Discrete Trial Instruction vs. Mand Training for Teaching Children With Autism to Make Requests

The present study compared the effects of discrete trial instruction (DTI) and mand training on the acquisition of independent requests in 6 children with autism. Two multiple-probe designs across participants were conducted with 3 participants receiving mand training followed by DTI and the other 3 receiving DTI followed by mand training. Eye contact and challenging behaviors were also assessed across conditions. Results indicate that 5 of 6 participants made more independent requests and acquired requesting faster in the mand training condition, had slightly better eye contact in the DTI condition, and fewer challenging behaviors in the mand training condition. Overall, the results indicate that mand training is a more efficient method for teaching children with autism to make requests.     

Teaching Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders to Mand for the Removal of Stimuli That Prevent Access to Preferred Items

Mand training is often a primary focus in early language instruction and typically includes mands that are positively reinforced. However, mands maintained by negative reinforcement are also important skills to teach. These include mands to escape aversive demands or unwanted items. Another type of negatively reinforced mand important to teach involves the removal of a stimulus that prevents access to a preferred activity. We taught 5 participants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders to mand for the removal of a stimulus in order to access a preferred item that had been blocked. An evaluation was conducted to determine if participants responded differentially when the establishing operations for the preferred item were present versus absent. All participants learned to mand for the removal of the stimulus exclusively under conditions when the establishing operation was present.     

Expanding Vocal Requesting Repertoires via Relational Responding in Adults with Severe Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate untrained vocal requests in three adults with severe developmental disabilities. Specifically, we evaluated whether a history of reinforced relational responding would give rise to untrained vocal requests for novel items. Participants were first taught to request preferred items using their category names. They were then taught conditional discriminations between pictures of preferred items that were categorically related. Finally, participants were tested for their abilities to request items that had not been originally presented during request training, using their category names. All participants demonstrated untrained requests, and for some participants, changes in the mand repertoire were accompanied by changes in the tact repertoire. Some participants also showed generalization of skills across settings.     

Teaching Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder to Mand “Why?”

For most children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), manding for information is an important skill that must be systematically taught. Although previous studies have evaluated interventions for teaching other mands for information, to date no studies have demonstrated effective procedures for teaching the mand “why?” The purpose of the present study was to teach 3 children with ASD to mand “why?” under relevant establishing operation conditions in 3 distinct scenarios. A trial-unique multiple-exemplar procedure was used to promote generalization and increase the value of information provided across trials. All 3 participants learned to mand “why?” in all 3 scenarios within a mean of 18 sessions (range 14–21 sessions), demonstrated generalization to novel stimuli and settings, and maintained this skill over time. Social validity for the intervention had an overall mean of 5.88 (range 1–7).     

Teaching mands by manipulating conditioned establishing operations

Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior suggests the functional independence of the verbal operants. However, only a few empirical studies have directly examined the nature of these operants, and their independence. The present study evaluated whether teaching topographies as tacts would lead to their emission as mands. The results indicated that manding only occurred reliably after direct mand training, which consisted of the use of imitative and tact prompts, and fading those prompts, to transfer stimulus control from nonverbal stimuli to conditioned establishing operations. The results contribute to the existing data on the functional independence of mands and tacts, as well as demonstrate the value of manipulating conditioned establishing operations for mand training.

     

Using Textual Prompts to Teach Mands for Information Using “Who?”

Recent research on teaching mands for information to children with language deficits has focused on manipulating establishing operations (EOs). However, only a few of those studies have programmed both EO conditions (in which information is needed) and abolishing operation (AO) conditions (in which information has already been provided) to ensure functional use of the mand for information. Shillingsburg, Bowen, Valentino, and Pierce (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47, 136–150, 2014) provided a successful demonstration of differential responding between EO and AO conditions demonstrating control of the response by the relevant EO. Echoic prompts resulted in successful mands for information “Who?” One limitation of this study was that the participants did not re-issue the initial mand upon approaching the named adult to retrieve the item. This may be problematic in the natural environment as it is unlikely that the named adult would know what the child was looking for. The current study sought to replicate and expand previous research by using textual prompts to teach the mand “Who?” in four children diagnosed with autism (Phase 1) and by requiring the mand for the item be re-issued upon approaching the named adult (Phase 2). Textual prompts resulted in differential use of the mand for information during EO and AO conditions for all of the participants. Additionally, three of the four participants who did not re-issue the mand to the named adult during the Phase 2 baseline did so following the intervention. Overall, results support the use of textual prompts to teach mands for information to children with autism.

