UNT Theses and Dissertations - 148 Matching Results

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Immediate and Subsequent Effects of Fixed-Time Delivery of Therapist Attention on Problem Behavior Maintained by Attention

Description: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the immediate and subsequent effects of fixed-time attention on problem behavior maintained by therapist attention utilizing a three-component multiple-schedule design. The treatment analysis indicated that fixed-time attention produced a significant immediate decrease in the frequency of physically disruptive behavior (PDB), represented by low frequencies of PDB in Component 2, as well as a continued subsequent effect, represented by lower fr… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Walker, Stephen Frank
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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An Attempt to Dissociate Effects of Response Requirements and Sample Duration in Conditional Discrimination Learning with Pigeons.

Description: Attempts to control various aspects of response requirements and sample viewing durations of sample stimuli show that an increase in both facilitates acquisition of conditional discriminations. Despite these attempts, few empirical data exist that demonstrate the relative contributions of both response- and time-dependent schedules. In addition, viewing opportunities of sample stimuli are present outside of the researchers' control, allowing for 'unauthorized sample viewing.' This study employe… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Levine, Joshua
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Can Analyzing Infant Imitation in the Natural Environment Inform Interventions in Autism?

Description: A longitudinal study of infants and their mothers was conducted to explore the development of imitation and approximations to imitation. During a 10-minute unstructured play session, researchers observed two mother-infant dyads once per week for twelve weeks, while they played at home. The data presented represents infants between the ages 5 and 34 weeks. The methodology employed was based on the methods described by Hart and Rilsey (1999). Observations were coded based on the topography of the… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Waltenburg, Carley
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Can Longitudinal Observations of Infant Joint Attention Inform Infant Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorders?

Description: Infants 5-34 weeks of age were observed in their homes playing with their mothers as part of a longitudinal study. Two mother-infant dyads were observed once per week for twelve weeks, during a ten-minute play session. The purpose of the observation system is to describe contingencies leading to the development of attention-seeking behaviors in typically developing infants. Observations were coded using a type-based format (person engagement, object engagement, supported joint engagement, coord… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Suchomel, Nicole G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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The Effects of PECS Training on Symbolic Matching Skills in Learners with Autism

Description: This study evaluated whether picture exchange communication system (PECS) training would result in the development of conditional relations among corresponding pictures, objects (reinforcers) and spoken words used in PECS training with learners with developmental disabilities. Three participants with autism and mental retardation were trained to use PECS. Match-to-sample procedures were used to assess all possible conditional relations among stimuli before, during, and after PECS training. … more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Cranmer, Elizabeth
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Effects of Picture Exchange Training on Communication Topographies

Description: The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) has been used with children with autism and other developmental disabilities as an alternative to vocal communication. Some researchers have reported rapid acquisition of picture-exchange requesting as well as increased vocal speech and increased spontaneous social interactions following PECS training. Earlier research has found that although 3 children with autism learned to exchange pictures for preferred items during PECS training, requestin… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Haray, Aimee H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A head start on reading for children in a Head Start preschool program.

Description: Literacy is a fundamental to all areas of learning. Early reading experiences prior to elementary school and kindergarten years are critical factors for later reading success. This study evaluated the effect Direct Instruction® reading procedures vs. Scholastic Early Childhood Program® reading procedures on the production of letter names, letter sounds, CV and CVC blends by preschool-aged students in a Head Start program. Results showed the intervention group improved in all areas, while the co… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Osley, Kristin R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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An Observation System to Aid in the Evaluation and Implementation of Early Intervention Programs for Children with Autism

Description: Early and intensive behavioral intervention outcome research includes descriptions of intervention variables that may increase treatment success. This study was designed to develop an observation system that incorporates and expands on some of these variables. Measures include the number of interventionist teaching units, types of skills addressed during instruction, consequences programmed by interventionists, and engagement with teaching materials. This system allowed for a view of the differ… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Geving, Megan McGee
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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A systematic replication of the Family Connections parent-toddler training program.

Description: As more toddlers are being diagnosed with autism there is an increased need for very early intervention. Preliminary research on interventions suggests toddlers can make important developmental progress and that parents can be part of the intervention process. The purpose of this study was to systematically replicate a parent training program reported by Alai-Rosales et al. (2009). Specifically, the present study taught parents a set of teaching strategies that included arranging the environ… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Newcomer, Andrea L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Transfer of Mand-to-Tact and Tact-to-Mand Topographies in Two Vocal-Verbal Children with Autism: A Replication and Extension Study

Description: Skinner (1957) suggested that different verbal operants are acquired independently of each other and establishing a verbal operant as a mand will not necessarily result in the appearance of a tact having the same response form and vice versa. Recent empirical research has found that newly acquired mands and tacts can be transferred to different relations without direct training. The present study investigated 1) how verbal responses taught as pure mands affect untrained tact relations; 2) how… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Ruiz, Julio
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Using a Behavioral Treatment Package to Teach Tolerance to Skin Care Products to a Child with Autism: A Systematic Replication

Description: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a treatment package to teach a child with autism to willingly accept skin care products conducive to health and normal everyday living. The current study uses graduated exposure, modeling and contingent social attention to teach the child to accept the application of skin care products previously avoided. Results of the study showed that the participant tolerated criterion amounts of all target stimuli with both experimenter and … more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Vidosevic, Tania A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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What you teach makes a difference: Direct and collateral outcomes of an autism sibling intervention.

