Application Of Behavior Analysis Research Articles

Cooperatives, Green Behavior, and Environmental Protection

Human behavior related to environmental degradation can be the greatest opportunity, until now, for socially valid application of behavioral science on wide-scale. Changing behavior at a scale needed to make a difference globally will entail efforts ever seen before within applications of behavior analysis. Incorporating behavioral principles within existent organizational models shown effective in altering the behaviors of hundreds of millions of people may offer a part of the human solution to global warming. This research considers the cooperative movement and how students of behavior might use current communication technologies, social media, and emerging understanding of interlocked contingencies and verbal networks to address solutions to global climate through behavioral change. Considerations for practical initiatives are proposed.

Promoting efficacy research on Functional Analytic Psychotherapy.

Based on their clinical experience in which dramatic client improvements were correlated with particularly intense therapeutic relationships, Kohlenberg and Tsai (1991) provided a behavioral interpretation of how the client-therapist relationship may produce change and attempted to explicate the strategies by which therapists may employ such relationships. The product was a comprehensive form of interpersonally-oriented psychotherapy named Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP; Kohlenberg, & Tsai, 1991). FAP's theoretical grounding in scientifically established behavioral principles, proposed mechanism of action, and key therapeutic strategies have been well-articulated in book-length descriptions (Hayes, Masuda, Bissett, Luoma, & Guerrero, 2004; Kanter, Tsai, & Kohlenberg, 2010; Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1991; Tsai et al., 2008). Despite this strong foundation, FAP has yet to generate a compelling body of empirical literature supporting its clinical efficacy. To be sure, a number of case studies, single-case replication series, and group design studies adding FAP to other approaches are promising, but the data remain at a preliminary stage (Baruch et al., 2008; Garcia, 2008; Weeks, Kanter, Bonow, Landes, & Busch, 2011). The purpose of the present paper is to help promote FAP research, particularly efficacy research, an area that has been said to particularly stand out in terms of the need for further development (Garcia, 2008). FAP IN NUTSHELL FAP is summarized nicely by its name. The approach is functional in that there is an emphasis on how client behavior operates on the world (including the world within the therapy milieu), not what the behavior looks like (i.e., its topography). It is analytic in that therapy involves identifying how important classes of client behavior operate on the world, including the part of the world within the therapy session. This is done typically by appeal to principles of operant conditioning. FAP is psychotherapy in that the therapist is charged with responding differentially to particular classes of client behavior as they occur in the therapy session so as to increase or decrease them (in session and in the world outside the session) and thereby improve the client's psychosocial functioning. The primary agent of change in FAP is the responding of the therapist to in-session occurrences of clinically relevant behaviors (CRBs) emitted by the client. FAP identifies three types of CRB: CRB1s, which are collaboratively identified problem behaviors that occur in session, CRB2s, which are improvements in behavior that occur in sessions, and CRB3s, which are attempts by the client to describe causes of his or her behavior. The therapist's job is to respond to instances of CRB in a manner that reduces CRB1s and prompts, shapes, and increases CRB2s. Thus, the mechanism of action in FAP is therapist provided consequences contingent on CRB. The therapist is guided in the task of responding to CRB, and thereby implementing the mechanism of action, by 5 rules, which are more flexible guidelines than rigid prescriptions. The rules are: 1) Watch for CRB, 2) Evoke CRB, 3) Reinforce CRB, 4) Observe the Potentially Reinforcing Effects of Therapist Behavior in Relation to Client CRB, and 5) Provide Functional Analytically Informed Interpretations and Implement Generalization Strategies (Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1991; Tsai et al., 2008). FAP represents a relatively straightforward application of behavior analysis to the interactions occurring in psychotherapy. Why then has there been difficulty generating research support for FAP, especially when other behavior therapies have made more substantial progress (e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Behavioral Activation, see Hayes et al., 2004)? One aspect of FAP that appears relevant is that it is a general approach to psychotherapy and how the therapeutic relationship can produce change. …

Intensive Behavioral Intervention in a School Setting for Ten Years

The current study presents case studies of two children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who received an intensive behavioral intervention in a school setting for ten years. The participants received intensive applied behavior analysis within the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS®) system following curricular objectives from an empirically validated assessment tool and curriculum, the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK®). An initial PIRK® assessment was carried out when the children entered the school setting and this was followed-up at three years and ten years. Progress was measured by the completion of PIRK® objectives and was described in terms of academic skills, communication skills, social skills, self-help skills, play skills and physical development skills.

Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling in Italy: The Pilot Project

We studied the effects of implementing a Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS®) to a classroom for preschoolers with multiple disabilities that simulated a regular Italian kindergarten setting. Participants were selected based on their level of verbal behavior. They were four children, 4 to 6 years old, diagnosed with autism and mental retardation, all functioning as pre-listener and pre-speaker. CABAS was implemented across five months, from 12 to 25 hours per week, as a replication of the U.S. application package. Despite students’ improvement, the experimental replication was stopped, due to the mandatory enrollment of the Participants in public schools with full inclusion model of education. Data replicated Selinske, Greer & Lodhi (1991) and Lamm & Greer (1991) outcomes, even during the 12-hour per week package, supporting the high efficiency property of this model.

A comparative analysis of the CABAS® model of education at the Fred S. Keller School: A twenty-year review.

The Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling, or CABAS[R], model of education has been in existence for almost three decades. CABAS[R] is a data-driven, researchbased system that takes into account the interdependent relationship between teachers, students and their parents, and school supervisory personnel, whose primary function is to train and mentor teachers to continually apply the principles and tactics of the science of behavior to ensure student success. A university graduate training program ensures that the training incorporates the latest scientific findings and consultation to board certified schools by CABAS[R] Professional Advisory Board members, who are themselves senior behavior analysts and research scientists, ensures the accurate implementation of all components of the CABAS[R] model. Students are at the center of the system and it is continuous measurement of their behaviors that provides evidence of the effectiveness of the system. CABAS[R] also includes a behavioral parent education program (please refer to Greer, 2002 or Greer, Keohane, & Healy, 2002) for a full description of these CABAS[R] components). All those involved are responsive to student data, at the level of the individual child, classroom, or school as a whole. CABAS[R] is a cybernetic system, at the heart of which lie the students. Our students' achievement is directly tied to their teachers' expertise (Greer, 2002; Greer, et al, 2002). Students learn only as fast as their teachers can teach them. The amount of instruction received (measured in learn units, described later in this paper) and the number of objectives achieved by students is a direct measure of teacher behavior. And, those objectives are tied directly to state standards, so our teachers are accountable at all levels for the achievement of their students. Our model is designed such that, just as teachers are responsible for their students' achievement, teacher mentors and behavior analyst supervisors are responsible for the performance of their teachers. And beyond that, CABAS[R] consultants and university faculty are responsible for the performance of teacher mentors and behavior analysts. CABAS[R] meets the criteria set forth by the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB), including: 1) accountability for results, as evidenced by a set of measures reflecting both teacher and student performance across the entire school year, 2) scientifically-based instruction, as evidenced by the use of tactics from the research literature of the science of behavior, 3) highly qualified teachers and teaching assistants, accomplished through a three-tiered personalized system of instruction that includes a teacher training and observation component as well as other outcome-based measures of teacher expertise, and 4) assessment of individualized student progress, including the use of criterion-referenced assessments and curricula tied to state standards. The CABAS[R] model also contains components which meet the definition of a Response to Instruction Model (RTI) (Vaughn & Fuchs, 2003) in that 1) all students are assessed for repertoires and capabilities, 2) responses to instruction are monitored, 3) data are analyzed and a course of action is determined, 4) all decisions regarding interventions are individualized to the specific student and 5) the integrity of the implementation of tactics is closely monitored. Interventions in an RTI model are multi-tiered, with students who are not responding to intervention moving to a more rigorous or simply different tier of intervention. Our decision analysis protocol, described later in this paper, was designed to analyze learning problems within the context of the instructional setting and, in response, implement appropriate tactics based on where the learning problem existed (e.g., lack of prerequisite skills; motivation, instructional history, conditioned reinforcement). In summary, the CABAS[R] model of education employs a science of pedagogy to all aspects of teaching and learning. …

Application of applied behavior analysis to mental health issues.

