BAAM 2008 Convention Schedule

Teaching College Students to Visually Inspect Single-case Design Data. Candice M. Jostad & James E. Carr (Western Michigan University)

Visual inspection is the primary method of data analysis used in behavior analysis. Thus, it is important that members of our field have the skills necessary for accurate visual inspection. Research has shown that visual inspection is unreliable (e.g., DeProspero & Cohen, 1979), which has broad implications for the evaluation of treatment effects using this method. Traditional lectures have been shown to be ineffective in teaching visual inspection skills to a satisfactory level (e.g., Stewart, Carr, Brandt, & McHenry, in press). Improvements in visual inspection have been accomplished using statistical methods and aids such as lines superimposed on graphs (e.g., Fisher, Kelley, & Lomas, 2003; Stewart et al., in press). However, these methods are not effective when the aids are removed, and the aids typically are unavailable when inspectors evaluate graphs in the natural setting (e.g., when reading journal articles). The current study evaluated the effects of a portable job-aid on the visual inspection skills of undergraduate students.

Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates: Interval vs. Full-Session DRL. Season M. Almason & R. Wayne Fuqua (Western Michigan University)

Differential reinforcement of low rates (DRL) procedures are typically used in applied settings to reduce behavior that is problematic only because it is occurring at an unacceptably high rate. The DRL procedures that are most frequently used in applied settings are full-session and interval DRL. Researchers have used these DRL procedures to effectively reduce unacceptably high rates of behavior for children with and without developmental disabilities as well for adults with developmental disabilities. However, there is no standard protocol for implementing these procedures and many procedural variations have been found to be effective. Also, these procedures have never been compared to see if one is more effective than the other. The purpose of the present study is to compare full-session and interval DRL schedules to determine which procedure is the most effective in reducing high rates of behavior.

Decreasing Hoarding in a Person with Dementia. Jonathan C. Baker, Linda A. LeBlanc, Laura C. Hilton, & Paige B. Raetz (Western Michigan University)

Hoarding is a problematic behavior sometimes seen in older adults with dementia. Previous intervention studies (e.g., Goddaer & Abraham, 1994; Schroepfer & Ingersoll-Dayton, 2001; Thomas, Heitman, & Alexander, 1997) have been met with limited success. The present study used a preference assessment procedure to determine why hoarding might be occurring (i.e., the function of hoarding) for an 80 year-old woman with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The results of the assessment were used to develop a function-based intervention using non-contingent reinforcement (NCR). NCR was compared to a non-function based intervention of blocking and redirection. NCR greatly reduced hoarding while blocking and redirection resulted in a smaller reduction in hoarding. Implications for designing positive environmental supports for older adults with dementia are discussed.

Teachers' Insights About The Behavioral Needs Of Youth In Foster Care: Findings From a National Study. John M. Palladino (Eastern Michigan University)

Each year thousands of our nation's youth experience abuse and neglect severe enough to warrant their placement into states' foster care systems. The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 523,000 of the nation's youth were living in foster care as of September 30, 2003 (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2005). The reasons for their entry into foster care included experiences or potential risk for physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse, in addition to parental/caregiver neglect and maltreatment. The amelioration of hardships that this population endures requires a leadership response from all sectors of society that interact with youth, school teachers included.

This presentation will include the findings from a survey administered to 1,000 teachers selected from 8 different states about their perceptions about the educational wellbeing of youth in foster care. Findings revealed teachers' significant concerns about the high incidences of emotional-behavioral disorders prevalent among this population. This presentation will include a discussion about the related survey items that correlated with the teachers' concerns about unmet behavioral needs among this population.

Burned Out Or Fatigued?: What's the Real Cause of Special Education Teachers' Exoduses From the Profession. John M. Palladino (Eastern Michigan University ) & Shari Hoffman (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

Compassion fatigue is a theoretical framework researchers have applied to helping professions other than teaching. The purpose of this study was to use this theory to better understand the prevalent rates of special education teachers' exit from the profession often labeled as burnout. A qualitative study with preservice and inservice special education teachers ensued. Findings support the need for greater infusion of a compassion fatigue theoretical framework within the academy and among K-12 practitioners. Implications for professional development, preservice preparation, practice, and additional research will be presented and discussed.

