Toward Maximizing Assessment Efficiency: A Synthesized Trial-Based Functional Analysis and Competing Stimulus Assessment.

Despite the success of the standard functional analysis (FA), some limitations to conducting an FA in practice include time, resources, ecological relevance, and safety, which have led to the development of procedural adaptations such as trial-based and synthesized FA formats. The purpose of this case study was to identify the function(s) of self-injurious behavior (SIB) for a 3-year-old female with developmental disabilities using a brief trial-based FA with ecologically relevant synthesized contingencies, based on caregiver input, to minimize opportunities for SIB. We identified that positive physical attention likely functioned, at least in part, as a reinforcer for SIB, in less than 42 min. Overall harm to the child as a result of the synthesized trial-based FA was minimal, and the caregiver viewed the modified conditions favorably. We then assessed the role of competing stimuli on SIB rates with the child's mother and identified two potential items that may compete with attention as a reinforcer for SIB. Our findings highlight the utility and importance of individualized assessment as the first step in the safe treatment of severely challenging behavior.

Caregiver involvement in applied behavior-analytic research: A scoping review and discussion.

We conducted a scoping review to characterize the role of caregiver involvement in behavior-analytic research. We reviewed eight behavioral-learning journals from 2011-2022 for works that included children or caregivers as participants and characterized caregiver involvement as passive (implications for caregivers, input, social validity) and active (implementation, caregiver behavior, training, caregiver-collected data). The review identified 228 studies, and almost all (96.1%; n = 219) involved caregivers in some capacity; 94.3% (n = 215) had passive involvement (26.8% had only passive involvement; n = 61), 69.3% (n = 158) had active involvement (1.8% had only active involvement; n = 4), and 3.9% (n = 9) had neither passive nor active involvement. Involvement generally increased over publication years. The most common types of involvement were implications for caregivers, implementation, and input; caregiver-collected data were rare. We propose considerations when engaging caregivers in research and suggest new avenues of inquiry related to caregivers' treatment objectives and social validity, treatment implementers, and caregiver-collected data.

Procedural parameters in equivalence-based instruction with individuals diagnosed with autism: A call for systematic research.

Equivalence-based instruction (EBI) is an efficient and efficacious methodology to establish equivalence classes that has been used to teach various academic skills to neurotypical adults. Although previous reviews confirmed the utility of EBI with participants with developmental disabilities, it is unclear whether certain procedural parameters are associated with positive equivalence outcomes. We extended previous reviews by categorizing studies that used EBI with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and assessed whether any procedural parameters were associated with better equivalence responding. Due to the wide variability of procedural parameters in EBI research, the best procedural permutations to form equivalence classes with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder are still unknown. Thus, this paper serves as a call to action for applied researchers. Specifically, we encourage and invite researchers to systematically investigate the necessary variables or combination of variables that may lead to successful equivalence class formation.

Using Telehealth to Program Generalization of Caregiver Behavior.

Stokes and Baer, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10(2), 349-367 (1977) provided guidelines to assist practitioners with programming for the generalization of behavior change. Despite the suggestions provided in their seminal paper, generalization remains an often overlooked area within behavior analytic research and practice. In addition, few studies have described explicit strategies to program for the generalization of caregiver behaviors that are consistent with interventions to reduce child challenging behavior. In the current discussion, we describe how telehealth provides a potential avenue for practitioners to focus on generalization. Telehealth helps practitioners access behavior-change agents, materials, and contexts that they may not directly contact in educational and clinical environments. Using telehealth to target these areas early on, and throughout treatment for child challenging behavior, may facilitate more rapid treatment success and maintenance. We provide a case example to demonstrate the use of telehealth to program the generalization of a mother's treatment plan implementation to reduce the severe challenging behavior of an adolescent. We report clinically and socially significant outcomes related to caregiver fidelity and challenging behavior reduction.

Establishing derived reinforcers via stimulus equivalence.

If one of several stimuli in an equivalence class acquires a function, it transfers to all members of the respective class. Even though research has demonstrated this transfer across a variety of stimulus functions (e.g., discriminative), few studies have focused on the transfer of the reinforcing function. The current study extended previous literature by establishing derived reinforcers using conditional discrimination training with six neurotypical adults. We established three 4-member equivalence classes and then created a discriminative stimulus in one member by correlating it with reinforcement. We also expanded classes by adding a stimulus to each class and testing its function. During the transfer of function tests, five out of six participants chose the derived reinforcers more than the other stimuli. Three participants required remedial training or testing prior to demonstrating transfer of function. Results show that stimulus equivalence training is an effective and efficient paradigm to establish derived reinforcers.

The Effect of Synchronous Discussion Sessions in an Asynchronous Course.

Online learning is extremely prevalent in education, more than ever given the COVID-19 pandemic that has shifted most educational services to an online platform. More specifically, in 2015, close to six million students were taking at least one online learning course, which was 29.7% of all postsecondary students (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics 2018). In 2017, the Online Learning Consortium reported an almost 4% increase in online learning students in 2015 as compared to the previous two years. Although online learning is becoming more prevalent, there has been little to no research to determine what makes online learning most effective. Those that have, either have not compared modalities (i.e., only testing one format) (Sella et al. 2014; Walker and Rehfeldt 2012) or have focused on another aspect of the learning (e.g., does grading anonymously affect performance) (Liu et al. 2018). Determining the components of online learning that lead to better student outcomes will add to the current literature and improve online learning as a whole. The primary purpose of this experiment was to determine what forms of discussion (synchronous vs asynchronous) are most effective in an asynchronous online master-level applied behavior analysis course.

An Evaluation of the Emergence of Untrained Academic and Applied Skills After Instruction With Video Vignettes.

