The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) can be used to enhance visual analysis of single-case research (SCR) designs. First, the authors demonstrated the use of growth modeling via HLM to augment visual analysis of a sophisticated single-case study. Data were used from a delayed multiple baseline design, across groups of participants, with an embedded changing criterion design in a single-case literacy project for students with moderate intellectual disabilities (MoID). Visual analysis revealed a functional relation between instruction and sight-word acquisition for all students. Growth HLM quantified relations at the group level and revealed additional information that included statistically significant variability among students at initial-baseline probe and also among growth trajectories within treatment subphases. Growth HLM showed that receptive vocabulary was a significant predictor of initial knowledge of sight words, and print knowledge significantly predicted growth rates in both treatment subphases. Next, to show the benefits of combining these methodologies to examine a different behavioral topography within a more commonly used SCR design, the authors used repeated-measures HLM and visual analysis to examine simulated data within an ABAB design. Visual analysis revealed a functional relation between a hypothetical intervention (e.g., token reinforcement) and a hypothetical dependent variable (e.g., performance of a target response). HLM supported the existence of a functional relation through tests of statistical significance and detected significant variance among participants' response to the intervention that would be impossible to identify visually. This study highlights the relevance of these procedures to the identification of evidence-based interventions.
In 1968 Baer, Wolf, and Risley identified several important dimensions of research in Applied Behavior Analysis. It is applied, behavioral, analytic, technological, conceptually systematic, effective, and results in some form of generalization. Behavior analysts need to study behaviors that society deems important to change as opposed to behaviors that are studied because they are convenient. However, society rarely provides easily manipulated settings and behaviors solely for the purpose of scientific replication; therefore, much applied research is conducted in analogue settings. Unfortunately, analogue settings remove the individual from the social environments that are supporting the behavior of interest. As a result, when behavior is changed in analogue settings, it may not generalize to the individuals' social, educational, and vocational settings.Functional communication training (FCT) is an effective, well-researched, technological procedure for replacing inappropriate behaviors with appropriate communication skills (Bird, Dores, Moniz, & Robinson, 1989;Carr & Durand, 1985). Using FCT, an aberrant behavior can be eliminated while an individual learns an appropriate replacement behavior that maintains the same social effects (Durand & Carr, 1991). FCT was introduced in 1985, and by the 1990s research teams began exploring the effects of FCT in analogue settings with different topographies of behaviors and subgroups of individuals with disabilities (Hagopian, Fisher, Sullivan, Acquisto, & LeBlanc, 1998;Wacker et al., 1990). This first-generation research in analogue settings was important for developing a technologically sound procedure. Although the technology has been shown to be effective, communication skills learned in these analogue settings do not always generalize to the natural setting, leading to secondgeneration research issues (Hagopian et al., 1998).Typically, prior to FCT a functional analysis (FA) is conducted to determine the maintaining variable for the aberrant behavior and once the maintaining variable is ascertained, a more socially acceptable behavior is taught that produces the same reinforcement. However, functional relations identified in analogue FA settings may not match those that 97P BI14310.1177/1098300711429597Davis rventions ies AbstractThis study investigated the effects of functional communication training (FCT) implemented with concurrent schedules of differing magnitudes of reinforcement in lieu of extinction to reduce inappropriate behaviors and increase alternative mands. Participants were four adolescent students diagnosed with severe emotional and behavior disorders (SEBD), and mild to severe intellectual disabilities. Functional analyses revealed inappropriate behaviors as escape maintained. During subsequent FCT, the reinforcement provided for inappropriate behaviors was escape from task for 30 s (S R-). The reinforcement for the alternative mand was a 30-s escape from task during which access to a preferred activity was provided (S R-/PA). Results for three of the p...
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