The Florida Association for Behavior Analysis
The B. F. Skinner Foundation Florida Graduate Student Research Award of $500 is to assist in funding graduate student-driven research. Applicants must be a FABA member attending a graduate-level program in Florida. The proposal must be for a student-driven research project, thesis or dissertation approved by their department of study. Applicants do not have to be in a behavior analysis graduate program, but the research must be behavior analytic in nature. Consideration will be given to proposals that describe research with a focus on observable and measurable behavior (or the products thereof) as the dependent variable and the manipulation of well-defined environmental events as independent variables. Both applied and basic research proposals are encouraged.
2018 Award Winner:
Faris R. Kronfli
Doctorate Candidate
Applied Behavior Analysis Laboratory
University of Florida
Abstract
Children with autism are often more selective in their food preferences than their typically developing peers. However, many preferred food selections typically include foods with minimal nutritional value. Due to the common use of edible reinforcers during therapies for children with autism, we evaluated the preference for and reinforcing value of nutritive and non-nutritive foods. First, multiple-stimulus preference assessments (MSWO) were conducted to identify preferred nutritive and non-nutritive foods. Second, reinforcer assessments were conducted incorporating the top ranked nutritive and non-nutritive foods identified in the MSWO to determine the reinforcing efficacy of each food. Despite non-nutritive foods often ranking higher than nutritive foods in preference assessments, nutritive foods still functioned as effective reinforcers. Future research should incorporate nutritive foods into preference assessments when identifying putative reinforcers.
2017 Award Winner:
Anna R. Garcia
Doctorate Candidate
Applied Behavior Analysis Program
University of South Florida
Abstract
Disparities in the use, quality, and outcomes of treatments, and the barriers that deter Hispanics from receiving healthcare services have been widely studied. Yet, similar efforts have been slow in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). A way to decrease treatment disparities is to assess the influence of cultural variables in behavior analytic interventions, and to evaluate whether manipulations to these variables improve the overall results of the interventions among Hispanic families. During this study, I will adapt functional communication training (FCT) to Hispanic parent’s cultural values, assess the preference for culturally adapted and non-culturally adapted functional communication responses (FCR), and evaluate the social validity of both FCRs. I will achieve this by creating a questionnaire that will help behavior analysts (BA) and parents choose an FCR that matched the families’ values. I will evaluate parents’ preference for each FCR using a multiple-baseline design in which parents are trained to implement procedures to maintain the FCR that was taught and I will provide parents an opportunity to choose the FCR they want to reinforce. It is hypothesized that parents will have higher fidelity scores when the culturally adapted FCR (C-FCR) is taught, they will choose to implement the C-FCR, and they will report high social validity for the C-FCR. These results have important implications for ABA because it will support research in assessing cultural variables in interventions and services, and it will encourage BAs to consider their clients’ culture when providing services.
2016 Award Winner:
Jonathan Kyle Fernand
University of Florida
Department of Psychology, Behavior Analysis Program
Abstract
Functional analyses are considered the gold standard in behavioral assessments in that they identify the environmental variables influencing a behavior relative to alternative assessment methods (e.g., descriptive assessments); however, several different methodologies exist for the assessment of inappropriate mealtime behavior (IMB) for children with pediatric feeding disorders (Girolami & Scotti, 2001, Piazza et al., 2003, Najdowski et al., 2003). The purpose of the current study is to compare spoon and plate presentation procedures from prior research in the assessment of IMB using a within-subject analysis for children diagnosed with autism who engage in self-feeding. So far, pilot data indicate the spoon presentation method might not control for all relevant variables (e.g., establishing operation), producing a potential false positive in the attention condition. Results of the proposed study will help in guiding future research regarding identification of critical variables in the assessment of pediatric feeding disorders. Future studies will be able to use the current method as a refinement in assessment procedures for determining prevalence of functions for individuals with feeding disorders. Finally, the outcome of this experiment could impact how clinicians utilize functional analysis methodology in the assessment of and eventual treatment for food-related problem behavior.
2015 Award Winner:
Ashley Tudor, B.A., BCaBA
Ashley Tudor, B.A., BCaBA, received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Florida International University in 2010 and is a recent Master’s of Arts graduate from Florida Institute of Technology. She has worked in the field of applied behavior analysis for five years, holding positions such as new hire staff trainer and supervisor for in-home ABA services for children with autism spectrum disorder. She is motivated by observing the improvement of behavior and looks forward to future research opportunities. Her particular research interests lie in the area of organizational behavior management, behavioral economics, impulsivity, and the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior in children with autism.
Evaluation of stimulus delivery arrangements on staff performance in a simulated work setting
Supplementary contingent pay arrangements can result in improved employee productivity and may lead to the development of more efficient performance improvement plans in organizational settings. In Experiment 1, we examined the effects of various stimulus delivery arrangements on performance in a computer-based task in a simulated work context. Participants entered hypothetical client data onto a Microsoft Excel® invoice and earned gift-cards for task completion according to the following four conditions: (a) fixed-ratio/high-preference stimuli (FR/HiP), (b) variable-ratio/high-preference stimuli (VR/HiP), (c) fixed-ratio/varied stimuli (FR/Var), and (d) variable-ratio/varied stimuli (VR/Var). Task completion increased in all reinforcement conditions relative to a no-reinforcement baseline. Further, number of rows completed was slightly higher in the FR conditions relative to the VR conditions, irrespective of the quality of the gift card earned (i.e., high preference only or varied). In a second experiment, we evaluated participant preference to perform under the four stimulus delivery arrangements using a concurrent-chains schedule. Results of the preference assessment indicated that participants preferred to work under the VR/HiP contingency, even though that condition did not produce the highest response rate during the performance evaluation.
Catalina Rey
Ms. Ray is a second-year doctoral student in the Behavior Analysis program at Florida Institute of Technology.
Second order schedules of token reinforcement under fixed-ratio and variable-ratio exchange schedules have been investigated with nonhuman organisms (Webbe & Malagodi, 1978; Foster, Hackenberg, & Vaidya, 2001), but despite the widespread use of token systems with children with disabilities, research evaluating the effects that token exchange schedules have on human performance has yet to be published. The purpose of this study is to extend the basic literature on token economies by comparing the performance of four children with autism under fixed-ratio and variable-ratio token exchange schedules using a multi-element design within a parametric analysis (full abstract).
2007 Award Winner:
Griffin Rooker
Mr. Rooker used his scholarship funds to conduct a study that looks at assessing and treating problem behavior occasioned by dental procedures. The treatment will be video modeling.
2006 Award Winner:
Jeanne Donaldson
Ms. Donaldson used her scholarship funds to conduct a study on increasing physical activity with overweight and obese adults. The scholarship allowed her to purchase five heart rate monitors that recorded calorie expenditure. These monitors allowed Ms. Donaldson to use calorie expenditure as a dependent measure for physical activity.