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Does Family Quality of Life Change? Evaluation of a Group Parent-coaching Package (open access)

Does Family Quality of Life Change? Evaluation of a Group Parent-coaching Package

Improving family quality of life is an important goal when working with families of children with autism. Researchers have attempted to measure changes by developing indices of quality such as affect, stress, and confidence. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a group parent-coaching program on measures aimed at addressing quality: a) parent confidence, stress and affect ratings; b) child affect ratings; c) the frequency of coordinated joint attention (CJA); and d) parent report of satisfaction and efficacy. Over the course of four weeks, the coaching program involved group presentations, discussions, video sharing, and problem solving, and individual in-vivo coaching sessions regarding specific child skill development. Results from the five parent-child dyads suggested increases in areas associated with quality of life. Results are discussed in the context of quality themes and mixed methods research.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Wiles, Amber Marie
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Use of Conjugate Reinforcement in Autism Treatment Programs: a Demonstration and Discussion (open access)

The Use of Conjugate Reinforcement in Autism Treatment Programs: a Demonstration and Discussion

The effect of a reinforcer on behavior is largely determined by the schedule in which it is implemented. One type of reinforcement schedule that has not been explored extensively is conjugate reinforcement. Previous researchers have used conjugate schedules to evaluate a reinforcer's effects on behavior and as an assessment tool. However, none have explored how to effectively engineer conjugate schedules in applied settings. The current study explores the effectiveness of conjugate reinforcement implemented by several interventionists across a variety of responses, reinforcers, and in a wide range of participants with autism. The results indicated that delivering social, audio/visual, and tangible stimuli in a conjugate schedule resulted in increased durations of various target responses (e.g. social skills, motor skills) and non-targeted measures (e.g., approach, social bids, speed) across participants. Considerations regarding reinforcer and response selection in implementing conjugate schedules in applied settings are provided.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Reetz, Stephany Kristina
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of a Group Parent-coaching Package on the Behavior of Children with Autism and Their Parents (open access)

The Effects of a Group Parent-coaching Package on the Behavior of Children with Autism and Their Parents

Support for parents is an important part of treatment programs for children diagnosed with autism. Parent training programs have generally focused on prescribed goals in one-on-one training settings with measures directly related to the goals. Of interest here are the few studies that included collaborative goals, expanded measures, and group training. Benefits of such approaches include the establishment of natural communities of reinforcement and better understanding of the breadth of effects. The purpose of this study was to determine if a group coaching approach would be effective in changing a large range of parent and child skills. This experiment involved group sessions (presentations, discussion, video sharing, and problem solving) and three individual in-vivo coaching sessions. The intervention took place over the course of four weeks. Direct measures included a parent skills checklist and child target behaviors. Results indicated an overall improvement on most measures that maintained or improved at follow-up.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Vaughn, Brittany M. L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Vocabulary Banks and Scripts on Native English-speaking Students’ Acquisition of Italian (open access)

A Comparison of Vocabulary Banks and Scripts on Native English-speaking Students’ Acquisition of Italian

The study applied behavior analytic principles to foreign language instruction in a college classroom. Two study methods, vocabulary banks and scripts, were compared by assessing the effects on Italian language acquisition, retention, and generalization. Results indicate that students without prior exposure to Italian engaged in more exchanges and emitted more words in script tests compared to vocabulary bank tests. Participants with at least two classes in Italian prior to the study engaged in more exchanges and emitted more words during vocabulary bank tests. Data suggest that different teaching strategies may work for different learners. More research is needed to determine efficient teaching methods and how to ascertain which approaches work best for learners with different histories.
Date: May 2012
Creator: Dean, Brittany L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Projection, Volume 47, Number 1, Fall 2012 (open access)

Projection, Volume 47, Number 1, Fall 2012

Newsletter of Tarrant County College discussing news and events at their campuses, information about alumni, and other updates.
Date: Autumn 2012
Creator: Tarrant County College
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History