The Impact of Digital Media on Mandala Making in Art Therapy in the Treatment of Anxiety

In the United States, the usage of electronic media has become ubiquitous. However, the field of art therapy still lags behind in this respect, and it has failed to embrace the use of technology in clinical practice. There exists some evidence that art therapists resist the use of technology in practice because there is little substantiation that digital media is as effective as conventional media in the treatment of mental health issues. Hence, the present study examined if a switch from conventional to digital media impacted the dependent variables (i.e., anxiety, client treatment satisfaction). The experimental design employed was an ABAB reversal design. Results did not indicate this switch had any effect.

The Impact of a Switch from Conventional Media to Digital Media in the Treatment of Vicarious Trauma During Art Therapy

In the United States, the use of digital media has become omnipresent and has changed how people communicate, conduct business, and create art and music. However, art therapy lags behind the current culture of prolific use of digital media. To date, there is very little experimental research on the use of digital media in the field of art therapy. The deficiency of evidence that digital media is as effective as conventional media is an obstacle to a full embrace and adoption of technology in practice by the field. The present study was designed to address this lack of evidence. Specifically, this study examined the impact of a switch from conventional to digital media in a mandala-based art therapy upon three dependent variables of interest. These variables were anxiety, vicarious traumatization, and client treatment satisfaction. An ABAB reversal design was used. Results suggested that such a switch had no impact.

Machine Learning to Support Visual Inspection of Data: A Clinical Application

Practitioners in pediatric feeding programs often rely on single-case experimental designs and visual inspection to make treatment decisions (e.g., whether to change or keep a treatment in place). However, researchers have shown that this practice remains subjective, and there is no consensus yet on the best approach to support visual inspection results. To address this issue, we present the first application of a pediatric feeding treatment evaluation using machine learning to analyze treatment effects. A 5-year-old male with autism spectrum disorder participated in a 2-week home-based, behavior-analytic treatment program. We compared interrater agreement between machine learning and expert visual analysts on the effects of a pediatric feeding treatment within a modified reversal design. Both the visual analyst and the machine learning model generally agreed about the effectiveness of the treatment while overall agreement remained high. Overall, the results suggest that machine learning may provide additional support for the analysis of single-case experimental designs implemented in pediatric feeding treatment evaluations.

Behavioral effects of changeover delays in a concurrent-chains schedule with different delays and magnitudes of reinforcement

The present study examined the effects of a changeover delay (COD) on the choice between smaller, shorter delayed reinforcement and larger, longer delayed reinforcement in a complex concurrent-chains schedule. Four pigeons were exposed to three conditions in an ABA or BAB reversal design. A COD of 2 seconds was included in the initial links during condition B. The concurrent-chains schedule had identical variable-interval schedules in the initial links and different delays and magnitudes of reinforcement that were programmed according to a fixed-ratio 10 (FR10) schedule in the terminal links. Each experimental condition lasted for two long sessions and five short sessions. Changeover rates were lower, and preference for the larger, longer delayed reinforcer was more pronounced during conditions with the programmed 2-second COD. The analysis of initial pauses and running rates during the FR10 schedules of the terminal links revealed no systematic effects of the COD on behavior in the terminal links. The COD had similar effects on choice performance in this modified concurrent-chain procedure as on simple concurrent performance.Keywords: Choice behavior, concurrent-chains, COD, self-control paradigm, pigeons.

Effect of Words Highlighting in School Tasks upon Typical ADHD Behaviors

Behavioral interventions in classroom are relevant to the educational process of students with ADHD. It is in this context that typical disorder’s behaviors are especially problematic and contribute to high rates of school failure and dropout. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of word highlighting on inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity of three elementary students with ADHD. A multiple baseline design combined with a reversal design was used. Reduction in the frequency of the behaviors of interest and higher frequency of correct answers in school tasks were observed when words were highlighted. The results replicate and extend data of previous studies. The application of the intervention with different contents and tasks is proposed.

