School's Out for COVID-19: 50 Ways BCBA Trainees in Special Education Settings Can Accrue Independent Fieldwork Experience Hours During the Pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide executive orders closing schools, many trainees completing their supervised independent fieldwork in educational settings lost the ability to accrue hours linked to restricted activities of a therapeutic and instructional nature with students (i.e., clients). Given the impact on trainees of the pandemic restrictions, we present 50 suggestions for trainees in school settings to continue to accrue hours for both restricted and unrestricted activities throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A blastocyst biopsy approach for preimplantation genetic diagnosis technique that affects the expression of SNAP-α in mice

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a technique that is commonly used during assisted reproduction in the clinics to eliminate genetically abnormal embryos before implantation. The blastomere biopsy technique has risks related to the embryo, but blastocyst biopsy has not been systematically evaluated in relation to effects after birth, and the resulting offspring have not been followed up on. We designed a series of experiments to evaluate the risk of blastocyst biopsy on the resulting progeny. Mice were divided into a PGD group and a control group. The former was the progeny of mice that underwent blastocyst biopsy and the latter was delivered through a normal pregnancy without blastocyst biopsy. Each group consisted of 15 animals. We found no effects of blastocyst biopsy on reproductive capacities and weight gain. As for neurobehavioral evaluation between both groups, there were no significant differences in tail suspension test, sucrose preference test, the open field test and the elevated plus maze. Western blotting, immunohistochemistry and quantitative RT-PCR results showed that the expression levels of MBP, PRDX5 and UCHL1 in the PGD group were not significantly different compared to the control group, but SNAP-α expression in the PGD group was lower than that in control group. In summary, we concluded that blastocyst biopsy had no adverse effect on the general growth and behavior in mice. However, blastocyst biopsy effected the expression of SNAP-α. Therefore, the safety of blastocyst biopsy requires further evaluation.

Advances in Our Understanding of Behavioral Intervention: 1980 to 2020 for Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

There are three branches of science of behavior analysis [i.e., experimental analysis of behavior, behavior analysis, and applied behavior analysis (ABA)]. ABA can be defined as a systematic approach to understanding behavior of social interest. For the past 40 plus years, researchers have evaluated ABA and ABA based procedures (e.g., behavioral intervention) as they relate to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and have implemented behavioral intervention in clinical settings for individuals diagnosed with ASD. In this paper, we discuss some of the pivotal contributions in the field of ABA in research and clinical practice. Additionally, we provide recommendations for the science and clinical practice of behavioral intervention in the next 40 years.

Incorporating discriminative stimuli into functional communication training with augmentative and alternative communication devices: a tutorial

Functional communication training (FCT) is a commonly used and effective treatment for problem behavior maintained by social reinforcement (e.g., an individual engages in self-injurious behavior to gain access to adult attention). FCT involves teaching an individual to emit an appropriate communication response to access the reinforcer maintaining problem behavior (e.g., pressing a "Play, please" symbol on a device to gain the communication partner's attention) and withholding that reinforcer following problem behavior (e.g., the communication partner minimizes attention-following problem behavior and waits for a communication response). Techniques such as incorporating discriminative stimuli (e.g., differently colored cards) can make FCT more practical for caregivers by teaching individuals when reinforcement is and is not available for communication responses while simultaneously mitigating treatment relapse. Despite the effectiveness of FCT with discriminative stimuli, no studies have leveraged the capabilities of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices by embedding discriminative stimuli within AAC software (e.g., by coloring communication symbols or grids). Our tutorial provides a comprehensive overview of how practitioners can incorporate FCT with discriminative stimuli into practice and includes video models of how to design these treatments on two common AAC apps.

