Association for Behavior Analysis International

Children with autism often have delays in language, resulting in lack of functional language needed for them to excel by the normed standards of their typical peers. Skinner's Verbal Behavior has been used to train language skills in these children, filling in the gaps of deficits. Few published research articles are available relating to prompting procedures to train intraverbal behavior in children with autism and other developmental disabilities. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the differences in rates of acquisition of target intraverbal questions using echoic and textual transfer of stimulus control methods. This study also replicated and extended previous studies that asserted that textual prompts were more efficient in training intraverbal responses to children with autism. Results of the present study indicated that for the three participants chosen, there were not many differences in the rate of acquisition of the target intraverbal questions. The results show that both prompting procedures may be equally efficient for training intraverbal behavior in children with autism.

John B. Watson endorsed his “Dozen Infants” statement, and it is probably his most widely cited fragment. However, it often has been disparaged imprudently because of ignoring its context and other reasons shown by analyses in this paper. A byproduct of the analyses is a summary of the essentials of Watson’s behaviorism.

Anyone interested in the essentials of Watson's behaviorism.

Applied Behaviour Analytic teaching programs were provided in 2008 and again in 2012 to staff in two regional neuropsychiatric facilities that assess and treat patients/residents with aggravated behaviours and complex neuropsychiatric presentations. This presentation includes a review of specific topics and strategies that were successfully taught to both professional and non-professional staff; were meaningful and had a good contextual fit to facilities; significantly reduced the use of aversive seclusion and restraint punishment procedures; and had a long-term influence on increasing the use of evidence-based ABA treatment practices and positive behaviour supports. The session will identify behavioural strategies with a good contextual fit for facility supports, as well as technically sound practices that can be taught and implemented successfully (systematically and with fidelity) by most non-ABA personnel. Evidence of the impact of ABA teaching in the programs will be included. The on-site support required to ensure staff follow-through of behavioural best practices will be reported as facility feedback and data on the outcomes, which were presented by hospital staff at a Neuropsychiatry Conference. A bibliography of supporting research will be provided.

Research shows that parenting a child with Autism is significantly more stressful than raising a typical child. While we spend a great deal of energy trying to identify the appropriate services and interventions to help the child with autism, we often neglect the social and emotional needs of the parents, siblings and families. This presentation will provide background on the most pertinent research on parental well being in families of children who have autism. We will learn what strategies and approaches have been found to be most successful in helping families decrease anxiety, depression, improve parental relationships, and increase social engagement. The video portion of our presentation features parents talking about what has helped them learn to cope. Finally, we will discuss some of the research on siblings of children with autism. From the time of seeking the first diagnosis, through navigating the school system, we hope to provide a solid understanding of what parents and families go through, and how we can help families not only survive, but thrive.

Killeen and Pellón (2013) have developed a model that is based on the hypothesis that adjunctive behavior is maintained by delayed reinforcement, occurring despite the absence of any programmed contingency between the behavior and the consequence. The best studied example of adjunctive behavior is schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP), and here data are presented that support the idea that SIP can be maintained by reinforcement. In a first study, rats developed high levels of adjunctive drinking by delivering a pellet of food 30 seconds after the completion of 20 licks to a water-bottle spout. The acquisition of adjunctive drinking was greater than in a group that had such positive contingency on only half of the trials, and even greater than in a yoked-control group that received the food pellets irrespective of its own licking. In a second study, by default a single pellet of food was delivered at regular 90-second intervals but the inter-food interval could be shortened depending on the rats' licking. The degree of contingency between licking the bottle spout and hastening the delivery of the food pellet was 100%, 50% and 0% for separate groups, with the development of SIP positively related to those different contingencies. Drinking is decreased if it forestalls reinforcement, enhanced if it hastens reinforcement, and can do so at delay characteristic of those present in studies of SIP. We are currently complementing these studies by testing the idea that water might derive reinforcing properties through its association with food.

Anyone interested in adjunctive behavior or delayed reinforcement.

Behavior analysis has been at the vanguard of therapeutic innovation since its inception. Among the universally accepted techniques used in behavior therapy are systematic desensitization, time out response cost and imaginal exposure as well as strategies to improve social skills and coping skills and increase self-regulation strategies. There is considerable literature supporting the efficacy of behavior therapy, which has generally emphasized the relationship between decreases in rate contingent positive reinforcement and presenting symptoms. The identification of functional relationships between life events, environment and mood leads to the behavioral strategy of increasing those behaviors related to improved mood and/or mastery of difficult situations, as well as the improvement of behavior deficits that make social situations difficult or produce avoidance of these situations. Self-control interventions focus on increasing self- reinforcement and decreasing self-punishment by teaching self-monitoring and setting specific goals. Today, behavior analysis t is once again in the vanguard of therapeutic interventions to augment brain plasticity. Mindfulness is a promising approach to avoiding relapses and reducing stress, while increasing self-regulation and neural plasticity, as well as a promising approach to avoiding relapses in treatment programs.

From 1921 to the mid-1950s, the largest muralist movement in art history since the Renaissance developed in Mexico, leaving a remarkable legacy to the country and the world. The movement was controversial from its inception. It centered on an effort to create an egalitarian society; its mission was to reach the masses with expressions of their social, emotional, and political circumstances. Mexican muralists received commissions abroad and their international success brought high demand for frescoes in government and private walls around the country. The Mexican muralist movement can be analyzed as a cultural phenomenon. How did it come to exist? What kept it going and caused it to cease? And why, in spite of international attempts, did it never reach comparable scale or significance elsewhere? I will argue the synergy of interactions from a few individuals with distinctive repertoires and interlocking metacontingencies can account for the movement. And although the specifics of the muralists undertaking were unique and nonreplicable, the properties of other cultural phenomena with substantial impact are of similar nature.

