Association for Behavior Analysis International

Livestock contributes significantly to greenhouse-gas emissions and deforestation, and increasing consumption of plant-based foods is a simple solution for reducing these environmental impacts. Behavioral-economic demand analyses may help evaluate interventions for increasing choice of plant-based foods. Prior studies have investigated the effects of information on consumption of plant-based meat alternatives, but the results have been mixed. The present study is using hypothetical purchase tasks to investigate: (a) The effects of messaging on demand for plant-based burgers, and (b) cross-price elasticity of plant burgers. Mturk participants who reported consuming beef were randomly assigned to a plant-burger message condition: No Message (control), Health benefits, Climate benefits, equivalent Taste, and Social Norms. Participants rated the probability of purchasing beef then plant burgers across 17 prices ($0.01-$85), and then cross-price elasticity was accessed. Preliminary results (n=84) show more elastic demand for plant than beef burgers, and that plant-burger consumption was greatest in the “Taste” message group. “Taste” and “Health” message groups show small cross-price elasticity, but other groups show no substitutability. Plant-burgers show greater purchase likelihood when they are half-price or less of meat burgers. These data are suggesting that price manipulations and certain messaging strategies may promote consumption of plant-based foods.

Warren Bickel was an influential scientist and leading figure in behavioral pharmacology who significantly impacted experimental and applied behavior analysis. Bickel was trained as a behavior analyst and also trained many generations of behavior analysts. Among his main contributions to behavior analysis was the translation of delay discounting and behavioral economics principles to the study of addictions. He was the author of groundbreaking research that significantly changed our way of viewing and treating addiction. His innovative approach to the study of addiction not only contributed to improving our understanding of the disorder but also made many behavioral measures and procedures widely known by those outside of behavior analysis. In this symposium, some of his previous trainees and friends will talk about Bickel's work and his approach to science, highlighting how he was influenced by behavior analysis and the impact his research made on the field. 

Warren Bickel was an innovator in the application of intertemporal decision-making to the study of clinical outcomes. With an acute appreciation of the established principles of behavioral analysis and their potential application to the science of behavior change, his knowledge of the past allowed him to bet on the future. This presentation will cover some of Warren’s work linking the experience of the past to expectations for the future, and how that work circles back to his foundations in behavior analysis.

Warren Bickel embraced translational science, pioneering the field of operant behavioral economics and conducting foundational research that bridged laboratory findings with clinical practice and public policy. Warren also embraced team science, integrating behavior analysis within a larger scientific community, including neuroscientists, policy researchers, physician-scientists, biostatisticians, clinical psychologists, and others. He built interdisciplinary bridges and galvanized the efforts of diverse collaborative teams toward a common set of goals. In so doing, he mentored generations of pre- and postdoctoral researchers to do the same—to leverage the experimental analysis of behavior against complementary expertise to pursue otherwise inaccessible research goals. As a case study in Warren’s (and colleagues’) translational team science approach, I will outline the history of research on tobacco product demand and substitution, detail its current utility in tobacco regulatory science, and attempt to forecast the road ahead. 

The IRAP has been likened to Frankenstein’s monster, drawing on the common metaphor of the hubristic overreaching of a mad scientist who unwittingly creates his own nemesis. Although this may be stretching the metaphor, it is the case that the original purpose of the IRAP as a method for analysing relational responding in-flight was quickly dominated by a mainstream focus on so-called implicit cognition. Consistent with that tradition, the IRAP was almost universally administered across just one or two exposures, and almost ubiquitously in the context of group designs. In doing so, it attracted mainstream attention and although the IRAP literature rarely made explicit mentalistic claims, its effects were interpreted largely in terms of revealing hidden private events. Both politically and conceptually, therefore, the IRAP slipped into the rabbit hole of mainstream methodology and theorising. More recently, however, there has been a concerted effort to drag the IRAP back out of that rabbit hole and employ it in ways that are more consistent with the behavior-analytic tradition. The current paper reviews the foregoing history and considers some of the recent attempts being made to reinvent the IRAP as a useful behavior-analytic tool for experimental analyses of human behavior.

