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in creator/contributor: "Dracobly, Joseph"

open access

Investigating the Role of Concurrent Verbal Behavior in a Rule-Shifting Scenario

The present study evaluates the effects of incompatible verbal behavior when engaging in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The WCST is a complex task that requires participants to match stimulus cards based on self-generated rules. After a varying number of trials, the rule changes and the participant will have to self-generate a new rule. Verbal behavior, specifically joint control, is likely involved in rule-following. Seven participants took part in this study. Participants engaged in… more

Date: August 2022

Creator: Cutler, Jacquelyn Marie

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

On the Utility of Surface Electromyography-Based Biofeedback on Rehabilitation from Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Clinical Trial

Knee osteoarthritis affects approximately 25 million adults. In severe cases, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the most common solution. TKA is effective at addressing pain and reducing continued degeneration of articular cartilage. However, effective physical therapy (PT) following TKA is vital for a full functional recovery. Despite the importance of PT, half of patients never achieve a full functional recovery. Decreases in proprioceptive feedback, severe atrophy, and pain inhibition all lik… more

This item is restricted from view until September 1, 2027.

Date: August 2022

Creator: Armshaw, Brennan

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Exploring Functional Interdependence of Mands, Tacts, and Intraverbals after Brain Injury

One goal of this study was to evaluate the emergence of mands and intraverbals following tact acquisition for individuals with aphasia due to acquired brain injury. A second goal was to evaluate the transfer of shortened latencies as a function of tact training across untrained operants. In Study 1, the dependent measure was accuracy of responding and in Study 2, the dependent measures were rate and latency of responding. Participants for Study 1 were two uninjured adults (pilot) and two adults… more

Date: August 2022

Creator: Baltazar-Mars, Marla

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Direct Assessment of Quality of Care in a Memory-Care Residential Setting: A Systematic Replication

The quality of care of residents in nursing homes receive is an important issue facing our society, and reliable methods to assess and measure important indicators of quality of care are necessary to ensure that nursing homes are providing adequate services. Previous researchers have developed methodologies to evaluate indicators of quality of care, including environmental conditions, resident conditions, resident activities, and staff activities using momentary-time sampling procedures across … more

Date: December 2018

Creator: Free, Corinne

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Can In-vivo Self-Monitoring Improve Discrete Trial Instruction Implementation?

Beneficial consumer outcomes are most likely when behavior-analytic interventions are implemented with high procedural fidelity (i.e., degree to which the procedure is implemented as intended). Video self-monitoring, which involves teaching staff members to monitor their own procedural fidelity when watching recordings of themselves, can be used to improve and maintain high procedural fidelity, but video self-monitoring requires additional staff time and resources. In-vivo self-monitoring, whic… more

Date: July 2023

Creator: Lai, Rachel Nicole

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Use of a Virtual Reality Gaming System to Improve Balance in Individuals with Chronic Brain Injury

Wii Fit U games utilize a Wii Balance Board™ (WBB) in a manner that can provide precise feedback contingencies similarly to some forms of balance rehabilitation, thereby potentially increasing the dose of quality therapy with or without the presence of a therapist during post-brain injury rehabilitation. Additionally, an engaging video-game could improve treatment adherence, a critical aspect of making positive functional gains, by potentially increasing the rate and quality of reinforcement em… more

Date: May 2021

Creator: Cruz, Selena R

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Establishing Appropriate Toileting Behavior in an Adult Female with Developmental Disabilities and Severe Self-Injurious Behavior

The participant was a 52 year-old woman, diagnosed with a profound intellectual disability, who engaged in high rates of severe self-injurious behaviors (SIB) predominantly in the forms of head banging and head hitting. A series of analyses and interventions was implemented to establish appropriate toileting behavior in the natural environment. Treatment consisted of conjugate reinforcement for optimal toilet positioning with the absence of SIB, episodic positive reinforcement of eliminating in… more

Date: May 2019

Creator: Bayliss, Kathleen

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Training Behavior Professionals to Use the Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA): Extension

The current investigation replicated and extended previous research on training of behavior professionals to implement functional assessment and analysis procedures. Specifically, the study extended procedures described by Metras to train board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs) to administer two components of the Interview Informed Synthesized Contingency Analyses (IISCA) by: (1) conducting the study in the context of a large residential/training facility for adults with ID, (2) including a p… more