Anyone interested in art, culture or metacontingencies.

Programs based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) are those recognized as being the most effective, from a scientific point of view, for the development of various skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Although the principles of ABA are universal and the procedures can be chosen depending on the context of application, ABA programs were mainly developed and implemented in the United States and in English-speaking contexts. Their application in a culturally and linguistically different environment involve several challenges. To name few examples, the translation of concepts and definitions, curricula and assessment tools and their adaptation to different cultures involve great challenges because they cannot be easily transferred to usual educational practices common to other cultures or into the structure of certain languages. To date, very few studies systematically inform us on how to meet the challenges posed by the implementation of programs in the context of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This symposium will address some issues affecting particular challenges related to training, research and for the clinical application, more particularly in two French countries where we have ABAI chapters.

France is readily lacking formation in ABA. There is only one University providing an ABA master degree and implementing research in EAB and ABA (examples: visual perception, effectiveness of treatments) and it forms in average 15 persons a year. The aim of this formation is to train students to implement ABA treatments according to the BCBAs certification. Furthermore, the lack of current formation in France is also troubling for trainers. Schools providing trainers certification are not aware of behavioral techniques. Then the few centers providing ABA treatments for children with ASD in France have to form their own staff. But nowadays language remains a main issue. The few people owning a university degree have to translate to main tools currently used in ABA treatments. Then, the French version of the ABLLS has been done. It would be necessary to create French BCBA and BCABA certifications. By doing so, these tremendous issues in the lack of formation could be solved in France and moreover in the French speaking countries. Then this international standard label of quality in ABA could be accessible to more people and more competent French people could be able to implement and also supervise effective ABA treatments.

French government agreed to the opening of a center in the North of France in 2008. In this center, 20 children with ASD, age 0-20 years old, received ABA treatments for an average of 36 hours per week and behavioral intervention is provided for free. Behavioral intervention is realized in all of childrens life settings (home, schools, daily care ). This center is experimental and has for main goal to prove the contributions and effectiveness of ABA treatments for children with ASD in french context. It was crucial for France because actually ABA was not recognized by all stakeholders to be a good practice for children with ASD. Since the opening of this center four children have completed their treatments and some are engaged into professional skills. French ministry of Health has recommended in March 2012 the implementation of ABA treatments for children with ASD. But people still think that these children need multidisciplinary treatments (eclectic interventions) and ABA still remains perceived as a higher cost treatment (humanly and financially speaking). Furthermore, France is nowadays tremendously lacking formation in ABA. So, difficulties are daily encountered in the center in finding trained staff, organizing a training system for the staff, the parents and the partners in schools.

The Neurobehavioral Unit is conducting a variety of research projects on program evaluation, standards of clinical care, as well as the assessment and treatment of severe behavior disorders in children with a variety of disabilities. In this symposium we will provide an overview of the program as well as current research on staff behavior interventions, functional analysis and ethical considerations, medication and behavioral intervention plans.

The studies of human conditional discrimination have used two types of experimental arrangements; matching-to-sample first and second orders. In the first arrangement, a matching to sample stimulus and two or more comparison stimuli are presented; in the second, in addition to aforementioned stimuli, were presented two second order stimuli. Goldiamond (1966) and Cumming and Berryman (1965) has shown that matching-to-sample procedures can be used in the experimental analysis of behavioral phenomena that are conceived as complex variants of discriminative control. In this symposium it is presented four studies that used matching-to-sample arrangements. The first experiment used different types of contingencies in human adults; the second evaluated the effect of conceptual training on extradimensional transfer test; in the third it was evaluated the direct training, modeling and following rules on discrimination task; and the fourth evaluated the effect of habilitation on writing active mode as a result of exposure to the language reactive modes. Results discussed the factors that influence the performance in human conditional discrimination. Keywords: conditional-discrimination, and human. Is this a data-based presentation? Because this abstract is the symposium presentation. The individual papers have their own data base.

College students were exposed to different matching-to-sample procedures. For two groups, discriminative and delta functions of comparison stimuli varied or not between trials. For yoked groups, stimulus functions also varied but the instrumental response was not required and the feedback was non-contingent. Transfer tests using new stimuli, features, dimensions and relations were conducted after training. Performances in transfer tests were higher for participants exposed to the matching-to-sample training in which stimulus functions varied and the instrumental response was required than for remaining participants. Results are discussed in terms of the necessary and sufficient conditions for generalized matching-to-sample performance as rule-governed behavior.

Three groups of college students were exposed to a non-contingent matching-to-sample task and two transfer tests. Three additional groups were exposed to transfer tests only. For all groups, matching responses in transfer tests consisted in the specification of the shape and color of a comparison stimulus by writing. Between groups, stimuli were presented in different modalities: visual, auditory or as texts. Participants exposed to the non-contingent task using visual and textual stimuli showed slightly higher transfer performances that participants exposed directly to transfer tests. Using auditory stimuli, performances were higher for participants exposed directly to tests than for participants exposed to the non-contingent task. In general terms, stimuli presented as texts produced a higher percentage of correct responses that stimuli presented in either visual or auditory modalities. Results are discussed in relation to previous experiments on rule-governed behavior using the generalized matching-to-sample paradigm. Keywords: modes, language, matching-to-sample.

