Training behavior technicians to become behavior artists through the teaching interaction procedure
A short teaching-interaction package turns stiff techs into warm, flexible partners kids want to work for.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Bukszpan et al. (2023) taught three behavior technicians to act like "behavior artists." They used the teaching interaction procedure: explain, model, practice, and feedback.
The team picked three soft skills: warmth, flexibility, and smooth transitions. They watched videos of each tech with clients and scored the skills before and after training.
What they found
All three techs improved on every skill after the short training. Warm smiles, quick pivots when plans changed, and calm transitions went up and stayed up.
The gains held during follow-up checks, showing the techs did not need extra booster sessions.
How this fits with other research
Jimenez-Gomez et al. (2019) already showed BST can teach techs to give labeled praise during play. Bukszpan adds the "art" side—warmth and flexibility—using the same teach-model-practice-feedback steps.
Erath et al. (2021) got staff to 100% fidelity with a 13-minute video. Bukszpan used longer in-person sessions, but both reached high integrity, so you can pick the format that fits your time and budget.
Davis et al. (2023) ran virtual BST for dance teachers and still hit mastery. Bukszpan proves the method also works for the softer, people-side of ABA, not just technical drills.
Why it matters
Soft skills make clients want to stay at the table. When techs smile, bend, and flow, problem behavior drops and learning speeds up. You can add a 20-minute teaching interaction round to your next staff meeting and see warmer, more flexible techs by the end of the week.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AbstractIn his 1985 lecture, Richard Foxx outlined several traits that distinguished behavior technicians from behavioral artists. He argued that these distinguishing factors made the difference in whether a behavior change proved successful or not. These features have added to the growing body of work around compassionate care in behavior analysis. This study demonstrates that Foxx's skills of behavioral artistry can be taught to a selection of three behavior technicians, demonstrating that technicians are able to learn the topographical behaviors of behavioral artistry through the teaching interaction procedure. A multiple baseline design across three participants was used. Data from this study demonstrates that all three participants showed improvement in their ability to engage in three components identified as part of Foxx's behavioral artistry.
Behavioral Interventions, 2023 · doi:10.1002/bin.1963