Training the

Parent Trainer
Carl T.
Sundberg
Alicia Sullivan, Beth Walker, & Parini Shah

MAC 2018
October
10th
 thebaca.com (Power Point)
thebaca.com/wiba-registration
#wiba2019
“To strengthen the profession of behavior analysis and create a support network
for minorities within the field that extends beyond this conference.”
 TRAINING THE PARENT TRAINER
Carl T.
Parini Shah, Alicia Sullivan, & Beth Walker
Sundberg

Introduction Challenges Initial Primary Importance of Case Study 2 Household

Objectives of Parent Families
the BCBA Involvement

Critical Misnomers Safety in the Behavioral Skills Treatment Questions

Behavioral Home Training (BST) Adherence
Principles
 Parent Training

Most
of a client’s hours are spent away
from the main training environment.

Most
of our clients go home to their
parents after a day of therapy.

What becomes critical

is that the methods used in ABA
therapy are transferred to the home
environment (or outside of the formal
therapy environment if in a home-
based program).
 Parent Training

In some cases there is no formal ABA program

but the parents have hired a BCBA for some
natural environment training (NET) or to help
with specific behavioral issues, such as:

Noncompliance
Aggression
Potty Training
Eating
Community Outings
Social Skills
Etc.
 Parent Training

The responsibility of
the BCBA can range
from simply teaching
the parents how to
respond to the behavior
of their child under
certain circumstances,
to managing a full home
ABA program.

Responsibilities may
include:
 Parent Training

1 Training family members on how to do therapy.

.
2 Training parents how to do NET. That is, making
. functional use of the teaching done in therapy.

3.Training the parents how to teach functional skills

such as daily living skills, safety, leisure, play and
social skills.

4 Training the parents on how to manage problem

. behaviors such as aggression, noncompliance,
elopement, etc.
Challenges
The BCBA must provide a behavioral
repertoire to parents.

A repertoire that took years for the

BCBA to develop.

How much of your repertoire do the

parents need to acquire?
• Do they need to understand the principles
of reinforcement, extinction, shaping,
prompting, fading, etc.?
• Do they need to be able to create a
multiple baseline design, analyze a
standard celebration chart, and thoroughly
discuss the 7 dimensions of applied
behavior analysis?
Challenges
How willing are they to work on
developing this repertoire?
• Are they excited to learn as much as
they can?
• Are they willing to read and research?
• Are they willing to go to workshops/
conferences, etc.?
Challenges
How much time do they have?
• Do the caretakers work full time?
• How many kids are in the family?
Challenges
What barriers are in place?
• Do the parents travel often?
• Are there literacy barriers?
• Language barriers?
• Are they organized?
Challenges
What other resources are available?
• Family?
• Financial?

Factors such as these are important to

assess.

A BCBA must know what he or she has

to work with, what barriers are in
place, and what is the probability of
follow through with recommendations.
Challenges

Adjustments should be made accordingly.

Which treatment package will best fit the

family’s needs and resources (including time
and commitment)?
 Challenges

It is always great to have a family that is…

Extremely motivated Willing to read

Quick learners Go to workshops

Compliant Do their homework

Respectful of your expertise Are good data collectors, etc.

 Challenges
Chances are though, that these
cases are the exceptions.

Just as we work with kids who

are not always easy to teach and
make us dig deep for solutions,
BARRIERS
the same can be said for parents
and staff.

We must look at family barriers as

just other variables that we have.

Our reaction should not be…

 Challenges

“I can’t get this done because of

this barrier” (e.g. Parents aren’t
taking data) BARRIERS
But rather

“How can I arrange the

environment (my program) to
best achieve our desired goals
given these barriers that are in
place?”
 Challenges

Whether you are talking about a child

or a parent, of course the first goal is
to reduce or eliminate the barrier.

Sometimes that doesn’t happen.

For Example
A child may have a language barrier
where she does not emit any
vocalizations under any
circumstances despite your best
efforts after months of therapy.
 Challenges

• You need not abandon this goal, but consider

• Alternative response forms

• Can’t eliminate the barrier?

• Can you go around it?

 Challenges

• You may recommend that a parent ignore a

specific problem behavior (such as screaming)
after a functional assessment has determined
that the response is maintained by the
mother’s attention.

• The mother can’t do it.

• Fear of escalation to aggression.

• Fear for safety of younger siblings.

• That is, she can’t handle the extinction burst.

 Challenges

• Can you reduce the barrier?

• Can you go around the barrier?

• Are there any environmental changes that

can be made?

• Can the child be removed?

• If the procedure is still unlikely to be carried

through as designed then you must look at
alternative procedures that can be and will
likely be implemented.
 Challenges

• Your first clinical recommendation may not be

possible.

• You have to be ok with that.

• We behavior analyst have a deep bag of

tricks. (defense.bb “when I was a rookie”
Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

01.
Assessment of needs and services.
• What are the parent’s expectations for
services?

• What behaviors do they want to target?

• What does the BCBA see that the parents

need help with?
Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

02.
What general goals need to be
established?
• Behavioral

• Leisure skills

• Self help

• Community access

• Independence

• Language and Learning, etc.

Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

03.
What skill development and
training is needed for the parents?
• Motivation and reinforcement (this one
applies to all target areas).

• Other behavioral principles, procedures

and basic techniques.
• Shaping
• Chaining
• Prompting
• Fading, etc.
• Data collection
Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

04.
After the first assessment do the
parents expectations match what
you think can be provided?
• Is there agreement on the goals and specific
objectives?
• What if the parents want to work on academic
skills but a language assessment such as the
VB-MAPP
• and your direct observation indicates that the
client doesn’t have the language skills to
support an academic repertoire?
47% Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

• Sometimes a parent may have

unrealistic expectations as to
what ABA therapy can do for
their child.
• Many have read the Lovaas
studies and believe that if a
child receives 40 hours of ABA
therapy there is a 47% chance
of a full recovery.
47% Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

• Parents need to be educated

on these issues:
• The Lovaas kids were very
young.
• They had a top clinical team.
• There autism was not that
sever (not what you might call
“low functioning.”)
47% Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

• I tell all my parents that there

are 3 general variables that can
contribute to the outcome.
• How early intervention starts?
• How good is the program (team)?
• How severe is the condition?
Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

It is important that parents have

a reasonable expectation for
their child.

Within 6 months of starting

services, I sit down with the
parents and discuss long term
goals and expectations.