Applied behavior-analytic skills are derived from precise, technical, objective operational definitions and exemplars of natural phenomena. In some cases, technical behavior-analytic terminology can be challenging for students and practitioners to learn and apply given a person's individual history with the concepts. One of the conceptual areas of behavior analysis that learners tend to struggle with more than other areas is the functional account of human language or verbal behavior. We used an emergent-responding training protocol with freely available and easy-to-implement web-based learning tools to teach the terms and definitions of Skinner's taxonomy of verbal operants using video exemplars and mixed response forms to six graduate students. We also tested for the emergence of untrained applied clinical skills in the form of collecting data while watching novel real-world video exemplars. We found that the video-based training system reliably resulted in the emergence of untrained responding and generalization to novel stimuli and responses and that the skills were maintained by four out of six participants for 2 weeks. In addition, the applied skills performances of the participants were comparable to students who received traditional training in verbal behavior, slightly lower than the performances of Board Certified Behavior Analysts, and considerably lower than the performances of doctoral-level BCBAs. When compared to other published research that used emergent-responding training protocols, the current study required more training time on average but resulted in better performances during some maintenance probes. A brief conceptual analysis of our data is presented, as well as recommendations for future research. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40616-020-00140-3.

An intensive telehealth assessment and treatment model for an adult with developmental disabilities.

Over the last decade, the provision of applied behavior analysis (ABA) services within a telehealth delivery format has had a flourishing literature base. Research has demonstrated that caregivers can successfully conduct functional analyses and functional communication training to treat challenging behavior with coaching from practitioners via telehealth. Previous limitations include research that has only been conducted with children, typically in 1hr, weekly meetings, so the utility of providing ABA therapy via telehealth across the lifespan is unknown. Additionally, the effects of a more intensive treatment format delivered via telehealth has not been evaluated. The purpose of the current study was to coach caregivers to conduct the assessment and treatment process for a young man with developmental disabilities using an intensive-outpatient model in a telehealth format. Functional analysis procedures led to the development of a function-based treatment to reduce challenging behavior and increase functional communication. Caregivers demonstrated high procedural integrity across all phases of the study and found the intervention highly acceptable and effective. Areas for future research and directions are discussed.

A Proposed Functional Analysis of Transmission Prevention Behaviors for a Respiratory Virus (SARS-CoV-2).

The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has had a global impact on lives everywhere and has led to the disruption of, and interference with, virtually every aspect of life. In response, leading experts, political leaders, doctors, and scientists have released guidelines that attempt to prevent and mitigate the exponential rate of infection. The response to these safety recommendations has produced tremendous behavior variability as a society. Although a plethora of factors are likely relevant, a more complete analysis of human behavior during this time might help explain this disparity. The principles of applied behavior analysis allow for a functional analysis of an individual's use of transmission prevention behaviors (TPBs) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Thus, the purpose of this discussion is to provide a conceptual analysis for some possible explanations for why individuals might or might not engage in virus TPBs, as well as some recommendations to help combat the current pandemic, as well as those in the future.

Developing and Implementing Emergent Responding Training Systems With Available and Low-Cost Computer-Based Learning Tools: Some Best Practices and a Tutorial.

Systems and protocols based on emergent responding training have been demonstrated to be effective instructional tools for teaching a variety of skills to typically developing adult learners across a number of content areas in controlled research settings. However, these systems have yet to be widely adopted by instructors and are not often used in applied settings such as college classrooms or staff trainings. Proponents of emergent responding training systems have asserted that this failure might be because the protocols require substantial resources to develop, and there are no known manuals or guidelines to assist teachers or trainers with the development of the training systems. In order to assist instructors with the implementation of systems, we provide a brief summary of emergent responding training systems research; review the published computer-based training systems studies; present general guidelines for developing and implementing a training and testing system; and provide a detailed, task-analyzed written and visually supported manual/tutorial for educators and trainers using free and easily accessible computer-based learning tools and web applications. Educators and trainers can incorporate these methods and learning tools into their current curriculum and instructional designs to improve overall learning outcomes and training efficiency.

Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA): Novel Interpretations and Future Directions.

The functional analysis (FA) methodology was developed to provide an empirical basis for understanding the reinforcers contributing to the maintenance of problem behavior. Previous research has demonstrated that multiple formats have been established to address some areas, such as practicality, efficiency, and safety. We reviewed the research on a new replication and extension of the standard FA format, the interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) and its subsequent treatment. We discuss the efficiency and effectiveness of the IISCA across various populations, settings, topographies of problem behaviors, and maintaining functions across 17 studies. Common treatment trends, novel developments, and other critical intervention components are also reviewed. We provide suggestions for future directions and guidelines for practitioners when considering the use of the IISCA.

A comparison of response interruption and redirection and competing items on vocal stereotypy and appropriate vocalizations.

The current study compared the reductive effects of response interruption and redirection (RIRD) and competing items (including sound-producing and nonsound-producing toys) on the vocal stereotypy exhibited by two children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Sound-producing toys reduced vocal stereotypy relative to nonsound-producing toys and RIRD reduced stereotypy and increased rates of appropriate vocalizations to a greater extent than providing competing items. These findings replicate and extend previous literature suggesting that RIRD and sound-producing competing items are effective methods to treat vocal stereotypy.

Behavioral Treatment of Self-Injury: 2001 to 2016.

Individuals diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) frequently exhibit self-injurious behavior (SIB). Previous research has examined the published literature on behavioral treatments of SIB from 1964-2000. Results suggested that these treatments were highly efficacious at decreasing SIB, particularly when based on the results of a functional assessment. The purpose of this review is to update, replicate, and extend the previous research. The current findings indicate an increase in studies reporting automatically maintained SIB as well as less efficacious treatments overall. Discussion of our conclusions and methods of SIB assessment and treatment are discussed, both as they relate to the previous review and for future directions.