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The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria is an interview-based show that features conversations with innovative scientists and practitioners in the field of Behavior Analysis. The podcast covers topics such as Autism, Functional Behavioral Assessment, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Functional Communication Training, Verbal Behavior, and more!
- 293 - A Behavioral Analysis of Problem Solving: Session 282 with Judah Axe
Quick, what's 47 minus 12? What did you have for breakfast the day before yesterday? When is the next leap year? Hit pause real quick and try to answer these.
Don't worry, I'm not going to hold you to your answers. What's more important is the processes you went through derive them. If you find this sort of thing interesting, then this is the podcast for you!
Dr. Judah Axe joins me in Session 282 to discuss a behavioral interpretation of problem solving. Judah is a Professor in the Department of Behavior Analysis at Simmons University, and along with Drs. Paul Alberto and Anne Troutman, he is the author of Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers. Here are just some of the topics we hit on:
What, in behavioral terms, constitutes a problem? How Skinner first conceptualized problems and problem solving. How self-talk, visualization, and other private events play a role in problem solving. How we both wished we had stronger backgrounds in Developmental Psychology. A quick review of Blooms Taxonomy. Current educational practices that potentially impede the development of higher order problem solving. Some topics that Judah may discuss at the upcoming Verbal Behavior Conference. How to determine if or when to teach problem solving skills. How improvisation might be fostered. The role of developing rules. The challenges of studying problem solving.Here are some resources we discussed:
The Verbal Behavior Conference. Marckel, Neef, and Ferreri (2013). A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF TEACHING IMPROVISATION WITH THE PICTURE EXCHANGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM. Park and Gaylord-Ross (1989). A problem-solving approach to social skills training in employment settings with mentally retarded youth. Mann and Karsten (2020). Efficacy and social validity of procedures for improving conversational skills of college students with autism. Axe, Phelan, and Irwin (2019). Empirical Evaluations of Skinner’s Analysis of Problem Solving. Talk Aloud Problem Solving. A sampling of LeBlanc and Carr's work in the area of problem solving. Michael (2017). What Every Student of Behavior Analysis Ought to Learn: A System for Classifying the Multiple Effects of Behavioral Variables. Spiral bound atlases.This podcast is brought to you by:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (maybe even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. Check out our latest course, Motivational Interviewing: Getting Educator Buy-In as well as the hugely popular When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Don't forget to use the coupon code, PODCAST to save at checkout! If you'd like to get BOP episodes a little earlier than everyone else, with no ads... just the interview itself, consider supporting the show with a Patreon subscription.Sat, 23 Nov 2024 - 1h 32min - 292 - What are Open Science Practices and Why do they Matter? Inside JABA 21
Dr. Matt Tincani joins Dr. John Borrero and me for the 21st (can you believe it!?!?) installment of the Inside JABA Series on Behavioral Observations.
From a research perspective, this Inside JABA episode is by far our most wonkiest one to date. By that I mean we take a deep dive into the area of Open Science Practices.
If you're not familiar with the Open Science movement, Matt walks us through the basics. In doing so, we review the lead paper in the fall 2024 issue of JABA that he co-wrote with Drs. Shawn Gilroy and Art Dowdy (see Tincani, Gilroy, and Dowdy, 2024).
Of the several Open Science Practices, this paper - and by extension, this episode - focuses on Preregistration. According to Tincani and colleagues, "preregistration entails outlining a research protocol and specifying the study methods and plans for analysis, which are then archived publicly in a repository before conducting the study" (see p. 4).
The point of doing this, amongst others, is to increase transparency and reduce criticisms of questionable research practices in Behavior-Analytic research, such as the file drawer effect, dropping participants from analyses, and so on.
While these aims sound laudable, when reading this paper, my inner skeptic began formulating a handful of objections to preregistration, such as increasing barriers to conducting research by adding additional steps, "boxing in" the work of researchers to the point if inflexibility, and so on. Both in the paper and on this podcast, Matt walks through these common objections, so if you too are skeptical, give this episode a listen and see if Matt's treatment of these resonate with you.
Here are a few resources mentioned in the episode:
Tincani, Gilroy, and Dowdy (2024). Extensions of open science for applied behavior analysis: Preregistration for single-case experimental designs.
Tincani and Travers (2019). Replication Research, Publication Bias, and Applied Behavior Analysis.
Subscribe to JABA here.
Open Science Collaboration (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science.
Rick Kubina, Session 39.
Kubina et al. (2017). A Critical Review of Line Graphs in Behavior Analytic Journals.
Sat, 16 Nov 2024 - 1h 04min - 291 - Using Behavior Analysis for Health and Fitness Coaching: Session 280 with Sarah BurbyTue, 05 Nov 2024 - 53min
- 290 - Meaningful Programming for Adults with Autism: Session 279 with Peter Gerhardt and Shanna Bahry
Drs. Peter Gerhardt and Shanna Bahry join me to talk about a range of topics centering around supporting adults with ASD and related disabilities. They are the authors of the new book, Make it Meaningful: Creating Programs that Matter into Adulthood for Learners with Autism Spectrum and Related Disorders.
In this conversation, we talk about how ABA services are skewed towards younger populations, how programming for younger learners might look different if practitioners knew more about the unique needs of adult service recipients, risk aversion and other barriers to promoting independence, their 'wishlist' of skills that they'd like to see all adults with disabilities learn, having difficult conversations with parents, and lots more.
Of course we discuss their book, the resources their book provides, and how these resources relate to other functional skills curricula that are out there... such as Essential for Living.
You're also going to want to stay tuned for the entire conversation, because we close with some fantastic advice for just about everyone in this field.
Here are links to some of the resources discussed in this episode:
Where to get more info on the book, Make it Meaningful. Meaningful Hope ABA. The Epic School. Dr. Bahry on LinkedIn. Dr. Gerhardt on LinkedIn. Essential for Living. Bannerman et al. (1990). Balancing the right to habilitation with the right to personal liberties: The rights of people with Developmental Disabilities to eat too many doughnuts and take a nap. Rubin (2018). The Happiness Project, Tenth Anniversary Edition: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.This podcast is brought to you by the following:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (maybe even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The 2024 Stone Soup Conference! Behavior Analysis' premier online event is taking place on October 25th. Come hear from pod faves including Drs. John Austin, Lina Slim, Jim Moore, and many others! 8.5 Learning CEUs are available, and when you use the promo code PODCAST24, that comes out to less than 8 bucks per credit. Learn more here! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Don't forget to use the coupon code, PODCAST to save at checkout!Tue, 22 Oct 2024 - 56min - 289 - Preventative Systems, Assent, and The Naming Experience: Session 278 with Jim Moore
Many-time guest Dr. Jim Moore stopped by the podcast to talk about a range of topics that he's been working on since we last spoke. In particular, we discussed his recent move to Arizona and his new job at Therapy Matters, what he's learned as a C-Suite executive who maintains an active client caseload, the value of implementing universal behavioral protocols clinic-wide, practical approaches to thinking about the concept of assent, and what he's learned as of late implementing concepts and practices in the area of naming, and the associated benefits he's seen in his clients from these strategies.
If you like what you hear, come hear Jim expand on all of these topics at the 2024 Stone Soup Conference. It's happening on October 25th, but it will also be available afterwards via Behavior Live. If you are interested in attending this fantastic conference, please be sure to use the promo code, PODCAST24 to save on your registration!
Here are some helpful links:
Jim's LinkedIn page. TherapyMatters.org The 2024 Stone Soup Conference (use promo code PODCAST24 to save!). Schramm and Miller: The Seven Steps to Earning Instructional Control. Session 257 with Dr. Tim Vollmer (CEU available). Morris et al. (2024): Toward a Further Understanding of Assent. Shillingsburg et al. (2019). Rapport Building and Instructional Fading Prior to Discrete Trial Instruction: Moving From Child-Led Play to Intensive Teaching. Jim's previous BOP episodes.Today's podcast is brought to you by:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (maybe even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The 2024 Stone Soup Conference! Behavior Analysis' premier online event is taking place on October 25th. Come hear from pod faves including Drs. John Austin, Lina Slim, Jim Moore, and many others! 8.5 Learning CEUs are available, and when you use the promo code PODCAST24, that comes out to less than 8 bucks per credit. Learn more here! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.Wed, 16 Oct 2024 - 1h 08min - 288 - Una exploración acerca de la Latinidad en el análisis de conducta: BOP en Español 11
Una exploración acerca de la Latinidad en el análisis de conducta con la Dra. Corina Jimenez-Gomez y la Dra Sarah Lechago
En este episodio nos acompaña nuestra contribuidora frecuente, la Dra. Corina Jimenez, junto con la Dra. Sarah Lechago, una de las co-autoras de un nuevo artículo publicado en Behavior Analysis in Practice acerca de la Latinidad. En esta conversación se hace evidente que definir Latinidad no es una tarea fácil. Estas investigadoras identificaron, a través de varias fuentes en la literatura, que es común agrupar a los Latinos a partir de valores compartidos como el familismo, el machismo/marianismo, y la religiosidad/espiritualidad que subyacen en las tradiciones de las culturas Latinas. El artículo busca explorar a partir de una encuesta, como se identifican los analistas de conducta latinos con respecto a estos valores. A pesar de la complejidad de estos temas, queda claro que para ser proveedores de servicios de análisis de conducta más efectivos y culturalmente adeptos, nos incumbe informarnos y auto-evaluarnos con respecto a nuestros sesgos culturales como también tener mejores sensibilidades con respecto a los valores y prácticas culturales de las personas que apoyamos.
An exploration of Latinidad in behavior analysis with Dr. Corina Jimenez-Gomez and Dr. Sarah LechagoIn this episode we are joined by our frequent contributor, Dr. Corina Jimenez, along with Dr. Sarah Lechago, one of the co-authors of a new article published in Behavior Analysis in Practice about Latinidad. In this conversation it becomes evident that defining Latinidad is not an easy task. These researchers identified, through various sources in the literature, that it is common to group Latinos based on shared values such as familismo, machismo/marianismo, and religiosity/spirituality that underlie the traditions of Latino cultures. The article seeks to explore, through a survey, how Latino behavior analysts identify themselves with respect to these values. Despite the complexity of these issues, it is clear that to be more effective and culturally adept providers of behavior analysis services, it is incumbent upon us to educate and self-assess regarding our cultural biases, as well as to have greater sensibilities regarding the cultural values and practices of the people we support.
Wed, 09 Oct 2024 - 1h 18min - 287 - Lessons from Implementing PFA/SBT: Session 276 with Tony Cammilleri
Dr. Anthony Cammilleri - better known as Tony to friends and colleagues - joins me in Session 276. In this episode, we talked about his early experiences in Behavior Analyst, his experiences working in Greg Hanley's lab as a grad student, of course his work collaborating with Greg and other colleagues in the founding and development of the FTF consultancy, the recent news of his migration over to Action Behavior Centers, and what opportunities lie ahead in this partnership.
We then talk more generally about what's new in the world of the IISCA or Practical Functional Assessment, along with Skills-Based Treatment, and how those processes have evolved over the years, common mistakes people make when implementing these procedures, and more.
We also talked about my semi-misgivings about terms like Compassionate-ABA, Trauma-Informed-ABA, Trauma-Assumed-ABA, and the like, as well as Tony's upcoming talk at the 2024 Stone Soup Conference.
Here are links to some of the resources we mentioned:
Free State Brewing (Lawrence, KS). All thing FTF. FTF's credentialing options. Action Behavior Center's big announcement! Action Behavior Center's homepage. The 2024 Stone Soup Conference (use PODCAST24 to save at checkout!). Hanley (2012). Functional Assessment of Problem Behavior: Dispelling Myths, Overcoming Implementation Obstacles, and Developing New Lore. Anderson and St. Peter (2013). Functional Analysis With Typically Developing Children: Best Practice or Too Early to Tell?: In Response to Hanley (2012). Hanley et al. (2014). Producing meaningful improvements in problem behavior of children with autism via synthesized analyses and treatments. Rajaraman and Hanley (2020). Mand compliance as a contingency controlling problem behavior: A systematic review. Fisher et al. (1996). On the reinforcing effects of the content of verbal attention. Dr. Tim Vollmer's appearance on the podcast in Session 257. Session 176: Towards Trauma-Informed Applications of Behavior Analysis.This podcast is brought to you by:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (maybe even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The 2024 Stone Soup Conference! Behavior Analysis' premier online event is taking place on October 25th. Come hear from pod faves including Drs. John Austin, Lina Slim, Jim Moore, and many others! 8.5 Learning CEUs are available, and when you use the promo code PODCAST24, that comes out to less than 8 bucks per credit. Learn more here! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms.Sat, 28 Sep 2024 - 1h 13min - 286 - ABA in the Spanish Speaking World: Session 275 with Miguel Avila
My partner in crime and host of the BOP en Español Series, Miguel Avila, joins me to talk about Behavior Analysis in Spanish-speaking cultures.
In addition to his day job with Essential for Living, Miguel has been hard at work, and recorded over 10 Spanish language podcasts for Behavioral Observations listeners.
So in this episode, which we of course conduct in English because my Spanish did not progress past my Freshman year of college, I turn the tables and interview Miguel for a change.
We talk about his experience as an immigrant to the US, what constitutes "Spanglish," how he encountered Behavior Analysis, and how he ended up at Essential for Living, leading the efforts to translate those materials into Spanish.
We then broaden the discussion to talk about where Behavior Analysis stands in various Spanish-speaking countries. As you'll hear in the podcast, Miguel has spent time in many of these places in Latin America and Europe, so while he humbly claims to not be the ultimate authority on these matters, he certainly has gained lots of hands-on experience in these settings.
A conversation like this would not be complete if we didn't talk about efforts to provide training and consumer protections via regulatory institutions in these countries. In doing so, we touch on organizations including QABA, IBAO, LABA, ABA España, ABAI SIG Español, OMPAC, and more. Long story short, there's a lot to do in terms of supporting the profession of Behavior Analysis in these international contexts. In fact, Miguel will be speaking at the upcoming Puerto Rico ABA 2024 conference coming up in October.
Here are some links to the topics we discussed:
Essential for Living PCMA Winston Behavioral Solutions Session 200 of the BOP (Miguel wrote and read the intro) Elcoro, at al (2024). Behavior Analysis in Venezuela: An Unrecognized LegacyThis podcast is brought to you with the support of:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (maybe even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The 2024 Stone Soup Conference! Behavior Analysis' premier online event is taking place on October 25th. Come hear from pod faves including Drs. John Austin, Lina Slim, Jim Moore, and many others! 8.5 Learning CEUs are available, and when you use the promo code PODCAST24, that comes out to less than 8 bucks per credit. Learn more here! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Don't forget to use the coupon code, PODCAST to save at checkout!Tue, 24 Sep 2024 - 1h 42min - 285 - Psychological Safety in the Workplace: Session 274 with John Austin
Dr. John Austin returns to the show to discuss a topic that we touched on briefly back in Session 230: Psychological Safety.
While the idea of Psychological Safety might seem overly conceptual in nature, John breaks down what he thinks about it in very easily understood and measurable terms. More importantly, he talks about why Psychological Safety matters in the workplace.
Here are some of the aspects of this topic that we got into:
The example of Google's Project Aristotle, where this term became popularized. Ways to measure Psychological Safety. Setting the occasion for employees saying what's on their minds. Creating conditions where feedback is accepted, and even desired. How employees might find meaning in their work. The concept of Behavioral Integrity. Leaders being surprised when employees quit unexpectedly. Other factors relating to employee retention. How to foster connections with coworkers and employees. What John will be talking about at the upcoming Stone Soup Conference (note: use promo code PODCAST24 to save $$$ at checkout!). Pivotal leadership behaviors, and lots more!If you like John's content, you're in luck, because he's agreed to come back and do an episode on having difficult conversations, which as you'll hear, is a topic that many leaders struggle with.
Here are the resources we discussed in this episode:
Free access to the audio version of John's book, Results: The Science-Based Approachto Better Productivity, Profitability, and Safety.
Sleiman, et al. (2020). A Quantitative Review of Performance Feedback inOrganizational Settings (1998-2018).
John's website, drjohnaustin.com. Edmondson (2018). The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth (note: Amazon Associates Link). Google Project Aristotle - 5 Keys to Team Success. Other podcasts mentioned: Session 262 (Pat Friman) and Session 266 (Chris McGinnis).This podcast is brought to you by:
How to ABA…The Bx Resource Membership saves you time, lends you support, and helps you keep up with your CEUs. It's a growing library of resources, materials, programs, datasheets, assessments, and how-to videos to help you tackle any ABA program with ease. It also includes live CEUs each month, live mentorship sessions, a full library of CEUs (60+, enough for recertification), and a community of fellow behavior professionals where you can ask questions when you need support. Join us at howtoaba.com/join. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (maybe even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The 2024 Stone Soup Conference! Behavior Analysis' premier online event is taking place on October 25th. Come hear from pod faves including Drs. John Austin, Lina Slim, Jim Moore, and many others! 8.5 Learning CEUs are available, and when you use the promo code PODCAST24, that comes out to less than 8 bucks per credit. Learn more here! The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.Thu, 12 Sep 2024 - 1h 07min - 284 - The Importance of Theory and Philosophy: Session 273 with Carol Pilgrim and Tim Hackenberg
I'm very much honored to be joined by Drs. Carol Pilgrim and Tim Hackenberg!
Listeners will recognize Tim from his very informative and popular episode on Token Economies. If you haven't heard that one, I highly recommend that you go back and check out Session 205, as well as read Tim's review paper in JABA on the same topic.
Dr. Carol Pilgrim is professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. It would take me several minutes to get through all of her contributions and accomplishments that she's imparted to the field.
Here are just a few: Dr. Pilgrim has served as president of its major organizations, including ABAI (as well as its Southeastern ABA chapter), the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis, and Division 25 (Behavior Analysis) of the American Psychological Association. She also served as secretary of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and as a board member of that organization (note: for more background, please see here).
As you'll hear, Tim and Carol reached out to me to talk about the upcoming conference that they are co-chairing. It's ABAI's 2024 Theory and Philosophy Conference. It's happening on October 28th and 29th. The onsite location is Chicago, and it will be available virtually too.
While we did spend some time talking about the conference, we spent the majority of the episode discussing the importance of understanding Behavior Analysis the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of Behavior Analysis at a deep level. Specifically, we touched on:
Why these topics are essential to graduate training in Behavior Analysis. Distinguishing Theory and Philosophy from Concepts and Principles. The distinctions between Theory and Meta-theory. What assumptions guide the science of behavior (and science more generally). Some examples of findings in the basic laboratory that have made their way into everyday practice. In this discussion, we also talk about this process happening in reverse too. And of course we do get in to the details about the conference itself, including how it's organized, what role this conference serves amongst the many training opportunities that exist, and much more. In short, they make their pitch for folks to come check it out.Lastly, one of the topics we touched on that I'd like to return to down the road is the epistemology of Behavior Analysis, and how that how knowing both how and why we know what we know, and distinguishing this from other disciplines, can help us interact more successfully with practitioners from other fields.
Lastly, for disclosure's sake, ABAI is not sponsoring this content. However, in furthering the goal of being a transparent media outlet, I am very much open to this 😉
All kidding aside, while this might seem like an, "eat your vegetables first," or, "I swear you'll use algebra someday," type of show, I hope you come away with a broader appreciation of this topic. And I'm grateful that we have folks like Carol and Tim who can organize events like these to showcase them.
This podcast is brought to you by:
How to ABA…The Bx Resource Membership saves you time, lends you support, and helps you keep up with your CEUs. It's a growing library of resources, materials, programs, datasheets, assessments, and how-to videos to help you tackle any ABA program with ease. It also includes live CEUs each month, live mentorship sessions, a full library of CEUs (60+, enough for recertification), and a community of fellow behavior professionals where you can ask questions when you need support. Join us at howtoaba.com/join. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (maybe even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The 2024 Stone Soup Conference! Behavior Analysis' premier online event is taking place on October 25th. Come hear from pod faves including Drs. John Austin, Lina Slim, Jim Moore, and many others! 8.5 Learning CEUs are available, and when you use the promo code PODCAST24, that comes out to less than 8 bucks per credit. Learn more here! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms.Fri, 30 Aug 2024 - 1h 00min - 283 - The Ethics of Procedural Fidelity: Session 272 with Claire St. Peter
Whether one calls it Procedural Fidelity, Treatment Integrity, or any combination of those, and/or many other related terms, this is an important and often overlooked issue when it comes to implementing behavior analytic interventions.
Think about it for a minute: as practitioners, we spend all this time obsessing about what assessment strategy to use and what interventions we think are the best fit for the individuals we serve. As you'll come to find out, we spend comparatively less time on ensuring that the programs we write are being implemented correctly.
So it is with this in mind that I'm grateful that Dr. Claire St. Peter returned to the podcast to discuss her research in this area of procedural Fidelity.
In this episode, we talk about why she prefers the term "Procedural Fidelity," the types of behavior plans that are difficult for teachers to implement, the different types of procedural errors one can make, the impact these different errors have, what types of intervention plans are more vs. less resistant to reductions in procedural fidelity, why this is a topic that practitioners should care about, whether to measure procedural fidelity via rate or percent correct, and regardless of method, how behavior analysts can start tracking procedural fidelity right away.
We also talk about Claire's research in this area, going back to the work she did as part of her dissertation. We also talk about the state of reporting procedural fidelity in the behavior-analytic research literature.
Lastly, I think it's important to point out that this topic is replete with ethical implications, which is why I titled this episode the way I did. When I listened to the show, I kept track of the various code elements that were indirectly outlined or addressed. For the mentors in the audience, this might be a fun exercise to do with your supervisees.
Here are the resources discussed in this episode:
Session 269/193: Claire's episode on Constructional Approaches to behavioral intervention. A link to Claire's multiple BOP appearances. Claire's lab website. On Claire's site, a section where you can download examples of Procedural Fidelity checklists and related resources. Bergmann et al., (2023). A detailed examination of reporting procedural fidelity in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. Han et al., (2022). Trends in Reporting Procedural Integrity: A Comparison. Jones et al., (2023). Effects of Commission and Omission Errors on the Efficacy of Noncontingent Reinforcement. Jones and St. Peter (2022). Nominally acceptable integrity failures negatively affect interventions involving intermittent reinforcement. St. Peter et al. (2023). On a persisting curious double standard in behavior analysis: Behavioral scholars' perspectives on procedural fidelity. Kranak and Falligant (2023). Treatment Integrity, Commission Errors, and Reinstatement: A Primer. Campbell and Skinner (2008). Combining Explicit Timing with an Interdependent Group Contingency Program to Decrease Transition Times.This episode was brought to you with support from:
The 2024 Stone Soup Conference! Behavior Analysis' premier online event is taking place on October 25th. Come hear from pod faves including Drs. John Austin, Lina Slim, Jim Moore, and many others! 8.5 Learning CEUs are available, and when you use the promo code PODCAST24, that comes out to less than 8 bucks per credit. Learn more here! How to ABA…The Bx Resource Membership saves you time, lends you support, and helps you keep up with your CEUs. It's a growing library of resources, materials, programs, datasheets, assessments, and how-to videos to help you tackle any ABA program with ease. It also includes live CEUs each month, live mentorship sessions, a full library of CEUs (60+, enough for recertification), and a community of fellow behavior professionals where you can ask questions when you need support. Join us at howtoaba.com/join. The New England Center for Children! In previous podcasts, you've heard me talk about NECC's career opportunities, but later in this episode, you'll hear about their Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia, or ACE for short. It's an evidence-based teaching technology for educators and BCBAs who teach learners with autism and related disabilities. If you must know more right now however, you can go to acenecc.org. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (maybe even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!Thu, 22 Aug 2024 - 1h 17min - 282 - Restraint and Seclusion in Public Schools: Session 271 with Matt Brodhead
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Dr. Matt Brodhead returns to the podcast to talk about a topic he's dedicated the better part of nearly completed sabbatical trying to understand: restraint and seclusion practices in public school settings.
In this episode, we talk about why he chose this topic to study, the difficulty in defining what constitutes a restraint, the challenges with documenting events, the terrible state of systematic, nation-wide data collection on restraint and seclusion events - particularly those that result in injuries and deaths, the pros and cons of banning these practices, potential legislation regarding these practices, and lots more.
Clearly this is an issue that generates controversy, and I hope you'll find that we did our best to talk about the subject with the appropriate amount of nuance and sensitivity.
In addition to his teaching and research duties at Michigan State University, Matt also provides consultation to schools and agencies, and specializes in developing systems that promote ethical decision making. If you'd like to work with Matt, you can contact him at either mattbrodhead.com or betteraba.com. At the latter website, you can purchase his excellent guide, A Workbook in Behavioral Systems Analysis and Ethical Behavior (by the way, these make for great gifts).
Resources discussed in this podcast:
Scheuermann et al. (2016). Professional Practice and Ethical Issues Related to Physical Restraint and Seclusion in Schools. Kern et al. (2022). A Review of U.S. Policy Guidance and Legislation on Restraint and Seclusion in Schools: Considerations for Improvement. Nunno et al. (2021). A 26-Year Study of Restraint Fatalities Among Children and Adolescents in the United States: A Failure of Organizational Structures and Processes. Merrill Winston's earlier podcast on this topic (and CEU opportunity as well).This podcast is brought to you by the following:
How to ABA…The Bx Resource Membership saves you time, lends you support, and helps you keep up with your CEUs. It's a growing library of resources, materials, programs, datasheets, assessments, and how-to videos to help you tackle any ABA program with ease. It also includes live CEUs each month, live mentorship sessions, a full library of CEUs (60+, enough for recertification), and a community of fellow behavior professionals where you can ask questions when you need support. Join us at howtoaba.com/join. The New England Center for Children! In previous podcasts, you've heard me talk about NECC's career opportunities, but later in this episode, you'll hear about their Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia, or ACE for short. It's an evidence-based teaching technology for educators and BCBAs who teach learners with autism and related disabilities. If you must know more right now however, you can go to acenecc.org. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings and their newly updated RBT Course, which as been getting amazing reviews over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Fri, 09 Aug 2024 - 1h 23min - 281 - Improving knee surgery outcomes with positive reinforcement: Inside JABA Series 20
In the 20th installment of the Inside JABA Series, I'm joined by Drs. Brennan Armshaw, Manish Vaidya, and Sachen Mehta. As always, I'm also joined by JABA Editor in Chief, Dr. John Borerro. In this episode we discuss a fantastic paper that is out in the summer issue of JABA titled, “Surface electromyography-based biofeedback can facilitate recovery from total knee arthroplasty.”
In brief, this study that examined a novel treatment approach for rehabilitating patients following knee replacement surgery. And guess what, they used simple behavioral techniques to radically improve physical therapy outcomes!
Orthopedics is something that's been on my mind lately as I am recovering from a broken metacarpal bone in my hand. It's probably something of interest to others who have either had orthopedic problems themselves, or who have taken care of hose who have.
However, even if you're not interested in orthopedics, I encourage you to really dig into this episode because it's just a great case study of applying our science to a novel problem that affects millions of people .
As always, there are no advertisements in the Inside JABA Series shows, but I will mention that if you would like to get a CEU for listening to this episode an answering series of questions related to its content, you can find out how to do just that by clicking here.
So if you would like to learn from your favorite podcast guests, especially while you're on the go, check out what we have to offer over.
I should also mention that there are discounts available for multiple event purchases. I recently crunched some numbers and found out that CEU customers, on average, save almost $100 when they leverage these discount codes.
Here are the links to resources mentioned in the podcast:
Armshaw, Vaidya, and Mehta (2024). Surface electromyography-based biofeedback can facilitate recovery from total knee arthroplasty.
Vaidya and Armshaw (2021). Surface electromyography and gamification: Translational research to advance physical rehabilitation.
Inside JABA 9: Applied and Translational Research in Healthcare.
The Institute for Behavior Science and Technology in Rehabilitation.
Comprehensive Orthopedics and Rehabilitation.
Brennan's WVU faculty page and LinkedIn.
Manish's LinkedIn page.
Wed, 17 Jul 2024 - 1h 08min - 280 - BOP REWIND: A Constructional Approach for Solving Behavioral Challenges, with Claire St. Peter
Hey everybody I hope you're having a great summer so far, or whatever season it happens to be whenever you listen to this episode.
Some of the things I've been doing recently is going back through the behavioral observations archives and giving episodes a second or third listen. One of those episodes was Session 193 that I published in July 2022, and my guest was Dr. Claire Saint Peter.
In that episode we talked about the constructional approach, as it were, and how it relates to solving behavior problems. This topic has been getting a lot of attention lately. When I was at ABAI in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, I attended several talks on the constructional approach, which prompted me to listen to this episode again.
And when I did listen to this episode for a second time I felt that there were so many really helpful pieces of information that I wanted to republish it. What I did with this episode is essentially started after the part in which Claire talked about her background and getting into behavior analysis.
Now if you want to go back and listen to that story, and I think it is a good story by the way as it's a bit of a microcosm of the history of applied behavior analysis, you can certainly do so. However, for the purposes of brevity, I decided just cut out that introductory section so the overall experience is a bit more focused, especially for those of us who are listening to this for a second, third, or fourth time.