The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) has recently been used for demonstrating relational responding dominated by functional properties of stimuli (e.g., Finn et al., 2016; Finn et al., 2018). Other research extending concepts in Relational Frame Theory (RFT) have used multidimensional scaling (MDS) for observing similar phenomenon in which stimulus classes form according to psychological impact (Paliliunas et al., 2024). Both lines of work may contribute to more sophisticated explanations of verbal events, but it is unclear how IRAP and MDS performances resemble or differ from one another and how individual performances change over time. The current research examines trends in relational responding through multiple exposures to the IRAP and MDS. Participants completed both an IRAP and MDS containing positive and negative valence images twice per day across ten working days. Individual IRAP and MDS performances were analyzed for each participant, highlighting changes in responding over time and the dominance of functional properties of stimuli. Finally, performances on the IRAP and MDS are compared to identify any similarities or differences in properties of responding captured by each procedure. Implications are discussed in regard to differential responding effects and conceptual analyses of RFT.

Reinforcement-based behavioral treatments such as differential-reinforcement of-alternative (DRA) or -other (DRO) behaviors are effective interventions for decreasing target behaviors. However, certain events such as changes in context or reinforcement contingencies produce relapse. The studies in this symposium examined different laboratory models of relapse, including resurgence and renewal with humans and non-humans. First, Hiltz and colleagues investigated resurgence following parametric manipulations of off-session durations of alternative reinforcement in rats. Next, Irwin Helvey and colleagues evaluated the resurgence of destructive behavior in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities following DRA with on/off alternative reinforcement versus alternative reinforcement constantly on. Subsequently, Montague and colleagues evaluated the number of contexts experienced during DRA on renewal in humans through crowdsourcing. Finally, Randall and colleagues investigated ABA renewal using eye-tracking software in human participants. Together, these studies explore innovative approaches to improve the durability of behavioral interventions across diverse settings. The symposium will close with a discussion by Dr. Ryan Kimball.

The audience should have basic knowledge of treatment relapse studies. Additionally, some familiarity with laboratory models of relapse, such as resurgence and renewal, is useful. Graduate students, behavior analysts, researchers, and clinicians are welcome.

Severe destructive behavior in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities is both highly prevalent and dangerous, negatively impacting quality of life. Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) procedures, such as functional communication training, have been shown to effectively reduce such behavior. Despite the efficacy of DRA, when there is a decrease in the conditions of reinforcement for the alternative response, destructive behavior often returns (i.e., resurgence). Using our refined quantitative model of resurgence, "Resurgence as Choice in Context," basic research has shown that on/off alternative reinforcement cycling can substantially reduce resurgence. This method alternates between sessions where reinforcement is available for the alternative response ("on" sessions) and sessions where extinction is in effect for the alternative response ("off" sessions), while the target behavior remains under extinction throughout. The current study evaluated the resurgence of destructive behavior in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities following DRA with on/off alternative reinforcement cycling versus DRA with reinforcement for the alternative response constantly on.

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) is an empirically validated treatment for challenging behavior that involves providing reinforcement for appropriate behaviors while withholding reinforcement for challenging behaviors. However, DRA effectiveness might diminish when transitioning from one environmental context to another, potentially leading to a relapse phenomenon known as renewal. One technique to mitigate renewal, multiple-context training (MCT), involves conducting treatment in various contexts. MCT typically involves conducting treatment in three contexts; however, few context exposures during MCT provides few opportunities to generalize treatment effects to other contexts. The present preclinical study investigated the effect of the number of contexts experienced during DRA on renewal, as additional exposures during MCT could promote greater generalization of treatment effects to other contexts. We evaluated differences in renewal between participants experiencing treatment in one context, participants cycling through three context changes, and participants experiencing nine novel context changes before responding in the training context (Experiment 1) or a novel context (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, we directly compared renewal magnitude in training versus novel contexts following MCT in nine contexts. Results of the present study can inform the refinement of behavioral treatments, with the goal of enhancing their efficacy across diverse environments.

Synchronous schedules of reinforcement are schedules that provide reinforcement at the same time as the desirable behavior is occurring. This symposium includes experiments evaluating music as a reinforcer in a synchronous schedule of reinforcement treadmill preparation, which utilized a mixed schedule of reinforcement involving five components. These components included baseline (or noncontingent music), three synchronous reinforcement components, and an extinction component. Baruni et al. utilized the preparation to evaluate college students' walking behavior. Results indicate schedule control emerged for 72% participants. Additionally, 77.8% of participants displayed considerable variability in walking speed during the extinction component. Sheridan et al. replicated and extended Baruni et al. by examining how the presence or absence of rules influenced speed. The results showed (a) the accurate rules group had the highest level of schedule-control responding, (b) the inaccurate rules group tended to demonstrate persistent rule-following, (c) the no rules group had little variability in speed across all the treadmill components, and (d) no significant between-group differences in extinction-induced responding. Walker et al. replicated and extended previous research by utilizing the preparation with adults with autism. Results found that schedule control was demonstrated in 20% of participants. Thus, researchers evaluated participant-selected music during the treadmill preparation and saw improvements in schedule control for all participants.

