Behavior Analysis Goes to School: Teacher Acceptability of Behavior-Analytic Language in Behavioral Consultation

• Published in: Behavior analysis in practice Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 131 - 140
• Main Authors: McMahon, Meara X. H., Feldberg, Zachary R., Ardoin, Scott P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-03-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavior modification; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Collaboration; Consultants; Intervention; Jargon; Language; Psychology; Research Article; Researchers; School districts; School psychologists; Students; Teachers; Training; Validity; United States > US; Behavioral consultation; Jargon; Social acceptability; Social validity; Amazon Mechanical Turk
• ISSN: 1998-1929; 2196-8934
• DOI: 10.1007/s40617-020-00508-w

Effective communication is a vital component of behavioral consultation. Behavioral consultants (e.g., behavior analysts, school psychologists) are responsible for drafting behavior intervention plans, delivering accessible training, and providing concise and consumable feedback to teachers. Their reliance on technological descriptions to communicate behavioral principles and procedures may yield poor social validity and hinder the consultant–teacher relationship. In this study, we recruited 164 teachers through Amazon Mechanical Turk and administered a survey to (a) evaluate the social acceptability of technical and nontechnical language used in behavioral consultation across a variety of student populations and (b) gain information about teachers’ experiences with behavioral consultation. Implications are discussed for training and the provision of behavioral consultation services.