Internet resources in applied behavior analysis

Internet communication is becoming an important tool for both academic and clinical areas in psychology and behavior analysis. The Internet, a confederation of thousands of computer systems covering the entire globe (Plaud, 1996b), can significantly enhance behavior analysis in at least three major areas: (a) information exchange and communication among behavior analysts through list servers, (b) dissemination of empirical data and commentary through on-line journals and information servers, and (c) promotion of programs and services in behavior analysis. This commentary provides specific examples in each of these areas and addresses the basics of connecting to the Internet.     

CHOICE-MAKING TREATMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN'S SEVERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

The choice-making behavior of 5 young children with developmental disabilities who engaged in aberrant behavior was studied within a concurrent operants framework. Experimental analyses were conducted to identify reinforcers that maintained aberrant behavior, and functional communication training packages were implemented to teach the participants to gain reinforcement using mands. Next, a choice-making analysis, in which the participants chose one of two responses (either a mand or an alternative neutral response) to obtain different durations and qualities of reinforcement, was conducted. Finally, treatment packages involving choice making via manding were implemented to decrease inappropriate behavior and to increase mands. The results extended previous applications of choice making to severe behavior disorders and across behaviors maintained by positive and negative reinforcement.     

Culturally Sensitive AIDS Educational Videos for African American Audiences: Effects of Source, Message, Receiver, and Context

The importance of using culturally sensitive educational materials in HIV-related interventions with racial and ethnic minority groups is widely recognized. However, little empirical research has been conducted to assess the relative effectiveness of different techniques for creating culturally sensitive AIDS educational videos. Two field experiments with three samples of African American adults (N = 174, 173, and 143) were conducted to assess how source characteristics (race of communicator), message characteristics (multicultural message vs. culturally specific message), and audience characteristics (racial distrust and AIDS-related distrust) influence proximate (perceptions of the message's credibility and attractiveness) and distal (AIDS-related attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions) output variables for AIDS educational videos. In Study 1, an AIDS video with a culturally specific message was rated as more credible, more attractive, and of higher quality than was a video with a multicultural message. The multicultural message was rated less favorably when delivered by a White announcer than when the announcer was Black. In Study 2, the same pattern was replicated with a second community sample and a campus-based sample. Study 2 also indicated that a multicultural message might be more effective if delivered in a culturally specific context, namely, after audience members watch a culturally specific video. Minimal changes were observed in distal outcome variables. It is argued that influencing proximate output variables is necessary, though not sufficient, for effecting long-term change in AIDS-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.     

The application of the satir model of family therapy to the families in Hong Kong: A personal reflection

Practitioners in Hong Kong have shown an increasing interest in various family therapy approaches since the 1980s. This paper offers a critique of the major concepts and techniques of the Satir model applied to families in Hong Kong. Cultural considerations are examined in relation to the family structure and hierarchy, the Chinese self and self-esteem, communication patterns, and family rules. Implications for the application of the Satir model of family therapy in Hong Kong are discussed.     

Joining with all members of a family system: The rhetoric of antilogic in family therapy dialogue

Family therapists face a significant rhetorical challenge in working with families that disagree about the problematic life-situation which brought them to therapy. Therapists must find a way to join with disagreeing family members and then find a way to engage in a therapeutically useful conversation with them. Thus, they must deal resourcefully with contradictions. This article explores the ways that the Sophistic rhetorical concept of antilogic may be employed in helping therapists join and then engage in a therapeutically useful conversation with families who hold contradictory views concerning the problem that brought them to therapy.The author wishes to thank Ronald Chenail, PhD, Douglas Flemons, PhD, and Shelly Green, PhD, for their assistance in the development of this project.     

INDUCING VARIABILITY IN COMMUNICATIVE GESTURES USED BY SEVERELY RETARDED INDIVIDUALS

Handicapped individuals who have been taught spontaneous gesture requests often use only a small part of their vocabulary. Procedures to recover the unused part of this vocabulary have not been documented. This study was designed to identify procedures for increasing the proportion of gestures used spontaneously. Six mentally handicapped individuals served as subjects. After a baseline phase during which spontaneous gesture requests were reinforced, consequences were withheld for high-rate gesture requests. This led to an increase in different gesture requests. Although gesture requests did not return to baseline levels during a reversal condition, functional control was demonstrated by way of a multiple baseline across subjects. The absence of a reversal effect suggests enduring effects of the procedure.     

FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING TO REDUCE CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR: MAINTENANCE AND APPLICATION IN NEW SETTINGS

We evaluated the initial effectiveness, maintenance, and transferability of the results of functional communication training as an intervention for the challenging behaviors exhibited by 3 students. Assessment indicated that escape from academic demands was involved in the maintenance of the challenging behaviors. Social attention was also implicated as controlling the behavior of 1 student. The intervention involved teaching alternative assistance-seeking and attention-getting phrases to the students in an effort to replace challenging behavior with these verbal equivalents. Multiple baseline data collected across the 3 students indicated that not only did the intervention substantially reduce challenging behavior but also that these results transferred across new tasks, environments, and teachers, and were generally maintained from 18 to 24 months following the introduction of functional communication training. These results are discussed in light of recent efforts to develop effective interventions for severe challenging behavior and to understand the processes underlying transfer and maintenance of intervention effects.     

Adaptation to context

Argument theorists often stress the idea of adaptation to context as an alternative to seeing argument as linked propositions. But adaptation is not a clear idea. It is in fact a complicated puzzle. Though many aspects of this puzzle are obscure, one clear conclusion is that the question-answer pair is not a good way to conceptualize adaptation to situation.