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Previous research has demonstrated the utility of using lag schedules of reinforcement to increase response variability of children with autism. However, little research has evaluated whether the lag schedule promotes variability from within an already‐established repertoire or expands the current repertoire by promoting the use of new responses (i.e., those not previously demonstrated). Thus, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the extent to which lag schedules of reinforcement produced already‐established intraverbal responses or novel responses for 3 children with autism. Results showed that lag schedules alone were sufficient to increase the number of different responses emitted for 2 participants, whereas brief variability training was needed for 1 participant. Further, some participants emitted novel responses throughout the experiment, suggesting that lag schedules may be an effective method for expanding a response class.

We evaluated the efficacy of an instructional procedure to teach young children with autism to evacuate settings and notify an adult during a fire alarm. A multiple baseline design across children showed that an intervention that included modeling, rehearsal, and praise was effective in teaching fire safety skills. Safety skills generalized to novel settings and maintained during a 5‐week follow‐up in both training and generalization settings.

This study used video feedback to improve the horseback‐riding skills of advanced beginning riders. We focused on 3 skill sets: those used in jumping over obstacles, dressage riding on the flat, and jumping position riding on the flat. Baseline consisted of standard lesson procedures. Intervention consisted of video feedback in which a recorded attempt at the target behavior was immediately shown to the rider and the instructor. The rider and instructor reviewed the video while the instructor delivered feedback. After the lesson, experimenters scored riding position according to checklists that corresponded to each skill. For all participants, video feedback increased their correct riding skills.

The current evaluation compared the effects of 2 differential reinforcement arrangements and a nondifferential reinforcement arrangement on the acquisition of tacts for 3 children with autism. Participants learned in all reinforcement‐based conditions, and we discuss areas for future research in light of these findings and potential limitations.

The use of a simple‐conditional discrimination training procedure, in which stimuli are initially taught in isolation with no other comparison stimuli, is common in early intensive behavioral intervention programs. Researchers have suggested that this procedure may encourage the development of faulty stimulus control during training. The current study replicated previous work that compared the simple‐conditional and the conditional‐only methods to teach receptive labeling of pictures to young children with autism spectrum disorder. Both methods were effective, but the conditional‐only method required fewer sessions to mastery.

Previous research has shown that problem behavior maintained by escape can be treated using positive reinforcement. In the current study, we directly compared functional (escape) and nonfunctional (edible) reinforcers in the treatment of escape‐maintained problem behavior for 5 subjects. In the first treatment, compliance produced a break from instructions. In the second treatment, compliance produced a small edible item. Neither treatment included escape extinction. Results suggested that the delivery of a positive reinforcer for compliance was effective for treating escape‐maintained problem behavior for all 5 subjects, and the delivery of escape for compliance was ineffective for 3 of the 5 subjects. Implications and future directions related to the use of positive reinforcers in the treatment of escape behavior are discussed.

Graphing is socially significant for behavior analysts; however, graphing can be difficult to learn. Video modeling (VM) may be a useful instructional method but lacks evidence for effective teaching of computer skills. A between‐groups design compared the effects of VM, text‐based instruction, and no instruction on graphing performance. Participants who used VM constructed graphs significantly faster and with fewer errors than those who used text‐based instruction or no instruction. Implications for instruction are discussed.

A first‐person‐shooter video game was adapted for the study of choice between smaller sooner and larger later outcomes to compare the behavioral patterns produced by deferred gratification (DG) and delay discounting (DD) tasks. Participants played a game in which they could either fire their weapon sooner and do a small amount of damage or wait a few seconds to fire their weapon and do a larger amount of damage. For the DD task, a failure to fire within one second committed the player to waiting for the larger later outcome thus removing the opportunity to defect during the delay that is present in the DG task. The incentive structure changed multiple times during game play so that at times the optimal decision was to choose the smaller sooner outcome whereas at other times the optimal decision was to wait for the larger later outcome. Players assigned to the DD task showed a greater tendency to wait and lower sensitivity to the changing incentives.

The field of applied behavior analysis emphasizes the importance of conducting functional assessment before treatment development for problem behavior. There is, however, little information regarding the extent to which practitioners are using functional assessment in applied settings for individuals with developmental disabilities (DD). The purpose of the current study was to conduct a survey to assess the degree to which various types of functional assessment are implemented in agencies that serve individuals with DD in Massachusetts. Practitioners were asked to indicate their perception about and use of the various categories of functional assessment (e.g., indirect assessment, descriptive assessment, and functional analysis). From the 205 respondents who completed the survey, the most frequently used functional assessment was descriptive assessment. Results indicated that although the majority (67.8%) of practitioners believe functional analysis to be the most informative assessment tool for selecting behavioral treatment, only 34.6% of respondents indicated that they typically use functional analysis to inform the development of a behavior plan.

To gather information about the functional behavior assessment (FBA) methods behavior analysts use in practice, we sent a web‐based survey to 12,431 behavior analysts certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Ultimately, 724 surveys were returned, with the results suggesting that most respondents regularly use FBA methods, especially descriptive assessments. Moreover, the data suggest that the majority of students are being formally taught about the various FBA methods and that educators are emphasizing the range of FBA methods in their teaching. However, less than half of the respondents reported using functional analyses in practice, although many considered descriptive assessments and functional analyses to be the most useful FBA methods. Most respondents reported using informant and descriptive assessments more frequently than functional analyses, and a majority of respondents indicated that they “never” or “almost never” used functional analyses to identify the function of behavior.