The nature of problem solving has been a difficult one to pin down, with much of the focus placed on hypothetical cognitive structures based on technological metaphors that change as quickly as the currently popular technologies after which they are modeled. While behavior analysts have made use of several effective instructional methodologies to…

Interteaching (IT) has demonstrated more effective and durable learning than traditional lecture-style teaching. Whereas IT's effectiveness has been established in traditional face-to-face courses, there is a need to extend the evaluation of IT to increasingly common course delivery modalities such as online courses. The purpose of the present…

This book responds to a critical need for highly qualified personnel who will become exemplary professionals because of their advanced knowledge, skills, and experiences in working with students and adults that have varying disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Since Board Certification for behavior analysts was introduced,…

Linked activity schedules were used to establish appropriate game play in children with autism during a game of hide-and-seek. All 6 participants demonstrated acquisition of appropriate play skills in the presence of the activity schedules and maintained responding during subsequent phases. When the schedules were removed, responding decreased to…

We developed a two-semester series of intensive (six-contact hours per week) behavioral research methods courses with an integrated statistics curriculum. Our approach includes the use of team-based learning, authentic projects, and Excel and SPSS. We assessed the effectiveness of our approach by examining our students' content area scores on the…

The number of applied behavior analysis (ABA) classrooms for students with autism is increasing in K-12 public schools. To inform instruction of students with autism in public school settings, this study examined the relation between performance on mastery learning assessments and standardized achievement tests for students with autism spectrum…

Guided notes were employed in two undergraduate Psychology courses involving 71 students. The study design utilized an alternating treatments format to compare Traditional Lectures with Guided Notes lectures. In one of the two courses, tests were administered after each class lecture, whereas the same type of test was administered at the beginning…

Having a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) poses a range of challenges to families, many of which can be addressed through appropriate intervention. A study of parental (n = 95) and professional (n = 67) experiences was carried out in relation to two settings: (a) schools that provided intensive interventions based on the science…

Means-end behavior occurs when the child can carry out a sequence of steps, including the removal of a physical obstacle, to achieve a goal. The development of means-end knowledge occurs in three stages: transitional, intentional, and comprehensive. Comprehensive means-end is achieved when the child can generate solutions without demonstration of…

Previous research has suggested that the topography of instructions (general vs. specific) may influence the likelihood that young children comply with instructions. The purpose of the current study was to compare the rates of task completion of a young man diagnosed with Asperger syndrome when provided with general and specific instructions…

The manner in which teachers mediate children's learning varies across early childhood classrooms. In this study, we used a multi-element design to evaluate the efficacy of three commonly implemented strategies that varied in teacher directedness for teaching color- and object-name relations. Strategy 1 consisted of brief exposure to the target…

Strong evidence exists for the efficacy of behavior analytic approaches with children on the autism spectrum (Carr & Firth, 2005; Weiss 2001, 2005). Many early childhood intervention studies report outcomes based on pre-school populations (Smith, 1999; Casto & Mastropieri, 1986) while outcome studies for younger populations are scarcer. We…

The author argues for a rational method to analyze behavior problems and proposes a method of identifying the problem, the objectives to be achieved, the solution, the implementation, and the evaluation (IOSIE) as a practical approach to assist teachers in resolving most classroom behavior management problems. The approach draws heavily on…

Research developments in learning theory over the past fifty years have led to principles of behavior which have been shown in innumerable applied settings to be valuable in analyzing and modifying human behavior. When applied to flying training using simulators, these principles suggest that a significant contribution could be made in improving…

This paper describes the results of a behavioral analysis of learning sequences used in initial instruction in the New Reading System, an early-reading curriculum. A rational analysis using behavioral categories yielded a set of strategies for teaching reading acquisition skills. Contingency management was assessed by an application of the…