For Your Eyes Only: A Field Experiment on Nudging Hygienic Behavior

These days many gyms and fitness centers are closed to reduce transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in society. The gym is an environment rich in microorganisms, and careful hygiene is a necessity to keep infections at bay. Exercise centers strive for better hygiene compliance among their members. This effort has become essential in light of the current pandemic. Several experimental studies show that others’ physical presence, or the “illusion” of being watched, may alter behavior. This article reports on a natural field experiment testing one specific social nudge intended to increase gym members’ hygienic behavior. The study was conducted before the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. A picture of “observing eyes” was attached to paper dispensers and cleanser spray bottles at two different gyms in Norway. A reversal design, also called an ABA design, with and without the nudge’s presence, was used to investigate the impact on gym members’ hygienic behavior. A follow-up study was conducted in one of the centers to investigate whether the nudge stimuli would function over time. The study included 254 individual choice situations during nine observation sessions conducted over 9 weeks. The results from both centers provide evidence of a strong effect of the nudge. However, the effect decreased during the follow-up study. These findings support previous research indicating that human behavior is influenced by the presence of implicit observation cues – in this case – observing eyes. However, insights into the long-term effect of implicit observation cues are still needed since the salience of the stimuli faded over time.

Treatment for Younger Siblings of Participants in a Home-Based Intensive Paediatric Feeding Programme in Australia

Early childhood feeding problems can be challenging. Children who limit their food consumption may significantly impact multiple critical areas of development. Effective treatment should be accessed as early as possible but has been limited to a handful of US hospital programmes. Feeding problems affect both children with and without disability, and families may struggle with multiple children having feeding difficulties. We provided short-term (less than 2 weeks), in-home, intensive, behaviour-analytic feeding intervention to two children with typical development who were younger siblings of children already in the programme. We used a withdrawal/reversal design to assess the effects of nonremoval of the spoon, re-presentation, contingent and noncontingent access to tangibles, differential attention, and response cost. This multi-component intervention was effective in increasing the consumption of a wide variety of foods at regular texture and self-feeding for both participants. Variety was increased to over 60 foods from all food groups. Admission goals were met (100%). We trained caregivers to high procedural integrity and generalised the protocol. We provided actual plate picture examples of family meals consumed where the brothers and parents ate the same meal. Caregiver satisfaction and social acceptability were high. Gains were maintained at 3-year follow-up where parents reported problems were fully resolved.

Redistribution with Regular Texture Food for Clinical Cases In-Home

Research has shown effectiveness of a redistribution procedure for decreasing packing and increasing swallowing. Redistribution has been done using lower manipulated-texture foods on an infant gum brush in specialised United States hospitals. We extended this by using regular texture bites of food in a short-term (1-2 weeks) home-based programme in Australia, showing decreased then absent use of the procedure, and following up. Two children with autism spectrum disorder participated. We used a withdrawal/reversal design. Latency to swallow decreased. Participants increased variety to 90 and 122 regular texture foods across food groups. All goals were met including increasing independence in self-feeding. Both parents were trained. Gains maintained to 6 months and redistribution was no longer needed.

Observational Effects on the Food Preferences of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Research addressing food selectivity has involved intrusive techniques such as escape extinction. It is possible that observational learning methods employed in previous studies could provide the desired results with respect to food selectivity without the need for invasive physical interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an observational learning procedure on the selection of food items of three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Baseline consisted of a simple task after which a choice was presented between high- and low-preferred foods. The intervention consisted of observing an adult engage in the same task and selecting the low-preferred food while making favorable comments and engaging with the food in novel ways. The results of a reversal design demonstrated that selection of the low-preferred food only occurred following the introduction of the intervention, and all three participants engaged in flexible responding as a result of the intervention.

Treatment Integrity Failures during Timeout from Play

Timeout is an effective behavior-reduction strategy with considerable generality. However, little is known about how timeout is implemented under natural conditions, or how errors in implementation impact effectiveness. During Experiment 1, we observed teachers implementing timeout during play to evaluate how frequently the teachers implemented timeout following target behavior (omission errors) and other behaviors (commission errors) for four children. Teachers rarely implemented timeout; thus, omission errors were frequent, but commission errors rarely occurred. During Experiment 2, we used a reversal design to compare timeout implemented with 0% omission integrity, 100% integrity, and the level of omission integrity observed to occur during Experiment 1 for two of the participants. Timeout implemented with reduced-integrity decreased problem behavior relative to baseline, suggesting that infrequent teacher implementation of timeout may have been sufficient to reduce problem behavior.