The theoretical and conceptual basis for behavior analysis emerged from the fields of experimental psychology, physiology, and philosophy, effectively melding theory with scientific rigor. Behavior analysis has since expanded from controlled laboratories into applied settings, including hospitals, clinics, schools, family homes, and communities. Much of the early research in applied behavior analysis (ABA) included participants with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities. ABA research for persons with developmental disabilities is vibrant and expansive; however, there is a paucity of recent research in behavior analytic assessment and treatment for persons with mental health diagnoses. This article describes how ABA technology can advance mental health services for children and adults utilizing a multidisciplinary approach to link professionals from psychology, psychiatry, and other associated disciplines to optimize patient outcomes. Discussion focuses on historic applications of behavior analysis, opportunities, and barriers in the mental health field, and ways in which ABA can contribute to a multidisciplinary treatment approach.

Six reports of children with autism spectrum disorder following intensive behavioral intervention using the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK ®)

The current study presents case reports of six children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who received intensive applied behavior analysis within the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS ®) system and successfully integrated into mainstream education. The participants’ interventions followed curricular objectives from the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK ®), an empirically validated assessment tool and curriculum which improves outcomes for children with ASD and prepares for mainstream integration. Each case study presents acquisition of curricular objectives, rates of learning annually and results of independent psychological measures throughout the intensive behavioral intervention. This paper examines the variables (age of treatment onset, duration of treatment, presence of stereotypy or challenging behaviors prior to treatment) which may have influenced the successful integration of these participants into mainstream education settings.

Editorial

Editorial

Laboratory evaluations of reinforcement contingencies.

In a previous issue of this journal, we discussed the logic of conducting basic research on problems related to application (Borrero, Vollmer, Samaha, Sloman, & Francisco, 2007). For example, it is common in some fields of basic science (e.g., genetics) to take a real world problem (e.g., cancer) and conduct laboratory research to better understand the causes of real world problems (e.g., genetic predispositions) and potential solutions to those problems. Although the field of behavior analysis has a long history of translating basic research into application, it is less common in our field to take questions about the human situation and make efforts to address them via laboratory research and then, in turn, use the findings to promote better application of behavior analysis. Such an approach has been the focus of a decade-long effort to conduct research in an operant (rat) laboratory for the purposes of addressing questions pertinent to the behavioral assessment and treatment of behavior disorders. We have empirical papers in various stages of preparation and thought it might be useful to provide an update on some findings from two specific lines of research. The first line of research is a series of studies constituting the dissertation experiments by the second author, which involved evaluations of reinforcement contingencies as a comparison of two conditional probabilities (a probability of a reinforcer given the occurrence of behavior and a probability of a reinforcer given the nonoccurrence of behavior). The second line of research is a series of studies constituting the dissertation experiments by the third author, which involved testing a variation of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) known as momentary DRO (mDRO). On the notion of contingency Reynolds (1975) distinguished between contingency and dependency. Dependencies are relationships that describe essentially if-then statements. For example, flipping a light switch causes a light to turn on because of the circuit and the light will come on if and only if the switch is flipped. If a computer is programmed to deliver reinforcers on a fixed ratio schedule, pressing a lever in an operant chamber causes a pellet to be dispensed if and only if the lever is pressed. Of course, a dependency does not require that the consequent event occur every time the response occurs; for example, lean ratio schedules and intermittent interval schedules are still examples of dependency schedules because the reinforcer is delivered if and only if behavior occurs. Although dependencies are certainly a type of contingency, a contingency can more broadly include relations that are obtained from (a) dependencies, (b) accidental relations (Reynolds, 1975), or (c) blends of events including when there is some probability of an event given behavior and some probability of the event given no behavior (Catania, 1998). As an example of the first type (dependencies) relating to behavior disorders, consider the possibility that a severely disabled student in a wheel chair is unable to speak. The only time he receives attention from his teacher is when he begins banging his head against the back of his wheelchair. In short, he obtains teacher attention (positive reinforcement) if and only if the self-injurious behavior (SIB) occurs. This type of contingency is commonly used to test sensitivity to reinforcement during a functional analysis (e.g., Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994), where the test conditions involve response-stimulus dependencies insofar as the putative reinforcing event occurs if and only if the target behavior occurs. As an example of the second type of contingency (accidental relations), suppose a teacher is told to give a student some magazines (or other preferred items) once every 5 min during her break. Further suppose that the student becomes aggressive toward the teacher immediately prior to the delivery of the magazines. …