Preliminary Findings of Culturally Responsive Consultation with Educators

Behavior analysts are increasingly called to serve culturally and linguistically diverse populations. The culture of a population can provide context in which to identify behaviors likely to be reinforced by the client's social environment, stimuli established as reinforcers for client behavior, and behavioral repertoires shaped by the client's social environment. One of the largest and fastest growing minority groups in the United States is the Latinx population. This article offers preliminary evidence of incorporating cultural adaptations into the context of behavioral consultation for the Latinx population. Cultural adaptation of behavioral consultation can lead to improved outcomes for educators. In this study, 5 educators received behavioral consultation consisting of behavioral skills training to implement culturally responsive class-wide behavior management procedures. All 5 educators improved their treatment fidelity of the culturally responsive behavior management practices. Implications for practitioners and future research are discussed.

Current Diversification of Behaviorism

Over the last few decades, behaviorism as a philosophy of the science of psychology, especially in the field of behavior analysis and related areas, has diversified to the point that scholars from inside and outside the field are often confused about what exactly behaviorism is. The aim of this study is to analyze how such diversification of behaviorism has arisen over time and what factors might have contributed to it using evolutionary biology's concept of adaptive radiation as an analogical process. Diversification of behaviorism has occurred in many areas over time as behaviorism has extended its field of practice. Although some characteristics of behaviorism remained, other characteristics were modified. One such characteristic that went through extensive modification is the agent-free approach to the analysis of behavior: the agent problem. This approach has met criticism from inside and outside the field and has been under a strong selective pressure. The present article discusses how the agent problem in a different niche has shaped behaviorism into new forms that we see today.

Selectivity in posting on social networks: the role of privacy concerns, social capital, and technical literacy

People's posting behaviors in social networks was perceived as ambiguous, with concerns misaligned with people's public postings. To address this gap, we suggest a model that offers new insights into the relationship between perceptions and actual behaviors. We define a quantitative marker for agility, the frequency in which people update their audience selection when posting information in online social networks, and evaluate the factors that contribute to the variability of agility between different users. We analyzed the posting behavior of Facebook 181 participants, as well as their answers to open and close questions. We find that frequent changes in privacy settings are correlated with high social privacy and with institutional privacy concerns, whereas social concerns were found to be more prominent. Agility was negatively correlated with low public sharing. Our findings show that users use privacy settings to effectively mitigate privacy concerns and desires for creating and strengthening social connections. We discuss how agility can be used to design and to evaluate new user interfaces for managing privacy in social settings.

Intersectional Feminism and Behavior Analysis

This paper compares facets of behavior analysis and intersectional feminist theory. We begin by describing the history of issues related to gender and sexuality in behavior analysis. Then, we explain how the goals of feminism and applied behavior analysis are aligned, with a focus on intersectional feminism. Intersectional feminism examines the influence of interacting variables (e.g., race, gender, and sexuality) that affect one's experiences and behaviors, rather than focusing on a single factor, such as gender. Pragmatic behaviorism and intersectionality have many parallels, and by exploring them, researchers can generate more comprehensive explanations of behavior. With prevalent gender, race, and sexual orientation biases in contemporary society, it may be important for behavior analysts to be able to recognize these contingencies that have been previously overlooked. Describing the conceptual commonalities between these disciplines may be a stride towards inclusivity and advancement of the goals of each discipline.

Unsupervised online multitask learning of behavioral sentence embeddings

Appropriate embedding transformation of sentences can aid in downstream tasks such as NLP and emotion and behavior analysis. Such efforts evolved from word vectors which were trained in an unsupervised manner using large-scale corpora. Recent research, however, has shown that sentence embeddings trained using in-domain data or supervised techniques, often through multitask learning, perform better than unsupervised ones. Representations have also been shown to be applicable in multiple tasks, especially when training incorporates multiple information sources. In this work we aspire to combine the simplicity of using abundant unsupervised data with transfer learning by introducing an online multitask objective. We present a multitask paradigm for unsupervised learning of sentence embeddings which simultaneously addresses domain adaption. We show that embeddings generated through this process increase performance in subsequent domain-relevant tasks. We evaluate on the affective tasks of emotion recognition and behavior analysis and compare our results with state-of-the-art general-purpose supervised sentence embeddings. Our unsupervised sentence embeddings outperform the alternative universal embeddings in both identifying behaviors within couples therapy and in emotion recognition.

Task Clarification and Feedback Improves Room Tidiness and Safety in a Training Center

In training centers, staff and client safety is of paramount concern. Efforts to keep an area clean can contribute to better safety. This study employed a multiple-baseline across-participants-and-locations design to assess the effectiveness of a treatment package, which included task clarification and feedback, to increase room tidiness in a behavioral training center in Hong Kong. Results show that the treatment package was effective in improving room tidiness.

Suing for Peace in the War Against Mentalism

The antimentalists' war against mentalism has not vanquished it. To examine why, we focus on two theses-mind as causal and internal-and three standard attacks against mentalism as defined by both theses: 1) mentalism implies dualism; 2) mind is unobservable, which hinders its scientific study; and 3) mentalism is impractical. These salients fail because: 1) if the mind is causal and internal, it must be material; 2) the observable/unobservable distinction is too problematic, with antimentalists equivocal about where to draw that line, with some even embracing publicly unobservable behavior as causally relevant; and 3) mentalism has not been demonstrated to be less practical than antimentalism. For the war on mentalism to succeed, stronger attacks must be devised, both scientific and philosophical. We contemplate some possibilities, while expressing doubts as to the wisdom of continuing the war. Peace may be better than war, and the resulting intellectual commerce may be good for both sides.

Autism, Insurance, and Discrimination: The Effect of an Autism Diagnosis on Behavior-Analytic Services

This paper discusses variables contributing to behavior analysis's growth within the autism community and the effect of an autism diagnosis on behavior-analytic services and access to those services. Recent insurance reforms in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands require insurance companies to offer, or cover, behavior-analytic services to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. However, despite many benefits associated with increased coverage for individuals with autism, potential limitations exist, such as age and disability discrimination. Furthermore, this paper examines factors influencing the growing number of behavior analysts practicing in the area of autism and steps to ensure the field's growth beyond autism.

A Call for Discussion About Scope of Competence in Behavior Analysis

The field of behavior analysis has defined its scope of practice through credentialing and licensure efforts. However, scope of competence in behavior analysis has received little discussion. Scope of competence refers to activities that the individual practitioner can perform at a certain criterion level (e.g., the functional analysis is conducted accurately and safely, a skill acquisition program includes critical program components and establishes accurate stimulus control). Given the successful efforts of behavior analysts in growth and recognition of the field, it is time for a robust conversation about scope of competence for the field of behavior analysis. This discussion can clarify how behavior analysts self-evaluate their own scope of competence and how they might expand their scope of competence if the needs of consumers require practitioners to expand into new areas.

Essential Readings for Undergraduate Students in Behavior Analysis: A Survey of Behavior Analytic Faculty and Practitioners

A growing need for individuals with behavior analytic training at the undergraduate level has led to an increase in baccalaureate programs with a strong behavior analytic focus. Although research has been conducted examining essential and assigned readings at the graduate level, no research to date has focused on identifying suggested readings that should be a focal point of undergraduate training programs. The purpose of the present study was to identify what individuals from across the behavior analytic field believe are essential readings for undergraduate students as they prepare for employment in the field or admission into graduate programs. Respondents were asked to provide answers to a variety of questions about essential readings in the field and whether these would be critical to undergraduate training. This paper presents those texts that were deemed essential, as well as areas where opinions varied.

