Development of vocalizations in early learners with autism is critical to the acquisition of verbal behavior and other important life skills. The purpose of the present studies was to (1) evaluate the efficiency and efficacy of Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing (SSP) and standard Echoic Training (ET) procedures for the development and onset of verbal behavior in early learners with ASD to improve early intervention efficiency and (2) elucidate predictive characteristics or variables for the effective use of SSP. The present studies were comprised of a multiple-baseline (across behaviors) experimental design buttressed within a reversal design, also known more broadly as within-subject controlled experimental designs. It was found that SSP can have a greater treatment efficacy than ET, but any efficacy advantage is transitory. Shifting an SSP treatment to direct reinforcement contingencies once vocalizations are produced are likely the most effective strategy. SSP produces discrepant effects across learners, thus highlighting the need to assess a learner’s characteristics and assumed reinforcer effectiveness. It was also found that higher-functioning learners will benefit more greatly from ET as opposed to SSP.

Direct-care staff working with individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) are frequently exposed to challenging behavior from residents and expected to respond correctly to challenging resident behavior, but often receive insufficient training due to lack of resources and high staff turnover (e.g., Collins, 2012; Collins, Higbee, & Salzberg, 2009; Haberlin, Beauchamp, Agnew, & O’Brien, 2009; Pelletier, McNamara, Braga-Kenyon, & Ahearn, 2010). Training methods such as Behavioral Skills Training (BST) are highly intrusive and require high amounts of resources (e.g., Parsens, Rollyson, & Reid, 2012). Research suggests technological based alternatives are more cost effective, decreases training time and response effort from management, and increases distance learning opportunities and dissemination capabilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a hierarchical training model that incorporated video modeling, video modeling+assessment, and BST to train behavior management strategies for direct-care staff working with adults with developmental disabilities. Subjects were exposed to the most cost effective training approach first (i.e., video model) and sequentially moved to more intrusive methods (i.e., video model+assessment, & BST) as needed. All subjects implemented behavior management strategies with fidelity after exposure to technological based training alternatives (i.e., video model, video mdoel+assessment).

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) is defined as employee behavior that benefits others yet is not required by the employee’s job description. OCB can be divided into two categories: behavior that is either directed toward individuals (OCBI) or behavior that is directed toward the organization (OCBO). Researchers have posited that there are three different motives behind OCB: impression management, prosocial values, and organizational concern. Additionally, researchers have recognized the importance of coworker relationships within organizations and have suggested that the degree to which one likes his or her coworkers may serve as an additional source of motivation to engage in different types of OCB. This research consisted of two studies investigating the effect of motive and coworker liking on intention to engage in OCBO and OCBI. Participants in both studies read a vignette manipulating motive and degree of coworker liking. The second study incorporated two additional items in the manipulation check to increase the saliency of the coworker liking manipulation. In both Study 1 and Study 2 participants were more likely to engage in OCBO than in OCBI. Both studies failed to support the hypotheses that either motive or degree of liking would predict the type of OCB performed.

This study investigated effects of commercially available picture activity schedules (PAS) and system of least prompts (SLP) to teach recreation skills to four high school students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and intellectual disabilities using Lego sets. Results were evaluated through a multiple probe across participants design and indicate that a combination of PAS and SLP was effective for teaching the students to build Lego sets. All students improved their ability to build and were able to generalize the skill to novel sets after the completion of intervention. Limitations and implications for future practioners are discussed.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the role of suicide-related mental imagery in suicidal behavior. It was hypothesized that engagement (frequency, emotional impact, vividness, realism) with suicidal imagery would be related to suicidality, with greater engagement with imagery associated with more suicidal behaviors. Acquired capability for suicide was expected to be a mediator of this relationship. These hypotheses were tested by surveying 237 undergraduate university students (59% female; mean age = 20). Students completed a packet of self-report measures: The Modified Suicidal Cognitions Interview, The Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale, and the Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire. Results suggested that engagement with suicide-related imagery was positively correlated with suicidality. The correlational analyses showed that an additional mediational analysis was unwarranted. The implications of these findings are that understanding suicide-related mental imagery could play an important role in clinical risk assessment and treatment for suicidality, and that further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the relationship between suicide-related mental imagery and suicidal behavior.

