Study objective: An evaluation of effectiveness and acceptability of an interdependent or independent group contingency combined with performance feedback for achieving improved academic performance by students with developmental disabilities. Design: Multiple baseline design for 2 classes with 2 intervention conditions: interdependent group contingency combined with performance feedback and independent group contingency combined with performance feedback. Setting: 10^<th> grade Japanese language classes in a regular part-time high school. Participants: 4 high school students with developmental disabilities. Independent variables: An interdependent group contingency combined with performance feedback, and an independent group contingency combined with performance feedback. Measures: Scores on a test of Kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese) and treatment acceptability scores. Results: The Kanji test scores of the students with developmental disabilities increased in both conditions compared with the baseline phase. Conclusion: Both conditions appeared to be effective for improving the Kanji test scores of the students with developmental disabilities.

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Study objective: The purpose of the present study was to compare the validity of 2 types of teaching materials, Matching-to-Sample (MTS) and a list, for graduate students' learning of behavior analysis terms. Design: Modified multiple-baseline-across-stimulus-sets. Setting: Assessments by paper-and-pencil tests were carried out in a room at the university. The intervention used participants' own mobile telephones. Participants: 5 graduate students who were interested in behavior analysis. Intervention: Training A used Matching-to-Sample teaching materials in which the participants could choose the correct term corresponding to a definition of the term. Training B used a list in which the participants could read the terms and the definition sentences at the same time. Measure: The percentage of correct answers on problems in which the participants were instructed to select the right term corresponding to a definition sentence. Results: In a probe evaluation and in follow-up evaluations 1 month and 3 months after the intervention, the average percentage of correct answers after using the Matching-to-Sample teaching material was higher than that after using the list. Conclusion: Although the percentage of correct answers varied among participants, the results suggested that the Matching-to-Sample teaching material was more effective in acquisition and maintenance of the terms.

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Interventions based on functional behavioral assessment (FBA) are reported to be effective in reducing problem behavior and in increasing desirable behavior. The purposes of the present review were to examine reported effects of functional behavioral assessment-based interventions implemented in regular classrooms, and investigate specific features of those studies. The main features investigated were whether they had diverse participants with various diagnoses, targeted a broad array of behaviors, included natural settings, and emphasized assessment of antecedents, and whether the interventions were carried out by the classroom teacher. A literature search by keywords identified 39 relevant studies published between 1982 and 2010. These studies were classified according to publication year, participants, target behavior, setting, assessment, intervention, and evaluation. The results indicated that functional behavioral assessment-based interventions were effective, and that the studies reviewed included various participants in natural settings, emphasized antecedents, and had teachers participating in the interventions. Because disruptive/aggressive behavior was the main target behavior, future studies should focus more on other behavior, including quiet problem behavior. To promote students' and teachers' positive behavior, extended application of functional behavioral assessment in regular classrooms would be highly desirable.

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