• Where do you see your

child in 10 years (or as
an adult)?
• 5 years
• 1 year

Do their expectations coincide

with my analysis?
Initial Primary Objectives
For the BCBA

Some parents don’t want to

“give up” on the possibility
of their child becoming
typical.

They may try anything and

everything to make that
happen.

Even if it is clinically
inappropriate, ineffective or
sometimes harmful.
Initial Primary
Objective
For the BCBA

For example, a 6 year-old with mid

level two VB -MAPP scores (about a
2.5 year-old level) may be pushed
into a regular fulltime kindergarten
in the hopes that being around
typical kids and the challenge to the
child will be the magic ticket.
Initial Primary
Objective
For the BCBA

These discussions need to start early.

It is critical that placement and

program decisions are made based
upon the child’s current skill level.

Not on hopes and expectations.

 Importance of Parent Involvement in Therapy

Parents are the most Children’s learning

important influence on occurs throughout the
the early development course of their daily
of their children. routine activities in
their natural
environments.
 Importance of Parent Involvement in Therapy

Particularly when
Parents are afforded
compared with
overwhelming
preschool and
opportunities to
related service
influence their
providers.
children’s learning
and development.
Most parents are a
constant presence in
their children’s lives.
 Mahoney and Wiggers (2007)

Mahoney and Wiggers (2007) reported a hypothetical analysis of the opportunities parents
have to influence the development of children who are in preschool special education
when compared with teachers, therapists, and intervention specialists.

The authors assumed that preschool special education classes last about 2.5 hours per day,
4 days a week for approximately 30 weeks each year.

In classrooms there are typically two teachers and 12 children.

 Mahoney and Wiggers (2007)

Teachers’ time is distributed among group instruction, management activities, and one-on-
one interactions.

Children are only likely to receive 33 minutes of one-on-one interaction per week.

Parents are with their children 52 weeks a year during most waking hours.
 Mahoney and Wiggers (2007)

Assuming that adults engage in 10 interactions per minute, parents engage in at least
220,000 discrete interactions with their children each year.

Compare to teachers who engage in approximately 9,900 interactions per year.

 Mahoney and Wiggers (2007)

The authors reported that:

Many interventionists provide parents with suggestions about activities they can do during
daily routines to promote children’s objectives. However,
These recommendations are often provided at the completion of services (at the end of the
session).
Often there is a lack of follow up to determine how successful
parents implemented the suggestions.
 Mahoney and Wiggers (2007)

Outside of the world of ABA, when

parents are given suggestions (special
The authors reported that:
education, typical classrooms, even
from pediatricians) there is very little
Many interventionists provide parents with suggestions about activities they can do during
daily routines to promote children’s intervention objectives. However,
follow up, feedback, or support given
These recommendations are often provided at the completion of services (at the end of the
session). after recommendations are made.
Often there is a lack of follow up to determine how successful
parents implemented the suggestions.
 Mahoney and Wiggers (2007)

In the
The authors reported world
that: of ABA follow-up is not
only expected, it is part of our
Many interventionists provide parents with suggestions about activities they can do during
package.
daily routines to promote children’s intervention objectives. However,
These recommendations are often provided at the completion of services (at the end of the
session).
Often there is a lack of follow up to determine how successful
parents implemented the suggestions.
 Mahoney and Wiggers (2007)

Advising
The authors reported that:a parent what to do or how to
do something should only be the
Many interventionists provide parents with suggestions about activities they can do during
beginning.
daily routines to promote children’s intervention objectives. However,
These recommendations are often provided at the completion of services (at the end of the
session).
Often there is a lack of follow up to determine how successful
parents implemented the suggestions.
 Mahoney and Wiggers (2007)

Parents need to be trained to follow through with these recommendations.

• Instructions broken down into manageable steps.

• Demonstration (modeling)
• Practice
• Feedback
• Repeat
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000) examined parent-directed, intensive early

intervention for children with pervasive developmental disorder.

Parents recruited paraprofessional therapists and requested consultations on

how to implement the UCLA treatment model in their homes.

Repeat
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

General barriers that were identified included factors such as:

• Extensive demands on parents

• Infrequent training from consultants,
• Reliance on therapists who may have little background in
learning theory and ABA
• High staff turnover
Repeat
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

Design and procedure

• Parents and therapists attended a total of six one-day

training workshops distributed over the course of three
months.
• Each workshop took place in the children’s homes and
lasted six- hours.

Repeat
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

General training schedule

• During each day of training, 20 minute lectures on

behavior analytic teaching principles and procedures were
alternated with 20-30 minute sessions when the workshop
leader, parents, and therapists provided treatment
directly to the children.
• The workshop leader demonstrated specific program or
procedures, and then allowed the parents and therapists
Repeat to take turns performing the same procedures with the
children.
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

• The first workshop day focused on the use of basic ABA

procedures such as reinforcement, extinction, and
discrete trial training.
• Each participant was given hands-on experience in
reducing tantrums, teaching simple receptive actions
(e.g., “sit down” and “come here”), and teaching two or
more nonverbal imitation tasks (e.g., waiving and tapping
a table.)
Repeat
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

• Day two focused on how to teach additional receptive

actions and nonverbal imitation tasks, as well as match-to-
sample.

• Lectures centered on discrimination training and the use

of the Lovaas manual to select and conduct new
programming.
Repeat
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

• Days 3 and 4 emphasized teaching verbal imitation.

• Elaborating on the curricula introduced in days 1 and 2.

Repeat
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

• Days 5 and 6 were dedicated to critiquing parents, and

therapists techniques.
• Updating children’s instructional programs.

• For programs the children were not yet ready to begin,

the workshop leader used role-plays to demonstrate
teaching procedures.
Repeat • In addition, parents were video taped conducting therapy
after 3 weeks as well as after 3 months.
 Smith, Buch, & Gamby (2000)

Results
• 5 of the 6 children rapidly acquired skills when treatment
began.

• Parents reported high satisfaction with treatment.

