would like to improve their skill in functional contextual case formulation and deciding when to apply specific ACT interventions. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Issues of Control and Counter-control in Applied Behavior Analysis and Service Delivery |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 222 AB |
| Area: CSE/DDA; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: David Wilder, Ph.D. |
| ALLEN J. KARSINA (The New England Center for Children), Susan N. Langer (The New England Center for Children) |
| Description: Description. This workshop will review Skinner’s views on control, counter-control, and values and the implications of these views on service delivery for vulnerable populations. In particular, methods for providing vulnerable populations with effective counter-control and balancing the needs for rehabilitation with the rights to freedom will be emphasized. The format will be a mixture of lecture and group exercises. Thus, the content is related to ethical, legal, statutory and regulatory policies, guidelines, and standards. |
| Learning Objectives: i. At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to outline Skinner’s verbal behavior concerning (a) the three levels of variation and selection, (b) forms of social control, and (c) forms of counter-control.
ii. At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to outline Skinner’s verbal behavior regarding what values are and who determines values for persons with special needs.
iii. At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to identify and implement practices to provide vulnerable populations with counter-control over their service providers. |
| Activities: At specified points during the lecture portions of the workshops, participants will be asked to write their responses to a topic down and share these responses with a partner and the group at large. Participants will also discuss the ethical and practical dimensions of specific scenario’s in small group formats and then share their deliberations with the other participants of the workshop. |
| Audience: The target audience includes graduate students and professionals with an interest in some of the philosophical writings of B.F. Skinner, ethics, and service delivery for vulnerable populations. An in-depth knowledge of radical behaviorism is not required, but familiarity with the basic principles of radical behaviorism is strongly encouraged. |
| Content Area: Theory |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Use of Behavioral Techniques to Address Personal Hygiene and Adolescent Puberty in Individuals with Disabilities |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 121 A |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Melanie Rose, M.S. |
| TIFFANEY M. ESPOSITO (Melmark New England), Silva Orchanian (Melmark New England), Kimberly L. Mayer (Melmark New England) |
| Description: Caregivers and teachers of individuals with developmental disabilities are often faced with addressing personal hygiene and issues that arise with growth and development of their child or student. A behavioral approach may be utilized to teach skills necessary for independence in these routines. Promoting independence in personal hygiene and other areas is of great social significance and promotes a high quality of life. This workshop addresses a variety of skill development areas including: personal hygiene needs of individuals with autism and/or other developmental delays; issues surrounding sexuality; and physical development. An overview of previously published research related to these areas will be presented. In addition, various assessment tools, behavioral teaching strategies and use of differential reinforcement will be presented. The curriculum developed at this agency will be shared and attendees will be asked to develop teaching plans as a learning activity. A focus on maintenance and generalization of the acquired skills will be highlighted. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to assess the needs of individuals in their completion of necessary personal hygiene activities through the use of various assessment tools.
At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to identify and teach necessary prerequisite skills through the use of various assessment tools and lesson plans.
At the conclusion of the workshop the participant will be able to reference a variety of resources to assist in the planning, teaching and maintenance of personal hygiene skills. |
| Activities: Workshop activities include didactic instruction, discussion, and review of assessment tools. Participants will have the opportunity to practice writing lesson plans, develop data sheets, and engage in hands-on activities to promote their own learning. |
| Audience: Those responsible for providing daily care and teaching daily living skills to adolescents or adults with developmental delays. Educators working in a residential setting serving those with developmental delays. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| CANCELLED: Conducting Indirect and Descriptive Assessments of Challenging Behaviors |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 128 |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Adel C. Najdowski, Ph.D. |
| LISA N. BRITTON (Spectrum Center), Amy Crye (Spectrum Center), John J. Healey (Spectrum Center Schools) |
| Description: This workshop will focus on various methods for conducting indirect and descriptive assessments. The indirect assessments discussed within this workshop include the Motivational Assessment Scale (Durand & Crimmons, 1988) and the Functional Analysis Screening Tool (Iwata & DeLeon, 1995/2005). The descriptive assessments discussed within this workshop include scatterplots, activity assessments, narrative recording, structured A-B-C, interval A-B-C, and antecedent assessments. Attendees will learn about these assessments including the advantages and disadvantages for each type of assessment. In addition, participants will learn about the data collection methods associated with these assessments. Participants will practice collecting assessment data and learn how to analyze the results. The data analysis component will include information regarding calculating conditional probabilities and background probabilities. Finally, the workshop will cover graphical display and data interpretation. |
| Learning Objectives: At the end of the workshop, attendees will be able to state the advantages and disadvantages of each type of assessment discussed.
At the end of the workshop, attendees will be able to collect assessment data and analyze the results.
At the end of the workshop, attendees will be able to calculate conditional probabilites and background probabilities. |
| Activities: Practice using indirect assessment tools
Practice collecting direct observation data
Practice calculating conditional probabilities and background probabilities |
| Audience: Practitioners within the field responsible for conducting functional assessments |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Application of Behavior Analysis Procedures in De-Escalation Situations |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 226 C |
| Area: EDC/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Michael M. Mueller, Ph.D. |
| DAVID B. LENNOX (QBS Inc.), KRISTOFER VAN HERP (QBS, Inc.), David Rourke (QBS, Inc.) |
| Description: In many settings in which behavior analysis procedures are used (schools, residential programs, group homes, nursing facilities, etc.), some individuals served frequently exhibit episodes of behavioral escalation. These episodes commonly take the form of gradually increasing severity and intensity of disruptive behavior (e.g., yelling, property destruction, non-compliance), and violent behavior (i.e., self-injury, aggression. or both). This workshop will discuss the application of behavioral principles in such situations. Specifically, will present a training model used by the Safety-Care™ behavioral safety course to teach direct care staff to make and apply clinically appropriate choices in the midst of behavioral crises. In such situations, it is important for staff to be able to choose an appropriate intervention from a limited set of choices designed to reduce the severity of the current episode without reinforcing problem behavior. The choices presented in this model include simplified versions of functional communication training, differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior, behavioral momentum, and time out from positive reinforcement. The training model avoids technical terminology for ease of presentation to direct care staff who may not be well-versed in ABA theory and procedures. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to:
Make and apply clinically appropriate choices in the midst of behavioral crises.
Choose appropriate interventions during behavioral crisis without reinforcing challenging behaviors. |
| Activities: Workshop activities will include:
Literature review of clinically appropriate de-escalation strategies.
Discussion of the application of such behavioral interventions.
Participant roleplays of identified behavioral interventions. |
| Audience: Providers of behavioral services, families, and educators. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Why we’re heading for trouble: Evidence-based Practice and the Behavior Analyst |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 122 A |
| Area: EDC/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Susan Wilczynski, Ph.D. |
| SUSAN WILCZYNSKI (National Autism Center), Timothy A. Slocum (Utah State University), Ronnie Detrich (Wing Institute) |
| Description: Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is a powerful movement that is reshaping treatment in mental health and education settings. EBP is often confused with data-based clinical decision-making by behavior analysts which undermines our ability to serve our target populations because we appear out of touch or ignorant about a movement that is often legally mandated. This workshop will clarify what is meant by EBP so behavior analysts can speak meaningfully about this movement. Behavior analysts will become familiar with a range of EBP reviews that are based in accepted procedures of scientific methodology making them better equipped to be EBP consultants. The role of single-subject research design in EBP practice will be underscored through the example of the National Standards Project. Challenges to the role of single-subject research design in the EBP movement will be discussed throughout the workshop. Finally, complex issues that influence the likelihood treatments will be identified as EBP will be considered. Although attendees can expect to gain an understanding of the EBP movement and to appreciate the complex decisions contributing to EBP guidelines that can strengthen or undermine our ability to promote behavior analysis, this workshop will only provide a foundation upon which practitioners and scholars must build. |
| Learning Objectives: • At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to describe the contextual influences that have resulted in the evidence-based practice movement.
• At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to define threshold and hierarchy of evidence approaches to validating interventions as evidence-based.
• At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to describe several sources of evidence-based intervention reviews including target populations and key review standards.
• At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to identify features of reviews that influence which interventions are found to be ‘evidence based.’
• At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to describe reasons single subject research should be included in EBP.
• At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to specify areas in which behavior analytic literature may fall short of the strongest criteria for EBP. |
| Activities: Participants will participate in a discussion about the evidence-based practice movement. Particular emphasis will be given to misunderstandings they may hold about evidence-based practice and to the barriers they may experience when trying to implement evidence-based interventions in educational or health settings. Participants will also review information contained in leading websites that provide information about evidence-based practices. By reviewing these websites, they can become more independent in their ability to stay abreast of advances in the evidence-based practice movement. Participants will examine single-subject research design methodologies in relation to the evidence-based practice movement. Particular attention will be given to the strengths and limitations behavior analytic perspectives can bring to the evidence-based practice movement. Finally, participants will develop a list of concerns they hold about the evidence-based practice movement which will lead to a discussion of these critical issues. |
| Audience: This workshop is intended for two target audiences. First, practitioners that are uncomfortable with their knowledge of evidence-based practices should find this workshop illuminating. For better or worse, this workshop should allow them to better understand how the evidence-based practice movement is currently and has the potential to shape their professional activities. Second, evidence-based practice guidelines can influence the curriculum taught at universities or the likelihood that extramural funding to support our research interests will be secured. Therefore, scholars who do not fully understand the complex decisions that influence the evidence-based practice documents should consider attending this workshop. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Parenting 101: Teaching Parents Behavior Analytic Skills |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 132 A |
| Area: EDC/TBA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Shawn E Kenyon, Master'a |
| AMOS E. ROLIDER (Emek Yezreel College, Israel) |
| Description: In this workshop, a parent training model which emphasizes teaching parents to rearrange significant context variables and to discover the triggers and functions of their children's most-burdensome behaviors will be presented. Parents subsequently learn to identify the function of their own responses to their children's inappropriate behaviors and are trained to select and apply effective and doable interventions based on their discovery of triggers and maintaining consequences. One of this model's unique features is that behavioral procedures are communicated exclusively using conversational style rather than technical one which greatly contributes to its acceptance by the parents. |
| Learning Objectives: The following will be discussed and demonstrated:
1. Identifying children's typical behavior difficulties associated with:
a. The termination of a preferred activity of reinforcer.
b. Refusal or inability to provide a preferred activity or reinforcer.
c. Demand situations
d. Transition from preferred activity to non-preferred activity
e. Elicited emotional outbursts
2. The importance of preparing an established weekly schedule and set of expectations, and the role of:
a. The weekly family meeting
b. The daily family meeting
3. Preparing children for challenging triggers and difficult situations.
4. Selecting an appropriate response based on the function of the inappropriate behavior.
5. Using the model to deal with children's most common inappropriate behaviors:
a. Bickering and refusal
b. Tantrums and aggression
c. Over-dependence
d. School-related problems
e. Sibling rivalry
f. Lack of respect to parents |
| Activities: Lecture, role-playing, demonstrations, questions and answers. |
| Audience: Behavioral practitioners who work with or have interest in working with parents of children who exhibit a variety of behavioral issues. Parents of children who exhibit a variety of behavioral issues. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Using Behavior Systems Technology in Teacher Education Programming: Principles, Practice, and Hands-on Applications |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 121 BC |
| Area: EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Michael Cameron, Ph.D. |
| THOMAS L. SHARPE (Educational Consulting, Inc.), John Koperwas (Educational Consulting, Inc.) |
| Description: This workshop will provide and hands on application of a data supported protocol for the comprehensive description, discrete and sequential analysis, and feedback and goal-setting activities necessary to effective teacher training in postsecondary classroom and on-site K-12 deliberate practice environments. Workshop activities include (a) introduction to the importance of a behavior systems approach to teacher training, (b) hands-on observation system construction, and (c) data collection and analysis activities designed for instructional purposes. Additionally, detailed explanation and hands-on interaction with protocols designed for logically sequenced training activities are provided, including (a) classroom video observations, (b) on-site data-based assessment and immediate feedback and goal-setting, and (c) research and development into effective educational practice. Workshop participants will leave with a familiarity with behavior systems educational protocols designed for effective professional training practice. Participants will be provided with a complimentary copy of the complete software tools and methods procedures on CD ROM, and MSWORD files of all necessary illustration materials in relation to the educational protocols discussed as a function of workshop participation.
***It is recommended that workshop participants bring their own IBM compatible laptop hardware to facilitate hands-on workshop interactions. |
| Learning Objectives: Workshop participants will exit with skills in the area of applied behavioral teacher training. Skills include the ability to design observation systems that match with training objectives, construct video-based observational learning laboratory experiences, implement on-site data-based feedback and goal-setting experiences to determine if training objectives have been met, and develop a set of applied research activities to document the relative effectiveness of professional training activities.
Participants will be able to discuss in the principles and practice of applied behavior systems analysis in relation to professional teacher training.
Participants will be able to construct observation systems relevant to their particular professional teacher training objectives.
Participants will be able to design and implement video-based observational learning activities in relation to educational objectives for professionals in training.
Participants will be able to understand and apply a range of computer-based data collection and analysis techniques in relation to recommended data-based on-site feedback and goal setting protocols.
Participants will be able to develop an applied research agenda in relation to professional training objectives to determine the relative effectiveness of instructional efforts. |
| Activities: Activities include:
Review of applied behavior systems analysis in relation to professional training activities.
Hands on application of observation system construction designed as compatible with professional training objectives.
Hands-on application of observational laboratory development in relation to the classroom instruction of relevant behavior analytic professional training objectives.
Hands-on application of data-based on-site feedback and goal-goal setting protocols in relationship to deliberate practice activities of professional trainees.
Introduction and review of recommended research activity development in relation to determining the relative effectiveness of recommended professional training activities. |
| Audience: Advanced graduate students and behavior analysts working in the area of professional teacher education in specific, and in the area of postsecondary training for professional competencies in general. Those working in postsecondary educational settings where focus is on the education, on-site training, and assessment of professional practice competencies, and who are challenged with how to teach, describe, and analyze highly interactive behavioral transactions should find the workshop experience and complimentary materials particularly appealing to a wide range of professional training, assessment, and applied research applications. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Developing an Individualized Curricula System to Maximize Student Outcomes and Improve Organizational Efficiency |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 221 C |
| Area: OBM/AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Christina Alligood, Ph.D. |
| HELENA L. MAGUIRE (Melmark New England), Ginette Wilson-Bishop (Melmark New England), Amy Klinch (Melmark New England) |
| Description: The development of effective and efficient service delivery systems is a common goal of most organizations. In an effort to address the needs of a growing student and staff population, this organization sought to create a system of curriculum development that ensured individualized instruction to the student, yet offered consistency, ease, and efficiency to the curriculum writer. After ten years of development, a lesson plan bank was designed that houses over 2000 curriculum plans. These plans address a variety of domain areas and needs of its consumer population across both school and residential settings. This workshop will focus on the stages of planning that were necessary in order to develop this bank of information. In addition, strategies that service providers may find helpful to generate a similar system will be presented. The manner with which the curriculum plans are linked to existing assessment and intervention tools (e.g., ABLLS-R) as well as statewide curriculum frameworks will be shared. The workshop will conclude with recommendations regarding training strategies to teach users of this system selection of instructional techniques and creation of individualized curriculum plans. |
| Learning Objectives: At the completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Identify steps necessary to develop a curriculum bank for their own organization.
