Positive behavior support: Expanding the application of applied behavior analysis

Positive behavior support (PBS) is an approach to providing services to individuals who exhibit challenging behavior. Since its inception in the early 1990s, PBS has received increasing attention from the behavior-analytic community. Some behavior analysts have embraced this approach, but others have voiced questions and concerns. In this paper we describe the framework of PBS and show that it is consistent with the tenets of behavior analysis. Also, we illustrate how the framework of PBS might be used to guide practitioners and researchers in the field of applied behavior analysis. We hope to demonstrate that PBS offers useful suggestions regarding how applied behavior analysts can design and evaluate effective programs for people with developmental disabilities or behavioral challenges.     

Positive behavior support and applied behavior analysis

This article reviews the origins and characteristics of the positive behavior support (PBS) movement and examines those features in the context of the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). We raise a number of concerns about PBS as an approach to delivery of behavioral services and its impact on how ABA is viewed by those in human services. We also consider the features of PBS that have facilitated its broad dissemination and how ABA might benefit from emulating certain practices of the PBS movement.     

A model for the behavioral assessment of behavior disorders in children: Measurement considerations and practical application

School psychologists have traditionally experienced difficulty in assessing children referred to them for behavior disorders. Given this reported difficulty, a behavioral assessment model is proposed which specifies three types of assessment information: direct observations, rating scale data, and interview data. Characteristics of these three types of assessment information are discussed, along with recommendations for their use. Two psychological models are suggested to guide school psychologists through the assessment process. Bergan's behavioral consultation model is recommended for securing valid and reliable interview and observational data, and Campbell and Fiske's multitrait-multimethod model is proposed as a means of logically integrating behavioral assessment information. The notion of convergence or agreement between dissimilar assessment methods is discussed.     

The OWL: Software support for a model of argumentation

The OWL is an “idea cruncher” designed to assist in constructing, analyzing, and comparing debates and arguments. The design philosophy of OWL and the pragmatics of representing argument structures are explained, and applications are presented in three different areas: a 2-year open forum on state revenue issues, an analysis of the cohesiveness of a published argument, and a personalized learning system. The presentation concludes with a prognosis and a discussion of future plans.     

Eliminating the battering of women by men: Some considerations for behavior analysis

Based on review of representative literature, history and current research indicate that battering by male partners is a major health problem for women. Use of physical aggression and verbal coercion can be described by three-term contingencies involving escape, avoidance, punishment, and positive reinforcement. These contingencies occur within societal practices, rules, and models that involve oppression of women and insubstantial consequences for men who batter. The difficulties in directly observing a couple's interactions and their aggression have been a methodological barrier to the involvement of behavior analysts in treatment of and research on domestic violence. Recommendations are made for behavior analysts to contribute to reducing battering through development and analysis of program components and application of contingency management and behavioral training technology.     

Positive mood and helping behavior: a test of six hypotheses

Past research has shown rather consistently that positive mood states lead to increased helpfulness. In an expanded analysis of the published literature, we examined six distinct views about this relation: the focus of attention, objective self-awareness, separate process, social outlook, mood maintenance, and concomitance hypotheses. For each of 61 positive affect conditions in which it was possible to generate an effect-size estimate corresponding to the relative degree of helpfulness exhibited by positive mood subjects (compared with neutral affect subjects), judges assessed the contextual levels of variables relevant to each of the six hypotheses by reading the Method section of each article. Higher-order partial correlation coefficients were then calculated to isolate the independent contribution of each of the theoretically relevant variables to the variation among the 61 effect sizes. The results support the focus of attention, separate process, social outlook, and mood maintenance hypotheses, and partially support the objective self-awareness and concomitance hypotheses.     

