Association for Behavior Analysis International

The effect of food delivery according to Fixed-Ratio (FR) and Fixed-Interval (FI) schedules of reinforcement upon the spatial distribution of behavior was explored. The subjects were two groups of 4 rats. The apparatus was an enlarged experimental chamber of 92 cm x 92 cm with three levers. Responses on any lever produced food according to the current schedule. In the first phase, food was presented according to a FR1-schedule and both groups differed only in the locations of the levers: distributed among three panels or grouped in one panel. In the second phase, the location of levers was reversed between groups. In the third phase, the location of levers was kept constant but the schedule changed to FI 30s. In the last phase, the location of levers was reversed again between groups. The pattern of lever-pressing responses was characteristic of the ones obtained under FR and FI schedules of reinforcement. Distribution of responses in the three levers and location of the rats on the floor of the experimental chamber depended upon the current schedule and the spatial distribution of the levers. The importance of considering the spatial properties of behavior will be discussed.

Good spatiotemporal contiguity has long been suggested to be essential for associative learning to occur. But there are only a few demonstrations of this need in the spatial domain, and they all did so with one associate being biologically relevant phase (e.g., Rescorla & Cunningham, 1979). Here we report evidence of the benefit to associative learning of spatial contiguity between two neutral cues. We used a sensory preconditioning preparation with visual CSs in which CS2-CS1 trials during phase 1 were followed by CS1-US trials during phase 2, and then tested on CS2 as well as CS1. The CSs were colored squares and the US was an entertaining video clip. The conditioned response was the participants' looking at the location where the USs appeared. Critically, across groups (ns = 20), in phase 1 we varied the distance between CS2 and CS1. At test, greater conditioned responding to CS2 was observed when CS2 and CS1 were adjacent then when there was a small space between them. Within-subject control conditions assured that responding was due to Pavlovian conditioning of eye gaze direction. Thus, good spatial contiguity appears to enhance the formation of associations between neutral stimuli.

Wolf (1978) outlined the importance of social validity measures within applied behavior analytic research. Carr et al. (1999) provided an analysis of social validity trends within the first 31 years (1968-1998) of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA). The purpose of the current study was to extend Carr and colleagues' analysis of social validity trends in JABA to include issues published since Carr et al., additional measures, and further analysis of social validity trends. Implications for the field of applied behavior analysis and future research are provided.

An increased focus on the use of electronic technology in mainstream classrooms has established a need for the evaluation of popular educational software. The Plickers tablet application utilizes high response rates, response cards, and immediate feedback. The present study evaluated the use of Plickers in a mainstream middle-school language arts classroom. In Condition A students read fictional stories and took exams on literary analysis. Between exams, the teacher delivered a Plickers lesson that focused on common errors. A control group read the same three stories, received call-and-answer instruction after the first two, and took an exam after the third. Exams scores were higher (t(67) = 4.58, p < 0.001) for students who received the Plickers lesson. In Condition B students read non-fiction texts. The teacher presented a Plickers lesson after the first text. No skill deficits were known. The teacher presented the second and third texts with exams. No statistical difference was shown within this condition. However, scores differed significantly (t(145) = 4.66, p < 0.0001) across conditions. This suggests the increase in exam scores in Condition A is not due to the presentation of a second exam, nor due to the use of Plickers alone. Plickers was most effective when used to increase responding and give immediate feedback on common errors.

Promoting college and career readiness is predicated on a strong foundation of literacy skills; students who lack decoding skills cannot navigate text and are hindered in their comprehension. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Direct Instruction program, Corrective Reading Decoding Level A. This case study involved a fourth-grade student diagnosed with a specific learning disability in reading. Over the course of 16 weeks, a graduate student in special education conducted one-on-one decoding-based lessons using the program; fidelity checks were completed every 10 lessons. Pre- and post-data were gathered using CORE Phonics Survey and Corrective Reading Decoding Placement Test along with in-program formative assessments. Anecdotal data on the student’s performance in school were provided by the student’s mother. Results revealed post-test improvements in decoding skills and positive academic performance changes in the classroom. Implications for both practice and future research will be addressed in relation to Corrective Reading.