• Parents usually employed correct treatment procedures
but were less consistent than therapists who worked at
the clinic.
Repeat
Case Study
Of Intake and Barriers
 First Meeting

• Collect information about the client

• Review assessments
• Observations
• Interview
• Needs and expectations
• Parent Training Interview Form
• Priorities and targets

$36,00
 Agreement to Proceed

• Frequency, Training, and Notes

• Active Participation
• Recommendations and Suggestions
• Contract
• Missed appointments and cancellations
Training

• Training the parent

• Behavioral Skills Training (BST)
• Measuring Behavior
• Resources, barriers, and outcomes
• Babysitter
• Parent working out of state and
parental adherence
• Limited resources for mother
and data collection
Two Household
Families
COMMON BARRIERS &
SOLUTIONS
Professional and Ethics Compliance Code for
Behavior Analysts

Behavior analysts must tailor

behavior-change programs to
the unique behaviors,
environmental variables,
assessment results, and goals
of each client (4.03)
 Two Household Families

• Unique environmental variables

• Divorce/Separation
• Ongoing legal issues
• Custody issues
• Communication issues
• Parents legal rights
• Financial issues
• These issues can lead to two environments with
unique barriers for the behavior analyst.
Two Household Families
COMMON BARRIERS

• Role of behavior analyst

• Consistency across homes
• Motivational variables
• Communication
• Documentation
 Two Household Families
Role of Behavior Analyst

• Avoid “taking sides”

• Remain neutral
• Focus on established goals and client
• Redirect inappropriate/inconsequential statements
• Reinforce goal focused, positive interactions
• Remind all involved of positive outcomes for the child
 Two Household Families
Role of Behavior Analyst

• Clearly define your role as behavior analyst

• Review ethical guidelines
• Behavior analysts provide behavior-analytic
services only in the context of a defined,
professional, or scientific relationship or role
(1.05)
• Behavior analysts recognize an inform clients
and supervisees about the potential harmful
effects of multiple relationships (1.06)
 Two Household Families
Role of Behavior Analyst

Behavior analysts’ responsibility is to all parties

affected by behavior-analytic services. When
multiple parties are involved and could be defined
as a client, a hierarchy of parties must be
established and communicated from the outset of
the defined relationship. Behavior analysts identify
and communicate who the primary ultimate
beneficiary of services is in any given situation and
advocate for his or her best interests.
 Two Household Families
CONSISTENCY ACROSS HOMES

• Determine program variables that NEED to be

the same and program variables that can be
different.
• This will vary depending on the details of
the case.
• Clearly communicate this with both parties.
• Behavior analysts describe to the client the
environmental conditions that are necessary for
the behavior-change program to be effective
(4.06).
 Two Household Families
CONSISTENCY ACROSS HOMES

Things that need to stay Things that can vary

consistent
Target behaviors Reinforcers
• Different items available at
Consequences different homes
• Response cost behavior X
• Time out for behavior Y Materials
• Token board may be different
colors
• Schedule may have different
icons
Two Household Families
BARRIERS
M o t i v a t i o n a l Va r i a b l e s

Certain EOs may increase motivation to use

communication/documentation for gains other
than client progress
• Custody issues
• Communication issues
• Financial issues
• Social issues
Two Household Families
BARRIERS
M o t i v a t i o n a l Va r i a b l e s

Communication &
Documentation
(a) Behavior analysts appropriately document their
professional work in order to facilitate provision of
services later by them or by other professionals, to
ensure accountability, and to meet other
requirements of organizations or the law (2.10)

(b) Behavior analysts have a responsibility to create

and maintain documentation in the kind of detail
and quality that would be consistent with best
practices and the law (2.10)
 Two Household Families
BARRIERS
M o t i v a t i o n a l Va r i a b l e s

Communication &
Content
Documentation
• Session • Objective
interactions
• Written • Factual
reports
• Email • Reflect progress
• Phone Calls related to established
goals
Critical
Behavior Principles

I am in favor of teaching the parent how

to behave like a behavior analyst.

At least when it comes to the basic

principles that affect their children.

It is not very effective if you have to

stop and refer to a flowchart every
time a questionable behavior occurs
(be it positive or negative.)
Critical
Behavior Principles

You have to learn how to respond to

your child in the moment when novel
behaviors occur.

A good goal is to get the parents to

be able to analyze a novel situation
and be ale to come up with a
response that is at least reasonable.

For example, a parent may ask me

what to do when her son swipes his
materials off the table.
Critical
Behavior Principles

I want to teach her to

determine the function of that
behavior. I want her to gain an
understanding of the conditions
that evoked the behavior.

Perhaps it is escape, but why?

Critical
Behavior Principles

I want her to have a good

working understanding of at
least reinforcement,
punishment and extinction.
I want her to understand, for
example, that punishment is
more than simply applying a
consequence after a behavior
you want to decrease.
Reinforcement is more than
simply giving a reward after a
good behavior.
Critical
Behavior Principles

They need to understand that

whether we are aware of it or
not, whether we plan for it or
not, reinforcement and
punishment are ubiquitous.
Critical
Behavior Principles

Parents need to have some basic

understanding of these
principles in order to most
effectively respond to their
child when the BCBA is not
present.

Otherwise you must outline a

response to every possible
situation and child reaction and
you end up with a massive flow
chart that is near impossible to
follow.
Critical
Behavior Principles

Regardless of whether you are

teaching a skill, trying to
eliminate a behavior, or trying
to establish instructional
control, the following are
some of the most important
principles and procedures.
Critical
Behavior Principles

• Reinforcement
• Escape/Avoidance
• Extinction
• Intermittent Reinforcement
• The Motivating Operation (MO)

• Stimulus Discrimination
• Shaping
• Punishment (less to program
than to recognize)
 C R I T I C A L B E H AV I O R P R I N C I P L E S

Reinforcement

The parents must understand

that it is a big mistake to
assume reinforcement.
Conversely, it is a big mistake to
assume punishment.
 C R I T I C A L B E H AV I O R P R I N C I P L E S

Reinforcement
• Positive VS negative reinforcement

• It is critical that parents

understand negative
reinforcement.
• Not so that they can use it, but so
that they can recognize it.
• It is important for them to
recognize how the interaction
between themselves and their
child can shape/reinforce
negative behaviors in each.
• Dick Malott’s Sick Social Cycle.
• The crying kid at the candy
store.
 C R I T I C A L B E H AV I O R P R I N C I P L E S

Reinforcement

• It is important to teach parents

to carefully analyze each and
every behavior with regard to
the ABCs.

• Simply understanding positive

and negative reinforcement will
go a long way.