Toward an Understanding of the Essential Components of Behavior Analytic Service Plans

Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968) indicated "technological" was one of seven core dimensions of applied behavior analysis (ABA). They described this dimension as being met if interventions were described well enough to be implemented correctly. Often in the applied settings, a behavior plan is the method by which interventions are communicated to staff and parents for implementation. The necessary components of a behavior plan have been discussed in relation to compliance with regulations (e.g., Vollmer, Iwata, Zarcone, & Rodgers, Research in Developmental Disabilities 13:429-441, 1992), in school settings (e.g., Horner, Sugai, Todd, & Lewis-Palmer, Exceptionality: A Special Education Journal 8:205-215, 2000), and other applied settings (e.g., Tarbox et al., Research in Autism Spectrum Disorder 7:1509-1517, 2013) for the last 25 years. The purpose of this research is to review the literature regarding components of behavior plans and synthesize it with a recent survey of behavior analysts regarding essential components of behavior plans. The results are discussed in light of training, treatment fidelity implications (i.e., Registered Behavior Technician Task List), public policy development (e.g., state initiative for a single behavior plan template), and research opportunities (e.g., comparison of different visual structures).

Behavioral Research with Planaria

This article serves as a brief primer on planaria for behavior scientists. In the 1950s and 1960s, McConnell's planarian laboratory posited that conditioned behavior could transfer after regeneration, and through cannibalization of trained planaria. These studies, the responses, and replications have been collectively referred to as the "planarian controversy." Successful behavioral assays still require refinement with this organism, but they could add valuable insight into our conceptualization of memory and learning. We discuss how the planarian's distinctive biology enables an examination of biobehavioral interaction models, and what behavior scientists must consider if they are to advance behavioral research with this organism. Suggestions for academics interested in building planaria learning laboratories are offered.

Tactics to Evaluate the Evidence Base of a Nonbehavioral Intervention in an Expanded Consumer Area

The purpose of this article is to provide tactics for the behavior analyst to effectively evaluate the evidence base for an unfamiliar nonbehavioral intervention when expanding services. Just as behavior analysts must be aware of fad treatments in autism likely to be encountered, so, too, should practitioners become familiar with potential fad treatments in any expanded area of practice. The present article extends previous work by considering challenges surrounding contact with nonbehavioral literature in the context of an expanded consumer base. The article also considers ethical interactions with nonbehavioral professionals following appraisal of the intervention, and how adopting the strategies listed here can aid in establishing oneself as a resource. Associated barriers and solutions are presented around four tactics: (a) searching the literature, (b) recognizing and evaluating the common properties of fad treatments, (c) distinguishing quality of evidence, and (d) ascertaining behavioral mechanisms of action. Examples from gerontology will be provided to illustrate the use of the proposed tactics.

Guidance or Compliance: What Makes an Ethical Behavior Analyst?

In 2016, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) made effective a new, revised ethical code for behavior analysts, the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts, replacing the code that had been in effect since 2001. In this revised code, the certification board has shifted the language of the code from that of a set of guidelines to that of a set of enforceable rules. This important shift has not been well discussed in the field. This article explores the potential implications and possible consequences of such a shift and describes other ways that ethical behavior has been approached historically. The authors then propose an ethical decision-making process that might provide a better area of focus for the field of behavior analysis in seeking to develop the highest levels of ethical behavior in its professionals and provide a case example using that process to resolve an ethical dilemma.

The Special Issue on the Education of Behavior Analysts: Common Themes

The goal of Behavior Analysis in Practice's special issue on the education of behavior analysts is to highlight a variety of works on the topic of teaching and mentoring students in behavior analysis. The special issue is composed of empirical studies that evaluated teaching procedures aimed at the effective training of behavior analysts; surveys focusing on the content of training programs, including common readings and other components; and commentaries on topics pertaining to teaching and mentoring behavior analysts. Several themes emerged across the issue, including (a) a focus on knowledge of basic principles of behavior analysis, (b) the direct application of operant-based principles in the teaching and mentorship of behavior analysis students, and (c) a significant emphasis on the meaningful application of behavior analysis.