The current study presents data from functional analyses of patients in an inpatient pediatric unit for children with developmental disabilities and severe behavior problems which support the existence of masked functions. Masked functions of SIB have previously been reported in select studies (McKerchar, Kahng, Casioppo, & Wilson, 2001; Contrucci Kuhn & Triggs, 2009), defined as multiply-maintained behavior with functions varying dependent on whether protective equipment is applied. Data are presented from retrospective chart reviews of children (n = 5) admitted to an inpatient pediatric hospital unit for the treatment of severe problem behavior. Functional analyses were conducted with each patient using either a multi-element or paired stimulus format to identify the function of SIB. For the majority of patients, SIB was automatically maintained with all equipment removed, but served primarily an attention function when protective equipment was applied. Functional analysis data and common effective treatment components written into treatment plans across patients will be presented to further inform understanding of effective assessment and intervention components for SIB with masked functions.

Matrix training has been used to promote generalized responding in the demonstration of targeted object, action, language routines (Goldstein & Mousetis, 1989; Dauphin, Kinney, & Stromer, 2004) by presenting the learner with stimuli in pairs and then assessing generalization across novel combinations of the same stimuli. Although this procedure is effective in determining emergence of untrained relations given the presentation of pairs, it deviates from a typical play scenario in which all materials are available at once. The present study was conducted to design a method of evaluating to a practical degree, generalization demonstrated in matrix training. Using a 3x3 matrix, two participants were taught to perform motor actions and vocalizations with three pairs of toys with video modeling. Following acquisition of trained targets, participants were exposed to two generalization tests repeatedly. In one test, materials were presented to the participant in pairs as they typically are in matrix training. In the other test, all materials were presented to the participant at one time. Both participants demonstrated more motor actions and vocalizations across learned and unlearned targets when objects were presented in pairs as compared to being presented will all materials at once.

Caregivers need support with teaching augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The purpose of this study was to coach caregivers via telehealth (i.e., video conferencing with Google Hangout) to implement functional behavior analyses and functional communication training (FCT) to address both idiosyncratic and challenging behavior exhibited by two young boys with developmental delay (age 5) and autism (age 7) who were non-verbal. An adapted multiple probe design across three contexts was used to evaluate acquisition of communicative using high tech aided AAC (e.g., a Tobii Dynavox T10). A forward chain was also introduced to teach symbol selection and navigation on the Dynavox. Both children acquired the communicative alternatives taught with the Dynavox across each context (i.e., mands for tangibles, caregiver attention, and escape from demands). Caregiver implementation fidelity was measured with procedural checklists and was acceptable across baseline and intervention sessions for both children. Several challenges came up due to using a dedicated AAC device that should be addressed by future research such as providing technical assistance with setting up a device and symbol arrays remotely. Supplemental modules and other tools may be needed to facilitate larger scale implementation of evidence-based practices for children with disabilities and their families.

With increases in diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) over the past decade, it is imperative that children have early access to services (Chasson, Harris, & Neely, 2007). Early Intensive Behavioral Interventions (EIBI) is an applied behavior analytic approach that can be effective for remediating ASD symptoms for some individuals (Matson & Smith, 2008). Stakeholders report long waitlists for services and the effects of a delay is unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect a delay in EIBI for children with ASD (aged 3-5) have on later educational outcomes. Medicaid records from Minnesota were used to create a cohort who received a diagnosis between 2008 and 2010. Education records were matched from 2014 (94.5% match rate, n= 607). Delay to EIBI and educational outcomes (e.g., primary educational ASD diagnosis, instructional placement, standardized test scores) were evaluated with logistic regressions. Approximately 70% of children in this study experienced a delay to EIBI, with an average delay of nine months. Delays of five months or more were significantly associated with more restrictive instructional placements. Although some received services before a diagnosis was given, there are delays in Minnesota which may be detrimental. Future research should investigate if a telehealth delivery model could supplement services early on.