• Simply stated:
Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement
• Something bad is present
• I behave in a certain way
• Something bad is removed
Reinforcement

Po s i t i v e r e i n f o r c e m e n t
• Something good is missing
• I behave
• Something good is added
Is the situation after the
behavior opposite as it was
before the behavior?
Important Points
About Reinforcers

Reinforcers constantly change

over time.
• What was working yesterday
may not be working today.

• What was working 10

minutes ago might not be
working now.
 Important Points
About Reinforcers

Many reinforcers can have a satiation

effect. That is the more the person is
exposed to the reinforcer the less
valuable it becomes.
• Every time you give a French fry it
decreases the motivation for the
next one.
• Every second with a toy is likely to
decrease its value.
Immediacy of delivery is critical. A delay of even
seconds can have a counter effect on the
correlations between the response and the
reinforce.
 Important Points
About Reinforcers

The student is doing a lot of things just

before reinforcement is delivered.
You have to be sure you are
reinforcing the critical response.

• Rule of thumb. Each time you

deliver a reinforcer, look at
what the student was doing at
that exact moment the
reinforcer was delivered and ask
yourself if that was what you
want to reinforce (looking away,
stimming, protesting, crying
etc.).
 Important Points
About Reinforcers

Correlation between the reinforcer

to the response is critical (thus the
immediacy is critical). The student
must see that it is the response
that is producing the reinforcer,
not just sitting at the desk.
Important Points
About Reinforcers

Demand can kill a reinforcer. Therefore a

reinforcer is relative to the demand or
workload required to obtain the reinforcer.

What would you do for a

coke?

How thirsty?

How much of a demand?

Important Points
About Reinforcers

People go through the day with one mission:

maximize reinforcement and avoid things that are
aversive.

• To be effective as a teacher you have to be able

to put yourself in the shoes of the student.

• Why would the student want to respond?

• The answer should not be something like “she
should respond because it is the right thing to
do.”
 Reinforcement

• Boredom is more often in the reinforcer

than it is in the task.

• Availability of “free reinforcement”

decreases the value of the reinforcer
when you try to use it for instructional
purposes.

• Often the best reinforcer is yourself. Look

at what you do to make the child smile, and
us it.
$36,00
Reinforcement Survey

We like to start with gaining an

understanding of every possible thing
the client is potentially reinforced by.
From there, it is good to get some
specifics of each
How strong is it a 1, 2 or 3?
Does it have a satiation effect?
Is it easy to deliver (e.g. Music, vs go
outside)?
Does it easily dissipate or consumed?
(e.g. Bubbles vs playing in the ball pit)?
Reinforcement Survey

Do you have to remove it?

Does removal lead to negative

behavior?
Can they accumulate (5 blocks are
better than 3)?
How much does the child need the
adult to partake (bounce on knee vs
playing with blocks)?
Can you break it down into smaller
parts (break a cookie into 10 pieces)?
 The Reinforcer

You can rate each reinforcer across several dimensions

Strength: (how well does the child

like it)
1 a little
2 moderate
3 strong
 The Reinforcer

You can rate each reinforcers across several dimensions

Ease of delivery/removal
1- Cumbersome or time consuming (going
outside)
2- Moderate
3- Quick and easy to deliver, easy to
remove, dissipates or is consumed,
(skittle)
 The Reinforcer

You can rate each reinforcers across several dimensions

Is an adult needed?
1- No
2- Child could access independently but
not easily or it is better with an adult.
3- Adult is actually needed (tickles)
 The Reinforcer

You can rate each reinforcers across several dimensions

Satiation Level
1- Quickly satiated
2- Moderate
3- Rarely satiates (e.g., could watch the
same movie for hours)
 The Reinforcer

You can rate each reinforcers across several dimensions

Duration
1- Lasts a long time, or takes long
exposure to be effective as a reinforcer
(swimming)
2- Moderate
3- Quick onset/offset (bubbles/tickles)
 The Reinforcer

You can rate each reinforcers across several dimensions

Ease of adult control

1- Not easy to keep from child (toys that
are always scattered around the house).
2- Moderate (toys that are on a shelf, but
the child sometimes climbs).
3- Best (short video clips that the child
can not operate).
 The Reinforcer

You can rate each reinforcers across several dimensions

Note, that some of these situations

can be improved through
environmental engineering.
The
Reinforcer

The best reinforcers score a lot of

3’s.
Bubbles
• The child loves them. (3)
• Very quick and easy to
deliver; dissipate. (3)
• Adult is needed. (3)
• This child could watch or pop
bubbles for hours without
there value dropping. (3)
• Short duration; can get a lot
of responding. (3)
The
Reinforcer

Going Outside
• The child loves it. (3)
• Hard to deliver; long interval
between the behavior and the actual
reinforcer. (1)
• Hard to remove; the child does not
want to come in. (1)
• Adult not needed; he likes running
around and playing by himself. (1)
• Long duration; it would take at least
10 minutes for it to be worth it. (1)
 Ease Of Satiation
Likes Rating Adult Needed Duration
Delivery/Removal Level

Bubbles Yes 3 3 3 3 3
Chips Yes 3 3 2 1 3
Bath Yes 3 1 2 2 1
Lotion Yes 3 2 2 1 2
Blocks Yes 2 3 2 2 3
If they accumulate.

High 5 Yes 1 3 3 2 3
Ball Pit Yes 3 1 1 2 2
Tickles Yes 3 3 3 3 3
Scale: 1=Least 2= Moderate 3= Best
Extinction

• Parents need to understand the

general principals of extinction.
• It goes far beyond it’s use as a
planned procedure.
• Behaviors occur because they have
been reinforced.
• We may want them to occur or
increase.
• We may not want them to occur.
• Reinforcement and extinction don’t
care what you want.
Extinction

• Negative behaviors are often

reinforced.
• Positive behaviors often go
unreinforced.
• Think of the sick social cycle.
• It is natural to reinforce negative
behaviors because of the escape
element.
• It is natural to let the good behaviors
go because “life is easy right now”
“no intervention necessary”
 Extinction

• Before starting an extinction plan it is

critical that parents have a full
understanding of the extinction burst.

• A careful plan must be in place to react

to an increase in behavior. This may even
lead to aggression.

