We assessed whether novel praise statements could be used to (a) maintain and increase responses with existing reinforcement histories and (b) teach a previously untaught response among children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder across two experiments. During response-stimulus pairing, two responses resulted in preferred edibles but only one…

High rates of teacher praise are associated with positive student outcomes (Royer et al., 2019). Research shows secondary teachers deliver more reprimands than praise (e.g. Floress et al. 2022). Performance feedback (PF) is a strategy used to change teacher behaviors. However, it is unknown if PF targeting praise and reprimands for secondary…

We used an adapted alternating treatments design to compare the effects of traditional and embedded discrete trial teaching (DTT) with adults with autism. Traditional DTT consisted of the instructor presenting a discriminative stimulus to start each trial ("Point to___"), implementing a prompt (i.e., manual guidance), and providing…

Feedback is an effective strategy for improving performance and consists of multiple characteristics. One characteristic that can influence feedback efficacy is its nature (whether feedback is positive or corrective) and little is known about the conditions under which individuals may prefer corrective over positive feedback. Thus, the purpose of…

Sibling relationships may be strained when one sibling is diagnosed with autism and the other is not. The way that siblings interact during play is one indicator of the quality of this relationship. Non-autistic siblings have been taught to encourage play in their autistic siblings, but there is limited literature examining the impact of…

By differentially reinforcing questionnaire statements that favored teachers' behavior-specific praise in a multiple-baseline design across participants, we altered the verbal behavior of general education teachers. Our target was a written verbalization favoring the delivery of specific rather than general praise. We then assessed the effects on…

Early childhood educators often lack adequate preparation in the delivery of evidence-based practices. However, providing preservice teachers with ongoing implementation support during field-based training experiences may serve to occasion evidence-based practice delivery when they enter the field of early childhood education. Using a concurrent…

We evaluated the effects of a discrimination training procedure for establishing praise as a reinforcer for three children with autism spectrum disorder. After establishing two praise words as discriminative stimuli and two nonsense words as S-deltas, we evaluated whether the stimuli then functioned as reinforcers by presenting each stimulus as a…

This phenomenological case study explores the perceptions of high school administrators who have implemented Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) at the universal tier with fidelity. For this study, perceptions refer to the views and experiences of administrators implementing SWPBIS on the success and growth they have…

4-H provides meaningful opportunities for all youth by connecting them with caring adult mentors and programs to develop relevant life skills to make changes in their own lives and communities. As the opportunity gap widens for youth and their needs change, the goal is that the 4-H system's 3,500 professionals and 500,000 volunteers will be…

This study investigated the effects of interdependent group contingencies (IGCs) on teacher behavior in high school classrooms. Interdependent group contingencies, rooted in the principles of applied behavior analysis, have demonstrated to be effective in managing student behaviors. However, their impact on teacher behavior has remained…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-predictive study was to determine if, and to what extent, self-talk (self-reinforcing, self-managing, combined and individually) predicts academic burnout for undergraduate students in the Southwest region of the United States. The triadic model of self-regulated learning and job demands-resource…

Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) have the potential to affirm the dignity of participants through caring interactions, which support good relationships. A key ethical principle to guide the cultivation of good relationships in an RPP is a quality of relating that we call "dignity-affirming care." We define dignity-affirming care as…

The purpose of this article is to lay out how physical education teachers can implement a token economy in their lessons. Following an introductory vignette, five steps to guide teachers on how to implement a token economy are described, namely (1) selection and definition of target behaviors, (2) selection of tokens, (3) selection of backup…

Significant adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact health, socialization, academics, engagement in education, and behavior outcomes in elementary students. ACE researchers have identified protective factors, which mitigate the deleterious effects of significant ACEs. One of those protective factors is the positive teacher-student teacher…