2. Assess potential needs that may be addressed through the development of the curriculum bank.
3. Describe necessary considerations in their efforts to incorporate other available materials into the curriculum bank.
4. Address training needs for curriculum writers to ensure individual instructional plans reflect the actual needs of the consumer. |
| Activities: Workshop activities include didactic instruction, discussion, and group activities. Participants will have the opportunity to practice using the curriculum bank, individualize curriculum and plan for their own organizational development. |
| Audience: Teachers, clinicians, developers of curriculum plans |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Using Excel for Displaying and Analyzing Treatment Outcomes in Applied Settings |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 130 |
| Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Timothy Vollmer, Ph.D. |
| DONALD M. STENHOFF (University of Kentucky), Bryan J. Davey (ACCEL), Eleazar Vasquez, III (University of Central Florida) |
| Description: Visual display of data is imperative when communicating functional relationships and intervention outcomes with consumers and fellow practitioners. BCBAs are expected to be skillful in using graphs to convey results. However, simply possessing knowledge of graphical displays may not transfer to effective or efficient software use. Excel is an efficient way for behavior analysts to create graphs. Excel graphs convey effect across multiple-baseline, alternating treatment, and reversal designs. In addition, standard celeration charts and cumulative review graphs are often used to display client progress. These graph types are often used to display interview results (e.g., FAST, MAS), preference assessment, structural and functional analyses, treatment (i.e., DRA, DRNO, FCT, etc) and discrete trial program outcomes. While Microsoft Excel 2003 and 2007 can be difficult to use, this workshop will provide participants with hands on training promoting effective use. At the completion of the workshop attendees will be able to create spreadsheets and data sets, graphs (e.g., alternating treatment designs, reversal designs, cumulative record), manipulate graph components (e.g., axes, phase change lines). Instructors will provide several models, followed by opportunities for participants to practice with feedback. Additionally, workshop instructors will provide an Excel CD tutorial that will assist participants in future Excel projects. Participants are required to bring a laptop with the Excel application. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this workshop participants will be able to
1. Setup specific spreadsheets, input and manipulate data within an Excel 2003 and 2007 spreadsheet
2. Create graphs for alternating treatment, reversal, multiple-baseline designs, standard celeration, and cumulative records
3. Use the chart wizard, construct graphs of all data or select data sets within a spreadsheet, and update databases and graphs as data collection continues
4. Manipulate graph components (e.g., axes, data points, data paths, secondary axis), and use drawing tools to insert additional components (e.g., arrows, data labels, phase change lines, boxes) |
| Activities: Participants will be provided concise instruction and several models, followed by two case examples completed with instructor support to ensure skill acquisition. Finally, participants will complete case example that provides opportunities for participants to solve challenges inherent in the Excel 2003 and 2007 applications. The case examples will consolidate and increase fluency of the skills taught during the instructional phase of the workshop. |
| Audience: Behavior analysts, practitioners, students, researchers, educational service providers, and others interested in visual display of data in single-subject research and program progress. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Measuring Fidelity in Single-Subject Case Studies: Practical approaches for implementing evidence based interventions |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 227 A |
| Area: TBA/EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Marco D. Tomasi, Ph.D. |
| Michelle A. Duda (University of North Carolina), SHELLEY CLARKE (University of South Florida) |
| Description: This workshop will provide an overview of the rationale for more precise and accurate measurement and implementation of the independent variable. This includes ensuring proper documentation and accountability by linking assessment to intervention. The content of the workshop will reflect the current interest in implementation science within applied research that also relates to recent legislative requirements concerning treatment integrity. Presenters will introduce the body of literature within applied behavior analysis that has promoted the need for measurement beyond change in the independent variable. Treatment integrity will be described both from the conceptual and practical viewpoint. Case studies demonstrating implementation measures and direct instruction in how to develop fidelity tools for researchers and consumers will be shared. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop participants will be able to define and describe the elements of treatment integrity and procedural fidelity. Participants attending the workshop will gain an understanding of the importance of including treatment integrity measures within applied studies. In addition, participants will be given information and practical approaches to develop treatment integrity measures supplemented with actual case studies. |
| Activities: Overview of implementation literature in the field of applied research.
Sharing case studies from the field of intervention research that include measures of treatment integrity via videotape.
Participants will be instructed in how to measure treatment integrity and practice with video of case studies in small group format.
Participants will be instructed on how to develop treatment integrity measures for their own use in the field.
Participants will be provided with structured group discussion about individual measures developed.
Question and answer discussion with presenters will also be provided. |
| Audience: Researchers, behavioral consultants, program developers, and purveyors who may be involved in conducting applied intervention research. |
| Content Area: Methodology |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Teaching Conversational Skills to Children With Autism |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| North 221 AB |
| Area: VBC/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Richard M. Foxx, PH.D. |
| CHERISH TWIGG (Establishing Operations, Inc.), Holly R. Kibbe (Establishing Operations, Inc.) |
| Description: This workshop is designed to teach participants the pre-requisite and component skills necessary for teaching learner initiated multiple exchange conversation around a motivating topic. Conversation components will be discussed specific to the verbal operants and illustrated using videotaped examples of children with autism. A strong emphasis will be placed on using the motivating operation and outlining specific prompt fading techniques to teach each objective. The workshop will further teach participants how to bring these components together to teach conversation which is natural and occurring under the control of socially mediated positive reinforcement. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop participants will be able to:
Identify and teach mands for attention
Identify and teach mands for information
Identify and teach novel answers to questions (intraverbals)
Combine skills to teach reciprocal conversation |
| Activities: Participants will be required to:
Give examples of ways to contrive motivation for mands for information
Give examples for each step of prompt fading for teaching novel intraverbals
Give examples of how to use a mand for information or attention to start and maintain a conversation |
| Audience: The recommended target audience for this workshop is behavior analysts currently working with children with autism. It is also recommended that participants have experience teaching verbal behavior to these children. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
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| Tutorial: Behavioral Mechanisms of Drug Action: What Are They and How Do We Identify Them? |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–1:50 PM |
| West 301 CD |
| Area: BPH/EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Lauren C. Wasano, M.A. |
| Chair: Jesse Dallery (University of Florida) |
| Presenting Authors: : RAYMOND C. PITTS (University of North Carolina Wilmington) |
| Abstract: Over 50 years of research in behavioral pharmacology has provided unequivocal evidence that variables such as the environmental context, behavioral history, schedule of reinforcement, type of reinforcer, level of deprivation, and baseline response rate are powerful determinants of the behavioral effects of a variety of drugs. It has been suggested that such effects might profitably be viewed within a general conceptual framework referred to as “behavioral mechanisms” of drug action. In this tutorial, the concept of behavioral mechanisms of drug action is presented and discussed, several approaches to identifying behavioral mechanisms are reviewed, and the theoretical and applied implications of the concept are considered. It is argued that the promise of this approach has yet to be fully realized, and that this has been due, in part, to the fact that there does not appear to be an agreed upon set of operations and criteria by which a specific behavioral mechanism of a given drug effect might be identified unequivocally. It is suggested, however, that advances in the quantitative analyses of behavior may provide a set of tools that will allow us to elucidate behavior mechanisms of drug action clearly.
Raymond C. Pitts received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Florida in 1989. After a 2-year post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the Wake Forest Medical School, he took a job as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. In 1996, he moved to the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and has been there ever since. He achieved his current rank of Professor in 2005. Dr. Pitts has served on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and The Behavior Analyst, and routinely reviews for a variety of other journals, including Behavioural Processes and Psychopharmacology. His work has been supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and has been published in journals such as Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Psychopharmacology, Behavioural Pharmacology, Behavioral Neuroscience, Behavioural Processes, and Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. |
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| RAYMOND C. PITTS (University of North Carolina Wilmington) |
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| SQAB Tutorial: Conditioned Reinforcement |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–1:50 PM |
| North 120 D |
| Area: EAB/TPC; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Daphna El-Roy, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Marc N. Branch (University of Florida) |
| Presenting Authors: : TIMOTHY A. SHAHAN (Utah State University) |
| Abstract: The notion that stimuli associated with primary reinforcers may themselves come to function as reinforcers has served a central role in the analysis of behavior and its applications outside the laboratory. However, a long history of research has raised the possibility that stimuli associated with primary reinforces may have their effects by some other means. This tutorial will provide an overview of the concept of conditioned reinforcement, review the role of conditioned reinforcement in quantitative theories of choice, and discuss remaining questions about how putative conditioned reinforcers have their effects.
Dr. Timothy A. Shahan received his Ph.D. in Psychology from West Virginia University in 1998. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Vermont for a year, and then a Research Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire until 2003. He is presently an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at Utah State University. Dr. Shahan’s research focuses on conditioned reinforcement, observing/attending, behavioral momentum, stimulus control, choice, and extensions of quantitative analyses of behavior to animal models of drug taking. His research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dr. Shahan currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and The Behavior Analyst, and also regularly serves as a grant reviewer for NIH study sections. He was the 2006 recipient of the B.F. Skinner Young Researcher Award from Division 25 of the American Psychological Association. |
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| TIMOTHY A. SHAHAN (Utah State University) |
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| Professional Development Series: Bridging the Gap between Basic and Applied Research: Schedules of Reinforcement |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–1:50 PM |
| North 227 A |
| Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Julie S. Weiss, M.S. |
| Chair: Carlos Cançado (West Virginia University) |
| KENNON A. LATTAL (West Virginia University) |
| CLAIRE ST. PETER PIPKIN (West Virginia University) |
| MICHAEL PERONE (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: Although ABAI members share a common interest in understanding behavior, we have a wide range of backgrounds and specific research interests. Therefore, we often find ourselves disconnected from current developments in different areas within our field. The purpose of this event is to explore current research in an area of behavior analysis from basic and applied perspectives and provide a venue for attendees to learn about research they typically may not contact. In this year’s “Bridging the Gap” event, panelists will discuss aspects of research on schedules of reinforcement and its relevance to applied settings. |
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| Video Modeling: Prerequisites, Successes and Future Directions |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 120 BC |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Rebecca P. F. MacDonald (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Video modeling has been demonstrated to be an effective procedure to teach a variety of skills to individuals with autism. In this session we will describe studies demonstrating the use of video modeling to teach social interactions and daily living skills. With the wide spread use of to video modeling as part of behavioral programming, we have found that some children have difficulty learning using video instruction. We will present a pre-assessment battery of skills that begins to assess the prerequisites necessary for learning using video instruction. In addition, we will present data showing that remediation of these skill deficits can have an impact on acquisition of behavioral chains using video modeling. We will review the parameters of video construction and point of view as is relates to learning. We will review the advantages of this teaching procedure and the technical issues encountered when implementing the procedures. We will also discuss the implications for this technology as an easy and effective strategy for educators and parents to use to teach play and other skills. |
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| Examining Prerequisite Skills for Learning Using Video Modeling |
| MEGHAN E. ROBINSON (New England Center for Children), Rebecca P. F. MacDonald (The New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: In the following study 10 preschool students diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder were assessed with 10 potential pre-requisite skills for video modeling performance. The assessments included gross motor imitation, actions with objects, simultaneous matching pictures to objects, delayed matching pictures to objects, attending to a video, simultaneous matching pictures to objects on computer screen, delayed matching pictures to objects on computer, motor skills, delayed actions with objects, and 2-step delayed actions with objects. 7 of the 9 students demonstrated mastery of all assessments including video modeling. Two students did not demonstrate mastery of learning through video modeling. Of those 2 students, one did not perform delayed matching and the second student did not perform 2-step delayed actions with objects. The results of this study confirm a potential relationship between delayed matching tasks and learning through video modeling. Future research is warranted on the role of delayed matching with learning through video modeling, as well as the importance delayed matching skills may have on the overall academic and social acquisition of children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. |
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| Teaching Laundry Skills to Individuals with Developmental Disabilities Using Video Prompting |
| JULIE HORN (University of South Florida), Raymond G. Miltenberger (University of South Florida), Timothy M. Weil (University of South Florida), Judith M. Mowrey (University of South Florida), Maribel Conn (University of South Florida), Leigh Anne Sams (University of South Florida) |
| Abstract: Video prompting is a training procedure used to teach a complex behavior by showing steps of a task analysis on video. The present study evaluated how many steps in the video model were required for the learner to acquire a 10 step laundry task. Participants were three individuals with mental retardation. Participants viewed the entire task on video and then progressively shorter segments until they performed all task steps. The results, evaluated in a multiple baseline across subjects design, showed that one individual learned the task with 2 video segments and another with 3 segments. The final participant needed a least to most prompting procedure to learn the skills.
