ASSESSING THE EFFICACY OF IN-PERSON VERSUS VIRTUAL BEHAVIORAL SKILLS TRAINING ON CAREGIVERS AND DIRECT-SERVICE PROVIDERS IMPLEMENTING DISCRETE TRIAL TEACHING IN A HOME-BASED SETTING

Author

Noor Saffarini, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

12-1-2021

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Behavior Analysis and Therapy

First Advisor

Baires, Natalia

Abstract

Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is an evidence-based practice used to teach a wide variety of skills to different populations (Erhard et al., 2019; Parson et al., 2012; Reed et al., 2018; Tomlinso et al., 2018). BST can be used to perform Discrete-trial teaching (DTT), which is an effective teaching procedure that simplifies teaching for children with developmental disabilities and helps to expand their repertoires (Sarokoff & Sturmey, 2004). In the past, virtual-BST, which is a cost-effective and convenient method (LeBlanc et al., 2020; Tomlinson et al., 2018), has been used to teach individuals how to implement Applied Behavior Analysis interventions (Rios et al., 2020). The purpose of the current study was to compare the effectiveness of in-person BST and virtual BST to train three caregivers and three behavior technicians to implement DTT with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Using a multiple baseline across participants design, results of the current study indicated that, after the introduction of BST, participants in both groups (i.e., in-person BST and virtual BST) showed a high improvement in DTT implementation skills compared to baseline. Findings suggest that both modalities of BST are effective methods for training individuals on how to implement DTT.