Probability Discounting in College Students' Willingness to Isolate During COVID-19: Implications for Behavior Analysis and Public Health.

The present study was a preliminary analysis of college students' willingness to self-isolate and socially isolate during the COVID-19 pandemic analyzed through a probability discounting framework. Researchers developed a pandemic likelihood discounting task where willingness to isolate from others was measured in days as a function of the perceived probability of the escalation of a virus to pandemic levels. Experiment 1 was conducted immediately prior to the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic and results showed that participants were more willing to self-isolate when the perceived probability of reaching pandemic levels was high and when there was a guarantee that others in the community would do the same. Experiment 2 was conducted with a subset of participants from Experiment 1 with the same discounting task, and results showed that participants were more willing to self-isolate 2 months following the onset of the pandemic, supporting the view that willingness to isolate from others is a dynamic process. Finally, Experiment 3 evaluated willingness to socially distance and introduced a hypothetical timescale to evaluate common trends with the real-world temporal dynamics observed in Experiments 1 and 2. Results showed similar trends in the data, supporting the use of hypothetical scenarios within probability discounting tasks in future behavior analytic research related to public health.

Individualizing the LIFE Curriculum to Establish Flexible Cooking Skills in a Neurodivergent Young Adult.

The present study used a multiple baseline across skills design to evaluate use of an adapted LIFE skills curriculum (Dixon, 2021) to teach various cooking tasks to a young adult diagnosed with ASD, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. The participant learned and completed recipes and related vocational tasks. Results showed efficient task acquisition for all recipes and maintenance of vocational tasks during follow-up probes. Results have implications for the LIFE program, suggesting that it is a viable method for teaching LIFE skills to neurodivergent young adults.

Evaluating an ACT-Based Brief Intervention for Educators Treatment Package on Reported Well-Being and ACT-Consistent Language in the Classroom.

Educators continue to experience stress and burnout, both of which have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and there continues to be a need to develop interventions that support not only educators' well-being, but a climate within school buildings that fosters psychological well-being for students and school staff alike. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one promising approach to interventions for both educator and student psychological well-being. The present study sought to evaluate the effect of a low-dosage, online, and remotely delivered ACT intervention for educators on self-reported burnout, psychological flexibility, ACT knowledge, and frequency of use of ACT-consistent language while teaching in an alternative educational setting. The ACT-based intervention targeted the development of educator psychological flexibility, but the analysis provided an evaluation of non-targeted participants' use of ACT-consistent language in the classroom, as well. Results suggest an overall improvement in participants' self-reported burnout and psychological flexibility, an increase in participants' ACT knowledge following each phase of the study, and an increase in the frequency of ACT-consistent language for all participants following the onset of a feedback component. We discuss potential implications of practical ACT-based interventions for educators in an applied setting and related increases in ACT-consistent verbal stimuli within the classroom setting.

Values: A Core Guiding Principle for Behavior-Analytic Intervention and Research.

Values represent qualities or beliefs that are of high priority to individuals or society and represent one of the core processes within acceptance and commitment therapy or training (ACT or ACTr). The current article discusses values and valuing not only as a centralized process in ACT but also as a core process guiding the field of applied behavior analysis with applications that extend across several intervention domains. A relational frame theory model of values as hierarchical frames that augment reinforcing functions that can influence socially meaningful behavior change is reviewed. This basic model is then extended to encompass temporal, deictic, and causal frames. Values-based intervention research is emerging in areas such as guided decision making, professional development, organizational behavior management, parent training, and treatment plans for children and adults. Although this research is promising, more work is needed to further explore the role of values and valuing within ACT, and when they are used within other intervention strategies. Several potential avenues for future research that may aid in the development of values-based intervention by behavior analysts and extend the scope of our field and practice are discussed.

A Sociobehavioral Model of Racism against the Black Community and Avenues for Anti-Racism Research.

