Athanasios Vostanis
@kent.ac.uk
Tizard Centre
University of Kent
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Precision Teaching, Instructional Design, Applied Behavior Analysis, Education
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Rebekah Cowell, Athanasios Vostanis, and Peter E. Langdon
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractThe current review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of behavior-analytic procedures in increasing face mask-wearing in autistic individuals. This comes following recommended guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review and meta-analysis were completed of peer-reviewed and grey literature. Six databases were searched and seven studies using single-case experimental designs met the eligibility criteria which were then quality appraised. Data were extracted on participant characteristics, study design, independent and dependent variables, fidelity, generalization, maintenance, and social validity outcomes. Both the non-overlap of all pairs and Baseline Corrected TAU were used to estimate effect size. Two studies were rated strong and borderline strong quality and five were rated as adequate or below. All studies showed positive outcomes for mask-wearing, with an average of 0.92 for non-overlap of all pairs and 0.47 for Baseline Corrected Tau effect sizes. The most common and effective procedures for increasing mask-wearing were graded exposure and differential and positive reinforcement. Factors such as mode of delivery, implementer, and setting did not appear to influence study outcomes. Procedures were found to be rated as acceptable by parents and professionals in five of the studies. The existing literature on increasing face mask-wearing in autistic individuals provides promising findings to add to existing literature around increasing tolerance to medical equipment and hygiene practices in autistic populations. However, these findings are based on a small sample size, with six of the studies taking place in the United States with varying study quality.
Athanasios Vostanis, Rianna Ritchie, and Peter E. Langdon
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractPrecision teaching has historically been primarily applied to academic skills. This study aimed to show how precision teaching could enhance the application of existing evidence-based interventions focused on crucial pre-academic skills, such as joint attention. Joint attention is typically broken into two categories: responding to bids for joint attention (RJA) and initiating joint attention (IJA). This study developed RJA using precision teaching and play-based, natural environment teaching. Four autistic students, aged between 5 and 6, attending a special education school in England participated. Six prerequisite skills were trained in two triads during 15-min sessions for three weeks. RJA was then targeted, and participants needed three, four, five, and seven days, respectively, to master it. A concurrent multiple baseline design across participants was used for all skills. Participants improved across all skills with moderate effect sizes that were maintained five weeks post-intervention. Moreover, participants demonstrated steep learning rates measured via celeration, low variability measured via the bounce metric, and a maintenance of performance improvements during the assessment of endurance, stability, and generalization. The results suggest that autistic students can quickly improve their RJA skills and demonstrate fluency in them. However, the results are tentative and require replication while addressing the limitations that have been identified. Integrating precision teaching and naturalistic approaches could offer practitioners additional information about the impact of existing evidence-based interventions on developing RJA and related skills.
Athanasios Vostanis, Paul A. Thompson, Ciara Padden, Konstantinos Rizos, and Peter E. Langdon
Wiley
Athanasios Vostanis, Ciara Padden, Aoife McTiernan, and Peter E. Langdon
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractThis study compared two goal-setting approaches found in the Precision Teaching literature, namely the minimum celeration line and the beat your personal best during the mathematical practice of three male students diagnosed with autism, aged 8–9. An adapted alternating treatments design with a control condition was embedded in a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design. Each approach was randomly allocated to either the multiplication/division (×÷) table of 18 or 19, while no approach was allocated to the ×÷14 table that acted as a control. Instruction utilized number families and consisted of (a) untimed practice, (b) frequency-building, (c) performance criteria, (d) graphing, and (e) a token economy. Upon practice completion, an assessment of maintenance, endurance, stability, and application (MESA) was conducted. Participants improved with both conditions and maintained their performance well, while improvements with the control condition were weak. The beat your personal best approach was highlighted as slightly more effective in terms of average performance and more efficient in terms of timings needed to achieve criterion. No differences were identified in terms of learning rate (i.e., celeration) or performance on the MESA. More research is warranted to identify which goal-setting procedure is more appropriate for students in special education.
