Improving Human-Service Organizations through Process Mapping: A Tutorial for Practitioners.

Developing and improving organizational processes is an important element for staff satisfaction, effective communication, and ultimately the success of an organization (Rummler & Brache, 2013). Human-service organizations are no exception and, in fact, could greatly benefit from process improvement. This article provides guided steps for using process maps as a means for improving processes in human-service organizations.

Ten Environmental Sustainability Initiatives for Implementation in Human-Service Organizations.

Climate change is happening at an escalating rate. Every organization, including human-service organizations, needs to determine how their policies and practices positively and negatively affect the environment and enact a plan for reducing their negative impacts. There is no targeted guidance for leaders of human-service organizations, like applied behavior analysis organizations, to reduce their negative impact on the environment. This article provides 10 initiatives human service organizations can implement toward this goal.

Making a Footprint in Environmental Sustainability: A Behavioral Systems Approach to Engaging the Behavioral Community.

Climate change is arguably the most pressing issue facing humanity today. There is significant research to support the argument that climate change is a human-created problem and it can only be addressed by changing human behavior. Despite the magnitude of the issue and the potential for behavior science to make a significant contribution, there are few behavior analysts/scientists currently working in climate change. One possible explanation is that there is limited access to preparation for and opportunities to apply our science to large-scale issues. In response, the Behaviorists for Social Responsibility Special Interest Group of the Association for Behavior Analysis International developed the Matrix Project as a way to apply Behavioral Systems Analysis to issues of social importance. By understanding the contingencies that hinder or promote working in a particular area we can begin to create the conditions that will facilitate such work. The purpose of this article is twofold: 1) to demonstrate how the Matrix Project may be used to increase the likelihood that behavior analysts/scientists will work in areas of social importance using environmental sustainability as an example, and 2) encourage behavior analysts/scientists to target and understand complex systems by providing examples of actionable steps that could be generalized to other important social issues.

On the use of the term 'frequency' in applied behavior analysis.

There exists a terminological problem in applied behavior analysis: the term frequency has been used as a synonym for both rate (the number of responses per time) and count (the number of responses). To guide decisions about the use and meaning of frequency, we surveyed the usage of frequency in contemporary behavior-analytic journals and textbooks and found that the predominant usage of frequency was as count, not rate. Thus, we encourage behavior analysts to use frequency as a synonym for count.

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior: a Status Update.

We analyzed past volumes of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (TAVB) to provide a comprehensive status update after 30 years of publication. Data on TAVB's content, frequent contributors, and scholarly impact suggest a healthy state of the journal.

Adherence with universal precautions after immediate, personalized performance feedback.

We evaluated the effects of immediate, personalized performance feedback on adherence with hand hygiene by health-care staff in the context of a multiple baseline design across participants. Target behaviors reached mastery levels and were maintained near 100% throughout 2 months of maintenance probes.