When Cultural Awareness Reveals Conflicting Cultural Values: A Pragmatic Approach.

Cultural awareness reminds ABA service providers of the importance of considering the cultural practices of others when programming for behavior change. Decisions about the appropriateness of services may be difficult, however, when the values of the client conflict with the values of the culture(s) to which the client belongs or with the cultural biases of the practitioner. To minimize such conflicts, we propose a decision-making model that integrates client-centered and culture-centered assessments of habilitative validity. Throughout the proposed evaluation process, the behavior analyst and the recipients of services collaborate to refine program goals that will increase access to reinforcers for the client and their cultural groups. Given that cultures arrange reinforcers and punishers for the individual, assessing habilitative and social validity for the cultural groups affected by services is emphasized as an essential component of the model. We illustrate how the proposed model could be used to suggest appropriate courses of action by analyzing a situation that may involve conflicts of values.

A Neurobiological-Behavioral Approach to Predicting and Influencing Private Events.

The primary goals of behavior analysis are the prediction and influence of behavior. These goals are largely achieved through the identification of functional relations between behaviors and the stimulating environment. Behavior-behavior relations are insufficient to meet these goals. Although this environment-behavior approach has been highly successful when applied to public behaviors, extensions to private events have been limited. This article discusses technical and conceptual challenges to the study of private events. We introduce a neurobiological-behavioral approach which seeks to understand private behavior as environmentally controlled in part by private neurobiological stimuli. These stimuli may enter into functional relations with both public and private behaviors. The analysis builds upon several current approaches to private events, delineates private behaviors and private stimulation, and emphasizes the reciprocal interaction between the two. By doing so, this approach can improve treatment and assessment of behavior and advance understanding of concepts such as motivating operations. We then describe the array of stimulus functions that neurobiological stimuli may acquire, including eliciting, discriminative, motivating, reinforcing, and punishing effects, and describe how the overall approach expands the concept of contextual influence. Finally, we describe how advances in behavioral neuroscience that enable the measurement and analysis of private behaviors and stimuli are allowing these once private events to affect the public world. Applications in the area of human-computer interfaces are discussed.

Examining the Collateral Effects of Reducing Voice Level on Vocal Stereotypy and Functional Speech.

The current study examined the collateral effects of an antecedent intervention for decreasing speech volume on vocal stereotypy. After teaching the participant to use a conversational voice level by providing visual feedback from a decibel meter app, conversational voice levels were differentially reinforced in the presence of a green card. Differential effects in voice magnitude during a green-card condition and a no-card condition were demonstrated using an alternating-treatments design. Results showed a decrease in volume of speech during the green-card condition, an overall decrease in vocal stereotypy, and a decrease to zero levels in loud stereotypical vocalizations. The implications of these findings on the treatment of vocal stereotypy are discussed.

Applying Standards of Effectiveness to Noncontingent Reinforcement: A Systematic Literature Review.

Noncontingent reinforcement is a time-based schedule of reinforcement that has been shown to decrease problem behavior. Although the intervention is considered well established, there exist concerns that much of the supporting research has been conducted under highly controlled experimental conditions that may lack ecological validity. That is, although the efficacy has been demonstrated, the effectiveness in less controlled settings has not. To evaluate this concern, we analyzed research on noncontingent reinforcement between 1993 and 2017. Standards of evidence for effectiveness were adapted from prevention science and applied to noncontingent reinforcement literature. We specifically focused on generalizability across populations and settings, the conditions under which the intervention was applied, specific treatment parameters, opportunity cost, and social validity. Our results indicate several areas where evidence of noncontingent reinforcement effectiveness in applied settings is limited. We identify these limitations and provide a range of recommendations for future research to promote more widespread dissemination of the procedure.

Using Behavioral Skills Training With Video Feedback to Prevent Risk of Injury in Youth Female Soccer Athletes.

Female athletes are at a greater risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than males. Current training programs for ACL injury reduction focus on muscle strengthening, appropriate movement patterns, and balance training. However, there is limited research on effective strategies to teach youth female soccer athletes how to properly perform desired movements associated with a decreased risk of ACL injuries. Behavioral skills training (BST) programs have been shown to be effective in teaching a wide variety of skills, but research on applications to sports is limited. This study evaluated a BST package for teaching a stepwise agility program to 3 youth female soccer athletes that consisted of verbal instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback, which included video replay. Results showed a significant improvement in the number of steps the participants performed correctly relative to baseline, as well as maintenance of skills at follow-up. Implications for coaches and athletes, as well as limitations and directions for future research, are discussed.

Reducing blood draw phobia in an adult with autism spectrum disorder using low-cost virtual reality exposure therapy.

BACKGROUND: Needle phobias are common in children and adults worldwide. One effective intervention for this phobia is exposure therapy where a participant is gradually exposed to increasing levels of the fear-evoking stimulus while differential reinforcement is applied. This intervention, however, may be difficult to implement with some medical procedures as it may be difficult to obtain unfettered access to medical facilities and equipment for the purposes of exposure. Virtual reality may overcome these obstacles. METHODS: In this investigation, the present authors developed a low-cost virtual reality-based exposure therapy which was used with an adult male with autism spectrum disorder and a history of extreme needle phobia. The effectiveness of this intervention was evaluated using a changing criterions design with generalization probes. RESULTS: The intervention quickly increased the participant's compliance in the analogue training setting and the effects were generalized across settings and behaviours, and maintained over time. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate combining virtual reality with exposure therapy may produce an effective intervention for medical phobias. The intervention package may remove barriers associate with traditional exposure therapy and was low-cost which may increase access to the intervention.

