Hey there behaviorists!

Welcome to another week of the Behaviorist Book Club Podcast! This week, we will be covering the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, issue 54, number 4, pages 1639 to 1666.

This is a happy moment for me, and a notable one for this podcast. This is the first time that we have covered an entire issue! Starting perhaps a month or so ago, we have been able to discuss and disseminate every single article in issue number 4. This week, we will finish off issue number 4 by reading three more articles, including two replications. 

Monday

Well, I thought that EMG was a novel application, as I said last Friday, but it seems that it was less novel than I thought. This paper utilizes EMG technology to help shape and reinforce leg flexing behavior in a proof-of-concept study. It was observed by the authors that there is a weakness within the physical rehabilitation world. That weakness is the prevailing use of behavioral contingencies that are not as efficient as they could be. By using basic behavior analytic principles, these authors were able to demonstrate how the adoption of ABA outside of our small clinical setting can lead to better and more efficient outcomes for patients. 

Citation + DOI:

Vaidya, M. & Armshaw, B. (2021). Surface electromyography and gamification: Translational research to advance physical rehabilitation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 54(4), 1608-1624. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.871

Wednesday

Wednesday brings us one of my favorite topics to learn about... The reduction of automatically maintained self-injurious behavior. The specific topography of SIB that is being worked on is tracheotomy tube touching and manipulation, which is a severe behavior that leads to repeated emergency medical visits. This paper was done with an emphasis on safety and generalization and utilizes the A-CSA to its fullest potential. Following a successful treatment application, the authors even conducted a component analysis to examine if tube touching was reduced by different parts of the whole package, in an attempt to reduce the overall complexity of the intervention. Severe SIB will always be one of my favorite topics, and the A-CSA will continue to be my most preferred assessment and treatment path to use. 

Citation + DOI:

Falligant, J. M., Hardesty, S. L., Pierce, D. & Kurtz, P. F. (2021). Assessment and treatment of tracheostomy tube manipulation: Effects of competing stimuli and protective equipment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 54(4), 1625-1638. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.846

Friday

This final article is one of my favorite ones from the issue. I am a clinical manager and one of my main responsibilities is to train and onboard new RBTs. I am constantly on the lookout for any new way of training that will be more efficient and lead to better outcomes. After reading this article, I immediately emailed my other trainers that I have on staff and asked them to read it as well, as I was inspired to completely renew our training procedure. These authors demonstrate the usage of the observation effect and how staff rating other staff can increase their own performance. This presents as a time leveraged technique that can be used to train multiple staff members at the same time. 

Citation + DOI

Romer, K., Vladescu, J. C., Marano, K. E., Reeve, S. A., Sidener, T. M. & Campanaro, A. M. (2021). The influence of observations and ratings on implementation of discrete trial instruction. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 54(4), 1639-1651. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.868