Among the developmental milestones related to language and communication in early childhood, one that has been the subject of considerable research is response to name (RTN). Delayed or absent RTN in early childhood is a diagnostic marker for autism spectrum disorder and a target behavior in many early intervention curricula. This article describes two related studies. Study 1 evaluated the efficacy and efficiency of a behavioral screening-to-intervention model for RTN proposed by recent research. Overall, trials to mastery were reduced relative to previous research. Study 2 evaluated the efficacy of using behavioral skills training to teach caregivers to implement a RTN intervention with their child after that intervention was successful in a clinical setting. Generalized improvements in RTN with caregivers sometimes occurred but did not maintain without programmed reinforcement. Subsequent behavioral skills training was associated with increases in both child RTN and caregiver intervention fidelity.

Research supports the positive association between mathematics vocabulary knowledge and mathematics procedural and conceptual knowledge. Students, especially those with mathematics difficulty, may require explicit mathematics vocabulary instruction. However, many special education teachers do not receive adequate preparation to provide explicit mathematics vocabulary instruction. In the current study, we employed a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across four special education teachers to examine special education teachers’ implementation of a mathematics vocabulary routine after receiving an initial professional development (PD) session and ongoing performance feedback (PF). Results demonstrated a functional relation between the PD with PF and an immediate increase in teachers’ implementation of the mathematics vocabulary practices. This study provides initial support the PD package has the potential to improve teachers’ implementation of mathematics vocabulary practices. Future research might examine the amount and type of PF needed as well as the collateral effect of teachers’ improved instruction on student outcomes.

For decades, Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior has been applied in a variety of contexts. One critically important topic in this area is the extent to which some verbal operants may be learned indirectly, as a result of learning other verbal operants. This phenomenon is often referred to as emergent verbal behavior and is critical to our understanding of how language is learned in a generative fashion across the lifespan. Emergent intraverbal repertoires are especially important because responses under some degree of intraverbal control may constitute a majority of responses in a fully formed verbal repertoire. Recent literature reviews suggest that there are many published studies on emergent intraverbals, but this body of literature is highly heterogeneous. To provide an overview of this literature and map out the various tactics used across studies, we conducted a scoping review. We identified 99 experiments in total on emergent intraverbals contained 79 articles in total. Findings are summarized in terms of populations and independent variables studied, procedural variations, and recommendations for future research.

Inclusion can be defined as valuing each individual’s uniqueness and talent, providing equal access to opportunities, and supporting people to meet their potential. Recently, applied behavior analysis (ABA) has been criticized for targeting client behaviors that differ from the majority (e.g., stereotypy). We conducted a survey with 170 behavior analysts to evaluate the degree to which they focus on changing client behavior relative to changing the behavior of others for a behavior of concern that was harmful, disruptive but not harmful, or merely different. Respondents reported that they were more likely to focus on changing client behavior for a harmful behavior than they were for a behavior that was different, although the differences were marginal. The most common response across all questions was to focus equally on both the client’s and others’ behavior. The implications of inclusionary practices related to interventions in ABA services are discussed.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may struggle with verbal behavior related to recall in various contexts. However, relatively little research has evaluated methods for improving recall among this population, and even fewer from a verbal behavior perspective. One socially important set of skills that relies upon a behavioral repertoire of recall is applied reading skills, such as reading comprehension and story recall. Valentino et al. ( 2015 ) designed an intervention package to teach children with ASD to recall short stories and conceptualized the behavior as an intraverbal chain. The present study replicated and extended that study with three school-aged children with ASD using a multiple baseline design across stories. For some participants and some stories, story recall was mastered under less intensive intervention conditions than in the previous study. When it was necessary to implement the full intervention package, the effects largely replicated previous research. Improvements in recall were correlated with increases in correct answers to comprehension questions. These data have important implications for clinicians and educators providing reading and recall interventions to children with ASD. Results also have theoretical implications for verbal behavior accounts of memory and recall, and suggest several possible avenues for future research.

As interest in derived relational responding has increased, so have the number of investigations evaluating interventions to promote the emergence of derived responding for individuals with autism, as well as other intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, much of the literature has focused on the relation of sameness, and less is known about interventions to facilitate derived responding in other relations. Systematic searches identified 38 studies contained in 30 articles that met inclusion criteria. These studies were analyzed according to their participants, assessment methods, experimental design, content taught, setting, teaching procedures, derived responses, outcomes, and reliability measures. The quality of the studies was measured using the Single Case Analysis and Research Framework (SCARF). The results of the current review indicate that many learners with autism spectrum disorder and other intellectual and developmental disabilities demonstrate derived relational responding beyond the relation of coordination across varied instructional content and teaching methodologies, but the quality and rigor of the published literature requires the results be interpreted with caution, leading to recommendations for future research.

Preference assessments are used to make data-based decisions about which stimuli to use as reinforcers but they can be challenging to conduct frequently enough to avoid problems related to momentary shifts in preference and reinforcer efficacy. It remains unclear whether, why, and how clinicians change reinforcers on a momentary basis. Therefore, this study aimed to determine common reasons for, and methods of, changing reinforcers in practice. Most respondents indicated that they often change reinforcers during a session, do so when the client mands for or attends to different stimuli or refuses the current stimulus, and identify the new reinforcer based on recent client behaviors (e.g., mands) or by providing an informal choice between stimuli. Responses did not vary meaningfully based on respondent credentials, client characteristics, or service goals. Implications for clinical practice as well as future research on methods of momentary preference assessment and reinforcer identification are discussed.

