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Abstract 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.

Abstract We trained 9 behavioral staff members to conduct 2 brief preference assessments using 30‐min video presentations that contained instructions and modeling. After training, we evaluated each staff member's implementation of the assessments in situ. Results indicated that 1 or 2 training sessions for each method were sufficient for teaching each staff member to implement each assessment. We briefly discuss the clinical implications of our findings.

The relapse of problem behavior after apparently successful treatment is an enduring problem for the field of applied behavior analysis. Several theoretical accounts of treatment relapse have emerged over the years. However, one account that has received considerable recent attention is based on behavioral momentum theory (BMT). BMT has shown that behavior is more persistent in contexts that are correlated with higher rates of reinforcers after disruption of the response–reinforcer relation. Accordingly, relapse after successful treatment can be viewed as the persistence of behavior when treatment is compromised in some manner. We review basic BMT research, alternative accounts of treatment relapse, and translational research studies derived from BMT research. The implications for applied behavior analysis in practice are discussed along with potential solutions to the problem of treatment relapse.

Grupos de ratas fueron expuestos a la entrega no contingente de agua bajo ciclos de 15 ó 30 s. Para ambos grupos la entrega del agua se señaló mediante un tono durante el 50% de cada ciclo. La proporción de tiempo de asomarse al dispensador durante el tono fue mayor bajo entregas de agua cada 15 s que bajo entregas de agua cada 30 s. Las razones de elevación calculadas en cada caso, sin embargo, no difirieron entre sí. Aunque el número de entregas de agua contactadas no difirió entre los grupos, la proporción de tiempo de asomarse al dispensador en presencia del agua fue mayor bajo entregas de agua cada 30 s que bajo entregas de agua cada 15 s. Estos resultados confirman el valor predictivo de la razón I/T y la viabilidad de la razón de elevación para analizar la ejecución bajo diferentes procedimientos Pavlovianos. Adicionalmente, los resultados apoyan la idea de que el análisis de los efectos del condicionamiento debería considerar los cambios en el responder a los estímulos incondicionales.

Picoeconomic (Ainslie, 1992) and the molar maximisation theory (Kagel, Battalio et Green, 1995) have risen from the integration of microeconomics within the experimental analysis of behavior. In both models, the relationship between a subject's responses and obtained reinforcers are said to respect the law of demand. The current study illustrates the integration of picoeconomic in the classroom by focusing on descriptive analyses of the relationship between the attention to the task rate of three students and different forms of interactions they received from their teachers. The purpose of the current study is to analyze these relationships according to three schedules of reinforcement that are the variable-ratio schedule, the variable-interval schedule and the concurrent schedule. Each schedule is also analyzed according to a molecular, local or molar perspective. Results indicate that at the molecular level, the generalized matching law is the best descriptor of children's behavior according to their teacher attention. The variable-interval schedule and the variable-ratio schedule were also statistically significant for one student each. At the molar level, the results show that attention rate is primarily a function of the relative rates of attention from the teacher. To conclude, relationships between subjects' behaviors and the associated reinforcers from their teachers were well pictured by economic concepts, and that the classical notion of program of reinforcement is neglected by authors interesting by descriptive and functional analysis of behavior.

Script‐fading procedures have been shown to be effective for teaching children with autism to initiate and participate in social interactions without vocal prompts from adults. In previous script and script‐fading research, however, there has been no demonstration of a generalized repertoire of vocal interactions under the control of naturally occurring relevant stimuli. In this study, 4 boys with autism were taught to initiate a conversation in the presence of toys through the use of a script and script‐fading procedure. Training with multiple categories and exemplars of toys was used to increase the likelihood of generalization of vocal interactions across novel toys. A multiple‐probe design across participants was used to assess the effects of these procedures. The intervention successfully brought interactions by children with autism under the control of relevant stimuli in the environment. Future research pertaining to the specific implementation of these procedures (e.g., fading, script placement, participant characteristics) is discussed.

We evaluated goal setting with performance feedback to increase running distance among 5 healthy adults. Participants set a short‐term goal each week and a long‐term goal to achieve on completion of the study. Results demonstrated that goal setting and performance feedback increased running distance for all participants.

We evaluated the effects of instructive feedback (IF) on the emergence of spoken category names with 2 children who had been diagnosed with autism. IF stimuli were presented during listener discrimination training and consisted of presenting the category name associated with each target stimulus. Results suggest that participants acquired the speaker relations in the absence of prompting and reinforcement. Clinical implications and future research on the use of IF as a teaching procedure for children with autism are discussed.

Children with feeding disorders exhibit a variety of problem behaviors during meals. One method of treating problem mealtime behavior is to implement interventions sequentially after the problem behavior emerges (e.g., Sevin, Gulotta, Sierp, Rosica, & Miller, 2002). Alternatively, interventions could target problem behavior in anticipation of its emergence. In the current study, we implemented nonremoval and re‐presentation of bites either on a spoon or on a Nuk for 12 children with feeding problems. The nonremoval and re‐presentation treatment improved feeding behavior for 8 of 12 children. Of those 8 children, 5 had lower levels of expulsions, and 4 of the 8 children had higher levels of mouth clean with the Nuk than with the spoon. We describe the subsequent clinical course of treatment and present follow‐up data for 7 of the 8 children who responded to the nonremoval and re‐presentation treatment with the spoon or Nuk. The data are discussed in terms of potential reasons why the utensil manipulation improved feeding behavior for some children.

La integración del conocimiento establecido es una tarea que demanda unir hallazgos de área consideradas diferentes entre sí. El propósito de esta investigación fue obtener evidencia comparable con hallazgos de la motivación y del análisis experimental de la conducta. Se utilizó la estrategia de conceptualizar un programa múltiple de reforzamiento de dos componentes en el que se varió la duración de ambos componentes, extinción y reforzamiento. El programa estuvo vigente las 24 horas del día y conforme a una diseño factorial cada tres ratas fueron expuestas a tres duraciones del componente de extinción, 45, 180 y 720 minutos en combinación con tres duraciones del componente de reforzamiento, 2.5, 10 y 40 minutos. Se encontró que la tasa de respuesta, la latencia durante el componente de reforzamiento y la distribución temporal de la respuesta en reforzamiento variaron conforme a las predicciones de los estudios con programas múltiples y son comparables con evidencia generada en teoría de la motivación. Esto hallazgos contribuyen con generalidad de las variables manipuladas y sugieren que la estrategia utilizada para vincular ambos enfoques es apropiada.