Sarah R. Jenkins

A Parametric Analysis of Rehearsal Opportunities on Procedural Integrity

ABSTRACT Behavioral skills training (BST) involves instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Despite its empirical support, the literature provides little to no guidance regarding the best way to implement rehearsal to ensure accurate implementation of behavioral procedures. Thus, the purpose of this study was to conduct a parametric analysis of rehearsal opportunities within a BST package. We evaluated the effects of 1, 3, and 10 rehearsals with feedback on correct implementation of functional analysis (FA). Regardless of the number of rehearsals, 18 undergraduate participants effectively learned to implement FA conditions. The most efficient training involved the use of single rehearsals with feedback until meeting mastery criterion. Participants maintained integrity during a follow-up session and rated the use of rehearsal as highly acceptable.

Consultation in Public School Settings

Educational mandates that attempt to advance the equity and quality of services to individuals with disabilities have facilitated consultation as a stand-alone service available to educators in public schools. Behavioral consultation that relies on the principles of behavior analysis is one of the most common approaches to consultation and has been shown to produce positive outcomes in both case studies and experimental investigations. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the features of public school behavioral consultation and the assessment and intervention activities commonly addressed during consultation. This chapter concludes with a discussion of decisions concerning the transition of a student in crisis to a more restrictive service-delivery model.

Treating Food Approval-Seeking Behavior: One Bite at a Time

The prevalence of feeding problems in children with autism is high. The current investigation was a treatment of a unique presentation of food-related prompt dependence with a 6-year-old boy with autism who was reliant upon approval from adults for consumption of every bite of food. Instructions were used to establish independent eating, in which the number of bites specified in the instruction was systematically increased. Independent bites increased from a baseline level of 0.67% to a final phase level of almost 100%, and the instruction was faded to “eat your lunch”.

Basic Research Considerations for Performance Management of Staff

Performance management involves the application of behavioral principles to manage and change employee behavior so that desired organizational results may be accomplished. With the exception of research on incentive systems and feedback, a vast majority of performance management research takes place in the applied setting. Thus, this chapter provides an overview of select basic and translational research on topics relevant to the performance management of staff in service delivery settings. Topics include rules and instructions, motivating staff, and performance feedback. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the benefits of translational or use-inspired basic research about performance management.