Function matters: a review of terminological differences in applied and basic clicker training research

In clicker training, animal trainers pair a small device (a “clicker”) with a reward when teaching or maintaining responding. Animal trainers often assume clicker training is a “science-based” way to train animals. But, the few studies that have compared clicker training to a control have not provided evidence that adding a clicker is beneficial to training. This may be because research on clicker training has studied only one of several potential functions of the clicker stimulus that have been discussed by animal trainers. A systematic approach to researching the function of the clicker in clicker training would benefit from collaboration between applied and basic researchers. However, this will require that terminological differences between animal trainers and basic researchers are reconciled. This paper reviews the few studies that have compared clicker training to a control group and then discusses how trainers and basic researchers use the same terminology in functionally different ways—suggesting the empirical support for mechanisms underlying clicker training is less robust than previously assumed. These differences highlight many opportunities to answer basic and applied research questions relative to clicker training methods. Advancements in clicker training methods will benefit animal trainers who have been using clicker training for decades as well as applied practitioners who have extended clicker training to humans in educational and clinical settings.

Casting a Wider Net: an Analysis of Scholarly Contributions of Behavior Analysis Graduate Program Faculty

As interest in careers in behavior analysis has grown, there has been a concomitant increase in the number of training programs providing coursework in behavior analysis. There is a growing need for indices of quality of these programs, with some authors recently suggesting that faculty research productivity might serve as one indicator of program quality. We continue this conversation, taking a broad view of faculty scholarly contributions by conducting a search of all articles authored by instructors in graduate-level Behavior Analyst Certification Board verified course sequences (VCSs) and published from 2000 to 2015 in peer-reviewed journals indexed by the PsycINFO database. The resulting list includes 8,906 publication records in 715 journals, authored by 1,232 instructors from 224 programs. Our analysis suggests that graduate-level VCS instructors have published in a broad array of journals and topic areas. We discuss implications of these data for prospective students' evaluations of program quality and fit.

Towards a Meaningful Analysis of Behavior Analyst Preparation Programs

Numerous universities and colleges offer coursework approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Despite uniform requirements for approval, many differences exist among programs. To provide the field of behavior analysis with information about these differences, we conducted an initial analysis of programmatic variables and their relationship to pass rates on the Board Certified Behavior Analyst examination.Given the variety of preparation programs currently approved by the certification board, behavior analysts from different programs will likely differ with regard to their training and experiences.It is imperative that graduates from programs preparing behavior analysts are passing the examination to become board certified to fill specified jobs.Statistically significant variables associated with increased examination pass rates for programs include on-campus course delivery and accreditation by the Association for Behavior Analysis International.Variables lacking statistical significance with regard to impact on examination pass rates include the provision of supervision experience and the number of individuals from a program sitting for an exam.

Lessons from a Female Academician: Some Further Reflections on a Glass Ceiling

Much discussion has occurred in recent years regarding the participation of women in behavior analysis. The purpose of this article is to share lessons learned as a female academician and impart helpful information to other, newer female university faculty members.

How to Identify Ethical Practices in Organizations Prior to Employment

Behavior analysts likely can evaluate multiple organizations prior to accepting a job due to recent increases in the number of organizations providing ABA services. We argue that evaluating the ethical values of an organization is paramount during the job search process. We provide strategies for evaluating the ethical values of an organization prior to employment and describe considerations from the pre-application process through contract negotiations. Ultimately, we add to the growing body of literature that provides guidance for common problems behavior analysts may face over the course of their careers.

A Pilot Study of a Behavioral Parent Training in the Republic of Macedonia

Parenting children with autism in countries with limited professional and financial resources can be overwhelming. Parent training led by non-governmental organizations may help alleviate some of these burdens. The present pilot study was conducted in the Republic of Macedonia, a country located in Southeastern Europe. The purpose of the study was to evaluate a parent training model for disseminating evidence-based practices through didactic and pyramidal training strategies. Results indicated that children improved on a number of different behaviors and results provide some evidence that parenting confidence and distress improved.