The effectiveness of behavioral interventions is often compromised by the lack of timely and accurate information about behavior. Even when the importance of good data is acknowledged, good data are not often found. The data might be taken incorrectly, lost, not collected at all, recorded "from memory" at the end of a shift, guessed at, and even just made up. The new class of wireless Internet browsers-the iPod Touch, the iPhone, BlackBerry PDAs, and web-enabled telephones-provides almost anyone with some server space and an email account the capability of creating simple and reliable online, real-time data recording applications that can be run on web-enabled devices without proprietary software or costly software licensing fees. This presentation provides an introduction to the implementation of some of these simple server-based solutions for real-time data recording.

Noon - 1:20 pm--Lunch (on your own)

Improving Customer-Service Using a Multi-Method Approach in Submarine Sandwich Shops. Michael Kephart, Carlos Gallusser , & Shannon Difranco (Central Michigan University)

A field study was conducted in submarine sandwich shops to evaluate the feasibility of simultaneously using organizational behavior management (OBM) and industrial and organizational psychology methodologies. Customer service behaviors were measured via survey data collected from customers and unobtrusively from observation data collected by trained observers/raters. The survey data and observational data were collected during a baseline phase and during and after an implementation of an intervention developed to improve customer service behaviors. The correlations between the two different measures ranged from small to moderate for the different categories of customer service behaviors. The fact that the data derived from the two methods are interrelated supports the validity of each measure. However, the divergence between the two data sets suggests that each methodology provides unique insight into the relationship between customer service behaviors and customer satisfaction. Using a combination of both methods allows for a more comprehensive understanding of customer service in a given setting.

Exploring the Relationship between Employee Customer Service Behaviors and Customer Satisfaction Ratings. Amanda R. Rivard (Central Michigan University)

A field study was conducted in various coffee shops using a multiple baseline design. Specific customer opinion information was obtained using a satisfaction survey. In addition, observations were made of related employee customer service behaviors. The information derived from these two sources was compared in order to determine the relationship between these measures. The survey helped to pinpoint which aspects of customer service are more important to customers by assessing satisfaction with store cleanliness, employee friendliness, and latency. These environmental and behavioral components were simultaneously observed using trained observers. An intervention package was implemented to increase employee customer service-related behaviors. Survey information was then collected to determine if customer satisfaction increased as a result of improved customer service. Results indicate that customer satisfaction ratings may be somewhat independent of commonly evaluated employee customer service-related behaviors.

Incorporating a Performance Management System Involving Feedback and Intervention with Industrial and Organizational Psychological Survey Data on College Student-Staffed Convenience Stores. Eric O'Rourke (Central Michigan University)

In order to improve customer-service behaviors in college student-staffed convenience stores, a field study was carried out using both industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology and organizational behavior management (OBM) practices. Measurements were recorded through inconspicuous observations of service behaviors and interactions between customers and employees I convenience of similar age. Feedback, including verbal positive reinforcement from managers and tangible positive reinforcement from the experimenter, was used as an intervention and was given to employees based on subjective performance data gathered from managers and objective performance data gathered from observers. Survey data was collected from customers concerning service behaviors during the intervention phase. Results from data collection and surveys show improvement amongst the employees as a result of the intervention in performance of service behaviors in both the OBM and I/O related data. A trend was present in the results indicating a positive correlation between performance of service behaviors and gender dissimilarity between customers and employees.

1:30-2:20 pm Room 352
Confessions of a Christian Atheist. Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University)

Most of my high-IQ, smart-guy, hard-science buddies can't resist a diatribal wallow in the reinforcers of righteous indignation, as they proclaim that religion is the root of all evil and enthusiastically cite the mean-spirited Sam Harris' The End of Faith as scientific proof. But I, as a Christian atheist, humbly and quietly suggest that religion may be the only thing standing between us and dog-eat-dog social chaos. Theologians have struggled for millennia in their futile effort to reconcile the reality of bad things happening to good people with the belief in a loving, just, omnipotent god. But I, as a Christian atheist, humbly and quietly suggest they suck it up and learn to love paradox. The new pope shocks the world by saying all religions are equal but Catholicism is more equal than others. And I, as a Christian atheist, say ecumenism was still born, long live ecumenism.