En este simposio se presentan cuatro trabajos en los que se reflexiona sobre el trayecto que se sigue desde la generacion del conocimiento derivado de la investigacion basica en psicologia, hasta su llegada a los usuarios ultimos para la solucion de problemas de relavancia social. En el primer trabajo se prsentan algunas implicaiones de la investigacion traslacional en la ciencia del comportamiento asa como de su fortalecimiento e impacto en diversos ambitos de aplicacion. En el segundo trabajo se presenta una revision sobre el camino que se sigue entre la generacion del conocimiento hasta su aplicacion en escenarios naturales y las brechas existentes para lograr su diseminacion. En el tercer trabajo se revisa como a travos de la transferencia de tecnologia se puede subsanar la brecha existente entre la investigacion y la practica, se analiza el caso de la transferencia de las intervenciones breves a clinicas de salud en Mexico. Finalmente en el cuarto trabajo se describen las barreras para que se logra la transferencia del conocimiento especificamente las relacionadas con los terapeutas en el uso de manuales de intervencion breve para el tratamiento de las adicciones.

Este trabajo plantea algunas reflexiones sobre las implicaciones de la investigacion traslacional o investigacion basica inspirada en el uso, tambien denominada como investigacion puente; la discusion se centra en la Ciencia del Comportamiento. Se discuten algunos argumentos centrales sobre el fortalecimiento de la investigacion puente en los amos recientes, en un contexto de evaluacion del impacto que a lo largo del tiempo ha tenido el enfoque conductual en diversos ambitos. Si bien no se cuestiona la gran repercusion a diferentes niveles de este enfoque en Mexico, existe una gran diversidad de tareas que son necesarias de llevar a cabo: la formacion de recursos humanos de alto nivel que coadyuven al trabajo de la traslacion y que permitan ubicar estos aportes en contribuciones para el bienestar social y su correspondiente desarrollo de estrategias de diseminacion, implementacion y difusion. Se presentan algunos ejemplos de investigacion puente sobre el mecanismo de reciprocidad y sus derivaciones hacia situaciones de cooperacion condicional y aquellas de tipo coercitivo.

En diferentes disciplinas es indiscutible una divisin entre la investigacin bsica y la investigacin aplicada, al menos as se refleja en los tipos de estudios y sus alcances, la primera estara encaminada a conocer un fenmeno de manera detallada sin esperar una utilidad prctica, y la segunda tendra como meta la aplicacin del conocimiento para la solucin de problemas. Este fenmeno no es ajeno a la investigacin en psicologa, en donde un porcentaje elevado de investigaciones bsicas no encuentra su aplicacin en problemas de relevancia social. En este trabajo se presenta una revisin sobre el camino que se sigue entre la generacin del conocimiento, desde la investigacin bsica hasta su aplicacin en escenarios naturales, y las brechas existentes para lograr su diseminacin. Tambin, se muestra como la investigacin traslacional y la transferencia del conocimiento pueden reducir esta brecha con el propsito de que los principios bsicos puedan tener incidencia en el desarrollo de programas validados empricamente y puedan ser aplicados por profesionales de la salud en los usuarios potenciales, esto a partir de diferentes estrategias como la formacin de recursos humanos capaces de poder comunicarse en diferentes contextos de diseminacin.

Las problematicas derivadas del consumo de alcohol y otras drogas son tan relevantes para el usuario, la familia y la sociedad en general, que justifican la pertinencia y necesidad de desarrollar programas de prevencion y tratamiento que aseguren un resultado positivo. Desafortunadamente, la comunicacion entre los que desarrollan y evalua programas en el area de adicciones y los posibles adoptadores de dichas tecnologias no siempre se establece, o bien, aun cuando a veces se logra instaurar, carece de continuidad y por tanto se desconoce si la tecnologia (programa de intervencion) realmente se adopte por los profesionales y/o que adaptaciones se hicieron para aplicarlo. En este trabajo se revisa como a traves de la transferencia de tecnologia se puede subsanar la brecha existente entre la investigacion y la practica, sin embargo, para lograr esto, se debe rechazar la idea de que este proceso puede ocurrir sin un esfuerzo estructurado, y por el contrario se debe adoptar una aproximacion planeada y sistematizada de la transferencia a fin de que se traduzca en aplicaciones clinicas del conocimiento, en este caso se revisa especialmente el caso de la transferencia de las intervenciones breves a clinicas de salud en Mexico en los ultimos 15 ayos. Se discute una propuesta de transferencia basada en la comunicacion y la reinvencion de las intervenciones breves a partir de su adopcion en las instituciones de salud.

La transferencia de conocimiento para el tratamiento de adicciones incluye el estudio de medios de difusion de las intervenciones con validez cientifica. Actualmente los manuales de tratamiento funcionan como un eslabon elemental de la investigacion a la practica clinica, utilizandose como uno de los principales medios de transferencia de las intervenciones breves. Sin embargo, para que esta transferencia sea efectiva es necesario evaluar las percepciones de los terapeutas respecto al uso y comprension del manual. El objetivo de este estudio fue describir las barreras del terapeuta en el uso de manuales de intervencion breve. Utilizando un metodo cuantitativo, descriptivo y no experimental, se evalua una muestra de terapeutas de los Centros de Atencion para las Adicciones del pais, por medio de un cuestionario obteniendo informacion sobre la experiencia del terapeuta el uso de manuales y sus caracteristicas, y las limitaciones de este medio para la transferencia de conocimiento. Se espera generar estrategias para la comunicacion entre la investigacion y la practica, de manera que se consideren las necesidades de los terapeutas en la adaptacion y mejora de los manuales, y puedan convertirse en un medio mas eficiente en la transferencia del conocimiento y una herramienta util en los escenarios clinicos.

