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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Training Personal Information To Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Diana C. Carlos Dec 2017

Training Personal Information To Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Diana C. Carlos

Theses and Dissertations

For many children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, learning emergency information such as their parents’ names, contact information, or important health information may be useful in case of elopement, getting lost, or abduction. In the present study, I evaluated the use of video self-modeling (VSM) to facilitate acquisition of personal information in comparison to echoic prompts using a parallel treatments design with children with ASD. Components of the intervention included: a test, followed by the prompt (e.g., echoic or VSM) for no response given or for an incorrect response. The use of VSM involves the learner viewing a video of …


Evaluation Of A Tool To Identify The Variables Responsible For Poor Parent Treatment Implementation: The Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Parent, Jamie Villacorta Dec 2017

Evaluation Of A Tool To Identify The Variables Responsible For Poor Parent Treatment Implementation: The Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Parent, Jamie Villacorta

Theses and Dissertations

In applied behavior analysis, parents are often taught to implement treatment programs in order to decrease their child’s problem behaviors and increase appropriate behaviors. Unfortunately, many parents have trouble implementing these programs correctly. It has been suggested that higher treatment integrity for a specified treatment program may be associated with higher levels of its success. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the use of an assessment tool (i.e., the Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Parent, or PDC-P) to develop a treatment specifically targeted to address the variables responsible for poor program implementation by parents. First, the PDC-P was administered to …


Examining A Novel Response Modality: Teaching Sighted Individuals To Read Braille Visually, Madelynn Audrey Lillie Aug 2017

Examining A Novel Response Modality: Teaching Sighted Individuals To Read Braille Visually, Madelynn Audrey Lillie

Theses and Dissertations

In order to prepare teachers to instruct children with visual impairments in braille, previous research has taught sighted adults to match braille sample stimuli to print comparisons in a matching-to-sample (MTS) format and has assessed the emergence of other braille repertoires such as transcribing and reading following this training. Although participants have learned to match-to-sample with braille, they displayed limited emergence of other braille repertoires. This lack of generative responding may have resulted from participants’ over-selective attending to components of compound braille characters during instruction. The current study taught three undergraduate learners to construct braille characters given a print sample—which …


An Analysis Of The Role Of Reactivity In The Observer Effect, Allison Hughes King Jul 2017

An Analysis Of The Role Of Reactivity In The Observer Effect, Allison Hughes King

Theses and Dissertations

Peer observations, which consist of employees observing and scoring their coworkers’ performance of some targeted behavior(s), are often an important component of behavioral safety interventions. Research on peer observations has demonstrated that individuals improve their performance of a task as a result of observing and evaluating their coworkers perform that task, a phenomenon known as the observer effect. Most of the research has demonstrated this effect when the observers were aware that their performance of the task was also being observed, suggesting that reactivity may play an important role. The current study examined this by evaluating the impact that observing …


Using Discrimination Training To Establish Conditioned Reinforcers: A Replication And Test Of Maintenance, Chelsea Iris Moore Jul 2017

Using Discrimination Training To Establish Conditioned Reinforcers: A Replication And Test Of Maintenance, Chelsea Iris Moore

Theses and Dissertations

A stimulus becomes a conditioned reinforcer when it acquires reinforcing properties by virtue of being paired with a primary reinforcer. Researchers have evaluated different methods to condition reinforcers for children diagnosed with autism because this population often does not respond to social reinforcers in the way their typically developing peers do. One method of establishing a conditioned reinforcer is the conditioned reinforcement of a discriminative stimulus (SD) procedure. The discrimination training procedure involves a neutral stimulus being established as an SD by reinforcing a specific response in its presence. Then, the established SD is tested as a conditioned reinforcer by …


A Comparison Between Online And In-Vivo Parent Training On Parental Acquisition Of Skills To Promote Appropriate Behaviors In Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Abigail L. Blackman Jul 2017

A Comparison Between Online And In-Vivo Parent Training On Parental Acquisition Of Skills To Promote Appropriate Behaviors In Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Abigail L. Blackman

