Criteria for evaluating behavior support programs are changing. Consumer-based educational and behavioral programs, such as School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS), are particularly influenced by consumer opinion. Unfortunately, the need for and use of social validity measures have not received adequate attention in the empirical literature…

Laboratory studies have demonstrated the long-term memory benefits of studying material in multiple distributed sessions as opposed to one massed session, given an identical amount of overall study time (i.e., the "spacing effect"). The current study goes beyond the laboratory to investigate whether undergraduates know about the advantage of…

School-based programs designed to reduce problem behaviors, increase prosocial behaviors, and improve academic achievement have often been characterized as social-emotional learning or character development (education) programs. This longitudinal study investigated effects of such a program, called "Second Step", on observed problem…

Self-management is a set of procedures that students can be taught to apply to their own behaviors to change them. In self-management, students are taught to observe, assess, and modify their own behavior. These procedures include such things as self-identifying and observing a target behavior and setting a goal to change it. Self-management…

Aversive outcomes punish behaviors that cause their occurrence. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated in punishment learning and behavior, although the exact roles for different PFC regions in instrumental aversive learning and decision-making remain poorly understood. Here, we assessed the role of the orbitofrontal (OFC), rostral…

"In the late 1950's, Jack Michael, a bright but irritating young psychology instructor, moved from the Universities of Kansas to Houston to Arizona State. Along the way he befriended two nontraditional students, protected them through their Ph.D. programs, and turned them loose on the world: Teodoro Ayllon…and Montrose Wolf…" (Risley,…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of simplified habit reversal in reducing filled pauses that occur during public speaking. Filled pauses consist of "uh," "um," or "er"; clicking sounds; and misuse of the word "like." After baseline, participants received habit reversal training that consisted of…

This systematic review provides a synthesis of behavioral interventions for food selectivity (FS) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A multistep search strategy was employed to identify experimental studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1984 and 2015. Thirty-one studies met inclusion criteria. Participant…

Early intervention for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tends to focus on enhancing social-communication skills. We report the acceptability, feasibility and impact on child functioning of a new 8 weeks parent-group intervention to manage restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRB) in young children with ASD aged 3-7 years. Forty-five families took…

This qualitative phenomenological research study investigated the experiences of teachers' in the general education classroom with students with emotional behavior disorders. The five questions that guided the research examined teacher's use of strategies, administration support, and need the training to educate students with emotional behavioral…

Emotional and behavioral problems assessed with the "Child Behavior Checklist" (CBCL) were analyzed from 2,739 Dutch children referred to Families First (FF) or Intensive Family Treatment (IFT) from 1999 to 2008, to examine time trends. From the year 2004 onward, six of the eight CBCL-syndrome scales yielded significant decreases from the…

This investigation examined the effects of a classroom-based intervention, Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Training: Competent Learners Achieving School Success (BEST in CLASS), on teacher behaviors and child outcomes in early childhood classrooms. First, we examined the effects of professional development training and practice-based coaching…

Since its publication in 2012, "The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students" has helped countless classroom teachers, special educators, and others implement an effective, new approach to teaching focused on skill-building, practical interventions, and purposeful, positive interactions…

The effectiveness of several community-based early intervention programs for young children (2.5-6.5 years old) with autism spectrum disorder in Greece were compared, as they occurred in a community setting over a nine-month period. There were few differences in functioning change between programs, but applied behavior analysis (ABA) was most…

This article presents the importance of multidisciplinary, family-centered care, and a developmental bio-psycho-social approach to treating feeding difficulties in a child with a complex medical history. Hannah spent the first 9 months of her life in the hospital and was discharged dependent on nasogastric tube feeding. Her journey to recovery…