Effectiveness of video self-monitoring for training and maintaining procedural fidelity during covert observations.

Previous research has shown that low procedural fidelity can lead to decreased effectiveness and efficiency of skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction. Previous research has also found that procedural fidelity may be substantially lower when a supervisor is not present to observe the session. Finding a socially acceptable, effective, and efficient method to increase and maintain high levels of staff members' procedural fidelity during covert observations is critical in the clinic setting.

Procedural Fidelity Reporting in from 2007-2021.

Procedural fidelity refers to the degree to which procedures for an assessment or intervention (i.e., independent variables) are implemented consistent with the prescribed protocols.

A comparison of fixed and repetitive models to teach object imitation to children with autism.

A well-established imitative repertoire can facilitate the acquisition of functional communication, social behaviors, and observational learning. Although early intensive behavioral intervention programs for young children with autism incorporate imitation training, learners with autism may exhibit difficulties in acquiring an imitative repertoire. Few studies have evaluated the types of models responsible for acquisition when teaching imitation to children with autism.

Developing and Delivering Behavioral Interventions Through Telehealth.

This special issue on telehealth in features 10 studies related to developing and delivering behavioral interventions through telehealth. The studies in this issue cover a variety of topics including using telehealth to train caregivers, training clinicians to use telehealth, and directly implementing interventions or assessments through telehealth. The special issue concludes with a comprehensive literature review examining variables that impact the effectiveness of telehealth as a service-delivery tool.

Evaluating the Use of Video Modeling With Voiceover Instructions to Train Therapists to Deliver Caregiver Training Through Telehealth.

Caregiver training is an important component of behavioral intervention; however, many barriers exist for in-person training. Alternatively, behavioral therapists may use telehealth as a service delivery method. To effectively train caregivers through telehealth, therapists should receive explicit training, but there has been limited research on effective methods for teaching this skill.

Testing a community developed training protocol for an evidence-based treatment.

The implementation of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) in community behavioral health settings is a recommended practice, yet training experienced by community-based clinicians may require novel and creative training methods. The current study focused on creating a training protocol for Alternative for Families: a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy from both evidence-based foundations and community-based agency feedback to promote better EBT integration into agencies. Twenty-four clinicians from three agencies were trained using a community-informed training protocol.

Training supervisors to provide performance feedback using video modeling with voiceover instructions: A replication.

Performance feedback is an effective strategy to improve and maintain therapist performance with implementing interventions. Shuler and Carroll (2019) successfully used video modeling with voiceover instructions (VMVO) to train supervisors to provide accurate performance feedback to a confederate therapist implementing guided compliance. In Study 1, we replicated Shuler and Carroll by using VMVO to train 5 supervisors to provide performance feedback to a confederate therapist on their guided-compliance integrity.

Tolerance of face coverings for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Healthcare professionals and government officials have advised the use of personal protective equipment, such as face masks and face shields, to assist with limiting the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Due to the prevalence of challenging behavior associated with other medical routines, the present study evaluated a treatment package composed of graduated exposure, prompts, reinforcement, and escape extinction on tolerance of wearing a face covering for up to 5 min for 12 children with ASD in a systematic replication of Cox et al. (2017) and Sivaraman et al.

Training Supervisors to Provide Performance Feedback Using Video Modeling with Voiceover Instructions.

Supervisors commonly use feedback to teach staff members to implement behavioral interventions. However, few studies have evaluated methods to teach supervisors to provide effective feedback. We used a multiple-baseline design to evaluate the use of video modeling with voice-over instruction to train 4 supervisors to provide performance feedback to a confederate therapist implementing a guided-compliance procedure.

Effects of opioid receptor ligands in rats trained to discriminate 22 from 2 hours of food deprivation suggest a lack of opioid involvement in eating for hunger.

It is well accepted that opioids promote feeding for reward. Some studies suggest a potential involvement in hunger-driven intake, but they suffer from the scarcity of methodologies differentiating between factors that intersect eating for pleasure versus energy. Here, we used a unique food deprivation discrimination paradigm to test a hypothesis that, since opioids appear to control feeding reward, injection of opioid agonists would not produce effects akin to 22 h of food deprivation.

Effects of stimulus presentation order during auditory-visual conditional discrimination training for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Children with autism spectrum disorder are typically taught conditional discriminations using a match-to-sample arrangement. Consideration should be given to the temporal order in which antecedent stimuli (the sample and comparison stimuli) are presented during match-to-sample trials, as various arrangements have been used in the extant literature. The purpose of the current study was to compare the effects of four stimulus presentation orders on the acquisition of auditory-visual conditional discriminations.

Using an abbreviated assessment to identify effective error-correction procedures for individual learners during discrete-trial instruction.

Previous research comparing the effectiveness of error-correction procedures has involved lengthy assessments that may not be practical in applied settings. We used an abbreviated assessment to compare the effectiveness of five error-correction procedures for four children with autism spectrum disorder or a developmental delay. During the abbreviated assessment, we sampled participants' responding with each procedure and completed the assessment before participants reached our mastery criterion.

Selection and Implementation of Skill Acquisition Programs by Special Education Teachers and Staff for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The present investigation examined special education teachers' selection and use of teaching strategies for receptive identification training with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in their classrooms. Teachers first responded to a survey in which they provided examples of receptive identification tasks taught in their classrooms, rated the efficacy of teaching strategies, described how they determined whether skills were mastered, listed any assessments they conducted to identify relevant prerequisite skills prior to receptive identification training, described how they selected teaching strategies for use in their classrooms, and listed their years of experience as a teacher and working with children with ASD. Subsequent observations of implementation of teaching strategies during trial-based instruction occurred in a proportion of teachers' classrooms.

