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Indirect assessments are a commonly used component of functional behavior assessment by behavior analysts in practice who work with individuals with severe behavior disorders. Although used frequently, closed-ended indirect assessments have repeatedly been shown to have low to moderate interrater reliability and poor concurrent validity with functional analysis. Recently, the use of open-ended interviews has become more commonly adopted in applied clinical practice, despite no studies evaluating the psychometric properties of such assessments. In the present study, we evaluated the interrater reliability and concurrent validity of an open-ended functional assessment interview. We compared the results of two open-ended indirect assessments conducted with a common caregiver and subsequently conducted functional analyses in an attempt to validate hypotheses generated from the interviews. Interrater agreement for the open-ended interviews was higher than previous research on closed-ended interviews (75%); however, concurrent validity with functional analysis was relatively poor (50%). We discuss these findings in the context of assessment and treatment for severe behavior disorders, as well as best practice methods during functional behavior assessment. © Association for Behavior Analysis International 2019.Middle school students receiving special education services for specific learning disabilities and other health impairments often struggle to remain on task and meet independent work demands. Although a variety of strategies have been documented as effective in improving on-task behavior in students with disabilities, most are not contextually appropriate for public schools. Activity schedules may provide an efficient, minimally intrusive, and low-effort intervention for middle school classrooms. In this study, a concurrent multiple-baseline design across participants with an embedded reversal was used to examine the effects of activity schedules on the on-task and on-schedule behavior of four middle school students with disabilities in a resource classroom. Results demonstrate increased on-task and on-schedule behavior for all participants in math and language arts settings, and students and teachers indicated both that they enjoyed the activity schedule and that it improved on-task behavior and work completion. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. © Association for Behavior Analysis International 2019.Ample research indicates that functional communication training (FCT) is an effective intervention to reduce challenging behavior. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of demand fading on escape-maintained challenging behavior, mands, and task completion for 2 children with autism spectrum disorder. Tegatrabetan supplier The study utilized an embedded reversal and alternating-treatments design to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention and compare the efficacy of the demand fading and dense schedule conditions. During FCT, participants were taught 2 mand topographies, one of which was associated with demand fading. FCT with and without demand fading resulted in decreases in challenging behavior for both participants. FCT with demand fading resulted in higher task completion for both participants. The effect of demand fading on the rate of mands varied by participant. Results provide further support for the use of FCT. The importance of intervention fading in the treatment of challenging behavior is discussed. © Association for Behavior Analysis International 2019.Providing a rule regarding consequences for behavior can increase the efficacy of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) procedures in the treatment of severe problem behavior (Watts, Wilder, Gregory, Leon, and Ditzian, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46, 680-684, 2013). The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend the literature on DRO procedures by evaluating the efficacy of rules and statements of reinforcer loss (SRL) in the treatment of severe problem behavior. Conditions included baseline, no rule DRO, rule DRO, and rule DRO with SRL. For 2 of 3 participants, neither the no rule DRO nor the rule DRO condition reduced problem behavior. The rule DRO with SRL condition produced a substantial decrease in problem behavior for all participants, suggesting that a consequent rule enhances the efficacy of DRO. The current study extends the literature on DRO procedures by providing data on nontargeted ("other") behavior. An increase in other behavior was observed for 2 participants. © Association for Behavior Analysis International 2019.This study examined the effects of a self-instruction package comprised of a task analysis data sheet, detailed written instructions, and a small group performance feedback training on the training of 12 undergraduate students to conduct trial-based functional analyses (TBFAs). In contrast to previous research, training omitted technical language and did not include didactic instruction on the principles of applied behavior analysis or the underlying rationale for functional analysis methodology. Although the self-instruction package produced significant increases in performance and reliable data collection on the targeted problem behavior, small group performance feedback training was necessary to achieve mastery across all trial types. Results offer a socially valid training package to teach paraprofessionals to assist Board Certified Behavior Analysts® in conducting TBFAs in applied settings. © Association for Behavior Analysis International 2019.Video-based instruction has been effective in teaching a range of skills, including functional living skills, to individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Few studies have compared the efficacy and efficiency across video modality-specifically, comparing video modeling to video prompting. Consequently, practitioners have little empirical guidance when selecting between procedural variations of video-based instruction. Using an adaptive alternating-treatments design with a baseline, we evaluated the comparative effectiveness of point-of-view video modeling and video prompting on the percentage of meal preparation tasks completed correctly and on-task behavior with 4 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. We found video modeling to be effective and efficient in the acquisition of meal preparation skills across 3 of the 4 participants. Across participants, video prompting resulted in more errors than video modeling did. Skills generalized to an untrained location and were maintained at a 3-week follow-up. Stakeholders reported procedures, goals, and outcomes as socially valid.