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Effectiveness of Pyramidal Training on Staff Acquisition of Five Behavior Analytic Procedures in the School

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Lindsay Maffei-Almodovar at The Graduate Center, CUNY
Lindsay Maffei-Almodovar
Peter Sturmey
Peter Sturmey
Peter Sturmey
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Joshua Jessel at Brock University
Joshua Jessel
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Abstract and Figures

Pyramidal training is an effective model for disseminating behavior analytic skills. However, pyramidal training in research is often conducted in controlled university settings. Further, research that has evaluated the effectiveness of pyramidal training in classroom settings (see Pence et al. 2014) often focuses on improving the use of one procedure (e.g., functional analysis) over a brief period. We conducted this study to evaluate the generalized effectiveness of behavioral skills training within a pyramidal model to improve teacher training skills across five procedures in the classroom setting over a nine-month period. We used behavioral skills training (BST) to train teachers (Tier 1) to implement BST to train teaching assistants (Tier 2) to implement Applied Behavior Analytic (ABA) procedures stimulus-stimulus pairing, multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessment, mand training, discrete trial teaching (DTT), and graphing data. Pyramidal training was effective in increasing teachers’ procedural integrity of BST, and the social validity of the model was apparent in that teacher assistants’ procedural integrity of target ABA procedures increased after Tier 2 training. Teachers required periodic feedback to maintain training skills, train novel procedures, and novel staff. Thus, pyramidal BST was effective to teach new skills, but required ongoing monitoring and feedback to ensure maintenance and generality of training skills.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Behavioral Education
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-023-09539-z
1 3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Effectiveness ofPyramidal Training onStaff Acquisition
ofFive Behavior Analytic Procedures intheSchool
LindsayMaei‑Almodovar1 · PeterSturmey1· JoshuaJessel1
Accepted: 28 November 2023
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
2024
Abstract
Pyramidal training is an effective model for disseminating behavior analytic skills.
However, pyramidal training in research is often conducted in controlled university
settings. Further, research that has evaluated the effectiveness of pyramidal train-
ing in classroom settings (see Pence etal. 2014) often focuses on improving the use
of one procedure (e.g., functional analysis) over a brief period. We conducted this
study to evaluate the generalized effectiveness of behavioral skills training within
a pyramidal model to improve teacher training skills across five procedures in the
classroom setting over a nine-month period. We used behavioral skills training
(BST) to train teachers (Tier 1) to implement BST to train teaching assistants (Tier
2) to implement Applied Behavior Analytic (ABA) procedures stimulus-stimulus
pairing, multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessment,
mand training, discrete trial teaching (DTT), and graphing data. Pyramidal train-
ing was effective in increasing teachers’ procedural integrity of BST, and the social
validity of the model was apparent in that teacher assistants’ procedural integrity of
target ABA procedures increased after Tier 2 training. Teachers required periodic
feedback to maintain training skills, train novel procedures, and novel staff. Thus,
pyramidal BST was effective to teach new skills, but required ongoing monitoring
and feedback to ensure maintenance and generality of training skills.
Keywords Behavioral skills training· Generality· Peer training· Pyramidal
training· Staff training
* Lindsay Maffei-Almodovar
lmaffeialmodovar@gmail.com
1 The Psychology Department ofThe Graduate Center andQueens College, City University
ofNew York, Queens, NY, USA
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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