Mexican Network for Research on Animal Behavior is a psychological research group with the following objectives: (a) promote the development of scientific research on animal behavior in Mexico, (b) contribute to the training of high-level human resources on animal behavior research, (c) sharing different kinds of research resources, (d) promote the inter-institutional exchange of researchers as well as students, and (e) organize an annual event in which our members could release their research objectives in order to increase people's interest on animal behavior research. In this context, the talks in the present symposium are about the experimental analysis of associative learning and operant behavior. Our principal objective is to release some Mexican research interests to the international behavior analysis community.

Several theorists have asserted that performance on choice procedures is controlled to some extent by cues that predict rewards. This includes intertemporal choice procedures, which are extensively used as a paradigm to study self-control. The basic assumption is that those cues acquire a secondary reward function via its temporal and statistical (i.e., Pavlovian) relation to primary reward delivery. Numerous studies have demonstrated that such cues have an effect independent of primary rewards and that both are commensurable. Therefore, most of the time choice behavior may be the result of a joint contribution of primary and secondary rewards. The possibility of the contribution of cues negatively associated with reward, functioning as conditioned aversive stimuli, has not been explored yet. Our line of research aims to assess whether creating a history in which a cue is negatively related to the delivery of reward has an aversive effect when that cue is later added to SS alternative in an intertemporal choice procedure, promoting less preference for that alternative.

In this line of research we devised a technique for the study of serial recall of lists of demonstrators in food preference, a social behavior paradigm. We have studied the typical result in list recall, primacy and recency depending on several parameter values. We also have found the vonRestorff effect when an outstanding element was presented in the middle position. We have studied the effects of two anti-cholinergic drugs and an antagonist of the GABAb neurotransmitter. We will start studying the effect of hippocampus lesions soon. Within this line of research we have obtained financial support for 6 years. We have published two papers in the journal Learning & Behavior, one book and one chapter in another book. We have graduated one BA student and two MA students. We are now studying a new technique in which a list of different frequencies will be presented to rats in Med-Pc chambers.

When organisms are deprived of food and the reinforcement is available under intermittent conditions, subjects usually show orderly concurrent behaviors. These behaviors have been called induced or adjunctive and have been proposed as functionally different from respondents and operants. The prototypical example of adjunctive behavior is schedule-induced polydipsia. Recent studies using this experimental paradigm have suggested that adjunctive drinking do not represents a third class of behavior and that it could be integrate as a case of operant behavior (e.g., Avila & Bruner, 1994; Killen & Pellon, 2013). In this talk we will try to extend the same idea to the so-called schedule-induced activity. Such a possibility is supported by the observation of wheel-running patterns similar to those observed when lever-pressing or key-pecking are the target responses.

In the U.S., far too many students struggle learning to read and never achieve adequate reading skills. For example, 33% of 4th grade students read below a Basic level, 66% read below a Proficient level, and 40% are considered non-fluent readers. In 2010 the Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) reading fluency program became publically available as an approach to assist struggling English readers. More than eight different studies have validated the effectiveness of HELPS for English readers since 2005 and it is currently being implemented in more than 10,000 schools nationally and internationally. However, because reading failure is a global problem, there is an imperative for researchers and educational practitioners to develop and examine effective reading interventions that can be delivered in languages other than English. For this reason, the HELPS Program was adapted and developed for Spanish readers in a program called Leamos para Avanzar. The focus of this presentation will be on the research and development of Leamos para Avanzar. During this presentation, attendees will learn (a) about the importance of reading fluency in Spanish reading, (b) how fluency is conceptualized within a behavior analytic framework of instruction, (c) how and why Leamos para Avanzar integrates several behavior analytic principles within its instructional strategies, and (d) how all Leamos para Avanzar instructional and training materials can be accessed for free. Six years of research and development related to Leamos para Avanzar will also be summarized, including multiple studies showing that Leamos para Avanzar has the potential to improve many students' Spanish reading fluency. Finally, further directions for research and development will be discussed, and interested attendees will learn how they can potentially collaborate with the Leamos para Avanzar research and development team in an overall effort to improve the reading skills of struggling readers being educated in Spanish speaking countries.

Leveraging technology to advance collaboration among parents, clinicians, teachers, physicians, and researchers would greatly benefit from standardized assessment and data collection principals for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) as a means to increase achievement across environments. In a review of Fold.IT, scientists provided an online gaming platform in which users could “play” by folding proteins within a defined set of gaming parameters (aka physics). Participants included third graders with no concept of the fact that the game was set up to solve three dimensional puzzles for HIV, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other disorders. Gamers began to play and after ten days, had successfully identified a three dimensional model of the HIV protease that eluded scientists for fifteen years. While studies have shown that teachers lack training that would lead to an 80% increase in frequency of target behaviors in classrooms, school districts lack funding or resources to do so. Using the same principles as Fold.IT, Autism-U developed an online collaborative model which introduces the principals of ABA to anyone by virtue of its simple implementation and activity calendar functions. Parents, clinicians, doctors, babysitters, students, professionals, and teachers may now follow a plan that outlines the therapy for everyone in the circle of care who securely report to the team with live feedback (with parent’s permission). A new collaborative model is necessary to help resolve the inefficiency associated with fragmented efforts in research, training, and researcher-practitioner partnerships. The Center for Disease Control reports exponential growth in the prevalence of developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), now 1 in 50 kids in U.S. schools. Educators are facing challenges that present an acute demand for trained professionals, and availing introduction of ABA plans to educators and parents who can provide live feedback would help promote research by crowdsourcing live depersonalized data.