2:00-2:50 pm Room 320
"Girls Gone Bad:" A Behavioral Analysis of Selected American Films about Female Adolescents, 1997-2007. Mark Giesler (Saginaw Valley State University)

Recent America media coverage has suggested increasing violence among girls. Violent crimes committed by women, for example, have increased by 138% since 1970 (Geringer, 2003).

At the same time, researchers have distinguished female acts of violence from male-oriented ones. Underwood (2003) stated that relational or social aggression, whereby girls manipulate social relationships, may be a distinguishing facet of female violence.

Not coincidentally, the image of the "bad girl" has made a stronger appearance in American media in recent years. Acland (1995) proposed that in most films about contentious youth, society is the cause of delinquency. Films produced pre-2000 have depicted the ailing nuclear family, the spoils of middle- or upper-class life, or even (as in The Omen) demonic possession by an outside force as explanations for the "bad" in the "bad girl."

The present study explores the shift in perspective that more recent films about teenage girls have demonstrated: "bad" is behavioral-based, rather than society-produced; it reflects an internal rather than external locus of control. Using the DSM-IV-TR as a tool for analysis, the study examines the portrayal of "bad girls" in 8 films released in American theatres in the past decade.

The study asks and answers relevant questions: what form does "bad" take on film from a behavioral perspective? How does it reflect and contradict the current research about the behavior of female adolescents? If film shapes values and norms as much as reflects them, what are the implications of such a shift for the teenage girls who watch?

2:30-3:20 pm Room 352
A Developmental Center Case Analysis: Success and Failures of Behavior Analysis. Neil Duchac (Capella University)

This brief paper will address a case study of a 31 year old male residing at a developmental center diagnosed with Autism and moderate mental retardation. Over the course of the past six months there has been a severe increase in aggression and an overall decline in functioning. This individual has undergone multiple medication changes and has seemed psychotropic resistant with the exception of past neuroleptic usage. Different aspects of Behavior Analysis has been tried, but with limited success. This participatory presentation will allow participants the opportunity to openly discuss this case, possible future interventions, and to discuss both the successes and failures of past Behavioral Analysis treatment.

3:00-3:20 pm Room 320
Using the PDC and Performance Matrix to Improve Employee Perfromance in a Non-Profit Organization. Season M. Almason, Heather M. McGee, & Jessica L. Fouch (Western Michigan University)

This study employed a BAB design to evaluate the effects of an intervention package on employee performance in a non-profit organization. Four behaviors were targeted for a total of 30 employees, 20 of whom were high school students. The intervention package evaluated in this study included goal setting, individual written feedback, group graphic feedback, and reinforcement (raffle for individual prizes and a group pizza party). The Performance Diagnostic Checklist (PDC) was used to determine the components of the intervention package and the Performance Matrix was used to provide a quantitative measure of employee behavior as well as individual written feedback. The study occurred over a period of approximately 6 weeks and the intervention was applied and evaluated across 7 sites. In all cases the target behaviors occurred more often during the intervention phases than during the baseline phase. Pilot data showed that employees were engaging in the target behaviors about 50% of the time (i.e., they would have earned 50% of the possible points on the Performance Matrix). The overall percentage of points earned in the first intervention phase was 89.9%. It decreased to 67.7% in baseline and then increased to 79.2% when the intervention was reinstated.