     

Teaching a Child With Autism to Mand for Information Using “How”

Children with autism often do not learn to mand for information without structured teaching. Studies have demonstrated that manipulation of establishing operations (EOs), prompts, prompt fading, and differential reinforcement are effective in teaching children with autism to ask "wh" questions such as "what," "who," and "where." To date, no studies have evaluated procedures to teach children with autism to mand for information using "how." Teaching the mand, "how" is uniquely challenging because once the information regarding how to do something is provided, the EO may no longer be present. The following study evaluated a procedure to teach one child with autism to mand for information using "how" to obtain information to complete multiple activities. The results have implications for clinical application and future research on contriving EOs to teach the mand, "how."     

An Evaluation of Conditional Manding Using a Four-Component Multiple Schedule

Most verbal behavior curricula for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) focus on teaching multiple mands during the early stages of training (e.g., picture exchange communication system; Bondy & Frost, 1994). However, few, if any, of those curricula train children with ASD to differentially mand only for reinforcers that are reasonable for a caregiver to deliver in a given context (e.g., mands to cuddle at bedtime) and to refrain from manding for reinforcers that would be inappropriate to deliver in that context (e.g., mands to play outside at bedtime). In this study, we first taught a boy with ASD two initial mands. Immediately thereafter we brought those mands under the conditional discriminative control of a four-component multiple schedule with (a) S¹ correlated with one reinforcer available (i.e., edibles), (b) S² correlated with both reinforcers available (i.e., edibles or drink), (c) S³ correlated with another reinforcer available (i.e., drink), and (d) S^Δ correlated with no reinforcer available. Following treatment, the child displayed conditionally discriminated manding in accordance with each of the four components of the schedule. We discuss these findings relative to the potential benefits of bringing mands under both evocative and discriminative control.

     

Emergence of Mands and Tacts of Novel Objects among Preschool Children

According to Skinner''s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior, the mand and the tact are functionally independent verbal operants, each of which is acquired through a unique history of reinforcement. The present study attempted to replicate the findings of Lamarre and Holland (1985), who empirically demonstrated functional independence of mands and tacts in typically developing preschool children. Five children participated. All were initially trained to complete two 4-piece assembly tasks. Four children were then trained to tact the four pieces that comprised one of the assembly tasks, and to mand for the four pieces that comprised the other task, using arbitrary vocal response forms. The remaining child received tact training only, and only on one task. The effects of training on the untrained operant were evaluated in a multiple-probe design across tasks. Following mand training, 4 out of 4 children reliably emitted tacts under testing conditions, while the effects of tact training differed across participants. The results differ from those of Lamarre and Holland, but are not necessarily surprising from the point of view of either Skinner''s analysis or more recent behavioral accounts of language. Future research should attempt to identify variables that affect transfer between mand and tact relations.     

Establishing Concurrent Mands for Items and Mands for Information about Location in Children with Autism

This study replicated and extended the methodology used in Howlett et al. (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 943–947 2011) to bring the mands “Where’s (item)?” and “I want (item)” under appropriate antecedent control in two boys diagnosed with autism. Trials were alternated in which items were present, missing, and within view (but inaccessible) and missing and out of view. To program for generalization, fifteen items, multiple trainers, and multiple settings were used during teaching. For both participants, manding generalized to novel items, instructors, settings, and situations and maintained after 2 weeks following teaching. Results of the social validity assessment indicated that school staff found the procedures highly acceptable.     

