Some reflections on 25 years of the association for behavior analysis: Past, present, and future.

This paper offers some reflections on the discipline and profession of behavior analysis, as well as on the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA), on the occasion of the association's 25th anniversary. It is based on a panel session conducted at the 1999 convention that included six past presidents of ABA (Donald M. Baer, Judith E. Favell, Sigrid S. Glenn, Philip N. Hineline, Jack Michael, and Edward K. Morris) and its current Executive Director and Secretary-Treasurer (Maria E. Malott). Among the topics addressed were (a) the survival of behavior analysis in university and cultural contexts, (b) the training of behavior-analytic researchers and practitioners, (c) relations between basic and applied research, (d) convergences between behavior analysis and other disciplines, (e) the structure and function of ABA, and (f) the importance of students for the future of the association, the discipline, and the profession. Questions from the audience raised issues concerning the relevance of major behavior-analytic journals, advances in behavior analysis since the death of B. F. Skinner, and the availability of accessible, popular material on applied behavior analysis.

Evaluating a more cost-efficient alternative to providing in-home feedback to parents: the use of spousal feedback.

We evaluated the contribution of spousal feedback to a parent education curriculum designed for parents of children with autism. A modified multiple baseline design across 3 husband-and-wife dyads was used to examine the effects of teaching parents to give each other feedback on their teaching performance. For 5 of 6 participants, improvement in teaching performance occurred following didactic presentations. However, additional improvement was observed for 5 participants when the spousal feedback component was implemented.

Computer prompts to improve social interactions and data collection.

In this study we sought to improve the distribution and quality of staff-client interactions by comparing a traditional paper-and-pencil system of prompts and recording to a computerized system across 4 staff members. Results showed that the computer system produced more positive statements, an improved distribution of interaction among clients, and a larger increase in the delivery of positive reinforcement when compared to a traditional paper-and-pencil system. The use of computer prompts appears to provide a simple method of improving staff-client interactions and provides a method of documenting interactions and staff members' adherence to prescriptive programs.

The effects of increased physical exercise on disruptive behavior in retarded persons.

The low frequency but highly intense disruptive behavior of 10 institutionalized mentally retarded persons was treated by providing them with opportunities for vigorous exercise. In two experiments, severely aggressive and hyperactive clients were exposed to two daily periods of jogging and strenuous activities in multiple baseline designs across clients. Rating scale data collected daily from cottage and school personnel indicated a systematic reduction in problem behavior for 8 of the 10 participants to levels considered "not a problem" or only "an occasional problem." Physical exercise may offer promise as an effective, benign, and practical adjunct to other treatment and management techniques.

The right to effective behavioral treatment.

We propose that individuals who are recipients or potential recipients of treatment designed to change their behavior have the right to a therapeutic environment, services whose overriding goal is personal welfare, treatment by a competent behavior analyst, programs that teach functional skills, behavioral assessment and ongoing evaluation, and the most effective treatment procedures available.

The right to effective behavioral treatment.

WE PROPOSE THAT INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE RECIPIENTS OR POTENTIAL RECIPIENTS OF TREATMENT DESIGNED TO CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR HAVE THE RIGHT TO: (1) a therapeutic environment, (2) services whose overriding goal is personal welfare, (3) treatment by a competent behavior analyst, (4) programs that teach functional skills, (5) behavioral assessment and ongoing evaluation, and (6) the most effective treatment procedures available.

Physical restraint as positive reinforcement.

The reinforcing function of physical restraint was analyzed for three retarded individuals who had a history of restraint and appeared to enjoy it. Using a preference paradigm with one participant and a reversal design with two others, we found that an arbitrary response systematically increased for each participant when followed by brief periods of restraint. No comparable increases occurred in conditions in which responses were not reinforced or were followed by stimuli designed to control for the nonrestraint components of the restraint consequence. Results were discussed in terms of three clinical issues: determining the possible role of restraint in maintaining behavior problems such as self-injury in natural settings, preventing or eliminating the reinforcing function of restraint, and using restraint reinforcement in treating behavior problems when this consequence is the only identifiable reinforcer for an individual.

Relative effectiveness and efficiency of group vs. individual training of severely retarded persons.

Two groups of severely retarded individuals were trained on a work-recognition task: One group was trained individually, i.e., in one-to-one training sessions; the four members of the other group were taught simultaneously by one teacher. The group-teaching strategy resulted in rates of acquisition that were similar to those found with individual instruction. Further, group training proved to be far more efficient in terms of teacher time; i.e., subjects trained as a group acquired significantly more skills in less teacher time than did individually trained subjects. The results indicate that group training is a viable and, at least in some situations, a preferable method for teaching severely retarded persons.

The use of physical restraint in the treatment of self-injury and as positive reinforcement.

Two experiments investigated the effects of a treatment package on the self-injurious behavior of three profoundly retarded persons who appeared to enjoy the physical restraints used to prevent their self-injury. The treatment package included physically restraining subjects contingent on increasing periods of time during which no self-injury occurred, and providing them with toys and attention during intervals between restraints. A reversal and multiple-baseline analysis documented that the rapid and complete reduction in self-injury by all subjects was due to this treatment package. Because these results suggested that physical restraint might function as a positive reinforcer, in a third experiment physical restraint was applied contingent on a marble placement response with one subject. A reversal design demonstrated that toy play systematically increased when each response resulted in restraint. The experiments have implications for the nonaversive remediation of self-injury in individuals who are restrained, as well as for the development and maintenance of self-injury in natural settings.

Evaluation of entertainment materials for severely retarded persons.

Research with retarded and nonretarded populations suggest that toys can be an important part of group-care programs. Yet in a review of the literature. Wheman (1976) showed that there was a paucity of empirical data on effective toy utilization with retarded populations. In this study time-sampling measurements were made of the free-play behavior of 11 severely retarded females with 20 different toys and comparison items. Data analysis revealed that (a) the subjects had strong preferences among toys; (b) there was a low, statistically nonsignificant, correlation between toy preference and price; and (c) professional staff were unable to make accurate predictions of toy preference. Subjects were idle 65 percent of the time when only the 10 less popular toys were available, but only 25% of the time when only the 10 more popular toys were available. We concluded that (a) the behavior of retarded individuals is strongly influenced by the particular toys available to them, (b) empirical data are necessary to make maximally effective and economical use of entertainment materials, and (c) the current lack of such data for retarded population makes this an important area for future research.

Control of preference in children by conditioned positive reinforcement.

A preference measure was employed with children to evaluate the conditioned positive reinforcing function of a stimulus that preceded reinforcement. A match-to-sample procedure was arranged in which subjects could respond to either the form or color dimension of a compound sample stimulus. Intermittent token reinforcement was provided equally for color and form matches. Two stimuli were employed (Stimulus A and Stimulus B), each consisting of a distinctive tone and colored light. One of these stimuli (the paired stimulus) preceded each token delivery, and the other did not (nonpaired stimulus). The paired stimulus was dependent upon each response to one match dimension, and the nonpaired stimulus followed each response to the other dimension. Three of the five subjects responded primarily to the dimension that was followed by the paired stimulus. This effect was obtained regardless of which stimulus (A or B) was paired and on which match dimension (color or form) the paired stimulus was dependent. These results were unaltered by discontinuing the nonpaired stimulus. The other two subjects demonstrated consistent preferences for the form dimension and Stimulus A, respectively.