$36,00
 Extinction

• If they are not capable, or comfortable with

the extinction burst then a different
procedure should be used.
• Some behaviors should not be put on
extinction do to ethical or safety reasons
• Running into the street for attention
• SIB that surpasses a certain threshold

$36,00
 Intermittent Reinforcement

• Parents should have a general understanding

of the concept of intermittent
reinforcement.
• Most obvious is that negative behaviors
that are intermittently reinforced are
likely to:
• Teach persistence
• Lead to increased intensity

$36,00
 Intermittent Reinforcement

• Conversely, positive behaviors that are

intermittently reinforced are likely to:
• Teach persistence
• Lead to increased intensity (increased
intensity may or may not be a favorable
outcome).

$36,00
 Intermittent Reinforcement

• Imagine if after kicking the vending machine

about 10 times you give it one more grand
kick (the best you got) out of frustration and
it results in the fall of the candy bar that got
stuck.

$36,00
 Intermittent Reinforcement

• Imagine what kind of fisherman or

salesperson you would make if you were not
exposed to intermittent schedules of
reinforcement

$36,00
 • Social reinforcement is intermittent. Kids need exposure to this
schedule.
Intermittent • The goal is to work toward establishing the schedule of
reinforcement that mimics the real world contingencies or at
Reinforcement least the contingencies that will be functioning in the world of
your client.
• Think functional.
 Punishment
• Kids don’t like to be punished.

• Par en t s n eed t o u n d er s t an d t he s i d e ef f ec t s o f p u n i shmen t .

• Par en t s n eed t o u n d er s t an d t hat l i ke r ei n f o r c emen t an d

extinction, punishment is ubiquitous. It doesn’t care
whether we plan on using it or not. It is always shaping
o u r b e h a v i o r.

• The first goal of understanding punishment should be to

analyze why or how behaviors that we want to see
increased are punished.
 Punishment
• We don’t like to do things that are aversive.

• Ty p i c a l a d u l t s a n d k i d s a s t h e y g e t o l d e r l e a r n t h e
importance of following rules and working for delayed
positive outcomes (it still isn’t easy).

• M a n y o f t h e k i d s w e w o r k w i t h , h o w e v e r, d o n ’ t h a v e t h a t
language or experience to be affected by such outcomes.

• “Sit down and give me 10 good trials without crying and

eventually you will get into a good school with a nice
playground.”
 Punishment
• Only after parents have a good understanding of how
punishment can negatively affect positive behaviors do
I talk about punishment procedures.

• Ty p i c a l l y d o n ’ t u s e m o s t o t h e r t h a n T i m e O u t a n d
Response Cost.

• Unless reinforcement alone has not proved to be effective

or if the behavior is dangerous and in need of immediate
cessation.
 Punishment
• If punishment procedures are used:
• They should be carefully monitored
• It should be agreed upon by all parties.
• The plan should be written out and signed by the
parents and BCBA.
• There should be a data collection system in place.
• D e t e r m i n a t i o n o f n e x t s t e p s s h o u l d b e c l e a r.
• BMC
 SHAPING

• Shaping can be a complex process

for parents to fully understand

• Use the Skinner box example but

then make it simple
• Parents need a general
understanding that response
forms vary.
• Those that get reinforced will
continue.
• Those that go unreinforced will
drop out.
 SHAPING
50% Rule

• A simple way I explain it to

parents is:
• Look at each response and ask
yourself if that response was in
the top half of the child’s
repertoire.
• If so, then reinforce.
• If not, then don’t, or do over.
• If the response is in the top 10-
20 percent then reinforce more
heavily.
 SHAPING

• The bottom response should start

to drop out.

• The middle response should get

better.

• Think selection of the fittest.

• Circle example
Prompting
And Fading

Parents need to understand:

• That if you put a prompt in, then
you have to take it out.
• Prompting turns difficult tasks
into easy tasks.
• But you need to start fading
ASASP.
Prompting
And Fading

Parents need to understand:

• Keep the error rate low but
sometimes you have to give it a
shot without the prompt.
• Reinforce heavily for responses
that are unprompted or the
prompt is faded.
Prompting
And Fading

• Often prompt dependence is a matter

of working on the wrong skill.
• If there is not a reasonable chance to
fade the prompt then you are working
at the wrong level.
• Can you dunk a basketball if you jump
on a trampoline?
• What does the response need to look
like to be functional in the natural
environment.
• While a basic understanding of the
logic of prompting and fading is
paramount, these skills need to be
practiced.
Misnomers
You may run into

• “I tried reinforcement. It doesn’t work.”

• “My child doesn’t like reinforcement.”
• “Extinction didn’t work.”
• “My child likes extinction.”
• “Token systems don’t work.”
• “Once my child catches on that you
are reinforcing him, it is game over.”
Misnomers
You may run into

• “Time outs work great.”

• “How do you know?”
• “My kid loves it!”
• “I’m not going to bribe my kid with
reinforcement.”
• “He should want to do it.”
• “He is 6 he shouldn’t need
reinforcement.”
Misnomers
You may run into

• “She’s is doing great.”

• “She will answer all of these questions as
long as I prompt her.”
• “We stopped teaching signs because he
scrolled.”
• “We can’t use videos as reinforcers
because she likes them too much (can’t
take them away).”
• “We need to put him in a typical class
with typical peers so he can learn how to
communicate and socialize.”
Misnomers
You may run into

• “No one else in the classroom is getting

reinforced. I can’t reinforce one kid and
not the rest.”

• “ABA turns kids into robots.”

Misnomers The BCBA should be prepared to respond to these.
You may run into If not, then your recommendations are not likely to be followed as
intended.
Safety in the
Home
C O N S I D E R AT I O N S F O R
E L O P E M E N T & WA N D E R I N G
Elopement
Wandering

What is elopement?

• When an individual leaves

their residence without the
knowledge or permission of
their parent(s)/ caretaker(s),
and does not follow safety
instructions to stop forward
movement, and/ or does not
demonstrate skills related to
personal safety.
Elopement
Wandering

Elopement/wandering can occur for a

variety of reasons:
• Access to something (i.e.
neighbor’s trampoline,
neighborhood pool, nearby
pond/creek, a favorite store,
etc.)
• Escape/avoidance (i.e. a certain
person, a specific task, etc.)
Elopement
Wandering

• The individual may elope from

the home quickly, or they may
wander off slowly.

• Some individuals may

elope/wander without anyone
knowing they have done so until
the parent/caretaker identifies
the individual is missing from the
home.
 Po t e n t i a l D a n g e r s
o f E l o p e m e n t / Wa n d e r i n g

• Drowning • Fal l s
• Physical restraint
• Exposure
• Encounters
• Dehydration
with strangers
• Hypothermia
• Encounters
• Tr a f f i c with law
Injuries enforcement
What do you do?
ASSESSMENT
Identify the function of the behavior to
establish intervention.