Moving forward: Positive behavior support and applied behavior analysis.

Positive behavior support (PBS) developed in the 1980s and 1990s as an approach to enhance quality of life and minimize challenging behavior (Carr et al., 2002). Founded in 1999, Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions publishes both conceptual and empirical articles on PBS using a variety of methodologies (e.g., Baker-Ericzen, Stahmer, & Burns, 2007; Harvey, Baker, Horner, & Blackford, 2003; Vaughn, White, Johnston, & Dunlap, 2005), though single-subject designs are very common. One feature of JPBI that distinguishes it from other behaviorally oriented journals, including Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, is that the vast majority of published studies are conducted in natural settings rather than in clinical settings. This is not to suggest that research in laboratories or clinical settings is not important or valued; rather, it reflects an emphasis within PBS on external validity and contextual fit of interventions. As noted by Johnston et al. (2006), PBS has been associated with a great deal of federal funding and has been written into policy at the federal level. For example, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 maintains provisions for behavioral interventions and supports for children with disabilities who display problem behavior. Some states have also adopted statutes prescribing PBS for persons with disabilities. Further, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) of the US Department of Education has dedicated considerable funding to support PBS intervention, training, and research. Importantly, these developments did not come about as a result of campaigning by researchers within PBS, but rather because consumers (e.g., educators and parents) informed policy makers that PBS was having an important and durable impact on the lives of children. The PBS Controversy In recent years, a debate has evolved about positive behavior support and its relation to applied behavior analysis. Origins of the debate may be traced to the position that PBS is a new science, evolved from, yet different than, applied behavior analysis (ABA) (Carr et al., 2002). Although advocates of this position acknowledge the central influence of ABA in the heritage of PBS (Dunlap, 2006), they argue that the combined elements of PBS comprise a fundamentally new science to reduce challenging behavior. In response, some behavior analysts have countered that PBS is not different from ABA (Carr & Sidener, 2002). Proponents of this view posit that the procedures of PBS are largely, if not entirely, drawn from ABA and that attempts to conceptualize PBS as a new science have potentially harmful ramifications for the field of ABA. Furthering this view, other behavior analysts have described PBS as a direct threat to ABA (Johnston et al., 2006; Mulick & Butler, 2005). Accordingly, they imply that the successful dissemination of PBS as a new science will result in consumers' rejection of ABA. Moreover, because many PBS practitioners lack formal training in ABA, they argue, PBS interventions may result in deleterious effects for consumers. Diverging views have sparked debate among behavior analysts about PBS and its relationship to ABA. Although little direct evidence has been offered to support the claim that PBS is harmful to ABA, it is not unreasonable for behavior analysts to have concerns given these issues. The purpose of this paper is to allay these concerns by providing one perspective on the relationship between PBS and ABA. Unique contributions of PBS to the field of ABA are offered in conjunction with suggestions of how practitioners of PBS and ABA may work together for mutual benefit. Are PBS and ABA Different? PBS is an application of behavior analysis, which focuses on the core components of PBS identified in the literature (Anderson & Freeman, 2000; Anderson & Kincaid, 2005; Carr et al., 2002; Horner et al. …

