Competency-based training protocols have long been recommended for developing supervisors in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), with most literature emphasizing procedural skills. However, rapid growth in the practitioner base and concerns regarding training quality and service outcomes have increased attention to "soft" skills, including compassion. From a behavior analytic perspective, compassion may involve identifying aversive functional relations, perspective taking, and deriving appropriate action. Although compassionate practice has demonstrated benefits for practitioners and clients, research has largely focused on clinician-client interactions rather than extending these practices to supervisees, caregivers and interdisciplinary providers. The present study operationalized four perspective taking and compassionate action skills (context, impact, meaning, and action) and evaluated an asynchronous behavioral skills training (BST) protocol for current and prospective supervisors. Using a non-concurrent multiple probe design across seven participants, participants were assessed on identifying barriers and generating compassionate actions in contrived workplace scenarios. All participants improved following training though generalization varied. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Researchers and consultants in organizational behavior management (OBM) have long been creative, adjusting their methods to answer unique questions in naturalistic settings. In this paper, we contend that qualitative methods have and can continue to bolster OBM research and practice in several ways. First, qualitative data have been used in OBM for years as part of assessment and assessment development. Qualitative methods can also be used for social validity assessments, to contextualize our work, and to identify new research topics. In this paper, each of these uses is explored with examples illustrating how qualitative methods bolster OBM research and practice. Furthermore, we provide guidance on how OBM researchers can begin learning about the approach.
Phishing describes electronic attacks that pose a significant risk of exposing sensitive information. Phishing attacks can target individuals for their private information as well as employees to obtain confidential information from organizations. In this study, a simulated phishing attack campaign was implemented across three departments in a nonprofit human services organization. Results indicated that, after brief training and targeted feedback, clicking on simulated phishing attacks appeared to decrease and repeated clicks by staff members ceased to occur.
Infection-control practices depend on environmental conditions that support safe performance, and when those conditions are compromised, infection risk rises for workers and patients. Outpatient Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) clinics serving individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities involve close-contact care that can make consistent staff adherence to infection-control practices difficult to sustain. This study evaluated a multicomponent interdependent group contingency to improve infection-control adherence among direct-care staff at an outpatient ABA clinic. The intervention combined group-level feedback and non-monetary rewards, with adherence measured by a nine-item infection control checklist. Using a multiple baseline design across shifts, each group demonstrated immediate improvement, achieving the 80% checklist-adherence criterion for three consecutive observations, and contacting the group reward within five opportunities. Results support the use of group feedback and non-monetary rewards to sustain infection-control practices under operational constraints, offering a feasible approach for healthcare and human service settings.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the maintenance of improved ergonomic postural behavior using an artificial intelligence-powered app. The dependent variable was the percentage of two-min trials that participants' necks were in low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk positioning. The researchers used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across three participants with ABC phases. Participants completed a baseline phase, an information plus video feedback phase, followed by a maintenance phase with performance boosters. The results showed that the intervention improved all participants' neck positioning. Two out of three participants' improved neck positioning worsened over time when the intervention was withdrawn, but vocal feedback was sufficient to restore the improved neck positioning. An Occupational Therapist independently evaluated sample images of participants' postural behavior prior to and after artificial intelligence-enhanced video feedback using the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment. The independent evaluation showed improvements in RULA component scores for two out of three participants.
While observation and feedback are commonly used to promote correct staff performance, reactivity remains an important consideration. Reactivity refers to changes in behavior when staff are aware they are being observed, often resulting in higher implementation fidelity when a supervisor is present and lower performance when supervisors are absent. This paper examines research on reactivity in staff management, highlighting how observation and feedback influence staff performance in human-service environments. Interventions to maintain performance in the absence of a supervisor have included self-monitoring, inconspicuous observation with feedback, or combinations of both. Inconspicuous observation with feedback has generally promoted correct performance under supervisor-absent conditions, whereas self-monitoring has shown mixed results. The findings emphasize the importance of designing staff management strategies that ensure both treatment fidelity and feasibility, particularly in contexts where direct supervision is limited or intermittent. Applied implications and future research directions are also discussed.
In recent years, there has been a surge of software aimed at practitioners of behavior analysis. With these tools, there is a need for training procedures that are effective at translating clinical programming to a digital format. While some software platforms have their own process of facilitating the switch to digital platforms, there can be a steep learning curve when making the transition. There is a need to investigate how training procedures can be used to teach practitioners how to interact with these platforms effectively. The Teaching Interaction Procedure (TIP) has been used to effectively train instructional procedures to staff and teach concepts to individuals with autism. This study examined whether TIP could effectively train staff to input clinical programming into a practice management software program. Results indicate that TIP may be effective for teaching practitioners to build programming within the targeted software program, and the implications are discussed.
