The Evolution of the Conceptually Systematic Dimension and Its Current Functions in Applied Behavior Analysis

What does it mean to be conceptually systematic in contemporary applied behavior analysis (ABA) research and practice? To answer this question, the present study conducted a historical analysis of ABA scholars' interpretations of the conceptually systematic dimension of ABA over the last 55 years. The present article found the current characteristics of the conceptually systematic dimension are indeed sufficient to suggest ABA's conceptual independence from the experimental analysis of behavior or any other subdisciplines of behavior analysis. Based on this finding, this article addresses the challenges in contemporary ABA field such as ABA's own basic and applied continuum, translational research, and its relationship with other disciplines' research and practice.

Behavioral Training and Performance Management of Human Services Organization Care Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives

This report describes a model of training and performance management that was designed for and implemented with care providers at a residential school for children with neurodevelopmental and intellectual disabilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The model focused on health and safety concerns, risk mitigation, and intervention integrity.

Methods

Procedures followed an applied behavior analysis (ABA) and organizational behavior management (OBM) framework. Action plans addressed (a) critical COVID-19 protocols, (b) behavior-specific implementation guidelines, (c) remote and in-person training formats, (d) in vivo supervision, and (e) knowledge and performance assessments.

Results

A competency evaluation (field study) revealed that participant care providers (N = 25) acquired and maintained COVID-19 protocols at near 100% proficiency immediately following and 1-month post-training. Supervisors had uniformly positive approval and acceptance ratings of school responsiveness to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusions

Integrated and evidence-based care provider training and supervisory practices can promote risk mitigation and performance effectiveness during health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. More controlled research that includes multiple dependent measures is needed to replicate and extend our findings to similar human services settings.

The sign effect, systematic devaluations and zero discounting

The sign effect is the steeper discounting of gains compared to losses. However, we see a greater sign effect on an individual level compared to an aggregate level. In this experiment, we compare discounting of gains and losses on an individual and aggregate level, to explore further details about when and to what extent human adults discount. Thirty-one participants went through a computer-based choice-task procedure of hypothetical monetary gains and losses. The results show clear qualitative differences between discounting of gains and losses, adding empirical data to support the sign effect. The results also support previous findings that show that aggregate and individual results do not always correspond. Further, the within-subject details showing zero discounting or nonsystematic changes concerning losses, replicate earlier studies suggesting that discounting of gains and losses involve different reinforcing contingencies. The present study expands on this research area by including verbal reports, supplementing details about the unobserved reinforcing contingencies. Implications of research on discounting may indicate how to deal with decision-making challenges and might shed light on why predictions about complex decision making sometimes fail.

Behavior analysts in the war on poverty: A review of the use of financial incentives to promote education and employment

Poverty is a pervasive risk factor underlying poor health. Many interventions that have sought to reduce health disparities associated with poverty have focused on improving health-related behaviors of low-income adults. Poverty itself could be targeted to improve health, but this approach would require programs that can consistently move poor individuals out of poverty. Governments and other organizations in the United States have tested a diverse range of antipoverty programs, generally on a large scale and in conjunction with welfare reform initiatives. This paper reviews antipoverty programs that used financial incentives to promote education and employment among welfare recipients and other low-income adults. The incentive-based, antipoverty programs had small or no effects on the target behaviors; they were implemented on large scales from the outset, without systematic development and evaluation of their components; and they did not apply principles of operant conditioning that have been shown to determine the effectiveness of incentive or reinforcement interventions. By applying basic principles of operant conditioning, behavior analysts could help address poverty and improve health through development of effective antipoverty programs. This paper describes a potential framework for a behavior-analytic antipoverty program, with the goal of illustrating that behavior analysts could be uniquely suited to make substantial contributions to the war on poverty.