Brief Report: Relative Effectiveness of Different Home-based Behavioral Approaches to Early Teaching Intervention

The effectiveness of home-based early behavioral interventions for children (2:6-4:0 years old) with autistic spectrum disorders was studied over 9-10 months. Measures of autistic severity, intellectual, educational, and adaptive behavioral functioning were taken. There was no evidence of recovery from autism. High-intensity behavioral approaches (mean 30 h/week) produced greater gains than low-intensity programs (mean 12 h/week). Lovaas- and complete application of behavior analysis to schools approach-type interventions produced largest gains [similar to gains produced by longer-term clinic-based applied behavior analysis (ABA) programs]. Within the high-intensity groups, increased temporal input on the program was not associated with increased gains in the children. The results from clinic-based ABA trials were partially replicated on a home-based sample, using children with greater autistic and intellectual impairments.

TREATING BEDTIME RESISTANCE WITH THE BEDTIME PASS: A SYSTEMATIC REPLICATION AND COMPONENT ANALYSIS WITH 3‐YEAR‐OLDS

Bedtime resistance, a common pediatric problem, that was displayed by 4 unrelated 3-year-old children was treated with the bedtime pass (i.e., provision of a small notecard exchangeable for one trip out of the bedroom after bedtime) plus extinction. Bedtime resistance was eliminated for all participants. Further, treatment did not produce extinction bursts, as is common when using extinction procedures alone. Component analysis with 1 participant suggested that use of both components of the intervention produced the best outcomes. Findings extend the literature on the treatment of pediatric bedtime resistance as well as the application of behavior analysis to clinical psychology and pediatric care.

Automating the Display of Third Person/Stealth Views of Virtual Environments

In order to gain a greater insight into the relationships that exist between entities in three-dimensional (3D) datasets, the scientific, engineering, and arts communities are increasingly using interactive visualization and virtual reality (VR) techniques. They have realized that interactively visualizing 3D datasets from different viewpoints makes it possible to achieve a better understanding of the underlying dataset structure. Viewpoints can be either static or dynamic as in an interactive fly-through. However, unskilled users often select flight paths (or viewing situations) that cause nauseous effects that detrimentally distract the user from the task at hand. Interactions between multiple users or virtual agents in a virtual environment present further challenges because it is necessary for the user to monitor multiple activities concurrently. If the user has to make decisions based on what is taking place in a complex virtual environment, then it is very important that correct and appropriate viewpoints are maintained. For example, flight simulator debriefing tools require first and third person viewing so that the actions that have taken place can be understood. In these situations there is a need to select multiple viewpoints for each participant. Consequently (because of the high cognitive load), maintaining control over a number of different viewpoints is very challenging. Within this paper the authors describe the real-time automatic display controller they have developed for third person/stealth views of a multi-participant virtual environment—where it is important for users to gain a global and localized understanding of the tasks being performed. They discuss important cinematic conventions and how these are set in the context of characterizing a 3D communication medium, as well as determining their role for optimal viewing parameters. The real time automatic display controller is of particular benefit to applications such as scientific visualization, flight simulation, engineering/architectural modeling, scene of accident reconstruction/analysis, and other complex human-system behavior analysis applications.

Behavior Analysis of Psychotic Disorders: Scientific Dead End or Casualty of the Mental Health Political Economy?

Behavior analysis, once a promising approach to understanding and treating severe mental disorders, has been obscured by the biomedical model of mental illness and its ubiquitous psychotropic drugs. The present paper gives a brief overview of behavioral research on psychotic disorders followed by a critical review of the prevailing biomedical model including psychiatric diagnoses, anti-psychotic medications, clinical outcomes, and adverse effects of drug treatment. This paper also examines ideological, political, and economic mechanisms of control that have blocked the application of behavior analysis with severe mental disorders.