The focus of this presentation will be to study the effect of a self-monitoring list on the transition across dissimilar tasks allotted during an hour long behavior analytic therapy session in a child exhibiting Autism Spectrum Disorder. The purpose of this experiment is to show that the use of a self-monitoring list will have a significant effect on the time taken to transition from one task to another. It is a single case experimental design and the participant is a nine year old boy who is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He was provided with a personalized self-monitoring list containing a randomized array of tasks with slots specifying the varying schedules for reinforcers which was monitored by him through the course of the session. The use of the self-monitoring list has minimized transitioning difficulties experienced by the participant with reference to both time and behavior. A future implication could involve the use of self - monitoring list to help the participant transition through tasks in social and other non-academic settings.

Responses to the spoken language of others (i.e., receptive language) is commonly targeted, directly or indirectly, within interventions for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Grow & LeBlanc, 2013). Receptive labels are one of the common receptive language response often targeted through a discrete trial teaching (DTT; Lovaas, 1981, 1987) approach. Some authors have discussed the risks (e.g., faulty stimulus control) of including irrelevant or additional information in the instruction (e.g., "Touch the ball" as opposed to "ball"; Green, 2001; Grow & LeBlanc, 2013). The purpose of this study was to explore the relative effectiveness of the complexity of instructions on receptive language skill acquisition for an individual diagnosed with ASD.

Safely accessing transportation is an area of deficit for many individuals diagnosed with intellectual disabilities, which can negatively impact their ability to access important educational and community based learning experiences. Despite this, the majority of research on this topic has focused on increasing seatbelt wearing with young drivers specifically high school and college students. This lack of research on seatbelt safety is an immediate concern for the safety of individuals within the intellectual and developmental disabilities population. The purpose of this study was to determine an effective treatment to reduce seatbelt removal while in a vehicle. The participant was a 16-year old diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and an intellectual disability, who lived on a residential campus where his behavior while in vehicles was a significant barrier to less restrictive settings. First, a reversal design with an imbedded alternating treatments design was utilized to evaluate interventions, including blocking, differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), and a combination of DRO and NCR. Results of the treatment evaluation indicated that a DRO procedure alone was most effective in increasing seatbelt wearing and decreasing seatbelt removal, along with other problem behavior. Therefore, the DRO procedure was evaluated independently and faded to acceptable rates for direct care staff implementation. These results indicate that a single component intervention was successful at increasing seatbelt wearing resulting in greater community access and an improved quality of life. Reliability data was collected for 89% of sessions across conditions with an average agreement of 99%.

Parent involvement is a crucial component of behavioral interventions, particularly as it relates to language development for toddlers and young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. An intensive short-term training model has previously demonstrated efficacy in teaching parents to implement Pivotal Response Treatment (Koegel, Symon, & Koegel, 2002). However, the 25 hour one-week model lacks social validity for some parents of toddlers because the schedule can interrupt natural sleep routines. As a result, an abbreviated 15-hour model was offered to parents of toddlers, while parents with young children continued to enroll in the 25-hour model. 28 parent-child dyads participated in the current year-long pilot study, with 7 dyads enrolled in the 15-hour model and 21 dyads enrolled in the 25-hour model. Results indicate that across both service options parents increased their fidelity of implementation with average scores in an acceptable range of fidelity. During the one-week training period, 5 of 7 dyads enrolled in the 15-hour model and 16 of the 21 dyads enrolled in the 25-hour model obtained fidelity of implementation. These findings further support for short-term training models and warrant further investigation of the brief model and programming for toddlers.

A multiple baseline design was used to examine the effects of behavioral momentum and positive punishment on echolalia. The procedure was implemented for a child with autism who engaged in high rates of echolalia following vocal instructions. Echolalia was defined as any instance where the student repeats a word or a phrase said by an adult or a student, outside of an appropriate context. The intervention increased correct responding and decreased echolalia for a 6-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder.