FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING USING ASSISTIVE DEVICES: RECRUITING NATURAL COMMUNITIES OF REINFORCEMENT

We evaluated the effectiveness of functional communication training (FCT) as an intervention for the problem behavior exhibited by 5 students with severe disabilities both in school and in the community. Following an assessment of the function of their problem behavior, the students were taught to use assistive communication devices in school to request the objects and activities that presumably were maintaining their behavior. Multiple baseline data collected across the students indicated that not only did the students use their devices successfully, but the intervention also reduced their problem behavior. In addition, data from community settings showed generalization to untrained community members. These results replicate other successful efforts to use FCT with individuals having limited communication skills, and demonstrate the value of teaching skills to recruit natural communities of reinforcement in order to generalize intervention effects to meaningful nontraining environments.     

ASSESSING AND PROGRAMMING GENERALIZED BEHAVIORAL REDUCTION ACROSS MULTIPLE STIMULUS PARAMETERS

Generalization across three stimulus parameters was examined for 5 individuals whose self-injurious behavior was maintained by escape from task demands. Prior to treatment, three stimulus parameters (therapist, setting, and demands) were systematically varied across baseline sessions. These variables were held constant during treatment, which consisted of escape extinction. When treatment was completed, three novel stimulus parameters were probed. If the rate of self-injury was high during this probe, treatment was reimplemented with one new stimulus parameter (the other two were the same as in the original treatment condition). Following this second treatment, another probe with three novel stimuli was conducted. If the rate of self-injury was again high, treatment was implemented again while a second stimulus parameter was changed. This sequence continued until generalization was observed across the three parameters. Results showed idiosyncratic differences in generalization. The behavior of 2 subjects showed complete generalization during the first novel probe. A 3rd subject's behavior showed generalization following treatment across two stimulus parameters (setting and therapist). The behavior of the 2 remaining subjects showed a complete lack of generalization across the three parameters; both subjects required training for novelty by randomly varying the stimulus parameters for a substantial number of sessions.     

A comparative analysis of the effects of social skill training and teacher-directed contingencies on social behavior of preschool children with disabilities

This study investigated the effects of an analog social skill training program and a teacher-directed contingency strategy on promoting social responding among four preschool children with mild disabilities and their peers. The social skill training program consisted of five lessons targeting the skill areas: Initiating, responding, and maintaining social interactions. The teacher directed contingency consisted of prompting target children when they were not socially involved with peers, and providing verbal praise when they were socially involved with peers. Subjects were divided into two training pairs and received both interventions in a reversal design. Presentation order was counterbalanced across the two training pairs. Results indicated that the teacher directed contingency was more effective in promoting higher levels of social responding in a free-play setting. Results also suggest that social skill training may not always be a necessary prerequisite to promote increased social interactions among children who display low rates of social interaction with peers, but possess necessary skills.     

Assessing therapeutic problem solving skills: Empirical analysis of a measuring operation

Employment of caregivers as trainers is an imperative in the training and treatment of mentally retarded persons. Besides being taught specific behavior modification skills, these paraprofessional trainers have to obtain a set of general skills in order to adjust their specific skills to new clients, situations, and behaviors across time. Empirical research on the characteristics of therapeutic problem-solving skills are scarce. This may be due to a reluctance of behavior researchers against including cognitive factors in the analysis of behavior influence. However, the development of basic knowledge on the existence of therapeutic problem-solving skills should be one of the primary research goals. This article describes the development and application of four scales assumed to be representative of an important set of general skills—therapeutic problem-solving skills. By means of these four scales 21 caregivers were evaluated before and after extensive training. A multifaceted measuring operation is employed with the main objective of empirically testing the dimensionality of problem-solving skills. Rater consistency and individual differences in change from pre- to post-training level are also uncovered. It is concluded that the four scales of therapeutic skills, largely reflect the same underlying concept of a rather general therapeutic problem-solving skill. Discussion of the findings also pointed to future research.     

The Validity of Job Knowledge Measures

The validity of written job knowledge tests as predictors of job performance and training success was examined. Based on a sample of 363,528 persons and 502 coefficients, meta-analyses were performed to investigate the extent of validity generalization and the effects of two hypothesized moderator variables: content similarity and job complexity. Corrected mean validities were 0.45 for studies predicting job performance and 0.47 for studies of training success. Support was found for both moderators since validities were higher for high complexity jobs and when job-test content similarity was high. The implications of this study for personnel selection and research in the area of work performance are discussed.     

On the use of ridit analysis

Ridit analysis is statistical method for comparing ordinal-scale responses. In this paper, the extact variance and asymptotic distribution of the average ridit is developed, including the cases in which the reference group is sampled or the comparison group is finite. The appropriate use and interpretation of ridit analysis is also discussed.The authors wish to thank Andrew Klugh for this support, and the references and David Feigenbaum for their very helpful comments.     

Computer-programmed instruction: The relation of required interaction to practical application

Computers were used to evaluate the effects of supplying answers to programmed instruction frames. A group experimental design compared passive reading, covert responding to frame blanks, and actively typing answers to blanks with and without immediate confirmation of correctness. Effects of a 315-frame program, teaching elements of programmed instruction design, were evaluated by analyzing answers to posttest generalization questions and an application test. Results strongly supported the effectiveness of requiring the student to supply fragments of a terminal repertoire while working through a program. Students who could either covertly respond to frame blanks or who were required to type frame answers performed significantly better on the frame generalization posttest and, more importantly, carefully followed program rules when preparing elements of a new instructional program.     

IN-HOME GENERALIZATION OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN FAMILIES OF ADOLESCENTS WITH BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

The effects of a three-phase family communication program were evaluated. In the skill-teaching phase, family members were taught reciprocal social communication skills in a clinic setting. During the skill-review phase, each family member practiced the skills in their homes with the teacher. During the home-based family conference phase, each family was taught to use a structured format to resolve current family issues using their newly acquired skills. In-home parent-youth interactions were observed during a series of 1-hr sessions that involved directed and nondirected situations. Evaluation included a multiple baseline design across skills during the skill-teaching phase and a multiple baseline design across families for the family conference phase. Although the procedures of the skill-teaching phase resulted in parent-adolescent dyads learning to use the skills in the teaching setting, competent use of the skills in the home was not observed until the family conference phase was implemented. These results suggest the importance of home-based intervention if changes are to be obtained at home.     

Multiple schedules with response interruption and redirection to reduce stereotypy in children with autism spectrum disorder: Generalization and social validity

Although response interruption and redirection (RIRD) and multiple schedule arrangements have sometimes been shown to be effective in reducing stereotypy for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), important questions remain about optimal methods for facilitating generalization and social validity. In the current study, we sought to extend the literature on stereotypy treatment and MSAs in several ways. First, we programmed for generalization by conducting sessions with two exemplars of two different categories of activities (i.e., school work, toy play) and assessing generalization with novel exemplars and activities and during the participant's typical instructional program. Second, we used RIRD instructions that were contextual models of appropriate behavior relevant to each activity. Third, during the free access component of the multiple schedule, we used a child's play tent as a first step toward teaching participants to engage in stereotypy during private free time. For all three participants with ASD, stereotypy decreased quickly and substantially, with reductions generalizing to novel activities and contexts. An extensive social validity assessment with board-certified behavior analysts indicated high social acceptability of the goals, procedures, and outcomes.     

右视野颜色范畴知觉是长期习得语言范畴还是即时分类颜色的结果?

本研究探讨了右视野颜色范畴知觉是由长期习得语言范畴还是即时分类颜色引起的。实验1让被试先将深绿、浅绿、浅蓝和深蓝四种颜色分为四种范畴,再接受视觉搜索任务。结果发现,视觉搜索任务中出现了与颜色分类相应的右视野颜色范畴知觉,且这一效应在任务的早段就表现出来,提示右视野颜色范畴知觉并非由分类颜色所引起。实验2让被试将四种渐进的蓝色分为两种范畴,并在之前与后接受视觉搜索任务。结果表明,分类后的视觉搜索中并未出现右视野颜色范畴知觉。先前研究表明,习得语言范畴使四种颜色为两种范畴后,颜色辨别会出现右视野范畴效应。因此,这一结果提示右视野颜色范畴知觉并非由分类颜色,而是由习得语言范畴所引起的。总体上,本研究提示右视野颜色范畴知觉是由长期习得语言范畴,而非即时分类颜色引起的,进一步揭示了语言与颜色知觉的关系。