Widely studied and applied throughout healthcare settings, the teach-back training method has recently garnered attention from researchers within behavior analysis. While data suggest that teach-back is effective in teaching employees new skills, there are few evaluations of how well it maintains performance. Additionally, teach-back and alternative training methods have not been evaluated within the same study. The purpose of this experiment was two-fold: (1) replicate previous experimental work and evaluate the degree to which employees maintain skills over time; and (2) evaluate the use of teach-back and behavioral skills training (BST) to improve employee performance. Results from Study 1 indicated that employees learned new skills following teach-back and maintained the skills above baseline levels one month later. Results from Study 2 demonstrated that both teach-back and BST were effective and efficient training methods. Implications of these findings are discussed and further contextualized alongside measures of methodological acceptability.
In the human service industry, staff injuries can be detrimental to the employee, the organization, and the clients they serve, yet limited research exists evaluating the prevalence and type of injuries in human service organizations. In this case study, we conducted a historical safety assessment and staff interviews to evaluate the prevalence, type, and conditions under which injuries occur in an organization providing education services to individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Results indicated that injuries were increasing over time, including those resulting in days away from work and restricted work. Although bites were the most common injury reported, injuries to the head, face, or neck resulted in the highest number of days away from work. In addition, most OSHA recordable incidents were associated with the occurrence of some form of student injury-risk behavior. The implications of these findings, recommendations for the organization, and areas for future research are discussed.
Approximately 1.7 billion people suffer from musculoskeletal disorders due to repetitive movements, force, or awkward positioning. Often, these injuries are caused or exacerbated by work conditions, including environments requiring prolonged static or risky posture. Artificial intelligence technology can measure and analyze ergonomic risk levels using computer vision, providing quick and accurate feedback. Prior research has demonstrated that video feedback provided with an AI-powered app can improve and maintain low-risk neck positioning for a single analog work task. The current study replicates and extends that research by investigating generalization of improved ergonomic positioning using a mulitple-baseline design across two additional tasks. Results yielded mixed findings, with five out of seven participants demonstrating generalization across directed analog work tasks and four out of seven participants demonstrating generalization during the break task. Future research should investigate generalization across other work tasks and environments, including in applied settings.
This study evaluated the effects of self-monitoring and feedback with preschool teachers and the reactivity observed in a preschool classroom due to a supervisor's presence. Preschool teachers' positive interactions with students following the implementation of a self-monitoring and feedback procedure only slightly increased without the presence of a supervisor. Reactivity was identified with the presence of the supervisor as positive interactions and accurate reporting increased in the supervisor's presence. Following the identification of reactivity, the researchers implemented a procedure to enhance stimulus control when a supervisor was absent. This procedure consisted of the supervisor providing feedback after supervisor-absent sessions. All teachers achieved the goal of demonstrating 60 positive interactions per session and positive interactions remained at high levels during maintenance conditions. Further, teachers engaged in higher reporting errors when a supervisor was not present in the classroom during the self-monitoring and feedback condition.
Intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) support staff face high burnout risk, negatively impacting health and job performance. While in-person Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) shows promise for this population, the feasibility of online and asynchronous delivery remains underexplored. We developed a brief, online, self-guided ACT training program (ACTr) tailored for IDD support staff and evaluated its feasibility across acceptability, demand, implementation, practicality, and limited-efficacy outcomes. Participants (N=11) completed three online modules over three weeks, pre-post measures of burnout, psychological flexibility and distress, and post-program feedback. Results suggest ACTr was acceptable, in demand, and practical, with some successful implementation. Effect sizes indicated a large reduction in emotional exhaustion (d=0.97), medium improvements in valued action (d=0.71) and depersonalization (d=-0.55), and small or negligable effects on other outcomes. Qualitative feedback highlighted usability, diversity considerations, and interest in additional resources. Findings support the feasibility of ACTr, warranting larger-scale evaluation.
Behavior skills training (BST) includes evidence-based strategies for teaching new skills, but a commonly cited drawback is its laborious nature. Alternatively, teach-back, a training technique that originated in the medical field, requires clinicians to teach and subsequently verify patients' understanding of their care. Previous research showed teach-back was also effective for teaching college students to conduct preference assessments and to implement a token economy intervention with fidelity over relatively few implementation sessions. The current investigation replicated and extended the findings of Sleiman and colleagues using teach-back to train behavior therapists at an autism clinic to implement naturalistic environment training (NET). Procedural integrity increased over relatively few implementation sessions, and all participants met mastery level proficiency following brief, targeted vocal-verbal feedback and modeling provided by the teach-back strategy. The implications of these findings on teach-back are discussed for application to other training needs for behavior analysis service providers.
