Date of Award

6-2019

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. R. Wayne Fuqua

Second Advisor

Dr. Jonathan Baker

Third Advisor

Dr. Jessica Frieder

Keywords

functional analysis, video self-monitoring, training, instructional design, behavior analysis

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

When developing plans to reduce a challenging behavior, Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) have an ethical obligation to first conduct a functional assessment (PECC, 2014, 3.01a), the goal of which is to identify the controlling variables for such behaviors and to use that information in training more appropriate replacement behaviors (PECC, 2014, 4.08b). It is important to train aspiring behavior analysts to implement an experimental functional analysis (FA) as it yields more accurate results than other types of functional assessment (Iwata & Dozier, 2008). Despite being considered a gold standard for training a variety of skills, behavioral skills training (BST) is often very time intensive on the part of the trainer (Iwata et al., 2000). Video self-monitoring (VSM) may be an effective alternative to train students, as it has been shown to be effective in the training of practitioners on other ABA practitioner skills (Belfiore, Fritts, & Herman, 2008; Field, Frieder, Mcgee, Peterson, & Duinkerken, 2015). Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, this study evaluates the efficacy of several alternative training strategies for training FA skills for undergraduate students, including interventions that featured instruction plus video modeling (IVM), and VSMN, with and without performance feedback. Results revealed that IVM produced a notable improvement in performance for all four participants, but that this intervention alone was not sufficient. All participants showed further performance improvement with the addition of VSMN and VSMN plus feedback.

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