Key words: video prompting, video modeling, task analysis, laundry skills. |
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| The Effects of Peer Video Modeling on Conversational Speech in a General Education Setting |
| LIJA LEKAN (New England Center for Children), Rebecca P. F. MacDonald (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Video modeling is a technique shown to be effective at increasing social initiations and conversational speech in children with autism. This study examined the effects of a video modeling intervention on social initiations and responding to peers during times of socialization in an inclusive setting for a student with autism. A multiple baseline design across environments was used with a single participant. The child watched a video clip of typical peers engaging in conversational speech. Video modeling resulted in an increase in the use of scripted comments and responses to peers in the cafeteria and classroom settings. The intervention also resulted in an increase in novel conversational speech with peers and this increase in level of speech was maintained during follow up probe sessions. |
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| A Review of Procedural Variations in Conducing Video Modeling:
What We Know, What We Think We Know, and What We Need To Find Out |
| COURTNEY DILLON (Western Michigan University), Linda A. LeBlanc (Auburn University), Kaneen B. Geiger (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of using video models to teach a various skills to children with autism spectrum disorders, including increasing social initiations (Nikopoulos & Keenan, 2004), perspective taking (Charlop-Christy & Daneshvar, 2003; LeBlanc et al., 2003), giving compliments (Apple, Billingsley, & Schwartz, 2005), and engaging in conversational speech (Charlop & Milstein, 1989). While video models have generally been found to be effective teaching tools, the procedures used in these supportive studies have varied on a number of dimensions. For example, the length of the video varies widely between studies, as does the number of exemplars shown in the video, characteristics of the model, and whether a discriminative stimulus for imitation is delivered in the video. Though the procedures have varied across studies, few of these variables have been experimentally examined. The purpose of this review is to illustrate the procedural variations used in previous studies and to outline a research agenda for the future studies that might experimentally determine the optimal characteristics of video models to foster development of best practice in this area. |
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| Advances in Data Collection Techniques: Impact on Clinical Decision-Making |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 124 A |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Ginette Wilson-Bishop (Melmark New England) |
| Discussant: Arthur Richard Campbell (Melmark New England) |
| CE Instructor: Anibal Gutierrez, Jr., Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Clinical decision-making rests, in large part, on the accuracy of the data being collected to inform those decisions. The importance of representative and accurate behavioral assessment to guide intervention cannot be understated. However, these considerations must be balanced with the identification of efficient data collection systems that are also user-friendly. This symposium highlights advances in data collection methodology and the subsequent impact on clinical decision-making. The first two talks share results from a two-part study that sought to examine the effects of data collection methodology on the mastery and maintenance of skills learned by young children with autism through discrete trial training. The final talk will present an alternative use of conditional probabilities and contingency space analysis for measuring treatment integrity, which refers to consistent and accurate plan implementation by change agents over time. Presenters will summarize existing research, describe advances in the data collection techniques, offer empirical examples, and discuss implications within clinical settings. |
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| Comparison of First Trial Probe and Continuous Data Collection Procedures in an Early Childhood Program for Children with Developmental Disabilities |
| GINETTE WILSON-BISHOP (Melmark New England), Florence D. DiGennaro Reed (Melmark New England) |
| Abstract: This purpose of this presentation is to share the results of an investigation that sought to extend the findings of a study conducted by Cummings and Carr (in press). These researchers found that continuous and first trial probe data collection procedures did not result in significantly different acquisition data but that first trial probe data collection resulted in relatively (a) quicker mastery and (b) poorer maintenance data. As an extension of Cummings and Carr’s research, which was carried out in an analog setting, the present study was conducted in an applied setting (i.e., students’ classrooms) by teachers during typical instruction, using common classroom materials. A multi-element design was used to evaluate clinical decision-making based on visual analysis of continuous versus first trial probe data collection during implementation of receptive programs. Follow-up probes were conducted for three weeks following mastery and a treatment acceptability questionnaire was completed by teachers to assess their acceptability of the different data collection procedures. Data are currently being collected. |
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| A Comparison of Three Types of Data Collection Procedures on Skill Acquisition and Maintenance in Children with Developmental Disabilities |
| Florence D. DiGennaro Reed (Melmark New England), GINETTE WILSON-BISHOP (Melmark New England) |
| Abstract: Limited research exists to guide the types of data collection methods used within discrete trial training programs for children with disabilities. To date, only one study (Cummings & Carr, in press) has been published on the systematic examination of the impact of first trial probe and continuous data collection procedures on mastery and maintenance of skills. This presentation will share findings from the second part a two-part study extending the findings of Cummings and Carr. The current study replicated Cummings and Carr’s methodology; however, the researchers also examined a third type of data collection technique. Within discrete trial training, the difference between first trial probe, intermittent (e.g., first, fifth, and tenth trial), and continuous (e.g., trial-by-trial) data collection procedures on the skill acquisition and maintenance of receptive programs of children with developmental disabilities was examined using a multi-element design. In addition, teacher acceptability of the data collection methods was assessed using a Likert-type scale. Data collection is presently underway. |
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| A Contingency Space Analysis of Treatment Integrity: Assessing Implementation Accuracy and Consistency |
| Derek D. Reed (Melmark New England), FLORENCE D. DIGENNARO REED (Melmark New England) |
| Abstract: While the reliable and accurate collection of data on dependent variables has long been a virtue of behavior analytic research, only recently have behavior analysts looked towards improving the degree to which independent variables are delivered in their intended and prescribed manner. The degree of accuracy and consistency in the implementation of behavior change procedures has been termed “treatment integrity” or “procedural fidelity.” A majority of such studies has focused exclusively on improving levels of treatment integrity in behavior change agents and have historically measured treatment integrity as the percentage of treatment steps implemented correctly. In this presentation, we propose that a contingency space analysis of the change agent’s delivery of consequences to clients’ behaviors may provide further insight into the effects of treatment integrity on operant learning. Using data from clinical cases, we will highlight the various ways in which supplementing traditional accuracy measures of treatment integrity with contingency space analyses may provide additional information on plan implementation and treatment efficacy to assist in decision-making regarding treatment modifications or change agent performance enhancement opportunities. |
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| Effect of Child and Treatment Variables on Communication Skills Acquired Through PECS |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 126 |
| Area: AUT/CSE; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Adrienne M. Perry (York University) |
| Discussant: Andrew S. Bondy (Pyramid Educational Consultants) |
| CE Instructor: Anne Holmes, M.S. |
| Abstract: As disordered communication is one of the core deficits of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), interventions logically focus on the development of functional communication systems. One of the most frequently recommended, and successfully used, approaches is the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Based on the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis, whereby behavioural teaching strategies such as prompting and reinforcement are used to facilitate independent communication, PECS users communicate by exchanging pictures of items with a communicative partner in exchange for preferred items or a social interaction. This symposium explores the impact of teaching PECS to 22 children and adolescents diagnosed with an ASD in a therapeutic summer camp program. Data were collected according to a pre-post longitudinal research design. Results shared will include a detailed description of child outcomes, along with an analysis of the specific child and treatment factors associated with varying outcomes. Implications for theory and practice will be discussed. |
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| The Effect of PECS Training on the Communicative Behaviour of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| JULIE L. KOUDYS (York University), Kristen McFee (York University), Adrienne M. Perry (York University) |
| Abstract: The acquisition of functional communication skills largely dictates the extent to which individuals with ASDs participate in daily activities at home and school and develop social relationships. In addition, the attainment of a communication system has been directly linked to the prevention and reduction of problem behaviours. Numerous studies link PECS to enhanced communication and speech development, as well as decreases in contextually inappropriate behaviours. However, few explore the quality of children’s communication skills following PECS training in detail. As such, there exists little information about vocabulary diversity (i.e., breadth/type of word use), sophistication of communication (i.e., mean length of utterance, use of attributes/proper syntax) or the range of functions the system serves (i.e., requests or social interactions). Further, little is known about the types of environments and activities in which PECS is used. Most significantly, little is known about specific areas of difficulty (i.e., spontaneity, distance, discrimination). This session provides a detailed description of the outcome of PECS training, including its impact on speech development, in a real-world setting. Data sources include pre- and post-assessment of communicative behaviour and PECS use, daily data logs, video review and parent communication questionnaires. |
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| What matters? Child and Treatment Variables Associated with Varying PECS Outcomes |
| KRISTEN MCFEE (York University), Julie L. Koudys (York University), Adrienne M. Perry (York University), James M. Bebko (York University) |
| Abstract: Research supports the use of PECS as a means of developing functional communication skills for individuals with ASD’s. However, little is know about the specific child and treatment variables associated with varying outcomes. Studies examining the impact of behaviourally-based educational programs with children with ASDs provide evidence that child factors, familial factors and intervention factors likely play a role in outcome. However, it remains unknown as to whether or not these same factors play an equally important role in the acquisition of augmentative communication or speech via PECS. Given the prevalent use of PECS within the ASD population, outcome expectancies and evidence-based practice guidelines must be identified. This study explores specific child and treatment variables as they relate to PECS outcomes. Child variables explored include developmental level (i.e., mental age or IQ), cognitive variables (i.e., verbal/nonverbal skills), adaptive skills (i.e., self-help, social, communication skills) and severity of autism symptoms. Treatment variables include fidelity (i.e., adherence to PECS protocol), intensity, (i.e., number of requests per day) and generalization factors (i.e., variety of reinforcers, activities, environments and people). Implications for outcome expectancies and teaching will be shared. |
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| Prerequisite Skills: Are they really a prerequisite to PECS Training? |
| KRISTEN MCFEE (York University), Julie L. Koudys (York University), James M. Bebko (York University) |
| Abstract: There has long been debate as to whether prerequisite skills, such as imitation
or discrimination, are required prior to teaching a behaviourally-based
communication system like PECS. A large body of developmental research suggests
that individuals with ASDs demonstrate impairments in symbolic cognitive
development, including difficulties with speech, gesture, imitation and pretend
play. These skills, along with an understanding of other symbols like pictures,
typically emerge within the first few years of life. This study explores
whether individuals with ASDs may also have difficulties understanding pictures
as symbols and more importantly, whether such impairment impacts the ability to
use PECS. Other cognitive skills explored include the ability to discriminate
amongst pictures, match pictures and objects, and learn associations between
words and pictures. From a behavioural perspective, it is hypothesized that
many of these cognitive skills are irrelevant to a child’s ability to use PECS.
Children were evaluated on the aforementioned cognitive skills and entry level
of PECS at the beginning of camp, as well as on PECS outcomes at the end of
camp. Implications for teaching PECS will be discussed. |
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| ABA interventions for persons with Acquired Brain Injuries. |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 222 C |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Michael P Mozzoni (Learning Services NeuroBehavioral Institute of Colorado) |
| Discussant: Michael P Mozzoni (Learning Services of Northern California) |
| CE Instructor: John V Stokes, M.S.Ed |
| Abstract: Persons with Acquired Brain Injures (ABI) present with a variety of deficits and skills which makes each client unique. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is suited to this challenge though its methodological use of the single subject design. These papers exhibit the robust application of ABA in a post acute clinical setting.
The purpose of the first study was to determine if a behavioral approach to relaxation training (BRT) could benefit individuals who display significant agitation following a traumatic brain injury. The second study was concerned with SAFMEDS and reteaching a person correct tacting following ABI. The procedure was tailored by gradually increasing the number of stimulus cards in each deck and merging decks. The purpose was to see if it would result in faster acquisition of desired information (tacting). The purpose of the third study was to determine if a token system could be useful in decreasing clients over-selectivity of staff. |
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| Efficacy of Behavioral Relaxation Training for Individuals with Traumatic Brain |
| DIXIE EASTRIDGE (Learning Services NeuroBehavioral Institute of Colorado) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine if a behavioral approach for relaxation training benefits individuals who display significant agitation following a traumatic brain injury. The study was based on the basic premise that "a relaxed person engages in overt motoric behavior that is characteristic of relaxation" and by practicing these overt skills they actually become relaxed.Results indicated that participants of this study who experienced disability following traumatic brain injury were able to learn relaxation using Poppen's Behavior Relaxation techniques. The first participant was able to achieve eight of ten postures rapidly. However, the rate the participant was able to learn and engage in relaxed postures in the training phase was significantly affected by medication changes. After the initial relaxation session, medication changes began that had a significant impact on the ability of the participant to remain in the relaxed positions. Following feedback in the first session, the participant was able to average 6.8 of the ten relaxed positions in a five minute session; medication changes began three days later that resulted in the individual being unable to remain in a five minute session in a relaxed position and the session ended after one minute |
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| Precision Teaching and Traumatic Brain Injury |
| TAMRY L JUNTUNEN (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of SAFMEDS training on tacting in a 57-year-old Caucasian male with an acquired brain injury resulting from cardiac arrest secondary to electrocution who was 35 years post injury Two primary SAFMEDS decks were used, each containing thirty-five cards. All cards displayed color pictures of items relating to activities of daily living. Correct responses were counted as any vocal response that would lead to acquisition of the desired item in a natural environment. The decks of cards were split into several decks Varying amount of cards and time limits were used to evaluate which procedure works best in the TBI population. Reslts indicate that tailoring the exposure to each stimulus may result in faster acquisition of desired information. Smaller decks or increased exposure to stimuli was the best procedure for this individual. Results suggest that individuals with TBI may benefit from Precision Teaching methodology, specifically when the procedures are adapted to the individual client. |
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| Use of a Token Economy to Increase Staff Acceptance in a Person with an Acquired Brain Injury |
| ABRAHAM SAENZ (Learning Services of Northern California) |
| Abstract: Persons with Acquired Brian Injuries (ABI) present with a variety of challenging behaviors. Frequently these challenging behaviors interfere with therapy, social relationships and community independence. Awareness deficits often result in poor cooperation and active resistance to rehabilitation interventions. When internal motivators cannot be accessed, external motivators may be used to increase cooperation. Cooperation with therapeutic instructions and safety precautions can make the difference between eventual independence and supervised living. In this study a token economy was used in a multiple baseline to decrease physical and verbal aggression and increase cooperation across 2 participants in a residential post acute treatment program. Frequent “cash in” opportunities and meaningful reinforcing activities arising from reinforcer assessments were critical to getting the clients to buy into the token system. Results indicate that staff training and consistent checks of therapeutic integrity are essential to program and client success. |
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| Supporting Adults with Extreme Behavior Challenges in Community Settings: Practical and Conceptual Issues |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 131 A |
| Area: CSE/CBM; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Jeffrey C. Brittain (Pathways Community Mental Health) |
| CE Instructor: Jennifer Symon, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Providing applied behavior analysis support to persons with extreme behavior challenges in typical community settings is perhaps the most complicated and difficult task facing many clinicians and agencies, particularly in the public sector. Extreme behaviors (e.g., behaviors resulting in injuries to staff/consumers) often exceed the capacity of staff, programs, and settings which effectively meet the needs of nearly all others served by an agency. The process of developing solutions is influenced by multiple and often sharply conflicting forces, including state/agency administrative regulations, behavior analyst practice standards, individual and parent/guardian decision making, practical limitations within some communities, and various resource limitations. Solutions developed by a large public mental health agency are reviewed, highlighting changes in agency policy/focus as well as attempts to develop specific new support systems. Several common approaches to community treatment are examined in detail, with particular attention to concerns that emerge in practice, but are not typically acknowledged in policy and treatment negotiations. Suggestions for reconciling conflicting needs, priorities, and decisions are discussed. |
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| When Difficulty Approaches Impossibility: Coping with Extreme Behavior Challenges in Typical Community Settings |
| DENISE CLARK (Pathways Community Mental Health) |
| Abstract: Persons engaging in extreme aggression, self-injury, and other behaviors posing safety risks strain treatment support systems capacities. Viewed from an applied behavior analysis perspective and addressed under ideal conditions, these behaviors can be difficult to treat. Immediate pressure builds around maintaining staff and consumer safety, a complicated clinical process that often requires providing increased staff training, additional clinical supports, and attempts to limit the use of emergency response options that have significant risks or detrimental effects (e.g., public safety, psychiatric hospitalization). Additional considerations present in the public mental health system and other typical contexts can create seemingly intractable situations. Administrative rules defining limitations and requirements on behavioral treatment can become seriously disconnected from clinical reality. High-level philosophical shifts, while laudable, may likewise over-reach current resources and may be contraindicated in extreme situations. Staffing, funding, community resources, and professional resources place practical limits on available support options. Guardian and individual decision making may further complicate this picture. Without careful guidance and thought, clinic decision making in these contexts can loose comprehensive focus and become seriously off course. |
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| Preparing Group Home Staff to Succeed with Individuals Who Display Extremely Challenging Behaviors |
| JEFFREY C. BRITTAIN (Pathways Community Mental Health) |
| Abstract: State level policy changes limiting the use of physical management procedures, along with a mandate to document Positive Behavioral Supports (PBS), brought to light the need for changes in direct care worker training (DCW). DCWs and home managers need advanced training in PBS if they are to succeed in treating individuals with extremely challenging behaviors. An established PBS curriculum was selected and additional specialized topics such as: improving teamwork, developing reinforcing relationships, handling negativity and clarifying the process of developing behavior programs are woven in to the training. Effectiveness of behavior program implementation, decreasing the need for physical crisis management procedures, staff injury and turnover are overall goals of PBS training. This customized DCW training is a key component of preparation for work in a specialized group home designed to treat individuals with extreme behavioral challenges. The scope and importance of this training presented numerous logistical challenges regarding roll out, data collection, evaluation of skills and standardization of delivery. Presentation of effectiveness data suggest strengths and areas in need of further development in the training. |
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| Re-Engineering and Improving Community Treatment Options for Persons with Challenging Behaviors |
| Ralph L. Olson (Pathways Community Mental Health), Jeffrey C. Brittain (Pathways Community Mental Health), DENISE CLARK (Pathways Community Mental Health) |
