Title: Fluency and the Maintenance of Skills Related to Sex Laws for Individuals Adjudicated for Illegal Sexual Behavior.
Authors:
Date Published/Presented: 2020
Publication/Presentation Format: Peer-reviewed article in Behavior Analysis in Practice. B.
Synopsis: Sally A. Hamrick, Sarah M. Richling, William T. Davis, John T. Rapp, Emily . Longino, Peta Kimber, Kristen M Brogan and Stuart Law
The current study used a fluency-based treatment package to help two individuals adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior learn Alabama sex laws as part of their residential treatment. The study was specifically interested in evaluating whether using 100 percent accuracy criteria coupled with rate-based criteria of mastery leads to skill retention over a long period of time. Many studies have evaluated fluency outcomes but few that provide specific criteria for terminating intervention. Research also suggests that the common mastery criterion used by Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) is 80 percent accuracy across three consecutive days, which is derived from common clinical practice in their previous supervised roles rather than experimental evidence. There is a clear gap both in traditional ABA literature and in the fluency-based literature with regard to the type of mastery criteria that yields the desirable fluency outcomes: retention, endurance, and application. This study was mainly interested in learners retaining their skills since they had to take an exam on Alabama sex law both at the beginning and end of their habilitation.
The study used a variety of procedures to teach the laws to their predetermined mastery criteria. These included using flashcards to practice the definitions of the laws. In fluency-based instruction, there is a procedure that emphasizes important features of using flashcards summarized as SAFMEDS. This stands for say-all-fast-one minute-every-day-shuffled. This experiment used a SAFMEDS-like procedure combined with other techniques to promote successful learning. In the first phase, the learners were given the opportunity to study the front and back of the flashcards (exposure) before practicing saying the definitions only when presented with the titles of the law (i.e., the front of the flashcard) during a 5-minute time interval. In this first teaching phase, the learner also had a word bank with the titles of the laws available to choose from. During the 5-minute practice timing, the experimenter would also discard the flashcard in one of two piles depending on whether the learner answered correctly or incorrectly, which served as visual feedback for the learner. If the learner answered incorrectly, the experimenter would also require the learner to provide the correct answer once while looking at the answer on the flashcard before moving on to the next flashcard. Per SAFMEDS guidelines, the flashcards were shuffled before restarting. The second phase promoted independence in responses by removing the initial exposure before timings and the word bank. That way learners had the opportunity to practice the flashcards under conditions more similar to those of a test. When the learners met the mastery criteria, intervention ended and experimenters periodically conducted maintenance probes to see if the learner’s performance retained without practice.
The mastery criteria to qualify for ending intervention was 100 percent accuracy plus a predetermined rate per minute across three consecutive days. The predetermined rate per minute (aka, responses per minute) per each set was 11rpm, 12 rpm, and 13 rpm for sets 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Follow-up probes were conducted weekly for 10 weeks to see if the learners’ performance maintained. During follow-up probes, the word bank and discriminated discard piles were not available. They were also not given time to study the flashcards before the timing and no consequences or feedback was given with regard to correct and incorrect responses. Therefore, the two different discard piles were also eliminated. The experimenters measured the accuracy and rate of response for all sessions.
Results showed that both participants were able to reach the mastery criteria: 100 percent accuracy within the specified rate of responding across three consecutive sessions for all three sets. One participant required a slight modification whereby the experimenter shortened the timing length to 1 minute, then probed performance at 5 minutes once the mastery criteria had been reached. After this modification, the learner was able to meet the criteria at 5 minutes. The weekly follow-up probes demonstrated a high level of accuracy retention. With few exceptions, the two participants maintained 80% or greater accuracy during follow-up probes for all three sets. The learner’s rate of responding did drop more substantially than their accuracy during follow-up probes, but in many instances, the rate was within or close to the aim.
This study provides further evidence that using fluency-based procedures leads to retention of skills, at least in terms of accuracy. This study evaluated an accuracy criterion of 100 percent for three consecutive days, which differs from the typical 80 percent accuracy criterion typically used by practitioners. In this study, participants maintained accuracy at or above 80 percent accuracy in follow-up, which is a decrease in accuracy from training. Note that studies that have used 80 percent accuracy as the mastery criterion usually see dips in accuracy at follow-up below 80 percent. The authors recommend that practitioners consider adopting an accuracy criterion of 100 percent for three consecutive days for training to promote maintenance at or above 80 percent at follow-up. (There are limitations mentioned in this study. Please see the full article for more information.)
Relevance to our mission and vision: Our mission is to develop, deliver, and use learning systems that benefit people with disabilities and those who support them. This study is an example of an exploration into the most efficient and effective components of learning systems. We must understand how each component of a learning system impacts a learner’s progress and maintenance of skills so that our learners can get the most benefit out of the programs we offer.
Relevant iASK Skills Domains: Pivotal Skills (all maybe)