Journal of applied behavior analysis最新文献

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder commonly exhibit vocal stereotypy, and this behavior may be targeted for treatment when it competes with daily tasks, disrupts the environment, or leads to reduced independence. Previous research has shown that access to music reduces vocal stereotypy. However, treatment evaluations typically occur during play or low-stimulation conditions; therefore, the effectiveness and compatibility of music with daily tasks are less known. We measured levels of vocal stereotypy and on-task behavior during independent activities for three participants. Using a reversal design, we evaluated the effects of music played via headphones on dependent measures. We extended the analysis to typical classroom activities and conducted treatment preference assessments. The results indicated that access to music reduced vocal stereotypy across multiple settings and activities. Additionally, increases in on-task behavior were observed for two of three participants. All participants preferred to engage with tasks while listening to music.

Children on the autism spectrum tend to consume fewer healthy foods than typically developing children. Given the negative effects of unhealthy eating, it is important to increase healthy food selection. The current study examined whether manipulating the delay to reinforcement would increase healthy food selection in a concurrent-operants assessment. During the concurrent-operants assessment, participants chose between a snack and a fruit and the researchers systematically added a delay to the snack to switch the allocation of responding from the snack to the fruit. The results showed that one participant's response allocation switched from the snack to the fruit at a delay of 30 s and two participants' response allocation switched at the 60-s delay. This suggests that manipulating the delay to reinforcement may increase healthy food selection for some children on the autism spectrum.

Researchers have shown that behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training are effective for teaching firearm safety skills to children. Within the safety skills literature, there is evidence that manualized interventions are effective for teaching parents and teachers to conduct BST. An approach that has not been evaluated for teaching safety skills is interactive computerized training (ICT). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate an ICT program with three Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) who provided services to clients with autism spectrum disorder. In the final phase, the BCBAs implemented firearm safety skills training with their clients. Overall, the BCBAs implemented the safety skills training protocol with high fidelity during post-ICT assessments and rated the ICT program positively.

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.