Journal of applied behavior analysis最新文献

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are at risk of developing severe interfering behavior, such as aggression and self-injury. Teaching young children with IDD life skills, such as social and communication skills, may help prevent the development of interfering behavior by addressing deficits in these areas. This study extended previous research on the Preschool Life Skills program by adapting it for young children with IDD, renamed the Life Skills Program (LSP). We evaluated the effects of researcher-implemented LSP on the classwide use of social and communication skills and interfering behavior for five kindergarten children with IDD in a public special education classroom using a multiple-baseline-across-units design. We also assessed generalization to novel settings and adults as well as maintenance of skills. The results demonstrated a functional relation between LSP and increased use of life skills along with preliminary evidence of skill generalization and maintenance over time.

Procedural fidelity is the extent to which prescribed protocols are accurately and correctly implemented. Prior researchers found that consequence-based procedural fidelity errors can delay or impede learning, but not much is known about how they influence performance for tasks that have previously been mastered. The purpose of this study was to systematically replicate Falakfarsa et al. (2023) to further investigate how consequence-based errors affect performance postmastery. Twenty-four undergraduates mastered a computerized match-to-sample task under conditions of perfect fidelity (100%). Following mastery, consequence-based errors were introduced across varying levels of fidelity. For 13 participants, we observed decreased percentage of correct responses on the task in the presence of errors, with considerable intersubject variability. No effect of the independent variable was observed for 11 participants. The results suggest that error reinforcement was the more detrimental error type. We discuss the implications of the results and make several suggestions for future research.

Behavior-analytic interventions are empirically supported treatments for pediatric feeding disorder; however, there are a limited number of intensive feeding programs in the country, making access to services and specialized training difficult. Given the prevalence of this disorder and scarcity of in vivo training resources, clinicians would benefit from computer-based instruction, such as e-learning modules. But e-learning modules have not been tested for feeding protocols. Therefore, we replicated Ibañez et al. (2022) but adapted the procedures to evaluate training modules to teach 14 undergraduate students and two registered behavior technicians to conduct a structured mealtime assessment. The training increased performance for all participants, and we observed generalization to two untrained protocols and novel child behavior. The implications for computer-based instruction and future directions in this area are discussed.

This study explored bilingual approaches to establishing communication repertoires for culturally and linguistically diverse nonverbal autistic children. We explored concurrent English and Spanish mand instruction across language-specific contexts (i.e., blocked vs. shuffled language trials). Participants first received communication intervention in a blocked context (e.g., first half in English), followed by communication intervention in a mixed-language context (i.e., shuffled trials). Mixed-language probes were incorporated throughout the evaluations to detect the emergence of conditional discriminations specific to the present linguistic context (i.e., therapist language). Participants established linguistic discrimination for topographically distinct forms of functional communication with minimal formal language discrimination instruction. These findings suggest that a communication intervention including elements of bilingualism can be effective for both establishing functional communication and discriminating the contexts in which certain responses are likely to be reinforced (i.e., linguistic discrimination).

Multiple schedule treatments are frequently used to thin the reinforcement schedule for functional communication responses (FCR) following functional communication training. Multiple schedules are often highly effective at decreasing FCR rates by establishing stimulus control. In some cases, individuals do not readily discriminate between reinforcement and extinction components. Previous research has shown that receptive and expressive color identification are strongly correlated with discriminated responding in a multiple schedule. In this study, we replicated this research by evaluating how color-related skills correlate with discriminated responding in a multiple schedule. In addition, using a standardized assessment, we examined the role of receptive and expressive language skills on discriminated responding in a multiple schedule. For our 11 participants, we found that expressive color identification correlated with discriminated responding in a multiple schedule. Furthermore, when we more broadly examined participants' language skills, we found a stronger correlation between language and discriminated responding.

This concise review summarizes the trends and outcomes of social validity assessments specifically related to functional analyses published between 2020 and 2024. Results indicate that very little data on the social validity of functional analyses have been published. However, data that have been published are generally positive. We conclude with discussion and recommendations for researchers and clinicians.

Dissemination of applied behavior analytic scholarship to those outside the field can produce potent reinforcers. This discussion proposes that increasing dissemination requires the application of behavior analytic principles to scholarly behavior by applied behavior analysts. Its major premise is that increasing consumption of products of applied behavior analytic scholarship by those from outside the field requires distinct strategies to (a) attract individuals from outside the field to traditional outlets for applied behavior analytic scholarship and (b) increase the frequency of applied behavior analytic scholarship appearing in outlets that do not regularly feature it. A critical element of both strategies is the judicious adoption of methods or terminology from other disciplines. However, different approaches are required to implement each strategy. Practical tactics for individual applied behavior analysts to contribute to both strategies are also discussed.

Previous research has shown that contingent vocal imitation has a reinforcing effect on vocalizations emitted by children. Nevertheless, the precise contingencies that have a reinforcing effect on vocalizations remain unclear. This study examined the effects of five conditions (contingent vocal imitation, contingent interaction, noncontingent vocal imitation, noncontingent physical touch, and a no-interaction control condition) on the vocalizations emitted by three children with developmental disabilities. We evaluated the effects of these conditions using an alternating-treatments design embedded within a multiple-probe-across-participants design. Contingent vocal imitation led to greater increases in the vocalizations emitted by all three participants than by those in all the other conditions, and the size of this effect was large. We also found increases in orienting responses during the contingent imitation condition and increases in echoic responses postintervention for two of the participants. We discussed implications for practitioners who work with young children with language delays.

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) consists of response-independent reinforcer delivery according to a time-based schedule. Common application of NCR also includes withholding reinforcers following target behavior (i.e., extinction). Prior research suggests that inconsistent implementation (i.e., implementation with fidelity errors) of NCR programmed with fixed-time (FT) schedules results in degraded therapeutic outcomes. We conducted a human-operant evaluation to assess whether there were differences in responding (e.g., computer clicks) during reduced-fidelity NCR between FT and variable-time (VT) schedules. We randomly assigned participants to experience analogues of NCR with FT or VT schedules. Each participant experienced baseline, full-fidelity, and reduced-fidelity NCR in an ABAC design; FT or VT schedules varied depending on group assignment. Full-fidelity NCR was similarly efficacious at suppressing target behavior across the FT and VT groups, but VT schedules suppressed target behavior significantly better (p = .01) during reduced-fidelity NCR than FT schedules. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Procedural fidelity is an important component of behavioral intervention programs. The Train-to-Code software was used to teach skilled observation of implementation of three types of discrete-trial programs, and improvement to procedural fidelity was assessed. Participants completed a training package that involved coding video examples and non-examples of a teacher delivering each discrete trial program. The degree of prompting given to the trainee increased or decreased dynamically during training sessions based on participants' coding accuracy. The efficacy of the training was tested within subjects via pre- and posttest role plays in which participants delivered discrete-trial programs to a scripted research assistant. Results indicated substantial improvement in discrete trial delivery at posttest. These results suggest that Train-to-Code may be an effective method for training delivery of discrete trial programs in applied settings.