Using Video Modeling with Voice-over Instruction to Train Public School Staff to Implement a Preference Assessment.

The identification of putative reinforcers is a critical component of programming for individuals with disabilities. A multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment is one option for identifying putative reinforcers; however, staff must be trained on the steps necessary to conduct the assessment for it to be useful in practice. This study examined the effectiveness of using video modeling with voice-over instruction (VMVO) to train two public school staff to conduct this assessment.

Evaluation of a telehealth training package to remotely train staff to conduct a preference assessment.

Recent advancements in telecommunication technologies make it possible to conduct a variety of healthcare services remotely (e.g., behavioral-analytic intervention services), thereby bridging the gap between qualified providers and consumers in isolated locations.

Using Instructive Feedback to Increase Response Variability During Intraverbal Training for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

We evaluated the effects of instructive feedback on the variability of intraverbal responses for two children with autism spectrum disorder. Specifically, we used an adapted alternating treatments design to compare participants' novel responses and response combinations during an intraverbal category program across conditions with and without instructive feedback. During instructive feedback, secondary targets were presented during the consequence event of the learning trial and consisted of a therapist's model of response variability.

Effect of delayed reinforcement on skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction: Implications for treatmen-integrity errors in academic settings.

We used an adapted alternating treatments design to compare skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction using immediate reinforcement, delayed reinforcement with immediate praise, and delayed reinforcement for 2 children with autism spectrum disorder. Participants acquired the skills taught with immediate reinforcement; however, delayed reinforcement decreased the efficiency and effectiveness of discrete-trial instruction. We discuss the importance of evaluating the influence of treatment-integrity errors on skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction.

A comparison of error-correction procedures on skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction.

Previous research supports the use of a variety of error-correction procedures to facilitate skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction. We used an adapted alternating treatments design to compare the effects of 4 commonly used error-correction procedures on skill acquisition for 2 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 3 children with autism spectrum disorder. For all participants, multiple error-correction procedures were effective; however, 1 or 2 specific error-correction procedures led to more efficient skill acquisition for each individual.

An evaluation of interrupted and uninterrupted measurement of vocal stereotypy on perceived treatment outcomes.

The type of procedure used to measure a target behavior may directly influence the perceived treatment outcomes. In the present study, we examined the influence of different data-analysis procedures on the outcomes of two commonly used treatments on the vocal stereotypy of 2 children with an autism spectrum disorder. In Study 1, we compared an interrupted and uninterrupted data-analysis procedure to measure vocal stereotypy during the implementation of response interruption and redirection (RIRD).

An evaluation of programmed treatment-integrity errors during discrete-trial instruction.

This study evaluated the effects of programmed treatment-integrity errors on skill acquisition for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during discrete-trial instruction (DTI). In Study 1, we identified common treatment-integrity errors that occur during academic instruction in schools. In Study 2, we simultaneously manipulated 3 integrity errors during DTI.

Immediate and subsequent effects of matched and unmatched stimuli on targeted vocal stereotypy and untargeted motor stereotypy.

The authors evaluated the effects of matched and unmatched stimuli on immediate and subsequent engagement in targeted vocal stereotypy (Experiment 1) and untargeted motor stereotypy (Experiment 2). Results of Experiment 1 showed that (a) matched stimulation decreased immediate engagement in vocal stereotypy for 8 of 11 participants and increased subsequent engagement in vocal stereotypy for only 1 of the 8 participants and (b) unmatched stimulation decreased immediate engagement in vocal stereotypy for only 1 of 10 participants and did not increase subsequent engagement in vocal stereotypy for this participant. Results of Experiment 2 showed that for 8 of 14 participants, untargeted stereotypy increased when the matched or unmatched stimulus was present, after it was removed, or both.

The effects of video modeling with voiceover instruction on accurate implementation of discrete-trial instruction.

The present study replicates and extends previous research on the use of video modeling (VM) with voiceover instruction to train staff to implement discrete-trial instruction (DTI). After staff trainees reached the mastery criterion when teaching an adult confederate with VM, they taught a child with a developmental disability using DTI. The results showed that the staff trainees' accurate implementation of DTI remained high, and both child participants acquired new skills.

Using noncontingent reinforcement to increase compliance with wearing prescription prostheses.

We evaluated the effects of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) on compliance with wearing foot orthotics and a hearing aid with 2 individuals. Results showed that NCR increased the participants' compliance with wearing prescription prostheses to 100% after just a few 5-min sessions, and the behavior change was maintained during lengthier sessions. The results are discussed in terms of the potential value-altering effects of NCR.

A comparison of reliability measures for continuous and discontinuous recording methods: inflated agreement scores with partial interval recording and momentary time sampling for duration events.

The authors evaluated the extent to which interobserver agreement (IOA) scores, using the block-by-block method for events scored with continuous duration recording (CDR), were higher when the data from the same sessions were converted to discontinuous methods. Sessions with IOA scores of 89% or less with CDR were rescored using 10-s partial interval recording (PIR) and 10-s momentary time sampling (MTS). Results indicated that IOA scores for 10-s PIR and 10-s MTS were consistently higher than IOA scores based on CDR for the same sessions.

Using stimulus-stimulus pairing and direct reinforcement to teach vocal verbal behavior to young children with autism.

In this study the effect of a stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure was used as part of a clinical investigation to increase vocalizations for two young children diagnosed with autism. This procedure involved pairing a vocal sound with a preferred stimulus (e.g.