The Evolution of the Conceptually Systematic Dimension and Its Current Functions in Applied Behavior Analysis.

What does it mean to be conceptually systematic in contemporary applied behavior analysis (ABA) research and practice? To answer this question, the present study conducted a historical analysis of ABA scholars' interpretations of the conceptually systematic dimension of ABA over the last 55 years. The present article found the current characteristics of the conceptually systematic dimension are indeed sufficient to suggest ABA's conceptual independence from the experimental analysis of behavior or any other subdisciplines of behavior analysis. Based on this finding, this article addresses the challenges in contemporary ABA field such as ABA's own basic and applied continuum, translational research, and its relationship with other disciplines' research and practice.

Preliminary Practice Recommendations for Telehealth Direct Applied Behavior Analysis Services with Children with Autism.

This article provides preliminary practice recommendations for telehealth direct applied behavior analysis (ABA) services for children with autism. In the face of COVID-19, there is an immediate need for discussion on how to implement various ABA procedures via telehealth for ABA practitioners. Alongside emerging scientific evidence on the effectiveness of telehealth direct service as well as various service-related guidelines, we provide preliminary practice recommendations that are based on the existing literature on in-person and telehealth ABA procedures. We also discuss these recommendations with case studies of two boys with autism. Social validity measures indicated that families were satisfied with telehealth direct services. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has resolved itself, telehealth direct ABA service will still be a valuable option for remote and international locations where direct ABA service is limited, and thus, practice recommendations continue to be relevant for all practitioners that use telehealth direct service.

Black Caregivers' Perspectives on Racism in ASD Services: Toward Culturally Responsive ABA Practice.

Significant racial and ethnic disparities in health care and service access exist. In the present article, we reviewed qualitative studies investigating the racism-related experiences of Black caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the U.S. health care system. Specifically, we examined institutional racism (i.e., systemic racism) and individual racism directed toward Black families when they seek diagnoses and services for their children with ASD. Additionally, we summarized culturally responsive and context-specific practice guidelines to work collaboratively with Black caregivers of children with ASD for applied behavior analysis practitioners.

Non-symmetrical effects in the temporal bisection after selective food devaluation in rats.

The present study investigated the effects of selective food devaluation on performance in the temporal bisection procedure with rats. Differential outcomes (sucrose vs. grain pellets) were associated with correct responding for a short and a long duration in order to analyze the effects of a selective duration-specific food devaluation on the temporal bisection function. Selective prefeeding produced differential changes in proportion of responding, the p(long) function, and PSE. A more consistent impact was observed when the food associated with the long anchor duration was devalued than when the short anchor duration food was devalued. The results are discussed in relation to the bias as well as a choose-short effect.

Comparison of Telehealth-Related Ethics and Guidelines and a Checklist for Ethical Decision Making in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) services have been provided primarily in the fields of health care and education across various settings using an in-person service delivery model. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the necessity of and demand for ABA services using telehealth have increased. The purpose of the present article was to cross-examine the ethical codes and guidelines of different, but related fields of practice and to discuss potential implications for telehealth-based ABA service delivery. We reviewed the telehealth-specific ethical codes and guidelines of the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of Social Workers, along with the related ABA literature. These organizations addressed several useful and unique ethical concerns that have not been addressed in ABA literature. We also developed a brief checklist for ABA practitioners to evaluate their telehealth readiness by meeting the legal, professional, and ethical requirements of ABA services.

Current Diversification of Behaviorism.

Over the last few decades, behaviorism as a philosophy of the science of psychology, especially in the field of behavior analysis and related areas, has diversified to the point that scholars from inside and outside the field are often confused about what exactly behaviorism is. The aim of this study is to analyze how such diversification of behaviorism has arisen over time and what factors might have contributed to it using evolutionary biology's concept of adaptive radiation as an analogical process. Diversification of behaviorism has occurred in many areas over time as behaviorism has extended its field of practice. Although some characteristics of behaviorism remained, other characteristics were modified. One such characteristic that went through extensive modification is the agent-free approach to the analysis of behavior: the agent problem. This approach has met criticism from inside and outside the field and has been under a strong selective pressure. The present article discusses how the agent problem in a different niche has shaped behaviorism into new forms that we see today.

Duration-specific effects of outcome devaluation in temporal control are differentially sensitive to amount of training.

This study demonstrates that overtraining in temporal discrimination modifies temporal stimulus control in a bisection task and produces habitual responding, as evidenced through insensitivity to food devaluation. Rats were trained or overtrained in a 2- versus 8-sec temporal discrimination task, with each duration associated with a lever (left or right) and food (grain or sucrose). Overtraining produced a leftward shift in the bisection point. Devaluation treatment induced a differential loss of responding depending on stimulus duration (short versus long) and the level of training (training versus overtraining). The relationships between timing behavior and habitual behavior are discussed.

The effect of the long anchor duration on performance in the temporal bisection procedure.

The present study investigated how the value of the long anchor duration influences the bisection point (BP) in the temporal bisection procedure. The ratio similarity rule (Gibbon, 1981, On the form and location of the psychometric bisection function for time. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 24(1), 58-87) hypothesizes that the location of the BP is determined by a ratio comparison between the short and long anchor durations. The Short/no short hypothesis (Machado and Keen, 2003, Temporal discrimination in a long operant chamber. Behavioural Processes, 62(1), 157-182) indicates that the location of the BP is influenced mainly by the short duration. Two experiments with pigeons manipulated the long anchor duration while fixing the short anchor duration in a series of anchor pairs. The results showed that the location of the BP depended on the initial training condition, a primacy effect. When the initial training condition used anchors of 3- vs. 9-s, a relatively strong influence of the long anchor duration was observed as predicted by the ratio similarity rule. On the other hand, when anchors were 3- vs. 27-s in the initial training condition, the effect of the long duration was relatively small, conforming more closely to the Short/no short hypothesis. Keypecking to the sample key during a trial, sample-cue responding, was also observed. The functions relating sample-cue responding to elapsed trial time also indicated the primacy effect.