Training behavioral technicians to implement naturalistic behavioral interventions using behavioral skills training

Abstract

Training behavioral technicians mainly focuses on teaching accurate implementation of structured behavioral intervention programs. Often behavioral technicians are unable to adequately promote their clients' learning in less structured environments, which can limit opportunities for generalization of the clients' skills to the natural environment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using behavioral skills training to coach behavioral technicians on the implementation of naturalistic behavioral interventions. Naturalistic behavioral interventions take advantage of naturally occurring situations to teach new skills and practice mastered skills in natural settings, thus promoting generalization across environments and in the presence of natural contingencies. Five behavioral technicians were trained to implement a novel protocol based on play therapy. Specifically, they were coached to engage in well-defined positive behaviors during their interactions with clients (e.g., labeled praise). All participants reached mastery criteria, maintained skills at follow-up, and demonstrated generalization of skills with novel clients. KEYWORDS behavioral skills training, early intervention, incidental teaching, naturalistic behavioral interventions, staff training The authors have no conflict of interest to report. This study was conducted in compliance with ethical guidelines of the Institutional Review Board of Florida Institute of Technology under approval #17-208.

The effects of video modeling on staff implementation of behavioral procedures in China

“…A limitation of the present study is the absence of child measures. Without this data, it is unclear as to whether increases in therapists' fidelity of implementation resulted in any changes in child behavior (Jimenez‐Gomez et al, 2019). Future research on therapist training should include child measures to determine whether increases in therapist fidelity lead to better child outcomes.…”

Using behavioral skills training to teach implementation of behavioral interventions to teachers and other professionals: A systematic review

“…Ninety percent of studies (n = 18) implemented all BST components as a complete training package, while 10% of studies (n = 2) implemented instruction as a separate phase in the research design (Hogan et al, 2015;Nabeyama & Sturmey, 2010). Ninety percent of studies (n = 18) reported percentage of correct responses as the primary dependent variable, while one study reported percentage of positive interactions as the primary dependent variable (Jimenez-Gomez et al, 2019), and one study reported rate-per-minute of staff behavior as the primary dependent variable (Melendez et al, 2020). Examples of measured outcomes from specific studies included percentage of correct responses for DTT, percentage of steps implemented correctly in a reading racetrack intervention, percentage of steps performed correctly in a NLP intervention, and percentage correct implementation of response interruption and redirection (RIRD) for stereotypy.…”

“…Generalization was assessed in 45% (n = 9) of studies and was scored based on author-provided definitions of gen- Maintenance was assessed in 45% (n = 9) of studies and was scored based on author-provided definitions of maintenance. Of those studies that assessed maintenance, 89% (n = 8) had sufficient overall quality/rigor and outcome ratings for their maintenance findings to be interpreted with confidence (see Figure 4; Aherne & Beaulieu, 2019;Davenport et al, 2019;Hassan et al, 2017;Homlitas et al, 2014;Jimenez-Gomez et al, 2019;Melendez et al, 2020;Nabeyama & Sturmey, 2010;Palmen et al, 2010). Three out of nine studies received scores indicating that maintenance data were collected at least 1 week, but less than one month after intervention was completed.…”

“…In sum, the highest quality studies with the best outcomes fall in quadrant two rigor and outcome ratings for their generalization findings to be interpreted with confidence (Fetherston & Sturmey, 2014 [all three studies];Gianoumis et al, 2012;Nabeyama & Sturmey, 2010;Nigro-Bruzzi & Sturmey, 2010;Palmen et al, 2010;Sarokoff & Sturmey, 2008). Generalization was assessed across untrained responses(n = 4; Fetherston & Sturmey, 2014 [all three experiments];Palmen et al, 2010), individuals (n = 4;Gianoumis et al, 2012;Jimenez-Gomez et al, 2019;Nabeyama & Sturmey, 2010;Sarokoff & Sturmey, 2008), and contexts (n = 1; Nigro-Bruzzi & Sturmey, 2010). For seven out of nine studies, generalization was measured in the context of the study design, for one study it was measured pre and post intervention, and for one study generalization was measured after the maintenance condition only.…”

A Cultural Generalization: An Effective Training for Staff Integrity on DTT in the Application of the PEAK in Brazil

“…Behavioral skills training (BST) is an established, evidencebased staff training methodology (Sarokoff & Sturmey, 2004;Jimenez-Gomez, McGarry, Crochet, & Chong, 2019). BST consists of instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback (Himle et al, 2004).…”