In 1968 B. F. Skinner called for a technology of teaching. By this he meant that scientific discoveries made in the psychology laboratory should be extended to the classroom. He did not mean, although he did offer up his own teaching machine, that teaching should necessarily be done using machines. Instead, he was advocating that there could be a technology of teacher/learner interactions that could greatly improve the likelihood of learner success. Unfortunately, Skinners vision has not come to pass. Little of what has been learned in the behavioral and cognitive laboratories makes its way into educational practice. Today when we here the word technology, we do not think of teaching processes, or ways of learning, we think of hardware and software. This paper focuses on advances in hardware and software, what may be called a technology of tools, and the implications they have for designing and delivering instruction based on behavioral principles.

In 1968 B. F. Skinner called for a technology of teaching. By this he meant that scientific discoveries made in the psychology laboratory should be extended to the classroom. He did not mean, although he did offer up his own teaching machine, that teaching should necessarily be done using machines. Instead, he was advocating that there could be a technology of teacher/learner interactions that could greatly improve the likelihood of learner success. Unfortunately, Skinners vision has not come to pass. Little of what has been learned in the behavioral and cognitive laboratories makes its way into educational practice. Today when we here the word technology, we do not think of teaching processes, or ways of learning, we think of hardware and software. This paper returns to Skinner's original meaning of "technology" and focuses on what may be called a technology of process and the implications it has for designing and delivering instruction based on behavioral principles.

Behavior analysis is in the dark regarding quite fundamental concepts. For example, "motivation" is a topic many behavior analysts, basic and applied, have mixed feelings about despite what all the literature says on "motivational operations". Dr. Marr will argue that behavior analysts, particularly in their treatment of reinforcement, are guilty of limited vision and in many ways are still tied to traditional motivational concepts-where apparently the light is better. He will provide a definition of motivation (and what it is not) and discuss some of the commonly studied variables said to control probabilities of action. Most behavior is controlled by consequences having little, if any, relation to motivational variables. Dr. Marr will discuss continued naive perspectives on "conditioned reinforcement" and the positive versus negative reinforcement controversy as well as the role of the history of contingencies in establishing the actions of consequences. Dr. Marr believes our field needs to search beyond its current horizons to achieve more enlightenment.

Anyone interested in the fundamental concepts of behavior analysis.

The present study investigated the effects of social control upon instruction following. College students were exposed to an FI 15 s schedule during three experimental conditions, which differed in terms of the instructions: DRL 15 s, DRL 7 s and DRL 3 s. With those values, the likelihood of contact with the instruction-schedule discrepancy increased across conditions. The participants performed the task alone (Control Group), in the presence of a classmate (With Classmate Group) or in the presence of the experimenter (With Experimenter Group). For the participants in the Control and With Classmate groups, the time between responses (IRT) was constant and close to 15 s, despite of the instructions; for the participants in the Experimenter Group, on the other hand, the IRTs were similar to the values described by the instructions. These results show a reduction in schedule-sensitivity when the experimenter was present. It was concluded that the social control exerted by an authority figure might favor following inaccurate instructions.

The sunk cost effect is a tendency to persist in a disadvantageous endeavor. The present study investigated whether an experimental history with instructions affects the sunk cost effect. College students should attempt to purchase lots of shares. In each trial, the participant could either persist through the attempt or quit it. In the Training Phase, the most advantageous choice was to persist instead of quitting. For the True Instruction and False Instruction groups, the instruction indicated that persisting and quitting was the best choice, respectively; for the No Instruction Group, there was no instruction. In the Testing Phase, quitting a purchase attempt was the most advantageous choice. This phase comprised three conditions: with true instructions in the first and third conditions, and with false instructions in the second condition. In the Training Phase, all participants showed persistence. In the Testing Phase, the participants with no history of true instructions continued persisting (sunk cost effect), even when there was a true instruction, while those with a history of true instructions persisted or quit in accordance to the instructions. The results suggest that the sunk cost effect is affected by the accuracy of the instructions on the most advantageous performance.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of shared responses on the choice between individual and social contingencies. In a situation of partial altruism, dyads solved a visual puzzle on two synchronized computer screens. Participants could track the performance of his/her peer, and place pieces in either puzzle. Sixteen university students (eight dyads) in each experiment were randomly distributed in two different groups that were exposed to individual baseline sessions. After that, dyads in each group were exposed to an experimental treatment involving a sequence of two conditions: shared responses (two participants placing the same piece), and individual responses (participants could place pieces independently). In Experiment 1, consequences by participants' performances were placed in a common counter (shared consequences). In Experiment 2, consequences obtained by each participant in a dyad were placed in two independent counters (individual consequences). Results in both experiments showed a preference by the social contingency. These results are discussed in terms of the role of verbal exchanges that participants could establish during the resolution of the task.

Recognition and identification are basic linguistic processes implying learning of verbal segments related to certain characteristics of people, objects or events. Development of these skills is fundamental for further language acquisition and very significant in formal education. Recognition and identification learning are influenced by the linguistic modes involved in their training. Two studies were run to evaluate objet recognition and object identification by naming. In the first one, the image of a bird was paired with its name, which was presented either in an auditory or in a textual modality. Six learning conditions were arranged, according to language modes combinations: 1) Silent reading; 2) Reading and speaking (reading aloud); 3) Reading and writing; 4) Listening; 5) Listening and speaking (repeating aloud); 6) Listening and writing. Experimental results showed that listening and silent reading generated better object recognizing performances. The second study examined recognition and identification in separate tests after training under the listening condition. The results showed that recognition of the object always scored higher in all cases, regardless of the ratio of correct responses in the nominal identification test. The role of linguistic modes is analyzed and the convenience for distinguishing recognition and identification as distinct skills is discussed.

