The fourth article by Weatherly (2012) provides us with an in- teresting study about whether behavioral measures of âcompul- sivenessâ are related to the ...
The Behavior Analyst Today
Vol. 13, No. 2, 2011
ISSN: 1555-7855
Editorial: Behavioral Interventions and Considerations
Introduction
important for applied practitioners in behavior analysis, but the ethical obligation to do so is clear when we consider how func-
Darlene E. Crone-Todd
tional hypotheses, treatment interventions, and outcomes are
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Department of Psychology
linked to effective assessment. Haraway also provides an impor-
Salem State University
tant reminder that successful interventions are not just a linear
In this issue, we are pleased to bring you four contributions from
“if-then fix”; rather, they involve a synthesis (or logical combina-
across the field of applied behavior analysis. First, Apsche, Bass,
tion) of multiple treatment interventions.
and Backlund (2012) describe the overall effectiveness of Mode
The fourth article by Weatherly (2012) provides us with an in-
Deactivation Therapy (MDT) over Cognitive Behavior Therapy
teresting study about whether behavioral measures of “compul-
(CBT) for adolescent males who display angry and aggressive
siveness” are related to the delayed discounting task which mea-
behavior. In this article, Apsche et al. also demonstrate how the
sures “impulsivity”. While it is not typical for our field to look at
intervention meets Kazdin’s (2007) six criteria for mediation
what we might consider “personality” variables, it has been the
analysis. This paper is an important contribution to the literature
case that delayed discounting as a measure of impulsivity (or,
regarding the use of contextually-based behavioral interven-
conversely, self-control) has had quite a bit of attention in the
tions and treatments that are needed to help produce behavioral
past decade or so of research. As such, this study explores, using
change with this difficult population.
an indirect measure, how a measure of compulsivity might be
The second article by Seiverling, Kokitus, and Williams (2012)
related. The results suggest an inverse relationship between the
provides a good clinical example of an intervention involving
two measures, which suggests that there are a potential set of as-
brief implementation of escape extinction in a 3-year old child
sociated behaviors that might be differentially reinforced when
with autism spectrum disorder who engaged in a high frequency
working with clients.
of food refusal when new foods were presented. An important
As a whole, we hope that the readers find these articles to be
contribution of this study is that it provides an approach for
of interest, and that they spark discussion in the field about the
minimizing the use of escape extinction (EE) in food selectivity
potential for both applications and future research.
interventions, as EE is sometimes difficult for therapists and par-
Finally, I must thank the following people who made this issue
ents to implement with children because of its association with
possible: Paul Malanga (Senior Associate Editor), Kate Kellum
increased challenging behavior when initially introduced.
(Associate Editor), and Richard Hennigan (Copy Editor), and of
Haraway (2012), in her review article on Attention-Deficit Hy-
course our editorial board and guest reviewer. I am very grateful
peractivity Disorder (ADHD) reminds us that going back to the
for the hard work and dedication that they demonstrate in their
basics of behavior assessment and behavioral change is not only
thoughtful contributions and reviews.
1
