Training Staff to Avoid Problem Behavior Related to Restricting Access to Preferred Activities.

Some training programs for staff working with individuals with intellectual disabilities fail to equip staff with the practical skills necessary to prevent behavioral episodes. The current research describes the results of a staff training program that, following traditional didactic training, used a card game followed by role-play training to increase staff competence in managing problem behavior. The card game and role-play training was based on behavioral episodes that had occurred previously in the research setting.

Treatment relapse and behavioral momentum theory.

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).

Clinical translation of animal models of treatment relapse.

Behavioral Momentum Theory (BMT) has inspired animal models of treatment relapse. We translated the models of reinstatement and resurgence into clinical procedures to test whether relapse tests would replicate behavior pattern found in basic research. Following multiple schedule baseline reinforcement of a 16-year-old male's problem behavior at equal rates by two therapists, treatment was introduced using a variable-interval, variable-time (VI VT) schedule arrangement with therapists delivering reinforcers at different rates.

A computerized test of self-control predicts classroom behavior.

We assessed choices on a computerized test of self-control (CTSC) for a group of children with features of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a group of controls. Thirty boys participated in the study. Fifteen of the children had been rated by their parents as hyperactive and inattentive, and 15 were age- and gender-matched controls in the same classroom.