Background: The current study investigated the efficacy of a novel virtual reality-cognitive rehabilitation (VR-CR) intervention to improve contextual processing of objects in children with autism. Contextual processing is a cognitive ability thought to underlie the social and communication deficits of autism. Previous research supports that children with autism show deficits in contextual processing, as well as deficits in its basic component abilities: abstraction and cognitive flexibility. Methods: Four children with autism participated in a multiple baseline single-subject study. The children were taught how to see objects in context by reinforcing attention to pivotal contextual information. One-on-one teaching sessions occurred three times per week for approximately two weeks. Results: All children demonstrated significant improvements in contextual processing and cognitive flexibility. Mixed results were found on the control test. Changes in context-related behaviours were reported. Conclusions: Further studies using virtual reality to target specific cognitive impairments in children with autism are warranted.

The evidence clearly indicates that, not only is the learning process affected by many factors including students’ mental health and social-emotional learning (SEL), but also zero tolerance methods of managing students’ problem behaviors are largely ineffective. This dissertation introduces a suggested model for supporting educators’ efforts in the implementation and sustainability of SEL programs using a response-to-intervention (RTI) model for educators. Additionally, the current study examined the effects of conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) on (a) the role of teachers’ classroom practices, (b) the home-school partnership, and (c) the relationship these two factors have on young children’s challenging behaviors. Participants in this study were four triads, each consisting of one pre-k teacher, one preschool student with challenging behaviors, and one set of preschool students’ parents from a suburban county in the southeast. Three dependent variables were measured in this study: (1) teachers’ target behaviors were measured using direct observation; (2) students’ target behaviors were measured using direct observation (i.e., daily by teachers and parents) and ratings on the Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scale (SSIS-RS; Elliott & Gresham, 2008); and (3) the impact of the intervention on the home-school relationship was measured both pre- and post-intervention using the Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale - II (PTRS-II; Vickers & Minke, 1995). The independent variable was a multi-component intervention package that incorporated the four stages of CBC (Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2010) with a social skills intervention plan. A relationship was established between the intervention and teachers’ use of select positive behavior support (PBS) strategies. Furthermore, results indicated that the intervention package was effective in improving all students’ challenging behaviors in the school setting and for three of the four students challenging behaviors in the home setting. Finally, results from the PTRS-II indicated that parents and teachers’ perceptions of the home-school relationship actually declined. However, this outcome was unexpected because the anecdotal reactions from the participants throughout this study were very positive. Ratings on the social validity of the intervention as measured by the Treatment Evaluation Inventory – Short Form (TEI-SF; Kelley, Heffer, Gresham, & Elliott, 1989) were high.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2007), 27% of the nation’s 8th grade population scored below the basic reading level in 2006-2007. Reading fluency strategies are a viable practice for improving reading achievement yet seldom are they incorporated into the 8th grade curriculum. To be effective, passages used in reading fluency strategies should be at the students’ instructional reading level (Daly, Persampieri, et al., 2005; Welsch, 2007). However, if increased oral reading fluency gained at the instructional reading level fails to generalize to content-area text that a student is required to read, the gain is not clinically significant, as it does not allow the student access to required reading. Stahl and Heubach (2006) recommended providing instruction in more difficult material while providing a strong degree of support. In this study, four middle school students reading one to two years below grade level received strong support for increasing reading fluency while using their social studies textbook. The intervention package consisted of listening passage preview, repeated reading, phrase-drill error correction, and performance feedback with student charting. Two research questions guided this study: (a) What are the effects of a comprehensive treatment package consisting of commonly utilized strategies for improving oral reading fluency on middle school students’ oral reading fluency using their required grade-level social studies textbooks? and (b) to what extent does performance generalize to required literature textbook passages and passages from CRCT Coach in Science (2002) and CRCT Coach in Social Studies (2002)? A multiple probe across participants design was used to answer these questions. Visual analysis of graphically displayed single-case data revealed that the multicomponent reading intervention positively affected student performance on intervention and generalization passages. The results of this study are promising, and given that reading content-area text is the core of education in middle school, further research is necessary.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a persistent pattern of behaviours characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. This study evaluates the effects of a tailored Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IYTCM) programme aimed to improve participating children’s on-task behaviour and literacy performance, as well as reducing ADHD symptoms in a group of 6 to 10 year old children with ADHD in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nine children, who were identified with ADHD symptoms on the basis of teacher and parental reports, were involved in the IYTCM-ADHD programme. The children’s behaviour symptoms were assessed using the Conners 3-T, Conners 3-P(S), SESBI-I, ECBI and SDQ. Ten teachers received the IYTCM-ADHD training in a full-day session once a week for 6 weeks. The children received individual behaviour plans implemented by their teachers with close supervision. A single-subject design was implemented to record the behaviour changes over time: at baseline, during teacher training with the IYTCM-ADHD programme, and at both immediate and long-term follow-ups. The on-task behaviour of children with ADHD and normative comparison children was recorded using Behavioural Observation of Students in Schools (BOSS). In addition to visual analysis, a non-parametric test Percentage of All Non-Overlapping Data (PAND) was used to examine the magnitude of effect in each child. The result of the study indicated that on-task behaviour of all the children with ADHD improved an average of 78% during the teacher training and this maintained during the follow-up phases. The children’s on-task behaviour also generalised to classrooms with non-trained teachers. Visual analysis indicated that the children’s behaviour was maintained during the follow-up phases. The pre- and post-intervention analyses of children with ADHD showed a significant effect of the intervention as a group. Clinical significance was obtained for more than half of the children on teacher reports of ADHD symptoms and conduct problems after the intervention. The literacy performance of all children with ADHD improved at the conclusion of the study. In light of the findings, limitations and implications for future research were discussed.

