Purpose of the Award
- To support and encourage research efforts in behavior
analysis among graduate students in California
- To promote Skinnerian science
- To boost the overall quality of academic research in
behavior analysis
- To provide recognition for students conducting
behavior analytic research (through a publication in the online newsletter
Operants)
Criteria
- Applicants must be attending a graduate-level program in California.
- Applicants must be members of CalABA.
- The proposal must be for a student-driven research
project, thesis or dissertation approved by their
department of study.
- Applicants do not have to be in a behavior analysis
graduate program, but the research must be behavior
analytic in nature. Consideration will be given to
proposals that describe research with a focus on
observable and measurable behavior (or the products
thereof) as the dependent variable and the
manipulation of well-defined environmental events as
independent variables. Both applied and basic
research proposals are encouraged. Applied research
proposals should correspond to the guidelines
suggested by Baer, Wolf, and Risley
(1968,
1987).
Basic research proposals should correspond to the criteria
set forth in
Sidman (1960/1988). Those submitting
proposals are encouraged to look to the
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
or the
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior for examples of
behavior analytic research.
In order to be accepted, the packet must contain:
- A cover letter with the student's contact information,
where they are attending school, their program of
study, and what they intend to do with the
award. The award can be used for almost
anything, but preference will be given to direct
research-related use, such as equipment, software,
paying data collectors, purchasing reinforcers for
participants, etc. For equipment or software, explain
how it will be used in the research project. (One page.)
- A letter of support from a supervising faculty. The
letter should attest to the fact that the research is
replicating/expanding knowledge in the field of
behavior analysis.
- An Abstract (500 words or fewer), outlining their
research project.
- An Introduction indicating why this research is
important, how it relates to Baer et al.
(1968,
1987)
or
Sidman (1960/1988), some supporting
literature, and the research question. (No more than 3
pages.)
- A Methods section indicating the design (ABAB,
multiple baseline, etc.), the number of proposed
participants, from where the participants will be
recruited, the general timeline of the research, and
an overview of the procedures that will be used.
Exacting details are not needed, but the reviewer
should be able to determine the feasibility of the
study from the information provided. (No more than 3
pages.)
Submission Procedures
- The materials including the cover letter, Abstract,
Introduction, Methods, and References sections must be
sent as a Word email attachment to info@calaba.org.
- The entire email packet should not exceed 9 pages,
including the reference page.
- The Abstract, Introduction, and Methods sections must
be double-spaced, in a manuscript 12-point font (such as Times New Roman)
with margins set at 1 inch.
- The faculty letter of support should be sent to:
California Association for Behavior Analysis
630 Quintana Rd., #118
Morro Bay, CA 93442
OR it may be emailed, from the supporting professor's
email address, to info@calaba.org.
References
Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968).
Some current dimensions of
applied behavior analysis.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91-97.
Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1987).
Some still-current
dimensions of applied behavior analysis.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 20, 313-328.
Sidman, M. (1988).
Tactics of scientific research.
Sarasota, FL: Authors Cooperative. (Original work published 1960)
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2010
Lesley A. Macpherson
California State University, Sacramento
A Comparison of Response Interruption and Redirection on Vocal and Motor Stereotypy
Stereotypy has been defined as repetitive vocal or motor behaviors that are noncontextual with
invariant topographies
(LaGrow & Repp, 1984). Stereotypy can be exhibited by both typically
and nontypically developing individuals; however, stereotypy exhibited by individuals with
developmental disabilities has been found to be detrimental in a variety of areas. Consequently, a
large body of literature has examined interventions to reduce levels of stereotypic behaviors. For
example, both reinforcement and a variety of punishment procedures have been implemented to
redirect and block stereotypic behaviors. Specifically,
Ahearn, Clark, MacDonald, and Chung (2007)
implemented a treatment package consisting of response interruption and redirection
(RIRD) and reinforcement for appropriate vocalizations, as a method to successfully reduce
vocal stereotypy in children with autism. Moreover, concomitant increases in appropriate
vocalizations were also reported. Nevertheless, only two studies have utilized this treatment
package as a method for stereotypy reduction. Results of these studies have suggested that the
topography of the demands to interrupt and redirect must match the topography of stereotypy to
successfully reduce. Therefore, the current investigation will replicate Ahearn et al. and extend
his findings to individuals who engage in either vocal or motor stereotypy. Specifically, both
vocal and motor RIRD procedures will be compared to determine whether the topography of
demands must match the topography of the stereotypic behavior. Likewise, concomitant
increases in appropriate behaviors will also be reported. Results from these comparisons will
reveal the necessity of providing topographically similar demands as incompatible responses and
whether they produce behavioral contrast.
