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| Skill Acquisition and “Mastery” |
| Sunday, January 19, 2025 |
| 12:30 PM–1:20 PM |
| Sheraton New Orleans, Level 3, Napoleon Ballroom BC |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Terry S. Falcomata (The University of Texas at Austin) |
| CE Instructor: Terry S. Falcomata, Ph.D. |
| Presenting Author: DANIEL MARK FIENUP (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Abstract: What does it mean when we say a child “mastered” some task? This talk will discuss performance criteria, or “mastery criteria,” which are the rules instructors follow to determine when a particular phase of teaching is completed and the instructor should change their teaching behavior. Despite the ubiquity of including performance criteria as a component of skill acquisition programming, there is surprisingly little research to support our practices. During this talk, the concept of “mastery” and components of performance criteria will be defined. Relevant past research will be discussed as well as new research that examines how different components of mastery affect learning and how variations in how we apply criteria to different students and types of responses affect the durability of those responses. The talk will end with suggestions for future research and a call to join in on conducting your own research on this topic. |
| Instruction Level: Basic |
| Target Audience: Folks working with children, practitioners |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) Define the components of acquisition criteria; (2) Explain how different components of acquisition criteria relate to response maintenance; (3) Explain why the term “mastery” is misleading. |
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| DANIEL MARK FIENUP (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
 Daniel M. Fienup is a Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He received his Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis from Southern Illinois University and his Ph.D. in School Psychology from Illinois State University. Dr. Fienup and his students conduct research on instructional design and educational performance. Dr. Fienup has published numerous articles in behavior analytic journals. He is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and a former Associate Editor at the Journal of Behavioral Education and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. He serves on the editorial board for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Behavior Analysis in Practice, The Psychological Record, and Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice. He also serves on the Licensed Behavior Analyst New York state board and is a past board member of the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis. Dr. Fienup was the 2022 recipient of the Fred S. Keller Behavioral Education award from Division 25 (behavior analysis) of the American Psychological Association. |
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