SAFETY PLANNING
Environmental manipulations that
increase safety and decrease likelihood
of successful elopement.

EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
Establish steps that should occur in the
event that elopement does occur.
Consider what you as the practitioner
will do if elopement occurs when you or
your staff are with the client.
Elopement/Wandering
Assessment

Elopement/Wandering is a behavior
that can be assessed.
• Identification of maintaining
variables is important for
establishing intervention
procedures.
• The intervention for each of the
following scenarios may be
different.
Elopement/Wandering
Assessment
• When Jerry elopes from his home,
he goes straight to his neighbor’s
pool and jumps in.
• Every time evening chores are
presented to Maddy, she runs out
the front door and goes to various
locations.
• When Eli’s mom is not attending to
him, he often elopes from the home
and mom runs after him yelling. Eli
continues to run while smiling,
laughing, and looking back at mom.
Eli falls to the ground laughing when
mom catches up to him.
Elopement/Wandering
Assessment
Caution must be exhibited when
assessing this behavior due to safety
concerns.
• Direct assessment: Set up parameters
to reinforce a different
approximation and/or identified pre-
cursor of the behavior (i.e. moving
towards front door.)
• Indirect assessment: Interview
parents, caretakers, etc. – Where do
they typically go? What happens right
before they elope from the home
(i.e. are they alone, was someone
interacting with them)? What happens
after they elope?
Elopement/Wandering
Safety Planning
Changes to secure the home
environment
• Locks, security systems, window
locks, fencing
Inform neighbors, other community
members.
• Make aware of potential for
elopement and increase safety
(Ex: ask neighbor to keep pool
gate locked)
Make contact with local authorities
• Provide information prior to
elopement occurring to increase
safety.
Elopement/Wandering
Safety Planning

ID bracelet or temporary tattoo

Locating Device
• Project Lifesaver/SafetyNet
Teach skills to increase safety
• Swimming lessons, responding to
safety commands (“stop” “come
here”)
Elopement/Wandering
Safety Planning
Considerations when presenting this
information to parents/caretakers.
Be specific
• Provide links, handouts, phone
numbers, etc.
Be sensitive
• Parents/Caretakers may feel they
are being too restrictive.
Follow-up
• Determine if more
support/assistance is needed.
• Determine if parents/caretakers
understand the potential risks
associated with elopement.
Elopement/Wandering
Emergency Procedures

• What steps are in place when

elopement does occur?

• All parties should be aware of, and

agree upon these steps.
 Safety in the Home

Considerations for Elopement and

Wandering
EXAMPLE EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
 Safety in the Home

Considerations for Elopement and Wandering

RESOURCES
Autism Speaks
https://www.autismspeaks.org/wandering-
prevention-resources
Big Red Safety Toolkit
http://nationalautismassociation.org/docs/BigRedSa
fetyToolkit.pdf
The Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response
and Education (AWAARE) Collaboration
http://nationalautismassociation.org/docs/BigRedSa
fetyToolkit.pdf
Project Lifesaver
http://nationalautismassociation.org/docs/BigRedSa
fetyToolkit.pdf
Search and Rescue Programs
https://safetynettracking.com/agency/
Behavioral Skills
Training (BST)
 BEHAVIOR SKILLS TRAINING (BST)
Miltenberger (2004)

• Teaching parents therapy skills to fluency.

• Few targets at a time.

• BST is a good method if you don’t have a lot of time to spend

with the parents.

• But also exemplifies some of the critical components

required for good therapy.
 BEHAVIOR SKILLS TRAINING (BST)
Miltenberger (2004)

• BTS involves the delivery of clear and concrete instructions

followed by multiple opportunities for the desired skill.

• The learner then rehearses the behavior with direct praise and
corrective feedback from the trainer.

• Key components:
 BEHAVIOR SKILLS TRAINING (BST)
Miltenberger (2004)

1.Instructions
2.Model
3.Practice (roll playing)
4.Feedback
5.Repeat until mastered
 BEHAVIOR SKILLS TRAINING (BST)
Miltenberger (2004)

• BST can be implemented in a short period of time with a parent

and can focus on one skill area at a time. For example:
• Reinforcement delivery
• Prompting and fading
• Transfer trials
• Mixing and varying tasks
• Incidental teaching (e.g., Capturing or contriving MOs to
teach mands)
• Noncompliance
 BEHAVIOR SKILLS TRAINING (BST)
Miltenberger (2004)

• Basically any procedure that you put in place, anything that you
ask the parents to do…
• They should become fluent in the execution.
• Miles and Wilder (2009) used a BST package to promote
correct implementation of guided compliance by caregivers
of noncompliant children.
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

Method
• 3 Caregivers participated
• Each session consisted of five trials
• Each trial consisted of presentation of the target demand.

• Guided compliance consisted of three levels of prompting that

were delivered based on the child’s behavior.
• Descriptive praise
• Modeling
• Physical guidance
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

Dependent Measure: The percentage of correct implementation of

the 10 components of the procedure.

10 Components
1. Making eye contact with the child before presenting
the demand.
2. Calling the child by name;
3. Making only one demand
4. Articulating the demand clearly (with even tone of
voice);
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

10 Components (cont.)
5. Phrasing the vocal response as a demand (rather than a
request)
6. Not repeating or rephrasing the demand;
7. Waiting 10s for the child to initiate responding;
8. Delivering praise if the child complied with the
demand or repeating the demand with a modeled
prompt.
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

10 Components (cont.)
9. Recording data
10.Waiting at least 5s to present another demand or
interact in some other way with the child
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

• A correct response was scored when the caregiver

implemented a component as described above;

• An incorrect response was scored when the caregiver

implemented a component in any way other than described
above.
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

Baseline
• Each caregiver was instructed to deliver a demand to the
child (specific child demands that typically evoke
noncompliance) and to do the best they could.
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

Training
• Provided participants a written description of the procedure
that includes the 10 steps.
• Reviewed 10 steps.
• Provided graphic feedback that displayed their baseline
performance.
• Provided vocal feedback on baseline performance.
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

Training (cont.)
• Immediately after the rehearsal, the experimenter
delivered vocal feedback based on the participant
adherence to the components.
• The experimenter then modeled the correct behavior with
the child and performed three more trials himself, placing
emphasis on the specific components that the participant
had incorrectly implemented
• Rehearsal and modeling were repeated until the
participant achieved 100% correct implementation for
three consecutive trials.
 Miles and Wilder (2009)

Results
• During baseline, mean levels of correct responses for the 3
participants (caregivers) were 38%, 36%, and 29%.

