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Class-wide interventions have strong empirical support for improving behavior in general education classes but are rarely tested in special education classes. The present study examined the effects of the Class-wide Function-related Intervention Team (CW-FIT) program, a group contingency intervention, on the on-task behavior of six elementary school children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in a self-contained, urban classroom. Using an ABAB design with brief withdrawals of the independent variable, the class-wide component of CW-FIT was implemented during a 20-min reading and spelling period 1–3 days per week. Procedures included teaching attending skills, setting a goal and awarding points for appropriate behavior, and providing differential reinforcement. Implementing the class-wide component of CW-FIT resulted in increased on-task behavior for students with EBD, with concomitant increases in teacher praise and reductions in teacher reprimands.

The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) has published a number of articles on the behavioral effects of psychomotor stimulant drugs in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Some additional JABA publications have included investigations of the behavioral effects of other drugs. However, a review of these articles revealed many methodological differences among studies, which makes it difficult to evaluate the relative contribution of each research effort to the overall database. In this context, we offer some guidelines to solidify the methodological rigor of behavior pharmacological research published in JABA.

Many studies, including some dealing with shot selection in basketball and play selection in football, demonstrate that the generalized matching equation provides a good description of the allocation of time and effort to alternative responses as a function of the consequences of those alternatives. We examined whether it did so with respect to left- and right-handed at bats (alternative responses) and left- and right-handed total bases earned, runs batted in, and home runs (three consequences) for the outstanding baseball switch-hitters Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, and Pete Rose. With all hitters, undermatching, suggesting insensitivity to the consequences of behavior (reinforcement), was evident and there was substantial bias towards left-handed at bats. These players apparently chose handedness based on the rule “bat opposite the pitcher,” not on differential consequences obtained in major league games. The present findings are significant in representing a counter-instance of demonstrations of a matching relationship in sports in particular and in human behavior in general and in calling attention to the need for further study of the variables that affect choice.

This article introduces the quantitative analysis of choice behavior by describing a number of equations developed over the years to describe the relation between the allocation of behavior under concurrent schedules of reinforcement and the consequences received for alternative responses. Direct proportionality between rate of responding and rate of reinforcement was observed in early studies, suggesting that behavioral output matched environmental input in a mathematical sense. This relation is termed “strict matching,” and the equation that describes it is referred to as “the matching law.” Later data showed systematic departures from strict matching, and a generalized version of the matching equation is now used to describe such data. This equation, referred to as “the generalized matching equation,” also describes data that follow strict matching. It has become convention to refer to either of these equations as “the matching law.” Empirical support for the matching law is briefly summarized, as is the applied and practical significance of matching analyses.

The present research determined if articles describing attempts to improve the behavior of people with autism reported whether or not participants were receiving medication and, if so, whether an interaction between the intervention and the medication was mentioned. Fifty-one articles published from 2004 through 2008 were examined. Information regarding medication was provided in 18% of these articles, none of which mentioned an interaction. Very little is known regarding interactions between nonpharmacological interventions and psychotropic (or other) medications, but some studies demonstrate that interactions can occur. Given this possibility, and the fact that information regarding medications received by participants is easy to obtain and report, it appears worthwhile to include this information in published articles.

This study examined the methods reportedly used to identify reinforcers in 97 skill acquisition studies involving people with autism published from 2005 through 2009. Results indicated that 32 of the 97 studies (33%) provided such information. Interviews with persons familiar with participants (e.g., parents, teachers) were the most-used techniques, followed in order by asking participants what they preferred, observing participants in their natural environment, and conducting formal preference assessments. Although effective reinforcers appear to have been used in each of the studies, the failure of many articles to describe how those stimuli were identified may make it difficult for practitioners and researchers to replicate the interventions. Future publications would benefit from the inclusion of clear and detailed specifications of the procedures used to isolate reinforcers.

Many people with developmental disabilities receive medications prescribed to improve behavior. This manuscript overviews the psychopharmacology of developmental disabilities and considers how practitioners can assist in improving the quality of the pharmacological treatments that their clients receive.

This study examined the reporting of participant protections in studies involving functional analysis and self-injurious behavior and published from 1994 through 2008. Results indicated that session termination criteria were rarely reported and other specific participant safeguards were seldom described. The absence of such information in no way indicates that functional analysis procedures were unethical or otherwise inappropriate, although the fact that participants emitted many self-injurious responses in some studies where no protections were described and no rationale for requiring such a large sample of behavior was provided is cause for concern. Future publications would benefit from the inclusion of clear and detailed specifications of participant protections.

Both risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic drug, and function-based behavior-analytic interventions are popular and empirically validated treatments for reducing challenging behavior in children with autism. The kind of research that supports their effectiveness differs, however, and no published study has directly compared their effects or examined the two in combination. The research methods characteristic of applied behavior analysis may provide a useful basis for comparing the effects of risperidone and behavior-analytic treatments, alone and in combination, and researchers are encouraged to pursue this line of investigation.

This study determined the involvement of women as first authors and other authors for every article published in Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, and Psychopharmacology in 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006. Their involvement as editors also was determined. Women's participation as authors, but not as editors, slightly increased over time. In 2006, 43% of first authors, 38% of other authors, and 24% of editors were women. The gender of subjects was examined for the same years and journals, but could not be determined for 6% and 9% of articles employing nonhuman and human subjects, respectively. In 2006, when subjects' gender could be determined, 77% of articles involving nonhuman subjects used only males, 9% only females, and 14% both males and females. In articles using human subjects in that same year, 17% involved only males, 6% only females, and 77% both males and females. Women researchers clearly make substantial contributions to the psychopharmacology literature, but are nonetheless underrepresented as editors. Findings regarding subjects indicate that there is growing recognition of the importance of gender as a determinant of drug effects, although the vast majority of nonhuman studies continue to involve only male subjects.

The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) has published a number of articles on the behavioral effects of psychomotor stimulant drugs in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Some additional JABA publications have included investigations of the behavioral effects of other drugs. However, a review of these articles revealed many methodological differences among studies, which makes it difficult to evaluate the relative contribution of each research effort to the overall database. In this context, we offer some guidelines to solidify the methodological rigor of behavior pharmacological research published in JABA.

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) refers to a range of methods designed to identify the environmental variables that control problematic behaviors. Methods for collecting these data revealing these variables include indirect measures, such as interviews and questionnaires, or direct methods, such as narrative recording of the antecedents that precede responses of interest and the consequences that follow them. Many behavior analysts believe that the “gold standard” of FBA is experimental functional analysis (FA) (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richmond, 1982/1994), which systematically arranges consequences for problem behaviors to identify their functions, that is, the reinforcers that maintain those behaviors. FBA is one of several ways of collecting information about clients, and professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) have established general ethical guidelines regarding how assessments should be conducted and interpreted. For example, Standard 9 of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct promulgated by the APA (2010) is devoted entirely to assessment. The same is true of Standard 3.0 of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board Guidelines for Responsible Conduct (BACB Guidelines, BACB 2011). That standard is presented in Table 13.1. Any practitioner who abides with the standards established there and elsewhere in the Guidelines is therefore behaving ethically, regardless of whether he or she is involved in functional assessment or another professional activity.