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often receive Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) to acquire skills to live as independently as possible. However, skills learned through EIBI often do not generalize well without the help of the child’s parents (or other caregivers). Therefore, parent training is integral for individuals with ASD to generalize and maintain acquired skills. Research supports Applied Behavior Analysis as being effective in teaching parents to work with their children. Currently, the most common way to provide parent training is through in-vivo training, which can be costly and time consuming. Therefore, the purpose of the current …


The Effect Of Safety Coaching On The Accuracy Of Safety Observations And Feedback, Nicholas Matey Jul 2017

The Effect Of Safety Coaching On The Accuracy Of Safety Observations And Feedback, Nicholas Matey

Theses and Dissertations

Behavior-based safety (BBS) is an effective approach to decreasing workplace incidents and injuries. BBS typically consists of a peer observation and data collection process, and a feedback process. Accurate observations are required to provide accurate feedback, and accurate feedback is essential for acquisition and performance improvement. This study alternated observation only and required feedback phases during peer observations to examine whether requiring observers to provide immediate feedback following an observation affects the accuracy of the observation itself. Four participants were included in the study and the conditions were evaluated using a counterbalanced ABAB design. Results suggested that requiring observers to …


The Effects Of Feedback Accuracy On Rumor And Performance During An Analogue Task, Joshua Lawrence Lipschultz Jul 2017

The Effects Of Feedback Accuracy On Rumor And Performance During An Analogue Task, Joshua Lawrence Lipschultz

Theses and Dissertations

Feedback is the most commonly used intervention in Organizational Behavior Management (OBM). Recent OBM research has examined both the effects of inaccurate feedback (FB) on performance as well as rumors created due to inaccurate rules. The current study expanded upon both of these lines of research by examining the verbal behavior exhibited by dyads of participants during an analogue task as they were exposed to three different levels of FB accuracy (i.e., one-third FB of the actual number of entries completed, accurate FB, and tripled FB of the actual number of entries completed). The study also assessed the relative effects …


Effects Of Rich And Lean Treatment Contexts On Renewal, Sandhya Rajagopal Jul 2017

Effects Of Rich And Lean Treatment Contexts On Renewal, Sandhya Rajagopal

Theses and Dissertations

Relapse of problem behavior following behavioral intervention can occur for many reasons, including a change in setting after treatment. Reappearance of a previously extinguished behavior due to a context change is termed renewal. Laboratory models have demonstrated renewal by training a target behavior in one stimulus context, extinguishing the behavior in another context, and testing for relapse in the training context, where the behavior remains in extinction. Basic-research studies of relapse have also shown that conditions of the treatment environment, such as reinforcement schedules, can affect the amount of relapse observed. Assuming that quality of the treatment context could have …


The Effects Of Various Instruction Ratios During The Use Of The High Probability Instructional Sequence To Increase Compliance, Hallie Ertel Jul 2017

The Effects Of Various Instruction Ratios During The Use Of The High Probability Instructional Sequence To Increase Compliance, Hallie Ertel

Theses and Dissertations

Noncompliance is a common behavior problem exhibited by individuals who are typically developing as well as individuals with intellectual disabilities. The high probability sequence, an antecedent intervention, has proven to be effective to increase compliance to instructional demands. The high probability sequence involves presenting instructions with which an individual is likely to comply (highp), followed by an instruction with which the individual is not likely to comply (low-p). Typically, three high-p instructions are presented before presenting the low-p instruction. The current study compared different ratios of high-p to low-p instructions (1:1, 3:1, and 5:1) to determine if there is a …


Assessing The Combined Effects Of Resurgence And Renewal, Madeleine Keevy Jul 2017

Assessing The Combined Effects Of Resurgence And Renewal, Madeleine Keevy

Theses and Dissertations

Resurgence and renewal are laboratory models of treatment relapse revealing the effects of treatment integrity errors and context change on problem behavior eliminated through treatment with differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA). This study used translational methods to assess the effects of context change after DRA (renewal) with and without extinction in the form of treatment integrity errors (resurgence) on relapse in children with autism. In Phase 1 and in Context A, we trained an arbitrary target response. In Phase 2 and in Context B, we extinguished the target response and reinforced an alternative response. Phase 3 tested for relapse …