Perceptual primacy of dimensions: support for a model of dimensional interaction

Do Ss always process multidimensional stimuli according to psychologically primary dimensions? Our hypothesis is that they do: Primary dimensions provide one component of a new model of dimensional interaction, a model that distinguishes information processed at the level of attributes from information processed at the level of the stimulus. By using sound stimuli created from the dimensions pitch-loudness (Experiments 1 and 2), pitch-timbre (Experiment 3), and loudness-timbre (Experiment 4), we tested performance in selective- and divided-attention tasks at each of three orientations of axes: 0 degrees, 22.5 degrees, and 45 degrees. Each experiment revealed strong evidence of primacy: As axes rotated from 0 degrees to 45 degrees, selective attention deteriorated, but divided attention improved, producing a distinct pattern of convergence. Each experiment also revealed effects of congruity: Attributes from corresponding poles of a dimension (e.g., high pitch and loud) were classified faster than those from noncorresponding poles. The results fit well with our new conception but are inconsistent with other current models of dimensional interaction.     

Appraisal antecedents of shame and guilt: support for a theoretical model

Four studies used experimental and correlational methods to test predictions about the antecedents of shame and guilt derived from an appraisal-based model of self-conscious emotions (Tracy & Robins, 2004). Results were consistent with the predicted relations between appraisals (i.e., causal attributions) and emotions. Specifically, (a) internal attributions were positively related to both shame and guilt; (b) the chronic tendency to make external attributions was positively related to the tendency to experience shame; and (c) internal, stable, uncontrollable attributions for failure were positively related to shame, whereas internal, unstable, controllable attributions for failure were positively related to guilt. Emotions and attributions were assessed using a variety of methods, so converging results across studies indicate the robustness of the findings and provide support for the theoretical model.     

Forming attitudes that predict future behavior: a meta-analysis of the attitude-behavior relation

A meta-analysis (k of conditions = 128; N = 4,598) examined the influence of factors present at the time an attitude is formed on the degree to which this attitude guides future behavior. The findings indicated that attitudes correlated with a future behavior more strongly when they were easy to recall (accessible) and stable over time. Because of increased accessibility, attitudes more strongly predicted future behavior when participants had direct experience with the attitude object and reported their attitudes frequently. Because of the resulting attitude stability, the attitude-behavior association was strongest when attitudes were confident, when participants formed their attitude on the basis of behavior-relevant information, and when they received or were induced to think about one- rather than two-sided information about the attitude object.     

The picture superiority effect: support for the distinctiveness model

The form change paradigm was used to explore the basis for the picture superiority effect. Recognition memory for studied pictures and words was tested in their study form or the alternate form. Form change cost was defined as the difference between recognition performance for same and different form items. Based on the results of Experiment 1 and previous studies, it was difficult to determine the relative cost for studied pictures and words due to a reversal of the mirror effect. We hypothesized that the reversed mirror effect results from subjects' basing their recognition decisions on their assumptions about the study form. Experiments 2 and 3 confirmed this hypothesis and generated a method for evaluating the relative cost for pictures and words despite the reversed mirror effect. More cost was observed for pictures than words, supporting the distinctiveness model of the picture superiority effect.     

Self-efficacy and resource allocation: support for a nonmonotonic, discontinuous model

Self-regulation theories are paving the way to integrating motivational theories of behavior. However, a review of the motivation literature reveals several possible relationships between self-efficacy and motivation. Past findings were reduced to 4 empirical models, which were compared within a single study using undergraduates playing a computer task. The effects of 2 manipulations of self-efficacy on resource allocation decisions were assessed. Consistent with a multiple goal process conceptualization, self-efficacy was found to relate positively to directing resources toward a goal but negatively to the magnitude of resources allocated for accepted goals. Differences in methods are used to reconcile current and past findings.     

Positive perception: A three dimensional model and a scale

Traits and perceptions that predict psychological and physical well-being have been the focus of great interest in Positive Psychology. The paper focused on positive perception (PP) as a case in point. A three dimensional model of PP is proposed. PP represents a general tendency to evaluate positively one’s abilities, one’s past, and human nature. The construction of an 8-item self-report measure of PP, the Positive Perception Scale (PPS), is detailed. Three samples of university students and a national sample of working couples (total N = 796) helped demonstrate various psychometric aspects of the PPS. The studies confirmed the three dimensional model of PP, demonstrated it as both a trait and a state and the PPS as a valid and reliable scale, for both researchers and practitioners.