The Effects of Vocal Blocking on Sequencing Visual and Tactile Stimuli.

The inclusion of private events in the philosophy of our science is integral to avoid dualism and remain objective rather than making assumptions about an unseen mind. However, the inclusion of behaviors and stimuli which cannot be observed in an analysis poses obvious issues. One established method of studying covert behavior is to examine tasks that are presumed to require verbal mediation, and observing how a participant's performance is affected when they are required to speak out loud during the task (often called "blocking"), again presuming this will make it difficult or impossible to simultaneously talk to yourself covertly. This study investigated the effects of vocal blocking on a sequencing task, or lining things up in a specified order. In one experiment, the items sequenced were abstract line drawings, and a second experiment used differently textured fabric stimuli (or "tactile cards"). In the second experiment, participants learned to tact and then sequence the tactile stimuli while they were blindfolded. The effect of vocal blocking on putative covert rehearsal was dissimilar across the two modalities of the experiments. This preliminary study provides insight into the nature of covert behavior as it relates to different senses and opens questions about the generality of studies examining covert mediation.

Stimulus Clarity and the Emission of Descriptive Autoclitics.

The autoclitic is among the least studied and most complex verbal operant named and described by Skinner. The descriptive autoclitic is one subtype, which among other functions can describe the strength of the response. If the clarity of the stimulus is one source of response strength for tacts, manipulating stimulus clarity should evoke different frequencies of descriptive autoclitics. In an experiment with adults, digitally distorting pictures of common objects predicted the relative frequency of descriptive autoclitics that accompanied tacts. The most distorted images evoked twice as many autoclitics as moderately distorted images, and low-distortion images evoked no autoclitics. We encourage other researchers to interpret Skinner's conceptualization of the autoclitic and its various forms and test them empirically to evaluate how their functional definitions can be clarified, refined, or altered. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40616-023-00184-1.

A Preliminary Assessment of the Qualities and Behaviors of Exemplary Practitioners: Perspectives From U.S.-Based Behavior Analysts.

Individuals with credentials (Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral and Board Certified Behavior Analyst) from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board throughout the United States were asked to identify the characteristics and corresponding behaviors of individuals they consider to be exemplary in the profession. From these responses, a list of 35 characteristics and attendant behaviors was compiled into the Exemplary Behavior Analyst Checklist. This checklist contains a number of characteristics that are traditionally representative of the field (e.g., analytical, applied, conceptually systematic, technological) and relate to technical and conceptual skills. Respondents also identified a number of characteristics associated with compassion and support of clients/individuals (e.g., client centered, culturally competent, empathetic, positive/encouraging). A "top 10" list of the qualities and behaviors of exemplary behavior analysts identified by participants is presented, and a discussion regarding the implications for the training of credentialed professionals is provided.

Essential Readings for Undergraduate Students in Behavior Analysis: A Survey of Behavior Analytic Faculty and Practitioners.

A growing need for individuals with behavior analytic training at the undergraduate level has led to an increase in baccalaureate programs with a strong behavior analytic focus. Although research has been conducted examining essential and assigned readings at the graduate level, no research to date has focused on identifying suggested readings that should be a focal point of undergraduate training programs. The purpose of the present study was to identify what individuals from across the behavior analytic field believe are essential readings for undergraduate students as they prepare for employment in the field or admission into graduate programs. Respondents were asked to provide answers to a variety of questions about essential readings in the field and whether these would be critical to undergraduate training. This paper presents those texts that were deemed essential, as well as areas where opinions varied.

Accurate Delayed Matching-to-Sample Responding without Rehearsal: An Unintentional Demonstration with Children.

Research on joint control has focused on mediational responses, in which simultaneous stimulus control from two sources leads to the emission of a single response, such as choosing a comparison stimulus in delayed matching-to-sample. Most recent studies of joint control examined the role of verbal mediators (i.e., rehearsal) in evoking accurate performance. They suggest that mediation is a necessity for accurate delayed matching-to-sample responding. We designed an experiment to establish covert rehearsal responses in young children. Before participants were taught such responses; however, we observed that they responded accurately at delays of 15 and 30 s without overt rehearsal. These findings suggest that in some cases, rehearsal is not necessary for accurate responding in such tasks.