Behavior Analysis in Practice最新文献

The purpose of this study was to extend the limited research on group stimulus preference assessment (SPA) procedures. The study occurred in two sections of a middle school special education classroom and included 20 students with multi-categorical disabilities. A paired stimulus group SPA was used to identify a preference hierarchy for each class, and results were validated using single case designs in which baseline conditions were compared to group contingency conditions with alternating sessions of the highest-preferred (high-p) and lowest-preferred (low-p) consequences. Both group contingency conditions increased the percentage of students prepared for class relative to baseline; however, consistently higher levels of students were prepared for class during high-p sessions. Student responses on a daily quiz were similar in both conditions, but social validity surveys indicated students felt the most motivation and enjoyment during high-p sessions.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-024-01003-2.

Interprofessional collaboration, or effective, emotionally responsive teaming between professionals, consists of several skill sets including strong communication skills, compassion and shared knowledge, and can enhance client goal attainment. The field of applied behavior analysis has recently focused on improving capacities of interprofessional collaboration and compassion among its professional workforce. Few studies have reported on perceptions of behavior analytic professionals vis a vis these skill sets in clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to describe participant perceptions of interprofessional collaboration and compassion in the context of applied behavior analytic practice. Following IRB approval, a total of 24 applied behavior analysis practitioner participants were recruited in two cohorts, all of whom participated in a 4-month long training-and-coaching intervention on interprofessional, compassion and self-compassion competencies. Qualitative data consisted of 13 recorded transcripts, including a needs-assessment focus group, as well as each training and coaching session, collected to gain understanding in how participants perceived these competencies. Transcripts were independently coded and analyzed via multistep reflexive thematic analysis by a pair of researchers. Ongoing qualitative analysis yielded the following themes: Historical Perspectives: How We Got Here, More Compassionate to Others Than to Self, Old me versus New me. This study revealed perceptions of barriers and supports embedded systemically in behavior analytic training and culture, affecting development of a collaborative and compassionate behavior analytic workforce. This work highlights the importance of qualitative methodology to enhance research in emerging practice areas through analysis of lived experiences.

Prosocial is a systems-level intervention framework that incorporates elements of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) with Ostrom's core design principles (CDPs) guiding effective organizations and collective action (Ostrom, 1990). We evaluated a Prosocial intervention to support teachers and staff in a specialized school. AB analysis supported improvements in group cohesion and values-behavior alignment during the intervention and pre-post analyses showed significant improvements in psychological flexibility and perceived stress of participants. These preliminary outcomes may support future empirical research on Prosocial in educational settings.

This Multiperspectival Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (MIPA) delves into the nuanced experiences of 20 special education teachers across severe, mild to moderate, and early childhood backgrounds collaborating with Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) in school settings. While identifying facilitators and barriers to this collaboration, the study sheds light on factors that contribute to a breakdown in rapport between teachers and BCBAs. Notable challenges include perceived condescension, feelings of blame for intervention shortcomings, and receiving recommendations deemed non-feasible or impractical. Despite these hurdles, special education teachers acknowledge the expertise of BCBAs and value their contributions. The study underscores the imperative for enhanced collaboration, communication, and mutual understanding between BCBAs and special education teachers to effectively support students exhibiting challenging behaviors in diverse school settings. Recommendations include BCBAs incorporating teacher-focused measures of social validity to foster a more collaborative and supportive partnership and tailoring BCBA training to address specific challenges encountered within educational settings.

Severe challenging behaviors, such as aggression and self-injurious behavior, have a high comorbidity with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Hill et al., 2014; Soke et al., 2016). Although we have effective assessment and treatment procedures for severe challenging behavior, the relapse of severe challenging behavior following effective treatment is highly prevalent (Briggs et al., 2018; Falligant et al., 2022; Haney et al., 2022; Muething et al., 2021). Effective in 2025, the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BACB) Test Content Outline (TCO; 6th ed.) includes a task-item requirement for Board Certified Behavior Analysts to plan for and attempt to mitigate possible relapse (BACB, 2022). Thus, it is important for practitioners to understand the variables that impact relapse of severe challenging behavior, and it is critical that they have access to tools to help them in preparing for and reacting to relapse in practice. The purpose of the current paper is to provide (a) a consumable framework on relapse for practitioners and (b) considerations for practitioners on managing relapse when it occurs.

Play is critical to child development. In early childhood, object play evolves from exploratory behavior to complex symbolic play. Engagement during play, particularly joint engagement, is essential for learning and social interaction. Board Certified Behavior Analysts® (BCBAs) who provide early intervention services to young autistic children may experience barriers when designing programming and data collection systems for play and engagement. In this paper, we compare Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) and Natural Environment Teaching (NET) approaches. Considerations for measuring object play and engagement during naturalistic play routines are presented. We encourage BCBAs to consider simple frequency counts when measuring object play actions and interval recording or rating scales for tracking engagement states. These methods may better accommodate the variability in play and engagement behavior, allow for more flexible play routines, and support a more nuanced analysis of child progress.

In 1968, a group of professionals commissioned a task force to study the issue of children being excluded from school in the city of Boston, MA (Task Force on Children Out of School, 1970). What they found shocked them: thousands of children were systematically excluded from attending school or accessing meaningful instruction based on cultural, physical, and mental and behavioral differences. However, despite the advancement of legal protections and improved methods to educate even the most complex students, many coming from behavior analysis, children across the country still face school exclusion for essentially the same reasons. Coordinated advocacy is needed urgently to address this issue. This article discusses the history of school exclusion, the advancements that should allow us to prevent it, and a description of advocacy efforts behavior analysts should engage in to prevent school exclusion from occurring.

Evaluating the extent to which applied-behavior-analytic interventions are carried out accurately (i.e., procedural fidelity) is important for quality control, data-based decision making, and facilitating optimal consumer outcomes. This study explored several questions related to procedural fidelity in practice by distributing a survey to behavior analysts who currently supervise or provide applied-behavior-analytic services in any setting and with any population. Specifically, we were interested in learning more about who, how, how often, for what, why, and where behavior analysts assess procedural fidelity in practice. The results from 203 behavior analysts who completed the survey revealed that behavior analysts and their supervisees were most likely to collect fidelity data using checklists while directly observing behavior-analytic services in various settings. The most common barriers to collecting fidelity data in practice were a lack of resources, no requirement to do so by employers, and limited supervision time.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-024-00995-1.

Employee turnover is a pervasive issue across many industries, including behavior analytic service settings. Several negative outcomes are associated with turnover, such as increased organizational costs and decreased client outcomes. Previous research reveals high rates of turnover for direct support professionals, which is related to dissatisfaction with training, supervision, pay, and aspects of the job. Presently, the rate of turnover for Board Certified Behavior Analysts^® (BCBA^®) and the variables that contribute to turnover are unknown. The current study queried BCBAs via an online anonymous survey, which revealed that nearly three-quarters of respondents left a previous job as a BCBA, and burnout was the top contributor to their turnover. Pay and benefits, supervision and mentorship, collegiality and professional relationships, ethical violations, and training and professional development were also endorsed by respondents as variables that contributed to turnover. These findings and implications for practice are discussed.