Increasing accurate preference assessment implementation through pyramidal training

Preference assessments directly evaluate items that may serve as reinforcers, and their implementation is an important skill for individuals who work with children. This study examined the effectiveness of pyramidal training on teachers' implementation of preference assessments. During Experiment 1, 3 special education teachers taught 6 trainees to conduct paired-choice, multiple-stimulus without replacement, and free-operant preference assessments. All trainees acquired skills necessary to implement preference assessments with 90% or greater accuracy during the training sessions and demonstrated generalization of skills to their classrooms or clinic. During Experiment 2, 5 teachers who served as trainees in Experiment 1 trained 18 preschool teachers. All preschool teachers met the mastery criterion following training. Training teachers to implement preference assessments may increase teachers' acceptance and use of behavior-analytic procedures in school settings.     

Pre‐service teacher‐delivered behavioral skills training: A pyramidal training approach

This study evaluated the effectiveness of using a university‐based pyramidal approach (i.e., train the trainer) to teach four pre‐service teachers to train another person. These pre‐service teachers were taught to use behavioral skills training (BST) techniques to train other professionals to use an evidence‐based practice. Transfer to a generalization trainee was probed and three participants maintenance of BST fidelity was probed one year later, after the participants had begun teaching. Results indicate that the participants quickly acquired and maintained a high degree of fidelity with BST. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Training Public School Special Educators to Implement Two Functional Analysis Models

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and efficiency of a training package to teach public school special educators to conduct functional analyses of challenging behavior. Six public school educators were divided into two cohorts of three and were taught two models of functional analysis of challenging behavior: traditional and trial-based functional analysis. The effect of the training package on functional analysis implementation was evaluated using multiple-baseline designs across participants for each functional analysis model. The sequence of functional analysis models taught was counterbalanced across cohorts. Following the training package, all participants reached 100 % implementation fidelity during role-plays and classroom sessions with students, and maintained high fidelity at follow-up role-play sessions. Data on training duration, trials to criterion, and social validity revealed that trial-based functional analysis training had a shorter duration and was rated as the more favorable functional analysis model.     

Maintenance of Parent-Implemented Discrete-Trial Instruction during Videoconferencing

Access to behavior-analytic professionals who can implement interventions like discrete-trial instruction (DTI) may be limited for families living in rural communities. We trained four rural parents of children with autism to implement DTI accurately with a confederate using in vivo behavioral skills training. The DTI skills that parents demonstrated with a confederate generalized to working with their children. We then assessed whether periodic supervision during videoconferencing maintained parents’ DTI skills following training. Parents accurately implemented untrained DTI programs with their children and maintained accurate implementation over several months of remote supervision occurring twice a week, weekly, and biweekly. Videoconferencing may be an effective way for individuals responsible for direct implementation to maintain contact with behavior analysts who are not locally accessible.     

Effect of an Automated Training Presentation on Pre-service Behavior Analysts’ Implementation of Trial-based Functional Analysis

The trial-based functional analysis (FA) is a useful alternative to the traditional FA in contexts in which it is challenging to establish environmental control for extended periods of time. Previous researchers have demonstrated that others can be trained to conduct trial-based FAs with high procedural fidelity by providing a didactic presentation, small group instruction, and then a performance evaluation. However, one barrier to replicating this training sequence is that didactic presentations are not standardized and presentations can vary considerably across different groups of trainers or researchers. We designed an automated didactic presentation with video models embedded throughout for trainers and researchers to use when training others to conduct trial-based FAs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of this presentation on participant fidelity to trial-based FA procedures. Results demonstrate improved fidelity following the presentation. However, the presentation alone was insufficient to establish consistently high levels of fidelity across all conditions for all participants. Thus, additional training components are required when teaching others to conduct trial-based FAs.     

Teacher Implementation of Trial-Based Functional Analysis and Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior for Students with Challenging Behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a training package on three middle school special education teachers’ accurate implementation of trial-based functional analysis (TBFA) and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) with their students with autism spectrum disorders or emotional and behavioral disorders in the classroom setting. We also examined the effects of the DRA on six students’ challenging and replacement behaviors. Using a multiple probe across teacher participants design, we demonstrated that all three teachers implemented TBFA during TBFA training with performance feedback conditions and DRA during DRA training with performance feedback conditions with high procedural fidelity. Further, two of three teachers generalized high procedural fidelity with a new student. Finally, results indicated a reduction in all six students’ challenging behavior and an increase in their replacement behavior after the teachers received training and performance feedback on DRA implementation. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Teaching Package Utilizing Behavioral Skills Training and In Situ Training to Teach Gun Safety Skills in a Preschool Classroom

