Assessing Preference in a Paired-Stimulus Arrangement with Captive Vultures ().

Vultures play an important role in our ecosystem by filtering out bacteria and viruses harmful to humans (e.g., rabies, botulism).

Teaching children with autism to explain how: A case for problem solving?

Few studies have applied Skinner's (1953) conceptualization of problem solving to teach socially significant behaviors to individuals with developmental disabilities. The current study used a multiple probe design across behavior (sets) to evaluate the effects of problem-solving strategy training (PSST) on the target behavior of explaining how to complete familiar activities. During baseline, none of the three participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could respond to the problems presented to them (i.

An evaluation of delay to reinforcement and mand variability during functional communication training.

Children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities often exhibit invariant responding (i.e., restricted behavioral repertoires), deficits in communication, and challenging behavior.

Evaluation of Practice Trials to Increase Self-Drinking in a Child with a Feeding Disorder.

Self-drinking is an important skill for children to acquire as they transition from infancy to early childhood; however, the literature is limited (e.g., Collins, Gast, Wolery, Holcombe, & Leatherby, 1991; Peterson, Volkert, & Zeleny, 2015).

Erratum to: Further Manipulations in Response Effort or Magnitude of an Aversive Consequence to Increase Self-Feeding in Children with Feeding Disorders.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s40617-016-0124-1.].

Teaching mands for information using 'when' to children with autism.

Previous research has evaluated contrived motivating operations to teach mands for information. However, literature evaluating acquisition of the mand when? is comparatively limited. As an extension of Shillingsburg, Bowen, Valentino, & Pierce (2014), we taught three children with autism to engage in mands for information using when under alternating conditions in which a contrived establishing operation was present (EOP) or absent (EOA).

Further Manipulations in Response Effort or Magnitude of an Aversive Consequence to Increase Self-Feeding in Children with Feeding Disorders.

Although some children with feeding disorders may have the necessary skills to feed themselves, they may lack motivation to self-feed solids and liquids. Rivas, Piazza, Roane, Volkert, Stewart, Kadey, and Groff (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47, 1-14, 2014) and Vaz, Volkert, and Piazza (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 915-920, 2011) successfully increased self-feeding for children who lacked motivation to self-feed by manipulating either the quantity or the quantity and quality of bites that the therapist fed the child if he or she did not self-feed. In the current investigation, we present three case examples to illustrate some challenges we faced when using these procedures outlined in the aforementioned studies and how we addressed these challenges.

The use of matrix training to promote generative language with children with autism.

Matrix training consists of planning instruction by arranging components of desired skills across 2 axes. After training with diagonal targets that each combine 2 unique skill components, responses to nondiagonal targets, consisting of novel combinations of the components, may emerge. A multiple-probe design across participants was used to evaluate matrix training with known nouns (e.

Stability of daily preference across multiple individuals.

Preference stability provides clues about the extent to which a clinician might be able to deliver a particular stimulus contingent on behavior as a reinforcer. Previous research has been somewhat mixed in terms of evidence for preference stability. Results of the current study are consistent with studies that have reported correlations between preference assessments, suggesting that preferences are relatively stable across time.

Practical implications of evaluating the efficiency of listener and tact instruction for children with autism.

Recent literature reviews have highlighted the need to better understand the relation between speaker and listener behavior when teaching learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current paper outlines the practical implications of evaluating the emergence of tact and listener behavior during instruction for the opposite relation, as presented in the preceding article "Evaluating the Efficiency of Listener and Tact Instruction for Children with Autism." Modifications of those procedures for clinical use as well as future directions for research in this area are presented.

Evaluation of the efficiency of listener and tact instruction for children with autism.

Recent literature reviews have highlighted the need to better understand the relation between speaker and listener behavior when teaching learners with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The current study used a modified parallel-treatments design to compare directly the degree to which tact and listener behavior emerged during instruction in the opposite relation for 4 children with ASD. Results showed tact training to be either equally or more efficient than listener training for all participants.

Mands for information using "who?" and "which?" in the presence of establishing and abolishing operations.

Treatments designed to teach mands for information have included prompting and differential reinforcement, as well as procedures to manipulate the relevant establishing operation (EO). However, previous studies have not included relevant abolishing operation (AO) conditions to ensure that the mand is under relevant antecedent control. Data on listener responses (i.

Direct assessment of preferences for social interactions in children with autism.

Qualitative and quantitative differences in social interactions are core symptoms of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic criteria, although there is heterogeneity among individuals with ASDs. This study used a concurrent operants arrangement to evaluate whether social interactions functioned as positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or as neutral stimuli for 6 individuals with autism. Data suggest that clinicians who work with individuals with ASD should ascertain the functional properties of social interactions prior to using them as a consequence in interventions.

Teaching children with autism spectrum disorders to mand for the removal of stimuli that prevent access to preferred items.

Mand training is often a primary focus in early language instruction and typically includes mands that are positively reinforced. However, mands maintained by negative reinforcement are also important skills to teach. These include mands to escape aversive demands or unwanted items.

Correspondence between single versus daily preference assessment outcomes and reinforcer efficacy under progressive-ratio schedules.

Research has suggested that a daily multiple-stimulus-without-replacement (MSWO) preference assessment may be more sensitive to changes in preference than other assessment formats, thereby resulting in greater correspondence with reinforcer efficacy over time (DeLeon et al., 2001). However, most prior studies have measured reinforcer efficacy using rate of responding under single-operant arrangements and dense schedules or under concurrent-operants arrangements.