Descriptive Assessment of Conversational Skills: Towards Benchmarks for Young Adults with Social Deficits

Descriptive assessments are necessary to identify social norms and establish a foundation for experimental analysis. Much of the social skills intervention literature involves goals that have been selected through interviews and direct observation of behavior without a reference to desired outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to extend research on descriptive assessments of conversations by including additional measures and examining conversational behavior across contexts. We conducted a descriptive assessment of social skills exhibited by 16 neurotypical young adults. Participants had 10-min conversations in groups and 1-on-1 with friends and novel individuals. We then assessed variability within and across participants on a wide array of relevant measures. Throughout the conversations, participants shared the conversation time equally, spent most of the conversation time making on-topic comments, and gazed at their conversation partner more frequently while listening than while speaking. These descriptive data extend current research, inform future experimental analyses, and may guide clinical decisions

A descriptive and experimental evaluation of preschooler aggressive toy play

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Kansas, Applied Behavioral Science, 2007.Aggressive toy play is commonly observed in early childhood classrooms, yet strategies to address this problem behavior have not been articulated in the research literature. In Study 1, we examined the relation between aggressive play and preference for three toy types: (a) structured "aggressive" (e.g., action figures), (b) structured "non-aggressive" (e.g., docile animals), and (c) unstructured (e.g., wood blocks) toys. Nine of 10 children that participated preferred structured aggressive toys; only half of the children exhibited the most aggressive play with toys of this type. For three children, we identified two sets of toys that were highly preferred (HP) and correlated with aggressive play and two sets of toys that were less preferred (LP) and not correlated with aggressive play. These children and toys were evaluated in Study 2 in which the direct and indirect effects of blocking aggressive play were assessed on aggression and toy interaction. Blocking reduced aggressive play for two of three children. All participants displayed a shift in preference for toys as a function of blocking. One participant displayed a decrease in overall levels of interaction as a function of blocking; however, no other negative side effects were observed

TOPOGRAPHICAL AND FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF PRECURSORS TO SEVERE PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

A literature search identified 17 articles reporting data on 34 subjects who engaged in precursors to severe problem behavior, which we examined to identify topographical and functional characteristics. Unintelligible vocalization was the most common precursor to aggression (27%) and property destruction (29%), whereas self- or nondirected movement was the most common precursor to SIB (32%). Unintelligible vocalization and object-directed movement were the most common precursors to behavior maintained by social-positive reinforcement (27% each), and unintelligible vocalization was the most common precursor to behavior maintained by social-negative reinforcement (29%). Only one precursor was reported for behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement