Behavioral Interventions最新文献

The goal of the current study was to increase functional engagement with multiple leisure items for five individuals with ASD, who had limited leisure item engagement (i.e., they engaged with only one leisure item, and after that item was restricted, they exhibited no functional engagement with alternative activities). Response restriction (RR) preference assessments were conducted to assess pre- and post-training performance to determine if training was necessary and if performance maintained following training. A component analysis that involved progressively adding intervention components (prompting alone; prompting plus differential reinforcement of alternative behavior), and targeting simple engagement prior to functional engagement, was conducted. For all participants, the progressive treatment approach was effective in increasing functional engagement to criterion levels for all trained items. However, the effective training component(s) varied across participants and items. During the final post-training RR assessment, functional engagement maintained with all trained items for all participants.

Functional communication training (FCT) is an effective intervention to decrease challenging behavior. However, the continuous reinforcement of mands commonly implemented within FCT is difficult to implement in natural settings. Schedule thinning using a multiple schedule arrangement addresses this barrier, yet most studies evaluating this approach have been conducted in clinical environments and using implementer-arranged stimuli to signal reinforcer availability. The purposes of the current study are to (a) evaluate the effectiveness of caregiver-implemented multiple schedules in the home setting with caregiver coaching via telehealth and (b) evaluate the effectiveness of transferring stimulus control from caregiver-arranged to naturally occurring stimuli to signal reinforcer availability within a multiple schedule arrangement. The results indicated FCT was effective in reducing challenging behavior and increasing manding. For one participant, discriminated manding was established with caregiver-arranged stimuli within 7 sessions and transferred to naturally occurring stimuli with a three-step fading procedure across 33 sessions. For the other participant, discriminated manding was established with the caregiver-arranged stimuli within 21 sessions and transferred to naturally occurring stimuli with a three-step fading procedure across 23 sessions. Both caregivers implemented FCT and multiple schedules with fidelity. Given the preliminary nature of the results, more research is needed to determine if this strategy is effective and if there is a more efficient approach to teach discrimination of naturally occurring stimuli.

Rapport, or the therapeutic relationship between a therapist and client, is essential for successful intervention. In behavior analytic interventions for autistic children, practitioners commonly use pairing to establish rapport. A limited body of research has evaluated how to train interventionists to pair with their child clients. Furthermore, fewer studies have examined the effects of pairing on client behavior. Therefore, we implemented behavioral skills training to teach interventionists pairing skills and assessed the effects of presession pairing on child interfering behavior using a concurrent multiple probe design (with replication). We implemented a pairing protocol before early intensive behavioral intervention sessions with four children (3–5 years old) on the autism spectrum. Interventionists mastered pairing skills during training sessions, which were generally maintained when working with child clients. When interventionists implemented presession pairing, child participants demonstrated fewer interfering behaviors. We discuss implications of our preliminary findings and future directions.

Educators in many areas of the world lack the necessary resources and training to serve students with developmental disabilities effectively. Telehealth technologies and a train-the-trainer approach may help disseminate evidence-based instructional strategies to teachers in underserved areas. In this study, experimenters combined synchronous and asynchronous remote training to prepare six teachers in Taiwan to implement discrete trial training (DTT) with students. First, the experimenter taught three teachers from a private school to implement DTT with their students. Then, they trained these participants to teach another educator at their school. Finally, the three teachers trained those additional educators. Results indicated that the training was effective for all participants and that the DTT skills of the three trainers maintained over time and transferred to their in-classroom instruction. These findings replicate and extend the current literature suggesting that the use of telehealth and a train-the-trainer model is a promising and socially valid method for disseminating ABA to countries with limited resources.

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of video feedback (VF) to improve tumbling skills with three high-school cheerleaders. Researchers evaluated the effects of VF using a multiple baseline across behaviors design. Results demonstrate that VF was effective in increasing the percentage of correct steps of the target skills for all three participants. This study contributes to the literature on the use of VF as a procedure to increase sports performance.

There are limited resources outlining age-referenced rates of problem behavior displayed by neurotypical children. Such information is important for practitioners as a basis for social comparison when they are targeting behavior reduction goals for neurodivergent clients. We distributed a survey to parents of children aged 1–10 years without a developmental diagnosis in which parents reported frequency of five problem behaviors across a 24-h period, as well as commonly targeted replacement behaviors. Problem behavior was reported across all age groups to varying degrees based on topography and age. Replacement behaviors, such as waiting and tolerating denials generally improved as children increased in age but still largely remained below 80% of opportunities. The present study may serve as a reference for researchers and clinicians to set goals that are developmentally appropriate.

Recent data reveal an increase in the likelihood of staff injury for those working in the health care and social assistance industries (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). Without information summarizing variables pertaining to staff injury in behavior-analytic service settings, organizational leaders risk the safety of staff they employ. Despite the social relevance, few studies concerning the types of client-related staff injuries have been published. The purpose of this survey was to gather data on the cause, type, bodily location of, and treatment required for staff injury by surveying organizations that serve individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Respondents ranked the leading cause of injury as client-to-staff interactions, type of injury as bite, location of injury as arm, and the most common treatment required as on-site first aid. These initial data could assist in the identification of job tasks that may be associated with increased risk of injury, potential ramifications of client-inflicted injuries on staff performance and organizational outcomes, and how to address injuries in settings within an injury-prone industry. Implications and future research ideas are also discussed.

Global public health organizations such as The World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund have prioritized environmental support for infants in their first 1000 days of life, including interventions that target early childhood development (ECD) outcomes. Responsive caregiving practices and interventions that support parents in engaging in them have a positive effect on ECD outcomes. Behavioral research has identified a number of specific caregiver responses that influence infants' early language development, including contingent vocal imitation. This study examined the effects of a brief, asynchronous online parent training using the Cool versus Not Cool™ procedure to teach two mothers and one father to imitate their infants' vocalizations in their natural home settings. All three parents increased the percentage of contingent vocalizations with their infants and positive changes in vocal behavior were observed for all the three infants.

Behavioral skills training and on-the-job feedback are effective in changing staff behavior as evidenced by years of staff-training research. However, community programs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often do not utilize these best-practice training methods. The purpose of the current study was to train four empirically derived practices to staff who work with adults with IDD. We trained the staff to provide positive interactions, provide effective instructions, provide correct responses to problem behavior, and promote consumer engagement with items and activities. We used behavioral skills training and on-the-job feedback to increase staff implementation of these practices on a large scale in a community-based organization despite some barriers such as high staff turnover rates. Overall, results showed that our training procedure was effective in increasing staff implementation of the four practices in many homes and programs.

The paired stimulus preference assessment (PSPA) is commonly used in both research and practice. However, two iterations have been described: a single-presentation arrangement in which each tested stimulus is paired with one another once and a double-presentation arrangement in which each tested stimulus is paired twice with counterbalanced placement. Each arrangement may have different advantages; however, no direct comparison exists. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to conduct both PSPA iterations to determine whether there are differences in the results obtained and which iteration was most efficient regarding time to administer. Seven participants were included, and results demonstrated high degrees of correspondence across preference assessment formats. The average time to administer the single-presentation PSPA (M =6.6 min) was almost half the time to administer a double-presentation PSPA (M =12.9 min), and no significant differences were observed for problem behavior, side biases, or latency to stimulus selection.