Behaviorally-designed educational programs are often based on a research tradition that is not widely understood by potential users of the programs. Though the data may be sound and the prediction of outcomes for individual learners quite good, those advocating adoption of behaviorally-designed educational programs may need to do more in order to…

Reading comprehension can be considered a complex human performance involving two integrated repertoires: a verbal repertoire and an investigative (generative) repertoire. The analytical and reasoning skills necessary to demonstrate reading comprehension can be systematically taught by analyzing the verbal and investigative repertoires involved…

Reading comprehension can be considered a complex human performance involving two integrated repertoires: a verbal repertoire and an investigative (generative) repertoire. This paper describes the theoretical framework that formed the guiding foundation for the development of Headsprout[R] Reading Comprehension and to the authors' approach to…

Problem solving, reasoning, and analytical thinking are defined and described as teachable repertoires. This paper describes work performed at a school serving special needs children, Morningside Academy, that has resulted in specific procedures developed over the past 15 years. These procedures include modifying "Think Aloud Pair Problem Solving"…

The American government set new standards mandating States to demonstrate adequate yearly progress for all students with the inception of the No Child Left Behind Act. To be eligible for the more recent Race to the Top funds, states must show, in part, a commitment to "building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform…

Many learners with autism exhibit fluency deficits that manifest in several ways including laborious motor responses, long response durations and long latencies in responding. Such deficits can result in poor learning and social outcomes. This article discusses the application of rate-building instruction and key fluency concepts to remediate such…

Precision teaching emerged from O.R. Lindsley's pristine application of Skinner's natural science of behavior, with a focus on response rate measurement and free operant procedures. When applied with human learners in instructional settings, these first principles led to a series of developments framed in this paper as four kinds of ceilings that…

This article provides a particular view on the use of Functional Analytical Psychotherapy (FAP) in a group therapy format. This view is based on the author's experiences as a supervisor of Functional Analytical Psychotherapy Groups, including groups for women with depression and groups for chronic pain patients. The contexts in which this approach…

In recent years, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the definition and independence of Positive Behavioral Supports (PBS) within the context of behavioral intervention. Specifically, behavior analysts have argued over whether PBS is subsumed within Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) or whether it can be considered a separate…

The application of modelling to social learning in monkey populations has been a neglected topic. Recently, however, a number of statistical, simulation and analytical approaches have been developed to help examine social learning processes, putative traditions, the use of social learning strategies and the diffusion dynamics of socially…

Resurgence refers to the recovery of previously extinguished responding when a recently reinforced response is extinguished. Although the topic of resurgence has received limited experimental attention, there recently have been an increased number of investigations involving the topic. This increased experimental attention also has been…

Many researchers and clinicians believe that the therapeutic relationship is essential in bringing about clinical change. Empirical research to support this contention is scarce in part due to the difficulty of specifying and measuring theoretically derived mechanisms of change and the important dimensions of the client-therapist relationship.…

Presented here is an overview of Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM)--a standardized process of obtaining data regarding a student's acquisition of skills in reading, writing, math, and spelling. A review of research that has utilized CBM in its efforts to define effective teaching strategies also is offered. Overall, the goal of this discussion is…

It is well known that the duration of the delay between a response and consequence is inversely related to the impact of that consequence on future responding, and even short delays can greatly undermine the effectiveness of a consequence. However, several studies have shown that delayed primary reinforcement can have a substantial impact on…

The purpose of this paper is to present the types of measures that may be used to describe intervention effects from single subject designs. A regression approach and several non-regression approaches are described. Non-regression approaches include Standard Mean Difference, Percentage of Non-Overlapping Data, Percent Reduction, and Percentage…