Due to the immense challenges faced by young children who exhibit emotion regulation problems, prevention programs have been designed to train teachers on strategies useful for improving classroom behavior. The current study examines the effects of a prevention program implemented in a blended Head Start/daycare setting and evaluates the outcomes of the training on children’s cognitive/preliteracy skills, selfregulation, and social competence in the fall and spring following teacher training. The intervention group (Western Kentucky University Child Care Center) and control group (Bryant Way Child Care Center) were part of a blended Head Start/child care preschool program. Children’s self-regulation, social competence, and cognitive/preliteracy skills were assessed in the Fall and Spring of the school year. Children in the intervention group exhibited better cognitive/preliteracy skills as shown by results on Woodcock- Johnson subtests. Teacher ratings on the ERC showed that girls improved in teacher reported self-regulation, the control group received higher scores on teacher rated lability than did the intervention group, and boys were rated higher on the lability scale than were girls. In addition, Head Start children were rated higher in emotional lability than were daycare children. Teacher ratings on the SCBE scale indicated that children received higher teacher ratings of social competence in the Spring than in the Fall and girls were rated higher than were boys. Additionally, children received lower internalizing behavior problem ratings in the Fall than in the Spring, Head Start children were rated higher in internalizing behavior problems than children in daycare, and boys in the control group received higher ratings of internalizing problem behaviors than those received by any other group. Furthermore, children in the control group were rated higher than children in the intervention group in externalizing problem behaviors in both Fall and Spring, but neither group showed a significant change in externalizing problem behaviors from Fall to Spring. Self-regulation enables children to inhibit inappropriate emotional outbursts as well as control their reactions to situations. Understanding children’s self-regulation skills is of vast importance to individuals in the field of education as the information provides practitioners the opportunity to improve children’s self-regulation in the preschool years.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the personality traits that are associated with socioeconomic mobility, specifically pertaining to individuals from working class backgrounds. Socioeconomic mobility is an important issue to examine due to the persistence of intergenerational poverty and the difficulty with which to resolve it. Extensive research explicitly shows the dilemma of intergenerational transmission of poverty exists and continues to persist regardless of revised policies. Many aspects each individual experiences have been proven to affect economic attainment, such as race, family background, parental efficacy, social discrimination, area of residency, welfare, education, and intelligence. Although these are recognized in this paper, they are, for the most part, ignored as determinants, as the focus is on the personality traits defining the upwardly mobile, and similar characteristics exist, even while disregarding the above ignored qualities. Mainly social identity theory and identity theory, but also motivational theory, personal efficacy theories, and other related theories, have determined social participation, perception of social class and poverty, control of emotions, impulse control, personal efficacy, social identity, motivation, victimization and dependence or the lack thereof, are all major determinants of mobility.

The present study evaluated the use of a self-instructional manual supported by a computer-aided personalized system of instruction (CAPSI) for teaching Discrete-Trials Teaching (DTT) to university students. Prior to studying the manual, five participants taught three tasks, commonly taught to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), to a confederate role-playing a child with an ASD. Using the Discrete-Trials Teaching Evaluation Form (DTTEF), the main researcher assessed the participants’ ability to perform DTT accurately. Subsequently, participants studied a self-instructional manual using CAPSI to demonstrate mastery of study questions about DTT. Finally, participants once again attempted to teach the three tasks to a confederate role-playing a child with an ASD. Overall mean baseline accuracy on the DTTEF was 54.86%, and improved to 84.73% in post-treatment, a 30% improvement. Participants’ self-recorded study time was an average of 12 hours and 48 minutes. The results suggest that CAPSI is an effective educational tool for the delivery of the self-instructional manual. Future research should investigate (1) how to make CAPSI even more effective, and (2) whether these results can be generalized to other populations such as ABA tutors, parents, and paraprofessionals working with children with ASD.

The effects of a video modeling intervention, given to six children with ASD, were evaluated through a multiple-baseline and multiple-probe design across children. The research targeted teaching children with ASD to assertively respond to physical bullying, verbal bullying, and social exclusion, as well as telling one’s mother. In baseline, the participants demonstrated inconsistent to no skills for responding to the bullying in the vignette movies (SAAS) and the generalization probe skits. During intervention the participants watched a video of a person assertively responding to bullying, and were assessed through VM questions and SAAS. Post-intervention the children participated in generalization probe skits. The researcher and a blind rater scored the participants’ responses using a four-point scale. A pre-intervention survey of bullying was also given to the parents to assess their child’s victimization. The results showed that video modeling effectively taught all of the participants to assertively respond to bullying and resulted in generalization for 4 of the 6 participants.

Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) engage in problem behaviors (e.g., aggression and self-injurious behavior) that present safety concerns for both the children themselves and others around them. Previous research has shown that treating precursor behaviors that precede problem behavior may prove to be an alternative, safer method for preventing and treating problem behavior. The present study used a multiple baseline design across subjects (n = 4) to assess the efficacy of relaxation interventions on reducing precursor behavior and preventing problem behavior in children with ASD. Researchers first identified precursor behaviors for all participants through observation. During the intervention phase, all four children were taught deep breathing relaxation exercises. After participants received relaxation training, researchers cued relaxation exercises when precursors occurred, and the frequency of precursor, problem, and on-task behavior was observed. Results showed that problem behavior decreased in all participants following the relaxation intervention. Additionally, for the majority of participants, precursor behavior decreased and on-task behavior increased post-intervention. Implications for practice and future research on interventions that target precursor behaviors are discussed.