The Amazon is the largest tropical forest in the world and a source of healthy food, such as fruits and fish. Surprisingly, the Amazonian riverine population present an increased prevalence (as high as 58%) of non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and insulin resistance, even higher than that described for the urban population of the Amazon. Therefore, this work aimed to analyze the nutritional status and associated risk of the riverine population. Body mass index, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio, and neck circumference (NC) were evaluated, and risk analysis was assayed. Furthermore, data about occupation and the prevalence of consumers of the different groups of food were analyzed. All anthropometric parameters revealed high proportions of individuals at risk, WC and NC being the factors that had more high-risk women and men, respectively. Our data confirmed the characteristic profile of the riverine communities with a high number of fish consumers, but also observed different patterns probably associated to a phenomenon of nutrition transition. Based on our data, some nudge interventions that take into account the principles of behavior analysis are discussed and proposed for these populations, aiming to improve the nutritional status and avoid the long-term consequences of the results showed by this work.

We offer an account of reading comprehension that we believe will help clarify some common conceptual confusions in the relevant literature, as well as contribute to existing functional accounts. We argue that defining texts qua texts as stimulus classes, on the one hand, and equating “comprehension” with behavior (covert or otherwise), on the other, are not useful conceptual moves, especially when behavioral settings go beyond basic literacy skills acquisition. We then analyze the structure of the contingencies that usually evoke talk of “comprehension” using techniques from analytic philosophy. We show how keeping the results of this analysis in mind can help avoid the conceptual bafflement that often arises, even among behavior analysts, when defining or assessing behavioral phenomena related to reading comprehension. Using two contrasting cases (legal texts and stories), we argue that what counts as comprehension depends, not peripherally but crucially, on the shared social practices of which texts are a part. Finally, we propose a new framework for classifying reader–text contingencies by combining two dimensions: openness of setting and embeddedness of reinforcement.

Resumo O ensino de intraverbais para indivíduos com autismo tem sido realizado, principalmente, através de procedimentos que envolvem reforçamento diferencial. Recentemente, o procedimento de observação de pareamento de estímulos (SPOP) surgiu enquanto alternativa para verificar a emergência de repertórios verbais. O SPOP implica o pareamento de estímulos sem exigir outra resposta que a observação do pareamento. O ecoico tem sido apontado como facilitador na emergência de operantes verbais. O presente estudo comparou, com um delineamento de sondas múltiplas concorrentes com tratamento alternado adaptado, a eficácia do SPOP com um procedimento de apresentação contígua de estímulos com requisição de resposta ecoica na emergência de intraverbais em três crianças com autismo. Observou-se a eficácia do SPOP na indução de intraverbais e verificou-se o papel facilitador do ecoico. Discutem-se possíveis efeitos de interferência dos tratamentos, da extinção de respostas no contexto experimental e da utilização de reforçadores condicionados como parte do SPOP.

Dialogic reading (DR) is the shared reading of storybooks, interspersed with dialogues about story and illustrations. Previous findings have indicated that DR can be adapted for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and can improve their engagement in shared reading activities. The present study aimed to investigate how DR with a verbal prompting hierarchy impacted the performance of children with ASD engaged in dialogue about the story. We also measured effects on verbal and non-verbal initiations and on task engagement. We used a single-subject design to test a DR adaptation involving a least-to-most prompting hierarchy with two 7-year-old children with ASD and evaluated the effects on independent verbal responses to questions about the story, verbal and non-verbal initiations, and task engagement. The participants showed an increase of independent verbal answers to WH (Who, What, Where, What) questions about the story, and to the more general “What is happening here?” (WIHH questions). One child showed an increase in verbal initiations. Both children showed high task engagement independently of condition, but with less variability when reading was dialogic. The results of this study support the use of story-based open questions and least-to-most prompting verbal hierarchies for helping children with ASD engage in conversation about the story in shared reading settings.What does this paper add? • The use of an explicit prompting hierarchy method is a step toward systematization of scaffolding strategies during shared reading.• It is possible to use verbal prompts to help children with autism spectrum disorder answer questions about the story during dialogic reading,

RESUMO: Este estudo comparou a eficiência dos procedimentos de Instrução com Múltiplos Exemplares (MEI) e de Observação de Pareamento de Estímulos (SPOP) para estabelecer nomeação bidirecional (BiN) em quatro crianças com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo. Foi utilizado um delineamento de sondas múltiplas entre pares de participantes. Um participante demonstrou emergência de BiN completa, após passar pelos dois tratamentos experimentais (primeiro SPOP, depois o MEI). Dois participantes demonstraram emergência somente do componente de ouvinte, após o SPOP. No teste final de nomeação, dois participantes demonstraram emergência somente do componente de ouvinte da BiN, e um participante apresentou aumento nos dois componentes em relação à linha de base. Discute-se a eficiência dos tratamentos de maneira isolada, quando apresentados em sequência, além da importância do uso de estímulos reforçadores no processo de aquisição da BiN.

Uma proposta de análise funcional da aquisição da linguagem: resultados iniciais