| Abstract: Public mental health agencies commonly provide behavioral and other supports in a variety of community settings to persons with behavioral challenges. De-institutionalization, person-centered planning, and self-determination concepts have driven demand for individualized housing, smaller group homes, and other customized living arrangements. Behavioral supports delivered in these settings often produce highly variable results based on several key factors. These include the behavioral and other clinical support needs of the individual, general community characteristics, staffing arrangements, the array of supports that can be realistically orchestrated, and financial/administrative constraints. A four-county public mental health agency’s history supporting persons in individualized and group home settings is reviewed in detail, highlighting problems and successes. Based on these experiences, new and better implementations of individualized and group home placements have been conceptualized. The process of creating new options is explored, with particular attention to features contributing to success. |
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| Beyond Politics and Rhetoric: Moving Toward a Pragmatic Appraisal and Approach to Community Support Options |
| RALPH L. OLSON (Pathways Community Mental Health), Jeffrey C. Brittain (Pathways Community Mental Health), Denise Clark (Pathways Community Mental Health) |
| Abstract: As suggested at the outset of this symposium, many factors must be considered in designing and providing community-based behavioral supports for persons with extreme behavior challenges. Unfortunately, this endeavor is often hampered by a critical lack of information about, or outright rejection of, basic behavior analysis principles and practice standards. Instead, the process of developing specific support options becomes dominated by administrative and ideological emphases, often which seem inherently in conflict. Several unintended consequences impacting persons served and those supporting them commonly emerge, including breakdowns in skill development efforts, safety concerns, staffing difficulties, and an inability to provide effective ongoing monitoring. In some cases, support options identified as universally desirable and appropriate become a focus or mandate, at the expense of carefully analyzing their implementation and potentially serious drawbacks when considered case-by-case. Suggestions for bringing more order and clarity to this entire process are presented, emphasizing the need for education regarding behavior analysis practice and a more careful and expansive examination of support options. |
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| Recent Advances on Preference Assessment and Determinants of Choice |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 120 A |
| Area: DDA/EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: April S. Worsdell (May Institute) |
| CE Instructor: kelly Ferris, M.Ed. |
| Abstract: A wide variety of methods have been developed for identifying individual preferences for children and clinical populations that otherwise have difficulty in expressing meaningful preferences. These methods have correspondingly spawned an increasing applied literature on the factors that contribute to relative preferences and relative response allocation. The present series of studies extends both of these literatures in individuals with developmental disabilities and pre-school aged children. Two presentations offer refinements and adaptations of existing preference assessment methodologies towards: 1) balancing expediency and efficacy in the process of identifying effective reinforcers and, 2) comparing procedures for identifying negative reinforcers. A third presentation employs behavioral economic analysis to gauge the ability of several preference assessment formats to predict reinforcer value in the face of increasing response requirements. The final presentation adopts established reinforcer assessment methods to raise interesting questions about the relative contributions of response effort and reinforcer delay in contributing to children’s preferences for varying reinforcement arrangements. Collectively, the studies are discussed in terms of their implications for arranging optimal therapeutic and educational environments. |
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| Evaluation of a Progressive Model for Identifying Preferred Stimuli with Children Diagnosed with Developmental Disabilities |
| AMANDA KARSTEN (Western New England College), James E. Carr (Auburn University), Tracy L. Lepper (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Preference assessments for individuals with disabilities differ along many dimensions, including time requirements for implementation and probability of identifying a hierarchy of preferred stimuli. Some methods of assessment are also more conducive to use with individuals who exhibit problem behavior or certain prerequisite skills. Inaccurate results and loss of valuable treatment time are among the risks associated with selecting ineffective or unnecessarily lengthy procedures. The purpose of the current investigation was to evaluate a progressive model for conducting preference assessments which incorporates many of the aforementioned considerations. Concurrent-operant reinforcer evaluations were used to verify assessment findings. Based on 17 participants completed to date, the majority (i.e., 76% of all participants) progressed to reinforcer evaluation following the initial multiple-stimulus without replacement (MSWO) assessment. The free-operant method was the second most commonly implemented approach (i.e., 18% of all participants). Subsequent reinforcer evaluations confirmed assessment findings in all but two cases. Interobserver agreement and procedural integrity data were collected for a minimum of 33% of assessment trials per participant and averaged at least 90%, respectively. Results from the investigation will be discussed in terms of the utility of this particular model and possibilities for the application of alternative algorithms to behavior analytic technologies. |
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| A Comparison of Methods for Assessing Preference for Negative Reinforcers |
| ROBERT R. PABICO (Marcus Autism Center and Children’s Healthcare of), Nathan A. Call (Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine) |
| Abstract: In a recent study, (Call, Pabico, & Lomas, in press) potential negative reinforcers were identified for inclusion in functional analyses using average latency to the first instance of problem behavior. While this methodology shows promise for use in the assessment of problem behavior, it may be worthwhile to identify alternative methods for assessing preference for negative reinforcers. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a paired stimulus methodology for evaluating preferences for potential negative reinforcers adapted from the preference assessment method described by Fisher et al. (1992). This methodology was compared and contrasted with that described by Call et al. in terms of results, as well as the relative advantages and disadvantages of the two methods. Interobserver agreement data were collected for at least 20% of sessions and always exceeded 80% agreement. |
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| Demand Curve Validation of Preference Assessment Predictions |
| DEREK D. REED (The May Institute), Jennifer Dawn Magnuson (The May Institute), Stefanie Fillers (May Institute), Shawn Vieira (May Institute), Hanna C. Rue (The May Institute), James K. Luiselli (The May Institute) |
| Abstract: This study examined the degree to which three formal preference assessments (i.e., paired-stimulus, multiple-stimulus without replacement, and a free-operant procedure) successfully identified reinforcers from six edibles in a subsequent reinforcement assessment. Across all three preference assessment types, accuracy in the identification of the top three reinforcers was 67%. A subsequent demand curve analysis was conducted using the entire hierarchy of low-, moderate-, and high-preferred edibles. Results are discussed with regards to the efficiency of preference assessments and the utility of progressive-ratio schedules in quickly identifying efficacious rewards. |
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| A Systematic Evaluation of Response Effort and Reinforcer Delay on Choice Responding |
| AMY POLICK (Auburn University), James M. Johnston (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: A number of studies have investigated the effects of manipulating the physical effort required for an individual to emit a response. This research overwhelmingly shows that as force requirements increase, response rates decrease (Friman & Poling, 1995). However, the literature does not clarify the variables underlying the changes in responding after effort is applied. It is not clear whether increasing effort serves as a form of punishment or whether it merely delays access to reinforcement (i.e. effortful responses take longer to complete). We investigated the relations between physical effort and reinforcer delay and their effects on choice responding using a concurrent matching to sample task with three preschool-aged children. Results of the study showed that participants exhibited a stronger preference for low effort tasks when paired with high effort ones (M=96% response allocation) than they did for tasks resulting in immediate reinforcement versus a delay of 30 s (M=71%). The results extend the current research on response effort and reinforcer delay and provide a novel procedure for evaluating preference in a choice context. |
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| Assessment and treatment behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 128 |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Louis P. Hagopian (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| CE Instructor: Tiffaney Esposito, M.S. |
| Abstract: Although the assessment and treatment of problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement poses many challenges, interventions such as competing stimuli and response interruption continue to show promise. Presenters in the current symposium will review findings on the assessment and treatment of pica, motor stereotypy, and vocal stereotypy maintained by automatic reinforcement. Melissa Gonzalez from the Kennedy Krieger Institute will present data on the assessment of pica and a treatment demonstrating the use of competing stimuli and differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior (i.e., discarding of pica materials). Keira Moore from the New England Center for Children will present findings from a study examining the effectiveness of sensory integration (SI) therapy for the treatment of motor stereotypy which failed to demonstrate that SI was effective. Courtney Keegan from the May Institute will present a comparative analysis of treatments for vocal stereotypy using response interruption and redirection (RIRD) to engage in appropriate vocalizations versus RIRD to engage in physical demands. Jessica Barron from the New England Center for Children will present a comparative analysis of DRA with and without RIRD as a treatment for stereotypy while measuring collateral effects on performance and appropriate alternative behavior. Findings suggest that direct reductive procedures, such as RIRD, may be indicated for reducing automatically-reinforced stereotypy. |
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| The treatment of pica with competing stimuli and differential reinforcement of an incompatible response |
| MELISSA LUKE GONZALEZ (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Louis P. Hagopian (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: Behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement can be difficult to treat given that the specific source of reinforcement (i.e., source of stimulation or sensory attenuation) maintaining the response is difficult to precisely identify or directly control. Pica is a behavior that poses a high risk for injury. When maintained by automatic reinforcement this behavior may present unique challenges in terms accurate, yet safe behavioral assessment and effective treatment. The current study describes the assessment and treatment of pica in a female diagnosed with autism and severe intellectual disability. Functional analyses determined that pica was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Initial treatment evaluations indicated that competing stimuli were not effective in reducing pica to clinically significant levels. The addition of response blocking reduced incidents of pica, but did not decrease the rate at which she picked up items from the floor. A treatment incorporating differential reinforcement of an incompatible behavior (discarding pica materials) was effective in reducing pica. This treatment was generalized across staff, settings, and pica items varying in degrees of preference. |
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| Sensory Integration as a Treatment for Automatically Reinforced Behavior |
| KEIRA M MOORE (New England Center for Children), Catia Cividini-Motta (New England Center for Children), Jennifer Dashner (New England Center for Children), Dana Justice (New England Center for Children), Kathy Clark (New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: According to sensory integration (SI) theory, autism is caused by an individual’s inability to integrate and adaptively respond to sensory input (Ayres, 2005). It can be presumed that SI would be most effective for behavior maintained by sensory consequences and if it is effective then it is likely due to SI serving as an abolishing operation. Two students with automatically reinforced motor stereotypy and autism participated in this study. Following functional analysis, an Occupational Therapist selected sensory activities to present to the participants for SI. These items were also assessed to determine whether they competed with motor stereotypy by providing access to the items and recording stereotypy and engagement. The effect of SI on stereotypy was evaluated in an ABAB-type design. Stereotypy was measured twice daily, 2-3 times per week during baseline and treatment. SI was implemented by providing access to the items on a daily basis 6 to 7 times a day for 10-15 minutes every hour of the school day. Results showed that the sensory diet was not successful in decreasing target behavior for either participant. The results of this study do not support SI as an effective treatment approach. |
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| Further evaluation of response interruption as a treatment for vocal stereotypy |
| COURTNEY L KEEGAN (May Institute), April S. Worsdell (May Institute), Philip Cook (May Institute), Meghan M. Holligan Whitney (May Institute), Sandra G. Rivers (May Institute), Ryan Schweck (May Institute) |
| Abstract: The occurrence of vocal stereotypy often interferes with learning and socialization in children with autism; as a result, it is important to identify interventions that are effective in reducing this behavior. In a recent study, Ahearn et al. (2007) successfully decreased the vocal stereotypy of four children with autism with a response interruption and redirection (RIRD) procedure involving the contingent delivery of vocal demands. The purpose of this study will be to extend the findings of Ahearn et al. by comparing two treatments for automatically-maintained vocal stereotypy. In the first intervention, vocal stereotypy will be interrupted by an immediate redirection to engage in appropriate vocalizations (i.e., Vocal RIRD); the second intervention will involve the interruption of vocal stereotypy with a redirection to engage in physical demands (i.e., Physical RIRD). Currently, two children with autism are in various stages of data collection, and we expect 1-2 additional children to participate. Researchers anticipate one of two possible results: (a) one RIRD intervention will be more effective than the other in suppressing vocal stereotypy; or (b) both Vocal RIRD and Physical RIRD will be equally effective at reducing vocal stereotypy. |
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| Comparison of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior alone and in combination with response interruption and redirection for treating automatically-reinforced stereotypy |
| Eileen M. Roscoe (New England Center for Children), Jason C. Bourret (New England Center for Children), Gesell Gavidia (New England Center for Children), JESSICA L SEAVER (New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Response interruption and redirection (RIRD) alone and in combination with reinforcement-based interventions have been effective in reducing automatically-reinforced stereotypy. However, it is unclear whether differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior (DRA) alone would be effective in decreasing stereotypy. In addition, it is unclear whether the combination of DRA and redirection may affect appropriate alternative responding. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative effectiveness of DRA alone and in combination with RIRD as treatment for stereotypy while measuring collateral effects on accuracy and rate of completion of appropriate alternative behavior. Three individuals, with an autism spectrum disorder, who exhibited motor stereotypy maintained by automatic reinforcement, participated. The effects of DRA alone and DRA with RIRD were evaluated using a combination of reversal and multielement designs. During DRA, a high preference edible was delivered contingent on an appropriate academic response, and no programmed consequences were provided for motor stereotypy. During DRA with RIRD, a redirection procedure was added, which involved interruption and presentation of instructions to engage in motor compliances contingent on stereotypy. Results suggest that direct reductive procedures, such as RIRD, may be necessary for reducing automatically-reinforced stereotypy. However, RIRD did not negatively impact academic performance. |
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| Behavioral Momentum: Translational Research and Practice |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 228 |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Timothy D. Hackenberg (University of Florida) |
| Discussant: Timothy D. Hackenberg (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Behavioral momentum concepts have provided a rich theoretical and analytic context for understanding the dynamic relationships between stimuli, reinforcers, and behavior. The purpose of this symposium is to bridge laboratory and applied research utilizing momentum concepts. Nevin’s presentation provides an overview of key concepts in momentum theory, and their generality across species and settings. Mace and McComas describe how momentum concepts have inspired new conceptualizations and treatments of problem behavior in applied settings. Momentum concepts have proven especially valuable in the analysis of concurrent operants, as Mace shows in his analysis of DRA procedures, and McComas shows in her analysis of compliance. Such findings not only expand the generality of momentum theory, they suggest important new research avenues. As such, the presentations illustrate the bidirectional interplay between laboratory and applied research. |
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| Stimuli, Reinforcers, and the Persistence of Behavior |
| JOHN A. NEVIN (University of New Hampshire) |
| Abstract: Behavioral momentum theory has proposed that although response rate in the steady state depends on response-reinforcer contingencies, the resistance to change of responding depends on the relation between environmental stimuli and reinforcers. I will review some basic research on resistance to change that demonstrates the power of stimulus-reinforcer relations and their generality across settings, species, responses, and reinforcers. Applied behavior analyses must take stimulus-reinforcer relations as well as response-reinforcer contingencies into account. |
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| Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior (DRA): Some Perverse Effects and How to Avoid Them |
| F. CHARLES MACE (University of Southern Maine) |
| Abstract: I will describe applied analyses where the use of DRA to reduce the frequency of undesirable behavior such as food-stealing and aggression also increased their persistence. Studies with lever pressing in rats and with disruptive behavior in developmentally disabled humans suggest that providing reinforcers for alternative behavior in the presence of a distinctively different stimulus prevents this increase in persistence. |
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| The Effects of Stimulus Control on the Persistence of Negatively-Reinforced Problem Behavior and Compliance |
| JENNIFER J. MCCOMAS (University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: In the context of instructional demands, problem behavior and compliance can be considered concurrent operants. Of applied interest is increasing one behavior (i.e., compliance) while decreasing the other (i.e., problem behavior). Strategic arrangement of reinforcement can alter stimulus control of each response alternative, as well as influence generalization and maintenance of observed effects. A case study will be presented in which an adult with developmental disabilities and negatively reinforced aggressive and destructive behavior refused to comply with instructional demands. Delivery of noncontingent attention and edibles combined with edibles contingent on compliance resulted in an increase in compliance and virtual elimination of problem behavior. The effects persisted when treatment was withdrawn but did not fully generalize to a novel therapist and no effects were observed with novel tasks. Results are discussed in terms of stimulus control and behavioral persistence. |
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| Analysis and Treatment of Problem Behavior in School Settings |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 122 BC |
| Area: EDC/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Bryan J. Davey (ACCEL) |
| Discussant: Stephanie M. Peterson (Idaho State University) |
| Abstract: The symposium will highlight the application of functional analysis methodology in public school settings. The session will begin with a brief history and an overview of the technological framework of functional behavior assessment currently used in public schools. This presentation will be followed by a literature review of 53 empirical studies that described functional behavioral assessments. These studies included structural analyses or functional analyses, conducted on students with identified disabilities included in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. Population characteristics, educational placement, target behaviors, functional behavior assessment methodologies and outcomes, and treatment selection and outcomes will be presented. The symposium will conclude with an in-depth examination conceptualized using an evidence-based practice framework. Specifically, categorical function-based treatments will be examined to determine whether they may be considered as an evidence-based practice based one organization’s standards. The presentations address analyses and interventions responsive to the dynamic environment of public school settings. |
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| An Overview of the Technological Framework for Conducting Functional Behavior Assessment in School Settings |
| ROBERT PENNINGTON (University of Kentucky), Donald M. Stenhoff (University of Kentucky), Bryan J. Davey (ACCEL) |
| Abstract: Legislation mandates using functional behavior assessment (FBA) for students with disabilities when their problem behavior impedes learning or serves as an impetus for a change in educational placement (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004). As a result, there has been an increased focus on the development of sound technologies for conducting FBA in school settings. FBA generally involves the (a) development of an operational definition of a problem behavior, (b) determination of antecedent events that are reliably present during the occurrence and nonoccurrence of the problem behavior, and (c) the identification of consequent events that serve to maintain the problem behavior. Interventionists use the data gathered from FBA to build behavior intervention plans that are directly linked to variables maintaining the problem behavior. The purpose of this session is to describe the most current technological framework for conducting FBA in school settings. The presenter will describe the continuum of FBA technology used in school settings and the procedures employed at each level. |
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| FBA Including Experimental Manipulations in Public School Settings |
| BRYAN J. DAVEY (ACCEL), Donald M. Stenhoff (University of Kentucky), Robert Pennington (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: The presentation examines the research literature on functional behavioral assessments that included experimental manipulations (e.g., functional analyses) conducted in special education settings within public schools. While it is true that the majority of published research that utilizes such analyses is conducted in hospitals and institutional settings (see Hanley, Iwata, & McCord, 2003), a growing literature base is evolving on functional behavioral assessment that included experimental manipulations within special education settings within public schools. The investigators sought a better understanding of the methodologies used to asses target behaviors, intervention selection, and intervention outcomes.
