Thesis (M.A.)--Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1998. / Abstract. This is an electronic reproduction of TREN, #090-0011. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-89).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-166). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-137). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2000. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 4, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Steven Landau (chair), Connie B. Horton, Glen P. Aylward, Glenn D. Reeder, Thomas Critchfield. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-129) and abstract. Also available in print.

This study examined the effectiveness of the Human Resource Development model of classroom social skills with intermediate elementary learning disabled children. A pretest posttest control group design was employed. The sample consisted of 40 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade LD pupils who scored in the bottom fourth of their classes in peer acceptance. The subjects were randomly assigned to the treatment or control group. Treatment consisted of six daily one hour training sessions covering the five skills of physically attending, psychologically attending, greeting, making polite requests and complying with requests. Subjects met in groups of six to eight in lieu of learning assistance and were instructed through methods including modeling, demonstration, role playing, didactic instruction, feedback and self-monitoring. The control group received no treatment but went to learning assistance as usual.

This research study examined how education service providers conduct functional behavioral assessments and utilize behavior intervention plans to address the social and emotional needs of students with challenging behaviors. The data are based on a 20-item survey administered to educators who identified themselves as working with students diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders. The results and implications of the survey are discussed and evaluated to the review of literature conducted prior to the study. Recommendations for future research are also explored.

The research investigation reported herein examined the quality and experience of the functional behavioral assessment (FBA) process as reported by educators working with students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). The data accrued is based on a 30-item survey and participant telephone interviews examined the overall knowledge of the FBA process by educators and their general experience when conducting a FBA, specifically the procedural timeline, types of education professionals involved, and typical outcomes and results. Survey responses indicated two common barriers in the FBA implementation which often inhibit best practice: lack of true collaborative teamwork and insufficient communication among FBA team members. Survey responses also indicated a level of statistical significance from education professionals working in elementary school settings who self-rated positively higher when conducting a FBA than those education professionals working on either a secondary or special campus. Additionally, participant interviews indicated a growing awareness of the advantages of using the FBA as an early intervention process when dealing with challenging behaviors.

An acquisition criterion, more commonly known as “mastery criterion” is an instructor-established standard of performance that may signal the acquisition of a novel skill or the conclusion of a phase of intervention. When teaching new behaviors, researchers and practitioners in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) apply some type of criterion for the learner to achieve. The purpose of the following studies was to evaluate the effects of acquisition criteria on skill acquisition in addition to other components of mastery such as response maintenance and stimulus generalization. In Experiment I (Wong et al., 2021), I conducted a systematic comparison of two applications of acquisition criteria. I selected four participants to teach 40 novel sight words using learn unit instruction. The participants were between the ages of 5 and 7 years old and diagnosed with developmental disabilities. I equated the target operants and quasi-randomly assigned 20 sight words in one acquisition criterion condition and 20 sight words in another acquisition criterion condition. In one condition, Set Analysis (SA), the acquisition criterion was applied to a set of four operants. The other condition, Operant Analysis (OA), applied acquisition criterion to individual operants. The level of accuracy and the replication of the accuracy remained the same across conditions, and more specifically, a 100% accuracy across one replication session was utilized under OA and SA. The results of skill acquisition showed that all four participants learned a greater number of sight words under the OA condition compared to the SA condition within the same time frame. Response maintenance results suggested that SA produced more durable responses for three out of four participants. In Experiment II, I extended the findings of Experiment I by addressing some limitations and systematically replicating the procedures. I increased the number of replications of the acquisition criterion from 1 replication to two replications. I selected four new participants and taught them sight words under the OA application of acquisition criterion and the SA application of acquisition criterion. Similar to the findings of Experiment 1, the skill acquisition results showed all participants learned a greater number of operants under OA compared to SA. The response maintenance results showed that all four participants responded with 100% accuracy to a similar or higher percentage of operants under the OA condition compared to the SA condition, suggesting that the added replication to the acquisition criterion may have improved the durability of responses during four-week follow-up sessions. The findings of both Experiment I and Experiment II contributed to the small but growing body of literature demonstrating the parametric effects of acquisition criteria. However, small sample sizes in the existing acquisition criteria research limit the external validity of the findings. Thus, I conducted a descriptive analysis of every skill acquisition article published in 2017 to 2019 in three peer-reviewed behavioral journals, in order to address this limitation. I reported the general characteristics of over 200 articles targeting skill acquisition. Additionally, our analysis targeted the effects of acquisition-criterion levels and frequency of replications on response maintenance results and generalization results. Ultimately, the results provide evidence that acquisition criteria play an important role in the mastery of novel behaviors, which have practical implications for ABA clinicians and researchers.

The aim of this study is to explore strengths assessments and the participation of parents in assessment of strengths and functioning of their children challenged by serious emotional disorders. The children in this study have a high level of exposure to mental illness, domestic violence and substance abuse in their biological families. These children are living with family members or foster families in the community, with the majority at continuing risk of placement outside of their homes and communities due to serious emotional and behavioral problems. The research questions investigated are the concordance of families and professionals in assessment of strengths, differences in assessment of strengths, problems in specific domains of functioning, and relationships of characteristics of the child with recognition of strengths by the parent and professional. This study uses data collected from families of children with serious emotional disorders receiving services through community-based wraparound services supported by the mental health services program for children #5 HSS SM52297 funded by the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. The dissertation research presents a secondary analysis of a portion of the evaluation data collected for that demonstration. Eighty-five children were assessed by the parent and professional using the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS), the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and the Child and Adolescent Functioning Scale (CAFAS). It was found that families provided significant and unique information regarding their children. A repeated measures analysis of the strengths scores revealed significant differences in the assessment of strengths by the parent and professional raters in domains of intrapersonal strengths, affective strengths and family involvement. The findings support the use of the strengths measure by multiple informants to provide unique information regarding the child’s strengths and functioning.

This study investigated the effect of children's prosocial behavior and gender on their abilities to decode and encode facial expressions. Four hypotheses were addressed in this study. The first hypothesis predicted a positive correlation between decoding abilities and pro social behavior of preschool-level children. The second hypothesis made a similar prediction, but between encoding abilities and prosocial behavior. Hypothesis three predicted that female preschoolers would be more accurate in decoding facial affect than would male preschoolers. Finally, hypothesis four predicted that females would have greater success with encoding emotions than would their male counterparts. A total of 132 children from a local private preschool participated in this study. Results showed a non-significant correlation between the decoding abilities of preschoolers and their prosocial behavior. Further analysis of the data revealed a significant negative correlation between the encoding abilities and pro social behavior of preschool children. Support was found for hypothesis three, revealing that females were better decoders of facial affect than were males. Finally, statistical tests indicated that there were no significant differences between females and males and the ability to successfully encode facial expressions. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.