editorial: Behavioral interventions and Considerations - APA PsycNET

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The fourth article by Weatherly (2012) provides us with an in- teresting study about whether behavioral measures of “compul- siveness” 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.

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