Applied behavioral pharmacology explores how drugs may influence problem behavior in persons with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). A comprehensive review was conducted featuring single-case experimental designs in the domain of applied behavioral pharmacology to evaluate and report on study quality. Studies included in the review…

In science in general and in the context of single-case experimental designs, replication of the effects of the intervention within and/or across participants or experiments is crucial for establishing causality and for assessing the generality of the intervention effect. Specific developments and proposals for assessing whether an effect has been…

Science is being criticized within scientific domains and society. To address this, we suggest that researchers in special education, broadly, and those working in the behavioral disorders field, specifically, consider three critical facets of research: (a) importance of rigor, (b) value of replication, and (c) transparency of reproducibility in…

Publication bias arises when studies with favorable results are more likely to be reported than are studies with null findings. If this bias occurs in studies with single-subject experimental designs (SSEDs) on applied behavior-analytic (ABA) interventions, it could lead to exaggerated estimates of intervention effects. Therefore, we conducted an…

In recent years, research in the area of intervention development has been shifting from the traditional fixed-intervention approach to "adaptive interventions," which allow greater individualization and adaptation of intervention options (i.e., intervention type and/or dosage) over time. Adaptive interventions are operationalized via a sequence…

Background: Researchers willing to publish their interventional studies' results must register their studies before starting enrollment. This study aimed to describe all "open" (i.e., recruiting or not yet recruiting) behavioral studies in 16 of 20 top worldwide leading causes of death. Method: Search on Clinicaltrials.gov database (March 2010).…

Positive behavior support (PBS) is an empirically driven approach to improve quality of life influenced by the science of behavior analysis. Recent discussions have evolved around PBS, behavior analysis, and their relationship within education and human services fields. To date, few data have been offered to guide behaviorally oriented…

Despite having drawn from empirical evidence and cumulative prior expertise in the formulation of research questions as well as study design, each study is treated as a stand-alone product rather than positioned within a sequence of cumulative evidence. While results of prior studies are typically cited within the body of prior literature review,…

The gap between scientific knowledge and real world practice continues to be a major conundrum for the behavioral sciences. This paper briefly reviews the development of behavioral research and describes problems that have arisen in meeting the goal of improving behavioral interventions through science. Based on published literature and personal…

A didactic discussion of a latent variable modeling approach is presented that addresses frequent empirical concerns of social, behavioral, and educational researchers involved in longitudinal studies. The method is suitable when the purpose is to analyze repeated measure data along several interrelated dimensions and to explain some of the…

Classrooms serving students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are complex environments that include multiple interactions such as those between (a) students and teachers, (b) students and peers, and (c) temporally distant or concurrent classroom-setting factors and subsequent behavioral episodes. As a result, the…

An international movement has focused on identifying evidence-based interventions that were developed to change psychological constructs and that are supported by controlled studies. However, inconsistent findings within individual intervention studies and among multiple studies raise critical problems in interpreting the evidence, and deciding…

Describing the state of the science of ABA, this comprehensive handbook provides detailed information about theory, research, and intervention. The contributors are leading ABA authorities who present current best practices in behavioral assessment and demonstrate evidence-based strategies for supporting positive behaviors and reducing problem…

Presents a general class of single-case statistical procedures derived from previously developed nonparametric randomization tests. Designs are illustrated that focus on the general and comparative effectiveness of alternative interventions, multiple units with differentiable characteristics, and multiple outcome measures. Provides operational…

This commentary on EC 608 302, which discusses behavioral research methodology involving individuals with developmental disabilities, argues that a clear distinction must be made between methods and models, there is a need for more broadly focused intervention studies considering the body of applied practical knowledge, and differences in research…