Children who engage in problem behavior are often educated in the public schools. A trial-based functional analysis (TBFA) is an experimental functional analysis whereby conditions are embedded into scheduled activities of the school day to identify environmental variables responsible for problem behavior. To be included in this process, it is important that staff are trained effectively and efficiently. Computer-based instruction (CBI) offers several advantages as a staff training tool including less training time, less required supervision, and permits self-paced and individualized training. The efficacy of CBI on procedures of TBFA to practitioners remains unknown. We evaluated the efficacy of CBI teaching procedures of TBFA with 20 practitioners. Results indicate that CBI is an effective and efficient staff training procedure as post-test scores increased following the CBI training across participants with a mean training duration of less than an hour. Three practitioners successfully implemented four conditions of a TBFA with a confederate following CBI training. Following completion of the study, respondents ranked procedures of the CBI as socially valid.

The current text deals with the assessment of consistency of data features from experimentally similar phases and consistency of effects in single-case experimental designs. Although consistency is frequently mentioned as a critical feature, few quantifications have been proposed so far: namely, under the acronyms CONDAP (consistency of data patterns in similar phases) and CONEFF (consistency of effects). Whereas CONDAP allows assessing the consistency of data patterns, the proposals made here focus on the consistency of data features such as level, trend, and variability, as represented by summary measures (mean, ordinary least squares slope, and standard deviation, respectively). The assessment of consistency of effect is also made in terms of these three data features, while also including the study of the consistency of an immediate effect (if expected). The summary measures are represented as points on a modified Brinley plot and their similarity is assessed via quantifications of distance. Both absolute and relative measures of consistency are proposed: the former expressed in the same measurement units as the outcome variable and the latter as a percentage. Illustrations with real data sets (multiple baseline, ABAB, and alternating treatments designs) show the wide applicability of the proposals. We developed a user-friendly website to offer both the graphical representations and the quantifications.

Inclusive postsecondary education programs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are proliferating across the United States. Although college can be a formative time for any student, there has been limited research on the growth that college students with IDD may experience during their time on campus. We address this gap by using a longitudinal design to examine the adaptive behavior, self-determination, executive functioning, and social skills of college students with IDD across three points in time-upon initial entry into the program, at the end of their first year, and at the end of their second year. Analyses suggested significant improvements in adaptive behavior and self-determination across the first year of the program. We offer recommendations for research and practice aimed at documenting and promoting growth for students with IDD throughout their collegiate experience.

Improvements in the quantification and visual analysis of data, plotted across non-standardized graphs, are possible with the equations introduced in this paper. Equation 1 (an expression of graphic scale variability) forms part of the foundation for Equation 2 (an expansion on the traditional calculation of the tangent inverse of a line's algebraic slope). These equations provide clarification regarding aspects of "slope" and graphic scaling that have previously confused mathematicians. The apparent lack of correspondence between geometric slope (the angle of inclination) and algebraic slope (the m in y = mx + b) on "non-homogeneous" graphs (graphs where the scale values/distances on the y-axis are not the same as on the x-axis) is identified and directly resolved. This is important because nearly all behavior analytic graphs are "non-homogeneous" and problems with consistent visual inspection of such graphs have yet to be fully resolved. This paper shows how the precise geometric slope for any trend line on any non-homogeneous graph can quickly be determined-potentially improving the quantification and visual analysis of treatment effects in terms of the amount/magnitude of change in slope/variability. The equations herein may also be used to mathematically control for variability inherent in a graph's idiosyncratic construction, and thus facilitate valid comparison of data plotted on various non-standard graphs constructed with very different axes scales-both within and across single case design research studies. The implications for future research and the potential for improving effect size measures and meta-analyses in single-subject research are discussed.

Timeout is an effective behavior-reduction strategy with considerable generality. However, little is known about how timeout is implemented under natural conditions, or how errors in implementation impact effectiveness. During Experiment 1, we observed teachers implementing timeout during play to evaluate how frequently the teachers implemented timeout following target behavior (omission errors) and other behaviors (commission errors) for four children. Teachers rarely implemented timeout; thus, omission errors were frequent, but commission errors rarely occurred. During Experiment 2, we used a reversal design to compare timeout implemented with 0% omission integrity, 100% integrity, and the level of omission integrity observed to occur during Experiment 1 for two of the participants. Timeout implemented with reduced-integrity decreased problem behavior relative to baseline, suggesting that infrequent teacher implementation of timeout may have been sufficient to reduce problem behavior.