Sociological researchers have made immense strides in understanding systemic racism, privilege, and bias against Black people. Relational frame theory provides a contemporary account of human language and cognition that intersects within complex external contingency systems that may provide a provisionally adequate model of racial bias and racism. We propose a reticulated model that includes nested relational frames and external contingency systems that operate at the level of the individual (implicit), communities (white privilege), and system policies (systemic racism). This approach is organized from within the framework of critical race theory as an area of sociological scholarship that captures racial disadvantages at multiple levels of organization. We extend this model by describing avenues for future research to inform anti-racism strategies to dismantle this complex and pervasive sociobehavioral phenomenon. At all levels, police violence against the Black community is provided as a case example of negative social impact of racism in our society.

An Examination of the Intervention-Enhancing Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Based Training on Direct Service Professionals' Performance in the Workplace.

Direct service professionals (DSPs) provide treatment to individuals with developmental disabilities; however, high levels of performance are not always prevalent among these professionals. The present study examined the effect of an intervention package with verbal and written performance feedback and a performance-based lottery alone as part of a treatment package including an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)-based training program on the frequency and technical competence of active treatment for individuals with disabilities provided by DSPs. Both intervention groups performed significantly better than the control group on all observational measures (p < .05). The performance enhancement intervention (PEI) plus ACT group outperformed the PEI group significantly in frequency of active treatment at posttest (p < .05). Self-reported levels of psychological flexibility, workplace stress, and job satisfaction remained stable for all three groups from pre- to posttest despite the increased performance among DSPs in the two intervention groups.

Transformation of Hierarchical Multiply Controlled Verbal Relations in Children With Autism in a Game of I Spy.

We evaluated the development of mutually entailed arbitrary hierarchical relations and associated transformations of stimulus function across 3 children with autism in a game of I Spy. Top-down hierarchical relational training was efficacious in establishing 4 relational categories (A) containing a total of 5 stimuli (B), where 3 of the stimuli were contained in 2 different categories. Following relational training, all participants demonstrated a transformation of function by identifying the stimuli when provided a multiple verbal stimulus with two category names during I Spy. The procedures were adapted from the PEAK Relational Training System.

A Large-Scale Naturalistic Evaluation of the AIM Curriculum in a Public-School Setting.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the AIM curriculum when implemented in a public-school setting by schoolteachers and direct care staff. Three hundred eighteen students took part in this quasiexperimental design where all received the AIM curriculum every day for an entire school year. The participants completed a series of self-assessments (the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth, the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure, and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire) at the onset of the study and at the end of the school year to assess psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and emotional behavioral skills. Results suggest that at the end of the school year, participants increased psychological flexibility and mindfulness. State standardized testing scores also showed increases school-wide as compared to the previous 2 years. These results suggest that the AIM curriculum may be effective in large school settings, appeared easy to implement by school staff to address the needs of both the individual student and the entire student body, and likely participated in improving school-wide academic success.

Correction to: A Large-Scale Naturalistic Evaluation of the AIM Curriculum in a Public-School Setting.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s40617-021-00569-5.].

Top-Down Attentional Processing and Relational Density Evident in Word Search Performance of Children.

Relational frame theory and extensions (e.g., relational density theory; Belisle & Dixon, 2020a, 2020b) provides a behavioral model for top-down attentional processing, where attention is oriented in terms of arbitrarily applicable verbal relations through the transformation of stimulus function. Children's games may provide a strategy for testing transformations of stimulus function when developing new language skills, such as when working with children with autism. Three children with autism underwent relational training to establish lean and dense arbitrary classes. Prior-to relational training, participants were more likely to locate familiar words over unfamiliar words within a word-search task. Following relational training, participants were more likely to locate words that participated in high-density relational classes over neutral or low-density relational classes. These results support the use of common games to supplement relational training with children with autism and provide evidence that top-down attentional processing may involve transformations of stimulus function and can be predicted and influenced through relational training to establish high-density relational classes.

Intervention Enhancing Effects of Acceptance and Commitment Training on Performance Feedback for Direct Support Professional Work Performance, Stress, and Job Satisfaction.

Direct service professionals (DSPs) provide the majority of treatment to individuals with developmental disabilities in community and residential settings; however, their ability to implement high-quality care is often limited by workplace factors and stress. The present study examined the effect of a verbal and written performance feedback intervention and the addition of an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)-based training program on the frequency and technical competence of active treatment provided by DSPs using a multiple-baseline design across 5 participants. Each participant demonstrated an increase in active treatment and technical performance following the implementation of both feedback-only and feedback plus ACT training interventions. Self-reported levels of psychological flexibility, workplace stress, and job satisfaction remained relatively stable for all participants from baseline to intervention despite the increased performance of the DSPs. Implications of the inclusion of an ACT-based training program with traditional behavior-analytic workplace interventions are discussed.

