Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions are an evidence-based approach to early supports for children with an autism diagnosis. However, they have yet to be successfully taken up on a wide-scale by community-based behavior analytic practitioners. This concurrent multiple baseline study examined the effects of a one-time virtual training and ongoing bug-in-ear coaching on behavior technician implementation of a focused Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention, Reciprocal Imitation Teaching (RIT). Four behavior technician-child dyads participated during community-based behavior analytic service sessions. Increases in behavior technicians' fidelity of RIT implementation was observed over the course of training and coaching; however, behavior technicians' generalization of RIT to an untrained routine was not observed and likely would have benefited from explicit support. Behavior technicians rated RIT as feasible to implement, acceptable in their workplace, and as facilitating a positive relationship with clients. Child imitative gains were observed for 2 of the 4 child participants. One-month follow-up data indicated maintained levels of RIT fidelity for behavior technicians and imitative gains for the two child participants. Practice and research implications are discussed.
Anti-Black bias involves negative evaluations of individuals from African-descendent groups. Researchers use explicit and implicit measures to detect this bias and evaluate intervention effectiveness. However, few behavior analysis studies have focused on identifying and addressing racial bias in children, and none have explored the effects of test-retest on implicit measures in this context. This study aimed to identify implicit and explicit anti-Black racial bias in children and examine the test-retest reliability of these measures over three time points. Thirty-four children (average age 8.60 years, 24 females) rated images of Black and White faces on a five-point Likert scale. The Modified Function Acquisition Speed Test (FAST), an implicit measure, assessed how fluently participants categorized Black and White faces with positive and negative images. Results showed no explicit racial bias in the sample. However, implicit measure results revealed an anti-Black bias, with 11 participants consistently displaying this bias across three repetitions. Regarding test-retest reliability, there were no significant performance differences on the implicit and explicit measures across the three repetitions. These findings suggest that the FAST is a sensitive tool for identifying racial bias in children, and the absence of test-retest effects supports its feasibility for repeated use.
Engagement of parents in interventions for their children has many reported benefits. Despite recent advances in conceptualisations of parent engagement within child development and rehabilitation fields, there are limited understandings of parent engagement from a behaviour analytic account. This study aimed to understand how parents experience engagement in child-focused behaviour analytic interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand. An Interpretive Description study was undertaken, involving 14 semi-structured interviews with a sample of 15 parents who had experienced a child-focused behavioural intervention. Four themes were developed including a) the system as the environment, b) what parents bring, c) what clinicians bring, and d) where engagement happens. Themes are presented using an analogy of a river ecosystem, detailing how each theme comes together into an intervention context, where engagement is negotiated through humble communication, development of working relationships, and responsive approaches to intervention delivery. Findings support behaviour analysts attending to antecedent conditions for parent engagement, in efforts to further effective intervention, rather than prioritising focus on treatment adherence at the outset of intervention delivery. The outcomes of the study closely align with other allied health literatures, offering behaviour analysts insight into parent engagement from related service delivery contexts.
In recent years, social media has experienced tremendous expansion within the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA), presenting numerous advantages. Social media serves as a conduit for connecting behavior analysts across the world, facilitating easier dissemination of information. Additionally, social media provides a valuable platform for advocacy and a venue for professional discourse, thereby enhancing collaboration and knowledge sharing within the ABA community. Despite these benefits, the surging popularity of social media within ABA brings forth legitimate concerns. These concerns have the potential to yield serious implications. As such, this paper highlights some of these concerns. To address and mitigate these potential risks, the paper offers actionable solutions and ethical guidance tailored specifically for behavior analysts navigating the dynamic landscape of social media. By recognizing the challenges inherent in social media and providing informed strategies, this paper seeks to promote a responsible and ethical approach to the integration of social media in the practice of behavior analysis.
Publication trends in prominent behavior-analytic journals developed in the United States of America have shown that most of its research has been produced by authors with North American affiliations. The geographic affiliation of authors who have contributed research to the Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis (MJBA), European Journal of Behavior Analysis (EJBA), and Brazilian Journal of Behavior Analysis (BJBA) – all of which are housed outside of the United States of America – are currently unknown. We examined articles published in these journals from their inception through 2020 to determine the geographic locations of authors' listed affiliations. We found that 70% and 90% of publications in the MJBA and BJBA, respectively, were from researchers with Latin American affiliations. The EJBA had 58% and 42% of publications from researchers with North American and European affiliations, respectively. The articles were also analyzed to determine if they were co-authored by researchers from different geographic regions. The data show that 11, 6, and 3% of articles published in EJBA, MJBA, and BJBA, respectively, were cooperative.