A university is a complex, multi-tiered organization with many sub-units and many potentially conflicting activities. Houmanfar's five-term contingency was used to analyze current sustainability programs and to develop programs necessary to implement Zero Waste policies in a university setting. We found a campus-wide program to be impossible because athletics' facilities, plant operations, food services and associated student complexes are independent entities. Initial baselines included meetings with personnel in various domains; documenting current policies; assessing supply chains relative to sustainability; assessing local recycling and composting resources; and finding labor sources available through student clubs. Sources of reinforcement for each were found. We met again with appropriate personnel in each group and presented plans to improve current practices. Most had identified lack of funds, labor and other resources as obstacles to improving current practices. All were receptive to plans when these problems were addressed. Preliminary outcome data will be presented.

ABSTRACT Researcher: Patricia Dammier Ph.D. Title: The Importance of Aviation Crew Resource Management Training and Application to Applied Behavior Analysis The problem was that aviation training programs provide technical knowledge for the job but may not provide adequate Crew Resource Management (CRM) training. The researcher analyzed a 26-participant descriptive study that was conducted at a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Sector Air Operations Center (SAOC) to discover if the training programs contained techniques for using Crew Resource Management during mission execution. The survey responses supported the researchers hypothesis in various combinations; considering time on the job and years since initial training. The most significant finding was that the respondents were never fully trained about the concepts, importance, or impact of Crew Resource Management techniques in a group dynamic. The recommendations include methods of how Applied Behavior Analysis may be used to support the outcome of the performance of safety management techniques that increase the ability to complete a safe aviation operation.

En esta presentacion iniciamos describiendo algunos elementos que integran el concepto de identidad desde disciplinas sociales, comparandolos con conceptos de la teoria interconductual, posteriormente agregamos al analisis, el constructo de identidad profesional enfatizando la diferencia con el concepto de identidad, para finalizar con comentarios respecto a nuestro posicionamiento teorico. Consideramos que existe un problema en las ciencias sociales en general que se relaciona con la carencia de una organizacion teorica y de precision, asa como de una delimitacion conceptual. Asimismo, las ciencias jovenes como la sociologia, la educacion e incluso la psicologia, caen en la tentacion de utilizar los canones de las ciencias duras, partiendo de modelos mecanicistas, basados en una relacion causa-efecto, aplicando esta relacion lineal a fenomenos cuya genesis es multifactorial como pueden ser los de tipo psicologico; todo esto desde una perspectiva aristotelica.

El modelo de Interaccion Didactica, propuesto al amparo de la piscologia interconductual (Cfr. Leon, Morales, Silva y Carpio, 2011), representa la delimitacion de la dimension psicologica de la ensenanza-aprendizaje de la practica cientifica. Dicho modelo rescata el caracter funcional de las interacciones establecidas en los espacios educativos, sin embargo, parce adolecer de algunas ambiguedades. Entre ellas figura la mezcla de categorias propias de la psicologia interconductual (v. gr., interaccion, disposicion, historia situacional, etc.) con terminos que de hecho no son psicologicos: docente, alumno y tarea. En el caso particular del termino tarea parece ser el que genera mayor confusion con respecto a que se quiere significar, referir o representar. Es preciso senalar que ya en el terreno educativo existe una confusion mas o menos generalizada con respecto a que es y que define a una tarea. Por ello, en el presente trabajo se realize un analisis historico-conceptual, con respecto a dicho termino y, en segundo lugar, mostrar si dicho termino guarda consistencia teorica con los postulados de la psicologia interconductual, y de ser asa, a que concepto propio de tal postura se estaria haciendo alusion.

Throughout the history of psychology, interest has been strong in applying it to education and instruction. This interest increased as focus shifted to the influence of the environment on behavior with the rise of functionalism and behaviorism. This presentation will look at this trend starting with the founder of modern psychology, William James, who was skeptical of psychology's ability to be applied to education. It will then discuss John Dewey, who turned James's view on its head by applying his pragmatic and functional philosophy to education through the dictum of "learning by doing;" Edward L. Thorndike, who applied his studies on learning to education without admitting to being a behaviorist; Sidney L. Pressey and B. F. Skinner, who with their respective teaching machines led the way toward programmed learning systems; and onto Fred S. Keller, whose personalized system of instruction (PSI) said "goodbye" to old-style teaching and laid the groundwork for a new role for educators as contingency managers or arrangers of learning-promoting environments. The presentation will then discuss two contemporary behavioral approaches--interteaching and the presenter's Computer-Aided Personalized System of Instruction (CAPSI)--that stem from the work of Skinner and Keller.

Anyone interested in applying psychology to education.

The present study systematically assessed the effects of two independent variables on response acquisition, delay duration and the number of sessions of non-contingent food delivery. Sixty nave, male Wistar rats were exposed to an FT 60-s schedule for a different number of sessions (0, 1, 5, 15 or 30). Once exposure to non-contingent food delivery was over, subjects were exposed to one of four different Tandem FR 1, FT x-s schedule, for 10 sessions, where FT duration could be programmed at 10, 20, 40 or 60-s. Results showed evidence of response acquisition was more apparent in those groups where subjects were exposed to 1, 5 or 15 sessions of non-contingent food delivery; response acquisition was less evident in those groups exposed to 0 or 30 sessions of the FT 60-s schedule. In general, obtained reinforcement rate decreased as delay duration increased. Results were discussed in terms of how history effects may make it difficult to compare experimental findings; the discussion also centered on variables that could probably explain why reinforcement history affects response acquisition with delayed reinforcement.

The present study assessed the effects of response-signal temporal separation under schedules with different interreinforcer intervals. Groups of 3 rats each were exposed to one of 3 different chained reinforcement schedules, CRF FT 15-s, VI 60-s FT 15-s or VI 120-s FT 15-s. Within each schedule, the response that produced component transition produced a 5-s signal that could occur, immediately, 5-s after the response, or 10-s after the response. Results showed that response rates during the schedules first component were a decreasing function response-signal temporal separation, in both VI schedules; signal placement had no consistent effect on first component response rates in the CRF schedule. Response-signal temporal separation had no consistent effects on global or local response rates during the FT; however, response rates during the FT were a decreasing function of interreinforcer interval. Results suggest that signal functions on responding under delayed reinforcement, depend on interreinforcer interval duration. Results also suggest that the ongoing debate regarding the empirical validity of the conditioned reinforcement concept may be the result of an unsystematic research agenda that fails to explore the phenomenon using a parametric approach.

Aversive events are ubiquitous. Yet we know far less about aversive control than we do about positive reinforcement. Indeed, even when environments are deliberately arranged to contain only stimuli considered to be positively reinforcing, evidence suggests that such environments will inevitably contain stimuli that can function aversively. In this symposium, current research and theory regarding the subtle and pervasive effects of aversive control will be presented, along with the translational implications of such effects.

Much of what we know about variables affecting punishment (e.g., frequency, intensity, establishing operations, etc.) comes from research in which unconditioned punishers (e.g., brief electric shocks) were used. Given the frequent use and acceptance of other punishment procedures, such as timeout from positive reinforcement and response cost, across a wide range of situations and populations, it is somewhat surprising that the empirical basic research is lacking. Lerman and Vorndran (2002), lamenting this lack of research, called for more systematic and thorough investigations of punishment contingencies. In this presentation, recent data from studies in which parameters of timeout from positive reinforcement (e.g., duration) and other nonconventional "punishers" (e.g., stimuli associated with fixed-ratio schedules of positive reinforcement) will be presented.

The behavior analysis of self-control has emphasized procedures in which a subject chooses between a small immediate reinforcer and a larger delayed reinforcer. The value of the larger reinforce is discounted as a function of delay, tipping the balance in favor of the smaller reinforcer ("impulsive" choice rather than "self-control"). Experimental results have been orderly, amenable to quantitative analysis, and generalizable across species, and they have provided insight into a range of human ills (e.g., drug addiction, obesity). These benefits are preserved even when real outcomes (e.g., 1 food pellet now vs. 3 pellets after 10 s) are replaced with hypothetical ones (e.g., $100 now vs. $1,000 after a year). But experiments involving reinforcer magnitude and delay do not exhaust the factors implicated in a behavior analysis of self-control. Of particular interest are choices between outcomes that involve immediate reinforcers and, in some cases, delayed aversive events. As a prosaic example, consider a diner's choice between two meals: a bland one (small immediate reinforcer) and a rich one always followed later by heartburn (large immediate reinforcer plus a delayed aversive event). This presentation will explore ways in which laboratory models of self-control may be enhanced by incorporating aversive events.

Sidman's (1994, 2000) theoretical treatments of equivalence expanded original conceptualizations considerably in that all positive elements of a reinforcement contingency are viewed as potential class members, and equivalence is held to result from reinforcement contingencies involving any number of terms. This talk will describe data from our lab demonstrating that reinforcers can serve as the basis for equivalence classes generated by three-term contingencies. Typically developing children received simple discrimination training in which selections of S+ resulted in a class-specific reinforcer (e.g, selecting A1, B1, or C1 produced R1; selecting A2, B2, or C2 produced R2, etc.), while selecting either of two S- stimuli unique to each trial type produced a buzzer. Conditional discrimination probe trials revealed that all stimuli related to the same reinforcer were interchangeable. These procedures then raised the question- what of the S- stimuli, which were also related to a common consequence? This presentation will outline experimental approaches to the exploration of possible equivalence-class formation based on aversive consequences. Results of such studies stand to have important implications for issues ranging from inadvertently establishing stimulus classes with aversive functions (e.g., in classroom applications of discrimination training) to understanding clinical phenomena characterized by complex avoidance patterns.

Chronic, severe, disruptive and destructive behaviors such as self-injury, physical aggression, property destruction, and tantrums are a major problem in persons with Intellectual and other developmental disabilities such as autism. These "challenging" behaviors present barriers to habilitation and independent living, and they are a long-standing treatment challenge. Escape and avoidance behaviors make up the single largest function underlying problem behaviors in the clinical literature, suggesting that this population is particularly sensitive to aversive stimulation. Persons with IDD are also likely to emit such challenging behaviors during transitions from one activity to another. The behavioral mechanisms that make transitions aversive in this population are not known, but treatments generally assume that environmental unpredictability is aversive to people with IDD and transitions are aversive when the upcoming event is unpredictable. Research in this area is sparse and little is known about the behavioral processes that make transitions aversive or how to reduce their aversive properties. This paper will present data from translational research program validating a laboratory model for the study of behavioral and biological variables that may underlie transition-induced challenging behaviors in IDD. A distinguishing feature of this approach is that we have demonstrated equivalent behavioral processes across pigeons, rats, and people with developmental disabilities. This increases the potential that experimental treatments derived from testing in animals and controlled experimental studies will translate to the understanding and treatment of clinically important challenging behaviors.