Derived Relational Responding and Transformations of Function in Children: A Review of Applied Behavior-Analytic Journals.

Theoretical extensions of Skinner's verbal behavior that emphasize derived relational responding (stimulus equivalence, relational frame theory, and bidirectional naming) can improve the complexity and scope of applied behavior-analytic training models with children. We evaluated the prevalence and content of empirical research on derived relational responding in children within 8 major applied behavior-analytic journals. We identified 123 empirical articles that met all inclusion criteria (i.e., they demonstrated derived relational responding in children). Whereas prior citation analyses have shown higher rates of research with adult participants, considerable research within these journals has involved child participants. In addition, 55% of the research targeted socially relevant or culturally established verbal relations, rather than culturally arbitrary relations (e.g., unknown symbols, consonant-vowel-consonant combinations) that are unlikely to affect real-world behavior. Generalization and transformation tests were also present in 47% of articles. We also conducted a content analysis of all articles that contained culturally relevant relations and demonstrated generalization or transformation of stimulus function (21% of all articles, N = 26); we argue that studies that meet these criteria are likely to be the most immediately impactful for learners. Results suggest that future research is needed to evaluate relational frames other than coordination (e.g., distinction, opposition), as well as to extend considerably the complexity of target relational classes and transformations of stimulus function with children.

Decreasing influence of arbitrarily applicable verbal relations of recreational gamblers: A randomized controlled trial.

Twenty-one recreational gamblers were randomly assigned to two groups; one group was exposed to a conditional discrimination relational training task to bias choice allocation to a black machine presented concurrently with a red machine, and the other group underwent the same relational training task immediately followed by a defusion procedure, designed to expand upon the relations developed in the initial relational task. Both groups completed a simulated slot-machine task before and after the relational training task, with or without the defusion procedure. Results showed that 9 of 11 participants in the relational training only group showed an increased bias toward the black machine, compared to only 4 of 10 in the relational training plus defusion group; this latter group also showed greater matched responding. Results suggest that expanding verbal-relational networks may reduce the influence of any single verbal relation on gambling choice behavior.

Teaching "Then-Later" and "Here-There" Relations to Children with Autism: an Evaluation of Single Reversals and Transformation of Stimulus Function.

The present study demonstrates the utility of relational training for teaching Then-Later and Here-There deictic relations for two children with autism. Mutually entailed single-reversal relations, transfers of stimulus function, and transformations of stimulus function were also evaluated for each participant. The methods were adapted from the PEAK-T curriculum. Results for both participants support the utility of relational training for teaching children with autism basic perspective-taking skills. Both participants were able to generalize the perspective-taking skills to novel sets of stimuli, and demonstrate mutually entailed responding during single-reversal tasks. Both participants were also able to demonstrate transformations of stimulus function for both Then-Later and Here-There deictic relations.

A Randomized Control Trial to Evaluate the Use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to Increase Academic Performance and Psychological Flexibility in Graduate Students.

Graduate students experience high levels of demand in their degree programs, which often results in difficulty maintaining their academic performance and managing their distress. The present study examined the effectiveness of a 6-week values clarification and committed action training program derived from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to increase academic performance and psychological flexibility of graduate students in a behavior analysis and therapy program by comparing a Values intervention group to a Study Tips active treatment control group on measures of academic performance, psychological flexibility, values-driven behavior, and stress. The results suggest that the Values group demonstrated statistically significant improvements in academic performance (t (32) = 1.902, p < 0.05), psychological flexibility (t (32) = 1.895, p < .05), and ratings of the importance of education-related values (t (32) = 2.013, p < .05) compared to the control group, and nonsignificant improvements in reports of consistency with education-related values (t (32) = 0.7204, p > .05) and perceived stress (t (32) = 1.521, p > .05). The Values group also demonstrated a higher score for social validity than the control group following the intervention (t (32) = 2.449, p < .05).