Selection has been claimed as a causal process that accounts for the evolution of species, the ontogeny of operant behavior, and the organization of cultural phenomena (e.g., Skinner, 1981). In each of these three domains, selection involves contingent relations between units of selection and environmental events. We will begin by examining the concept of contingency in the seminal experiments of behavior analysis and then consider parallel contingency arrangements in biological and cultural domains.

Over the past 45 years, the field of behavioral gerontology has demonstrated powerful effects in a number of clinical areas associated with aging. Most recently, researchers have focused on applying behavior analytic procedures to address behavioral issues among older adults with dementia. The current presentation will focus on published research that addresses function-based treatment for problem behavior and published research that addresses reinforcer and preference assessment. In addition, data will be presented from on going research in both areas.

In formulating the concept of the autoclitic, Skinner was influenced indirectly by Quine and Russell, among others, but his view of language as behavior, rather than as a symbol system, gave his analysis power and scope far beyond what had been suggested before. The autoclitic embraces the thorniest topics in the field of verbal behavior, and many questions remain about rapid shifts in stimulus control during speech. What the controlling variables are, and how stimulus control is acquired is at present unknown, but the behavioral approach at least permits us to ask such questions clearly.

Effective instructional design should ideally involve careful sequencing of instructional material combined with a logical analysis of the subject matter to be delivered to a learner. Continual revision is an inherent component of effective instruction. Incorporating instructional design with training and teaching can lead to more effective and efficient instructional methods. Unfortunately, instructional design is frequently absent from how we teach language, educate youth, teach college students, and train employees. This presentation will provide examples of what instructional design can offer and areas where it could be incorporated.

It is not uncommon for people to demonstrate challenging behaviors following a brain injury. Typically these behaviors arise out of the confusion and disorientation associated with the injury and medications. Behavior approaches differ depending upon the persons’ Rancho scale. Environmental management is key during the lower Ranchos levels (5 or less), modification through positive consequences are more appropriate during the higher levels of recovery where the person is now relearning to control their emotions and impulses. This presentation will review several strategies for environmental management and behavior modification found to be useful for persons with ABI. Behavior does not take place in a vacuum, it makes sense to the person. While the motivation for challenging behavior may be appropriate (escape from pain or frustration) the person must learn more appropriate ways to communicate and control their environment. The key is to replace the problematic behaviors with socially appropriate ones that serve the same purpose. Methods redirection and training alternative responses will be highlighted.

Functional analyses procedures have been used to assess and treat a wide variety of behavior problems. Interventions developed from the results of functional analyses tend to be more efficient and effective than other treatments. However, it is often assumed that the environmental variables assessed during a functional analysis have little influence on aberrant behavior associated with complex psychiatric and neurological disorders. In this presentation, I will show how functional analyses and related behavioral assessment strategies can be adapted to improve our understanding of complex psychiatric disorders, such as rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. Similarly, I will show how behavioral assessment methods can be used to characterize unusual patterns of aberrant behavior associated with complicated seizure disorders, such as force normalization.

Previous research has demonstrated that escape extinction (EE) is a necessary component of treatment for pediatric feeding disorders (e.g., Ahearn, Kerwin, Eicher, Shantz, & Swearingin, 1996; Patel, Piazza, Martinez, Volkert, & Santana, 2001; Reed, Piazza, Patel, Layer, Bachmeyer, Bethke, & Gutshall, 2004). Our clinical experience is that EE is not always effective when used alone, which necessitates the use of alternative and/or additional procedures. Although researchers have evaluated the effectiveness of treatment procedures individually, the overall effectiveness of these procedures has not been evaluated on a large scale. In the present paper, we examined 135 data sets from children referred for treatment of a pediatric feeding disorder. We analyzed how often EE-based procedures were effective in increasing acceptance and mouth clean (a product measure of swallowing) and decreasing inappropriate mealtime behavior. We also analyzed how often it was necessary to use alternative and/or additional procedures when EE was not effective. We identified the procedures that we used and evaluated their effectiveness in treating the target behaviors noted above.

A large percentage of individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder have been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS), High-Functioning Autism (HFA), or Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).. However, very little research or services have targeted this population. As children and adolescents, they rarely receive services because their academic work and adaptive skills are comparable to those of their peers. Yet, as adults, they have substantial difficulty obtaining and maintaining employment due to their impairments in social skills (Cerlund, Hagberg, Billstedt, Gillberg & Gillberg, 2008). Further research is needed on vocational training programs and career opportunities that meet the needs of this population. A potential unexplored vocation involves working with young children with autism and other developmental disabilities as a direct interventionist. Individuals who serve as behavior interventionists receive structured, hands-on training, combined with on-going monitoring and feedback. The procedures applied by behavior interventionists when working with children are explicitly delineated, invariant, and highly structured. As such, the task seems well-suited for individuals with AS and HFA. The purpose of this study was to pilot a training program for adults with AS, HFA, or PDD-NOS, who were interested in learning the skills used by behavior interventionists when working with young children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Four adults, aged 21 to 30 years, participated. Each participant was trained individually using verbal and written instructions, modeling, and role-play with feedback to teach two basic skills to an adult who was role-playing as a young child with autism. Generalization of the teaching skills was evaluated by having the participant (a) teach the adult confederate two additional targets that were not included in training and (b) teach a new skill to a young child with autism. Results indicated that the participants rapidly acquired the teaching skills and that these skills generalized to new targets and to an actual child.

This address will discuss the basic characteristics of science, with special emphasis placed on their relationship to behavioral science, including acceptable standards of evidence against which to evaluate the proliferation of treatment claims having the potential to affect behavior analysts, both in research and in practice. Following a discussion of scientific standards of evidence, defining features and “red flags” of pseudoscience, and the importance of skepticism, some examples of popular treatment claims in the field of autism, developmental disabilities, and the like will be reviewed and the evidence for and against each presented. The address will conclude with some cautionary notes for behavior analysts about our own field.

Amanda Bosch: An Evaluation of a Common Autism Treatment: The Weighted Vest
JoAnna Jones: The Assessment of Generalization and Stimulus Control in Social Skills Training for Children with Autism
Anne Shroyer: Caregiver Preference for Reinforcement-Based Behavioral Interventions