Association for Behavior Analysis International

Decades of research in applied behavior analysis have produced a well-established technology for teaching basic verbal skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Behavior analysts often struggle with the development of instructional protocols for teaching more sophisticated verbal and cognitive skills, however. Research in the area of relational responding has inspired such protocols in recent years, such that a technology for programming for complex repertoires of generative responding is now available. This symposium will feature four prominent researchers in the areas of verbal behavior and Relational Frame Theory who will describe their ongoing research programs on complex language and cognition in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. R. Douglas Greer of the CABAS Schools will discuss the relationship between verbal and social behavior, describing specifically the role of a hierarchy of acquired reinforcers. Dr. Mark Dixon of Southern Illinois University will present research on the assessment of relational learning deficiencies in children with autism spectrum disorder and the use of standard treatment protocols for the remediation of those deficits. Ian Stewart of the National University of Ireland, Galway will discuss his research on the assessment and treatment of derived relational responding deficits as a means of promoting adaptive behavior and generative responding. Jonathan Tarbox of First Steps for Kids will share his research on the assessment and treatment of executive functioning skills, with a special focus on problem solving and flexibility.

Certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

Early intervention allows many individuals with autism to develop a generative language repertoire in which they can readily understand and produce totally novel linguistic constructions. In many other cases, individuals continue to require intensive teaching and exhibit language repertoires that are rigid or rote. Research on derived relational responding (DRR), including derived equivalence as well as other patterns (e.g., distinction, opposition, comparison, etc.), suggests that focusing on DRR can help remediate such deficits and establish and strengthen generative language and intellectual potential. Using relational frame theory (RFT) as a background, the current presentation will consider studies on equivalence and other varieties of DRR that demonstrate strong links between the capacity for DRR and linguistic and cognitive performance and that not only illustrate generativity via already established repertoires of DRR but suggest the capacity for DRR itself to be trained and the potential outcomes of doing so.

Many of the key components for advancing verbal and social development have been identified in research, as have several protocols to establish missing development. This presentation will outline a few of these and explain how each of these is related to learned social reinforcers. Verbal behavior is social and social behavior is verbal. The foundations for social and verbal behavior consist of a hierarchy of learned reinforcers.

Within the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA), there are a variety of specific techniques which can be utilized to improve the verbal abilities of children with autism. Until recently, most ABA treatments have been based on traditional Skinnerian approaches to language and understandings of behavior. Such ABA has accomplished fantastic things, and countless children with autism have benefited. However, more careful exploration of the types of skills targeted, the repertoire depth, and the sophistication of cognitive abilities reveal that these sorts of ABA techniques can be improved upon. Furthermore, an unexpected side effect of developing language and cognition for persons with autism is that once the children begin to close developmental gaps, the same worries, anxieties, and fears that plague their neurotypical peers start to emerge. When such a child expands their ability to think abstractly, the troubles of the world (both real and perceived) come into play. In this presentation a conceptual foundation will be discussed which suggests that the most functional account of language can be found in contemporary behavioral approaches such as relational frame theory. A series of studies will be presented which showcase how to first assess a child for relational language deficits, and then how to link the results of the assessment to standardized treatment protocols.

Ample empirical research has demonstrated the effectiveness of behavioral intervention procedures for decreasing challenging behaviors and establishing relatively simple skills. Significantly less research has been published on teaching children with autism complex verbal behavior and skills referred to as "cognitive" by the general psychology and educational communities. Executive functioning is a skill domain that is documented to be delayed in many individuals with autism but has been the subject of very little skill acquisition research. This presentation proposes a radical behavioral basis for the assessment and treatment of executive function skills and presents data from recent studies on establishing problem solving skills and flexibility in children with autism.

Certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

A great deal of emphasis has been placed on socially mediated reinforcement contingencies maintaining problem behavior displayed by individuals with autism spectrum disorders and related disabilities. However, there is strong evidence that some problem behavior occurs and maintains in the absence of social reinforcement contingencies. In fact, most repetitive stereotypies appear to be maintained in the absence of social reinforcement. To the extent such behavior is operant, and to the extent it is not socially reinforced, it is maintained by automatic reinforcement. The presenter will review origins and historical usage of the term "automatic reinforcement," scientific implications of the concept, and clinical implications for behavioral assessment and treatment. He will also present research from his applied laboratories, including published studies and work in progress.

Certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

Certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

Functional communication training (FCT) is widely cited as the most common function-based intervention for treating socially reinforced destructive behavior, capable of demonstrating significant reductions in the destructive response while also promoting adaptive communication skills. Recent research has revealed a number of refinements to FCT that can help guide best practice. These empirically supported modifications to FCT include (a) minimizing exposure to the establishing operation(s) that occasion destructive behavior, (b) programming discriminative stimuli to facilitate the rapid thinning of reinforcement schedules and to promote generalization of treatment effects, (c) introducing alternative sources of reinforcement when needed, and (d) utilizing strategies that mitigate the recurrence of destructive behavior (i.e., treatment relapse) when caregivers fail to implement the treatment as designed. This presentation will cover some of the research supporting these modifications to FCT, as well as provide behavior analysts with suggestions for their implementation.

Certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

Certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

Certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.

Certified behavior analysts, licensed psychologists, graduate students.