For this assignment, choose one of the following behavior-analytic assessment tools to review: ABLS, VBMAPP, Skills Curriculum, and PDC.
In narrative form, please research the selected assessment tool and complete the following:
– Describe the overall areas that are assessed using this tool and explain the type of conditions under which the use of this tool may be warranted.
– Analyze the strengths of the assessment tool.
– Analyze the weaknesses of the assessment tool.
Be sure to support your conclusions with scholarly or professional resources.
Please include one or two more reference to complete this assignment (peer-reviewed please).
Solution
VB-MAPP Behavior-Analytic Assessment Tool
Areas Assessed by the Tool and the Conditions that Warrant the Use of the Tool
The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment Placement Tool (VB-MAPP) is an assessment instrument meant for individuals diagnosed with language delays and autism. The tool uses a criterion-referencing assessment and skills tracking system based on verbal behavior analysis (Barnes et al., 2014). The established developmental milestones assessment section is used to analyze the skill level of an individual (Barnes et al., 2014). Besides its application in various educational and clinical settings, the tool offers a blueprint for social skills development, implementation of a learning curriculum, and formulation of an individualized language.
The VB-MAPP assessment tool has five components that measure the level of performance, the direction of the individualized intervention, and the progress of the treatment program. The milestones assessment components also provide skills acquisition tracking-system and a measure of the language outcomes (Barnes et al., 2014). The VB-MAPP assessment tool, therefore, enhances the planning of a curriculum framework. The milestones assessment tool focuses on B.F Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal operants in the field of behavior analysis (Fryling, 2016). Not only does the language skills in the VB-MAPP tool thus become measurable within the verbal operants, but also they are balanced to enable individuals’ skills development (“VB-MAPP,” n.d.) . Therefore, the use of the tool is essential because the curriculum is adjusted to avoid the rote response to the related deficiencies in the existing verbal repertoires.
The assessment tool has different measurable milestones, which represent a developing child’s verbal and other language-related skills. “The language milestones assessment tool is sequenced into three developmental levels (“0-18 months, 18-30 months, and 30-48 months”). The language skills assessed include the child’s early evaluation mand, early echoic skills, tact, social and independent play, motor imitation, listening, intraverbal, matching to sample, classroom and group skills, as well as natural vocal behavior” (Barnes et al., 2014, p. 37). The VB-MAPP assessment tool can establish language-specific goals for persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental conditions.
The VB-MAPP assessment tool administrators should be conversant with Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior. The functional relationships of the verbal operant’s behavior and the speaker’s environment are important aspects when distinguishing the operant’s categorization. The VB-MAPP’s manual protocol provides the assessment with instructions on the way to avoid common rote respondents because of the related verbal repertoires (Barnes et al., 2014). Therefore, the milestones assessment guide and protocol is sufficient in training professionals to administer assessment through task analysis and supporting skills.
Another area assessed by the VB-MAPP tool is language acquisition barriers. Children with autism may experience language acquisition barriers. “Such barriers may include instructional control, obsessive-compulsive behavior, failure to generalize weak motivators, inability to make eye contacts, hyperactive behavior, sensory defensiveness, defects in mand, and defective visual perception” (Barnes et al., 2014 38). By identifying such barriers, clinicians, and other educational professionals in different settings can develop specified intervention strategies that would solve the underlying issues.
Besides, the VB-MAPP tool can assess a child’s language skills necessary for learning in a less restrictive environment. The assessment tool provides a meaningful measure of the child’s progress, hence enables the individualized education program (IEP) to implement actions and priorities that meet the child’s educational development needs (Gould et al., 2011). The assessment tool comprises VB-MAPP’s summary measures from other parts, which scores the overall skills. For instance, the summary measures used to assess transition include VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment, social and toileting skills, VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment, and group skills.
Strengths of the Assessment Tool
VP-MAPP assessment tool is among the four best assessment tools. The tool has complete utility for early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) programs (Gould et al., 2011). Implementing this strength enables IEP to develop strategies required by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The VB-MAPP assessment is the most reliable for administrators. From a teaching Assessment Techniques research, it was found that VB-MAPP’s guide and protocol manual combined with its behavior skills training (BST) offered the most reliable measure.
Another reliability of the assessment tool entails the VB-MAPP Barrier Assessment. Hence, this evaluates areas identified in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (APADSM). Thus, the assessment contributes to the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders.
VP-MAPP assessment components can be used to reveal language skill problems for individuals of any age. An individual whose language skills are not commensurate with the skills of a 4-year old child can be assisted using the tool because such a child has some sophisticated language skills.
The VB-MAPP tool has been used to examine the skills of participants. ASD and Developmental and Physical Disabilities research use the assessment tool to quantify the verbal abilities of participants (Carnett & Ingvarsson, 2016). Thus, the VB-MAPP is used as a pre-and post measurement tool, which examine the impact of intervention programs.
The Weaknesses of the Assessment Tool
VB-MAPP assessment tool is only designed for behavior analysts who have Skinner’s language analysis knowledge. These experts are the only individuals who can access the complicated skills measure of a child’s mand repertoire.
VB-MAPP milestone assessment tool has been used in many developmental language skills research and baseline data. However, research focusing on the specific tool is still inadequate (Ninci et al., 2013). VB-MAPP has only been used as a criterion-based assessment tool that determines individuals’ verbal behavior repertories.
Conclusion
Overall, the VB-MAPP assessment enhances individualized language development. Hence, children with ASD and other language disorders can access the individualized educational program (IEP). Skinner’s language analysis of verbal behavior used in the VB-MAPP language assessment tool enhances a balanced learning curriculum, which supports social and verbal skills.
References
Barnes, C. S., Mellor, J. R., & Rehfeldt, R. A. (2014). Implementing the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP): Teaching Assessment Techniques. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 30(1), 36-47. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-013-0004-5
Carnett, A., & Ingvarsson, E. T. (2016). Teaching a Child with Autism to Mand for Answers to Questions Using a Speech-Generating Device. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 32(2), 233-241. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-016-0070-6
Fryling, M. J. (2016). The Functional Independence of Skinner’s Verbal Operants: Conceptual and Applied Implications. Behavioral Interventions, 32(1), 70-78. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1462
Gould, E., Dixon, D. R., Najdowski, A. C., Smith, M. N., & Tarbox, J. (2011). A review of assessments for determining the content of early intensive behavioral intervention programs for autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5(3), 990-1002. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2011.01.012
Ninci, J., Lang, R., Davenport, K., Lee, A., Garner, J., Moore, M., Boutot, A., Rispoli, M., & Lancioni, G. (2013). An analysis of the generalization and maintenance of eye contact taught during play. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 16(5), 301-307. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3109/17518423.2012.730557
VB-MAPP. (n.d.). Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA-D – Licensed psychologist with over 40 years of experience. https://marksundberg.com/vb-mapp/
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