• After training, all 3 participants met the post training

completion criterion with scores of 99%, 98%, and 97%.

• The authors concluded that the results of this study

suggest that caregivers with little to no experience in
behavior analysis can be trained to implement guided
compliance with modest amounts of training.
Fading Physical Prompts for
TOOTH BRUSHING ROUTINE

Background Information:
Parents were consistently providing full
physical hand over hand prompting for tooth
brushing routine immediately and providing
very little opportunity for independent
responding.
Goal:
Fade parent prompts to increase the
opportunity for independent responding.
Fading Physical Prompts for
TOOTH BRUSHING ROUTINE

Dependent Measure:
The number of steps parents completed at a
lesser prompt level.

A correct response was scored when the parent

implemented a lesser intrusive prompt.

An incorrect response was scored when the

parent implemented the same or more
intrusive prompt.
Fading Physical Prompts for
TOOTH BRUSHING ROUTINE

Instructions:
Follow each step of the tooth brushing routine.
Each step is completed to a count of 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 (teaching was already provided for this
portion)
Begin moving your hand off of child’s hand on
the 5th count, but keep your hand lightly
touching the child’s hand. Require the child to
put pressure on the toothbrush and move it
himself.
Fading Physical Prompts for
TOOTH BRUSHING ROUTINE

Instructions: (cont.)
As he is moving the toothbrush himself,
continue to fade out your prompting, starting
at count 4 and 5. Continue until all counts are
completed with only a light touch.

After counts 1-5 are faded to partial physical

prompting, repeat the above, but fade from
partial physical prompting to a gestural prompt
and/or independent response as you’re able.
Fading Physical Prompts for
TOOTH BRUSHING ROUTINE

Any time the child stops brushing or does not

continue with the current step, immediately
provide prompting (the last prompt where you
had success).

Example:
If you try to fade to a partial physical prompt,
but the child stops brushing, return to the full
physical prompt and start again.

Goal:
We want to promote independence and fade
prompts as we are able, but we don’t want the
child to practice a skill incorrectly.
Fading Physical Prompts for
TOOTH BRUSHING ROUTINE

Method:
Behavioral Skills Training
Model- BCBA practices all steps while parents
observe and explain each step as it is
occurring.
Practice- BCBA and parent role play to practice
the skills and provides feedback. BCBA also
observes parent working with child.
Feedback- BCBA provides vocal feedback
(praise and/or additional modeling/role play
with parent). Also provide written feedback of
steps in consult note.
Fading Physical Prompts for
TOOTH BRUSHING ROUTINE

Training doesn’t stop!

Continued feedback and modeling was provided
during each parent training session to continue
to fade prompts during the routine.

After multiple training sessions, parents were

able to fade out all physical and verbal
prompting and the child is now able to fully
brush his teeth with only a slight touch to
switch to each section of his mouth.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

The success of an intervention is dependent not only upon its

effectiveness but also upon its precise delivery by a clinician
and the consistency with which parents implement that
treatment with all of its essential features (e.g., Albin,
Lucyshyn, Horner, & Flannery 1999; McConnell, McEvoy, &
Odom, 1992).
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

• Parental adherence to treatment is reflected in the extent

to which the parent’s behav ior coincides with the
recommendations of the treating professional (Allen &
Warzak, 2000).
• Allen & Warzak identified several conditions that function
as barriers to adherence, conditions that are beyond the
influence of the clinician.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e
Cognitive Impairment
• The concepts of the intervention cannot be made simple
enough to bring parental understanding to a level sufficient
to master the skills,
• Or the intervention requires concentration, memory, or
sensory-perceptual skills that are impaired by preexisting
conditions such as affective disorder or psychosis.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

Restricted economic resources

• Any intervention that would require time, materials, or
liv ing env ironment beyond the financial resources of the
parent.
Social Isolation
• The intervention requires multiple caregivers who are
unavailable due to divorce, distant or uninvolved relatives,
few supportive friendships, etc.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

• In most cases, these conditions represent constraints on effectiveness

and adherence.
• If a parent is impeded in implementing an intervention
• Then the intervention could not be expected to produce reliable
results, and
• The treatment recommendations could be considered inappropriate
from the outset.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

Allen & Warzak (2000) discuss the following factors

Failure to establish intermediate outcomes as reinforcers

• For many parents, their most frequent experiences with professionals

dispensing advice are likely to revolve around health care
recommendations that produce rather quick and marked
improvements in health (e.g., antibiotic treatment of bacterial
infections).
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

• When immediate or marked changes in behavior are not experienced,

then adherence behaviors may be placed on extinction.
• The BCBA should:
• Prepare the parent with a reasonable timeline of how long it may take
for some of the goals to be established. (e.g., It may take a couple of
weeks to teach the first 3 mands).
• Work towards establishing intermediate behavior changes as
reinforcers.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

• Prepare parents for possible worsening of behaviors initially because

of an extinction burst. This could be talked about as a sign of progress.

• It is important that parents understand the timelines, order of

interventions and prerequisites.
• Assure them that their goal (e.g., Increasing mean length of utterance)
will be addressed (if appropriate) after a certain number of single
utterances are established.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e
Failure to disestablish competing social approval as a reinforcer
• Parents may not adhere to recommendations because of
response of the social community to the recommended
behav ior change procedures.
• For example, a parent may have been instructed to ignore a
child’s tantrums, but in public, the social community is
disapprov ing of tantrums.
• In public a silent child is reinforcing.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

• Any parental behav ior that quickly brings about that

response is reinforced.
• Unfortunately, this typically involves either an aversive
control procedure whereby the tantrum is punished.
• Or negative reinforcement in which the parent “gives in” by
meeting whatever demand evoked the tantrum. (Sick Social
Cycle)
• The effects of these responses may be altered with pre-
teaching, preparation, and rationale.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

Stimulus Generalization
• Adherence to a prescribed intervention requires that
parental response generalize to env ironments beyond the
clinic.
• Training a parent does not automatically mean that
parenting skills will occur in contexts other than the one in
which training took place.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