The purpose of this presentation is to examine experimental analyses conducted in public school, special education settings. This review examined participants receiving FBA services, their educational placements, target behaviors which lead to assessment, and practitioners/researchers conducting assessments within public schools. Data were collected on population characteristics such as disability category, educational placement, functional behavior assessment methodologies and outcomes. Additionally, data were collected, when provided, on treatment selection and outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of current trends in the literature, and areas in which future research is necessary. |
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| An Analysis of Function-Based Treatments in Public School Settings Using an Evidence-Based Practice Framework |
| DONALD M. STENHOFF (University of Kentucky), Bryan J. Davey (ACCEL), Robert Pennington (University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: The No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act 2004 (IDEA) require school personnel to use evidence-based practices in school settings. Additionally, IDEA mandates the use Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) by district personnel under certain circumstances, including patterns of student behavior that are likely to cause harm to themselves, other students, and staff. While there is a diverse collection of indirect and direct FBA methods, the experimental components of FBA are limited to structural and/or functional analyses. The purpose of these components is to indentify the function of problem behavior. While there are several studies supporting the effectiveness of function-based interventions, it is important that the outcomes are analyzed in an evidence-based framework. This provides school personnel support in selecting interventions. Several professional organizations have conceptualized standards to identify evidenced-based practices in research. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the outcomes of a FBA literature review within an evidence-based practice framework. Specifically, the experimental components of FBA and the outcomes will be assessed to determine the extent to which they may be classified as an evidence-based practice. |
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| The Application of Precision Teaching Methodologies into an Inclusive Elementary School Program |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| North 121 BC |
| Area: EDC/AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| Chair: Alison L. Moors (Academy for Precision Learning) |
| Discussant: Alison L. Moors (Academy for Precision Learning) |
| CE Instructor: Guy Bruce, Ed.D. |
| Abstract: Throughout the years, Precision Teaching methodologies have been linked to successful implementations within programs which serve general education students, those with learning disabilities/Attention problems and in one on one teaching situations with students on the autism spectrum. This symposium will highlight the use of Precision Teaching methodologies within a private elementary school with a special focus on including all types of learners (from gifted, to general education to those with learning disabilities to those diagnosed on the autism spectrum). Data will be presented which highlights the effectiveness of the staff training protocol in place, the successful strategies for classroom management for multiple students working on timed practice simultaneously and how to program for skill sets that successfully generalize into general education classrooms. This symposium will help professionals identify the critical features necessary for implementation of an effective inclusion program whereas all students are learning to their maximum potential using Precision Teaching. |
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| "Usability" checks: manipulating one to one teaching protocols for maximum usefulness in inclusive environments. |
| LOVELLE T SUAREZ (Academy for Precision Learning), Alison L. Moors (Academy for Precision Learning) |
| Abstract: This study investigates the systematic manipulation of structured one on one Fluency Based Instruction teaching methods and the effects of those manipulations on the application of those skill sets within and across learning environments. All participants in the study are between the ages of 6 and 12, have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and attend a private inclusive elementary program. All data was collected in situ by a variety of school staff members throughout the school day (6 ½ hours). Findings of the study provide information regarding successful manipulations of structured teaching time in order to increase the “usability” and accuracy of those skill sets in a more naturalistic environment. |
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| Help...I'm outnumbered! |
| NICOLE GEORGIS (Academy for Precision Learning), Alison L. Moors (Academy for Precision Learning) |
| Abstract: A common complaint of teachers attempting to implement Precision Teaching methodologies into their general education classrooms is the perceived amount of teacher effort required to follow the protocol. How does one person deliver individualized precision teaching to a group of students? This paper will present one classroom teachers’ methods for incorporating Precision Teaching into her classroom. Participants were students in an inclusive private elementary 5th grade classroom. Student abilities range from general education to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and those on the Autism Spectrum. Data will be presented to show student progress on academic skills as a result of peer coaching, student’s charting their own practice data and student’s learning effective study strategies. |
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| Staff Training and its Impact on Student Success |
| VALORI N. BERENDS (Academy for Precision Learning), Alison L. Moors (Academy for Precision Learning) |
| Abstract: This study evaluated the effect of implementing a staff training tool/feedback and its effect on child progress in an inclusive elementary education program which utilizes Precision Teaching methodologies with its students. This program is a private school for students ages 6-12 years of age. The students‘s abilities range across the autism spectrum. Five male and female staff members participated in the study. Staff ages ranged from 20 to 30 years and these staff had a variety of entering experience levels with implementing Precision Teaching methodologies in previous work settings. The study used a comparison design, and the program’s clinical director implemented the staff training tool and provided feedback to staff. Participants collected data on child goal-attainment and the number of tasks completed during instructional time. Findings of the study indicate the validity of the staff training tool and feedback for effecting child progress. |
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| SQAB Tutorial: Cue Competition in Pavlovian Conditioning |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 2:00 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 120 D |
| Area: EAB/TPC; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Melissa Olive, Ph.D. |
| Chair: William L. Palya (Jacksonville State University) |
| Presenting Authors: : STEVEN C. STOUT (Jacksonville State University) |
| Abstract: In recent decades researchers in the field of Pavlovian conditioning have focused on how conditioned responding to a target conditioned stimulus (CS) is affected by the presence of nontarget CSs. A common observation is that target and nontarget CSs compete for control over conditioned responding in the sense that their response potentials are inversely correlated. In the three and a half decades since the theoretical model of Rescorla and Wagner inspired a wealth of research into cue competition, investigators have uncovered a number of interesting empirical regularities. Unfortunately, the dissemination of these regularities to a wider community outside associative learning circles has been obscured by the tendency of Pavlovian investigators to discuss their research in a heavily theory-laden language. The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce undergraduates to the field of cue competition who have been otherwise put off by constructs such as positive and negative associations, memorial representations, and comparator processes. In particular, I will consider what happens to conditioned responding when nontarget CSs are presented before, interspersed among, or after the target CS-US pairings, and whether those nontarget CSs are discrete or contextual. Conditions under which cue competition, or its opposite, cue facilitation, are observed will be discussed.
Steven Stout earned a Masters in experimental psychology at Northeast Louisiana University where he specialized in the study of drug reinforcement and Hull-Spence models of learning. His doctorate is from Texas Christian University, where under the directorship of Mauricio Papini, he investigated the separate contribution of after-reinforcement and after-nonreinforcement factors to the reinforcement omission effect in rats and pigeons. Dr. Stout worked as a postdoctoral fellow under the sponsorship of Ralph Miller. With Dr. Miller, Dr. Stout has investigated determinants of cue interaction versus cue facilitation in Pavlovian preparations and co-authored a mathematical implementation and extension of Miller and colleague's extended comparator hypothesis. He then taught at Valdosta State University. He now teaches at Jacksonville State University where he has become involved in the application of behavioral principles to primary and middle school education. |
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| STEVEN C. STOUT (Jacksonville State University) |
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| Verbal Behavior Applications in Developmental Disabilities:
Current Evidence and Methodological Recommendations |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 2:00 PM–2:50 PM |
| West 301 CD |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Christina Whalen, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Caio F. Miguel (California State University, Sacramento) |
| Presenting Authors: : JAMES E. CARR (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior has proven useful for conceptualizing and developing language interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. In recent years, a number of procedures (hereafter referred to as the “verbal behavior approach”) inspired by this analysis have been packaged and disseminated for the treatment of early childhood autism. Although the verbal behavior approach is conceptually sound and supported by modest literature on teaching individual verbal operants, no outcome research currently exists to directly support its intensive, long-term application. Furthermore, more than a few applied studies in the verbal behavior literature have methodological shortcomings that preclude confident conclusions regarding their effects. In this tutorial, I will briefly summarize the state of the evidence for common procedural elements of the verbal behavior approach, as well as its large-scale application. I will then describe and illustrate the types of evidence needed to ensure that the dissemination of the verbal behavior approach better corresponds to the existing empirical database.
Jim Carr is an associate professor of psychology at Auburn University. His current research interests include verbal behavior, analysis and intervention in developmental disabilities, the behavioral treatment of tic disorders, and college teaching methodology. Dr. Carr has published over 100 articles, chapters, and book and is currently an associate editor of Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. He was the 2002 recipient of the B.F. Skinner New Researcher Award by Division 25 (Behavior Analysis) of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Carr received his Ph.D. in 1996 from Florida State University and previously served on the psychology faculties at Western Michigan University (1999-2008) and University of Nevada-Reno (1996-1999). |
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| JAMES E. CARR (Auburn University) |
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| The Bigger Picture from Infancy to Evolution: Genes, Development, and Behavior Analysis |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 2:00 PM–3:20 PM |
| West 301 AB |
| Area: DEV/TPC; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Martha Pelaez (Florida International University) |
| Discussant: Susan M. Schneider (Florida International University) |
| CE Instructor: Jeannie Golden, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: In evolution's indelicate dance, behavior leads as well as follows genetic change--and infancy is an individual and theoretical proving ground tougher than Dancing with the Stars. What with rapid physical, behavioral, emotional, sexual, and social development, hormonal and neurophysiological changes, genetic differences, immediate early genes being turned on and off, and learning's accelerating trajectory, the scientific challenges can present a blooming, buzzing confusion. Further, it's easy to show that both behavior and biology stem from the pas de deux of 100% genes and 100% environment; we can "can" the simplistic square dance in favor of the higher exponentials. So where do operant learning and classical conditioning fit in? Pioneering behavior analysts showed how operant contingencies help shape infant babbling and language acquisition, songbird song learning, and filial imprinting, to name a few examples. That was just the beginning. As for evolutionary beginnings, even Darwin and Lamarck recognized the driving power of behavior change, one of the ultimate engines of diversity. The symposium participants will spell out the choreography, with a focus on illuminating the starring role behavior analysis can play in the next frontier of nature & nurture. |
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| "The Trilling Wire in the Blood…”:
What Can We Mean by Nature and Nurture in the First Place? |
| PAUL THOMAS ANDRONIS (Northern Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Nature/nurture debates typically focus on the extent to which the behavior of organisms is best accounted for by the phylogenetically determined innate physiology and anatomy of the organisms themselves, or by proximal formative processes of nurture. Disputes arise because some behavior seems to be a rather direct result of physical architecture (behavior called “instinct”), and not the result of historical processes during the individual organisms’ lifetimes (behavior described as “learned”). Aristotle argued for the priority of final (teleological) causes, presaging Darwin’s selection by consequences. My paper argues that this may in fact be an adequate resolution for the nature/nurture question, particularly when we extend the selection metaphor from evolutionary theory to operants and proximal behavioral histories. The rich variety of behavior in nature suggests that we abandon overarching statements about causes of behavior and examine the particulars. The behavior analytic approach should integrate what we have learned from biology with our hard-fought knowledge of how the environment contributes to behavior under complex historical conditions. Examples from nonhuman animals in their natural ecologies, as well as humans enthralled in cultural contingencies, reveal the usefulness of this approach. |
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| On Heritability and Inheritability:
How Behavior Contributes to Genetic Expression |
| DAVID S. MOORE (Pitzer College and Claremont Graduate University) |
| Abstract: Behavior geneticists have traditionally sought evidence that genes
contribute to behavior, whereas behavior analysts have traditionally
sought to understand behavior's more proximal causes. Now, decades after
advocates of a systems view of development began arguing that insight
into the origins of behavioral characteristics would require an
understanding of how genes and non-genetic factors interact during
development, studies have demonstrated that epigenetic mechanisms allow
some behaviors to influence genetic expression. Indeed, genes and
behavior influence each other bidirectionally. In contrast to traits
that behavior geneticists have found to be heritable, epigenetic
characteristics are genuinely inheritable (i.e., passed from generation
to generation); thus, behaviors produced in one generation can influence
genetic activity in subsequent generations, influencing descendants'
behaviors, as well. Remarkably, studies combining the methods of
behavior analysis and molecular biology have produced results consistent
with the predictions of developmental systems theorists. This talk will
critically analyze behavior geneticists' heritability statistic (which
doesn't really mean what it sounds like it means), present data on how
parental behaviors can influence genetic expression in offspring, and
consider the implications of these findings for our understanding of
evolution. |
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| Sex Differences in Development: Contributions from Inherited Experiential Resources |
| CELIA L. MOORE (University of Massachusetts Boston) |
| Abstract: Development is a constructive process that requires enduring, multi-leveled connections among the heterogeneous elements that constitute nature and nurture. Developmental systems theorists have the data to show that explanations of species-typical outcomes can be found without invoking endpoints (e.g., genetic plans) that preexist in the initial state. An expanded view of inheritance that includes heterogeneous resources--including learning and other forms of experience--is a key part of such explanations. Sex differences in behavior provide opportunities to examine the processes that lead to divergent endpoints in organisms with few or no genetic differences at conception. (Sex is not always determined genetically.) Over the past three decades, researchers have identified quite a diverse array of contributors to reliably divergent developmental pathways. Some contributors arise from endogenous processes in the developing organism (e.g., nerve-muscle interactions and biased sensory innervation in the pudendal system) and some are generated by the mother as a ubiquitous part of the early environment of her offspring. For example, tactile stimulation from licking and grooming in rats is reliably present and reliably different for the two sexes--and turns out to entail operant involvement. Small differences in the availability of resources may be magnified in development to produce large differences in developmental outcome. |
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| A Proven Bailout for Business Owners: Performance Management to the Rescue |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 2:00 PM–3:20 PM |
| North 221 AB |
| Area: OBM/EAB; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Allison C. Blake (Western Michigan University) |
| Discussant: Sigurdur Oli Sigurdsson (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) |
| CE Instructor: Marco D. Tomasi, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Performance management can offer business owners solutions to challenges they face on a daily basis. Critical employee behaviors can be improved by working with owners and managers to implement techniques based on the fundamental principles of behavior. The current session shares three applications of behavioral technology that utilize proven scientific methodologies to demonstrate effectiveness in privately owned business settings. |
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| Wake Up and Smell The Coffee: Improving Greeting Behaviors and Suggestive Selling at the Coffee Pub |
| BRANDON RING (University of Maryland - Baltimore County), Ashley Baker (Florida State University), Jon S. Bailey (FSU, BMC, FABA) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to increase greeting behaviors, smiling, suggestive selling and cleaning behaviors at a privately owned coffee shop. Greeting behaviors were defined as prompt greeting, employee initiating conversation and making eye contact with the customer. There were a total of 36 baseline sessions and 15 intervention sessions. Prompt greeting had an over increase of 26% and initiating conversation increased from 74% to 98%. Eye contact increased to 100% during the intervention and occurred during every session after the intervention was implemented. Smiling showed an increase of 25% and up selling increased from 3% to 24%. Also the number of occurrences of up selling doubled during the intervention. |
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| Keeping it Clean: Using Performance Management at a Local Mexican Restaurant |
| ELIANA MILLAN (Florida State University), Marco D. Tomasi (SAIC) |
| Abstract: This study evaluated the effects of task clarification, sign prompts, graphic feedback and goal setting on cleaning behaviors in two different areas at a local restaurant. A multiple baseline was implemented across two settings: the kitchen and the serving line. During the intervention the employees received a task clarification memo, posted graphic feedback with sub-goals, and were exposed to various sign prompts. All target behaviors increased across both settings when the intervention was implemented. Implications for future research are suggested. |