Background understanding of synchronous, mixed, and conjugate schedules of reinforcement

Pinkston et al. (2024) provided 17 participants their high preference (HP) music for increasing and decreasing their walking pace while on a treadmill. Results demonstrated that HP music produced schedule control of walking speed for 14 of 17 (82%) participants. In addition, Pinkston et al. found that 78.6% of participants whose walking showed schedule control also displayed variable responding during an extinction component. As an extension of the Pinkston et al. study, researchers in this study presented 25 participants with their HP music for walking on a treadmill during a five-component mixed schedule wherein the synchronous reinforcement components contained larger and non-overlapping bands for contacting the synchronous reinforcer. Results indicate schedule control emerged for 18 of 25 (72%) participants. In addition, 14 (77.8%) participants whose behavior showed schedule control also displayed considerable variability in walking speed during the extinction component. Furthermore, participants’ heart rates increased across the synchronous reinforcement components.

Investigating the effects of rules on schedule performance when access to a reinforcer covaries with a target response may increase our understanding of complex patterns of behavior that occur under continuously changing circumstances. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend previous research by examining how the presence or absence of rules influenced speed (MPS) on a treadmill using a synchronous schedule of reinforcement. First, participants (N =39) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: accurate rule, inaccurate rules, or no rules. Next, we identified each participant’s music genre preference prior to the treadmill condition. The treadmill condition consisted of five components: baseline, synchronous 1 (SYNC1), synchronous 2 (SYNC2), synchronous 3 (SYNC3), and extinction (EXT). Rules regarding the three SYNC conditions varied based on group assignment. The results show (a) the accurate rules group had the highest level of schedule-control responding across the three SYNC components, (b) the inaccurate rules group tended to demonstrate persistent rule-following, (c) the no rules group had little variability in speed (MPS) across all the treadmill components, and (d) no significant between-group differences in extinction-induced responding. Overall, the outcomes from this novel preparation provide first-steps toward examining the effects of rules on behavior with synchronous schedules of reinforcement. Recommended areas for future research are discussed.

Adults with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities experience additional barriers to engaging in regular physical activity compared to the general population. These individuals are also more likely to develop health conditions related to physical inactivity and obesity. Thus, extending research on treadmill preparations to individuals with ASD was a fundamental step in the application of the preparation to a population with an increased need for ways to promote engagement in physical activity. Music may serve as a reinforcer that may increase and maintain appropriate levels of physical activity to promote healthy living. Therefore, this study utilized a synchronous schedule of reinforcement to evaluate the effects of predetermined preferred music and self-identified preferred music. Predetermined music was selected by the researchers and deemed preferred through preference assessments during the session. Self-identified preferred music was music that participants listed as their top three favorite songs. Music was provided on a synchronous schedule of reinforcement where participants’ pace on the treadmill had to meet specific criteria to access the music. The results of this study found that participants’ pace showed stronger schedule control with the self-identified preferred music.

As behavior analysts, there may be times we go through the motions of research or clinical practice. We may always obtain parental consent (rather than considering client assent as well) or aim to reduce challenging behavior by an arbitrarily decided-upon 80%. The current symposium will present three evaluations challenging the status quo in these areas. The first presentation will speak to research methods among Western countries in relation to caregiver consent and client assent with young children. The second study will provide some translational data regarding our ability to detect treatment effects from various percent reductions in challenging behavior. Finally, the third speaker will present caregiver acceptance ratings for various percent reductions in challenging behavior to validate (or invalidate) the commonly used goal of reducing challenging behavior by 80%. This symposium will offer examples of three disparate approaches highlighting the need for more researchers to ask questions related to issues of social validity.

The only prerequisite skill is to understand what consent versus assent is and have an understanding of challenging behavior.

The current literature focusing on the social validity of the commonly used goal of an 80% reduction from baseline rates of responding is scarce to non-existent. However, this goal may be fairly arbitrary. In this study, we showed caregiver participants videos of three clients who engaged in challenging behavior in the form of aggression. Specifically, we showed caregiver participants exemplar videos of baseline sessions as well as various levels of reduction from baseline rates. We selected 50%, 80%, and 95% reductions in challenging behavior as our comparison. After each reduction exemplar video, the caregiver participants completed a rating scale to measure the acceptability of the behavior and the improvement from baseline. Data from this study showed mixed results both supporting and opposing the use of an 80% reduction in aggressive behavior as a socially valid goal for treatment outcome. It is likely the acceptability of various degrees of percent reduction is linked to idiosyncrasies among other variables such as severity or intensity of challenging behavior, the presentation of challenging behavior as a burst versus spread out, and more.