3:00-3:20 pm Room 330
An Analysis of Organizational Behavior Management Research in Terms of the Three-Contingency Model of Performance Management. Nicholas L Weatherly & Richard W. Malott (Western Michigan University)

The three-contingency model of performance management (Malott, 1993, 1999) was used to analyze organizational interventions in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM) from the years 1990 through 2005 [Volume 11(1) - Volume 25(4)]. Given the importance of rule-governance in the analogue contingencies seen in most performance-management interventions, we only included studies that targeted the performance of normal-functioning verbal adults. And we excluded studies that solely evaluated training programs, program evaluation studies, and studies that took place in simulated settings. Each intervention component from the articles that met the criteria for inclusion was identified and analyzed. All forty-eight studies that met the criteria for inclusion in the current paper involved indirect-acting contingencies (outcomes are too delayed to reinforce the causal response), though only twenty-four of the forty-eight articles described the performance-management contingencies. Of these twenty-four articles, seventeen articles incorrectly described the performance-management contingencies, describing them as if they were the simple sort of direct-acting reinforcement contingencies used with non-verbal animals in the Skinner box, even though the delay between the behavior and the reinforcer always seemed too great to directly reinforce that behavior. In addition to generally reviewing the performance-management contingencies described in all forty-eight articles, we also conducted detailed analyses of the contingencies described in three representative articles. We conclude by discussing the importance of conceptual precision in describing behavioral contingencies.

3:30-4:30 pm Room 320
Special Showing: PBS Frontline--Prisoners of Silence

Friday March 14, 2008

8:00-9:00 am Reception Area (2nd Floor)
Registration (Open all day)
Note: Continental breakfast will be available in the Ballroom during registration. Free for convention registrants.

Special Invited Event

9:00-9:50 am Ballroom B

Court, Litigation, and the Expert Psychological Witness: Implications and Lessons For Psychologists, Treatment Professionals, and Academics on the Stand

Judge Deborah Tyner

Chair: James T. Todd (Eastern Michigan University)

Special Event Abstract

The ongoing facilitated communication case in Oakland County reminds us that any treatment professional might be needed on the witness stand for a variety of reasons. The professional might be an expert, or even a plantiff or defendant. Few academic programs offer any training at all in what goes on the courtroom. Few people who do not have extensive experience in the legal profession will understand the peculiar and seemingly counterintuitive procedures and decisions that can arise from ordinary court operation. What might seen like a straightforward and obvious course of action in a treatment setting or academic environment can become exceedingly complex when court rules and traditions are applied. Because some court procedures and concepts can derive from common law traditions dating back hundreds of years, modern scientific concepts, which everyone might ordinarily agree are highly important to the matter at hand, can be entirely irrelevant from a legal standpoint.Things an academic sees as obvious can quickly become obscure in the courtroom. Standard terms get new and unfamiliar meanings. In the current case in Oakland, for instance, we find "facilitated communication," what has many characteristics of a treatment, and has been rejected by almost every other court as valid, defined for these court purposes as a type of interpretation or translation--and thus protected from a general scientific evaluation of effectiveness or utility.

Psychologists, speech pathologists, social workers, and even front-line staff, especially those who work in schools and treatment centers, can find themselves testifying about their clients, their treatments, or even their own conduct. Often they are just called upon to give some ordinary background information. Sometimes, however, they can find themselves testifying under adversarial circumstances, occasionally with legal exposure themselves. Some might be asked to serve as experts, with special responsibilities for specific forms of information. Judge Tyner will provide some background on court matters, with recent cases as guidance, to help the treatment professional understand the court experience in its many forms. The presentation will be followed by a moderated Q and A period.

Brief Biography

Judge Deborah Tyner was elected to the Oakland County Circuit Court in 1990. She served as a Judge from 1991-2006. She is presently in private practice with an emphasis on facilitating cases. Judge Tyner is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Oakland County Bar Association, Women Lawyers Association, and a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation and the Oakland County Adams Pratt Foundation.

Judge Tyner serves on the Advisory Board of Directors of Kadima. She is a Jewish Women’s Foundation Trustee and recently elected to serve on the Board of Directors for Jewish Family Service. She also serves on the Community Advisory Board of Circle of Life, a psychiatric hospital. She is a former Trustee of the Michigan Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Judge Tyner is the recipient of various awards, by way of example: the Greater Grace Temple “Award of Gratitude”, the Oakland County Service Award, the State of Israel Bonds Attorney Division “Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award”, the Jewish War Veterans “Brotherhood Award” and the B’nai B’rith Barristers Award.

Judge Tyner graduated with a BA with High Distinction from the University of Michigan 1977 with a major in History and a secondary teaching certificate. She graduated Cum Laude from Wayne State University Law School.