Behavior and Social Issues最新文献

A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework features a structured problem-solving process and the use of assessment data to develop, identify, and evaluate the impact of instruction and intervention to meet the needs of all students proactively. The purpose of this process evaluation was to examine the implementation of a novel problem-solving approach for analyzing literacy practices across the tiers of an MTSS framework (i.e., core instruction, strategic intervention). The aim of the initiative was to build the capacity of teachers to provide effective instruction based on the science of reading in two elementary schools. The findings from this process evaluation study provide evidence that a problem-solving approach for analyzing literacy practices resulted in improvements in the core curriculum, instruction, and intervention supports. Implications for improvement efforts at the school district and state department of education levels are discussed.

This paper describes a strategic science of teaching (SST) and its application to effective education as a form of social justice. SST is grounded in the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS^®), a system-wide approach to teaching. The Accelerated Independent Learner (AIL) model stems from the CABAS^® system but operates within public schools and general education classrooms where the science of behavior is applied to establish academic, social, and self-management repertoires for all students. In the AIL model, data from the student’s progress drives instruction. The arrangement of the classroom includes classroom management, instructional presentations, curriculum-based measurement, visual displays of individual student mastery of curricular objectives, the interaction between verbal development and what to teach, and acquisition of learning cusps. Another critical aspect of these classrooms includes teacher measures and teacher education. All these components are used to collectively accelerate student learning. Using this model, we attempt to remove the barrier to a one-size-fits-all education system, thus creating a more just educational system for all children.

Conditioned reinforcement for math, or math enjoyment, may be critical for students. If so, this should be established as early as pre-kindergarten, as conditioning the components of math as reinforcement arguably leads to more complex mathematical operations thus impacting individuals’ future math ability and literacy (Engel et al., 2013), A multiple probe across dyads design with a nested multiple probe across dyads design was used to determine if establishing a preference for math influenced students’ rate of learning math. The intervention tested the effect of the individualized reinforcement procedures, based on a sequence of conditioning procedures proposed in Buttigieg and Greer’s (2023) study, on establishing conditioned reinforcement. Three participants required learn units, two participants required the stimulus–stimulus pairing procedure, and one participant required observational conditioning-by-denial to establish conditioned reinforcement for math. The dependent variable was each participant’s rate of learning as measured by the number of learn units required to meet mastery criterion for four units of the Equivalence Based Functional Math Curriculum (EBF-Math; Weber et al., 2023). Results showed an educationally significant acceleration of learning following the establishment of conditioned reinforcement for math across all six participants. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of early math instruction and literacy.

Social justice movements, protests, marches, and direct action are collective events including many people. Although organizers should carefully plan the goals and strategies of these actions broadly, and behavior analysts have made significant progress to systems level analyses of social and cultural practices, it is important to continue to include analyses of the individuals involved and how the contingencies of protest may encourage or discourage continued involvement. One critical aspect of these contingencies, I argue, is how the action ends. Two protest actions are analyzed as a participant with a focus on how the protest ended and if the operant “attending a protest” was reinforced or punished.

Abstract

The recent series of papers between Sampaio and Haydu (Behavior and Social Issues 32(1):115–133, 2023a; Behavior and Social Issues 32(1):141–146, 2023b) and Ardila-Sánchez and Hayes (Behavior and Social Issues 32(1):134–140, 2023) on the cultural milieu construct is of critical import for culturo-behavior science. By constructing a revised version of Houmanfar and colleagues’ (Ardila-Sánchez et al., Behavior and Social Issues 28(1):298–315, 2019: Houmanfar, Ardila-Sánchez, & Alavosius, Behavior science perspectives on culture and community, pp. 151–170, Springer, 2020: Houmanfar & Rodrigues, Behavior and Social Issues, 15(1):13–30, 2006: Houmanfar, Rodrigues, & Ward, Behavior and Social Issues 19(1):78–103, 2010) elaborated metacontingency model, Sampaio and Haydu address confusion inherent in the concept of the cultural milieu by separating it into two different components—cultural antecedents and selecting environment variables—with different functional properties. This allows the cultural milieu to be conceptualized more coherently within a behavior-analytic framework, a framework into which the cultural milieu does not quite fit when described in interbehavioral terms. However, given differences in integrated field and contingency logic, an interbehaviorally conceptualized cultural milieu does not belong in any metacontingency model, elaborated or otherwise. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue—the elephant in the field—and confusing aspects of the cultural milieu that Sampaio and Haydu do not address when one considers the elaborated metacontingency model from an interbehavioral perspective. In doing so, I discuss issues with the model warranting attention and the prospect of a unified culturo-behavior science.