The term conversion therapy refers to any practices intended to alter a person's sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, or any combination thereof. The present-day scientific consensus is that such practices are not only ineffective, but highly harmful and fundamentally unethical. However, historical connections exist between applied behavior analysis and the design and dissemination of conversion therapy practices. The purpose of this paper is to highlight these connections and to call for further attention and action from contemporary behavior analysts on this matter. Specifically, we call for continued discussion and review of previously published conversion therapy papers according to present-day guidelines for ethical research, position statements from professional organizations, additional ethics guidelines for behavior-analytic practice, and future behavior-analytic research and practice efforts that support LGBTQ+ people.

The multiple-stimulus-without-replacement (MSWO) preference assessment is commonly used in behavior-analytic research and practice. As originally published, the MSWO included 5 sessions in an effort to confirm stimulus preferences. Subsequent researchers have evaluated the validity of MSWO outcomes when the assessment is abbreviated. Generally, valid outcomes have been noted for 3-session MSWOs (that is, the outcomes match those of the 5-session version), while validity outcomes for 1- or 2-session MSWOs have varied across studies. The current study utilized data from 157 MSWO preference assessments conducted in previously published research with 49 total participants and analyzed the extent to which 1-session or 2-session variations of those assessments would have yielded similar outcomes as a 3-session assessment. Results indicate that the hierarchies produced by both abbreviated formats were strongly correlated with those produced by a 3-session assessment. However, neither 1- nor 2-session MSWOs reliably identified the same highest-preferred stimuli as a 3-session MSWO.

Deficits in response to name (RTN) are an early indicator of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and RTN is a treatment goal in many early intervention curricula for children with ASD. However, little research has empirically evaluated methods for increasing RTN in children with ASD. We evaluated a series of conditions designed to increase RTN for 4 children with ASD using a multielement experimental design. The schedules of tangible reinforcement were thinned after mastery and generalization was tested across people and contexts. Tangible reinforcers were necessary to increase RTN for all 4 participants, and the schedule of reinforcement was successfully thinned with all participants after intervention. Generalization was also observed across people and experimental contexts.

Response to name (RTN) is an early developmental milestone, deficits in which are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study extends previous research by evaluating an assessment and treatment model for RTN with 13 children with ASD. For all participants, phase 1 was a naturalistic social baseline. The 9 children who did not meet mastery criteria in phase 1 underwent a series of treatment conditions in phase 2. In phase 3, treatment components were removed, and generalization was assessed. Results indicated that tangible reinforcement procedures can produce rapid increases in discriminated RTN, sometimes without prompts. The total number of trials to mastery were reduced in the current study relative to previous research. Results also provide preliminary evidence to suggest that the phase 1 baseline condition may produce distinct patterns of RTN that could be used to predict treatment effects and further reduce trials to mastery in future work.

Prior researchers have reported a tendency for individuals with developmental disabilities to select edible items more often than leisure items when those items are presented together in stimulus preference assessments. However, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with whom many behavior analysts currently practice, are underrepresented in this body of literature. We conducted a replication of prior research with 26 children with ASD. Results indicated that edible items were more likely than leisure items to rank highly in our preference assessments, in concurrence with prior research. However, leisure items were also selected more often overall than in prior research, and significant individual variation was observed. These results suggest that preference assessments containing both edible and leisure stimuli can yield useful information for behavior analysts providing services to children with ASD, and the degree of preference for edible items noted in prior work may not be reflected in this contemporary population.

We assessed the efficiency of tact and listener training for eight participants with autism spectrum disorder. Tact and listener probes were conducted in baseline for all target sets, and then tact training was initiated with one and listener training with another. Following mastery of one set, tact and listener probes were conducted with only the sets assigned to the same modality of training (i.e., sets 1, 3, and 5 for tact; sets 2, 4, and 6 for listener). Training and probes were repeated for all sets. The measures of efficiency included the number of skills mastered through direct training, the number of skills that emerged without training, the number of trials-to-criterion, and maintenance of skills. Clinical programming based on each participant's results is discussed. For six participants, tact training was more efficient than listener training across multiple measures. For the remaining two participants, tact training and listener training were considered equivalent.

Echoic, tact, and textual transfer procedures have been proven successful in establishing simple intraverbals (Braam and Poling Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 4, 279-302, 1983; Luciano Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 102, 346-357, 1986; Watkins et al. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 7, 69-81, 1989). However, these strategies may be ineffective for some children due to the complexity of the targeted intraverbals. The current study investigated the use of a novel procedure which included a modified chaining procedure and textual prompts to establish intraverbal behavior in the form of telling short stories. Visual prompts and rule statements were used with some of the participants in order to produce the desired behavior change. Results indicated that the procedure was effective for teaching retelling of short stories in three children with autism.

Echolalia is common in children with autism and may interfere with the development of functional language. Given the variety of vocal stimuli included in teaching language to children with autism, it is possible that discrimination between instructions and targeted responses may not always occur. Thus, children may engage in very high rates of echolalia during language training because it is unclear which vocalizations produced by an instructor should be echoed. The cues-pause-point (CPP) procedure has been effective in decreasing echolalia and increasing specific correct responses to unknown questions in adults with intellectual disability. The current investigation applied the CPP procedure to the echoic repertoire with 1 child with autism who consistently echoed the instruction “say” during language training. Results indicated that echolalia of the instruction “say” decreased, and correct responding of the targeted vocalization increased for all targeted words. Implications for the use of the procedure in educational settings are discussed, and areas for future research are provided.