With that said, I really hope you listen to this episode and it's entirety there are so many great nuggets have information. Although we talk about the application of the constructional approach to a student in a school setting, I am sure that you will make connections to all sorts of applications.
I will also make this episode eligible for a continuing education unit, as I have been doing with many older episodes as well. So if you are looking to get caught up on your continuing education, go to behavioralobservations.com to see the nearly 60 episodes we have available for your continuing education.
The last thing I'll say about this episode is that this is not the last thing I'll say about the constructional approach. I guess I'm saying that out loud for some accountability, because of said this before, but I want to have some other guests on to talk about this because I think it's an interesting way to look at behavior analysis and it's ability to address problems of social importance.
Here are links to some of the resources we mentioned:
Goldiamond (1974): Toward a constructional approach to social problems: ethical and constitutional issues raised by applied behavior analysis
More Goldiamond: A Programming Contingency Analysis of Mental Health
Layng (2009). The Search for an Effective Clinical Behavior Analysis: The Nonlinear Thinking of Israel Goldiamond
Romano, St. Peter, Milyko, Mesches, and Foreman (2021). Incorporating Curricular Revision to Treat Escape-Maintained Behavior for Children with ADHD
Inside JABA 7: There's No Such Thing as a Bad Boy, with Pat Friman
Session 158: Motivational Interviewing with Dr. Jim Murphy
Friman (2021). There is no such thing as a bad boy: The Circumstances View of problem behavior
Johnston, Pennypacker, and Green: Strategies and Tactics for Behavioral Research and Practice (note: Amazon Associates link).
This podcast is brought to you by:
How to ABA…The Bx Resource Membership saves you time, lends you support, and helps you keep up with your CEUs. It's a growing library of resources, materials, programs, datasheets, assessments, and how-to videos to help you tackle any ABA program with ease. It also includes live CEUs each month, live mentorship sessions, a full library of CEUs (60+, enough for recertification), and a community of fellow behavior professionals where you can ask questions when you need support. Join us at howtoaba.com/join. The New England Center for Children! I am beyond thrilled to partner with one of the oldest and well-respected ABA institutions to help them find staff to continue their mission of supporting individuals with Autism. Learn more about careers at NECC over at necc.org/jobs. The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.Tue, 09 Jul 2024 - 1h 20min - 279 - BOP en Español 10: Los altos y bajos al establecer el análisis de conducta en Guatemala con Jessie Arroyave
En este episodio tenemos la oportunidad de conocer la trayectoria de Jessie Arroyave, la primera BCBA de Guatemala. Jessie publicó un artículo en la revista Behavior Analysis in Practice, en el que habla de los altos y bajos al tratar de dar los primeros pasos para el establecimiento del análisis de conducta en Guatemala. Ella decidió tomar el camino difícil de regresar a su país después de formarse en Estados Unidos a pesar de los múltiples obstáculos. ¿Qué estamos haciendo para apoyar a profesionales como Jessie? Lo que sé es que con nuestra ayuda o sin ella, su compromiso y dedicación están intactos. Tenemos mucho que aprender de su ejemplo.
The ups and downs of establishing behavior analysis in Guatemala with Jessie Arroyave
In this episode we have the opportunity to learn about the career of Jessie Arroyave, the first BCBA in Guatemala. Jessie published an article in the journal Behavior Analysis in Practice, in which she talks about the ups and downs of trying to take the first steps toward establishing behavior analysis in Guatemala. She decided to take the difficult path of returning to her country after training in the United States despite multiple obstacles. What are we doing to support professionals like Jessie? What I know is that with or without our help, her commitment and dedication are intact. We have much to learn from her example.
Tue, 02 Jul 2024 - 1h 23min - 278 - Leadership in Alternative Education Settings: Session 267 with Bruce Tinor
Dr. Bruce Tinor returns to the podcast for an informative conversation about his work as a principal at The Child and Career Developmental Center of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Long-time listeners will recall that Bruce originally joined me in Session 197.
In this podcast, we talk all things alternative ed. Specifically, Bruce gives a quick review of how students find their way to his school, and in doing so, provides a mini-seminar in FAPE (and if you're not familiar with that acronym, you will be shortly). We talk about working in a multidisciplinary setting, how those related services are provided, improving academic skills as a behavioral intervention, and in general, what it's like to be a BCBA and a school principal.
In many ways, this is a podcast about culture and leadership too. Bruce talks about his interview practices and how he supports teachers and staff throughout the day. We also talk about some of the unique Tier 1 and Tier 2 behavioral practices, how he makes new students feel welcome, his behavioral approach to social-emotional learning, and lots more.
We close the podcast with what I thought was a really special discussion about Bruce being a role model. I don't want to spoil that part of the podcast here. You'll definitely want to listen to it for yourself, so I hope you check that part of the show out.
Say 'hi' to Bruce on LinkedIn. Whole Group Responding (Interview with Dr. Bill Heward). Using Behavioral Contracts (Interview with Drs. Jill Dardig and Bill Heward). Back to School with PBIS (Interview with Elissa Johnson). How to Get Better Results (Interview with Dr. John Austin). Improving Classroom Management (Interview with Dr. Jeannie Donaldson). When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms (asynchronous course from thebehavioraltoolbox.com).This podcast is brought to you by the following:
How to ABA…The Bx Resource Membership saves you time, lends you support, and helps you keep up with your CEUs. It's a growing library of resources, materials, programs, datasheets, assessments, and how-to videos to help you tackle any ABA program with ease. It also includes live CEUs each month, live mentorship sessions, a full library of CEUs (60+, enough for recertification), and a community of fellow behavior professionals where you can ask questions when you need support. Join us at howtoaba.com/join. The New England Center for Children! I am beyond thrilled to partner with one of the oldest and well-respected ABA institutions to help them find staff to continue their mission of supporting individuals with Autism. Learn more about careers at NECC over at necc.org/jobs. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms.Tue, 25 Jun 2024 - 1h 33min - 277 - What is Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics? Session 266 with Chris McGinnis
Dr. Chris McGinnis joins me in Session 266 to talk about his work in Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics. If you're not sure what that is, don't worry. We go over that right away and learn that this area of work sits in an important and underserved niche: The niche between the general behavioral advice dispensed by pediatricians, and intensive treatment for serious mental health challenges.
In a way, this conversation expands on something that Pat Friman brought up in our most recent interview: The idea that BCBAs are uniquely suited to provide families with this type of care. In order to provide direction to those who are interested in doing just this, Chris recently published Introduction to Primary Care Behavioral Pediatrics: A Guide for Behavior Analysts.
In our conversation, we covered:
· His background in Behavioral Pediatrics, including his work at BoysTown (and meeting Pat Friman for the first time).
· The motivation for writing his book.
· The reification of psychological terms (see Skinner '45).
· The myth of the Chemical Imbalance Hypothesis.
· The range of behavior challenges he sees in his practice.
· Thoughts on caregiver adherence.
· The pros and cons of reimbursement practices, including the concierge model he has currently adopted.
· Chris' study of Trauma-Informed Care.
· Permissive vs. Authoritative, and how those related to adolescent mental health.... In other words, why parenting is like The Marshmallow Test.
· Advice for the newly-minted BCBA.
This podcast is brought to you by the following:
Please welcome our newest sponsor, The New England Center for Children! I am beyond thrilled to partner with one of the oldest and well-respected ABA institutions to help them find staff to continue their mission of supporting individuals with Autism. Learn more about careers at NECC over at necc.org/jobs. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms.Wed, 12 Jun 2024 - 1h 47min - 276 - Buffers That Protect Against Adverse Childhood Experiences: Session 265 with Camille Kolu
Dr. Camille Kolu joins me again on the podcast, and let's just say that she came back loaded with great insights like these to share with you.
If you're not familiar with Camille, she's been on the show before (see here), and is one of the predominant voices discussing the impact of trauma, and how it interacts with what we do as Behavior Analysts.
In this episode, we discuss her recent paper in Behavior Analysis in Practice, Providing Buffers, Solving Barriers: Value‐Driven Policies and Actions that Protect Clients Today and Increase the Chances of Thriving Tomorrow.
This article is not about trauma, but instead, it's about practices and repertoires that can protect individuals from the harmful health impacts of adverse childhood experiences. We also discuss Camille's article in Operants Magazine, called, Understanding Choice, which is where that audio segment was clipped from.
If you like the work that Camille does and want more training from her, she has generously provided listeners with a discount on her training materials over at Cusp Emergence University. If you want to go deeper into this topic of Buffers and Barriers, she has not one, but two courses on it, providing both Ethics and Supervision CEUs. If you want take her other courses in the area of Trauma, you can do that too (just click here to check it out). When you do so, be sure to use the promo code summerofBOP24 to save 24% off at checkout.
Camille also created a free, 15-minute course called, The Buffers Story: Simple, Important Things We Almost Forgot, and she'll be doing a workshop later this month with Connections-Behavior.
Lastly, if you like Camille's content, perhaps the easiest way to keep up with it is to sign up for her mailing list.
Burke-Harris (2018). The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity (note: Amazon Associates link).
Kaiser ACES studies information.
Ala'i-Rosales et al. (2019). The Big Four: Functional Assessment Research Informs Preventative Behavior Analysis.
Ratey (2008). Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (note: Amazon Associates link).
Inside JABA 10: Towards Trauma-Informed Applications of Behavior Analysis.
Session 179: Behavioral Relaxation Training.
Maier and Seligman (2016). Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience.
In full disclosure, these are not sponsored products and events; I’m just trying to get the word out there. However, the sponsors that are responsible for bringing this episode to you include:
Please welcome our newest sponsor, The New England Center for Children! I am beyond thrilled to partner with one of the oldest and well-respected ABA institutions to help them find staff to continue their mission of supporting individuals with Autism. Learn more about careers at NECC over at necc.org/jobs. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Don't forget to use the coupon code, PODCAST to save at checkout!Wed, 05 Jun 2024 - 1h 13min - 275 - How Does Interviewer Behavior Influence Children's Responses? Inside JABA 19
Did you rate and review Behavioral Observations on Apple Podcasts?
You rated and reviewed Behavioral Observations on Apple Podcasts, right?
John Borrero told me that you rated and reviewed Behavioral Observations on Apple Podcasts. Is that true?
Did you rate and review Behavioral Observations on Apple Podcasts? Again, did you rate and review Behavioral Observations on Apple Podcasts?
If you've ever watched a police procedural show on television, you're probably noticed that there are different ways to phrase questions to people. I've just given you a few examples that will be salient to the forthcoming discussion.
And, all kidding aside, if you haven't done so already, if you enjoy what we do here, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave a rating and review of the show.
In the 19th installment of Behavioral Observations' Inside JABA Series, Dr. John Borrero and I discuss a paper in the most recent issue called, Idiosyncratic effects of interviewer behavior on the accuracy of children’s responses, with its authors: Milad Najafichaghabouri, Dr. Ray Joslyn, and Emma Preston.
Here's some additional background on our guests:
Dr. Ray Joslyn is currently an assistant professor in the psychology department at West Virginia University. He has research interests in group contingencies, behavior analysis in education, and crime and delinquency.
Milad Najafichaghabouri is a doctoral student in the Disability Disciplines program at Utah State University specializing in ABA. His primary research interests include group contingency-based intervention in the classroom, and social validity practices in research
Emma Preston is currently a graduate student in the Disabilities Disciplines program at Utah State University specializing in ABA. Her research and practice interests include the Good Behavior Game, manipulating parameters of reinforcement to improve intervention outcomes, and Tier 3 school-based interventions.
I'll refrain from spoiling the discussion here, but there are a few things to note. First, this is the first time we've discussed a replication in the Inside JABA Series, and John dons his Editor in Chief hat for a few minutes at the end and discusses the importance of replication studies in general, and what makes for good replication more specifically.
Second, this topic - describing the conditions in which children do and do not report incidents accurately - has huge implications. From schools, to child services, to law enforcement, understanding the potential influences of phrasing questions and acknowledging responses could be crucial contributions in these areas.
Third, this study featured a clever assent procedure that again, I won't spoil here, but it's worth tuning into.
And lastly, we get into all sorts of nitty-gritty details, including some of the participants' unexpected responses to the experimental procedure... and these are the things that generally do not make the printed page that you can only get in these types of conversations.
This podcast, along with all of the Inside JABA Series ones, is eligible for continuing education. If you've never gotten CEUs from Behavioral Observations before, it's really easy. Just listen to the episode, go to behavioralobservations.com/get-ceus, make purchase... and fun fact: there are great discounts available if you need to snap up many CEUs, take a quiz, and you're good to go.
Wed, 22 May 2024 - 1h 04min - 274 - El Análisis de Conducta en Venezuela: BOP en Español 9, con Corina Jimenez-Gomez, Mirari Elcoro y Amalix Flores
El Análisis de Conducta en Venezuela: Un legado finalmente reconocido con Corina Jimenez-Gomez, Mirari Elcoro y Amalix Flores
Mon, 20 May 2024 - 2h 06min - 273 - Behavior Analytic Approaches to Counseling and Therapy: Session 262 with Pat Friman
Dr. Pat Friman returns to discuss the Behavior Analytic approaches he uses with patients. In this episode, we harken way back to Session 16, and review some of what we know about Anxiety and Depression, which are the most common forms of mental health distress.
Pat talks about how he conceptualizes these challenges, what he does in the first session with patients, his general approach to treatment, the role of medications, his view on when to begin or cease therapy, important therapist characteristics like kindness, compassion, and acceptance, and lots more!
Here are links to the references we spoke about:
Pat's earlier appearances on the BOP. Pat's CEU previous CEU events: Session 16 (ethics) and Session 42. Friman, Hayes, and Wilson (1998). Why Behavior Analysts Should Study Emotion: The example of Anxiety. Hayes and Smith (2005). Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life (disclosure: Amazon Associate link). Haidt (2024). The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (disclosure: Amazon Associate link). Session 227: Decreasing Social Media Use with Contingency Management, Inside JABA 15.This podcast is brought to you by:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving (even this episode!), walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Love the podcast, but would lWed, 01 May 2024 - 1h 25min - 272 - Entrevistas Motivacionales: BOP en Español 8 con la Dra. Monica Gilbert
Entrevistas Motivacionales con la Dra. Monica Gilbert
Aunque la entrevista motivacional nació del contexto psicoterapéutico y de rehabilitación en relación a dependencias y abuso de sustancias, hoy en día se utiliza como un estilo de comunicación para establecer relaciones terapéuticas y profesionales en varios contextos con un espíritu de colaboración y empoderamiento en dirección al cambio.
Los analistas de conducta estamos reconociendo que, sin ser esa nuestra intención, nuestra comunicación al brindar nuestros servicios en algunos casos puede ser coercitiva. Esto resulta en respuestas defensivas y resistencia a nuestras recomendaciones.
Espero que este enfoque y las recomendaciones prácticas de la Dra Gilbert no solo llamen a la reflexión acerca de nuestra propia conducta sino que despierten curiosidad acerca de un área de competencia que a muchos de nosotros nos hace falta desarrollar.
Motivational Interviewing with Dr. Monica Gilbert
Although motivational interviewing was born from the psychotherapeutic and rehabilitation context in relation to dependencies and substance abuse, today it is used as a communication style to establish therapeutic and professional relationships in various contexts with a spirit of collaboration and empowerment in the direction of change.
Behavior analysts are recognizing that, without this being our intention, our communication when providing our services can in some cases be coercive. This results in defensive responses and resistance to our recommendations.
I hope that this approach and Dr. Gilbert's practical recommendations not only call for reflection on our own behavior but also spark curiosity about an area of competence that many of us need to develop.
https://motivationalinterviewing.org
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 - 56min - 271 - How to Use Whole Group Responding: Session 260 with Bill Heward
Dr. Bill Heward was gracious enough to return to the podcast in Session 260. In this episode, we talked about a handful of different topics, including how to respond to criticisms of reinforcement practices, and the international dissemination of the excellent book, Let's Make a Contract, which he coauthored with Dr. Jill Dardig.
However, we spent the majority of the time discussing Bill's extensive knowledge of whole-group responding practices in classroom settings. Specifically, we talk about how he first learned about this practice, why he wanted to study it, how he and his colleagues carried out one of his better known studies on the topic (Lambert et al., 2006), and lots more.
Along the way, Bill offered lots of great advice for practitioners who are interested in trying out these low-tech/high-impact strategies. During the conversation, Bill mentioned a talk that I gave at the 2023 BABAT conference, and in the podcast I mentioned that my colleagues and I created an online course based on that presentation. At the time of the interview with Bill, the course was not yet available. However, I'm happy to report that it is out now.
The course is called, "When Not to FBA: Five Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in the Classroom." So if you're working in school settings and you're supporting teachers in classrooms, please consider checking this out.
Back to the interview, one of the things that makes Bill such an awesome podcast guest is that he comes with lots of resources. In fact in this case, he sent me an Google Drive Folder chock full of articles, studies, and many other resources. So instead of listing each resource individually here in the shownotes, I'll go ahead and link the folder and cut out the middleman (click here to get access to it).
While we're on the topic of Bill's generosity, he wanted me to remind you that the website, contractingwithkids.com has several free downloadable contract templates. Click here to check them out.
This podcast is brought to you by:
HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and our newly released course, When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classrooms.Thu, 18 Apr 2024 - 1h 22min - 270 - Practical Strategies for Passing the Exam: Session 259 with Dana Meller and Steve Eversole
If you're a student, supervisor, or university instructor, this is an episode for you. In Session 259, I speak with Dana Meller and Dr. Steve Eversole, of Pass The Big ABA Exam and Behavior Development Solutions, respectively. In this conversation, they reflect on what they've learned about helping thousands of people pass the BCBA exam over many years.
In this conversation, we covered why they got into the test prep business, the state of BCBA testing today, re-taking the exam, interpreting the board's re-take data, barriers to passing the exam - including things like test anxiety and specific topics of difficulty, their counterintuitive opinions on SAFMEDS and mock exams, the role of social media, and how both of them became friends despite being competitors.
Here are the links we discussed:
Pass The Big ABA Exam main site.
Behavior Development Solutions main site.
Center for Behavior and Climate.
Honig and Staddon, Handbook of Operant Behavior.
The University of American Samoa.
This podcast is brought to you by:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. TheBehavioralToolbox.com. If you're a BCBA working in public schools, or if you are a special educator, teacher, school pscyhologist, administrtor, or school counselor... basically anyone who is in the business of student behavior, check out The Behavioral Toolbox's asynchronous professional development courses, including our new course, "When Not to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in the Classroom."Fri, 05 Apr 2024 - 1h 21min - 269 - What is Profound Autism, and Why is it Important? Session 258 with Alycia Halladay Session 258
Dr. Alycia Halladay joins we to discuss the topic of Profound Autism. If you're not familiar with Alycia's work, she is the Chief Science Officer for The Autism Science Foundation, and host of the excellent show, The ASF Weekly Science Podcast.
In this episode, we discuss the changes in Autism diagnosis from the DSM IV to V, the Lancet Commission paper on Profound Autism, why there is a need for this distinction in the Autism spectrum, the conditions under which an individual would be classified as having Profound Autism, the estimated proportion of Autistics who have Profound Autism, the differences in the distribution of sex-based differences in Profound and Non-profound populations, person vs. identity-first language, the importance of reducing stigma for everyone with Autism, criticisms of the proposal of this category, and responses to those criticisms. Even though we packed a lot into this interview, there is way more to this conversation than we had time for, so I'd like to revisit this again sometime in the future.
In the meantime, if you're in the New England area, consider attending The Profound Autism Summit, which is taking place on April 5th, 2024 in Burlington, Massachusetts. Alycia will be speaking at that event, and will go into even more detail than we did in this podcast. It's a multi track conference that, according to the PAS site, aims to "bring together leaders from the areas of research, medicine, treatment, advocacy, education, and human services to discuss the needs of those with Profound Autism across disciplines and throughout the lifespan."
Even though the Profound Autism Summit features talks from notable Behavior Analysts like Drs. Greg Hanley, Shanna Bahry, Peter Gerhardt, Jessica Slaton and others, it's not just an ABA conference. There will be speakers and panelists representing advocacy groups, emergency services personnel, service providers, and more (check out the entire speakers roster here).
The PAS is right around the corner and is almost sold out, so if you're on the fence and are looking for some motivation, here it is (register your spot here!). If you can't make it, consider signing up for their mailing list, as I believe they'll be making the talks available asynchronously some time down the road.
Did you know that if you use Apple Podcasts as your player, you can get transcripts to this show? See this for a tutorial. Register for the Profound Autism Summit! Hop on their 100% non-spammy email list for updates on Profound Autism. Session 248: A review of Autism diagnostic practices. Lord et al. (2021). The Lancet Commission on the future of care and clinical research in autism. ASF's post on the Lancet Commission paper. ASF Weekly Science Podcast homepage. ASF Weekly Science Podcast recommendation 1: Nobody ever talks about catatonia. ASF Weekly Science Podcast recommendation 2: "Emergent and Transactional," with Dr. Andrew Whitehouse.This podcast is brought to you by:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Thu, 14 Mar 2024 - 52min - 268 - Mentoring Students, the Future of ABA, and the Problem with Ignoring: Session 257 with Tim Vollmer
I'm thrilled to be joined by none other than Dr. Tim Vollmer. In this podcast, we talk about a wide variety of research and practice topics, as well as some funny stories from his long and prolific career.
Specifically, talk about how his dog ate his copy of Strategies and Tactics, how he and his colleagues analyzed 2 and 3-point shot patterns in basketball games, his line of research that examined The Good Behavior Game, Behavior Analysis and the game of Poker, and his take on why he and his students have such an affinity for one another.
That's not all. We probably spent the most amount of time discussing the topic of ignoring in the context of Behavioral Intervention Plans, and its potential problems.
I really hope you stick around until the end of the podcast, because we close the show in a slightly different format. Instead of asking Tim my normal closing question (advice for the newly minted), I ask him to share his thoughts on the future direction of Behavior Analysis, including both risks and opportunities.
Here are the links to the resources we mentioned:
Beyond Freedom and Dignity (note: Amazon Associates Link). Vollmer and Bourret (2013). An application of the Matching Law to evaluate two and three-point shots by college basketball players. Football Behavior (BA-driven sports analytics from Brett Yarris). Chris Bosh on the Tim Ferriss show (wherein Chris discusses the evolution 3-point shooting strategy in the NBA). Strategies and Tactics for Behavioral Research and Practice, 4th edition (note: Amazon Associates Link). (Lloveras et al., 2023). Recommendations Regarding Use of the Term “Ignore” in Applied Behavior Analysis. Good Behavior Game episode with Dr. Jeanne Donaldson. Lambert et al., (2006). Effects of response cards on disruptive behavior and academic responding during math lessons by fourth-grade urban students. (this is the paper I mentioned from Bill Heward's research group, and I mistakenly noted that it was published in 1996, when in fact it was published in 2006). Follow Tim's lab on Instagram!This podcast is brought to you by:
HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The Behavioral Toolbox. thebehavioraltoolbox.com is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. If you’re a Behavior Analyst working in public schools, please check out our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! Our second course, When Not to FBA: 5 Strategies to Implement before Conducting a Functional Assessment, will also be out soon, and more trainings are on the way!Sun, 10 Mar 2024 - 1h 12min - 267 - La intersección entre la fonoaudiología y el análisis de conducta: BOP en Español 7 con Estefania Alarcón Moya
Las conversaciones acerca del alcance de nuestra práctica y de nuestras competencias son muy comunes hoy en día en nuestra profesión. Los fonoaudiólogos y los analistas de conducta coinciden frecuentemente en los apoyos e intervenciones para el desarrollo de habilidades comunicativas. Coinciden en la práctica y en algunos casos en competencias desde un mismo enfoque o en otros desde un ángulo distinto. En una efectiva colaboración entre estas disciplinas es importante reconocer los marcos conceptuales y las tecnologías que ambas disciplinas proponen para así maximizar las maneras en que las mismas se complementan y se superponen. En otras palabras, donde las disciplinas se encuentran. Existen ‘unicornios’ capacitados en ambas disciplinas que nos demuestran el potencial de esta amalgama. Estefania Alarcón Moya es una de estas personas y en este episodio nos comparte sus perspectivas como analista de conducta/fonoaudióloga.
Referencias
Esch, B. E., LaLonde, K. B., & Esch, J. W. (2010). Speech and language assessment: A verbal behavior analysis. The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology – Applied Behavior Analysis, 5(2), 166–191.https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100270
Koenig, M., & Gerenser, J. (2006). SLP-ABA: Collaborating to support individuals with communication impairments. The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology – Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 2–10. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100180
Spencer, T. D., Slim, L., Cardon, T., & Morgan, L. (2020). Interprofessional collaborative practice between behavior analysts and speech-language pathologists. Association for Behavior Analysis.https://www.abainternational.org/constituents/practitioners/interprofessional-collaborative-practice.aspx
The intersection between speech and language therapy and behavior analysis with Estefania Alarcón Moya
Conversations about our scope of practice and competencies are very common in our profession today. Speech therapists and behavior analysts frequently overlap on supports and interventions for the development of communication skills. They coincide in practice and in some cases in competencies from the same approach or in others from a different angle. In effective collaboration between these disciplines, it is important to recognize the conceptual frameworks and technologies that both disciplines propose in order to maximize the ways in which they complement and overlap. In other words, where the disciplines meet. There are 'unicorns' trained in both disciplines who show us the potential of this amalgam. Estefania Alarcón Moya is one of these people and in this episode she shares her perspectives as a behavior analyst/speech therapist.
Tue, 05 Mar 2024 - 1h 29min - 266 - How to Disseminate Behavior-Analytic Technologies: Inside JABA 18
In the 18th installment of the Inside JABA Series, Dr. Dorothea Lerman joins Editor-in-Chief John Borrero and I to talk about her dissemination efforts, which are described in the Winter 2024 issue of the journal. Specifically, we talk about her discussion paper, "Putting the power of behavior analysis in the hands of nonbehavioral professionals: Toward a blueprint for dissemination." This paper is definitely worth checking out. In it, Dorothy describes some common barriers to disseminating behavioral strategies and how to overcome them. We then talk about the blueprint she offers for dissemination, which is broken down into seven steps. These dissemination efforts are described in the context of Dorothy's outreach to public school educators, law enforcement personnel, and health care providers, settings where Dorothy and her colleagues have made successful inroads. Not to spoil the show's content too much, but we touch on the alarming stats regarding the percentage of individuals with disabilities who are either sedated or restrained during dental procedures, and what can be done to improve them. Even if you don't have a desire to bring behavior-analytic strategies to a novel setting, upon listening to the conversation a second time, I think there are lessons from this podcast that you can use in your daily practice. Things like gathering information about a particular culture or setting, describing concepts and principles in plain language, conducting experiments to see if what you're doing is working... you get the idea. We also spend a decent amount of time talking about sustaining behavioral practices once they've been implemented in new settings. One of the things that I forgot to mention during the podcast is that if you're really into dissemination, check out the new edited work, "Disseminating Behavioral Research," in which, coincidentally, the ABA Inside Track crew and I contributed a chapter called, "Non Traditional Options for Dissemination." I'll leave it to you to guess what medium we focused on. Lastly, the Winter 2024 issue of JABA features several moving tributes to Drs. Brian Iwata, Hank Pennypacker, and Ronnie Detrich. Dorothy and Dr. Jennifer Fritz contributed a memoriam to Brian Iwata, and it's well worth checking out. In the first few minutes of the show, Dorothy shared some poignant stories about how Brian influenced her career, and John discussed the responsibility associated with curating the various tributes for this edition of JABA. Relatedly, for the next three months, all of these In Memoriam articles will be freely available, so in the unlikely event you're not a JABA subscriber, you can still check them out. Here are the resources we discussed:
Putting the power of behavior analysis in the hands of nonbehavioral professionals: Toward a blueprint for dissemination. Brian A. Iwata, PhD: A Life Well Lived. Dorothy's previous Inside JABA appearance (correction: in the podcast, I incorrectly noted that she appeared in the first Inside JABA episode. She appeared in the fourth episode of the Inside JABA Series). Southwell et al. (2005). Strategies for effective dissemination of the outcomes of teaching and learning projects. Houston, TX Police Department 2019 Annual Report (check out p. 18!). Main JABA site where you can subscribe and access selected free articles. Griffith and Ré (2023): Disseminating Behavioral Research (note: Amazon Associates link). Critchfield et al. (2017). On the social validity of behavior analytic communication: A call for research and description of one method. Previous BOP episodes covering law enforcement interventions. Kramer Davis Healthcare (company I mentioned that specializes in providing medical services to individuals with IDD). Allgood and Gravina (2021). Branching Out: Finding Success in New Areas of Practice. Normand and Kohn (2013). Don't wag the dog: extending the reach of applied behavior analysis. (hands down, the article I have shared the most in my eight years of publishing this podcast). LeBlanc et al., (2012). Expanding the Consumer Base for Behavior-Analytic Services: Meeting the Needs of Consumers in the 21st Century. As with other Inside JABA Series podcasts, this show will be eligible for continuing education. You can learn more about this one, and the nearly 50 other CEU events over at behavioralobservations.com.Thu, 15 Feb 2024 - 58min - 265 - AAC Use with adolescents and adults with ASD: Session 254 with Andy Bondy
Fan-favorite Dr. Andy Bondy joins me again to talk about... you guessed it... AAC!
In this episode, we discuss a paper he published last year in the journal, Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, that is titled, "Issues Related to AAC and SGD Use by Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder."
We get into why he felt this paper was necessary to write, how he chose to communicate his thoughts to an audience beyond those of us in behavior analysis, why he likes the term, "under what conditions" so much, what does and does not constitute a "robust" communication repertoire, the role of teaching words like "please" and Andy's nuanced view of this practice, whether the sound from Speech Generation Devices matter, and lots more.
We also got into a really interesting discussion on the distinction between pointing to pictures vs. exchanging them with communicative partners, and how that difference impacts Joint Attention.
We closed the show by talking about two topics that have been receiving lots of discussion as of late: Spelling to Communicate and Gestalt Language Processing. Lastly, ended the show by taking a question from a Patreon member about Andy's thoughts regarding the use of activity schedules, and whether they qualify as prompts, or something else.
Andy's previous episodes (the shownotes to these shows also have many links to great studies germane to this episode). Jason Traver's episode. All things PECS. A critical review of Natural Language Acquisition. GLP is a Fad IG page. SLPs against pseudoscience IG page.This episode is brought to you by:
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Thu, 01 Feb 2024 - 1h 00min - 264 - How to Assess Early Echoic Skills: Session 253 with Barbara Esch
If you've completed a VB-MAPP at some point in your career, you're familiar with the EESA component of the assessment protocol. In today's podcast, I had the chance to talk with Dr. Barbara Esch, who created the Early Echoic Skills Assessment, which has evolved into the stand-alone product called the Early Echoic Skills Assessment and Program Planner.
In this conversation, we talk about how Barb got into Behavior Analysis, she shared some humorous stories from being mentored by Drs. Jack Michael and Jim Carr, why she created the original EESA, who the EESAPP is for and who it's not for, and some fantastic advice for newly-minted BCBAs.
In addition to these topics, we spent a decent amount of time talking about some speech therapy concepts that were definitely new to me, especially the idea of co-articulation. We also talked about the order in which one should target specific skills. To me, this highlights the importance of collaboration, especially if you don't have a strong background in typical speech development.
As a side note, I inadvertently used the acronyms, EESA and EESAPP, interchangeably throughout the conversation, and apologize if this confused anyone.
Barb is giving not one, but two talks at this year's Verbal Behavior Conference. Are you coming? I sure hope so. If you can't make it to Austin on February 29th and March 1st, please consider joining us virtually through the magic of BehaviorLive.com. There's also an amazing conference workshop being taught by the incomparable Dr. Lina Slim on the 28th.
There will be many other amazing speakers and talks at the VBC, so whether you join in person or virtually, I hope to see you there!
Here are some helpful resources from our conversation:
barbaraesch.com. Where to buy the EESAPP. The VBC event schedule. Barb's other podcast appearances, research publications, and more. Other events where Barb is speaking.This show is brought to you by:
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!Fri, 26 Jan 2024 - 59min - 263 - AAC, Science-Based Treatment, Clinical Judgement, and More: The 2023 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel Discussion
Session 252 is the recording from the 2023 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel discussion. The participants were Troy Fry, Drs. Lina Slim, Sam Bergmann, Sarah Frampton, Einar Ingvarsson, Pat McGreevy, and Andresa de Sousa; and the voice at the beginning and end of the panel is Kelle Rich, who founded and currently leads these great conferences. In this Q and A segment, the panel addressed the following topics:
Considerations moving from vocal-verbal speech to AAC. Focusing one's clinical resources given limited therapy times. The high abandonment rate of AAC devices. The role of clinical judgement. Adapting clinical strategies to varying cultural contexts. The nuances associated with encouraging caregivers to adopt research-based treatments. The role of singing versus speaking... that was a fascinating part of the panel that comes towards the end.As you'll hear in this podcast, when you attend the Verbal Behavior Conference, you'll have numerous opportunities to ask the speakers questions. And not just in the panel itself. If you're there in person in Austin, Texas, you'll very likely have the opportunity to have direct interactions with the speakers between talks, while grabbing coffee, and so on.
What strikes me as unique about these events is that they are purposely small and intimate so that one can have these types of experiences.
What's in store for the 2024 VBC? First, the conference itself takes place on February 29th and March 1st, and it's preceded by a full day workshop from the incomparable Dr. Lina Slim on February 28th.
This year's conference speakers include Drs. Barbara Esch, Eb Blakely, Mirela Cengher, fan-favorite Patrick McGreevy, Alice Shillingsburg, and Hank Schlinger, whom we heard from a few episodes ago.
If you can't make it in person, don't worry. BehaviorLive has you covered. Nobody does virtual events like BehaviorLive, and they will broadcast the entire conference with best-in-class audio and video.
Papers, resources, etc...
The event list for the 2024 VBC. How to register for the VBC. Valentino et al. (2018). Using a Prerequisite Skills Assessment to Identify Optimal Modalities for Mand Training. Thompson et al. (2013). Enhancing Early Communication Through Infant Sign Training. Sigafoos et al. (2000). Identifying Potential Communicative Acts in Children with Developmental and Physical Disabilities. Essential for Living. "Big Mac" buttons. Allen and Warzak (2013). The problem of parental nonadherence in clinical behavior analysis: Effective treatment is not enough. Grow et al. (2017). An Evaluation of Instructive Feedback to Teach Play Behavior to a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Before we get to this episode, I want to let you know that we’re brought to you today by the University of Cincinnati’s Masters in ABA program. This program is 100% online and asynchronous, so that means you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.
Also, if you want to earn BACB Approved Continuing Education Units while listening to your favorite Behavioral Observations episodes, go to behavioralobservations.com/get-ceus to see the shows that are available for continuing education. Whether its supervision, ethics, functional assessment, or other topics, there’s something there for just about everyone.
Fri, 05 Jan 2024 - 1h 00min - 262 - How to Make Career Decisions as a BCBA: Apollo Case Study Series 12
In this 12th and final installment in the Apollo Case Study Series, Dr. Jim Moore joins me along with Lauren Elliott, Jeanne Ambrose, and Dr. Lyndsy Macri.
In the first few minutes of the podcast, Lauren fields some follow up questions from our episode on DRO interventions. Huge thanks to Jenna Mazzillo for sending in these great questions (and by the way, be sure to follow her in Instagram at @abanaturally).
We then moved into a more free flowing discussion of how to make good career decisions as a BCBA. Specifically, when looking for job opportunities, what things should candidates prioritize? From pay to caseloads to benefits and culture, there's no shortage of things to consider.
Also, what about supporting career progression? Work/life balance?
We talk about all of these things and more, and discuss how each of the panelists have navigated these topics in their careers at Apollo.
If you are interested in learning more about Apollo or want to connect with the Founder & CEO, Kim Dean, or Chief Clinical Officer, Jim Moore, you can find them on LinkedIn here and here. To follow Apollo on Instagram, click here, and to learn more about Apollo's locations and services, click here.
Tue, 02 Jan 2024 - 1h 26min - 261 - 2023 Year in Review: Session 250 with ABA Inside Track
Shhh! I'm not supposed to be working this week... However, I am somewhat of a traditionalist, and as such obligated to publish the annual Year in Review show with my friends at ABA Inside Track.
So here's a really quick rundown. As usual, we reviewed the passings of several behavior analysts in 2023. This is always sad, but at the same time, we tried to highlight the achievements and contributions of the behavior analysts we talked about.
We also recognize that Behavior Analysis, with over 60 thousand BCBAs and BCBA-Ds, is a rapidly growing field, and with these larger numbers comes the increased probability of us missing someone in this process, and we apologize if we left anyone out as a consequence of this.
But the Year in Review is not just for remembering the passing of fellow Behavior Analysts. We discussed a few things happening in the field, some updates to our podcasts that we've made and are continuing to make, and talked about the book chapter we collaborated on in the edited text, Disseminating Behavioral Research (note: Amazon Associate link).
Other personal highlights of mine this year include starting a new endeavor with my colleagues Paulie Gavoni and Anika Costa that we've named The Behavioral Toolbox, thanks to the huge contribution from Miguel Avila, providing BOP episodes to Spanish speaking members of the community with the BOP en Español series, invitations to speak at the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis and BABAT, revamping behavioralobservations.com, and probably many more things I'm forgetting right now.
In closing, it's been a great 2023 for me, despite its occasional challenges. The podcast is coming up on its 8th birthday, with almost 5 million downloads, and it nonetheless continues amaze me that people want to tune in. All of this to say that I'm incredibly grateful for your listenership, and I hope you have a happy and healthy 2024!
Resources, etc... mentioned in this episode:
Disseminating Behavioral Research (2023). Check out the new BOP site (grab some CEUs while you're there!). The Behavioral Toolbox. Iwata, B.A., Dorsey, M.F., Slifer, K.J., Bauman, K.E., & Richman, G.S. (1982/1994). Toward a functional analysis of self-injury. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 197-209. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-197. Johnston, J.M., Pennypacker, H.S., & Green, G. (2020). Strategies and tactics of behavioral research and practice. (4th ed.). Routledge. Twyman, J., Pinkelman, S., Kenyon, S., Heward, W.L., Lattal, K.A., & Critchfield, T.S. (2023). Ronnie Detrich (1946-2023): A versatile behavior analyst who demanded more of behavior analysis and education. Behavior Analysis in Practice. doi: 10.1002/jaba.1043. Griffith, A.K. & Ré, T.C. (Ed.) (2024). Disseminating Behavioral Research. Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-47343-2. Hartley, B.K., Courtney, W.T., Rosswurm, M., & LaMarca, V.J. (2016). The apprentice: An innovative approach to meet the behavior analysis certification board’s supervision standards. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9, 329-338. doi: 10.1007/s40617-016-0136-x. Gingles, D., Watson-Thompson, J., Anderson-Carpenter, K.D., Tarbox, J., & Peterson, S.M. (2022). Leading the charge: A look inside the Behavior Analysis in Practice emergency series of publications on systemic racism and police brutality. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 15, 1015-1022. doi: 10.1007/s40617-022-00759-9.Wed, 27 Dec 2023 - 1h 11min - 260 - Critical Thinking About Psychological Concepts: Session 249 with Hank Schlinger
It's kind of a podcast cliche - one that I'm certainly guilty of - to refer to an interview as, "wide-ranging." However, in this case, that description certainly fits.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Hank Schlinger, who, amongst other pursuits, teaches in the Department of Psychology at Cal State Los Angeles.
During this conversation we talked about the state of ABA when he entered the field; his behavioral interpretations of psychological concepts like intelligence, consciousness, object permanence, and others; books he's written on parenting and developmental psychology; Skinner 1945 and the idea of explanatory fictions; why it's easy to be a skeptic about some things and harder with others; and, as the title of this podcasts suggests, how to foster critical thinking skills.
We also spent a bit of time previewing what he and Dr. Eb Blakely will be presenting on at the 2024 Verbal Behavior Conference. As always, we conclude the show with advice for the newly-minted BCBA.
Lastly, Hank is an accomplished musician, and we spent a few minutes on how being a Behavior Analyst influences his approach to songwriting. In fact, Hank has given me permission to play a portion of the song, One More Invention, that was inspired by, you guessed it, behavior analytic principles. As such, you’ll hear that instead of the normal outro music as the show concludes.
Here are the links to some of the things we talked about.
The Verbal Behavior Conference speakers' list. Malott's Principles of Behavior, 8th edition.* Skinner (1945). The Operational Analysis of Psychological Terms. Hank's Skeptic Magazine article, Consciousness is nothing but a word. Hank's Instagram. Hank's book, How to build good behavior and self esteem in children.* A Behavior Analytic View of Child Development, also by Hank.* Hank's 1998 album, One More Invention.This show is brought to you by:
HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Wed, 20 Dec 2023 - 51min - 259 - A Review of Autism Diagnostic Practices: Session 248: Whitney Ence and Elisabeth Sheridan
Drs. Whitney Ence and Elisabeth Sheridan joined me to talk about the diagnosis of Autism. You might be thinking that this sounds like an impossibly broad topic... and you're right.
But in this show, we tried to narrow it down a bit to discuss the various routes in which people can acquire an Autism diagnosis, which of these routes represent best practice, the critical diagnostic features of Autism, severity levels in Autism (and the extent to which these terms are useful), the role of intense interests, specific assessment instruments and techniques, and the importance of working with interdisciplinary teams.
We also talk about how the diagnosis has changed over the years, including the retirement of terms such as Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome. During this part of the conversation, we also discussed self-diagnosis of Autism, and how clinics sometimes triage screening for individuals seeking diagnoses.
Towards the end of the podcast, we did touch on a few terms and topics that are relatively new to the Autism discourse.
Specifically, we discussed the term Neurodiversity, the social model of disability, "Severe Autism" as a separate diagnosis, and Pathological Demand Avoidance. It's important to note that his part of the podcast should not be construed as a deep exploration of these topics, as I really wanted to initially focus on what the current state of the science has to say about the diagnosis of Autism as a condition requiring medically-necessary treatment.
I also want to draw your attention to what could be considered a companion podcast about the diagnostic characteristics of Autism. I’m in the middle of listening to a long episode from the Huberman Lab Podcast, in which Dr. Andrew Huberman interviews Dr. Karen Parker from Stanford University about the causes of, and treatments for Autism. This is from a more neuro-biological perspective, and thus far, quite interesting.
Here are links to the topics we discussed:
Does TikTok Provide Accurate Information about Autism? Dr. Whitney Ence's About Page. Dr. Elisabeth Sheridan's About Page. CEU's from The Behavioral Observations Podcast (thanks for the impromptu review Whitney!). Diagnostic Criteria for 299.00 Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. Therapeutic Assessment Institute.If you'd like to support the show or its sponsors, check out the following:
To receive Behavioral Observations episodes ad and commentary-free, that is, just the interviews themselves, consider supporting the show with a Patreon subscription. Consider Behavioral Observations as a source for your continuing education. I have almost 50 events that span a variety of topics, all from your favorite podcast guests. So if you want catch up on your professional development while walking the dog, commuting to work, making dinner, or whatever else you do while listening to podcasts, go to behavioralobservations.com/get-ceus to learn more. The Verbal Behavior Conference is right around the corner. If you haven’t heard me talk about it before, the VBC is a 2 day event that is available both virtually and in-person in Austin, Texas. It’s happening on February 29th and 30th, and will feature speakers like Drs. Pat McGreevy, Alice Shillingsburg, Barbara Esch, and more. There’s even a full-day pre conference workshop by Dr. Lina Slim. This is a really fun event that provides many opportunities for individual interactions with the speakers, and there’s even a panel discussion moderated by yours truly. To learn more, go to behaviorlive.com/vbc, or simply hit the shownotes for this episode to learn more. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.Wed, 13 Dec 2023 - 1h 02min - 258 - How to Understand Problems with Sleep: Session 247 with Emily Varon
Behavior Analyst and sleep educator extraordinaire Emily Varon joins me in Session 247 to talk about how to understand sleep problems in children. In this episode, we cover how she first got interested in the area of sleep intervention, what research and resources she used to expand her scope of competence in this area, how sleep challenges can be met without using extinction, sleep problems specific to individuals with Autism, the impact of screentime on sleep disruption, cultural considerations for practices like co-sleeping, the importance of bedtime routines, and whether wearable devices are actually helpful.
You can learn more about Emily's work in this area, get free "sleep kit," and participate in continuing education events at Emily's website, Ready Set Sleep.
We mentioned numerous resources in this episode, and I have links for them below:
Jin, Hanley, and Beaulieu (2013). An individualized and comprehensive approach to treating sleep problems in young children. JOMO: The Joy of Missing Out. Sleep Better!: A Guide to Improving Sleep for Children with Special Needs, Revised Edition (note: Amazon Associates link). Whoop Strap sleep and fitness device (note: this is an affiliate link).This episode is brought to you by:
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Wed, 29 Nov 2023 - 1h 05min - 257 - Using DRO Procedures in Clinical Settings: Apollo Case Study Series 11
Dr. Jim Moore, Chief Clinical Officer of Apollo Behavior, joins me in the 11th installment of the Apollo Case Study Series. In this podcast, Jim also brought three of his Apollo colleagues into the discussion: Lydia Lindsey, Christina Nylander, and Lauren Elliott.
We started off the show with Lydia providing some background on her ABA career and how it brought her to Apollo. Spoiler alert: we managed to fit in a shout-out to Auburn University's ABA program (insert the obligatory "War Eagle" chant! (note: Christina and Lauren were guests in ACSS episodes Six and Nine, respectively).
This conversation centered around the use of Differential Reinforcement of Other (DRO) behavior procedures that the Apollo team implemented with two clients. As such, we discuss the following
From a conceptual perspective, is DRO a reinforcement or punishment-based intervention? Why they chose this procedure over a more specific FCT intervention. The importance of determining a precise Inter-Response Time. How to avoid ratio strain. How to successfully fade DRO schedules. Balancing the effectiveness and efficiency of behavioral interventions. The importance of accurately re-setting the DRO interval. Coaching behavioral technicians to implement this procedure correctly, even when it is challenging to do so (see Dr. Claire St. Peter's excellent work in the general area of Treatment Integrity too). The Seven Steps to Instructional Control (disclosure: Amazon Associates link). The "London Cabbies Test." The importance of conducting client-oriented research in clinical settings.If you are interested in learning more about Apollo Behavior, you can follow them on Instagram, LinkedIn, or visit their website here.
Fri, 17 Nov 2023 - 1h 09min - 256 - BOP en Español 6: Atención integrada, apoyo a adultos con desafíos en el desarrollo, sexualidad, ABA en Brasil, certificación QABA y más con Valeria Parejo
Si no queda claro con el título, este episodio está lleno de temas que son algo esotéricos para la corriente dominante de practicantes de análisis de conducta.
Sin embargo, la conversación con Valeria nos aterriza varias veces en la relevancia de la atención integrada para optimizar la colaboración e integración de esfuerzos por parte de profesionales de la salud y equipos multidisciplinarios; la necesidad de la educación proactiva de habilidades relacionadas a la sexualidad y las oportunidades para darles más y mejores apoyos a adultos con desafíos en el desarrollo.
Una vez más los temas abundan pero espero que despierten curiosidad y finalmente los inspiren a recorrer caminos menos convencionales pero importantes como lo ha sido para la multifacética carrera de Valeria.
Fri, 10 Nov 2023 - 1h 01min - 255 - How to improve interdisciplinary meetings with Behavior Skills Training: Inside JABA 17
Frank Bird and Dr. Jill Harper join me, along with JABA Editor in Chief, Dr. John Borrero, in the 17th installment of Behavioral Observations' Inside JABA Series.
Both of our guests hail from Melmark. Jill is their Senior Director of Professional Development and Training, and Frank is the Executive Vice President of Clinical Services of this storied institution. As an aside, if you're not familiar with Melmark, we spend a few minutes talking about its history, mission, current services, and more.
However, we spent the majority of this podcast discussing the paper Jill and Frank published with their colleagues that you can find in the Fall 2023 issue of JABA. The paper is called, Teaching clinicians and nurses to prepare for and present at interdisciplinary meetings through behavioral skills training.
If this sounds like a familiar topic, you're correct. We covered how to improve the and productivity of meetings in my first conversation with Dr. Florence DiGennaro-Reed almost two years ago.
While there's something Dilbert-esque about examining the precision and efficiency of meetings, like so many things we talk about on this podcast, my guests make the case as to why this is important in their context.
At the same time, reading this paper made me reflect on the various "processes" I have in place for a number of tasks that I have to do. I use quotes to underscore that fact that for so many of these activities, I don't have written procedures for, and probably should put some thought to this. Maybe you're in the same boat? Let me know either way by going to the newly revamped behavioralobservations.com and leaving a comment on the shownotes page for this episode.
While you're there, consider signing up for the email list. By doing so, you'll get episode show notes delivered straight to your inbox. Also, this episode, along with many, many others, is eligible for BACB Continuing Education. In fact, it's eligible for highly sought-after supervision CEUs, second only the the even-more-highly-sought-after ethics CEUs!
To learn more, head to the CEUs page of the site. If you don't see this one right away, check back in a couple of days and it will be there.
Thank you so much for supporting the show with your Patreon membership!
Tue, 07 Nov 2023 - 1h 09min - 254 - School Psychology, Social-Emotional Learning, and More: Session 243 with Casey Dupart
In Session 243, Dr. Casey Dupart joins me to talk about School Psychology, and in doing so, we touched on a range of related topics including the challenges of military families, multi-tiered systems of supports, socio-emotional learning, school refusal, educational policy, and so much more.
As you'll hear in the interview, Casey has been a School Psychologist in various roles across several states. She also provides consultation and training through her company, Embracing Resilience. And while we're on that topic, she has a few webinars and workshops coming up on topics like Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Improving School Climate and Culture. You can find links to these events at the shownotes for this episode, or simply go to Embracingresiliance.org and click the services tab here.
I believe BCBAs serving in public school settings may be an increasing area of practice. According to the BACB, about 12% of the BCBA and BCBA-D certificants work in educational settings. Also, I was invited to speak about low-tech interventions for disruptive classroom behavior at the recent BABAT conference, and I was honestly shocked to how many attendees were interested in this topic, particularly given the many other excellent talks that were going on in the same time slot.
As some of you may already know, I’ve been working with Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni on a project called thebehavioraltoolbox.com to provide BCBAs and other school-based professionals trainings and tools to help them perform more successfully in these settings. Our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! is now available, and we’ve been really pleased with the feedback that we’ve gotten from our initial participants.
We’re also hard at work on getting our second course ready. This one is based off of the talk I gave at the recent BABAT conference. Our working title currently is, When NOT to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classroom. I mention all of this to perhaps underscore the importance of being able to work both collaboratively and effectively in school settings.
And I think this conversation with Casey will be helpful for BCBAs who are new to school settings, or who simply want to be more successful with the students they serve.
Here are some links to resources, etc... we discussed during the podcast:
Back to School with PBIS, Session 198. PBIS, School Mental Health, and Supporting Students with Trauma: Session 78. Other school-related BOP shows. CASEL: Fundamentals of Social Emotional Learning. Sold a Story Podcast. Chronic absenteeism article. More school refusal literature. ABA Inside Track episode on chronic absenteeism.Mon, 30 Oct 2023 - 49min - 253 - Is Self-Reinforcement a Thing? Session 242 with Merrill Winston
Merrill Winston returns to the podcast for what seems to be the umpteenth time (and if you didn't catch the SNL reference we discussed, see here). In this episode, we discuss a presentation he recently gave that dove into the seminal Catania paper, The Myth of Self-Reinforcement. In this episode Merrill distinguishes between procedures and processes, why what we think of as self-reinforcement is likely more attributable to negative reinforcement, and the age-old problem of the term "non-contingent reinforcement."
Merrill also spends a few minutes discussing the contributions of Dr. Henry "Hank" Pennypacker, what he intends to talk about at this year's Stone Soup Conference (shameless plug: save at checkout using promo code PODCAST), and rounds out the episode with some more constructive ways to think about self-management.
This was a fun episode, and if you enjoyed it, please consider sharing with friends and colleagues.
This podcast is brought to you by:
The Stone Soup Conference, which is taking place on October 20th. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well.
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.
Wed, 11 Oct 2023 - 59min - 252 - Apollo Case Study Series 10: A review of two client outcomes
Dr. Jim Moore and I get back together to talk about a few specific client outcomes that we thought would be helpful for the audience to learn about.
In this podcast, we talked about:
The general profile of learners across the Apollo clinics. They pace at which learners make progress in their programs. Skinner's Attitudes of Science. Universal Behavioral Protocols. The Seven Steps to Instructional Control. Rapport Building and Instructional Fading Prior to Discrete Trial Instruction: Moving From Child-Led Play to Intensive Teaching (Shillingsburg, et al., 2018). How Apollo's unique training approach contributes to increasing staff flexibility. PEAK training curricula implementation. The Gulf Coast ABA Conference, where Jim is talking more about RFT outcomes. Who is heavier, James Hetfield or Dave Mustaine? What are the P.R.I.D.E. skills Jim talked about? Some stories about insurance authorizations (towards the end). Whether our children are interested in Behavior Analysis.Jim closes the show by sharing that he has other cases he could discuss. Please let us know if you want more of these stories!
Wed, 04 Oct 2023 - 1h 15min - 251 - Personal Growth and Leadership: Session 240 with Rich Brooks
Rich Brooks returns to the podcast to talk about how he's grown as a business owner. And while he's in a different industry, there are tons of parallels to what we do in the world of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Rich has historically discussed all things digital marketing (see here and here), but this is a more personal story of how he had to step out of his role as a website designer and marketer in order to effectively lead and grow his business, Flyte New Media.
Also, I've finally taken my own advice and had his team tear down Behavioralobservations.com and rebuild it from the ground up. Yes, I finally had to invest in myself, just like Rich has done, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome!
If you want to learn more about digital marketing, check out Rich's upcoming conference, The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference, which is going down in Portland, Maine on October 4th and 5th, and will be available virtually for those who aren't in striking distance of one of the coolest cities in the country. He also has a great podcast, which you can find at that site as well.
If you have questions for Rich about anything digital marketing, or even restaurant recommendations in the greater Portland area, hit him up on LinkedIn.
Wed, 27 Sep 2023 - 1h 00min - 250 - Quick Wins in Public School Settings: Session 239 with Anika Costa and Paulie Gavoni
Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni joined me in Session 239 to discuss their latest book, Quick Wins: Using Behavior Science to Accelerate and Sustain School Improvement. In our conversation we talk about why they felt this book was necessary, who represents their ideal reader, and whether we ask too much of school leaders. That last point is something I've been thinking about a lot recently, as we oftentimes ask people with no background in behavior analysis to engage in complex activities like pinpointing performance indicators, diagnosing performance problems, and so on.
We also talk about the distinction between leading and lagging indicators, viewing relationships as accomplishments, their Quick Walk protocol, and what things leaders should do before providing corrective feedback to staff members.
Paulie and Anika are presenting what sounds like a great talk at this year's Stone Soup Conference, which by the way, if you decide to attend, you can save on your registration by using the promo code, PODCAST.
Lastly, the three of us engaged in a little shameless self-promotion by talking about the project we've been working on called The Behavioral Toolbox, which is essentially an e-learning site we built for school-based professionals who are interested in learning how to improve student behavior in educational settings.
We just launched our first course, Ready, Set, Consult! and we have many more in various stages of development. If you work in these types of settings, please check it out. I should also note that the courses we're designing aren't just for Behavior Analysts. We've done our best to communicate in plain English rather than behavioral jargon so that the content is as accessible as possible. To stay up to date on all things toolbox related, be sure to sign up for The Behavioral Toolbox's newsletter on LinkedIn.
Wed, 20 Sep 2023 - 59min - 249 - Eye Contact, Joint Attention, and Autism: Session 238 with Francesca Degli Espinosa
What exactly is Joint Attention? How does Joint Attention interact with Eye Contact? What does the literature say about these repertoires, and how does that coincide with self-reports of the aversive nature of eye contact from Autistic people?
These have been a few of the questions rolling around in my head for some time. A few years ago, we briefly touched on this subject with my guest today, Dr. Francesca Degli Espinosa, but it was in the backdrop of a larger panel discussion at the 2022 Verbal Behavior Conference.
Fast forward to 2023, I recently heard Francesca on Dr. Mary Barbera's show talk about Joint Attention in great detail, so I asked her to join me to extend the conversation.
In this show, we cover:
What people mean when they use the term Joint Attention How JA typically develops in infancy and beyond Why 'attention' may not be an especially helpful term Some of the neuroscience and eye tracking studies that have examined the development of eye contact in typically developing and Autistic populations How to increase the value of looking at peoples' faces Why eye contact should be thought of as a reinforcing consequence Some strategies to foster JA in the context of learner assent The difficulty of integrating the findings of different literatures that publish research in the area of Autism What she's talking about at this year's Stone Soup Conference (spoiler alert: She's going to go deep into this topic, and remember, save on your registration by using the promo code PODCAST) The problem associated with teaching eye contact via the 'look at me' methodHere are some of the links to the many resources we discussed:
2022 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel Discussion Francesca on Mary Barbera's podcast Francesca's available online courses Dube et al. (2004). Toward a Behavioral Analysis of Joint Attention Silva and Fiske (2020). Evaluating the Effects of Establishing Eye Contact on the Skill Acquisition of Individuals with Autism Nuske et al. (2015). No Evidence of Emotional Dysregulation or Aversion to Mutual Gaze in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Pupillometry Study Clin and Kissine (2023). Neurotypical, but not autistic, adults might experience distress when looking at someone avoiding eye contact: A live face-to-face paradigm A sample of the many eye tracking studies conducted by Dr. Ami Klin and colleaguesThis podcast is brought to you by:
The Stone Soup Conference, which is taking place on October 20th. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well.
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
Thu, 14 Sep 2023 - 1h 09min - 248 - Does TikTok Provide Accurate Information about Autism? Session 237 with Elisabeth Sheridan and Giacomo Vivanti
While I don't personally use TikTok, I am aware of the considerable influence it has across a range of topics. As many listeners can imagine, Autism is one of those topics that generates unfathomable amounts of content on the platform.
Unlike other forms of medical and scientific dissemination, there are really no barriers to saying whatever one wants, not only on TikTok, but on any other internet-based media platforms, podcasts included of course. And as you might imagine, this brings with it lots of variability in terms of information accuracy.
Today's guests, Drs. Elisabeth Sheridan and Giacomo Vivanti, along with their colleagues Diego Aragon-Guevara and Grace Castle, took up the challenge of analyzing the accuracy of Autism-related content on TikTok. They published their results in a recent issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders in a paper titled: The Reach and Accuracy of Information on Autism on TikTok.
In this interview, we discuss the audience scope on TikTok - spoiler alert: it's massive, why they decided to undertake this study, how they categorized the veracity of the TikTok videos they reviewed, what type of content creators had more and less accurate videos, what were some commonalities to the inaccurate videos they surveyed, and lots more. We also spent some time talking about the reaction to this paper, which has been considerable.
Here are the links:
The paper itself: Aragon-Guevara, et al. (2023). A popular press write up of this paper in Psychology Today. Another interview of these authors on the Autism Science Foundation's podcast. The Parenting Translator on TikTok. Drs. Sheridan and Vivanti on LinkedIn. The A.J. Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University.Thanks so much for supporting the BOP on Patreon! If you have friends and colleagues who'd also enjoy getting these ad-free episodes, let them know how they can join too!
This podcast is brought to you by:
The Michigan Autism Conference, which is taking place on October 11-13 in Kalamazoo, and online as well. We’ll hear more about this event later on in the show, but if you’re impatient like me, to go michiganautismconference.org, and use the code MAC10 to save $10 at checkout. The Stone Soup Conference, which is taking place on October 20th. This is an amazing event, benefitting a great cause, all for a very reasonable price. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Tue, 05 Sep 2023 - 1h 13min - 247 - What is Motivational Interviewing? Session 236 with Callie Plattner
Dr. Callie Plattner joins me in Session 236 to talk about her work in the area of Motivational Interviewing. Callie is the Vice President of Clinical Operations at Mosaic Pediatric Therapy, and happens to be a fellow Auburn grad (War Eagle!).
Now longtime listeners will know that we've covered MI on the podcast before. Back in Session 158, my friend Dr. Jim Murphy, who incidentally also happens to be an Auburn grad, discussed MI in the context of helping young adults reduce binge drinking and other substance-related problems.
Also, my good friend and colleague, Dr. Paulie Gavoni, has been talking about MI for years. In fact, he's in the process of developing a course on this topic for the project that Paulie and I, along with our colleague Anika Costa, have been working on called The Behavioral Toolbox (brace yourselves for hearing a lot more about this coming up ;-).
This background aside, in this episode, Callie gives an overview of what exactly Motivational Interviewing is, and defines the four "micro-skills" of asking Open-Ended questions, providing Affirmations, Reflecting, and Summarizing... the so-called "OARS" skills.
Callie then discusses the research she's conducted with Dr. Cynthia Anderson, which will be coming out soon in Behavior Analysis in Practice, and more generally talks about how MI can be an effective tool to build rapport with stakeholders and possibly improve things like staff and parent adherence to behavior plans, therapy attendance, and so on.
Links from this episode:
A brief history of ABA with Jim Johnston. Mosaic Pediatric Therapy. The Behavioral Toolbox. A Behavior-Analytic Account of Motivational Interviewing (Christopher and Dougher, 2009). Not discussed in this episode, but still relevant, and worth checking out: Taking a Motivational Interviewing Approach to Prevention Science: Progress and Extensions (Shaw and Wilson, 2021). If you get anything from these shownotes, watch these videos: The Ineffective Physician and the Effective Physician (huge shout out to Dr. Carolynn Kohn for sharing these with me!). The Helpful Response Questionnaire.This podcast is brought to you by:
The Michigan Autism Conference, which is taking place on October 11-13 in Kalamazoo, and online as well. We’ll hear more about this event later on in the show, but if you’re impatient like me, to go michiganautismconference.org, and use the code MAC10 to save $10 at checkout.
The Stone Soup Conference, which is taking place on October 20th. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well.
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
Tue, 22 Aug 2023 - 59min - 246 - The Evidence Base for ABA Interventions: Session 235 with Jane Howard and Gina Green
Drs. Jane Howard and Gina Green join me today in a podcast that could've spanned several hours. In the time we had, we did manage to cover quite a bit of territory, including the following:
What Gina has been up to since retiring from the Association for Professional Behavior Analysts (spoiler alert: she's not hanging out at the beach reading mystery novels). We talk about Jane's career in behavior analysis, including how she got into the field, some of her many, many accomplishments (including being recently honored as a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International), and what she is working on these days. The basics of research design, including why some experimental questions lend themselves to certain designs over others. In this segment, we also cover group or between-subjects designs and meta analyses, which are relevant to understand when looking at the ABA outcome literature. The distinction of criterion vs. norm referenced assessments. We discussed a number of initiatives and resources in the general realm of ABA treatment, including the current state of licensure, The ABA Coding Coalition, The Autism Commission on Quality, & CASP. We talked at length about critical thinking, healthy skepticism, and epistemology in Behavior Analysis.In addition to these topics, we probably spent the most time talking about the empirical support for ABA interventions for individuals with Autism. In doing so, we discussed the large research projects that Jane and Gina led, what to make of some of the criticisms of this literature that is starting to gain some notoriety, and what research questions we still need answers to.
Jane and Gina mentioned numerous studies and resources, and I've done my best to catalog them below:
Session 21 (my first interview with Gina in 2017). Howard, J., Sparkman, C., Cohen, H., Green, G, & Stanislaw, H. (2005). A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism. doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2004.09.005 Howard, J. S., Stanislaw, H., Green, G., Sparkman, C. R., & Cohen, H. G. (2014). Comparison of behavior analytic and eclectic early interventions for young children with autism after three years. Stanislaw, H., Howard, J., & Martin, C. (2020). Helping parents choose treatments for young children with autism: A comparison of applied behavior analysis and eclectic treatments. Eldevik, S., Hastings, R. P., Hughes, J. C., Jahr, E., Eikeseth, S., & Cross, S. (2010). Using participant data to extend the evidence base for intensive behavioral intervention for children with autism. Klintwall, L., Eldevik, S., & Eikeseth, S. (2015). Narrowing the gap: Effects of intervention on developmental trajectories in autism. Padilla, K.L., Weston, R., Morgan, G.B., Lively, P., & O’Guinn, N. (2023). Validity and reliability evidence for assessments based in applied behavior analysis: A systematic review. Steinbrenner, J. R., Hume, K., Odom, S. L., Morin, K. L., Nowell, S. W., Tomaszewski, B., Szendrey, S., McIntyre, N. S., Yücesoy-Özkan, S., & Savage, M. N. (2020). Evidence-Based Practices for Children, Youth, and Young Adults with Autism. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice Review Team. ABA Coding Coalition (2022). Model Coverage Policy for Adaptive Behavior Services. https://abacodes.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Model-Coverage-Policy-for-ABA-01.25.2022.pdf American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education (2014) Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association. https://www.testingstandards.net/uploads/7/6/6/4/76643089/standards_2014edition.pdf Behavior Analyst Certification Board & Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (February 2019). Clarifications Regarding Applied Behavior Analysis Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Practice Guidelines for Healthcare Funders and Managers (2nded). https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.apbahome.net/resource/collection/1FDDBDD2-5CAF-4B2A-AB3F-DAE5E72111BF/Clarifications.ASDPracticeGuidelines.pdf Johnston, Pennypacker, and Green (2019). Strategies and Tactics for Behavioral Research and Practice.This podcast is brought to you by:
The Michigan Autism Conference, which is taking place on October 11-13 in Kalamazoo, and online as well. We’ll hear more about this event later on in the show, but if you’re impatient like me, to go michiganautismconference.org, and use the code MAC10 to save $10 at checkout. The Stone Soup Conference, which is taking place on October 20th. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!Fri, 11 Aug 2023 - 1h 34min - 245 - Do Breaks Contribute to Productivity? Inside JABA Series 16
And we're back with another installment in the Inside JABA Series. In this episode, Dr. John Borrero and I are joined by Drs. Jessica Nastasi and Nicole Gravina. We discuss their recent JABA publication, Breaks and Productivity: An Exploratory Analysis (see Nastasi, Tassistro, and Gravina, 2023; and subscribe to JABA here if you want).
Although this is a shorter episode by Inside JABA standards, we cover quite a bit of territory, including what motivated this research, the broader literature on breaks and productivity, the novel research design that was employed, and how the authors analyzed the data.
And because this an Inside JABA Series podcast, we spent some time talking about why this study was published in JABA when other alternatives were available.
In the coming days, this episode will be available for BACB CEU credit, so if you are interested in fulfilling your professional development needs while listening to the podcast, click here to learn more.
The Wages and Fair Labor Standards Act. How to Get Better Results with John Austin. How to Take Better Breaks at Work, HBR. The Pomodoro Technique. Dr. Gravina's page at U. of Florida. Dr. Gravina's lab on Facebook and Instagram. Drs. Nastasi and Gravina on LinkedIn. Inside JABA Series 9: Applied and Translational Research in Healthcare (Ethics CEU). Skinner (1955): A Case History of the Scientific Method. What I forgot to mention: Sidman's discussion of what constitutes a "Pilot Study."Tue, 01 Aug 2023 - 57min - 244 - La Perspectiva de la Circunstancia con Carola Scolari: BOP en Español 5
Sea desde el sur de Sudamérica o desde Norte América, desde el Medio Oriente o desde una isla exótica, Carola Scolari porta en grande la bandera de la Perspectiva de las Circunstancias.
Este episodio se centra en el artículo de Dr. Patrick Friman publicado en el 2021 titulado No existe tal cosa como un niño malo: la Perspectiva de las Circunstancias de la conducta problemática.
Carola se tomó el trabajo de traducir el artículo con el permiso de Dr Friman y estará disponible a partir del momento que este episodio sea publicado. Les recomiendo encarecidamente que lo lean y por supuesto que se tomen el tiempo de escuchar este episodio de casi 2 horas donde hacemos una detallada revisión y Carola nos enriquece con sus ejemplos e interpretaciones. Estoy muy orgulloso de este episodio y de Carola. Espero que lo disfruten.
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Whether from the south of South America or from North America, from the Middle East or from an exotic island, Carola Scolari carries the banner of the Circumstances View.
This episode focuses on Dr. Patrick Friman's 2021 article titled There's no such thing as a bad boy: The Circumstances View of problem Behavior.
Carola took the trouble to translate the article with the permission of Dr. Friman and it will be available from the moment this episode is published. I strongly recommend that you read it and of course that you take the time to listen to this episode of almost 2 hours where we do a detailed review and Carola enriches us with her examples and interpretations. I am very proud of this episode and of Carola. I hope you enjoy it.
Mon, 24 Jul 2023 - 1h 57min - 243 - ABA in Non-Profit Settings: with Aaron Blocher-Rubin
Dr. Aaron Blocher-Rubin joins me in Session 232 to talk providing ABA services as a non-profit agency. Aaron is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Arizona Autism United, a multi-site provider of ABA and other therapeutic services.
In this conversation, we talk about how Aaron got into Behavior Analysis, what led him to found the agency he now runs, supporting the family along with the client, and the importance of offering a variety of services. We also spent a considerable amount of time discussing what it's like to work in a non-profit setting. From funding, to governance, to staffing, we get into the nitty-gritty details, and one can't help but to contrast these settings with private equity funded nation-wide providers.
And Aaron and his colleagues must be doing something right because they were recently voted the 2023 Arizona Top Workplace (and for the second time at that!).
We also talked about some of Aaron's essays on what he calls ABA Red Flags that he's posted on LinkedIn, as well as some of the reactions to them.
Here are the links:
Jobs at AZA. The Autism Investor Summit. Aaron's podcast, SR Plus. The Autism Impact Fund. Aaron's LinkedIn. Donate to AZA.This episode is brought to you by:
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Wed, 19 Jul 2023 - 1h 35min - 242 - Effective BCBA Mentorship Experiences: ACSS 9
In the 9th installment of the Apollo Case Study Series, I'm joined by Jim Moore, Valencia Harper, Chesley Herring, and Lauren Elliott. And in this show, we discuss all things mentorship, both at Apollo, as well as the guests' other professional experiences.
In particular, we got into:
Defining mentorship The importance of saying, "I don't know" The importance of asking questions Common needs of mentees Apollo's BAT program Why BCBAs need communities And the idea that, "closed mouths don't get fed"Some resources we discussed include:
Apollo CSS 8 My recent podcast with John Austin The movie, Whiplash Recommended Practices for Individual Supervision of Aspiring Behavior Analysts (Sellers, Valentino, and LeBlanc, 2016)While you're here, click here to follow Apollo on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Fri, 07 Jul 2023 - 1h 13min - 241 - How to Get Better Results: Session 230 with John Austin
Today's guest is Dr. John Austin, who has been in the OBM trenches as a student, professor, and frontline consultant for over 20 years.
Before continuing with the usual opening remarks, I'm going to make a rare ask of you. Two asks actually.
This is perhaps one of the most actionable podcasts I've published. If you listen to this show and act on some of the suggestions, you can improve your practice right away. And that's not hyperbole. So the first ask is to make sure you listen to the show in its entirety, and go to reachingresults.com/results-toolkit for additional support.
The second ask is that you take a few minutes and share this episode with friends and colleagues. In your workplace, you might even consider discussing this episode, and more importantly, John's book Results: The Science-Based Approach to Better Productivity, Profitability, and Safety, in your staff meetings.
In this episode, we cover:
The evolution of OBM practice over the last few decades. Why OBM consulting in ABA organizations can be more difficult than other settings. How to form better relationships with the people you work with. Ways to pinpoint and measure your interactions with colleagues and supervisees. The importance of asking questions. Agreeing on, instead of setting expectations. Why the book Atomic Habits irks me. John's conceptualization of Burnout and Psychological Safety. What is a Mastermind, and why might you consider joining one.Other resources mentioned include:
The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmonson. Building a Psychologically Safe Workplace, a TedTalk by Amy Edmonson. Teaching Employees How to Receive Feedback: A Preliminary Investigation (Ehrlich et al., 2020). ABA on Reddit here and here. Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott. HBR article: Good Leadership Is About Asking Good Questions. John's interview with Dr. Paulie Gavoni. My interview with Dr. Aubrey Daniels. Rapid Change: Immediate Action for the Impatient Leader, by Joe Laipple.This podcast is brought to you by:
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. And check out the Leadership CEU I mentioned here.
