Journal of applied behavior analysis最新文献

This study evaluated the effects of a single training on the self-advocacy skills of five direct care staff working in a human service organization. A nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of a video-based behavioral skills training package. Participants received training on how to self-advocate in the context of two types of supervisor responses: (1) A supervisor responds positively to an employee's issue but does not provide a solution and (2) a supervisor responds negatively to an employee's issue but provides a solution. Results showed that the training increased self-advocacy accuracy to mastery levels during one target condition for all five participants and during both target conditions for three participants. In addition, all participants' self-advocacy skills generalized to two untrained types of supervisor responses. Participants reported moderate to high levels of satisfaction with the training procedures.

Retrospective analyses have shown that renewal of challenging behavior following person or setting changes is common. This study replicates and extends prior work by evaluating renewal after a third type of context change: task changes. Among 98 patients in an intensive outpatient clinic who experienced 749 context changes, overall renewal prevalence was 25.23% using a max-of-5 criterion (39.79% using a mean-of-2 criterion), consistent with prior reports across this large sample. Of the 63 patients who experienced at least one task change, 36 (57.14%) exhibited renewal. Task changes produced higher renewal rates than person or setting changes across criteria, but differences were not statistically significant. Renewal magnitude generally declined across sessions; however, challenging behavior rarely returned to prechange levels, even after five sessions. Findings highlight the broader range of contextual variables that may evoke renewal and the need for strategies to reduce its intensity and persistence during treatment.

Self-monitoring (SM) has been used as part of intervention packages to enhance skills such as leisure and vocational engagement for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). However, the effectiveness of SM alone remains unclear. We analyzed components of an SM intervention to increase task engagement for five individuals with IDD. Participants were first taught to accurately self-monitor their engagement. Sequential analyses evaluated SM alone, SM + differential reinforcement (DR) for accurate SM, SM + DR for accurate SM and task engagement, and DR for task engagement. SM alone was ineffective. Combining SM with DR for accurate SM improved accuracy of SM for all participants but increased task engagement for only two. Combining SM with DR for both accurate SM and task engagement increased engagement for the remaining participants. High levels of task engagement were maintained when reinforcement for engagement was provided without SM. Implications for intervention design are discussed.

Efficient, low-cost approaches for disseminating evidence-based training on behavior-analytic interventions to professionals outside of North America are needed to address the scarcity of available services. This study evaluated the effectiveness and acceptability of computer-based instruction for training professionals in Nigeria to conduct pairwise functional analyses of challenging behavior. Six professionals demonstrated high levels of procedural fidelity during role-play and in situ sessions with children after completing a self-paced computer-based instruction program that provided multiple opportunities for active responding and included culturally relevant content. Results extend prior research on virtual training of functional analysis implementation by incorporating a broader range of dependent variables (e.g., graphing, data interpretation) and delivering a fully asynchronous program. Results have implications for the further development of technologies to scale up the reach of behavior analysis services. Issues related to ensuring that asynchronous programs are delivered in an ethically responsible manner are discussed.

Identifying objective ways to measure a therapist's physiological responding when encountering challenging behavior has the potential to guide future work in staff performance, well-being, and retention. The current technical report summarizes controlled measures of therapists' electrodermal activity (EDA) while implementing functional analyses of challenging behavior. The technology used to monitor EDA, analyses relevant to EDA in the context of challenging behavior, and technical barriers related to the use of these measures are discussed. Preliminary data from three therapists suggested that indicators of acute physiological arousal are present in functional analyses, particularly surrounding occurrences of challenging behavior. Support for the further development of these technologies is provided.

Children with feeding difficulties often engage in expulsion (i.e., spitting out) of liquid. Expulsion is problematic because it limits the volume of liquid that a child will consume. Researchers have used re-presentation as an embedded component of escape extinction to treat expel. Although studies have demonstrated that re-presentation can effectively reduce expel, it is unclear whether it should always be included with escape-extinction-based treatments. We describe a program evaluation project designed to examine the effects of re-presentation on liquid expulsion for children with severe feeding difficulties. We conducted a prospective consecutive controlled case series to compare the effects of a function-based treatment with and without re-presentation and reported on the outcomes obtained for 17 children. Various patterns of responding emerged across participants. However, re-presentation resulted in the greatest increases in mouth clean (i.e., swallowing) and lowest levels of expel for 10 participants. We discuss implications for research and practice.

Although many studies have focused on teaching components of reading (blending, fluency), fewer studies have evaluated how children become interested in looking at and engaging with books. In this study, we evaluated the effects of a continuous reinforcement procedure on children's preference for engaging with books using a concurrent multiple-probe-across-participants design. The procedure involved providing rich social interactions and reinforcers when children engaged with books. Across two experiments and six preschool participants with disabilities, we observed children who rarely engaged with books before the intervention shift their preference to book engagement following the intervention. These outcomes were observed both in the intervention and naturalistic play settings, including during maintenance probes. Additionally, in Experiment 2, children's performance task behavior increased when books were presented as a consequence during a performance task. The outcomes are discussed in terms of promoting preference for book stimuli in the context of typical and instructional contexts.

Workers frequently engage in nonneutral body postures that increase their risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of this study was to extend previous research by evaluating whether the provision of information plus artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced video feedback could improve manufacturing workers' postural behavior. Four metal manufacturing workers participated in this study. This study's dependent variable was the percentage of time a participant's target body part spent in low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk ergonomic positions. This study used a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across three participants and a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across two target responses with one participant. The results showed that three out of four participants' postural behavior improved following the provision of information plus AI-enhanced video feedback. Additionally, an occupational therapist independently evaluated participants' postural behavior before and following the intervention using a validated ergonomic assessment. The occupational therapist's independent ergonomic evaluations corroborated that participants' postural behavior improved.

Researchers have examined differences between free- and restricted-operant teaching arrangements while equating response and reinforcement rates. Preliminary data suggest that nonhuman organisms acquire novel discriminations more quickly under free-operant arrangements (Hachiya & Ito, 1991). In contrast, Bulla et al. (2024) found that humans learned novel discriminations more efficiently under restricted-operant arrangements. This study systematically replicates Bulla et al. (2024). We taught participants to say the corresponding numeral 0–10 for Hindi, Eastern Arabic, and Mandarin numbers. We assigned each number set to a free-operant, restricted-operant, or control teaching arrangement. The study assessed the effects of each arrangement across two phases: (1) acquisition and (2) frequency building. Additionally, data were collected on measures of fluency outcomes. Results suggest that participants acquired novel discriminations more quickly under restricted-operant arrangements. No major differences emerged in fluency outcomes when response–reinforcer relations remained equal. Procedural modifications are discussed to clarify distinctions between basic and translational findings.

Recent research has demonstrated the utility of recording and reinforcing appropriate behavior during functional analyses. We compared two contingency arrangements across repeated bias and sensitivity evaluations (BASEs), one that equated the contingencies for appropriate and challenging behavior (i.e., symmetrical contingencies) and another that only provided reinforcement for challenging behavior (i.e., asymmetrical contingencies). Six neurotypical children were recruited, and behavior was recorded on a Neutral to Severe Behavior Scale. We evaluated sensitivity to different types of establishing operations (EOs) and response bias toward appropriate versus challenging behavior for each participant. Greater sensitivity to EOs was observed under symmetrical contingencies, but more instances of severe challenging behavior were captured by asymmetrical contingencies. Bias toward challenging behavior was evident in both contingency arrangements. Results suggest that BASEs implementing symmetrical and asymmetrical contingencies could help identify risk factors for challenging behavior and inform preventive strategies.