Consistency is one of the crucial single-case data aspects that are expected to be assessed visually, when evaluating the presence of an intervention effect. Complementarily to visual inspection, there have been recent proposals for quantifying the consistency of data patterns in similar phases and the consistency of effects for reversal, multiple-baseline, and changing criterion designs. The current text continues this line of research by focusing on alternation designs using block randomization. Specifically, three types of consistency are discussed: consistency of superiority of one condition over another, consistency of the average level across blocks, and consistency in the magnitude of the effect across blocks. The focus is put especially on the latter type of consistency, which is quantified on the basis of partitioning the variance, as attributed to the intervention, to the blocking factor or remaining as residual (including the interaction between the intervention and the blocks). Several illustrations with real and fictitious data are provided in order to make clear the meaning of the quantification proposed. Moreover, specific graphical representations are recommend for complementing the numerical assessment of consistency. A freely available user-friendly webpage is developed for implementing the proposal.

Behavioural Activation (BA) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) aim to reduce the inflexible avoidance of painful thoughts, feelings and memories and to encourage involvement in relevant activities, objectives which are clearly relevant to the situation of cancer survivors with emotional problems. With a view to evaluating and comparing the efficacy of both therapies, applied on a group basis, a randomized controlled trial was developed. Cancer survivors (age 18-65 years) with anxiety and/or depression were assigned at random to two experimental groups (BA; ACT) and a waiting list control group (WL). Of the 66 cancer survivors randomized to trial (intention-to-treat sample), 46 participants (M = 51.49; SD = 6.88) completed the intervention (BA, n = 17; ACT, n = 12; WL, n = 17) (per-protocol sample). The emotional state, experiential avoidance and behavioural activation of the participants was evaluated in the pre- and post-treatment and in a 3-month follow-up using standardized instruments. Both treatment groups showed statistically significant changes, indicating an improvement in all the result variables in the post-treatment and follow-up as compared to the pre-treatment. BA showed better results than ACT regarding impact on anxiety and activation. This greater efficacy may have been due to factors such as the emphasis placed in BA on behavioural activation and the central role played in it by functional analysis. The key role played by experiential avoidance and behavioral activation in the maintenance and treatment of emotional problems in cancer survivors is discussed. Raw data are available online (http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/m7w688khs8.1).

Several studies have used interdependent group contingencies to decrease disruptive behavior and increase appropriate behavior for groups of adolescents. In addition, one study demonstrated that rules plus feedback about rule violations, without additional group contingencies, decreased problem behavior and increased appropriate behavior for adolescents in three classrooms within a residential juvenile facility. Given the rapid behavior change observed in the aforementioned study, it is possible behavior changes were produced by reactivity to obtrusive observation from program implementers. To address this question, we used two A-B designs in conjunction with the conservative dual-criterion (CDC) method to evaluate the extent to which obtrusive observation alone and rules, without systematic consequences, decreased problem behaviors in two classrooms within a residential juvenile facility. Results from visual and CDC analyses indicate that (a) obtrusive observation did not affect problem behavior in either classroom and (b) rules decreased problem behavior in both classrooms and increased appropriate behavior in one classroom. In addition, a measure of social validity indicated that the procedures and outcomes were acceptable to the classroom teacher.

Researchers examined the effects of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) to teach students with learning disabilities (LD) to compose persuasive quick-writing about text. The study included a multiple-baseline design with multiple probes for eight students with LD in grades four and five. Researchers observed a functional relationship by systematically replicating the intervention across all student participants. Following SRSD instruction for paraphrasing text and persuasive quick-writing, students increased their persuasive writing outcomes. Improvements were also noted for essay quality and writing length. Implications for future integrated writing and reading interventions are provided.

Quality standards for single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) recommend inspecting six data aspects: level, trend, variability, overlap, immediacy, and consistency of data patterns. The data aspect consistency has long been neglected by visual and statistical analysts of SCEDs despite its importance for inferring a causal relationship. However, recently a first quantification has been proposed in the context of A-B-A-B designs, called CONsistency of DAta Patterns (CONDAP). In the current paper, we extend the existing CONDAP measure for assessing consistency in designs with more than two successive A-B elements (e.g., A-B-A-B-A-B), multiple baseline designs, and changing criterion designs. We illustrate each quantification with published research.