Equivalence relations, the assessment of basic learning abilities and language: A synthesis of behavioral research and its implications for children with autism.

Abstract Assessment and intervention in Autism and related disorders has become a major application area for the field of Behavior Analysis. However, basic behavioral research and research in other applied areas have recently provided new insights into the nature of language and other complex human behavior that although directly relevant to autism may not be widely known due to the volume of currently available literatures. This paper provides a review and synthesis of recent research on conditional discrimination processes and relational responding in humans, research on a possible hierarchy of discriminations as described by the literature on the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA), and the implications of this research for language acquisition in person with autism and related disabilities. Keywords: Conditional discrimination, Equivalence, Relational Frame Theory, Language, Autism. ********** A common challenge in most clinical and research endeavors is the problem of gaining an awareness and synthesis of the available literature. The recent past and current applications of Behavior Analysis in the area of Autism Spectrum Disorder have gained significant attention from clinicians and researchers alike. Typically however, most publications and professional presentations are limited to specific assessments, analyses or interventions that contribute or advance specific clinical or research knowledge. The purpose of the present article is to provide the reader with an overview of relevant developments in three areas of research and clinical activity that have relevance to behavioral analytical progress in the area of Autism. These areas, are equivalent relations, conditional discrimination processes from the perspective of the literature concerning the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA), and assessment and intervention for language acquisition in persons with Autism and related syndromes. It is hoped that this review will stimulate clinical and research discussion and activity that may not have been otherwise undertaken without an awareness of the three chosen knowledge areas. Sidman (1971) described the phenomenon of Stimulus Equivalence. Since then he and many other investigators have researched a variety of characteristics of this phenomenon. One of the most widely debated topics in the Stimulus Equivalence literature involves the nature of the relations that form and the involvement or necessity of language (Horne & Lowe, 1996; Sidman, 1994, 2000). In general, studies show that verbally able subjects successfully demonstrate equivalence relations, whereas subjects who lack basic language abilities have typically not shown such emergent relations (e.g. Devany, Hayes & Nelson, 1986). These findings have led some researchers to conclude that language is necessary for the formation of such equivalence classes. Some theorize that language is a mediating variable in a process in which an equivalence relation is the outcome (e.g. Horne & Lowe, 1996). Others state that the formation of equivalence relations requires no such mediation and that the formation of these classes plays a role in the development of language (Sidman, 1994), (see Fields & Nevin, 1993; Hayes, 1989; Horne & Lowe, 1996, 1997; and Sidman 1994 for reviews of this literature from differing viewpoints). Sidman (1994), suggested that Such subjects [who cannot name stimuli] may well be limited in more ways than just their inability to name stimuli; they may also suffer other deficits that are incompatible with equivalence relations. p.306. The Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) (Martin, Yu & Vause, 2004) may point to some of those deficits. The ABLA purports to measure, among other things, the ability of individuals to make conditional discriminations and the relative ease with which they can learn new discriminations. The use of conditional discrimination abilities and procedures is fundamental to the equivalence literature, (e. …

CABAS parent education: Increasing child compliance via parental emission of unflawed commands and contingent consequations during play.

This study examined the efficacy of the parent education/training program of the Comprehensive Application of behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS) model (Greer, 2000) in increasing rates of child compliance. Five parents of children attending a CABAS special needs preschool received both didactic instruction and home-based in vivo training in the use of unflawed antecedent commands and contingent consequations (including verbal and physical positive reinforcement, planned ignoring, and physical follow-through) during weekly toy playing, sharing and clean up sessions with their siblings. The study incorporated a multiple probe design using five parents who started receiving parent training on different days, resulting in a variation of a delayed multiple baseline across subjects design. Results indicated that rates of child compliance increased for all five children as a function of parental expertise in emitting unflawed commands and providing contingent consequations for their children. The collateral benefits of the parent program included (a) a reported increase in the frequency and duration of independent toy playing and sibling sharing repertoires and (b) an establishing operation effect for the target student whose increased rate of compliance may have been related to parental verbal and physical positive reinforcement of sibling compliance to parental commands. The effectiveness of the CABAS parent education component was discussed in relation to the comprehensive, perpetual, and interlocking school-home contingencies inherent in the entire CABAS model.

