School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is an evidence-based framework that provides a continuum of supports for students across multiple tiers (Tiers 1, 2, and 3). The implementation of SWPBIS is associated with improvements in student behavior, academic outcomes, and school climate (Bradshaw, Koth, Bevans, Ialongo,…

There are many different interventions available to individuals with autism, and the benefits of each therapy may vary for each student. Two vastly different treatments are discrete trial teaching (DTT) and the verbal behavior approach (VBA). While both are based in the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), VBA relies more on naturalistic…

Pseudocontingencies are inferences of correlations between variables, like two options and two outcomes, drawn on the basis of their skewed base rates covarying across a third variable (e.g., two contexts). Here, we investigated the effect of pseudocontingency inference on choice behavior. When choices between two options are not based on the…

The present study replicated and extended previous research by exploring the extent to which rules altered participants' engagement in risky betting in an electronic blackjack game. A multiple-baseline across-participants design with predetermined phase changes was used to assess 4 recreational gamblers' betting patterns in blackjack across 3…

Purpose: Previous work using ambulatory voice recordings has shown no differences in average vocal behavior between patients with phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction and matched controls. This study used larger groups to replicate these results and expanded the analysis to include distributional characteristics of ambulatory voice use and measures…

Lag schedules of reinforcement have been found to be useful in addressing invariant behavior of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to conduct an additive analysis of lag schedules and rules. Three participants with ASD were exposed to a Lag 2 schedule of reinforcement in isolation. Following,…

Promoting cooperative social behavior is a major task of preschool teachers. Children are taught to be nice, be fair, and share. This mandate, however, runs up against the fact that young children are naturally egotistical and unable to appreciate the perspective of others. This leaves teachers with questions about how strongly they should push…

Research suggests that class-wide academic engagement can be improved by research-based classroom management. However, teachers struggle to implement classroom management consistently and may need ongoing support. Identifying critical components of classroom management could help illuminate mechanisms of action and streamline teacher…

Background: Hookah is one of the most commonly used tobacco products among U.S. young adults due in part to widespread misperceptions that it is not harmful or addictive. There is growing evidence that hookah tobacco is associated with health harms and can lead to addiction. Research on interventions to address these misperceptions by…

Group contingencies are an effective way to prevent and address problem behavior; however, the extent to which these effects transfer to settings where the intervention is not implemented (i.e., setting generalization) is unknown. Using a multiple baseline design, this study assessed the setting generalization of the effects of an interdependent…

Traditional professional development for teachers seldom results in program implementation with high fidelity or improved student outcomes. In this study, we evaluated the effects of performance feedback on the implementation of a class-wide, behavioral level system in four self-contained, secondary classrooms for students identified with…

Multitreatment designs were used to evaluate the relative effectiveness of multicomponent Stay, Play, Talk (SPT) interventions on peer social behaviors for two groups of children, each including one Participant With Autism Spectrum Disorder (PWA) and two socially competent peers. Children were trained to use buddy strategies during 5-min free-play…

The purpose of the present study is to determine if high school students' character strengths composed of twenty-four different strengths, virtues including six dimensions and demographic characteristics predict risky behaviors. The participants of the study were 380 students aged between 14-19 years and enrolled in general high schools. The data…

We investigated class clustering patterns of four behaviors--physical activity, fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake, smoking, and alcohol use--in a faith-based African American cohort. Guided by socio-ecological models, we also examined the psychosocial and neighborhood social environmental factors associated with the clustering patterns.…

This study examined the effects of coping power (CP) and the combination of CP with check-in/check-out (CICO) to determine whether the addition of CICO as a classroom component enhances the effects of CP alone. CP was delivered outside the classroom by research assistants, and all CICO components were implemented by classroom teachers. We…