Using Video to Bridge the Gap Between Problem Behavior and a Delayed Time-out Procedure.

Treatment plans focused on problem behavior often include punishment contingencies to decrease problem behavior. Immediate punishers are typically more effective than delayed punishers, but immediate delivery of a punisher is not always possible. Strategies need to be developed to increase the suppressive effects of delayed punishers. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a treatment package involving replaying a video recording of problem behavior immediately before delivering a 15 min delayed time-out. This treatment package may prove to be an accessible and inexpensive strategy when using delayed punishers.

Token Economy: A Systematic Review of Procedural Descriptions.

The token economy is a well-established and widely used behavioral intervention. A token economy is comprised of six procedural components: the target response(s), a token that functions as a conditioned reinforcer, backup reinforcers, and three interconnected schedules of reinforcement. Despite decades of applied research, the extent to which the procedures of a token economy are described in complete and replicable detail has not been evaluated. Given the inherent complexity of a token economy, an analysis of the procedural descriptions may benefit future token economy research and practice. Articles published between 2000 and 2015 that included implementation of a token economy within an applied setting were identified and reviewed with a focus on evaluating the thoroughness of procedural descriptions. The results show that token economy components are regularly omitted or described in vague terms. Of the articles included in this analysis, only 19% (18 of 96 articles reviewed) included replicable and complete descriptions of all primary components. Missing or vague component descriptions could negatively affect future research or applied practice. Recommendations are provided to improve component descriptions.

Mass Shootings: The Role of the Media in Promoting Generalized Imitation.

Mass shootings are a particular problem in the United States, with one mass shooting occurring approximately every 12.5 days. Recently a "contagion" effect has been suggested wherein the occurrence of one mass shooting increases the likelihood of another mass shooting occurring in the near future. Although contagion is a convenient metaphor used to describe the temporal spread of a behavior, it does not explain how the behavior spreads. Generalized imitation is proposed as a better model to explain how one person's behavior can influence another person to engage in similar behavior. Here we provide an overview of generalized imitation and discuss how the way in which the media report a mass shooting can increase the likelihood of another shooting event. Also, we propose media reporting guidelines to minimize imitation and further decrease the likelihood of a mass shooting.

The Effect of Colored Overlays on Reading Fluency in Individuals with Dyslexia.

Colored overlays, one type of tinted filter, are plastic reading sheets tinted with color and placed over text to eliminate or alleviate a wide range of reading difficulties such as low reading rate, accuracy, and comprehension. The effects of colored overlays on reading problems associated with dyslexia were investigated in this study via a multielement design. Reading fluency was assessed when participants read with and without colored overlays. Undifferentiated responding, or decreased accuracy, resulted across three participants, suggesting that colored overlays were ineffective and potentially detrimental to participants' reading abilities. As a result, empirically validated reading techniques were implemented across individuals. These findings are discussed and recommendations are made in regards to the use of research-based reading interventions.

Understanding preference shifts: a review and alternate explanation of within-trial contrast and state-dependent valuation.

Stimuli that precede aversive events are typically less preferred than stimuli that precede nonaversive events. It has recently been demonstrated that stimuli that follow less preferred events may become favored more than stimuli that follow more preferred events. This phenomenon has been investigated under a variety of names, most commonly, within-trial contrast and state-dependent valuation. Although this effect has been replicated, there have been several failures to replicate and it is still little understood. This paper reviews and summarizes the literature on within-trial contrast and state-dependent valuation. Procedural variations across studies are identified and discussed. The two current models that explain the phenomenon are then outlined and the limitations of each model are described. A third explanation is offered that incorporates the concept of motivating operations. Last, the predictions of all three models are compared.

Measuring and reducing college students' procrastination.

We examined college students' procrastination when studying for weekly in-class quizzes. Two schedules of online practice quiz delivery were compared using a multiple baseline design. When online study material was made available noncontingently, students usually procrastinated. When access to additional study material was contingent on completing previous study material, studying was more evenly distributed. Overall, the mean gain in percentage correct scores on weekly in-class quizzes relative to pretests was greater during contingent access than during noncontingent access conditions.

Initiating and responding to joint attention bids in children with autism: a review of the literature.

Joint attention is a skill that involves coordinating the attention of at least two individuals towards an object or event. Although it is seen as a critical skill in early child development, it is frequently absent in children with autism and has been linked to poorer language outcomes for those children. As a result, multiple interventions have been developed to teach children with autism to respond to, and initiate, bids for joint attention. These interventions, however, differ widely both in terms of procedures used and in whether they focus on teaching children to respond to, or initiate, bids for joint attention. This literature review was conducted to document research gaps and intervention similarities between joint attention intervention studies for children with autism. The specific intent of this review was to determine whether researchers teach responding and initiating separately or sequentially, describe the extent to which procedures differ among studies, and identify whether social or non-social consequences are used during joint attention training. Implications for the treatment of joint attention deficits are discussed and recommendations to both researchers and practitioners are provided.