Examining patterns suggestive of acquisition during functional analyses: A consecutive controlled series of 116 cases.

The functional analysis approach described by Iwata et al. (1982/1994) has been used widely to determine the variables evoking and maintaining challenging behavior. However, one potential concern with conducting functional analyses is that repeated exposure to contingencies may induce a novel functional relation. To examine the likelihood of these potential iatrogenic effects, we evaluated social test conditions of the functional analysis for 116 participants and searched for patterns of responding indicative of acquisition. Patterns suggestive of acquisition occurred in 13.70% of tangible reinforcement conditions; however, the prevalence was only slightly lower in the attention condition (8.75%). Much lower prevalence was observed for the escape condition (2.13%). When grouped by quotient score, a pattern of acquisition was just as likely to be observed in the attention condition as in the tangible condition. Additionally, patterns indicative of acquisition were no more likely to be observed with participants who emitted automatically reinforced challenging behavior.

Common Practices used to Establish and Implement Token Economies in Clinical and Instructional Settings: A Survey of BACB Certificants.

Token economies are among the most widely used procedures in behavior analysis and research on token economies has spanned over 80 years. Several textbooks have outlined the essential components of token economies and suggested how they can be trained and implemented in practice. However, procedures evaluated in applied research can vary from how those procedures are implemented in clinical practice. It is conceivable that the way in which token economies are implemented in clinical settings does not resemble the procedures described in research and behavior analytic textbooks. We surveyed 255 board certified behavior analysts and board certified assistant behavior analysts about their commonly used practices when training and implementing token economies with individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Results suggest that certain aspects of token economies in practice often bear only superficial resemblance to how they are described in textbooks. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-023-00800-5.

Efficacy of competing stimulus assessments: A summary of 35 consecutively encountered cases.

Competing stimulus assessments (CSAs) are designed to identify stimuli that reduce challenging behavior through competition with its maintaining reinforcers. Recently, Haddock and Hagopian (2020) found that over 92% of CSAs described in published studies identified at least one high-competition stimulus (i.e., a stimulus correlated with at least an 80% reduction in challenging behavior). The current study describes the outcomes of CSAs in a retrospective consecutive controlled case series study of 35 cases (individuals) admitted to an inpatient setting. Findings on the limited relation between the level of stimulus engagement and reductions in challenging behavior were replicated; however, the efficacy of CSAs was lower (only 47% of CSAs were successful in identifying one or more high-competition stimuli). Discrepant findings across studies on the efficacy of CSAs are discussed in terms of differences in the sample participants and how outcomes are reported, which vary depending on the study's research questions.

In-Person and Remote Workshops for People With Neurocognitive Disorders: Recommendations From a Delphi Panel.

Workshops using arts and board games are forms of non-pharmacological intervention widely employed in seniors with neurocognitive disorders. However, clear guidelines on how to conduct these workshops are missing. The objective of the Art and Game project (AGAP) was to draft recommendations on the structure and content of workshops for elderly people with neurocognitive disorders and healthy seniors, with a particular focus on remote/hybrid workshops, in which at least a part of the participants is connected remotely. Recommendations were gathered using a Delphi methodology. The expert panel (N = 18) included experts in the health, art and/or board games domains. They answered questions via two rounds of web-surveys, and then discussed the results in a plenary meeting. Some of the questions were also shared with the general public (N = 101). Both the experts and the general public suggested that organizing workshops in a hybrid format (some face-to-face sessions, some virtual session) is feasible and interesting for people with neurocognitive disorders. We reported guidelines on the overall structure of workshops, practical tips on how to organize remote workshops, and a SWOT analysis of the use of remote/hybrid workshops. The guidelines may be employed by clinicians to decide, based on their needs and constraints, what interventions and what kind of workshop format to employ, as well as by researcher to standardize procedures to assess the effectiveness of non-pharmacological treatments for people with neurocognitive disorders.

A Survey-Based Method to Evaluate Optimal Treatment Selection for Escape-Maintained Problem Behavior.

Geiger, Carr, and LeBlanc (2010) developed a decision-making model for escape-maintained problem behavior that could be used to guide the course of treatment selection. We used a digital survey to evaluate the model's potential usefulness. We presented novice and expert practitioners' written hypothetical scenarios and asked them to determine the optimal treatment in a given situation. Some participants were given the model, whereas others were instructed to use their best clinical judgment. Using logistic regression analyses, the general findings for our scenarios were the following: (a) experts without the aid of a decision model had better odds of selecting the optimal treatment than novices without the decision model, (b) experts with the decision model did not have greater odds of selecting optimal treatment than experts without the model, and

A quantitative review of overjustification effects in persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The overjustification hypothesis suggests that extrinsic rewards undermine intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic rewards are common in strengthening behavior in persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities; we examined overjustification effects in this context. A literature search yielded 65 data sets permitting comparison of responding during an initial no-reinforcement phase to a subsequent no-reinforcement phase, separated by a reinforcement phase. We used effect sizes to compare response levels in these two no-reinforcement phases. Overall, the mean effect size did not differ from zero; levels in the second no-reinforcement phase were equally likely to be higher or lower than in the first. However, in contrast to the overjustification hypothesis, levels were higher in the second no-reinforcement phase when comparing the single no-reinforcement sessions immediately before and after reinforcement. Outcomes consistent with the overjustification hypothesis were somewhat more likely when the target behavior occurred at relatively higher levels prior to reinforcement.

Biological cost of different mechanisms of colistin resistance and their impact on virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii.

Two mechanisms of resistance to colistin have been described in Acinetobacter baumannii. One involves complete loss of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), resulting from mutations in lpxA, lpxC, or lpxD, and the second is associated with phosphoethanolamine addition to LPS, mediated through mutations in pmrAB. In order to assess the clinical impacts of both resistance mechanisms, A. baumannii ATCC 19606 and its isogenic derivatives, AL1851 ΔlpxA, AL1852 ΔlpxD, AL1842 ΔlpxC, and ATCC 19606 pmrB, were analyzed for in vitro growth rate, in vitro and in vivo competitive growth, infection of A549 respiratory alveolar epithelial cells, virulence in the Caenorhabditis elegans model, and virulence in a systemic mouse infection model. The in vitro growth rate of the lpx mutants was clearly diminished; furthermore, in vitro and in vivo competitive-growth experiments revealed a reduction in fitness for both mutant types. Infection of A549 cells with ATCC 19606 or the pmrB mutant resulted in greater loss of viability than with lpx mutants. Finally, the lpx mutants were highly attenuated in both the C. elegans and mouse infection models, while the pmrB mutant was attenuated only in the C. elegans model. In summary, while colistin resistance in A. baumannii confers a clear selective advantage in the presence of colistin treatment, it causes a noticeable cost in terms of overall fitness and virulence, with a more striking reduction associated with LPS loss than with phosphoethanolamine addition. Therefore, we hypothesize that colistin resistance mediated by changes in pmrAB will be more likely to arise in clinical settings in patients treated with colistin.

Predictive factors of low risk for bacteremia in infants with urinary tract infection.

We studied 140 febrile infants between 30 and 90 days of age who had a positive urine culture to analyze the risk for complications. Patients with a healthy appearance and C-reactive protein blood value less than 40 mg/L had a very small probability of complications.