Description: Training siblings as change agents for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been shown to be beneficial in teaching a sibling to teach their brother or sister. There are very few interventions, however, that explore the range of effects that targeting particular skills has on sibling interactions. The purpose of this study was to assess the direct and collateral effects of training behavioral teaching techniques to a typically developing sibling. Four experimental cond… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Czekalski, Sara
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Effects of Fixed- and Variable-Ratio Token Exchange Schedules on Performance with Children with Autism

Description: The research literature with nonhumans supports findings that token economies are a common component of training programs. The literature suggests that the schedule by which exchange opportunities become available determines the organization of behavioral performances in token economies to a great extent. This study sought to systematically document whether the dynamics observed in basic laboratory procedures will also be observed in a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and wheth… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Greaves, Stephanie A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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An Evaluation of the Effects of an Abridged Parent Training Program on Parent-child Interactions in the Home

Description: This study examined the effects of a condensed parent training program on parent-child interactions in the home. Two parents participated in a positive parenting workshop that included explicit training of four skills and indirect training of two additional skills. To determine skill acquisition, both parents performed role plays and completed written exams pre- and post-training. Role play assessment results showed improvements in all skill areas for both participants. Written assessment r… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Jones-Hamilton, Allison M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Investigating the effects on parallel play between siblings: Teaching children with autism to emit social phrases to their typically developing sibling.

Description: The focus of this study was three fold. First, modeling and feedback were investigated as a training package for social interactions between siblings. Second, the effects of social phrases taught to the sibling with autism were investigated. Third, the magnitude of these social phrases was measured by timing duration of parallel play. The experimental design is an A-B-A1-A2 design conducted in a clinic, with a probe for generalization in the home environment. This intervention was replicated… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Hille, Katrina J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Measures of reading comprehension: The effects of text type and time limits on students' performance.

Description: Although the importance of reading comprehension is generally recognized, a better understanding of the factors influencing measurement of reading comprehension may impact the ability to assess strengths and deficits. The current study examined the effects of text type and time limits on the rate of students' performance across four common assessments of reading comprehension. Results showed similarities between performance with narrative and expository texts and across time limit conditions fo… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Falke, Lisa G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Observing and Attending in a Delayed Matching-to-Sample Preparation in Pigeons

Description: Pigeons worked in a titrating delay match-to-sample (TDMTS) procedure in which selecting the correct comparison stimulus increased the delay between sample offset and comparison-array onset and incorrect comparison selections decreased that delay. Prior research in our lab has shown that the stable adjusted value of the retention interval is a curvilinear function of the observing response requirement. The current study examined the effect of the distribution and predictability of observing re… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Lovelace, Bryan S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Retention, Endurance, Stability, and Application of Learned Performances as a Function of Training Condition

Description: A functional definition of fluency describes performance frequency ranges that predict retention, endurance, stability, application, and adduction as outcomes of practice. This experiment assessed these outcomes after different training conditions using a within-subject design. Participants in an experimental group learned new skills in a condition with rate and accuracy criteria, then in a yoked, rate-controlled condition with the same number of prompted responses and correct trials in practic… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Cohen, Jason
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Teaching Simple Auditory Discriminations to Students with Autism

Description: This study aimed to test the effectiveness of classroom translations of some laboratory procedures for teaching simple auditory discriminations to learners with developmental disabilities. Three participants with autism and mental retardation were trained to make topographically distinct responses in the presence of two different stimuli, either a pure tone and silence, or two tones. A portable electronic piano keyboard was used to produce tones. Delayed prompt and differential reinforcement p… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Marino, Kristine L.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Utilizing staff training methods for developing a mathetics error correction procedure in a university classroom.

Description: The education community agrees that correcting student errors is important for learning. They do not agree on the components that define successful error correcting. Some theories suggest that detailed feedback facilitates adult learning and some suggest that less detail is needed for these learners. Gilbert (1962) applied the scientifically derived methods of Behavior Analysis when designing instruction. This study attempted to develop an efficient error correction procedure for university tea… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Staff, Donald Michael
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Choices in Reinforcer Delivery

Description: The current study consisted of two experiments, both of which were comparisons of choice conditions replicated across four participants. Four typically-developing pre-school children participated in this study. Experiment 1 evaluated participants' preference for choosing consequent stimuli prior to engaging in academic tasks (pre-session choice) versus choosing consequent stimuli each time criterion for reinforcement had been met within the session (within-session choice). In Experiment 2, pref… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Law, Sarah Ann
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Comparison of Client Attendance, Attrition, and Outcomes in 2 Class System Packages.

Description: Using the principles of systems analysis as a guide, this study compared two class schedule formats used by Behavior Management and Parenting Services (BMAPS) in order to address the following research questions: 1) What effects do 2 different class formats have on student attrition and appointment keeping? 2) What effects do 2 different class formats have on student outcomes on a pre and posttest assessment? 3) What effects do 2 different class formats have on staff procedures? BMAPS provi… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Berends, Valori
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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The Effects of a Human Resources Information Technology Intervention on Background Check Processing in a Financial Institution: a Process Level Analysis.

Description: The human resources department of a financial institution implemented a multi-component intervention to replace a paper-based hiring system. Organization-wide impacts included changes in the background check operations. To support changes, training was conducted and procedure manuals distributed. Turn time for background checks decreased, but a combination of factors may be responsible. Other metrics are either inconclusive or suggest a confounding variable, yet quality of work did not suffe… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Mallari, Alexander David
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Identifying learn units in a naturalistic training program for children with autism and their families.

Description: Behavior analysts have proposed a primary measure, the "learn unit," to evaluate educational effectiveness. Past research has indicated this is a useful approach. The benefits of "learn units" may also apply to family interventions in autism. The current analysis evaluated the rates of learn units in a naturalistic parent-training program to determine if (1) definitions of learn units previously described in the literature can be reliably applied to family interventions and (2) an increased … more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Besner, Amanda Charlotte
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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