Practical support for the supervision of the implementation of behavior plans for individuals with severe disabilities: a book review. Behavior analysis applications in developmental disabilities series: Vol. 1. working with staff to overcome challenging behavior among people who have severe disabilities: a guide for getting support plans carried out, Dennis H. Reid & Marsha B. Parsons, 2002. Habilitative Management Consultants,

Behavioral InterventionsVolume 18, Issue 4 p. 299-302 Book Review Practical support for the supervision of the implementation of behavior plans for individuals with severe disabilities: a book review. Behavior analysis applications in developmental disabilities series: Vol. 1. working with staff to overcome challenging behavior among people who have severe disabilities: a guide for getting support plans carried out, Dennis H. Reid & Marsha B. Parsons, 2002. Habilitative Management Consultants, Morganton, NC 286 Pages. 29.00, ISBN 0-964-5562-3-5 Nina J. Pinnock, Nina J. Pinnock Pediatric Psychology Fellow, Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USASearch for more papers by this author Nina J. Pinnock, Nina J. Pinnock Pediatric Psychology Fellow, Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USASearch for more papers by this author First published: 23 October 2003 https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.145AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume18, Issue4November 2003Pages 299-302 RelatedInformation

Organizational change applications in behavior analysis: A review of the literature and future directions.

Implementing lasting organizational change has received an increasing amount of attention in the literature over the last 20 years. Despite this general trend, behavior analysts have been slow to address this when presenting applied research. This article reviews research published in The Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM) since 1990. The review suggests that the major areas of systematic applications in 013M target performance of first line employees and supervisors and that the impact of such interventions are rarely linked to companies' financial success and survival. Conclusions concerning the directions of the field of organizational behavior management in consideration of these findings are offered. ********** Global market change is occurring at fast pace. A recent report published by The Conference Board in Canada, titled Leadership for Tomorrow: Playing Catch-up with Change, reveals that the complexity and speed of change is beyond what most high-level executives can manage or their own. Increasingly, corporate leaders are relying on the skills, education, and competence of their employees at all levels of organization (Papmehl, 2002). Accordingly, successful organizational response to market demand requires response from individuals at all levels. This means that organizational effectiveness depends on the alignment of responses from the top management level down to the performer level (i.e., front line worker). In review of Industrial /Organization (1/0) psychology literature, Tharenou (2001) stresses the need for greater focus on organizational change. Tharenou (2001) states that as the world continues to move to global economy, organizations will need to adapt to changing cultural and economic contingencies. She argues that even though individual performance certainly cannot be ignored, the changing climate calls for greater focus on the context in which an organization functions. Tharenou (2001) also discusses how lasting, structural change might be carried out given contextual constraints. Given the need to focus on organizational change, it is important to consider various ways through which such change may be approached. Theoretical Perspectives At the theoretical level, organizational change has been studied from variety of perspectives incorporating an array of assumptions. Prochaska (2000) argues that organizational change can be viewed as developmental process through which the organization passes through variety of stages. Desired changes are made possible when the change agent is able to successfully recognize and adapt to the developmental stage that the organization is resting in (Levesque, Prochaska, & Prochaska, 1999). McKenna (1999) takes more humanistic approach in arguing that successful change comes about as function of the manager's need for control and his or her ability to understand the complexity of the system in need of change. Olson (1990) takes psychoanalytic perspective in arguing that orchestrating successful change involves capitalizing on the conflict between conscious and unconscious understandings of that change. In the behavioral literature, organizational change is addressed theoretically through the meta-contingency analysis (Mawhinney, 1992, 200 1; Malott, 2002). According to this perspective, when the products of organizational practices contribute to the materialistic survival of the organization, the practices that generated them are more likely to reoccur. More specifically, like any other cultural practice, organizational practice can be defined as a set of interlocking contingencies of reinforcement in which the behavior and behavioral products of each participant function as environmental events with which the behavior of other individuals interact (Glenn, 1988). Furthermore, group practices (e.g., production methods, marketing techniques, process management, etc. …

