Combining behavior skills training and pyramidal training : evaluating procedural integrity of functional communication training

Abstract

Traditional staff training methods often rely on written and verbal instructions without specific performance criteria, which are often less than optimal when teaching necessary clinical skills. The purpose of the current study was to measure accuracy of Functional Communication Training (FCT) across multiple tiers of pyramidal Behavior Skills Training (BST) and the procedural integrity of the training performed by non-expert trainers. Eight support service staff participated in the study. A multiple probe design was used to demonstrate the functional relationship between pyramidal BST and the accuracy of FCT across participants. The results of the study indicated that pyramidal BST was effective in teaching staff to implement FCT. Performance accuracy increased from 0.6% (0 – 3.13%) during baseline when a hypothetical example was presented to an average of 99% (90 – 100%) accuracy after training. The BST procedural integrity remained high across the four tiers (84.2%). Follow-up measures revealed a decrease in FCT accuracy when re-presented with the hypothetical example after training, averaging 54.3% (25.8 – 77.4%) for the six participants who went on to train another participant. However, these same participants displayed a significant improvement in accuracy, averaging 74.2% (64.51 – 96.8%) after completing the training of another participant. For the two participants who did not train others, the follow-up measures after receiving training showed accuracies of 45.2% and 67.7%. This study highlights the potential of pyramidal BST as an effective training model for support service staff and the potential benefits of staff-to-staff training. Keywords: pyramidal training, train the trainer, behavior skills training, functional communication training, staff training, human service staff, problem behavior