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| Rolling in Dough: The Effects of OBM Technology at a Local Pizzeria Franchise |
| CATALINA REY (Florida Institute of Technology), Jennifer L Csenge (Florida State University), Erica Kennan (Florida State University), Austin Kaye Jackson (The Florida State University), Jon S. Bailey (FSU, BMC, FABA) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to improve customer service and maximize profits by increasing suggestive selling practices. Several interventions were used including task clarification, role-play, graphic feedback, and monetary incentives. A raffle was used for the last intervention by setting goals based on current appetizer sales and using a point system that converted into lottery tickets. At the end of each sales week there were three drawings in which each winner received $50. As a result, suggestive selling went up 75 percentage points increasing appetizer sales increased by 35%. |
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| The Assessment and Treatment of Feeding Problems in Children |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 222 C |
| Area: CBM/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Meeta R. Patel (Clinic 4 Kidz) |
| Discussant: Michael E. Kelley (University of Southern Maine) |
| CE Instructor: Al Murphy, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: This symposium will include three data-based presentations on the assessment and treatment of feeding problems in children. Data will be presented from both clinic and home-based programs. |
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| An Examination of Stimulus Fading and Escape Extinction in the Treatment of Food Refusal |
| MICHELLE L. WADDELL (Clinic 4 Kidz), Meeta R. Patel (Clinic 4 Kidz), Jennifer Leigh King (Clinic 4 Kidz), Angela Pruett (Clinic 4 Kidz) |
| Abstract: Children with pediatric feeding disorders may display a variety of inappropriate behaviors to avoid eating. It is likely that the spoon alone has become aversive because it has been paired with something negative (e.g., choking, vomiting). Previous research has shown the utility of escape extinction as an effective treatment to decrease food refusal. However, escape extinction alone has also been shown to produce some negative side effects such as extinction bursts and/or emotional responding. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a treatment protocol to decrease the aversive properties of eating by evaluating antecedent variables. In this study we compared the effects of stimulus fading (i.e., manipulating different foods/liquids and volumes on the spoon) plus escape extinction in the treatment of food refusal. First, an antecedent assessment was conducted to determine the starting point for the stimulus fading treatment component. During the treatment evaluation, stimulus fading steps plus escape extinction were evaluated in a multiple probe and multiple baseline across participants designs. Data from the antecedent assessment showed that each participant had a different starting point (e.g., empty spoon, full spoon with yogurt etc.) for treatment. The data from the treatment evaluation indicated that acceptance increased with stimulus fading plus escape extinction and inappropriate behaviors decreased. These data are discussed in relation to negative reinforcement and establishing operations. |
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| Home-Based Treatment of Food Refusal Using Shaping and Other Behavioral Procedures |
| KIMBERLY V. BECK (ABA Solutions, Inc.), Raymond G. Miltenberger (University of South Florida), Betsy M. Zamora (University of South Florida), Jessica Thompson (University of South Florida) |
| Abstract: Feeding related problems occur frequently in children with developmental delays and typical development. Much of the research on treatment of pediatric feeding disorders occurs in clinic settings. The present study took place in the home of a typically developing three year old boy displaying food refusal behavior resulting in extremely selective eating. The goal was to increase the intake of a wide variety of non-preferred foods. With the first 2 interventions, involving differential reinforcement of bites with attention and preferred foods, he increased his intake of fruit but still refused other foods. The next intervention involved shaping eating behavior with 40 successive approximations to eating a bite of food. Each approximation was reinforced with preferred food and other reinforcers. Refusal to engage in the behavior resulted in guided compliance (escape extinction and negative reinforcement). Partial success with an all positive approach and challenges and limitations to in home treatment will be discussed. |
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| Implementation of a Chin Prompt to Reduce Expulsion |
| LARA BARNETT (University of Nebraska Medical Center, Munroe-Meyer Institute), Candice M. Jostad (Munroe Meyer Institute), Heather Kadey (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Med), Victoria Stewart (University of Nebraska Medical Center), Kristi Rivas (Munroe-Meyer Institute), Cathleen C. Piazza (Munroe-Meyer Institute) |
| Abstract: Pediatric feeding disorders are manifested in a variety of ways, including refusal behaviors. These behaviors may take on the form of spitting out the food (i.e., expulsion). The etiology of refusal behavior may be either medical, oral motor, behavioral, or a combination of some or all of these factors. Therefore, the purpose of the current investigation was to examine the implementation of a procedure (i.e., chin prompt) that may have functioned to treat oral motor skill deficits in conjunction with escape extinction. The participants were two children admitted to a Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program for the assessment and treatment of food refusal. Initial treatment consisted of re-presentation of expelled food. The chin prompt was added to the re-presentation procedure when re-presentation alone proved unsuccessful. The chin prompt consisted of the feeder providing gentle pressure under the child’s chin following presentation of bites or during re-presentation of expelled food. Results indicated that for all participants, the most effective treatment to reduce expulsions was one in which re-presentation and the chin prompt were combined. |
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| Current Research in Verbal Behavior |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 129 A |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Paul D. Neuman (Bryn Mawr College) |
| Discussant: Philip N. Hineline (Temple University) |
| CE Instructor: Frank Bird, M.Ed. |
| Abstract: Applied behavior analysts have a rich history of teaching socially important behavior to individuals with developmental disabilities, autism and language delay. Less often, the learning of more complex social behavior is studied with typically developing children. Response prompting, reinforcement, generalization, and maintenance have all been extensively studied to identify best teaching practices. This symposium will examine prompting to establish tacts, several methods for teaching intraverbals to individuals with verbal deficits and several methods for teaching autoclitics to improve “social skills.” . Each study focuses on a different unit of verbal with individuals with distint deficits. The first study, presented by Catia Cividini-Motta, explores the teaching of tacts using social stimuli as reinforcers. The second examination, presented by Nicole M. Trosclair-Lasserre, compares three methods for teaching intraverbals. In the third study, presented by Jennifer Wade, simple mands, component autoclitics comprised of more basic verbal operants, and parsimonious autoclitics are taught to typically developing children. The distinguished verbal behavior scholar, Philip N. Hineline, will serve as the discussant. |
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| Establishing Joint Attention Responses Using Social Stimuli as Reinforcers While Providing Opportunities to Tact |
| CATIA CIVIDINI-MOTTA (New England Center for Children), Tala Williford (New England Center for Children), Kathy Clark (New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: The current research project assessed the effectiveness of using social stimuli and prompting to establish tact responses in 2 individuals diagnosed with Autism. Because tacts are maintained by either generalized or social reinforcers, it may be best to teach them using social stimuli as reinforcers. A reinforcer assessment of social stimuli was conducted and the results suggested two social reinforcers for use during the training phase. A multiple baseline across responses design was used to demonstrate experimental control. Baseline consisted of two sets of five trials in which no consequences were delivered for responding. During training, one of the two social consequences was delivered contingent on the target response, for both prompted and independent responses. The training phase continued until each one of the responses met the mastery criteria of 90% independent across two consecutive sessions. Interobserver (IOA) agreement data was collected over 33% of the sessions across both the reinforcer and the training phases and it averaged over 90% agreement. The results of this project suggested that social stimuli combined with prompting are effective for establishing joint attention responses during tact training with students diagnosed with autism. |
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| Evaluation of Three Methods for Teaching Intraverbals to Children with Language Delays |
| NICOLE M. TROSCLAIR-LASSERRE (LSUHSC – Human Development Center), Dorothea C. Lerman (University of Houston-Clear Lake), Crystal N. Bowen (Marcus Autism Center), Joslyn N. Cynkus (Louisiana State University), Nathan A. Call (Marcus Autism Center and Emory University School of Medicine) |
| Abstract: Direct instruction is often necessary to develop language or expand language use in individuals with language delays. Previous research has begun to identify certain training conditions that result in more efficient use of instructional time devoted to language development. Specifically, incorporating mands into the instructional arrangement, increasing the quality of reinforcement delivered for interspersed tasks, and including instructive feedback stimuli into the consequences of learning trials have all demonstrated more efficient learning of targeted language skills. The purpose of the current investigation was to compare three methods for teaching intraverbals to individuals with deficits in this area. Interobserver agreement was collected for at least 48% of sessions and agreement coefficients exceeded 97% for all participants. Training conditions incorporating mands into instruction did not result in faster acquisition of intraverbals relative to the instructive feedback condition. Two out of three participants acquired new intraverbals related to the instructive feedback stimuli; however, the third participant did not acquire intraverbals presented as instructive feedback even when direct instruction was initiated. Generalization was not explicitly programmed but was observed for two participants. Finally, no single training condition was associated with improved maintenance relative to the other conditions. |
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| Establishing manipulative autoclitics in young children’s repertoires as a method for improving social skills |
| JENIFER A. WADE (Temple University), Philip N. Hineline (Temple University) |
| Abstract: The study of verbal operants has received considerable attention; however, autoclitics have generally been overlooked in experimental and applied domains. Autoclitics can be defined as verbal operants modifying other verbal operants or the effect of these operants upon the listener. Autoclitics emitted by the speaker require discrimination of the listener’s reaction in order to be effective. Placing autoclitics in a larger framework, verbal behavior relevant to what we speak of as social skills, persuasion, and conversation can be analyzed in part by in depth consideration of autoclitics. The current study implements several methods aimed at establishing autoclitics likely to improve what we speak of as “social skills.” Simple mands, component autoclitics comprised of more basic verbal operants, and parsimonious autoclitics were taught to typically developing children. Preliminary data suggest that differences in use and variation of autoclitics exist both in speaker and listener repertoires based upon method of establishing such autoclitics, and that automatic transfer often occurs between speaker and listener roles (eg. pliance) after participation in speaker roles alone. The wide scope implications not only for educational domains, but for more varied social domains are discussed. |
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| Advancements in Preference and Choice Research across Multiple Applied Contexts |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 128 |
| Area: DDA/DEV; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Richard G. Smith (University of North Texas) |
| CE Instructor: April Worsdell, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Applied researchers have increasingly examined the variables that contribute to participant choices in applied settings and how those variables can influence the efficacy of therapeutic and educational arrangements. The present set of papers will extend this line of research across a range of populations, including individuals with intellectual and development disabilities, older adults with dementia, and typically developing children of pre-school age. The studies pose a variety of overlapping experimental questions related to: 1) the stability of individual preferences across time, as determined by common preference assessment methods; 2) changes in the relative strength of reinforcers under increasingly intermittent reinforcement schedules, as determined through progressive-ratio and behavioral economic analyses; and 3) how contingency, schedule-correlated stimuli, and delay to reinforcement influence choice responding. Findings from the studies are individually discussed in terms of their implications for the arrangement of optimal, and ecologically relevant, environments for these varying populations. |
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| Preference Assessments for Older Adults with Dementia: Stability of Preferences Identified by Multiple Stimulus Assessments |
| PAIGE BROOKLEY RAETZ (Western Michigan University), Linda A. LeBlanc (Auburn University), Jonathan C. Baker (Western Michigan University), Laura C Hilton (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Individuals with dementia suffer from a variety of cognitive deficits that can lead to a lack of engagement in activities. Preference assessments have been used effectively with individuals with developmental disabilities to determine preferences for items and activities that can be incorporated into treatment programs and leisure activity schedules. Recently, literature in the area of aging has begun to incorporate the use of systematic preference assessments to assess preference for leisure activities with adults with dementia but several research questions remain. The purpose of the current study was to assess the utility of the Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement (MSWO) assessment for older adults with dementia. In addition, the current study assessed the stability of preference for individuals diagnosed with dementia by administering repeated MSWO assessments over the span of 4-5 months. Results indicated that older adults in the mild to moderate range of dementia were able to complete the MSWO assessment and that the assessment did identify a hierarchy of preferred activities. Additionally, results indicate that for 2/3 participants preference remained stable over a 4-5 month time period. |
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| Child Preference for Various Discontinuous Schedules of Social Interaction |
| KEVIN C. LUCZYNSKI (Western New England College), Gregory P. Hanley (Western New England College) |
| Abstract: Children’s preference for contingent over noncontingent reinforcement has been repeatedly demonstrated (Hanley, Piazza, Fisher, Contrucci, & Maglieri, 1997; Luczynski & Hanley, in press), but only under continuous reinforcement schedules. Because continuous schedules of social interaction are impractical to arrange in everyday settings, the present study evaluated children’s preferences for several commonly prescribed, discontinuous schedules of social interaction; these included briefly signaled delayed reinforcement, multiple schedules of reinforcement in which signaled periods of extinction and contingent reinforcement alternated, and yoked noncontingent reinforcement in which the same amount reinforcement was provided on time-based schedules. Interobserver agreement was collected for 100% of preference selections and averaged 100%. Several comparisons involving 6 children showed that when a preference was demonstrated, children preferred noncontingent reinforcement to contingent but delayed reinforcement, and children preferred contingent reinforcement in a multiple schedule to both noncontingent reinforcement and contingent but delayed reinforcement. From these data, it appears that preference for contingent reinforcement is influenced by the strength of the contingency operating within a schedule. Implications for scheduling the delivery of reinforcement in ecologically-relevant situations will be discussed. |
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| Evaluation of Functional and Alternative Reinforcers under Progressive Schedule Requirements |
| CAITLIN J. SMITH (Munroe Meyer Institute), Henry S. Roane (University of Nebraska Medical Center & Munroe-Meyer Institute), Kasey Stephenson (Munroe-Meyer Institute; UNMC) |
| Abstract: One effective treatment for destructive behavior is to deliver a functional reinforcer (i.e., those that maintain destructive behavior) contingent upon an alternative response. Providing contingent access to highly preferred alternative reinforcers (i.e., those that do not maintain problem behavior) also has been demonstrated to be effective at decreasing destructive behavior. However, recent research has suggested that existing preference assessments may not be optimal for identifying stimuli to be incorporated into interventions, particularly when the response requirements of the intervention vary. In the current study, functional analyses were used to identify the reinforcer that maintained 2 participants’ destructive behavior and preference assessments were used to identify alternative reinforcers. Next, the reinforcing effects of the functional and alternative reinforcers were assessed under progressively increasing response requirements. Finally, a treatment was developed in which the participants accessed either reinforcer following the omission of destructive behavior for a specific interval. For both participants, the reinforcer associated with more responding under the progressive response requirements was also associated with lower levels of destructive behavior during treatment. Results will be discussed in terms of using alternative methods to identifying effective interventions for destructive behavior. |
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| Correspondence between Preference Shifts Occasioned by Increases in Unit Price and Increases in Reinforcer Delay |
| MICHELLE A. FRANK (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Iser Guillermo DeLeon (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Melissa J. Allman (Kennedy Krieger Institute/Hopkins), Abbey Carreau (Kennedy Krieger Institutue), Mandy M. Triggs (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: Although economic relations have been demonstrated using price manipulations for individuals with developmental disabilities, no study has examined the extent to which similar relations obtain with manipulations involving delay. The current study evaluated the correspondence between demand curves constructed for concurrently available stimuli when work requirements or delay to reinforcement for one stimulus was increased. Three individuals with developmental disabilities participated. Choices between stimuli were first assessed under concurrent FR1-FR1 schedules and then under schedule arrangements in which response requirements were held constant for one stimulus but increased across phases for the other stimulus. The average time between completion of the first response and delivery of reinforcement was assessed for each FR schedule. During the delay manipulation, the interval values replaced the ratio schedules such that the delay value was held constant at 0 s for one stimulus but increased across phases for the other stimulus. Results suggested that for the majority of comparisons, shifts in preference either did not occur when price and delay were manipulated or did occur and at similar values. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for development of effective training or treatment procedures for individuals with developmental disabilities. |