Providing effective reading instruction to parents with low literacy is imperative due to the significant implications of literacy for children and their families. Adult education programs that teach reading play an important role in improving literacy outcomes for parents who need support. The present study evaluated the effects of a behavioral skills training package (BST) on training adult literacy tutors to implement the steps of BST when teaching parents. Four adult literacy tutors participated in the study along with one parent with low literacy. The primary dependent variable was the percentage of steps of the BST package implemented correctly during tutor training probe measures. Secondary measures were taken on the parent’s performance of each step of the literacy activities on which they were trained. Following the BST session, tutor performance improved when implementing the steps of the BST package with parents and parent confederates during maintenance probes. Treatment acceptability measures suggested high approval for the training package. Results and practical considerations when training adult education tutors are discussed.

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Nearly 30 years after the end of apartheid in South Africa, the education system has yet to provide learners with an adequate school experience. With school closures during the pandemic, the urgency to provide a quality education in the townships became even more dire. In collaboration with the leadership of Charles Duna Primary School in Gqeberha, South Africa, Partnerships for Educational Excellence and Research (PEER) International reestablished a partnership to design a flexible implementation of methods and curricula to build numeracy repertoires. Professional development efforts leverage evidence-based best teaching and learning strategies included in the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction (Johnson et al., 2020). Weekly videoconferences target the development of basic computation skill acquisition and math problem solving skills. The dramatically different environment and available resources in township schools is a prevailing consideration in this transfer of instructional technology. Our project started early in 2022 and continues with optimism and determination. The purpose of this paper is to describe our constructional approach (Goldiamond, 1974/2002 Behavior and Social Issues, 11(2), 108-197) when invited to improve classroom conditions for teachers and learners.

Abstract

The field of applied behavior analysis currently faces critique regarding the need for increased compassion and interprofessional collaboration training toward culturally and emotionally responsive practice. Mindful self-compassion is evidenced to improve self-compassion and compassion. The purpose of the current study was to improve soft-skill competencies in collaboration and compassion of behavior analytic professionals. In this feasibility study, two cohorts of American behavior analytic professionals (N = 24) received a 4-month training-and-coaching sequence, with a pre-program focus group serving as the program’s needs assessment. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey and Self-Compassion Scale, Short Form were administered pre- and post-intervention to ascertain program effectiveness, alongside open-ended survey questions. Training included experiential learning opportunities in small groups, with participants practicing self-compassion and collaboration skills. Coaching included additional individual practice opportunities. Pre- and post-whole test scores were significantly different on both instruments, with p set at .05, demonstrating preliminary effectiveness. Significance on paired-sample t-test for the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey whole score fell at <.001, while for the Self-Compassion Scale, Short Form, it fell at .004. While prior studies have demonstrated the need for collaboration and compassion training within the ABA workforce, the current study reports on an implementation procedure to improve upon these skill sets, addressing a noted gap. Furthermore, the current study operationalizes collaboration alongside self-compassion, demonstrating the importance of centering collaborative practice within soft-skill awareness and competency. Future research can incorporate direct measures of these skill sets.

The main responsibility of our educational institutions is to develop competent readers and, thus, a literate citizenry. Indeed, literacy is requisite to access valued opportunities our society offers, which leads to a worthwhile quality of life. Unfortunately, our educational institutions persist in a stalemate on how best to effect reading competence in our children. This impasse has left generations of children and adults behind. The literacy deficits resultant from pedagogical difference, often termed, “reading wars,” are magnified and exacerbated by other confounding factors such as increasing levels of poverty, social and economic inequalities, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more. Recently published reading data of fourth graders in the United States exhibit some of the most disparate performances to date, especially when contextualized by race or ethnicity. Increasingly, educational and political leaders are calling for the return to systematic and explicit phonics instruction, which has been empirically shown to improve reading ability. When taken together, it is clear that providing demonstrably effective reading instruction for children and youth with social and economic vulnerabilities is more than a political debate; it is an issue of social justice. The authors of this paper illustrate how the foundations of behavioral principles can inform reading instructional practices that will bolster our fledgling literacy rates and ultimately frame what it means to provide socially just literacy education for all.

Recent studies have shown that biased search results can produce substantial shifts in the opinions and voting preferences of undecided voters – a phenomenon called the “search engine manipulation effect” (SEME), one of the most powerful list effects ever discovered. We believe this is so because, unlike other list effects, SEME is supported by a daily regimen of operant conditioning. When people conduct searches for simple facts (86% of searches), the correct answer invariably turns up in the top position, which teaches users to attend to and click on high-ranking search results. As a result, when people are undecided, they tend to formulate opinions based on web pages linked to top search results. We tested this hypothesis in a controlled experiment with 551 US voters. Participants in our High-Trust group conducted routine searches in which the correct answer always appeared in the first search result. In our Low-Trust group, the correct answer could appear in any search position other than the first two. In all, participants had to answer five questions during this pre-training, and we focused our analysis on people who answered all the questions correctly (n = 355) – in other words, on people who were maximally impacted by the pre-training contingencies. A difference consistent with our hypothesis emerged between the groups when they were subsequently asked to search for information on political candidates. Voting preferences in the High-Trust group shifted toward the favored candidate at a higher rate (34.6%) than voting preferences in the Low-Trust group (17.1%, p = 0.001).