Enhancing Supervisor's Feedback Skills During Paired Stimulus Preference Assessment

ABSTRACT Effective staff training and supervision are vital in human care services, influencing staff performance and the quality of care. This study explores the effectiveness of an 8 h training program for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) in providing performance feedback, specifically in the context of a Paired Stimulus (PS) preference assessment. The training consisted of 5 h of instruction, exercises, and discussions, followed by 3 h of Behavioral Skills Training (BST), emphasizing performance feedback as a pivotal component. Using a concurrent multiple probe design across four supervisors, the results demonstrated substantial improvement in supervisors' ability to provide performance feedback, which in turn enhanced supervisees PS preference assessment skills. Furthermore, two of the four supervisees demonstrated mastery of feedback‐giving skills after receiving performance feedback and observing their supervisors being given feedback. The remaining two supervisees required direct instruction in feedback delivery in order to meet the mastery criteria. The study contributes to the limited literature on training supervisors to provide effective feedback and the importance of incorporating specific feedback‐giving skills in supervision training programs.