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Knee osteoarthritis affects approximately 25 million adults. In severe cases, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the most common solution. TKA is effective at addressing pain and reducing continued degeneration of articular cartilage. However, effective physical therapy (PT) following TKA is vital for a full functional recovery. Despite the importance of PT, half of patients never achieve a full functional recovery. Decreases in proprioceptive feedback, severe atrophy, and pain inhibition all likely contribute to the variability in effectiveness. Surface electromyography-based biofeedback (sEMGBF) may allow clinicians to address some of these barriers by supplementing proprioceptive feedback and targeting small muscle contractions before eventually increasing the contraction requirement. Using a between group design, we compare the effectiveness of sEMGBF (7) to neuromuscular stimulation (NMES) (6), and a control group (6) in recovery following TKA. Effectiveness was evaluated across 4 metrics (quadriceps strength, range of motion, functional improvement, and quality of life) in a pre-test/post-test fashion. At the statistical level this study suggest that sEMGBF leads to greater improvements in quadriceps strength relative to the NMES and control group. Additionally, visual analysis suggests that sEMGBF may also lead to greater improvements in range of motion, and functional improvement relative to the NMES and control group. The results for quality of life are mixed. Overall, the study provides initial clinical support for the utility of sEMGBF following TKA.

Health coaching is a relatively new integrated health role in which practitioners use a combination of behavioral interventions to evoke health-related behavior changes; however, there is a lack of valid evidence to support health-based claims. We investigated the effect of an approximation of a health coaching intervention on three college students' number of steps per day. We provided participants with weekly telehealth coaching sessions focused on goal-setting and feedback and used Fitbits to track the results. We used a multiple baseline across participants design to compare daily steps across four phases; self-monitoring, self-monitoring with experimenter-set goals and feedback, self-monitoring with participant-set goals and feedback, and finally, a choice phase in which participants could continue to set their own goals or have the experimenter set goals for them. All experimenter-set goals were selected using a weekly percentile schedule. In aggregate, all participants took more steps in the goal-setting phases than during the self-monitoring only phase. However, there was no notable difference between self-set goals and experimenter-set goals. When offered, all participants chose to continue the intervention for an additional one to two weeks.

Many professionals have successfully implemented discrete trial teaching in the past. However, there have not been extensive studies examining the accuracy of discrete trial teaching implementation. This study investigated the use of Bug in Ear feedback on the accuracy of discrete trial teaching implementation among two pre-service teachers majoring in elementary education and one pre-service teacher majoring in exceptional education. An adult confederate was used to receive discrete trial teaching. Implementing a multiple baseline across participants design, this study examined whether there was a functional relationship between receiving Bug in Ear feedback and the accuracy of discrete trial teaching implementation. The discrete trial teaching evaluation form was utilized to measure the accuracy of discrete trial teaching implementation. The findings demonstrated an increase in the discrete trial teaching implementation accuracy after Bug in Ear feedback was introduced. Participants agreed that using a self-instruction manual combined with receiving Bug in Ear feedback was beneficial in learning to implement discrete trial teaching

When it comes to video games, immersion is key. All types of games aim to keep the player immersed in some form or another. A common aspect of the immersive world in most role-playing games -- but not exclusive to the genre -- is the non-playable character (NPC). At their best, NPCs play an integral role to the sense of immersion the player feels by behaving in a way that feels believable and fits within the world of the game. However, due to lack of innovation in this area of video games, at their worst NPCs can jar the player out of the immersive state of flow with unnatural behavior. In an effort towards making non-playable characters (NPCs) in games smarter, more believable, and more immersive, a method based in psychological theory for controlling the behavior of NPCs was developed. Based on a behavior model similar to most modern games, our behavior model for NPCs traverses a behavior tree. A novel method was introduced using the five-factor model of personality (also known as the big-five personality traits) and the circumplex model of affect (a model of emotion) to inform the traversal of the behavior tree of NPCs. This behavior model has two main beneficial outcomes. The first is emergent gameplay, resulting in unplanned, unpredictable experiences in games which feel closer to natural behavior, leading to an increase in immersion. This can be used for complex storytelling as well by offering information about an NPC's personality to be used in the narrative of games. Secondly, the model is able to provide the emotional status of an NPC in real time. This capability allows developers to programmatically display facial and body expression, eschewing the current time-consuming approach of artist-choreographed animation. Finally, a maze simulation environment was constructed to test the results of our behavior model and procedural animation. The data collected from 100 iterations in our maze simulation environment about our behavior model found that a correlation can be observed between traits and actions, showing that emergent gameplay can be achieved by varying personality traits. Additionally, by incorporating a novel method for procedural animation based on real-time emotion data, a more realistic representation of human behavior is achieved.

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Behavior skills training is a didactic training format used to increase skill in an effective and efficient way. Video self-monitoring refers to the process of recording oneself for the purpose of self-review in order to observe and change one's behavior. The purpose of the following study was to determine if an intervention package that included Behavioral Skills Training (BST) and Video Self-Monitoring (VSM) would increase, generalize and, maintain high levels of treatment integrity of paraprofessional staff members while teaching a discrete trial training program to a student with autism. Additionally, student behavior was observed to determine if increased staff effectiveness would affect learner responding. The study found that the intervention package was effective in changing staff behavior by improving their treatment integrity. An observed change in student behavior emerged towards the end of the study when treatment integrity was high across staff members. Staff behavior generalized when the DTT program was implemented with a novel student. Additionally, maintenance of treatment integrity remained high after the intervention was withdrawn. Overall, these findings suggest that BST, followed by VSM, is an effective intervention for changing staff behavior. / Applied Behavioral Analysis

Deficits in communication are one of the major features among individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a difficulty that affects all aspects of language. The present study applied an intervention strategy previously applied by Somers et al. (2014) to teach children with ASD to mand for information about location by using the words “where” and “Which.” The study applied a multiple probes design across settings to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The procedure was effective, and the participant acquired manding skills and was able to generalize these skills with novel items. / Applied Behavioral Analysis

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death during adolescence, with the fatal crash rate per mile-driven for 16-19 years old drivers being nearly 3 times larger than the rate for drivers age 20 and older. High gravitational events among teenage drivers, such as quick starts, and hard stops, have been shown to be highly correlated with crash rates. The current younger driver training programs developed in the late 1990s, however, do not appear to be especially effective in regard to many skills which are critical to avoiding crashes. With this in mind, a simulator-based training program aimed at reducing the behaviors that make quick accelerations unsafe and quick decelerations unnecessary was designed and evaluated. The training adopts the active training strategy which has been proven to be effective, and includes those scenarios in which teenage drivers are at highest risks. It is expected that drivers who receive the active training will drive more safely than drivers who receive the placebo training, in terms of eye scanning behaviors in scenarios where quick accelerations are necessary (e.g., how often they glance towards areas where threats could emerge), following behaviors in scenarios where a lead vehicle could stop suddenly (e.g., how much headway they allow between their vehicle and a lead vehicle), and vehicle behaviors such as speed, acceleration rate, deceleration rate and headway.