BABAT & B.F. Skinner Student Poster Award

Megan Ellsworth

Title: Effects of Peer Presence on Latency to Transition

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders may engage in challenging behavior to escape or avoid aversive conditions. Some clients may engage in these responses differentially, contingent on certain individuals in their environment such as staff or peers. Identifying escape or avoidance responses in the presence of potentially aversive peers may have important clinical utility; therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of a putatively aversive peer’s presence on a participant’s latency to transition from a preferred to an unpreferred setting. A pairwise multielement design was used to compare the participant’s latency to transition in peer-present and peer-absent conditions. Results showed consistently shorter latencies to transition in peer-present conditions compared to peer-absent conditions, and interobserver agreement was measured at 100% for 100% of sessions. Differentiation in latency to transition with and without the peer suggests that the participant’s peer may be aversive; these findings hold implications for clinical decision-making regarding further assessment and treatment.

Keywords: transition; peer; escape; avoidance; aversive stimulus

Nicole Nenninger

Title: Effects of Automated Prompts and Feedback on Data Collection Timeliness

Abstract 

According to the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, behavior analysts are ethically obligated to collect and graph data to inform clinical decisions. The timeliness with which data are collected may impact the accuracy and utility of those data. Therefore, the current project seeks to examine the effects of prompting and feedback embedded in an electronic data collection system on the timeliness of collected data. This study seeks to collect data from three participants who will complete a two-hour data collection session with both a basic electronic data collection system and an enhanced system with embedded prompts and feedback. Preliminary results suggest that the addition of prompting and immediate feedback following data collection intervals significantly increased the percentage of intervals collected on time. These findings may hold significant implications for clinical decision-making and future research in this area.