Carole M. Van Camp

Within-Session Patterns of Responding during Functional Analyses: The Role of Establishing Operations in Clarifying Behavioral Function

Functional analysis procedures have been demonstrated to be effective for identifying the operant mechanisms underlying problem behavior. However, functional analyses sometimes yield results that are undifferentiated (i.e., show similar levels of responding across test conditions). Within-session (i.e., minute-by-minute) analyses of response patterns during undifferentiated functional analyses have proven useful in clarifying behavioral function. This study extends previous research by examining within-session changes in responding associated with variations in relevant establishing operations. Levels of problem behavior during the presentation and removal of reinforcement were compared when responding occurred in test conditions associated with sources of social reinforcement (i.e., access to attention, materials, escape). Results showed that changes in responding associated with changes in relevant establishing operations could be examined to clarify behavioral function.

ASSESSING AND INCREASING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Increasing physical activity is a crucial component of any comprehensive approach to combat the growing obesity epidemic. This review summarizes recent behavioral research on the measurement of physical activity and interventions aimed at increasing physical activity and provides directions for future research.

Behavioral Parent Training in Child Welfare: Evaluations of Skills Acquisition.

Objective: Behavioral parent training has been proven effective through years of research with a variety of groups. However, little research has been conducted to systematically evaluate the extent to which behavioral parent training may improve parenting skills of foster and other caregivers of dependent children. The Behavior Analysis Services Program (BASP) has been charged with providing behavioral parent training to foster parents and other caregivers of dependent children throughout the state of Florida through a variety of services focusing primarily on a group-class-based training curriculum. This article examines the extent to which behavioral parent training was effective in increasing skills of caregivers who were trained in 2001 and 2002. Methods: Study 1 evaluated skills acquisition via a large-scale analysis of precourse and postcourse assessments, as well as observations of in-home parent-child interactions. Study 2 assessed skills acquisition via controlled analyses using repeated measures and multiple baseline designs. Results: Results showed increases in parenting skills in both studies as a function of curriculum training. Discussion: Implications of the results, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Increasing Physical Activity of Children during School Recess.

Physical activity is crucial for childrens health. Fitbit accelerometers were used to measure steps of 6 elementary students during recess. The intervention included reinforcement, self-monitoring, goal setting, and feedback. Steps taken during the intervention phase (M = 1,956 steps) were 47% higher than in baseline (M = 1,326 steps), and the percentage of recess spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was higher during intervention (M = 25%) than in baseline (M = 4%). These methods successfully increased steps during recess and could be used to increase steps in other settings.

A Systematic Evaluation of Stimulus Preference, Response Effort, and Stimulus Control in the Treatment of Automatically Reinforced Self-Injury

Environmental enrichment (EE) was evaluated as treatment for the automatically reinforced self-injurious behavior (SIB) of a 13-year-old male diagnosed with autism. First, a functional analysis determined that the participants SIB persisted in the absence of social consequences. Next, EE was implemented as treatment and various components of the intervention were manipulated. The results suggested that three factors were correlated with increased EE efficacy: stimulus preference, response effort, and inhibitory stimulus control.

Effects of a Reduced Time-Out Interval on Compliance with the Time-Out Instruction.

Time-out is a negative punishment procedure that parents and teachers commonly use to reduce problem behavior; however, specific time-out parameters have not been evaluated adequately. One parameter that has received relatively little attention in the literature is the mode of administration (verbal or physical) of time-out. In this study, we evaluated a procedure designed to reduce problem behavior and increase compliance with the verbal instruction to go to time-out. Specifically, we reduced the time-out interval contingent on compliance with the time-out instruction. Six preschool-aged boys participated in the study. Time-out effectively reduced the problem behavior of all 6 participants, and the procedure to increase compliance with the time-out instruction was effective for 4 of 6 participants.