Training Insufficient Exemplars

• A parent may appear not to adhere to an intervention
because the range of child behav iors (and their associated
settings) that are discriminative for engaging in the
parenting intervention is too small.
• Training a parent does not automatically mean that
parenting skills will occur in contexts other than the one in
which training took place.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

• For example, a parent may learn to use a time-out routine

effectively to deal with a child who has frequently gained
attention as a function of pinching playmates,
• But is confused and asks for adv ice when confronted with
the same child who later chases a playmate with a stick.
• Train diversely, train functions of behav ior
• Think (train) conceptually vs huge flow chart
• Teach parents to be scientists
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

Trained a narrow range of setting stimuli

• A parent may be familiar with relevant target behav iors (or
functions) but may not respond to them across all settings.
• If the clinic is the only env ironment in which a parent
performs an intervention, or if only a few contexts set the
occasion for intervention, then stimulus control is too
narrow.
• Context is king (Peter Gerhardt)
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

Weak Rule Following

• Clinicians are not likely to have much impact on a parent
who has a history of little reinforcement for rule-following
behav ior.
• For example, if a parent has attempted to adhere to
behav ioral recommendations in the past and these efforts
were punished or put on extinction (i.e., The efforts were
unsuccessful).
• Then one might expect poor adherence.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e
• Recommendations prov ided by a clinician may not function
as rules if they lack correspondence with rules from the
parent’s learning history.
• For example, for many parents, superstitious learning
experiences reinforce a conventional rule that if one thing
follows another, the second event was probably caused by
the first.
• Because “feelings” often occur at just the right moment to
serve as imputed causes of behav ior, parents may not
respond to rules about changing behav ior that do not
contain references to “feelings”.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e

• In addition, contemporary concerns about behav ioral

technology undermining children’s intrinsic reinforcement
(e.g., Deci & Ryan, 1985; Lepper, 1989; C.F. Dickenson,
1989) are generally reflective of parents’ observations that
external rewards are not necessary for behav ior change.
• In fact, it is not unusual to hear in that children should
behave because “it is the right thing to do” and that
rewards should not be necessary for behav ior that is
typically expected of children.
 T R E AT M E N T
A d h e re nc e
• In summary, in a typical clinical env ironment,
recommendations that are characterized by behav ioral
terminology may be sufficiently discriminable from other
rules in the parents’ learning histories that generalize rule
following may not occur and adherence to recommendations
will be poor.
• Understand your audience.
• Make sure they understand.
• Talk their language.
• Again, check to see that they understand.
Video Modeling

• Video modeling involves showing a video

in which someone models a behavior for a
viewer such that the viewer might imitate
the behavior in an appropriate context.
• Video modeling may be a more economical
teaching procedure than BTS because it:

• May require less time and

effort on the part of the
hired professional.
Video Modeling

• May be less costly than hiring a professional

for face-to-face training
• Training can take place in the home at the
parent’s convenience (i.e., as self-
instruction)
• Video modeling also increases the
availability of training for individuals who
do not live near trained professionals
• Of course video modeling need not stand
alone and can be easily incorporated
into a more complete training package
Video Modeling

• Results of research evaluating

video modeling show that it is
effective as for training staff to
conduct:
• Functional analysis sessions
(Moore & Fisher, 2007)
• Training respite-care
workers (Neef,
Trachtenberg, Loeb, &
Sterner, 1991)
• Training staff to implement
discrete-trial instruction
(Catania, Almeida, Liu-
Constant, & DiGennaro-Reed
Video Modeling

• Stimulus preference assessments

(Lipschhultz, Vladescu, Reeve,
Reeve, & Dipsey (2015).

• Enhancing procedural
integrity of direct-care staff
for individuals with ASD
(DiGennaro-Reed, Codding,
Catania, & Maguire, 2010).

• Spiegel, Kisamore, Vladescu and

Darsten (2016), evaluated the
effects of video modeling with
voiceover instruction and on-
screen text (VMVOT) as a parent
training tool.
Video Modeling
Method
3 parent-trainers

Reported that their children

were noncompliant with at
least 50% of instructions
delivered at home.

All training was conducted in

the parents homes.

During all training sessions, the primary

experimenter served as a confederate child and
followed a behavior-specific script so that the
parent-trainees were exposed to a variety of
possible child responses and given the
opportunity to implement guided compliance
procedures under a variety of conditions.
Video Modeling

• Dependent Variable

• Percentage of guided compliance

component opportunities implemented
correctly by the parent-trainee.

• 9 possible components

• Gained the child’s attention

• Delivered a direction clearly

• Delivered reinforcement and task-

specific praise within 10 s of child
compliance
Video Modeling

• Repeated the direction and provided a

model if the child did not comply
• Delivered task-specific praise within
10 s of child compliance
• Physically guided the child through
the task if the child did not comply
• Delivered task-specific praise at
end of trial
• Waited 5 s for the child to respond after
each prompt
• Ignored problem behavior
Video Modeling
Procedure
Parents were instructed to generate a list of
tasks that took place in their home setting in
which their children were typically
noncompliant

3 phases
Baseline
At the start of each session, the parent-trainer was
given a list of tasks and was told to deliver each
target direction and respond to the child’s behavior
as he or she normally would without an
experimenter present.
Video Modeling
Written instructions
Written instructions were provided to
introduce the basic concepts of guided
compliance.

Parents were instructed to read the

instructions at the beginning of each
session

Instructions were removed from

the parents after they read them

Parent-trainee was given a list of tasks

and was told to deliver each target
direction using the procedures just read
in the written instructions.
Video Modeling

Video modeling with voiceover instruction

and on-screen text.
The parent-trainee was instructed to view
the video at the start of each session

The experimenter did not respond to any

questions regarding the video (could
confound the results)

Within 20 s of viewing the video, the

parent-trainee was given a list of tasks and
was told to deliver each target direction
according to the procedures just viewed in
the video.
Video Modeling

Components of Video Modeling

phase
At the start of each video, a personal message
from the experimenter welcomed the parent-
trainee to training, and the guided compliance
hierarchy was described as least-to-most invasive
prompting method with the use of more invasive
prompts contingent on the child behavior.
Video Modeling

Results
All 3 participants improved their baseline
scores after given written instructions.
Mean baseline score was 34%
Mean score with written instructions
was 44.6%
A significant improvement was made by all after
introduction of the Video Modeling phase
Mean scores were 91.3%
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