Previous research has shown that behavioral skills training to teach sexual abuse prevention skills to women with mental retardation results in skill acquisition but poor generalization. In this investigation we evaluated procedures for enhancing generalization following training. Five women with mental retardation received 10 behavioral skills training sessions followed by in situ training when the skills did not fully generalize. Behavioral skills training resulted in skill acquisition and in situ training produced generalized responding during naturalistic assessments.

We conducted a four-part investigation to develop methods for assessing and treating problem behavior evoked by noise. In Phase 1, 7 participants with developmental disabilities who were described as being hypersensitive to specific noises were exposed to a series of noises under controlled conditions. Results for 2 of the participants verified that noise was apparently an aversive event. In Phase 2, results of functional analyses indicated that these 2 participants' problem behaviors were maintained by escape from noise. In Phase 3, preference assessments were conducted to identify reinforcers that might be used during treatment. Finally, in Phase 4, the 2 participants' problem behaviors were successfully treated with extinction, stimulus fading, and a differential-reinforcementof-other-behavior (DRO) contingency (only 1 participant required DRO). Treatment effects for both participants generalized to their home environments and were maintained during a follow-up assessment. Procedures and results were discussed in terms of their relevance to the systematic assessment of noise as an establishing operation (EO) and, more generally, to the identification of idiosyncratic EO influences on behavior.

This study assessed teachers' abilities to conduct functional assessments and functional interventions in the classroom setting with students who had developmental disabilities and behavior problems. The results showed that information on antecedents and consequences was consistent when derived from a structured behavioral questionnaire completed by the teacher or when the questionnaire was administered in an interview format by a behavior analyst. Although raters agreed on the hypothesized function of problem behaviors of three students with disabilities based on information from the questionnaire and interview, behavioral functions hypothesized by separate raters for the questionnaire and interview varied for one student, indicating problems with interrrater reliability. Results also revealed that teachers without specialized training in applied behavior analysis are able to carry out direct observations of behavior problems, antecedents, and consequences, and produce information on antecedents and consequences comparable to that of graduate students with 2 years of training in applied behavior analysis. Lastly, implementation of functional and nonfunctional interventions (likely to be implemented in typical classrooms) provided support for the hypothesized functions from both indirect and direct methods of assessment.

This study utilized descriptive assessment methods to develop hypotheses regarding the function of mealtime behavior problems for three typically developing children. Functional treatment was evaluated in the natural setting with caregivers as change agents. Overall, results of the descriptive assessment suggested that each child's problem behavior was maintained by escape and, to a lesser extent, attention. In addition, this study suggested that direct observation was more reliable than a behavioral interview or questionnaire in acquiring the information necessary to develop hypotheses on factors maintaining a child's mealtime behavior problems. Finally, a functional treatment package consisting of extinction, stimulus fading, and reinforcement of appropriate eating behaviors implemented by the caregivers was effective in decreasing the mealtime behavior problems for two of the children who continued in the study, thus providing support for the hypotheses developed from the assessment.