James M. Johnston

Positive behavior support and applied behavior analysis.

This article reviews the origins and characteristics of the positive behavior support (PBS) movement and examines those features in the context of the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). We raise a number of concerns about PBS as an approach to delivery of behavioral services and its impact on how ABA is viewed by those in human services. We also consider the features of PBS that have facilitated its broad dissemination and how ABA might benefit from emulating certain practices of the PBS movement.

Training and maintaining the performance of dogs (Canis familiaris) on an increasing number of odor discriminations in a controlled setting

Abstract The number of substances detector dogs are trained to detect varies depending on the mission of the agency they serve. No studies have been conducted concerning how training multiple odor discriminations affects detection performance and refresher training requirements. This study used a controlled field setting to examine the effects of training dogs to detect multiple substances on their subsequent detection performance and refresher training requirements. Dogs were first trained to detect a single odor. Their detection performance was tested 10 days later and refresher training was then given to bring their performance back up to a predetermined standard. Following refresher training, detection of a new substance was trained, and approximately 10 days later the detection of both trained substances was tested. This sequence of testing, refresher training, and new odor training continued every 10 days until the dogs had been trained and tested on 10 odors. The detection of previously learned odors did not decrease as the number of substances trained increased. In fact, the amount of training required to refresh detection performance and to train new odor discriminations tended to decrease as more odor discriminations were trained.

Overlearning, fluency, and automaticity

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Distinguishing Between Applied Research and Practice

Behavior-analytic research is often viewed along a basic-applied continuum of research goals and methods. The applied portion of this continuum has evolved in ways that combine applied research and service delivery. Although these two facets of applied behavior analysis should be closely related, more clearly distinguishing between them, particularly in how we conceptualize and conduct applied research, may enhance the continuing development of each. This differentiation may improve the recruitment and training of graduate students.

Developing Behavior Analysis at the State Level

Over the past fifteen years, behavior analysts in Florida have worked together to develop the discipline with a multifaceted system of contingencies. Basing their effort in the area of retardation and with the cooperation of the state’s Developmental Services Program Office, they have gradually developed a regulatory manual of programming policy and procedures, a hierarchical system of responsibilities for programming approval and monitoring, a state-sponsored certification program, a professional association, and an active university community. These components are described and discussed in terms of suggested principles for developing the field of behavior analysis within a state.

Determining essential content for applied behavior analyst practitioners.

This article reports the procedures and findings of a job-analysis study recently conducted by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc. (BACB) and considers some implications of the survey data collected during this process. The job analysis focused on the applied sector of the field of behavior analysis and limited its inquiry into matters of professional competencies and training. The results represent a unique sample of demographic information and valuable collection of opinions regarding the competencies and training required of applied behavior analyst practitioners. Because these opinions have a direct effect on certification task standards and content of the BACB credentialing examinations, which in turn drive the curricula of undergraduate and graduate programs in applied behavior analysis, it is important to consider what these views might mean for the continuing evolution of the field of behavior analysis.

Strategic and tactical limits of comparison studies

A comparison study is an experiment whose primary purpose is to compare directly (regardless of experimental design) at least two different procedures for changing behavior or two or more components of such a procedure. This paper argues that, in spite of their popularity, such studies typically lead to inappropriate inferences with poor generality based on improper evidence gathered in support of the wrong question, thus wasting the limited experimental resources. The discussion considers problems concerning the functions of comparison studies, the nature of the comparisons that are attempted, the generality of their findings, and the limited role that they can play in technological research.

Applying the least restrictive alternative principle to treatment decisions: A legal and behavioral analysis.

The least restrictive alternative concept is widely used in mental health law. This paper addresses how the concept has been applied to treatment decisions. The paper offers both a legal and a behavioral analysis to some problems that have emerged in recent years concerning the selection of behavioral procedures used to change client behavior. The paper also offers ways of improving the application of the concept, which involve developing a more behaviorally functional perspective toward restrictiveness.

What Can Behavior Analysis Learn From the Aversives Controversy

The paper argues that behavior analysis may have contributed to the aversives controversy in a number of ways. The role that the field has played and the lessons that may be learned are discussed in the areas of research, training, and politics.

Licensing behavior analysts: risks and alternatives.

Under certain conditions, obtaining state laws to license practitioners of behavior analysis might be feasible and could produce benefits for practitioners and consumers. Those conditions are not yet in place in most states, however, and pursuing licensure prematurely carries substantial risks for the entire field. We describe the most serious risks and the conditions that make it more or less likely that licensure initiatives will succeed. Finally, we recommend strategies for securing recognition of practitioners of behavior analysis in laws, regulations, and policies that can minimize risks.