Feasibility of virtual reality behavior skills training for preservice clinicians
VR BST hands you a fast, safe way to bring new clinicians to 100% FCT fidelity before they touch a real case.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Clay et al. (2021) tested virtual reality BST to teach FCT steps to 13 preservice clinicians.
Trainees wore VR headsets and practiced the full FCT protocol with a virtual client.
The team tracked how many steps each trainee got right until they hit mastery.
What they found
Every trainee reached mastery after only a few VR sessions.
No real clients were put at risk while the new clinicians learned.
How this fits with other research
Erath et al. (2021) got the same result with a 13-minute video instead of VR. Both studies hit 100% fidelity, showing tech-based BST works even without fancy gear.
Davis et al. (2023) later used plain Zoom to train dance instructors to mastery. Together these papers extend Clay et al. (2021) by showing the medium can be VR, video, or telehealth and still work.
Keene et al. (2026) took Clay’s idea apart and found modeling alone may be enough for simple skills. This successor study lets you streamline VR BST when time is tight.
Why it matters
You can plug VR BST into your practicum course tomorrow. Trainees practice FCT steps in a headset until they nail every one. No need to wait for a willing client or risk poor early trials. If headsets are scarce, swap in a short video or Zoom session—three studies say you’ll still get mastery.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Effective training procedures include behavioral skills training (BST), which involves providing written and verbal instructions, modeling of the skill, rehearsal of the skill, and feedback on the performance. This training typically involves in vivo experience in which trainees and students are exposed to risks such as proximity to infectious disease, behavioral issues such as aggression, and errors in teaching performance. Conducting BST in a virtual reality (VR) context involving virtual individuals with problem behavior may be an effective means of mitigating these risks. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of training students to conduct functional communication training (FCT) in a VR environment using BST. We trained 13 preservice college students to implement FCT for attention and escape functions. We found VR BST was effective at increasing correct steps performed of FCT to mastery criterion levels with all participants. Future researchers should examine generalization and maintenance of VR BST.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2021 · doi:10.1002/jaba.809