References
Ahearn, W. H., Clark, K. M., MacDonald, R. P. F., & Chung, B. (2007).
Assessing and treating vocal stereotypy in children
with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40(2), 263-275.
LaGrow, S. J., & Repp, A. C. (1984).
Stereotypic responding: A review of intervention research. American Journal of
Mental Deficiency, 88(6), 595-609.
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2010
Marla D. Saltzman
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles
An Evaluation of Multiple Exemplar Training on the Emergence of Reverse Foreign-Language
Intraverbals and Listener Responding
The intraverbal is defined as a verbal response under the control of an antecedent verbal
stimulus, with no point to point correspondence with that stimulus
(Skinner, 1957/2002)
In many
intraverbal relations, the stimulus and response may be reversed, resulting in two relations; an
original intraverbal (e.g., responding, "mesa," given the verbal stimulus, "table") and a reversal
(e.g., responding, "table," given the verbal stimulus, "mesa"). Though some educators may expect
to see emergence of reverse intraverbals following original intraverbal training, results of the few
studies in this area suggest that a history of multiple exemplar training (MET) with both original
and reverse intraverbals may be required for the emergence of such relations. The purpose of the
present investigation is to examine the effects of two types of foreign-language intraverbal
training on the emergence reverse intraverbals and foreign-language listener responding.
Participants will be six typically developing, English-speaking preschool aged children with little
history with the French language. In the original intraverbal training condition, children will be
taught to emit French names of objects given their spoken English names. In the multiple
exemplar training condition, children will be taught both English-French and corresponding
French-English intraverbal relations. A multiple baseline design across participants will be used to
examine the effects of original and multiple exemplar intraverbal training on the emergence of
reverse (French-English) intraverbals and French listener responding. It is hoped that the findings
and implications of this investigation will be of use, not only to those concerned with second
language instruction, but to general and special educators of students of all ages concerned with
establishing bidirectional intraverbal relations.
References
Skinner, B. F. (2002).
Verbal behavior.
Cambridge, MA: B. F. Skinner Foundation. (Original work published 1957)
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2009
Jared Coon
California State University, Sacramento
The Role of Increased Exposure to and Reinforcement History with Transfer of Stimulus Control
Procedures to Teach Intraverbal Behavior
The intraverbal was described by
Skinner (1957/2002)
as an elementary verbal operant
controlled by verbal discriminative stimuli and has no point-to-point correspondence with the
preceding verbal stimulus. Methods used to directly train intraverbal behavior have used tact,
echoic, and textual prompts to successfully transfer control to the desired antecedent verbal
stimulus. However, only a few studies have compared the effectiveness of differing stimulus
prompts to teach intraverbal responses. The results of these studies have been mixed suggesting
the possibility that previous exposure to specific prompt types may play a role in determining
which prompt type will be most effective in facilitating transfer of control to teach intraverbal
responses. The current research will investigate the effects of controlled overexposure and longer
reinforcement history associated with an initially less effective prompt type (i.e. tact vs. echoic)
using a single-subject multielement design. Results from an initial comparison of tact and echoic
prompts to teach two sets of intraverbal responses will reveal which prompting method is more
efficient. In a second phase, the prompt type shown to be less expeditious will then be used to
train additional sets of intraverbal responses. Finally, both prompt methods will again be utilized
to teach novel sets of intraverbal responses and number of trails to criterion measured. Results of
this final training session will reveal whether the overtraining condition would alter the efficacy
of each prompting procedure method to teach intraverbal responses.
References
Skinner, B. F. (2002).
Verbal behavior.
Cambridge, MA: B. F. Skinner Foundation. (Original work published 1957)
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