How Do Heterosexual Undergraduate Students Define Having Sex? A New Approach to an Old Question

This study examined how people define having sex utilizing a new approach to this area of research. A total of 267 men and 327 women rated their degree of confidence that engaging in each of 21 physically intimate behaviors (e.g., penile-vaginal intercourse) counted as “having sex” and then qualitatively explained their reasoning. Separate ratings were made for each behavior when engaged in by the respondent and by his or her partner with someone else. Results showed that, as in previous studies, for both sexes, some behaviors (e.g., penile-vaginal intercourse) were far more confidently rated (i.e., “definitely sex”) than were others (e.g., oral-genital stimulation). Further, both men and women were significantly more certain that a behavior counted as “having sex” when considering their partner's behavior outside the relationship than when they considered their own behavior. Finally, the order in which the two scenarios (i.e., self versus partner) was presented significantly affected participants’ certainty. Qualitative results, paired with quantitative findings, suggest that individuals consider a variety of contextual factors when making these definitional decisions. The methodological and sexual health implications of these results are discussed.     

Evaluation of Lag Schedules and Rules on Persistent Response Variability With Preschoolers in a Group

In the present study, experimenters evaluated the influence of lag schedules of reinforcement in combination with accurate and inaccurate (complete and incomplete) rules on the response variability of naming category items for typically developing preschoolers in a group format. Results showed that when lag schedules were introduced with 2 categories, response variability generalized to the third category. Furthermore, after participants experienced the lag schedule, variability persisted when the contingency no longer required variability. Participants continued to vary their responses unless the rule and contingency required them to repeat responses. We discuss potential clinical applications of using lag schedules in a group format and including rules during teaching, as well as directions for future research in this area.     

Considerations for Culturally Sensitive Research With Transgender Adults: A Qualitative Analysis

Transgender (trans) individuals have historically been left out of research, and previous work has often conflated gender identity with sexual orientation. Furthermore, language used in psychology measures is often heteronormative and uses binary gendered language (e.g., “him”/“her”). The aim of the current study was to provide empirically derived guidance on conducting culturally sensitive research with transgender participants using qualitative data. We recruited trans individuals, ages 18 to 44, to participate in an anonymous, qualitative, national online survey as part of a quantitative study on the relationships among minority stress, sexual behavior, and mental health. The qualitative portion included four open-ended feedback questions. We identified four overarching themes regarding experiences with our survey: (a) emotional reaction; (b) insight gained; (c) being outside the box; and (d) value of the work. Research with trans adults should be more inclusive of diverse gender identities, sexual identities, and sexual behaviors. Steps in this direction may include soliciting feedback from community members regarding survey language and response options, allowing participants to contextualize their responses using open-ended questions, and clarifying language to distinguish between sexual behavior and sexual identity. A list of seven preliminary guidelines was proposed to aid scientists in conducting culturally sensitive research with trans individuals.     

Experiencing Sampling Research from Its Beginnings into the Future

Early experience sampling research sought to map the ecology of adolescents’ lives. Its contributions include discovery of similar patterns in psychological states across diverse samples: positive emotions with friends, more negative states alone, high challenge but low motivation during schoolwork, and wider variability in teens’ than adults’ emotions, including more frequent extreme positive states. Recent ambulatory assessment research has expanded this mission and methods in valuable ways. Yet it still demands problem‐solving (e.g., engaging participants, formulating analyses that represent teens’ complex lives). A promising innovation is use of micro‐longitudinal analyses to examine sequential processes (e.g., linkages between stress–coping–emotions; relationship episodes). Qualitative data can add “zones” for development of empirically‐based theory about daily processes, such as adolescents’ meaning‐making and learning self‐regulation.     

Utilizing the RE-AIM framework to determine effectiveness of a preschool intervention program on social-emotional outcomes

Social-emotional issues in preschoolers continue to be an area of concern across the nation. Models to determine effective implementation practices are needed. The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework is one model that can be used to evaluate program implementation in preschool settings. The Jump Start program provided short-term intervention to children in low-income preschools from multiethnic backgrounds. The goal was to promote prosocial behaviors while minimizing problem behaviors. Various evidenced-based practices (i.e., I Can Problem Solve, play therapy, Pyramid Model) were utilized. 305 children from 73 childcare centers participated in the program. The majority of participants were from ethnic minority backgrounds and resided in high-poverty areas of the county. The RE-AIM framework was utilized to determine program outcomes. Results showed successes on each level of RE-AIM with an at-risk population. The Jump Start program significantly increased positive behaviors and decreased challenging behaviors in preschool-aged children. Results indicated medium to large effect sizes. One year following program participation, the majority of children who participated in the program were at decreased risk of special education services and expulsion.     

