Journal of applied behavior analysis最新文献

The testing effect is a well-established phenomenon in cognitive psychology that refers to enhanced long-term retention of information due to active recalling through testing. Following a cross-disciplinary translation of the testing effect into behavioral principles, we systematically replicated the previous findings in a behavior-analytic context while evaluating the effects of the number of quiz questions on college students' exam performance and other academic behaviors. Students in an upper-level behavior analysis course participated. Using a within-subject experimental design in which the participants served as their own control, we compared their exam performance and academic behaviors, such as class participation and out-of-class studying, across three conditions: (a) no quizzes, (b) 5-question quizzes, and (c) 10-question quizzes. Quizzes improved exam performance and some academic behaviors, successfully replicating the testing effect in a behavior-analytic context. However, the number of quiz questions did not influence the improvements. Implications of the results and future research are discussed.

Differential observing responses (DORs) are additional response requirements used to promote orientation to a stimulus in a discrimination task. Farber and Dickson (2023) recently provided a DOR taxonomy, and these authors reported that no prior research has compared the effects of distinct DOR requirements. We compared the effects of two DOR requirements on textual responding by five children exhibiting reading deficits. Participants read a daily word list and were required to emit DORs that involved matching the compound or individual elements of the target stimulus. When a word was unknown, emitting the condition-specific DOR resulted in a tablet-produced echoic prompt. The DOR that required matching of the individual elements met the acquisition criterion in the fewest days for four participants but was not preferred by any participant. Implications for DORs in a problem-solving paradigm and conditions contributing to their efficacy are considered.

We conducted a scoping review on the consecutive controlled case series (CCCS) methodology (Hagopian, 2020). The CCCS is an approach to studying functional relations across a series of consecutive cases that share common features. We identified and reviewed 76 studies that used CCCS methodology. Most of these (a) were retrospective CCCS studies that incorporated most of the CCCS elements that were identified by Hagopian (2020), (b) involved child participants with autism spectrum disorder or an intellectual disability, and (c) evaluated the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior within specialized clinical settings. The sample sizes ranged from 3 to 269 participants, with a median of 20 participants. We discuss current trends, gaps in the literature, and implications for statements of the generality of behavioral procedures.

Motor vehicle collisions are among the leading causes of unintended injury-related deaths among children under the age of 14. The primary cause of these deaths is the improper use of child passenger safety restraints (CPSRs). Correctly installed CPSRs can decrease the risk of fatal injury by 45% to 95%. To date, no studies have used video prompting with embedded safety checks to teach correct CPSR installation and harnessing in the absence of researcher-delivered instruction and feedback. We used a concurrent multiple-baseline-across-participants design to evaluate the efficacy of a video-prompting procedure with embedded safety checks to teach four prospective parents and caregivers CPSR installation and harnessing skills. All participants learned to perform these skills, and these effects maintained for 4 weeks. Furthermore, this training improved all participants' performance of an untrained installation position, vehicle, and harnessing skill, and these effects were largely maintained for 4 weeks.

Research shows that caregivers of children with autism can be taught a variety of behavioral strategies, but there is little research on teaching caregivers to prioritize rapport building over skill acquisition during play. The current study evaluated the effects of a digital training package on the rapport-building skills of four caregivers of children with autism. Target skills were derived from parent–child interaction therapy with specific adaptations for children with limited communication and play skills. The intervention package included asynchronous online modules with video models, active response opportunities, and automated feedback as well as synchronous feedback via video chat. All four caregivers demonstrated increases in rapport building skills, and three of four dyads showed increases in interactive play postintervention. Caregivers also rated the intervention favorably. Data on participant and interventionist time to complete the intervention guide a discussion of the efficiency of combining asynchronous and synchronous strategies.

Across five treatment applications, we evaluated two forms of treatment relapse (renewal, resurgence) with a version of functional communication training known as delay-and-denial tolerance teaching. Renewal of challenging behavior following a context change occurred for most treatments, but challenging behavior did not increase to clinically significant levels in most cases. Resurgence of challenging behavior following decrements in alternative reinforcement occurred only in two of five extinction tests when communication responses were placed on extinction. Omitting alternative activities during extinction tests led to an appreciable increase in resurgence for one of the three participants who did not display resurgence initially. Despite promising findings during the extinction test, resurgence frequently occurred during most treatments when thinning reinforcement for communication responses. When resurgence occurred during schedule thinning, it tended to be at clinically significant magnitudes. We discuss these findings in relation to the larger literature on treatment relapse.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) on reducing unsafe playground behavior of young children at school and subsequently, if necessary, the additive effects of a brief time-out. The DRO procedure was effective in eliminating unsafe behavior for one of four participants. The other three participants experienced the addition of a time-out procedure in combination with DRO. The DRO + TO condition nearly eliminated unsafe playground behavior for all three participants who experienced the condition. Additionally, the addition of time-out did not negatively affect social interactions among peers or self-reported recess enjoyment for any participant who experienced time-out. Following experience with all conditions, participants selected the condition they would experience via a concurrent-chains preference assessment. All three participants selected an intervention condition at every opportunity, and two of three participants selected DRO + TO most often.

Pinkston et al. (2024) provided 17 participants with their high-preference music for increasing and decreasing their walking speeds on a treadmill. The results showed that high-preference music produced schedule control of walking speed for 14 of 17 (82.35%) participants. In addition, Pinkston et al. found that 78.57% of participants whose walking showed schedule control also displayed variable responding during an extinction component. As an extension of Pinkston et al., we presented 25 participants with their high-preference music for walking on a treadmill during a five-component mixed schedule wherein the synchronous reinforcement components contained larger and nonoverlapping bands for contacting the synchronous reinforcer. Schedule control emerged for 18 of 25 (72%) participants. In addition, 14 (77.78%) participants whose behavior showed schedule control also displayed considerable variability in walking speed during the extinction component. Implications and future research directions for promoting health-related behaviors are discussed.

Functional analysis has been shown to effectively identify the function of challenging behavior and inform the design of function-based treatment that emphasizes reinforcement-based procedures. However, there is minimal research on culturally responsive approaches to functional analysis with bilingual clients with a developmental disability who speak English and Spanish. This study evaluated a method of individualizing assessment conditions using culturally relevant variables, analyzing the data to evaluate the influence of language on functional analysis outcomes and considering the influence of language proficiency and preference on functional analysis results. The data for the influence of language on functional analysis were analyzed separately, which highlighted areas for further exploration and consideration with caregivers that likely would have been missed if the functional analysis had been conducted solely in one language. The influence of language during behavioral assessment and considerations of these variables in clinical practice for bilingual communities are discussed.

With the widespread use of mobile and self-service technology in everyday living, acquiring independent living skills associated with the use of current technology (e.g., self-checkout, mobile payment) is increasingly important for successful community integration. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a picture activity schedule presented on a smartphone to teach self-checkout skills in a natural community setting to three secondary school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A concurrent multiple-baseline-across-participants design was used to determine the functional relation between the smartphone-based picture activity schedule intervention and increase in self-checkout skills. Maintenance and treatment extension outcomes were also assessed. The results showed that the intervention was effective in improving self-checkout skills for students with ASD and demonstrated positive maintenance and treatment extension outcomes. This study suggests that a smartphone-based activity schedule has the potential to serve as a minimally intrusive and nonstigmatizing support for students with ASD.