Human trafficking and domestic violence are major public health issues that impact individuals, families, and communities. The number of victims of human trafficking has more than doubled over the last few years, and incidences of domestic violence have increased significantly following the pandemic. This symposium features three papers examining the complexities of human trafficking and domestic violence through a behavior-analytic lens, emphasizing the necessity of trauma-informed approaches in treatment and service provision. The first two papers discuss a program evaluation conducted in collaboration with community partners at the University of South Florida’s Trafficking in Persons Research Lab. The first paper highlights the behavioral-analytic approach taken during the evaluation of the housing program. The second paper will provide an overview of the retrospective analysis of the housing program, highlighting the factors within case management that may influence survivors’ outcomes. The results provide a systematic approach to determining the effectiveness of services for survivors of human trafficking. The third paper discusses the environmental factors that may be influencing the behavior of those involved in domestic violence. Together, these papers conceptualize the adverse experiences of survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence from a behavioral perspective and provide examples of multidisciplinary collaborative work.

Labeled as “modern-day slavery,” human trafficking is defined as the deliberate use of force, fraud, or coercion to lure an individual to the involuntary commercial exchange of sexual activity or labor services for remuneration. Due to the vulnerability to revictimization, service providers should aim to implement the most effective and efficient treatments for survivors of human trafficking. Previous literature has shown that a multidisciplinary, trauma-informed approach to treatment has been successful in identifying the needs and enhancing the quality of life of survivors of human trafficking. A behavioral perspective can be used to understand the interrelationship between the environment, the trafficker’s actions, and the behavior of the victim/survivor. Similarly, the principles of behavior analysis have proven effective at improving employee and organizational performance. This conceptual presentation will describe a housing program evaluation through a behavior-analytic lens. Additionally, the presentation will provide suggestions for providing effective wraparound services to survivors of human trafficking through principles of behavior analysis.

According to recent research, there is a critical need for human trafficking (HT) programs to take a trauma-informed approach to improve methods toward defining goals, recording data reported directly from survivors, and continuously assessing survivors’ perceptions of their quality of life. Using the recommendations outlined by Macy et al. (2022), a retrospective analysis of 60 case files was conducted to evaluate the level to which wrap-around service provision resulted in survivors’ successful completion of a HT housing program in southern Florida. Successful completion of the program required that survivors demonstrated effective finance management and were able to acquire and maintain housing and employment. Using the results from this program evaluation, the current presentation will further evaluate the mechanisms of service provision across successful, unsuccessful, and terminated case file groups. These data can improve short- and long-term service provision and guide practitioners' decisions on whether to continue to offer or omit specific external services.

All too often people blame the victim of domestic violence for not leaving the relationship when trying to understand how or why someone would stay in an abusive relationship. Behavior analysis is used to understand how behavior is influenced by the environment, including antecedents and consequences. Abusers and their victims are no different and behavior analysis principles can provide a better understanding of domestic violence. This presentation will explore the negative reinforcement paradigm by examining the victim’s behaviors versus the abuser’s behavior. Contingencies and schedules of reinforcement in the domestic violence environment will also be discussed as these contingencies make it difficult for victims to leave. There is also rule-generating behavior and decreasing the value of the victim’s environment, to name a few “tactics” that abusers use to trap victims into staying in their environment. This presentation should enhance the audience’s understanding of the victim’s environment during the abuse and explain why victim blaming should be avoided.