Mands for Information Using “How” Under EO-Absent and EO-Present Conditions

The present study replicates and extends previous research on teaching “How?” mands for information to children with autism. The experimental preparation involved mand training in the context of completing preferred activities and included training and testing under conditions when the establishing operation (EO) was present and absent. Results show that two children with autism acquired mands for information using How? only in situations where information was valuable (i.e., the EO was present); they then consistently made use of the information provided in activity completion. Generalization to novel, untaught situations was assessed.     

A Longitudinal Study: Casino Gambling Attitudes, Motivations, and Gambling Patterns Among Urban Elders

Guided by self-determination theory, the main purpose of this study was to explore demographic characteristics, attitudes toward casinos, and self-reported intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for casino gambling by urban elders. The study hypothesized that individuals would more frequently report intrinsic motivations for casino gambling (e.g., entertainment, enjoyment) rather than extrinsic motivation (e.g., financial gain). This longitudinal sample included 247 urban elders older who were 60 years and older and who had participated in surveys in 2002 and 2004. The initial survey consisted of (a) demographic items, (b) five items to measure attitudes toward casino gambling, (c) questions inquiring about motivations for casino gambling, and (d) questions about gambling frequency. The follow-up survey was an expanded questionnaire which still included these items. The sample consisted of the 247 participants, over 200 of whom were African-Americans, 188 were female, and 98 of the participants had a post graduate education. About half were widowed, and the sample generally reported a low income. The results supported the theoretical perspective underlying the project. The hypothesis that more participants would endorse intrinsic motivations for casino gambling rather than extrinsic motivations was supported. The implications of these findings represent for social workers, gambling counselors and health care services providers an important step toward understanding the attitudes, behaviors, and motivational factors involved in casino gambling among older adults.     

Self-reports of information seeking: Is social desirability in play?

Social desirability, the likelihood of individuals to overreport behaviors they perceive to be approved by others, is often cited as a limitation in research but rarely controlled in a systematic manner. Social desirability can influence self-reported behaviors (e.g., voting behavior) and communication variables (e.g., argumentativeness). Information seeking may be susceptible to the effects of social desirability as knowledge and information are generally desired, and thus may be prone to overreporting. This article presents results from two online, information-seeking tracking studies investigating the influence of social desirability on self-reported information seeking. Participants indicated how much time they actually spent seeking information on a website. Unbeknownst to participants, their website use was being tracked using Google Analytics. This article compares actual time spent seeking information to reported information-seeking time. Results suggest that participants overreport information seeking in these two studies; social desirability may explain this result.     

Disability citizenship and digital capital: the case of engagement with a social enterprise telco

ABSTRACT

This paper uses as its base a key initiative involving a not-for-profit organisation (NPO), government start-up funding and a social enterprise which evolved through three phases. The purpose of the initiative was the development of a smart phone technology platform for people with disability. The paper’s purpose is to answer questions about the ways in which the mobile technology, seen here as assistive technologies, supported the development of disability citizenship and active citizenship. Data were collected through in-depth interviews conducted at three points in the 13-week programme during which participants with disability received customised support for their phone and training in its use, at no cost. Fifteen participants volunteered to take part in the research project, along with their significant other and service provider. Key themes were identified in the preliminary analysis. Exploring these using Ragnedda’s ([2017]. The third digital divide: A Weberian approach to digital inequalities. Abingdon: Routledge) three levels of digital divide, and Wilson’s ([2006]. The information revolution and developing countries. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press) categories of access allowed a series of philosophical, ethical and human services management questions to emerge, challenging the optimism with which the digital economy is presented as a solution to issues of inequality. Although the mobile technologies were very successful as assistive technologies for some participants, the findings reinforced the potential for such technologies to further entrench aspects of social exclusion. They also identified ways in which the shift in the role of the NPO to social entrepreneurship, and its relationships with government and private enterprise, had the potential to undermine the exercise of disability citizenship by turning participants into consumers.