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| Topics in Translational and Applied Research |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 2:30 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 226 AB |
| Area: EAB/AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jason C. Bourret (New England Center for Children) |
| CE Instructor: Stacey Buchanan Williams, M.S. |
| Abstract: The research presented in this symposium touches upon a range of topics with the underlying theme of bridging basic and applied behavior analytic research. Two of the presentations involve applications of behavioral economics. One in the context of describing consumption of reinforcers in clinically used token economies in place throughout the participant’s day, over the course of two years. The other in the context of an evaluation of the effects of allowing selection of reinforcers (i.e., “choice”) across a range of schedule values. The other two presentations both involve analyses of the effects of feedback. One an examination of the functions of feedback stimuli in pigeons. The other an evaluation of the utility of an automated training for establishing graphing and spread sheet using skills in teachers. |
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| Behavior Economic Analysis of Consumption of Particular Reinforcers in Closed Token Economies |
| DANA JUSTICE (New England Center for Children), Jason C. Bourret (New England Center for Children), Kathryn G. Horton (New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Previous literature in behavioral economics has described the function for of consumption of commodities across unit prices, or schedules of reinforcement. Our study examined whether the consumption of different types of edibles by human participants in an applied setting conformed to this pattern with increases in token FR schedule. Over a two year period, data were collected on the edible reinforcers consumed by three children diagnosed with autism at a residential school for individuals with developmental disabilities, earned in a closed token economy. Responding was measured across a range of exchange schedules. Demand and work functions were generated for the most selected reinforcers and these were compared to the results of multiple and paired stimulus preference assessments. Implications for the analysis of reinforcer efficacy in clinical settings using this method are discussed. |
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| A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Choice |
| JAMIE LEBOWITZ (New England Cetner for Children), Jason C. Bourret (New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: The current study is a behavioral economic analysis of concurrent and simple terminal links in two-component chained schedules. In study 1, a concurrent-chains schedule was used to measure differences between concurrent (choice) and simple FR1 (no choice) terminal links. Two individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disordes were presented with two options simultaneously. Responding on the choice link resulted in access to a plate of multiple, identical items, from which a single item could be chosen, and responding on the no-choice link resulted in access to one item on a plate. In Study 2, choice and no-choice conditions were arranged in a multiple schedule and schedule requirements for both were systematically manipulated. Data from study two were analyzed as work and demand functions. |
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| Examination of the Utility of an Automated Training in Teaching Graphing and Spreadsheet Use |
| NICHOLAS R VANSELOW (Northeastern University/New England Center for Children), Jason C. Bourret (New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: In many higher-level academic courses, information is presented on overhead slides. In this study, slides are enhanced with feedback from test information. Participants were taught to create APA style graphs over nine lessons. Each lesson began with a pre-test. After the pre-test, participants were presented with slides containing lesson material. In the feedback condition, slides with information relevant to questions the participant answered incorrectly displayed the message “Error on this information”; other slides displayed “Correct”. In the no feedback condition, these messages were not displayed. After the slides, the participant completed a post-test. Participants repeated slides and post-tests until the post-test score was 100%. Participants completed the workshop in four fewer attempts in the feedback condition than in the no feedback condition on average. During lesson slides, participants spent more time on slides containing information marked with an error message than other slides in the feedback condition. However, even in the no feedback condition, participants spent more time, though not as much as in the feedback condition, on error slides. This study has implications for future research on the use of feedback and “passive” learning. Further research is needed to determine how discrimination between correct and incorrect responses occurs even without feedback. |
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| Effects of feedback following a spatially defined response in pigeons |
| CHATA A. DICKSON (West Virginia University), Yusuke Hayashi (West Virginia University), Andrew Lightner (West Virginia University), Kennon A. Lattal (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: Feedback for responding is commonly studied and its use is frequently recommended in relation to problems of learning and behavior. Rarely is the function of these contingent stimuli examined. In this study we investigated effects of response feedback on keypecking and on a spatially defined operant in three pigeons. Measures included response rate, interresponse time, temporal control, and rate of obtained reinforcement. In one component of a multiple schedule immediate response feedback followed each response. In the other component no feedback was delivered. Reinforcement schedules were identical across components and included both VI and DRL schedules across a range of values of each. When the response was a spatially defined operant, response feedback tended to decrease response rates, and altered the shape of the IRT distribution by decreasing short IRTs and shifting the peak of the distribution toward longer IRTs, relative to the no feedback condition. Under some parameters of the DRL schedule, the rate of reinforcement was greater in the feedback component. |
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| SQAB Tutorial: Dynamics of Choice |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 3:00 PM–3:50 PM |
| North 120 D |
| Area: EAB/TPC; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Jason Bourret, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Michael C. Davison (University of Auckland) |
| Presenting Authors: : WILLIAM M. BAUM (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: This tutorial examines the centrality of choice to the understanding of behavior. By re-examining the concept of reinforcement and relating it to behavioral allocation, the dynamics of choice may be seen as the process of shifting allocation. Skinner’s assertion that the law of effect is not a theory was correct, even if his theory of reinforcement was incorrect. Research of the last forty years suggests that the events called “reinforcers” affect behavior in two ways: induction and contingency. Reinforcers induce activities related to them by life history or phylogeny, and reinforcers add value to the situations in which they occur. By linking particular activities with particular results, contingencies both constrain behavior change and add value to those activities. Seen this way, the dynamics of choice may be construed as optimization, a tendency to move toward the highest value possible. These dynamics may be seen sometimes on a short time scale and sometimes on a longer time scale. Some recent research by Davison and Aparicio and myself, as well as some earlier experiments, support these ideas.
William M. Baum received his A.B. in psychology from Harvard College in 1961. Originally a biology major, he switched into psychology after taking courses from B. F. Skinner and R. J. Herrnstein in his freshman and sophomore years. He returned to Harvard University for graduate study in 1962, where he was supervised by Herrnstein and received his Ph.D. in 1966. He spent the year 1965-66 at Cambridge University, studying ethology at the Sub-Department of Animal Behavior. From 1966 to 1975, he held appointments as post-doctoral fellow, research associate, and assistant professor at Harvard University. He spent two years at the NIH Laboratory for Brain, Evolution, and Behavior, and then accepted an appointment in psychology at University of New Hampshire in 1977. He retired from there in 1999. He currently has an appointment as Associate Researcher at University of California – Davis and lives in San Francisco. His research concerns choice, molar behavior-environment relations, foraging, and behaviorism. He is the author of a book, Understanding Behaviorism: Behavior, Culture, and Evolution. |
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| WILLIAM M. BAUM (University of California, Davis) |
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| Improving Social Interactions in Children with Autism: Clinical Applications of the “Conversation Box” |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 124 B |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: David M. Corcoran (Beacon Services) |
| Discussant: Matthew Howarth (BEACON Services) |
| CE Instructor: Katherine A. Johnson, M.A.. |
| Abstract: Challenges in initiating, responding, and maintaining social language are one of the defining characteristics of PDD/autism. Visual supports such as the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Frost & Bondy, (1994), have resulted in the acquisition of functional communication skills. In addition, these procedures have been shown to have positive collateral effects on the production of speech in many children. However, when speech emerges, for some children the speech may be limited to the use of mands and tacts. There is a critical need to expand the use of procedures used in language development for children with autism and other disabilities to teach and maintain intraverbal language. This symposium examines the use of a “conversation box” (Hahn, Filer, & Ross 2008) to support social interactions between children with PDD/ASD in a range of education settings. The interventions in this symposium took place in early childhood education settings, elementary schools and in middle school classrooms. Strategies for incorporating typically developing peers in to the conversation box routines, as well as procedure for fading materials to minimize intrusiveness in public school settings are also reviewed. |
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| Social/Verbal Interaction between Children with PDD and Typical Peers |
| DAVID M. CORCORAN (Beacon Services), Stephanie Beard (BEACON Services), Robert K. Ross (BEACON Services) |
| Abstract: Many children with ASD demonstrate significant difficulty in production and fluent use of social language (Ricks & Wing, 1975). However, the use of a “conversation box” has been shown to support the acquisition and spontaneous production of social language (Hahn, Filer and Ross, 2008). The current study assessed the effects of visually cued conversation starters (asking a question and making a statement) as well as topic maintainers (answering a question and returning a comment), through the use of a conversation box, to support production of social language responses, in 5 elementary age children and 1 middle school child, with PDD, with their typical peers. The material used within this study was unique in that it incorporated a physical exchange, which assisted topic maintenance and shifting. When criterion for learning was met, generalization of social and verbal interaction was assessed with untrained topics of conversation, novel peers, and other settings. Fluency of responding was also directly trained and measured. Subsequent fading procedures included; reducing adult support (presence) and use of text scripts rather than the conversation box. Data demonstrate that performances were maintained in the assessed natural contexts. |
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| Using a Communication Box to Increase Social Conversation Skills: A Replication |
| KAREN NAULT (BEACON Services), Robert K. Ross (BEACON Services) |
| Abstract: One of the core deficits in children with autism is social communication. A number of authors have found that prior to specific instruction social interactions are often quite limited (e.g., Hendrickson, et al. 1982, Krantz & McClannahan 1993) among others. In a previous study conducted with two preschoolers with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a communication box was used successfully to increase independent social conversation skills, including asking and answering questions and making statements (Hahn, Filer and Ross, 2008) in two preschoolers with Pervasive Developmental Disorder. The present study replicates the previous study, examining the use of a conversation box to teach initiation and maintenance of a topical conversation in three 5-year-olds with ASD. All three participants were in an inclusion program and participated in an after school social group. Each had programs targeting social conversation, but were dependent on verbal cues and modeling to initiate and maintain social conversations with peers. The use of the conversation box successfully decreased their dependence on teacher prompts, and increased the participants’ independence in beginning conversations, responding to questions, asking questions and waiting for the response. Collateral increases in appropriate eye contact, staying on topic, maintaining conversation and switching topics were also seen. |
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| Use of a Conversation Box to Increase Social and Verbal Interactions in Children with Autism |
| LAURA D'ANTONA (BEACON Services), Joseph M. Vedora (BEACON Services), Robert K. Ross (BEACON Services) |
| Abstract: The spontaneous production of social language is a challenge for many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Ricks & Wing, 1975). Visual supports have been shown to facilitate language production in children with ASD (Sarokoff, Taylor & Poulson, 2001). The purpose of the current study was to assess the effects of visually cued social interactions for several children with autism. Specifically, a conversation box comprised of visual scripts was used to support production of social language during snack and centers in a reversed integrated preschool. The scripts facilitated initiation of an interaction and topic maintenance of the conversation. Once criterion for learning was met, generalization of social and verbal interaction was assessed with untrained topics of conversation, novel peers, and other settings. The results indicated successful acquisition of targeted social interaction skills and generalization to untrained conditions. |
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| Joint Attention Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 124 A |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Anibal Gutierrez Jr. (University of Miami) |
| CE Instructor: Katharine Gutshall, M.A.. |
| Abstract: Joint attention, defined as sharing and following the attention of others (via coordinated attention to toys and people) (e.g., showing, pointing, gaze shifting), is a core deficit in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Research has shown that joint attention consistently predicts cognitive and language outcomes among children with ASD, making it a relevant target for intervention in young children with ASD. Recent studies also indicate that behaviorally-based interventions are successful at increasing joint attention skill, and in some cases these skills can be generalized and maintained over time. This symposium will provide an overview of joint attention from a behavior analytic perspective as well as review structured teaching strategies that increase joint attention and improve engagement. This symposium will present data from a randomized control trial employing behavioral methodologies to increase joint attention skills and interpersonal synchrony, as well as single-subject data from a study aimed at increasing eye contact using pivotal response training. |
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| An Emerging Technology: Using Structured Teaching to Increase Joint Attention in Young Children with ASD |
| BETH REYNOLDS (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Division TEACCH), Kara Hume (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute) |
| Abstract: Recent studies have indicated that joint attention, defined as sharing and following the attention of others (via coordinated attention to toys and people, showing toys or pointing to events and objects), can be successfully taught to young children with ASD, and that these skills can be generalized and maintained over time (Kasari, Freeman, & Paparella, 2006; Rocha, Schreibman, & Stahmer, 2007). A number of the teaching strategies used in these studies are similar to the teaching techniques used in Division TEACCH’s early childhood program, including the use of structured activities in the initial teaching phases, building activities around child interest, manipulating the environment to facilitate social and communicative attempts, as well as imitation of child behavior, and planned steps towards generalization. This paper will highlight how structured teaching strategies increase joint attention and engagement, the empirical foundation for these strategies, and includes a number of classroom examples, photos, and video clips. |
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| A Randomized Control Trial Targeting Initiating Joint Attention Skills in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| JENNIFER STELLA DUROCHER (University of Miami), Melissa N. Hale (University of Miami), Anibal Gutierrez Jr. (University of Miami), Michael Alessandri (University of Miami) |
| Abstract: Joint attention involves sharing attention with others regarding interesting objects or events and is a core deficit in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Joint attention has recently become an intervention target based on findings that joint attention consistently predicts cognitive and language outcomes among children with ASD. The proposed presentation will describe the methodology for a current randomized control trial (RCT) of an initiating joint attention (IJA) intervention for 40 children with ASD between the ages of 2 and 5. Pre-assessments are used to confirm ASD diagnosis and lack of well-developed IJA skills, and to measure variables that may predict differential response to the intervention (e.g., the reinforcing value of social consequences and preference for adult attention). Participants are randomized to either a treatment or “wait-list” control group. Intervention consists of a total of 16 sessions (twice a week for 8 weeks) targeting pointing, showing and gaze-shifting. Individual subject data are collected for all sessions. Post-treatment and 3-month follow-up assessments are administered to evaluate generalization and maintenance of skills. Data using a multiple baseline design across subjects will be presented, in additional to preliminary between-group comparisons. Implications of current findings and future direction will be discussed. |
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| Building Interpersonal Synchrony: Teaching Joint Attention in Toddlers with Autism |
| KATHERINE C. HOLMAN (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Rebecca Landa (Kennedy Krieger Institute) |
| Abstract: Introduction: Social and communication development are impaired early in life in children with autism and they are predictors of outcome. This study focused on determining whether interpersonal synchrony (joint attention, social contingent imitation, shared affect) could be improved in 2-year-olds with autism.
Method: 49 two-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were matched on verbal and non-verbal mental age and severity of autism symptoms and then randomly assigned to one of two intervention conditions. The conditions were identical in intensity, schedule, intervention strategies, and parent training. However, in the ‘Interpersonal Synchrony’ condition, sessions were saturated with activities that targeted response to joint attention cues, initiation of joint attention, socially contingent imitation, and affect sharing. Children received assessments pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 6-months following.
Results: Children in both groups made significant improvement in receptive and expressive language and in imitation from pre- to post-intervention (p=0.008 to 0.001), but only children in the Interpersonal Synchrony condition made significant gains in joint attention and shared affect (p’s=0.01).