This symposium focuses on cultural contingencies in the context of the dissemination of behavior analysis, highlighting the importance of sociocultural analysis. We begin with outlining how cultural dimensions, including social power structures, institutional norms, and resource allocation, impact the goals and practices of behavior analysis, often limiting its broader application. Then, we explore the role of attribution of causation in third-wave behavioral therapies, emphasizing the need for context-focused assessment when identifying targets of intervention to avoid harm to clients. The symposium further emphasizes integrating multicultural competency into clinical training, moving beyond traditional approaches to embrace the complexity of cultural contexts in functional analytic case conceptualizations. This comprehensive approach ensures that both the client's and therapist’s verbal behaviors align with broader cultural systems, ultimately improving the effectiveness of behavioral analytic practices across varied social settings. Lastly, we present the analysis of behavior at the socio-cultural level, particularly the concept of cultural milieu—shared stimulus functions such as values, beliefs, and opinions—and its role in effectively applying behavior analysis in different cultures. We compare various socio-cultural models and emphasize the significance of verbal behavior in establishing and maintaining behaviors at this level. This presentation discusses a theoretical framework from a behavior analytical perspective in which the dissemination of behavior analysis to different cultures can be analyzed. Within behavior analysis, different conceptual and theoretical frameworks of cultural behavior analysis have been proposed. This presentation starts with the comparison of these frameworks, and emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural milieu, the difference between cultural milieu and cultural organizational milieu and the important role played by verbal behavior in the understanding of cultures. Ultimately, the paper advocates for a unified framework to propel the development of a new discipline focused on cultural behavior.

Intermediate Audience should have basic knowledge about behavior analysis at socio-cultural level; it is preferred that the audience has clinical experience working with people from different cultural background.

There are many aspects of culture that impact the implementation of behavior-analytic interventions. While culture is often viewed in terms of ethnic community or geography-based social systems, other elements of cultural systems—like policies, guidelines, training competencies, resources, and social expectations— also play a crucial role in shaping the dissemination and practice of behavior analysis. These often overlooked factors impact intervention focus, implementation, and the field's overall direction, especially through the translation of practices and professional training. This presentation begins by providing a broad overview of these layers of culture, both within and outside practice settings, to raise awareness of their influence on interventions and their implementation. We will explore specific examples that illustrate how these cultural forces shape behavior analysis beyond traditional settings, as well as how policies and guidelines impact the application of other behavioral therapies. Ultimately, this presentation encourages behavior analysts to consider how both external and internal contexts shape their practice, urging them to stay informed and reflective about these influences in order to improve the effectiveness and ethics of their work.

Attributions of causation are fundamental to addressing intervention targets in behavioral health. Inadequate identification of intervention targets – as a consequence of insufficient assessment – often leads to the selection of interventions that fail to provide optimal service and may even risk harm to the client. This presentation discusses the role of functional assessment in the implementation and dissemination of third-wave behavioral therapies, emphasizing both the intervention process and its outcomes. Third-wave behavior therapies have components that attribute ineffective behavior patterns to verbal behavior. Given prevalent cultural contingencies, therapists may then attend to verbal behavior as privileged explanatory attribution and neglect other aspects of the client's context that may impact functioning. The importance of a comprehensive contextual assessment to inform treatment decisions will be reviewed, including its impact on the causal attributions made. School related anxiety will be used as an example to illustrate how the same topography can have multiple functions dependent upon context.

Incorporating multicultural competency into clinical training has long been recognized as a critical component of professional development. However, traditional approaches of teaching multiculturalism as a stand-alone course often lead to an oversimplified understanding of cultural issues, making it challenging for students and early-career clinicians to apply this knowledge effectively in real-world scenarios (Sue et al., 2019). While APA Multicultural Guidelines (APA, 2017) and recommendations for behavioral analysts (Fong et al., 2016) provide a robust foundation for working with multicultural clients, implementing these guidelines in clinical practice and clinical decision making can be challenging. This presentation focuses on how practitioners can integrate functional analytic case conceptualizations to address cultural complexity and diversity. This will be followed by a case illustration to demonstrate how practitioners can navigate these complexities by incorporating a case conceptualization that respects and honors client’s own values within a larger social context and how social advocacy and problem solving can be applied to address systemic barriers when necessary.

The science of behavior analysis has the potential to make meaningful improvements in health, leisure, and sport-performance behaviours. However, research and practice in these areas lag far behind more traditional areas, such as developmental disabilities and autism. These gaps limit the scope of practitioner competence, as well as ABA applications. This symposium explores how applied behavior analysis (ABA) may be used to support leisure skill development, and optimize performance, in areas such as football, golf, and dance. Further, advances in the use of smartphones and wearable technology to enhance physical activity will be described. Through a combination of methodologies, including a scoping review, applied and translational research, and service delivery descriptions, this symposium will demonstrate how ABA may be used to optimize health and performance across a variety of populations, including neurodiverse children, members of the general population, and amateur and professional athletes. This symposium will highlight possibilities for future research and practice in innovative areas of sport and physical activity.

Researchers and practitioners interested in diverse applications of behavior analysis; Basic.

Resurgence, a form of behavioral relapse, refers to the recurrence of a previously reduced behavior following changes in reinforcement conditions, specifically after the decrease or cessation of reinforcement for an alternative behavior. The symposium will present recent experimental and applied studies exploring the dynamics of resurgence under varying reinforcement conditions and procedures. The first study compares the differential effects of positive and negative reinforcement on resurgence, with findings indicating that extinction arrangements for negatively reinforced behaviors, such as the presence or absence of an aversive stimulus, significantly influence the likelihood of resurgence. The second study examines resurgence under differential reinforcement of alternative (DRA) and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) schedules, controlling for the number of response options. The results suggest that resurgence is not necessarily increased by DRO when response options are balanced. The third presentation focuses on sex differences in voluntary abstinence and resurgence of alcohol-seeking behaviors in Long-Evans rats under different DRO schedules. Finally, the fourth study investigates treatment variables, including reinforcement downshifts and schedule thinning, that affect the magnitude of resurgence in clinical interventions for challenging behaviors. Across these studies, key factors influencing resurgence are identified, offering insights for both experimental research and applied behavior analysis.

Resurgence is a type of relapse that consists of the recurrence of a previously eliminated response following worsening reinforcement conditions for an alternative response and can occur following histories of positive or negative reinforcement. The studies that will be discussed compared the differential effects of positive and negative reinforcement and different extinction arrangements for negatively reinforced responding. In the present studies, college students responded on a computer program to earn points (positive reinforcement) and to avoid losing points (negative reinforcement). Both Experiments 1 and 2 evaluated resurgence when both target and alternative responses were maintained by positive or negative reinforcement. In Experiment 1, extinction of the negatively reinforced response was arranged so that no aversive stimulus occurred (i.e., responding was no longer necessary). In Experiment 2, extinction of the negatively reinforced response was arranged so that the aversive stimulus was unavoidable (i.e., responding didn’t work). Resurgence of the negatively reinforced response occurred when extinction was arranged so that the aversive stimulus was not avoidable (Experiment 2) but not when no aversive stimulus occurred (Experiment 1). Limitations of the research and implications for future experimental and applied work will be discussed.

Resurgence, a form of behavioral relapse, occurs when a previously reduced target behavior reemerges after an alternative source of reinforcement is discontinued. Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) are commonly used strategies to reduce undesired behaviors. Although both are effective, unanticipated periods of extinction (e.g., service lapses or staff turnover) may lead to resurgence of the original target behavior. Romano and St. Peter (2017) found that behavior reduced via DRO was more prone to resurgence than behavior reduced via DRA. However, their study used a different number of response options between conditions (one for DRO, two for DRA), which may have influenced the outcomes. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend Romano and St. Peter by comparing resurgence following DRO and DRA in a human operant arrangement while controlling for the number of response options across conditions. Overall, results showed that DRO did not increase the likelihood or magnitude of resurgence when the number of response options were kept constant.

The current experiment evaluated whether the rate of abstinence-dependent reinforcement affected voluntary abstinence from, and resurgence of, alcohol seeking in Long-Evans rats. During baseline, male and female rats pressed levers to self-administer a 10% ethanol solution according to a variable-interval 15-s schedule. During Phase 2, ethanol remained available. For the Rich and Lean groups, pausing from lever pressing produced food pellets according to a differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior (DRO) 5-s or 20-s schedule, respectively. Rats in the No-Treatment group received no DRO food. In Phase 3, ethanol and food was suspended to test of resurgence. Lever pressing decrease more quickly and completely during Phase 2, and resurged to a greater extent during Phase 3, for female rats in the Rich group than for female rats in the Lean group. The opposite was true for male rats. That is, pressing decreased more quickly and subsequently resurged more for male rats in the Lean group than for male rats in the Rich group. Possible explanations for these sex differences in voluntary abstinence and resurgence will be discussed.

Despite the efficacy of behavioral interventions, resurgence of challenging behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury) following successful treatment can still occur. Applied work has focused on identifying treatment-related variables thought to affect the occurrence and magnitude of resurgence. The current study describes the relation between several variables and resurgence in a retrospective consecutive controlled case series of 46 treatment applications for challenging behavior conducted in an inpatient setting. Specifically, we evaluated the relation between the magnitude of resurgence and the following test variables: phase duration, response rates in baseline, response rates in treatment, obtained rates of reinforcement during baseline, obtained rates of reinforcement during treatment, and the downshift in reinforcement step size during schedule thinning. Overall, only the downshift in reinforcement (e.g., schedule-thinning) step size was correlated with the magnitude of resurgence. These results are consistent with recent findings suggesting that treatment duration and other factors have inconsistent effects on resurgence of challenging behavior

This symposium explores critical factors influencing data collection and reliability, behavioral assessments, and natural variability in skill acquisition within behavior analytic research. The first presentation investigates how treatment integrity impacts the reliability and accuracy of data collection during service delivery. Implications of treatment implementation errors are discussed. The second presentation aims to address natural variability in skill acquisition, which highlights importance of replication and mastery criteria when interpreting differences in performance. Emphasis on the need to account for inherent variability when drawing conclusions from skill acquisition research are discussed. The third presentation examines student reactivity to different observer conditions during academic tasks. Results indicate that both the location and relationship to the observer significantly impact on-task behavior. Practical implications for designing more ecologically valid observational assessments are discussed. Together, these studies provide valuable insight into data reliability, quantifying natural variability in skill acquisition research, and considering the implications of observers within assessments.

While the previous panel established the need for group design research in the field of ABA, many BCBAs may not be sure where to begin. In this talk, we review practical considerations for those interested in conducting group design research. First, we will discuss the basics of group design research, including basic information on study design and the use of null-hypothesis significance testing. We will discuss important considerations for study design. The importance of an adequate sample size, and problems with having too small a sample, will be highlighted. We will also cover the utilization of data collected in clinical settings, as well as administering psychometric measures regularly. Finally, we will discuss the benefits of multi-site collaboration, including being able to collect data from more participants, increased generalizability of findings, and distributing work more evenly across the research team. We will end with a discussion of resources available, free and paid, for those interested in learning how to conduct group design research.

Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) remains a significant public health challenge. In recent years, communities nationwide have been impacted by an influx of illicitly manufactured fentanyl – a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and one increasingly associated with overdose fatalities. Identifying the behavioral processes underlying OUD is important component of informing effective treatment and prevention strategies. To this end, behavioral economic demand blends microeconomics and operant behavior analysis to understand the behavioral processes underlying drug consumption against increasing prices. Hypothetical purchase tasks have received increasing attention for their efficiency in assessing demand across different commodities. Compared to other non-medical opioids, however, little is known about demand in the context of fentanyl use. The current studies sought to address this gap by developing a novel fentanyl purchase task. In Study 1, volunteers in inpatient substance use treatment (n = 405) completed a heroin/fentanyl purchase task via Trac9 Informatics, a commercial treatment outcomes tool. Data were adequately described by quantitative demand modeling. Using a modified version of the task, Study 2 assesses demand in a similar sample of substance use treatment volunteers. Data will be discussed in terms of quantitative modeling fits and variables associated with systematic and non-systematic responding.

Delay discounting (DD), or the subjective devaluation of rewards as a function of their delay, is a useful construct when studying decisions involving a tradeoff between immediate and delayed outcomes (e.g., substance use, gambling, wearing seatbelts, eating). An implicit assumption not explicitly stated when scoring binary choice DD tasks is that there is a constant degree of certainty in preferences for outcomes, but this assumption is likely incorrect. We explored ambivalence in DD by leveraging the date-delay effect, where DD decreases when delayed outcomes emphasize calendar dates rather than delays in time. Participants (n=90, Mage 35.3, 75% male, 87% White) completed a Monetary Choice Questionnaire with temporal or date delays. To obtain ambivalence scores, participants used a sliding scale on each trial indicating their degree of relative preference for immediate outcomes at the far left (0) or delayed outcomes at the far right (100). We examined ambivalence scores on trials immediately proximal to the calculated individual-level discount rate. Contrasts of ambivalence scores showed no differences between delay and date conditions, but revealed significantly higher ambivalence on trials associated with preference for delayed outcomes (all p <.05). This research informs understanding of risk behaviors that may impact long-term health and safety.

Recent approaches in behavioral economics have used marijuana purchase tasks (MPTs) to understand driving after cannabis use (DACU). One factor that may influence DACU is the latency between cannabis use and having to drive. Participants (n = 167) completed 4 MPTs in the context of different cannabis use and driving latencies (i.e., no driving; 20-min, 1-hr, 6-hrs). We found a significant main effect of latency on all cannabis demand indices (all ps <.001). We also found significant differences in demand from no driving to the 20-minute latency condition for all observed indices (ps <.001). Additionally, significant decreases were also found for all observed demand indices when examining the comparisons between the typical situation and the 1-hour latency (all ps <.001, d range = 0.30 – 1.08) and between the typical situation and the 6-hour latency (p range = <.001 - .015, d range = 0.09 – 0.34). Notably, demand significantly increased across conditions as the latency between smoking and driving increased when the differences between the three driving MPTs were examined. These results suggest that cannabis demand is sensitive to specific parameters surrounding driving contingencies.

Behavioral economics posits that alcohol use is influenced by contextual variables and may therefore be impacted by the availability of alternative commodities. Behavioral economic purchase tasks isolate demand for a commodity alone (single-commodity) or when concurrently available with other commodities (cross-commodity). In cross-commodity purchase tasks, participants make choices across multiple concurrently available commodities, allowing researchers to pinpoint consumption patterns across commodities. While promoting substance-free alternative activities is a promising avenue for behavioral interventions, maximizing intervention efficacy requires examining the impact of alternatives on alcohol demand. We developed a novel cross-commodity purchase task adaptation in which alcohol was concurrently available with alternative activities of varying preference. Adults who currently consume alcohol were crowdsourced from Prolific (n=158) and were asked to rank-order their preferences for a list of different activities. The highest, second-highest, and lowest preferred activities were incorporated into three separate alcohol vs. activity cross-commodity purchase tasks. Results showed the availability of any activity resulted in statistically significant reductions in demand for alcohol. Systematic differences in hypothetical engagement in the alternative activity were observed as a function of preference rank. Implications for the utility of commodity purchase tasks in recovery efforts for hazardous alcohol use are discussed.

Behavioral economic demand is based on the Law of Demand: As the cost of a commodity increases, consumption decreases. Demand indices, including intensity (consumption when the commodity is free), breakpoint (price at which consumption ceases), and elasticity (sensitivity of consumption to price), can be used to compare demand across individuals, commodities, and conditions. Hypothetical purchase tasks have been used to assess demand for a wide range of commodities including drugs of abuse, foods, internet access, and vaccines. We will present data from three studies that used hypothetical purchase tasks to investigate demand for different commodities. The first study assessed demand for social interaction in the form of time spent with another person across three social distances. The second study explored the cross-commodity relationship between electronic cigarette puffs and access to social media among young adults. The third study examined how baseline cigarette demand is predictive of outcomes in a psilocybin-assisted smoking cessation trial. Presenters will discuss the practical implications of both the tasks used and study outcomes.

Basic understanding of behavioral economic demand.

Emerging evidence suggests that psilocybin, a hallucinogen with a mechanism of action mediated by serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor agonism, can be an effective clinical component in cigarette smoking cessation treatment. Efforts to predict psilocybin-assisted cessation treatment outcomes have yet to use tools of behavioral economics to model value and motivation associated with cigarette smoking. Thirty-nine treatment-resistant tobacco cigarette smokers (mean age of 49; 46% female, 90% White) drawn from a larger randomized controlled trial received a single 30 mg/70 kg psilocybin session combined with a 13-week cognitive behavioral therapy program for smoking cessation. Participants completed a hypothetical Cigarette Purchase Task at baseline. Six months from the targeted quit date participants provided breath carbon monoxide, urine cotinine, and self-report measures to verify smoking status. At 6-month follow-up, 21 (53.8%) participants showed biologically-verified 7-day point-prevalence abstinence. No serious adverse events were attributed to psilocybin. Logistic regression indicated higher amplitude (a composite variable representing demand intensity and maximum expenditure on cigarettes) derived from the baseline purchase task significantly predicted abstinence at 6-month follow-up (b=-1.94, SEb=0.77, OR=0.14 [95% CI=0.03–0.65], p=.012). These data suggest behavioral economic indices may complement measures more established in the psychedelic literature in predicting success in psilocybin-assisted smoking cessation.

The recent increase in the availability of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in the form of large language models such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft CoPilot, has begun to transform higher education and practitioner training. However, most college faculty have little to no experience in applying AI technologies to benefit students both in and out of the classroom. Further, faculty may have ethical concerns about students’ use of these AI tools, particularly surrounding academic integrity (e.g., cheating and plagiarism). The purpose of this panel is to encourage dialogue and exchange ideas about AI use in higher education, between faculty in different teaching environments (e.g., teaching undergraduate only versus graduate only, online and in-person) and roles (e.g., assistant professor to associate dean level). Panelists will provide their experience with specific use cases and technologies as well as ideas for upholding academic integrity. Opportunities for sharing resources and audience participation will be included.