This paper reviews non-aversive interventions, particularly those in the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) model as effective interventions for challenging behavior. The paper presents information regarding PBS efficacy with individuals and groups, in school, community, and family settings. A diverse body of literature is reviewed with regard to the efficacy of interventions based in PBS models for applications to reduce challenging behavior, and increase academic skills in school settings. Evidence that PBS interventions can be implemented by a variety of change agents, such as teachers and parents, is also reviewed. A multi-element model of positive behavior support is presented, that incorporates an assessment, support plan, mediation with quality assurance, and outcome measures. Advantages to the use of PBS interventions over punishment or aversive interventions are presented, including increased generalization and durability, decreased negative side effects of treatment, and increased social validity. Common criticisms of PBS interventions are addressed, including applications for high-rate and severe behaviors, cost-efficiency, implementation in restricted settings, and successful service delivery by a variety of agents.

This study explores the reduction in outburst behavior including both self-injurious behavior and aggressive behavior topographies, with regard to both frequency and severity as a result of the application of exclusively positive behavior interventions. Self-injury included severe eye gouging, scratching of the cornea, and piercing of the skin around the eye to the point of drawing blood. Aggression included hitting, biting, and head butting staff. Without the use of punishment or aversive interventions, severe and persistent self-injury, which had proven reticent to previous treatment modalities was effectively reduced, and the reduction maintained over time. Previous interventions with the child had included physical and mechanical restraint, isolation, and removal of privileges. Self-injury had resulted in permanent damage to the child�s vision and aggression had resulted in hospitalization of staff prior to the introduction of a positive behavior support plan. The paper explains the Multi-Element Model of positive behavior intervention and it�s application with a ten-year old boy with multiple disabilities and challenging behavior.

This presentation will examine the efficacy of training in positive behavior interventions given to preschool teachers and preschool specialists. Pretest measures established a baseline level of participants understanding of basic concepts in ABA such as antecedents, reinforcers, functions of behavior, and consequence strategies. Pretest measures of self-efficacy with regard to implementing behavior interventions, and ability to design positive intervention strategies for particular behavior challenges, were also administred. A three-day intensive training model, teaching certain basic principals of ABA and a multi-element model of positive behavior support, was delivered to three separate training groups. Tests for understanding were completed throughout the training procedure via active student responding methodology. Experiential learning methodologies, with interventions modeled throughout the training procedure and utilized with participants (e.g. reinforcement schedules applied to the training group contingent upon certain demonstrated behaviors), were employed to ensure a multi-modal learning environment. Post-test measures of perceived self-efficacy, knowledge in ABA, and positive behavior intervention design were given at the conclusion of the training experience. Results are are presented via pre- and post-test comparisons.

The field of behavior analysis is at a critical state of development with growth, challenges, and opportunities facing all of us: scientists, educators, and practitioners. In this panel, pioneers in behavior analysis from around the world share their perspectives regarding the single-most important effort we can make today to preserve the integrity of the science and application in an evolving discipline.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, graduate students, and anyone interested in the future of behavior analysis.

Skinner's (1957) classification of verbal operants has had a profound effect on the philosophical, experimental as well as the applied analysis of verbal behavior. In this paper, Skinner's functional classification as well as Michael's (1982) and Vargas' (1982) additional analyses are reviewed and extended to include functional categories that take into account the topography of responses and stimuli (Baker, LeBlanc, & Raetz, 2008), and identity or non-identity relations between them (Sidman, 1971). On the basis of this extended analysis of verbal behavior, a detailed disambiguation tree is proposed, in order to facilitate the development of a taxonomy that allows practitioners to assess individuals' existing verbal repertoire prior to designing an intervention. The disambiguation tree is also aimed to serve as a useful tool for whoever instructs students in the area of verbal behavior, for including a comprehensive, consistent, and straightforward method of classifying any given verbal response according to all its characteristics (i.e., function, topography, and relation to antecedents and consequences).

B. F. Skinner had difficulties in graduating from the Harvard psychology department and his Ph. D. thesis was in fact originally rejected, due to the major figure in Harvard psychology, E. G. Boring. But Boring was also the person that instigated Skinner's move back to Harvard as a professor 20 years later. In this paper I analyze the complex relationship between the two, Skinner and Boring, beginning with Boring's criticism of Skinner's thesis and relate it to Chomsky's infamous similar criticism. This can only be done through unpublished material touched upon in Skinner's autobiographies and better revealed in the Harvard Archives. An evaluation is made of the changing relationship between the two and of Boring's original criticism, that let him to reject Skinner's original thesis.

J. R. Kantor developed a philosophy of science, interbehaviorism (Kantor, 1953), and a scientific system of psychology, interbehavioral psychology (Kantor, 1958). Perhaps somewhat less well known or understood is Kantor's approach to language, or what many behavior analysts call verbal behavior. This presentation will provide an overview of Kantor's approach to verbal behavior, as outlined in his texts An Objective Psychology of Grammar (Kantor, 1952), and Psychological Linguistics (Kantor, 1977). In particular, emphasis will be placed on understanding Kantor's distinction between referential and non-referential behavior segments. Then, a selective overview of research and scholarship derived from Kantor's approach to language will be provided. In addition, the value of Kantor's approach will be considered in light of several existing alternatives, including joint control, naming, relational frame theory, and Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior. Finally, implications for integration in the field of behavior analysis, including related practice issues will be discussed. It will be argued that Kantor's perspective, while relatively less well known or understood than others, has much to offer behavior analysis.

Please join us in celebration as we say goodbye to colleagues and friends, old and new. Martha Hübner, international representative to the ABAI Council and chair of the Program Committee, will make brief concluding remarks on the future of behavior analysis in Mexico and around the world. We will conclude with a short musical performance, as we leave Mérida and turn our thoughts toward the Eighth International Conference in Japan in 2015.