There are a number of different safety threats that children face in their lives. One infrequent, but highly dangerous situation a child can face is finding a firearm. Hundreds of children are injured or killed by firearms each year. Fortunately, behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) are effective approaches for teaching a number of different skills, including safety skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a teaching package for preschool teachers to learn to conduct BST to teach safety skills. Following teacher-implemented BST, the experimenter completed in situ training and supplemental instructions. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching package implemented by the teacher and experimenter with five preschoolers. Five children demonstrated the skills following IST and additional reinforcement or time out. The use of additional reinforcement, as well as treatment fidelity are discussed.     

Using International Videoconferencing to Provide Staff Training on Functional Behavioral Assessment

Videoconferencing has been successfully implemented to teach functional analysis (FA) procedures to service providers who support individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the acquisition of the competencies for implementing FA methodology for special education teachers after participation in a group‐format workshop via a videoconferencing program in which the training site and the remote site were located on different continents, connected through the internet. Four special education teachers in Saudi Arabia who did not have previous exposure to functional behavior assessment participated in the study. Teachers received 3 h of group‐format training via Skype followed by individualized feedback. Training involved role‐playing, video modeling, and reading materials. Results indicate that all four participants mastered the skills across at least two of the conditions with one participant demonstrating mastery across all four conditions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Description and Immediate Impacts of a Preventive Intervention for Conduct Problems

A population-based randomized intervention trial for the prevention of conduct problems (i.e., oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder) is described. The LIFT (Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers) intervention was designed for all first- and fifth-grade elementary school boys and girls and their families living in at-risk neighborhoods characterized by high rates of juvenile delinquency. The 10-week intervention strategy was carefully targeted at proximal and malleable antecedents in three social domains that were identified by a developmental model of conduct problems. From 12 elementary schools, 671 first and fifth graders and their families participated either in the theory-based universal preventive intervention or in a control condition. The intervention consisted of parent training, a classroom-based social skills program, a playground behavioral program, and systematic communication between teachers and parents. A multiple measure assessment strategy was used to evaluate participant satisfaction and participation, fidelity of implementation, and the immediate impacts of the program on targeted antecedents.     

An Evaluation of Pyramidal Training to Teach Implementation of the Picture Exchange Communication System

The pyramidal training or train‐the‐trainer model is a method of training in which a professional teaches a skill to a small group of individuals who then teach that skill to another set of individuals. This model has demonstrated efficacy to teach several behavioral intervention techniques to parents, teachers, and direct care staff in a timely manner. The purpose of the present study was to extend the literature on pyramidal training to teach implementation of the first four phases of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to university students working with a confederate learner. We used a multiple baseline across participants design (Tier 1 and 2) and a non‐concurrent multiple baseline design (Tier 3) to demonstrate the efficacy of this model. Results replicate and extend the literature on pyramidal training. Discussion focuses on implications and limitations to be addressed in future work. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Teacher acquisition of functional analysis methodology

The current study examined methods for training teachers to use functional analysis methods. Teachers first received written and verbal instructions detailing attention and demand conditions. They then received training that included modeling, rehearsal, and performance feedback. Finally, probes were taken during ongoing class instruction. Results indicate that teachers acquired the skills and used them in classroom settings.     

Training for Task Performance Under Stress: The Effectiveness of Phased Training Methods

Studies on the training of individuals for task performance in stressful situations have typically considered two approaches. One approach requires that, while training on the task, trainees be exposed to stressors of a kind and intensity characteristic of the situations for which they are being trained ("high fidelity" training). Such an approach might suffer from the interference of stressors with task acquisition. Another approach allows the trainee to train on the task in a stress-free environment or under low-intensity stressors ("low fidelity" training). This approach leaves the trainee insufficiently prepared for task performance under stress. The present study compared these two basic approaches to three forms of "phased" training, which consisted of different combinations of three separate and distinct training phases: a phase which allows the trainee to acquire the task under stress- free conditions; a phase which allows him or her to passively experience the stressor; and a phase in which newly acquired skills are practiced under stress. The results showed that a phased training process which combines the first and third phases just described, is more effective than either "high fidelity" training or "low fidelity" training.     