Date: December 2019

Creator: Markham, Eric Nicholas

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Variability in the Natural World: An Analysis of Variability in Preschool Play

Children acquire many skills through play. These range from fine and gross motor skills, social skills, problem-solving, to even creativity. Creativity or creative engagement is frequently a component in early preschool curricula. A pivotal repertoire to engage in behaviors deemed creative, such as art, storytelling, problem-solving, and the like, is the ability to vary one's responses regardless of the specific repertoire. Researchers have developed methods to produce response variability. How… more

Date: August 2020

Creator: Armshaw, Jared T

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

A Behavioral Analysis of the Stroop Effect

Participants demonstrate the Stroop effect when, in naming the color in which a word appears, reaction times are longer when the color and word are incongruent (e.g., "yellow" printed in blue) compared to when they are congruent (e.g., "yellow" printed in yellow). The literature commonly refers to the difference in reaction times as a measure of the interference of word stimuli upon color stimuli, and is taken as support for the theory of automaticity. This study asks whether the Stroop effect … more

Date: August 2019

Creator: Luc, Oanh

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

The Effects of Voluntary and Involuntary Muscle Recruitment Training on the Strength of Isometric Muscle Contractions

Approximately 50% of individuals who undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) fail to achieve a full functional recovery. Current physical therapy practices commonly utilize neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) to passively activate quadriceps muscles. This passive approach does not directly reteach the lost response, but can strengthen the atrophied muscle. Study 1 compared surface electromyography with biofeedback (sEMGBF) with a changing criterion design to NMES alone. Study 2 compared s… more

Date: December 2022

Creator: Armshaw, Gabriel Luke

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

Exploring the Effects of Cultural Consequences Identified through a Ranking Task on the Interlocking Behavioral Contingencies of Ethically Self-Controlled Responses with Participants with Pre-Existing Relationships

This study explored the effects of cultural consequences identified through a ranking task on the selection of interlocking behavioral contingencies and aggregate products constituting ethically self-controlled responses when participants had pre-existing relationships. Two experiments were conducted to explore these effects. Experiment 1 had two triads of three participants each recruited from a university-based autism center. Experiment 2 had three triads of three participants each; participa… more

Date: May 2022

Creator: Elwood, Chelsea Christina

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

A Safe and Fast Deworming Procedure for Horses

Most horse owners administer oral deworming medication to their horses on a set schedule, often six times per year. The deworming process involves using a plastic syringe to inject a thick paste into the horse's mouth. Most horse owners do not specifically train their horses to accept this procedure. Consequently, many horses resist the procedure and some horses engage in behaviors, such as head shaking, pulling away, or even rearing, that may be dangerous to humans or to themselves. This study… more

Date: May 2022

Creator: Ward, Jessica Lauren

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

Change AGENT Project Part 1: Training Staff to Make Responsive Decisions Based on Goals and Rationales and Evaluating the Effects on the Manding Progress of Children with Autism

When autism interventionists within behavioral intervention programs continually assess the child's behavior and context and adjust their teaching behaviors accordingly, the child can quickly progress towards their goals. While evaluations of flexible behavior-change techniques implemented by experienced clinicians are present in the literature, systematic evaluations of staff training procedures to train interventionists in responsive decision making are lacking. In the current study, flexible… more

This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2025.

Date: December 2022

Creator: Dotson, Anna M.

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

Change AGENT Project Part 2: Further Analyses of Progress Following Staff Training on Responsive, Goal-Directed, and Rationale-Based Decision Making

Evidence-based practice in ABA is a complex decision-making process involving frequent adjustments in goals and procedures as informed by science, client need, and clinical wisdom. Consistent with the science's foundations, incredible gains are possible for children with autism when practitioners are systematically trained to understand, produce, and be responsive to shifting conditions for change. However, minimal standards for training promote inflexibility and rule following, at the expense … more

This item is restricted from view until January 1, 2025.

Date: December 2022

Creator: Schleifer-Katz, Evan

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

The Influences of a Topographically and Functionally Unrelated Operant on Response Allocation under Concurrent Continuous Reinforcement Schedules

In the experimental analysis of behavior, response allocation is typically studied under concurrent interval schedules, with two response alternatives, in a static environment. The natural environment of the unfettered organism, however, is dynamic insofar as even frequently visited environments are rarely identical from encounter to encounter. Additionally, natural environments usually offer more than two concurrently available behaviors that are often scheduled for reinforcement contingent on… more

Date: December 2020

Creator: Davidson, Alex J

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Encouraging Tolerance of and Cooperation with Dental/Medical Routines

The participant is a 61-year-old woman, diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder and profound intellectual disability who was referred to a behavior-disorders clinic, to increase cooperation with routine dental procedures. I used a behavioral treatment package consisting of stimulus fading, differential reinforcement, and extinction to establish tolerance of, and cooperation with, routine dental procedures. Results showed that cooperative responding varied throughout the progression of tea… more

Date: May 2020

Creator: Rawlings, Jordan

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Evaluating Variables that Influence Research Staff Performance

Performance analysis, based on operant analysis of behavior, has been utilized since the 1960s to investigate behavioral skills or deficits in the workplace. One type of analytical tool is Carr et al.'s Performance Diagnostic Checklist- Human Services (PDC-HS). This functional assessment allows investigators to pinpoint causes of performance issues (e.g., a training issue, task clarification/prompting, insufficient resources/materials/processes, or performance consequences/effort/competition). … more

Date: December 2020

Creator: Rodriguez, Ana

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

A Preliminary Investigation of How to Teach Undergraduate Students How to Build Rapport and Create Meaningful Interactions with College-Aged Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

University peer-mentoring programs have shown to increase the retention rates of students, including students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and improved satisfaction with the college experience. The perceived quality of a mentee-mentor relationship may predict satisfaction with a peer-mentoring program; therefore, teaching peer mentors to engage in behaviors that could contribute to a high-quality mentee-mentor relationship may be beneficial. The current study identified target outcomes,… more

Date: August 2021

Creator: Espericueta-Luna, Williams A

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

Reliability of Treatment Integrity Assessment with Multiple Observers: Can Agreement Be Assumed?

Interobserver agreement (IOA) was calculated across three participant dyads for a generalized treatment integrity tool. No dyads achieved 80% agreement during baseline. Task clarification was piloted as an intervention for two of the three dyads. Form agreement produced stabilization in both dyads and improvement in one dyad. Time agreement did not improve but demonstrated marked trends in one dyad.

Date: May 2022

Creator: Cohen, Lindsay Anne

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

The Effects of Specific and Disguised Mands on Staff's Reinforcer Delivery

Residential facilities for adults with developmental disabilities offer essential accommodations and support services, with fostering communication for residents as an important aspect of care. Despite the importance of communication, previous research has identified concerns about staff performance (SP) in facilitating positive social interactions, such as engaging in consequent-mediating behavior for residents' mands. Previous research has primarily focused on improving SP through skills-base… more

Date: December 2023

Creator: Richey, Caroline Nicole

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Using GIFs and Matrix Training to Teach Noun-Verb Tacts to Children with Autism

Verbal behavior is a critical repertoire for children with autism spectrum disorder to acquire. Tacts—verbal behavior evoked by nonverbal stimuli—are important for communicating about the world around oneself. Noun-verb tacts are part of a robust tact repertoire and may be addressed during applied behavior analytic intervention. When acquiring noun-verb tacts, it is important that the speaker learn to respond to many variations of stimuli like novel combinations of learned nouns and verbs, whic… more

Date: December 2023

Creator: White, Alexandria Blayce

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

Increasing Caregiver Reliability on Anecdotal Assessments

Functional analyses are the gold standard of confirming maintaining variables of problem behavior. Despite widespread support, many clinical settings instead use anecdotal assessments. These have been shown to have poor reliability when used by non-experts but can be useful for confirming maintaining variables of problem behavior when agreement has reached a certain level. We used behavior skills training to teach new staff member pairs behavior function to increase their reliability on these a… more

Date: December 2023

Creator: Drummond, Cody McPhail

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries

open access

An Evaluation of Cross-Function Stimuli in the Treatment of Automatically Maintained Problem Behavior

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is a possible alternative to differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO) that may operate through a similar mechanism. In the research, the participant's problem behaviors were maintained by automatic reinforcement or even multiply maintained. NCR is the method to intervene with the participant who had no clinical effect on using sensory integration therapy (SIT) to reduce problem behaviors in the previous study. The results showed that NCR is an effect… more

Date: December 2023

Creator: Huang, Po-Kai

Item Type: Thesis or Dissertation

Partner: UNT Libraries