Quality and comprehensive applications of behavior analysis to schooling.

We describe the CABAS[R] system for developing and maintaining quality in schools that provide a system-wide application of behavior analysis to all of the components of education for teaching the entire curriculum to students. The system has accrued an extensive database for developing and maintaining quality applications. We outline some of those components including: minimal standards of teaching as applied behavior analysis, curricula for teachers and other professionals, research-based tools to train and monitor professionals, curriculum revisions for students occasioned by our research, CABAS[R] and quality, an overview of the CABAS[R] system. We also show data display examples from one of our schools in Ireland for children with autism and one of our middle schools for students with behavioral disorders, and the CABAS[R] approach to monitoring and accrediting CABAS[R] schools and professionals. Finally, we provide references for our research-based tools for other providers of behavior analytic services. ********** The basic and applied science of the behavior of the individual has led to improved instructional and therapeutic practices over the last sixty years (Greer, 1997a, 1997b). Increasingly, parents of children with autism have insisted on the scientifically based procedures of applied behavior analysis for their children (O'Brian, 2001). Those of us who have spent our professional lives researching and developing scientifically based services are delighted. Education and therapy have been plagued by fads, fashions, and the pervasive control of pre- scientific contingencies (Greer, 1992). For an increasing number of parents, data based procedures are on at least equal footing with the latest fashion. However, unless the day in and day out applications of the science are precise and reflect the expertise of the science, we will not provide the necessary quality for the outcomes predicated by our research and model treatment programs. The long-term survival of good practices will depend on the integrity of applications, and the integrity of the application will determine our capacity to help children. We suspect that the quality of application of research findings varies greatly across settings and providers. Over the last 20 years, our particular systems approach to education as behavior analysis has provided a research base for increasing the quality and cost-benefit ratio of applications to education and child behavior therapy. We call our system CABAS[R] (Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling). While many of the tactics and strategies are currently accessible in the research literature, other research findings are not yet accessible in published form or are dispersed across a variety of journals. Several papers have summarized the system and described the research base from the first two decades (Greer, 1997a, 1997b); however, those papers have not highlighted tactics that develop and maintain quality. In this paper we take the opportunity to provide a description of a few of the critical procedures for developing, monitoring, and maintaining quality application of behavior analysis. A book-length manuscript with in depth technical descriptions of these and other procedures should be available in a few months (Greer, in press). Minimal Standards The minimal and more conspicuous standards of quality applications of behavior analysis are outlined in Table 1. The importance of close continual contact with the moment-to-moment outcomes of applications is evident (Bushell & Baer, 1994). In the beginning there were data, and in the quest for quality, data are even more critical as we shall describe. Visual displays, and how they are used, make the difference between applications that work and those that don't (Greer, McCorkle, & Williams, 1989). As behavior analysts, our applications are individually based, and require data in order to be successful. …

Modeling games from the 20th century

A scientific framework is described in which scientists are cast as problem-solvers, and problems as solved when data are mapped to models. This endeavor is limited by finite attentional capacity which keeps depth of understanding complementary to breadth of vision; and which distinguishes the process of science from its products, scientists from scholars. All four aspects of explanation described by Aristotle trigger, function, substrate, and model are required for comprehension. Various modeling languages are described, ranging from set theory to calculus of variations, along with exemplary applications in behavior analysis.