Journal review, RBT motivation, and a hard aggression case
Show Notes
Journal review, RBT motivation, and a hard aggression case
- I broke down a translational study on procedural fidelity errors that happen after a skill is already mastered, not during learning. 24 undergrads mastered a task on a computer, then researchers started feeding them wrong feedback on purpose.
- The results were messy. About half the participants kept answering correctly even after errors were introduced. The other half dropped in accuracy. Two totally different patterns in the same study.
- That split matters. The whole study assumed correct or incorrect feedback was acting as the reinforcer. Looking at the graphs, that assumption only held for about half the people. Some just kept giving the right answer no matter what the screen told them.
- I said what I think plainly. This read like a thesis requirement more than a study built to move the field forward. Nothing wrong with that, I did the same thing for my own master's degree.
- On the RBT question, I don't think pumping people up before session is the move. I'd rather know what each RBT actually cares about and explain the plan in language tied to that. Some want to hear about client outcomes, some want to hear about the clinical reasoning. Use the one that lands for that person.
- On staff saying "no" or "we don't hit," I pushed back on the idea that this creates a new function for the behavior. That's close to what happens in a functional analysis and it rarely creates a function. The real question is whether that response fits the plan you're actually running.
- I walked through a tough case, a 12 year old with aggression maintained by access, where the adults in the room can't withhold items. Straight extinction won't work there because the reinforcer can't actually be removed. The fix is finding the response class hierarchy, reinforcing a smaller precursor behavior instead of the full blown aggression, then teaching toleration in small steps and fading the wait time up.
- FCT alone doesn't solve a case like that. Teaching the ask is the easy part. Teaching the kid to tolerate not getting it right away is the hard part, and that's where the real work is.
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Matt Harrington, BCBA, breaking down ABA and the OpenCEU community!