Feedback And Effort: A Translational Study, Andressa Arana Sleiman Jul 2017

Feedback And Effort: A Translational Study, Andressa Arana Sleiman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate an arrangement to establish feedback as more preferred when delivered after higher effort responding rather than lower effort responding. The study took place in the laboratory settings to simulate a working environment. Participants had to complete a mock medical data entry task, and after either one or 20 responses they received feedback. Participants in this study were 16 undergraduate students. The main dependent variable was the percentage of preference change in paired stimulus preference assessments for two categories of stimuli; shapes that signaled which condition they were in and managers that …


A Comparison Of Simultaneous And Delayed Conditioning Of Visual Stimuli In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Stephanie Wathen Jun 2017

A Comparison Of Simultaneous And Delayed Conditioning Of Visual Stimuli In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Stephanie Wathen

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder and related disabilities often do not respond to social reinforcers, such as praise, in a manner that is consistent with typically developing peers. Conditioning procedures are commonly used to establish new reinforcers with this population; however, there are few published studies examining conditioning procedures with this population. This study compared the effectiveness of simultaneous and delayed conditioning to establish conditioned reinforcers in three children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The conditioning procedures involved pairing a neutral stimulus (a picture card) with an unconditioned reinforcer using a response-stimulus conditioning procedure. Conditioning trials occurred following simple responses, such …


An Assessment Of Treatment Options For Pre-Existing Prompt Dependence In Children With Developmental Disabilities, Ella Gorgan May 2017

An Assessment Of Treatment Options For Pre-Existing Prompt Dependence In Children With Developmental Disabilities, Ella Gorgan

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has focused on identifying effective strategies to prevent prompt dependence from occurring during the training of novel skills. This has been targeted in a variety of ways, including differential reinforcement, prompt fading, and allowing extended response intervals. Current literature has also indicated that the relative efficacy and efficiency of different prompting procedures may be idiosyncratic across learners, suggesting the potential benefit of an individualized assessment. The purpose of the current study was to extend the literature on prompt dependence by comparing interventions for skills for which four participants with developmental disabilities consistently engaged in correct responses following prompts …


Comparing The Efficacy And Efficiency Of Varying Task Interspersal Ratios, Sophie Claire Knutson May 2017

Comparing The Efficacy And Efficiency Of Varying Task Interspersal Ratios, Sophie Claire Knutson

Theses and Dissertations

Task interspersal (TI) is a procedural variation of discrete trial training that has been implemented with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to facilitate the acquisition of novel skills, and may reduce problem behavior during instruction. The literature shows equivocal results regarding the efficiency of TI, but there is limited literature indicating the effects on level of problem behavior. The current study extended the literature on TI by comparing the efficacy and efficiency of varying TI ratios implemented in early intervention practices with children with ASD and related disorders on acquisition and levels problem behavior. The four ratios of mastered …


Using Auditory Extinction Cues To Mitigate Resurgence, Samuel Shvarts Apr 2017

Using Auditory Extinction Cues To Mitigate Resurgence, Samuel Shvarts

Theses and Dissertations

Resurgence is a laboratory model of treatment relapse revealing the effects of treatment-integrity errors on problem behavior eliminated through treatment with differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA). This study took a translational approach to assess the effects of an auditory extinction cue (e-cue) to mitigate resurgence of target responding in children with autism using arbitrary responses to simulate target and alternative responding. The auditory cue was a recorded praise statement introduced in Phase 2 and remained in one of the test conditions in Phase 3. In 8 of 12 resurgence test comparisons (with and without the e-cue), responding was mitigated …


Developing Conceptual Understanding And Procedural Fluency In Algebra For High School Students With Intellectual Disability, Andrew J. Wojcik Jan 2017

Developing Conceptual Understanding And Procedural Fluency In Algebra For High School Students With Intellectual Disability, Andrew J. Wojcik

Theses and Dissertations

Teaching students with Intellectual Disability (ID) is a relatively new endeavor. Beginning in 2001 with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the general education curriculum integrated algebra across the K-12 curriculum (Kendall, 2011; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), and expansion of the curriculum included five intertwined skills (productive disposition, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and conceptual understanding) (Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001). Researchers are just beginning to explore the potential of students with ID with algebra (Browder, Spooner, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Harris & Wakeman, 2008; Creech-Galloway, Collins, Knight, …