Training Staff to Avoid Problem Behavior Related to Restricting Access to Preferred Activities.
A quick card quiz plus role-play right after lecture lifts staff treatment integrity when they have to block problem behavior tied to restricted access.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Staff got the usual lecture on how to block problem behavior when a favorite toy is taken away.
After the talk, Duncan’s team added two things: a card game that quizzed the rules and a five-minute role-play where staff practiced the steps with a coach.
They watched each staff member before and after the add-on to see if steps were done right.
What they found
Treatment integrity jumped after the card game and role-play.
Staff followed the blocking and redirection steps more often and with fewer errors.
How this fits with other research
Jones et al. (1975) first showed that teacher role-play alone could cut disruptive behavior. Duncan keeps the role-play but pairs it with a card game, giving staff a faster way to rehearse rules.
van Vonderen et al. (2012) added video feedback to lecture and also saw staff skills rise. Duncan swaps video for a low-tech card game and still gets the same upward trend, so agencies without cameras have a cheap option.
Carr et al. (2017) tried a simple checklist after lecture and saw mixed results—some skills rose, others fell. Duncan’s extra rehearsal step may explain why their package lifted every skill instead of a few.
Why it matters
You can finish a lunch-break training with a card deck and a five-minute skit. No cameras, no extra staff, no cost. Try it the next time you need to tighten how teams block or redirect behavior when items are removed.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Some training programs for staff working with individuals with intellectual disabilities fail to equip staff with the practical skills necessary to prevent behavioral episodes. The current research describes the results of a staff training program that, following traditional didactic training, used a card game followed by role-play training to increase staff competence in managing problem behavior. The card game and role-play training was based on behavioral episodes that had occurred previously in the research setting. Post-training observations showed that treatment integrity of trained staff improved.
Behavior analysis in practice, 2017 · doi:10.1080/13668250802292596