Relational frame theory and the experimental analysis of human sexuality

Behavior analysts have not been particularly active in the experimental analysis of human sexual behavior. This may be because the complexity of human sexuality suggests that it defies a molecular empirical analysis. Recent developments in the experimental analysis of complex behavior and language, however, have opened the way for a modern behavior-analytic research program into human sexual conduct. The present article outlines the most important of these recent developments and illustrates how, at the Cork laboratory, advances in the study of arbitrarily applicable relational responding have been harnessed to form the basis of a modern behavior-analytic treatment of human sexuality.     

The Analysis of Single-Case Research Data: Current Instructional Practices

Visual analysis is the predominant method of analysis in single-case research (SCR). However, most research suggests that agreement between visual analysts is poor, which may be due to a lack of clear guidelines and criteria for visual analysis, as well as variability in how individuals are trained. We developed a survey containing questions about the content and methods used to teach visual and statistical analysis of SCR data in verified course sequences (VCS) and distributed it via the VCS Coordinator Listserv. Thirty-seven instructors completed the survey. Results suggest that there is variability across instructors in some fundamental aspects of data analysis (e.g., number of effects required for a functional relation) but a great deal of consistency in others (e.g., emphasizing visual over statistical analysis). We discuss our results along with their implications both for teaching students to analyze SCR data and for conducting additional research on behavior-analytic training programs.

     

PYRAMIDAL TRAINING: A LARGE-SCALE APPLICATION WITH INSTITUTIONAL STAFF

This study evaluated an indirect method of training 45 institutional direct care staff to conduct behavioral programs. Three supervisors were trained to improve teaching behaviors (instructions, prompts, and consequences) used by the direct care staff while working with severely and profoundly handicapped residents. In addition to training, daily feedback was provided to supervisors regarding performance of their staff. Results of a multiple baseline analysis across teaching behaviors (instructions, prompts, and consequences) and content areas (communication and gross motor skills) showed that providing training and feedback to supervisors resulted in increases in correct teaching behavior by direct care staff. However, teaching behavior newly learned in one content area (communication) did not generalize to the other area (gross motor skills). Data collected on resident behavior showed small but noticeable improvement in terms of correct responses and attending behavior during programming. Results are discussed in terms of the benefits of a pyramidal approach to training institutional staff.     

Can SMART Training Really Increase Intelligence? A Replication Study

A burgeoning research stream supports the efficacy of a novel behavior-analytic intervention, known as SMART training, in raising general intelligence by training a set of crucial cognitive skills, referred to as relational skills. A sample of Irish secondary school students (n?=?26) was divided into two IQ matched groups, with the experimental group receiving 12 weeks of SMART training delivered in bi-weekly 45-min sessions. WASI IQ assessments were administered at baseline and follow-up to all participants by blind testers. For each of the three WASI IQ indices and the four IQ subtests, significant follow-up rises were found for the experimental group only. Analyses of variance indicated a significant effect of training on Verbal IQ, Matrix Reasoning and Vocabulary scores. Results lend further support for the efficacy of the SMART training program in enhancing intellectual skills.     

Essential readings for graduate students in behavior analysis: A survey of the JEAB and JABA boards of editors

We surveyed the editorial boards of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis in an attempt to construct an essential reading list for graduate students in behavior analysis. Respondents were asked to list up to 10 behavior-analytic journal articles, 10 behavior-analytic books, and 5 non-behavior-analytic books or journal articles that they felt were essential readings. Several behavior-analytic books were listed by members of both editorial boards, suggesting that an understanding of the philosophy of radical behaviorism and its basic principles are essential for graduate students. In contrast, a number of disparities point to differences in training and a lack of integration that may exist between basic and applied researchers. However, these disparities might also be indicative of the strength of behavior analysis. Finally, several non-behavior-analytic readings draw attention to the convergence of behavior analysis and other fields of study.     

COMPONENT ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR SKILLS TRAINING IN FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is an effective training package that consists of instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Although the efficacy of BST has been demonstrated, previous research has not clearly delineated its active components. This study used an alternating‐treatment design embedded within ABC and ABCD designs to evaluate the independent effects of all components of BST for training teachers to conduct functional analyses. Prior to baseline, teachers reviewed written instructions. Following baseline, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback training occurred independently during the first training phase and in combination during subsequent training phases. Rehearsal was ineffective, whereas feedback was effective at improving the performance of all teachers. Modeling was less effective than feedback, such that improvements only occurred for some teachers and some functional analysis responses. Thus, feedback, and to a lesser extent, modeling are the effective and perhaps necessary components of BST. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.