Discussion: These findings suggest intensive early intervention emphasizing interpersonal synchrony can improve core deficits of autism involving joint attention, imitation, and shared affect. |
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| A Parent Training Procedure Utilizing Video Modeling and Feedback to Increase the Frequency of Eye Contact in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| TARA M. SHEEHAN (Nova Southeastern University Mailman Segal Institu), Heather O'Brien (Nova Southeastern University Mailman Segal Institute), Liliana Dietsch (Nova Southeastern University Mailman Segal Institute), Melissa DeVincentis (Nova Southeastern University), Hernan Dennis Ruf (Nova Southeastern University Mailman Segal Institute) |
| Abstract: This presentation will outline a parent training procedure based on pivotal response training designed to teach parents to evoke and reinforce eye contact behavior when interacting in play activities with their young child with autism spectrum disorder. Video will be used to highlight the training procedure and demonstrate the effects on parent behavior. Data on both parent and child behavior will be presented and the effectiveness of utilizing parents to increase the frequency of eye contact with their child with autism spectrum disorder will be discussed. |
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| The Emergence of Stimulus Classes: Discrimination of Components in Compound Stimuli and the Role of Class-Specific Reinforcement |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 125 |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Kathy Clark (The New England Center for Children) |
| Discussant: Richard W. Serna (University of Massachusetts Medical School - Shriver Center) |
| CE Instructor: Rachel S.F. Tarbox, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Over the years, matching-to-sample (MTS) procedures have been widely used in the stimulus equivalence literature. More recently, novel procedures and variations of typical MTS have been investigated. These may include MTS with class specific reinforcement, multiple-exemplar training, and discrimination training with compound stimuli. The current symposium will focus on the use of these procedural variations. The first study produced expansion of stimulus classes via class-specific reinforcement which suggests that conditioned and generalized reinforcers can become members of these classes. In the second study, a go/no-go procedure with spatially contiguous pairs of figures presented on a computer screen was used to produce emergent relations. Results suggested some advantages of the go/no-go procedure over matching-to-sample. In the third study, participants learned to respond to small verbal unit-components using multiple-exemplar training. Results suggest that participants acquired re-combinative reading immediately after training. Combined, these studies suggest alternative ways to generate stimulus classes and emergent responding. |
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| Class-specific Reinforcement and the Establishment of Equivalence Classes |
| CAMMARIE JOHNSON (The New England Center for Children), Olga Meleshkevich (The New England Center for Children and RCS Learning Center) |
| Abstract: This study examined the expansion of stimulus classes via class-specific reinforcement. Three typical adults learned conditional discriminations (AC, BC, and DF, EF) with match-to-sample procedures. Equivalence classes were then shown within two groups, each consisting of 3 three-member sets of nonrepresentational visual stimuli (A1B1C1, A2B2C2, A3B3C3 and D1E1F1, D2E2F2, D3E3F3). Throughout training, correct selection of A1, B1, C1 and D1, E1, F1 was always followed by reinforcers, r1/R1; correct selection of A2, B2, C2 and D2, E2, F2 was always followed by reinforcers, r2/R2, and those of A3, B3, C3 and D3, E3, F3 were always followed by reinforcers, r3/R3. None of the stimuli from ABC classes ever appeared on reinforced conditional discrimination trials with stimuli from DEF classes; however, for 2 of 3 participants 3, 6-member classes (e.g., A1B1C1D1E1F1) emerged. Moreover, tests for these 2 participants indicated that the class-specific reinforcers were also class members, thereby demonstrating 3 classes each with 8 members (e.g., A1B1C1D1E1F1r1R1). One implication from this study is the possible generation of equivalence classes with class-specific reinforcement. A second implication is that both conditioned and generalized reinforcers can become members of these classes. |
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| Emergent Conditional Relations In A Go/No-Go Procedure: Figure-Ground and Stimulus-Position Compound Relations |
| PAULA DEBERT (University of Sao Paulo - Brazil), Edson Huziwara (Universidade de São Paulo), Robson Faggiani (USP), Maria Eugênia Simões De Mathis (University of São Paulo and University of Massachusetts Medical School), William J. McIlvane (University of Massachusetts Medical School) |
| Abstract: Past research has demonstrated emergent conditional relations using a go/no-go procedure with spatially contiguous pairs of figures presented on a computer screen. During training, each two-component stimulus was presented successively. Responses emitted in the presence of certain stimulus pairs (A1B1, A2B2, A3B3, B1C1, B2C2 and B3C3) were reinforced, whereas responses emitted in the presence of other pairs (A1B2, A1B3, A2B1, A2B3, A3B1, A3B2, B1C2, B1C3, B2C1, B2C3, B3C1 and B3C2) were not. During tests, new configurations (BA, CB, AC, and CA) were presented. The present study evaluated whether emergent relations would be established with this procedure addressing particularly situations in which the use of matching-to-sample is procedurally cumbersome or impossible. In Experiment 1, we evaluated whether emergent relations would be established when two-component stimuli were displayed as figure-ground (abstract figure displayed on colored background). Five adults showed emergent relations consistent with stimulus equivalence during testing. In Experiment 2, the two-component stimulus was a figure and its location (left or right). Six adults exhibited emergent relations. Thus, both experiments show that the go/no-go procedure with two-component has some advantages as an alternative to matching-to-sample to establish emergent relation when training involves stimuli of the type employed in the present experiments. |
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| The Process of Discriminating Minimal Verbal Units in Reading |
| MARTHA HÜBNER (USP Sao Paulo, Brazil), Leila Bagaiolo (Gradual/USP) |
| Abstract: The current study investigated what has been called re-combinative reading. In other words, reading under the control of minimal verbal units involving the discrimination of the components of a compound stimulus (words). This behavior has been investigated within the equivalence paradigm (to establish reading with comprehension) and via generalization probes consisting of new words formed by syllables and letters from the learned set of words. Participants were typically developing preschool children. Training involved teaching participants to respond to the smaller verbal units using a multiple-exemplar procedure. Results indicated that participants acquired re-combinative reading during training and not during probe sessions since responses during the first probes were always correct. It was also observed that most errors occurred 1) in the presence of compound stimuli in which components topographically resembled each other and 2) when different sequences produced similar vocal responses. |
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| Science Board Translational Series: Delay Discounting and Drug Abuse |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 226 C |
| Area: BPH/EAB; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| Chair: Amy Odum (Utah State University) |
| Discussant: Amy Odum (Utah State University) |
| CE Instructor: Florence DiGennaro Reed, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Delay discounting refers to the decrease in the value of an outcome by delay to its receipt. Choosing a smaller more immediate outcome over a larger but delayed outcome is one form of impulsivity. Delay discounting has been found to be related to drug abuse in several ways. This symposium focuses on delay discounting across a spectrum from basic research with non-humans to prediction of relapse following abstinence in cigarette smokers. Mitchell and Wilhelm will discuss basic laboratory research with rats and mice. They find that alcohol consumption and delay discounting are related, and that both are heritable. Carroll and colleagues have examined the role of delay discounting and other forms of impulsivity in basic laboratory models with rats and monkeys. They report that heightened impulsivity is linked to all phases of drug abuse in these models (e.g., acquisition of drug taking, relapse after abstinence, etc.). Finally, Bickel and colleagues will discuss their attempts to predict a number of treatment outcomes (e.g., initiation of abstinence, duration of abstinence) using measures of delay discounting in cigarette smokers. |
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| Shared heritability of delay discounting and alcohol abuse |
| SUZANNE H. MITCHELL (Oregon Health & Science Univ), Clare J. Wilhelm (Oregon Health & Science University) |
| Abstract: Alcoholics and heavy drinkers discount delayed rewards more than social or light drinkers, but the role of genetics in this relationship is unknown. Genetics is known to contribute to the development of alcoholism, and various experimental techniques have been developed to examine the role of genotype in heightened consumption of alcohol. Delay discounting was assessed in several studies using an adjusting amount procedure in which rats (N = 80) or mice (N= 240) chose between small immediate sucrose solution and larger delayed sucrose reinforcers. Hyperbolic equations were fit to quantify the gradient of the function (k value) relating the immediate amount of sucrose that was equivalent to the larger amount at a series of delays (up to 16 s). Studies using inbred strains demonstrated that k values have a heritable component and that there was a inter-strain correlation with alcohol consumption, i.e., high k value strains are documented as having higher levels of alcohol consumption. Studies using mice and rats selectively bred for different levels of alcohol consumption indicated that high consumption lines showed steeper discounting that low consumption lines. These studies indicate that delay discounting has a heritable component and includes genes associated with heightened alcohol consumption. |
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| Impulsivity, a Predictor and Outcome of
of Drug Abuse: Animal Models |
| MARILYN E. CARROLL (University of Minnesota), Justin J. Anker (University of Minnesota), Jennifer L. Newman (McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School), Jami L. Mach (University of Minnesota), Jennifer L. Perry (Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation) |
| Abstract: There is a strong relationship between impulsive behavior, determined by choice of a small-immediate reward over a large-delayed reward (delay discounting task) and impaired inhibition of responding for a reward (Go/No-go task), and drug abuse. Several aspects of drug abuse have been modeled in rats and monkeys; such as, acquisition, maintenance, escalation, extinction, withdrawal, and reinstatement, and the influence of impulsivity on each of these phases has been determined in a series of experiments. Results indicate that impulsive behavior is a major risk factor for each stage of drug abuse, and some phases of drug abuse (e.g., withdrawal) elevate the animals’ impulsivity for nondrug substances, indicating that impulsive behavior mediates substitution of drug and nondrug reinforcers. Other risk factors for drug abuse that add to the vulnerability produced by impulsivity are also discussed, such as age, sex, and innate sweet preference. The role of impulsivity in drug abuse is discussed in terms of its ability to predict pathological behavior and as a potential target for prevention and treatment attempts. Supported by NIDA grants R01 DA002486, R01 DA003240, R01 DA019942, P20 DA024196, K05 DA015267 (MEC), F31 DA020237 (JLP), F31 DA023301 and T32 DA007097 (JLN). |
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| Delay Discounting: Comparison with Other Measures in the Prediction of Smoking Treatment Outcomes |
| WARREN K. BICKEL (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), Darren R. Christensen (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), Richard Yi (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), Christine E. Sheffer (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), Lisa Jackson (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), Reid D. Landes (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), John E. McGeary (Brown University), James MacKillop (University of Georgia) |
| Abstract: Relapse poses significant challenges to the treatment of a broad array of behavioral disorders such as cigarette smoking. One neurobehavioral process that may be related to relapse and other treatment outcomes is delay discounting, which refers to the reduced value or worth of a delayed reinforcer compared to the value of an immediate reinforcer. We are conducting a large study (N= 250) to examine whether delay discounting predicts treatment outcome measures. To accomplish this, cigarette smokers complete a battery of measures at intake prior to treatment and then receive a cognitive behavior therapy delivered for 6 weeks. Outcome measures include the initiation of abstinence, duration of abstinence, and time to relapse. To date, we have completed over a 100 participants and we will conduct an interim analysis of those data and present them as part of this symposium. Initial analyses indicate that those who fail to initiate a quit attempt, discount substantially more than those who do. We will also compare the predictive ability of discounting to other theoretically important factors including, trait impulsivity, negative affect, neuro-cognitive functioning, and dopamine alleles. These results should identify which of the several factors best predict relapse and other treatment outcomes. |
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| Behavioral Contributions to Genetic Expression and Back: "The Bigger Picture From Infancy to Evolution" |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 132 BC |
| Area: DEV/TPC; Domain: Theory |
| CE Instructor: Barbara Metzger, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Martha Pelaez (Florida International University) |
| DAVID S. MOORE (Pitzer College, The Claremont Colleges) |
| HANK SCHLINGER (California State University, Los Angeles) |
| MARTHA PELAEZ (Florida International University) |
| HAYNE W. REESE (West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: In an invited symposium, Andronis, Schneider, and invited speakers David Moore and Celia Moore will be discussing the current status of nature-nurture relations and their relevance to behavior analysis and human development. The panelists H. Schlinger, D. Moore, M. Pelaez, and H. Reese will examine and question the case for the priority of final causes (presaging Darwin's selection by consequences). Is this an adequate resolution for the nature/nurture question? This implies the abandonment of overarching statements about causes of behavior and a focus on the particulars. Are epigenetic characteristics genuinely inheritable (i.e., passed from generation to generation, from parent to child)? To what extent can behaviors produced in one generation influence genetic activity in subsequent generations? We know that genes and behavior can influence each other bidirectionally; how often do behavior analysts really need to take genes into account? Do sex differences provide an adequate opportunity to examine the processes that lead to divergent endpoints? |
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| Data Issues in NeuroBehavioral Rehabilitation |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 4:00 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 224 A |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: James W. Jackson, M.S. |
| Chair: Michael P Mozzoni (Learning Services NeuroBehavioral Institute of Colorado) |
| MICHAEL P MOZZONI (Learning Services NeuroBehavioral Institute of Col) |
| LINDSAY VEIT (Learning Services of Raleigh/Durham NC) |
| Abstract: These series of papers will cover issues involving key points in working with persons with acquired brain injuries (ABI), data collection, and display systems. The first paper will highlight key issues in working with adults with brain injury including the unique set of issues with programming, development of care plans, and staff training. The presentation of brain injury varies vastly from individual to individual. Educating staff members on brain injury and the different ways it may present in adults and increases the understanding of each individual will be discussed. The second paper will focus on data systems. The lack of an efficient data analysis program can adversely impact clients and all consumers of the data (behavior analysts, behavior specialists, clinicians, case managers, guardians, etc.). Thus, a data analysis program that is both efficient and user-friendly is critical to the time management of behavior analysts. A data analysis program will be presented that can speed analysis and data entry. The third paper will focus on issues involved with graphing data. Behavior analysts use data in order to make evidence-based treatment decisions. This presentation will demonstrate several ways to graph data in order to derive the most useful information. Both behavioral deceleration and acquisition graphs will be discussed. Data sets will be graphed in different ways to demonstrate utility of visual presentation. Time and frequency, cumulative frequency, averaging, and log and celeration graphing displays will be discussed. |
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| Acting to Change the World: Using Behavior Analysis to Make a Difference in Socially Significant Issues |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 4:00 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 131 A |
| Area: CSE/OBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Kathy Clark, Master's |
| Chair: Jon S. Bailey (FSU, BMC, FABA) |
| KEN WAGNER (ADI: The Human Performance Company) |
| MARCO D. TOMASI (SAIC) |
| JEANINE PLOWMAN STRATTON (Furman University) |
| JON S. BAILEY (FSU, BMC, FABA) |
| Abstract: One of the underlying fundamentals of applied behavior analysis is to address socially significant issues facing our communities, our nations, and our planet. Currently there is no shortage for outlets in which the application of behavior analysis can make a significant impact. Poor economic conditions find the business community in dire need of experts fluent in technology to boost organizational performance. Threats in the form of rogue terrorist elements, malicious cyber attacks, and nuclear proliferation require experts in the science of behavior to improve national security, intelligence, and safety. The effects of global climate change as a direct consequence of human behavior has highlighted the need for experts that can create effective, sustainable interventions to promote environmentally friendly behaviors. The current session brings together experts in behavior analysis working to make a difference in business/organization settings, in the defense/security sector, and in the environment. The panel will discuss their current work to make significant differences in socially significant issues, as well as discuss directions for future efforts. |
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| SQAB Tutorial: Cognitive Aging: A Behavior Theoretic Approach |
| Saturday, May 23, 2009 |
| 4:00 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 120 D |
| Area: EAB/DEV; Domain: Experimental Analysis |
| PSY/BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Eric Larsson, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Celia Wolk Gershenson (University of Minnesota) |
| Presenting Authors: : JOEL MYERSON (Washington University) |
| Abstract: As people get older, their behavior on many different kinds of tasks tends to become slower, less accurate, and more variable. I will describe a theoretical framework that focuses purely on the behavior emitted by younger and older adults performing response-time and memory span tasks. Our findings support some distinctions in the cognitive psychology literature but not others, and our approach provides empirical bases for deciding which distinctions need to be made and which do not. For example, data on age-related behavioral slowing support the distinction between verbal and visuospatial processing, with the latter being much more sensitive to the effects of age. Within the verbal and visuospatial domains, however, there is little support for distinguishing between different kinds of information-processing operations, at least from an aging perspective. Similarly, data on age-related declines in working memory are also consistent with greater effects of age on memory for visuospatial information, but within each domain performance on simple span tasks declines as rapidly as performance on complex span tasks. Finally, the increased variability in older adults’ performance turns out to be an indirect consequence of the fact that they are slower, and not a direct effect of aging at all.
Joel Myerson’s convoluted career path began at the University of Michigan. An ardent science fiction fan, he switched from art to psychology after deciding the most important thing he could do with his life was contribute to the development of space travel. The way to do that, he reasoned, was by becoming a scientist, and the only science he was interested in was psychology. As a graduate student at Arizona State University, he trained monkeys for NASA, and was well on the way to fulfilling his dream. Unfortunately, the effort to turn A. S. U. into Fort Skinner in the desert failed shortly after he arrived, and most of the behavioral faculty left, ending the NASA contract. Fortunately, Peter Killeen decided to stay, and Joel became his student. After a series of post-docs and teaching positions, he and his wife Sandy Hale ended up at Washington University. Since 1992, Joel has been a Research Professor, collaborating with Sandy on cognitive aging research and doing behavioral economics research with Len Green. As Seneca the Younger wrote, “non est ad astra mollis e terris via” (especially if you are afraid to fly), but you can still accomplish a lot in St. Louis. |
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| JOEL MYERSON (Washington University) |
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