In a spring 2010 survey, Austin Independent School District prekindergarten teachers with more than 18 students reported a greater frequency of students' disruptive behaviors than did similar teachers with fewer students. Most teachers gave positive ratings to their support team, central office staff, and the curriculum.

A model for teaching children skills to strengthen emotional self-regulation is introduced, informed by the developmental concept of scaffolding. Adult modeling/instruction, role-play and in vivo coaching are tailored to children's level of understanding and skill to promote use of skills in real life contexts. Two-hundred twenty-six…

Background: Individuals with intellectual disabilities are more likely to experience a breakdown in their community residential placement if they display "challenging" behaviour. However, some individuals with behaviour that poses a severe challenge live successfully in community services long-term, indicating that other factors are also…

This study examined the effects yielded from the implementation of assessment-based behavior support plans on the engagement and problem behavior of three young children with behavioral challenges in a community early childhood program. A concurrent multiple-baseline design across children with generalization probes was used with data collected…

Background: Professional sport organizations in the United States have notable celebrity status, and several teams have used this "star power" to collaborate with local school districts toward the goal of affecting children's health. Program effectiveness is unknown due to the absence of comprehensive evaluations for these initiatives.…

Although there is a substantial empirical foundation for the basic intervention components of behavior analysis and positive behavior support (PBS), the field still lacks a standardized program model of individualized PBS suitable for widespread application by school personnel. This article provides a description of a standardized PBS model that…

Although the influence of reinforcement history is a theoretical focus of behavior analysis, the specific behavioral effects of reinforcement history have received relatively little attention in applied research and practice. We examined the potential effects of reinforcement history by reviewing nonhuman, human operant, and applied research and…

Recent research has suggested that variables related to specific mand topographies targeted during functional communication training (FCT) can affect treatment outcomes. These include effort, novelty of mands, previous relationships with problem behavior, and preference. However, there is little extant research on procedures for identifying which…

Autism is currently one of the most prominent and widely discussed human conditions. Its increased prevalence has intensified the demand for effective educational and therapeutic services, and intervention science is providing mounting evidence about practices that positively impact outcomes. The purpose of this report is to describe a set of…

Aggression and tantrums are common co-occurring problems with autism. Fortunately, positive developments in the treatment of these challenging and stigmatizing behaviors have been made recently with psychologically-based interventions. Evidence-based methods employ behavior modification, which is also often described as applied behavior analysis…

Teachers were beginning to see teasing, taunting, bullying, and other damaging behaviors in their group of toddlers. This article describes two class activities--a relay race and singing during transitions--that allowed all the children to experience success and thus helped the class overcome the negative behaviors.

The present article comments on the case conference presented in this issue, namely, Himle and Franklin's (Himle & Franklin, 2009) exposure and response prevention (ERP); Chosak and colleagues' (Chosak, Marques, Fama, Renaud, & Wilhelm, 2009) cognitive therapy (CT); and (Twohig, 2009) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Two questions are…

Traditional talk therapy, particularly cognitive behavioral techniques, are often ineffective when working with addicted clients for many reasons. By tapping into the power of the group modality, experiential activities can serve as a powerful facilitator of insight and behavior change. The authors provide a brief review of the literature followed…

A withdrawal design repeated across three children enrolled in two Head Start classrooms was used to investigate the effectiveness of functional assessment-based interventions to decrease inappropriate behavior. The two questions addressed in the study were (a) Will a behavior intervention plan based on functional behavior assessment conducted in…

This study reports the outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of Steps to Respect: A Bullying Prevention Program conducted in 33 California elementary schools. Schools were matched on school demographic characteristics and assigned randomly to intervention or waitlisted control conditions. Outcome measures were obtained from (a) all school…