Geetika Kapoor, Athanasios Vostanis, Suzy Mejía-Buenaño, and Peter E. Langdon
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractThis study evaluated the effects of Precision Teaching in improving typically developing students’ mathematical skills when delivered via teleconferencing in India. Four students received Precision Teaching, while nine acted as control participants. Precision teaching involved instruction in three mathematical skills; two prerequisite skills and the primary skill of mixed addition and subtraction facts. Instruction included untimed practice, timed practice, goal-setting, graphing, and a token economy. Participants who received Precision Teaching received ten practice sessions for the prerequisite skills and 55 sessions for the primary skill. The results demonstrated improvements in the prerequisite skills of varied magnitude and considerable improvements in the primary skill, which were maintained above baseline performance levels. In addition, those who received Precision Teaching were below the 15th percentile rank at the initial assessment and above the 65th percentile at the post-intervention assessment in the math fluency subtest of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement—Third Edition. Control participants did not demonstrate similar improvements. Results suggest that Precision Teaching could produce accelerated outcomes even when delivered via teleconferencing. Therefore, it could be a valuable system for helping students ameliorate potential learning losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Athanasios Vostanis, Ciara Padden, and Peter E. Langdon
Wiley
Athanasios Vostanis, Ciara Padden, Mecca Chiesa, Konstantinos Rizos, and Peter E. Langdon
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a precision teaching (PT) framework on the mathematical ability of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We also examined if students of moderate mathematical ability could perform as well as their peers with fewer difficulties with their math skills. Sixteen students participated and were divided into three groups. One group engaged in PT, and the other two groups functioned as comparisons. The PT group practiced six skills introduced linearly. An A-B design was used for the five component skills, and a multiple baseline across participants design was used for the composite skill (addition). The intervention led to a significant improvement in all skills, including addition, and this was associated with a large effect size; student performance met or exceeded that of their peers. Overall, the findings suggest that PT is an efficient and effective approach for teaching students with IDDs.
Wesley Pyke, Athanasios Vostanis, and Amir-Homayoun Javadi
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractAnodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been shown to improve performance on a multitude of cognitive tasks. These are, however, often simple tasks, testing only one cognitive domain at a time. Therefore, the efficacy of brain stimulation for complex tasks has yet to be understood. Using a task designed to increase learning efficiency, this study investigates whether anodal tDCS over the left DLPFC can modulate both learning ability and subsequent long-term memory retention. Using a within-subject design, participants (N = 25) took part in 6 training sessions over consecutive days in which active or sham stimulation was administered randomly (3 of each). A computer-based task was used, containing flags from countries unknown to the participants. Each training session consisted of the repetition of 8 pairs of flag/country names. Subsequently, in three testing sessions, free, cued, and timed cued recall, participants were assessed on all 48 flags they had learnt. No difference in learning speed between active and sham tDCS was found. Furthermore, in the timed cued recall phase, flags learnt in the sham tDCS sessions were recalled significantly better than flags learnt in the active tDCS sessions. This effect was stronger in the second testing session. It was also found that for the flags answered incorrectly; thus, meaning they were presented more frequently, subsequent long-term retention was improved. These results suggest that for a complex task, anodal tDCS is ineffective at improving learning speed and potentially detrimental to long-term retention when employed during encoding. This serves to highlight the complex nature of brain stimulation, providing a greater understanding of its limitations and drawbacks.
Athanasios Vostanis
Emerald
Purpose This paper aims to discuss the importance of offering high-quality support focussed on developing the skills of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Design/methodology/approach The analysis will be based on the study published by Cohen and McGill (2020), who demonstrated that video modelling led to improvements in support workers’ performance when training adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to brush their teeth. Findings Developing the skills of staff members and services users should be one of our primary aims. Evidence-based practices grounded in behaviour analysis can help produce optimal outcomes that will improve the quality of service provision and, subsequently, the service users’ quality of life. Originality/value This paper is aimed at parents and professionals working in the field of disabilities who are keen to further improve the service provision of people with disabilities.