Utilizing the Performance Diagnostic Checklist – Human Services to Assess and Improve Employee Performance on Mand Training: A Replication

Melendez et al. (2020) asked three staff members to run mand-training sessions with clients.

The team first ran the 20-minute PDC-HS checklist to find why staff made errors.

Then they gave each person the exact BST package the checklist pointed to.

Every staff member’s mand-training accuracy jumped after the PDC-HS-chosen BST.

Gains held during later spot checks, showing the fix stuck.

Wilder et al. (2018) showed the PDC-HS picks winners across four work domains; this paper proves the same trick works for mand training.

Smith et al. (2018) paired PDC-HS with BST first, but with adults with ID doing price tagging—Melendez moves that recipe to in-home staff teaching mands.

Guercio et al. (2023) later swapped BST for simpler antecedent fixes and still saw big gains, proving the checklist, not the flavor of the fix, drives success.

Slane et al. (2021) reviewed 20 BST staff-training studies and found high fidelity every time; Melendez adds the key step of letting the PDC-HS choose when BST is actually needed.

Stop guessing why staff struggle with mand trials. Run the free PDC-HS, deliver the indicated BST, and watch accuracy climb—just like it did for all three staff here. It takes one prep period and saves weeks of retraining.