Florence D. DiGennaro Reed

VIDEO MODELING TO TRAIN STAFF TO IMPLEMENT DISCRETE-TRIAL INSTRUCTION

Three new direct-service staff participated in a program that used a video model to train target skills needed to conduct a discrete-trial session. Percentage accuracy in completing a discrete-trial teaching session was evaluated using a multiple baseline design across participants. During baseline, performances ranged from a mean of 12% to 63% accuracy. During video modeling, there was an immediate increase in accuracy to a mean of 98%, 85%, and 94% for each participant. Performance during maintenance and generalization probes remained at high levels. Results suggest that video modeling can be an effective technique to train staff to conduct discrete-trial sessions.

A PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ERRORS OF COMMISSION DURING DISCRETE-TRIAL TRAINING

We investigated the effects of systematic changes in levels of treatment integrity by altering errors of commission during error-correction procedures as part of discrete-trial training. We taught 3 students with autism receptive nonsense shapes under 3 treatment integrity conditions (0%, 50%, or 100% errors of commission). Participants exhibited higher levels of performance during perfect implementation (0% errors). For 2 of the 3 participants, performance was low and showed no differentiation in the remaining conditions. Findings suggest that 50% commission errors may be as detrimental as 100% commission errors on teaching outcomes.

The “Tyranny of Choice”: Choice Overload as a Possible Instance of Effort Discounting

When making a choice, people like to have options, but an emerging literature on “choice overload” suggests that the provision of too many options results in adverse experiences, including a depletion of cognitive resources and postdecision feelings of regret. A strong implication is that individuals should shy away from situations involving too many options. The present study examined whether this expression of choice overload would emerge when human services workers confronted hypothetical scenarios involving choices of treatment strategies. On different trials, the participants indicated preference for single-option, limited-options, and extensive-options scenarios, wherein the number of extensive-options alternatives geometrically increased across successive trials. In general, preference for extensive-options scenarios decreased with the number of options that they incorporated. Preference for extensive options was well described by a negatively decelerating, hyperbolic-like function that typically is employed in studies of discounting. Moreover, as expected based on the choice overload framework, participants who were categorized as “maximizers” using the Maximization and Regret Scales demonstrated lower discounting (i.e., lower k value) than those categorized as “satisficers.” We discuss how a quantitative discounting framework may be fruitfully applied to advance the study of choice overload.

Empirically Supported Staff Selection, Training, and Management Strategies

Consumers’ rights to effective behavioral treatment cannot be protected if treatment is poorly implemented or if well-qualified staff are not adequately trained. Effective delivery of high-quality services to individuals with disabilities depends, in part, on a well-trained workforce of educators, paraprofessionals, clinicians, and other staff. A critical feature of evidence-based practice is full implementation of empirically validated interventions. As a result, preparing staff to interact with and support consumers is a worthwhile expenditure of resources for service-delivery organizations. The purpose of this chapter is to describe research-based strategies for selecting and interviewing staff, developing and evaluating staff training programs, and implementing effective staff management and follow-up techniques. The chapter concludes with a discussion of staff training and support during crisis management.

Training shelter volunteers to teach dog compliance

This study examined the degree to which training procedures influenced the integrity of behaviorally based dog training implemented by volunteers of an animal shelter. Volunteers were taught to implement discrete-trial obedience training to teach 2 skills (sit and wait) to dogs. Procedural integrity during the baseline and written instructions conditions was low across all participants. Although performance increased with use of a video model, integrity did not reach criterion levels until performance feedback and modeling were provided. Moreover, the integrity of the discrete-trial training procedure was significantly and positively correlated with dog compliance to instructions for all dyads. Correct implementation and compliance were observed when participants were paired with a novel dog and trainer, respectively, although generalization of procedural integrity from the discrete-trial sit procedure to the discrete-trial wait procedure was not observed. Shelter consumers rated the behavior change in dogs and trainers as socially significant. Implications of these findings and future directions for research are discussed.

Should You Order the Feedback Sandwich? Efficacy of Feedback Sequence and Timing

This study sought to investigate the efficacy of feedback sequence—namely, the feedback sandwich—and timing on performance. Undergraduate participants performed simulated office tasks, each associated with a feedback sequence (positive–corrective–positive, positive–positive–corrective, corrective–positive–positive, and no feedback), presented in a counterbalanced fashion. Half of the participants received individual verbal feedback delivered privately by the researcher immediately after each session, and the remaining participants received the same type of feedback immediately before each session. The aggregate data suggested no feedback was the most efficacious for participants who experienced feedback prior to performance, and the corrective–positive–positive sequence was the most efficacious for participants who received feedback following performance. Differences in feedback timing were not significant except for the no feedback condition. These results document that the feedback sandwich was not the most efficacious sequence, despite claims to the contrary.

Effects of Mands on Instructional Control: A Laboratory Simulation

The effects of two types of mands on participants’ adherence to instructions were examined across two groups using procedures based on Hackenberg and Joker (Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 62:367–383, 1994). Participants were presented with instructions describing a pattern of responding for producing points later exchanged for money and were exposed to choice trials in which a progressive-time (PT) and a fixed-time (FT) schedule were concurrently available. The instructions initially described how to optimize point production; however, the PT schedule was manipulated over the course of the experiment such that response patterns maximizing point production differed across conditions. All participants experienced the same experimental arrangement, and the two groups differed only in the form of the mand contained in the instructions presented to them. The instructions for the directive group contained the mand “you must…” (i.e., command) preceding the instructed response pattern, whereas the non-directive group instructions contained the mand “you might consider…” (i.e., suggestion) preceding the instructed response pattern. Results indicated that instruction type influenced response patterns across changing contingencies. The directive group exhibited greater adherence to the instruction than the non-directive group when instruction following was less profitable. Results are interpreted in terms of Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior, and implications for practical application are discussed.

Effects of a Training Package to Improve the Accuracy of Descriptive Analysis Data Recording

Functional behavior assessment is an important precursor to developing interventions to address a problem behavior. Descriptive analysis, a type of functional behavior assessment, is effective in informing intervention design only if the gathered data accurately capture relevant events and behaviors. We investigated a training procedure to improve the accuracy of data recording by direct service personnel. Findings suggest that the training package was effective and acceptable to participants. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Evidence-Based Interventions

Our everyday lives contain numerous examples of the pursuit of quick fixes and fad treatments lacking objective research to support their use. The Internet is saturated with anecdotal stories of effectiveness and other false claims, which make it challenging to separate legitimate treatment options from offerings by “snake oil salesmen.” Humans are not immune to their effects. This phenomenon is commonly found in resources for autism treatment and can have devastating effects on consumers and families. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to describe different approaches to understanding phenomena (science, pseudoscience, and antiscience) and how to distinguish empirical evidence and evidence-based practice. A careful review of the criteria that constitute evidence-based practice is offered. The chapter also provides recommendations for practitioners to stay abreast of the scientific literature and presents a model for addressing implementation of unsubstantiated interventions. Helpful checklists and key questions for use in clinical practice accompany the chapter.

A crowdsourced nickel-and-dime approach to analog OBM research: A behavioral economic framework for understanding workforce attrition.

Incentives are a popular method to achieve desired employee performance; however, research on optimal incentive magnitude is lacking. Behavioral economic demand curves model persistence of responding in the face of increasing cost and may be suitable to examine the reinforcing value of incentives on work performance. The present use-inspired basic study integrated an experiential human operant task within a crowdsourcing platform to evaluate the applicability of behavioral economics for quantifying changes in workforce attrition. Participants included 88 Amazon Mechanical Turk Workers who earned either a