A growing disparity between the mental health needs of children and their lack of treatment served as the basis of this study. To address this existent gap, I proposed that child-centered play therapy (CCPT), a holistic treatment that fosters children's emotional, developmental, and social growth would serve as a viable treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of CCPT on problem behaviors among children identified with an intellectual disability. Specifically, a single case, A-B-A design (N = 2) was used to examine changes in participant's problem behaviors as measured on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) across conditions. Trained raters used the ABC to rate participant's problem behaviors 3 times per week during the course of this study. Participants completed 2 weeks of a no-intervention phase, 5 weeks of play therapy 3 times per week, and 2 weeks of a no-intervention maintenance phase. Additionally, participants were administered the Gesell Developmental Observation to assess their maturational age during the baseline and maintenance phases. Parents also completed the ABC during two intervals: baseline phase, and maintenance phase. Analysis of results indicated that problem behaviors decreased for both participants. Results from the percent of non-overlapping data (PND), an indice for effect size further revealed that play therapy was a very effective treatment for participants. Follow-up interviews suggested that play therapy is a viable intervention for children with intellectual disabilities and problem behaviors. Clinical observations and implications for future research are presented.

Although behavior analysts have studied the effects of motivation on preference assessments, consumer behaviorist have not. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of the temporary removal of a choice on the order and frequency of purchases after the candy returned. Seventy percent of the time the participant purchased the removed candy first and 60% of the time the participant purchased more than in the baseline.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) intervention activities that incorporate digital books to teach kindergarteners to read. The study used a single-subject-multiple-baseline-across-behaviors design to compare kindergarten students' reading of comparable CVC words before and after intervention. Four students at-risk for reading difficulties were chosen for the study based on their performance on assessments and their teachers' recommendations. Students were divided into two dyads and received intervention three times a week for 25 minutes for approximately six weeks, or 18 total sessions. Baseline assessment data was collected prior to intervention, and performance on each target was monitored through the same assessment task after every intervention session. Students received SEEL instruction on one set of word targets while a comparable set was kept at baseline phase. After six intervention sessions on the first set of word targets, a second set was introduced while the first set was monitored for maintenance. Finally, a third set of target words was introduced and taught in six sessions, and the first two sets of words were monitored for maintenance. Instruction involved using meaningful and interactive activities that incorporated playful practice, multiple exposures to targets, explicit statement of the goal, and reciprocal teacher-student exchanges where students' contributions were acknowledged and incorporated into the lesson or meaning construction. After being exposed to the target words (orally and in writing), children were provided with additional opportunities to read and write the words within digital books created on the iPad.

A preponderance of research points to the detrimental effects of distraction on driving performance. An interesting question is whether practice can improve distracted driving. The results from the few longitudinal simulator-based research studies conducted on driving distraction have been inconclusive. This may be because practice effects could be confounded with participants adapting to driving in the simulator. Therefore, participants in the current studies were trained until performance reached a steady state prior to introducing the distracters. In this dissertation, two single-subject design studies were used to investigate the effects of training on distracted driving. The first study included two participants who experienced several different types of distracters. In the second study distracters were introduced before and after the training phase. The two distracters selected for Study 2 included conversing on a handheld phone and texting on a touchscreen phone continuously while driving in a city scenario. Previous research has not compared texting to phone, has had relatively little examination of texting and driving alone, and has primarily focused on hands-free phones and on highway settings. Participants drove on a city route which they had previously memorized to add realism to the driving task. Measures collected included speed maintenance, lane deviations/position errors, stop errors, and turn errors in both studies. In Study 2, subjective workload and reaction time were also collected. Findings indicated that training improved performance substantially for all participants in both studies compared to the initial baseline. Participants who experienced six and even nine sessions of the initial baseline did not necessarily improve more than those who only had three sessions. Performance for some participants did not improve in the initial baseline. The lower iii error levels in training remained fairly stable in subsequent baselines showing that actual learning did occur. Texting had higher error levels than phone both pre and post-training. There were no practice effects noticed for the distracters post-training for any of the participants, and in fact errors increased across sessions for phone and especially texting in Study 2. Training helped improve performance during the phone distraction more so than texting overall, although this varied for different dependent measures. Although errors were reduced after training in the distracter phases, the data actually showed that the performance difference between the baselines and the distracters pre-training was smaller than the differences post-training. Based on these findings, it is recommended that researchers conducting driving simulation research systematically train their participants on driving the simulator before they begin data collection.

The Good Behavior Game and Tootling are two intervention techniques rooted in behavioral theory that are widely used for class wide behavior management purposes. Few studies have evaluated the use of these classwide behavior management interventions with the addition of a technological component or when applied to a post-secondary education setting. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the Good Behavior Game with ClassDojo and Tootling with ClassDojo for increasing academic engagement and decreasing problem behavior in a post-secondary classroom. Participants included emerging adult students (19-24 years-old) with intellectual disabilities in a Comprehensive Transitional Program at a major university. An alternating treatment design was implemented to compare the intervention conditions to both a baseline and an ongoing control conditions. Results, limitations of the study, implication for practice, and future research are discussed.

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