A Review of Crying and Caregiving: Crying as a Stimulus.

The interactions between infants and caregivers are critical to infant development and caregiver well-being. Traditional developmental research has primarily emphasized the infant's development when studying infant-caregiver interactions, but a less commonly assessed feature of those interactions is the effect of the infant's crying on the caregiver's behavior. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method (Moher et al., Public Library of Science Medicine, 6(7), e1000097, 2009), we conducted a systematic review of the literature evaluating the effects of crying on caregiver behavior. We searched for peer-reviewed articles in the Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection databases that included research studies in which researchers observed and manipulated infant crying and simultaneously measured features of caregiver behavior (actual or analogue). We used this body of literature to evaluate the existing evidence of the effects of crying on caregiver behavior, address the limitations and current gaps in our understanding of those interactions, and identify areas for future behavioral research.

Assessing negative reinforcement through simultaneous observing and committed concurrent progressive-ratio procedures: Preliminary investigations.

Efficient methods for assessing the relative aversiveness of stimuli are sparse and underresearched. Having access to efficient procedures that can identify aversive stimuli would benefit researchers and practitioners alike. Across three experiments, 13 participants helped to pilot, refine, and test two approaches to identifying negative reinforcers. The first experiment presented two conditions, one in which computerized button pressing started or stopped one of two recorded infant cries (or silence, when the control button was selected). Choices were presented either in a modified observing-response procedure (i.e., simultaneous observing) or in a modified progressive-ratio procedure (i.e., committed concurrent progressive ratio; CCPR). Results were favorable though not conclusive on their own. A second experiment, using more distinct stimuli (i.e., one likely aversive, one likely not aversive), replicated the first, and clearer results emerged. Finally, the third experiment tested the stimuli from the second experiment in a CCPR arrangement where sound was terminated contingent on responding and idiosyncratic negative reinforcement hierarchies emerged. The utility of these two procedures is discussed, and future work that addresses the limitations is outlined.

Opportunities for ABA intervention in Phelan-McDermid syndrome.

Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS), also called 22q13.3 deletion syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder affecting at least 2,000 people worldwide (Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation, 2019, How rare is Phelan-McDermid?). PMS has many distinguishing characteristics and many medical specialties have been recommended to treat the clinical features. While many therapies, including behavioral therapy, have been speculated to be beneficial in treating PMS, there is little known regarding their effectiveness [Costales, J. L. and Kolevzon, A. 2015. Phelan-McDermid syndrome and SHANK3: Implications for treatment. Neurotherapeutics: The Journal of the American Society for Experimental Neurotherapeutics, 12, 620-630.]. Behavior analysis has the capability to help in many areas of treatment for PMS either directly through, for example, behavior treatment to address aggressive behavior, or through collaborating with other specialties treating PMS by combining, for example, behavioral principles in the alleviation of medical issues such as constipation. Currently, there is a role for the behavior analyst to expand our field and identify effective treatments for those with PMS while we wait for a cure. In this paper, we discuss how medical considerations may affect behavior interventions and make recommendations for the behavior analyst working with PMS.

Task Clarification and Feedback Improves Room Tidiness and Safety in a Training Center.

In training centers, staff and client safety is of paramount concern. Efforts to keep an area clean can contribute to better safety. This study employed a multiple-baseline across-participants-and-locations design to assess the effectiveness of a treatment package, which included task clarification and feedback, to increase room tidiness in a behavioral training center in Hong Kong. Results show that the treatment package was effective in improving room tidiness.

An external review of the conclusions regarding the peak direct training module.

Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge-Direct Training Module (PEAK-DTM) is a commercially available assessment and curriculum for individuals whose language skills are not developmentally adequate. In their review of PEAK-DTM, Reed and Luiselli (2016) analyzed the extant literature on PEAK-DTM and concluded that it has a sound and growing body of empirical support on its efficacy, usability, and psychometric properties. Similar conclusions are mirrored in the PEAK-DTM literature and promotional material. I review these conclusions and contend that many overrate the research that backs them. Suggestions for a more rigorous research agenda on PEAK-DTM and its related modules are provided.

Using a Verbal Analysis of Lady Gaga's Applause as a Classroom Exercise for Teaching Verbal Behavior.

Learning Skinner's (1957) verbal behavior taxonomy requires extensive study and practice. Thus, novel classroom exercises might serve this goal. The present manuscript describes a classroom exercise in which two students analyzed Lady Gaga's song Applause in terms of its metaphorical arrangements. Through the exercise, students identified various verbal operants and their subtypes, including those seldom researched by the behavioral community (see Sautter and LeBlanc 2006, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 22, 35-48), which helped them conclude that Lady Gaga's Applause is comprised of two themes: the artist taking control, and the artist-as-art.

Classroom-based interdependent group contingencies increase children's physical activity.

This study investigated the effects of 2 interdependent group contingencies (individual vs. cumulative classroom goal setting) on the number of pedometer-recorded steps taken per day. Thirty third-grade students in 2 classrooms participated. An ABACX design was conducted in which the X phase referred to a replication of the most successful phase (i.e., B or C). Results indicated that individual goal setting, rather than cumulative classroom goal setting, was more effective in increasing the number of steps taken per day on average. Results suggest that individual feedback may be an important factor in attaining desired results.

Gamification: The Intersection between Behavior Analysis and Game Design Technologies.

Deterding et al. (Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments, USA 15: 9-15, 2011) report a recent rise in popularity of video game inspired software designed to address issues in a variety of areas, including health, energy conservation, education, and business. These applications have been based on the concept of gamification, which involves a process by which nongame activities are designed to be more like a game. We provide examples of how gamification has been used to increase health-related behavior, energy consumption, academic performance, and other socially-significant behavior. We argue that behavior analytic research and practice stands to benefit from incorporating successful elements of game design. Lastly, we provide suggestions for behavior analysts regarding applied and basic research related to gamification.

Behavioral coaching.

The term behavioral coaching has been used inconsistently in and outside the field of behavior analysis. In the sports literature, the term has been used to describe various intervention strategies, and in the organizational behavior management literature it has been used to describe an approach to training management personnel and staff. This inconsistency is problematic in terms of the replication of behavioral coaching across studies and aligning with Baer, Wolf, and Risley's (1968) technological dimension of applied behavior analysis. The current paper will outline and critique the discrepancies in the use of the term and suggest how Martin and Hrycaiko's (1983) characteristics of behavioral coaching in sports may be used to bring us closer to establishing a consistent definition of the term. In addition, we will suggest how these characteristics can also be applicable to the use of the term behavioral coaching in other domains of behavior analysis.