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!
Fri, 16 Jun 2023 - 1h 31min - 240 - Fifty Years in Behavior Analysis: Session 229 with Jose Rios
This is a conversation I've really been looking forward to sharing with you. Jose Rios is a legend in our field, particularly if you're a behavior analyst in California, where he's based out of.
In this conversation, Jose recounts his more than 50 year career in providing ABA services to individuals with developmental disabilities. We cover the following:
How he got started in the field at the tender age of 17. What the field of ABA was like in the early 70s. What it takes to provide amazing experiences for group home residents and staff. The founding of the Latino Association for Behavior Analysis. The evolution of behavior support plans over the years. Jose's intense mentoring program. What makes for good presentations.Jose is an avid reader, and we spent almost a half hour talking about our favorite fiction authors before hitting the record button. In the interview itself however, we do mention a few books and other resources that are more pertinent to the topic of Behavior Analysis, including:
The various works of Dr. Gary LaVigna. The various works of Dr. John Lutzker. Teaching dating skills to individuals with disabilities (Cuvo et al., 1985). Vollmer et al. (1992). A content analysis of written behavior management programs. Resonate, by Nancy Duarte. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter) 3rd Edition, by Garr Reynolds. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch. The Supervisor’s Guidebook: Evidence-Based Strategies for Promoting Work Quality and Enjoyment Among Human Service Staff, Reid & Parsons.This conversation is like a lesson in the history of Applied Behavior Analysis, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
This podcast is brought to you by:
ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.Thu, 08 Jun 2023 - 1h 37min - 239 - From Clinician to Leader: Apollo CSS 8 with Kristen Vaughn
The Apollo Case Study Series returns with a conversation that many Behavior Analysts will likely resonate with.
In this episode, I speak with Kristen Vaughn, Vice President of Clinical Operations of Apollo Behavior. We discuss her career arc, and focus on her transition from providing mainly clinical services to her current role in executive management.
We cover her early clinical experiences, what it's like to get direct and perhaps difficult to hear feedback, the challenges of letting go of clinical duties, and what it's like to work with a leadership coach.
If you're a BCBA, or an aspiring one, chances are, you'll have to supervise the work of others in some capacity, so there are many great lessons in this episode for you.
Related to this, we talked about the book, Motivating human service staff: Supervisory strategies for maximizing work effort and work enjoyment, by Reid and Parsons. It, along with The Supervisor’s Guidebook: Evidence-Based Strategies for Promoting Work Quality and Enjoyment Among Human Service Staff, should be considered must-reads for those in supervisory positions.
Click here to check out previous Apollo Case Study Series podcasts, and to learn about all the fun employee engagement activities they're up to, follow them on Instagram.
Thu, 01 Jun 2023 - 56min - 238 - Decreasing Social Media Use with Contingency Management: Inside JABA 15
In the 15th installment of the Inside JABA Series, Editor and Chief Dr. John Borrero and I chat with Drs. Lesleigh Stinson and Jesse Dallery about their novel application of a Contingency Management intervention. In this case, they used CM procedures to reduce excessive social media use.
Lesleigh is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Florida's Center for Behavioral Economic Health Research, and Jesse is a Professor of Psychology, also at UF.
If you're not sure what Contingency Management is, don't worry, Lesleigh and Jesse cover the basics of it in this show. For additional information, you can also check out Jesse's previous appearance on the Inside JABA Series, where he and his colleagues used smartphone mediated technologies in conjunction with CM to reduce cigarette smoking.
This is a truly "Under the Dome" paper, and in our discussion of it, we touch on topics that include Internet Addiction, the recent APA Health Advisory on social media use, motivational interviewing, stages of change, and the benefits of single-case designs.
This podcast, as with all other Inside JABA Series shows, is available for continuing education. To learn more about that, click here. If you want to subscribe to JABA, click here.
We mentioned many resources and studies during this podcast. I've done my best to list them all below:
Center for Behavioral Economic Health Research Jesse Dallery's lab: BHaT Lab Reducing problematic social media use via a package intervention (Stinson and Dallery, 2023) APA Health advisory on social media use in adolescence N of 1 collaborative Screen Sanity (great resources for families) A behavior-analytic account of motivational interviewing (Christopher and Dougher, 2009) “I’s” on the prize: A systematic review of individual differences in Contingency Management treatment response (Forster et al., 2020) Toward an era of impact of digital contingency management in the treatment of substance use disorders (Dallery et al., 2023) A Preliminary Evaluation of the Effects of a Contingency Management + Deposit Contract Intervention on Problematic Smartphone Use With College Students (Williams-Buttari et al., 2023) Contingency management for smartphone and social media use: a feasibility study (Stanley et al., 2021) The association between social media use and sleep disturbance among young adults (Levenson et al., 2016) How Motivational Interviewing Helps Reduce Alcohol Use Problems in Young Adults: Session 158 with Jim MurphyThu, 25 May 2023 - 1h 03min - 237 - Problemas Pediátricos de la Alimentación: BOP en Español 4 con la Dra Varsovia Hernández Eslava
Problemas Pediátricos de la Alimentación con la Dra Varsovia Hernández Eslava
Aunque el tema de este episodio se centra en problemas pediátricos de la alimentación, la Dra Varsovia Hernandez Eslava nos comparte una muy interesante trayectoria profesional y un panorama e historia del análisis de la conducta en México. De aquella mirada inicial pasamos a una nueva panorámica muy detallada de los problemas pediátricos de la alimentación empezando por describir qué son y de ahí a conocer los procesos de evaluación y sus subsecuentes intervenciones. Son importantes los detalles y aclaraciones que la Dra Varsovia nos ofrece acerca del proceso evaluativo como también los varios componentes y etapas durante la intervención (los dejamos con intriga para que lo escuchen con detenimiento). Fue fascinante apreciar todas las sutilezas que un profesional competente considera a nivel clínico y de validez social. Esa importancia de las experiencias supervisadas, el obtener y mantener competencias fue claramente enfatizado. Dado el profesionalismo y responsabilidad que describe la Dra Varsovia para con las partes interesadas, no fue sorpresa escuchar de los altos niveles de adherencia, participación y satisfacción para aquellos que han interactuado con ella en estos contextos. Un modelo para nosotros seguir. Nos deja con la reflexión de buscar mentores y una búsqueda constante por nuevos y más profundos aprendizajes; de ser éticos y humildes.
Pediatric Feeding Issues with Dr. Varsovia Hernández Eslava
Although the theme of this episode focuses on pediatric feeding problems, Dr. Varsovia Hernandez Eslava shares with us a very interesting professional career and an overview and history of behavior analysis in Mexico. From that initial look, we move on to a new, very detailed overview of pediatric feeding problems, beginning by describing what they are and from there, learning about the evaluation processes and their subsequent interventions. The details and clarifications that Dr. Varsovia suggests that the evaluation process is important, as are the various components and stages during the intervention (we leave you intrigued so that you are prompted to listen carefully). It was fascinating to appreciate all the subtleties that a competent professional considers at a clinical and socially validity level. The importance of supervised experiences, obtaining and maintaining competencies was clearly emphasized. Given the professionalism and responsibility that Dr. Varsovia describes with regard to the relationship with stakeholders, it was not surprising to hear of the high levels of adherence, participation, and satisfaction for those who have interacted with her in these contexts. A model for us to follow. It leaves us with the reflection of looking for mentors and a constant search for new and deeper learning; to be ethical and humble.
Mon, 22 May 2023 - 1h 14min - 236 - Recognizing Your Personal Biases: Session 225 with How To ABA
In Session 225, Shira Karpel and Shayna Gaunt from How To ABA return to the show to discuss a recent webinar that they provided for their online community (note: see here for their first appearance on the podcast).
Their talk discussed code element 1.10, from the Behavior Analysis Certification Board's Ethics Codes for Behavior Analysts. For a quick recap, it reads as follows:
1.10 Awareness of Personal Biases and Challenges
• Behavior analysts maintain awareness that their personal biases or challenges (e.g., mental or physical health conditions; legal, financial, marital/relationship challenges) may interfere with the effectiveness of their professional work.
• Behavior analysts take appropriate steps to resolve interference, ensure that their professional work is not compromised, and document all actions taken in this circumstance and the eventual outcomes.
In the spirit of this code element, Shira and Shayna discuss how they define these biases, and how they can potentially occur in practice. More importantly, they discuss steps for detecting and responding to such biases when they do surface.
This podcast will be available for BACB Continuing Education (1.0 Ethics Credits). To learn more about how to obtain, click here. If you want to learn more about the great community that Shira and Shayna are leading, click here. In the meantime, be sure to check out their blog, free resources, and podcast. If you decide to join their community, use the promo code, BOP, when signing up to save on your membership!
Mon, 15 May 2023 - 54min - 235 - Myths and Misconceptions About Verbal Behavior: Session 224 with Andy Bondy
Many-time guest Dr. Andy Bondy returns to the podcast for a fun chat. Our conversation centered around a recent talk he gave which was titled, "Verbal Behavior: Myths and Misconceptions."
What myths and misconceptions are we talking about here? Well, I certainly don't want to spoil the podcast, but we did manage to cover a wide variety of topics, including:
PECS' Certified Classroom process. The conceptual rather than data-based nature of the Verbal Behavior book itself. Recall versus recognition. Aided versus unaided communication systems. Selection versus topography-based communication systems. The more subtle aspects of the autoclitic. Whether PECS limits improvised communication. The topic of Matching-to-sample vs. Tacting in PECS. The nature of prompts. Constructional aspects of learning.As many of my chats with Andy have gone, this is a podcast that could've been twice as long. Good news though: we've already scheduled a follow up interview for later on in the summer. If you have questions based on this podcast, perhaps we can feature an "Ask Andy Anything," segment.
Keep an eye on the BOP emails for future announcements.
Andy grounded his points in many empirical studies (and of course the OG text, Verbal Behavior). I've done my best to capture all of them below:
Kuhn's, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Potter and Brown (1997). A review of studies examining the nature of selection-based and topography-based verbal behavior. Tincani (2004). Comparing the Picture Exchange Communication System and Sign Language Training for Children with Autism. Tincani et al. (2006). The Picture Exchange Communication System: Effects on Manding and Speech Development for School-Aged Children with Autism. Marckel et al. (2006). A preliminary analysis of teaching improvisation with the picture exchange communication system to children with autism. Chaabane et al. (2009). The effects of parent-implemented PECS training on improvisation of mands by children with autism. Schreibman and Stahmer (2014). A randomized trial comparison of the effects of verbal and pictorial naturalistic communication strategies on spoken language for young children with autism. See here for Andy's previous appearances on the BOP.Find out more about PECS' services, products, and trainings here.
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!Fri, 05 May 2023 - 1h 08min - 234 - ABA in the Juvenile Justice System: Session 223
This is a fun conversation to share, not only because it involves chatting with three very smart grad students from my alma mater, Auburn University, but also because the topic tackles an issue that is outside of what we might consider the "mainstream" of Applied Behavior Analysis.
A few months ago, Ashley Anderson, Daniel Sheridan, and Anna Kate Edgemon reached out to me, and informed me of the great work they're doing supporting justice-involved youth in a juvenile detention setting.
As I learned, there is some history of behavior analysts practicing in this area, and these grad students, led by Dr. John Rapp and colleagues, have been developing effective interventions in these settings. And when I say effective, I'm talking about incredibly low recidivism rates...
But I'm getting ahead of myself. If this is unfamiliar territory for you, don't worry. We go over enough introductory terms and definitions to get you up to speed straight away.
Also, there are some great meta-lessons embedded in this conversation about rapport building, staff training, cultural competence, teaching real-life skills, and more. So even if this specific topic is not your thing, there are parts of this interview that I think will apply to your practice.
I left this conversation really inspired by the somewhat untapped potential for our field, and I hope the intervention strategies these guests and their colleagues are publishing become adopted at a much wider scale!
This research group has been prolific, and here are some of not only their papers, but others in this space that you might find helpful:
Related to Juvenile Justice (History & Review):
Morris (1980) Apel & Diller (2017) Children/Persons in Need of Supervision (CHINS). Mack (1909). The Juvenile Court.Auburn’s Partnership & Related Research:
Luna et al. (2022) Brogan et al. (2018). Sheridan et al. (2023). Bush et al. (in press). Coon et al. (2022). Brogan et al. (2020). Edgemon et al. (2020). What does "War Eagle!" mean?This session of Behavioral Observations is brought to you by the following:
How to ABA - their goal is to make you feel supported and confident while helping your clients make real progress! In their membership community, you will find all the assessments, programs, data sheets, and materials you need so that your job is just a little easier. To learn more about their thriving and supportive online community, CEU events, support materials, and more, go to howtoaba.com/join, and use code BOP at checkout to get 10% off a yearly subscription. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Mon, 17 Apr 2023 - 1h 20min - 233 - El Balance entre la Ciencia y la Cultura
El Balance entre la Ciencia y la Cultura con la Dra. Corina Jimenez Gomez
A la Dra Corina Jimenez Gomez le gusta “echar cuentos”. Ella lo atribuye a como fue criada y a su amor a la literatura. En otras palabras, lo atribuye “al reforzamiento diferencial de su conducta verbal”. Tengo que admitir que como Venezolano tenía un gran interés de hablar con una paisana con quien comparto algunas nostalgias y experiencias de emigrante pero también un orgullo y admiración por alguien que puede navegar en océanos académicos, experimentales y aplicados. Como tal, sus adaptaciones a varios lenguajes, culturas y conocimientos le han dado una gran sensibilidad en su comunicación y el abordaje a sus distintas audiencias. Si ella puede construir puentes entre el realismo mágico y el lenguaje científico, quién mejor para examinar nuestras culturas y subculturas dentro de nuestra profesión y para observar cómo interactuamos con quienes colaboramos. Espero que disfruten y aprendan de esta conversación tanto como yo.
Nota: el uso de lenguaje metafórico en las notas del show es intencional :)
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The Balance between Science and Culture with Dr. Corina Jimenez Gomez
Dr. Corina Jimenez Gomez likes to "tell stories." She attributes it to how she was raised and her love of literature. In other words, she attributes it "to differential reinforcement of her verbal behavior." I have to admit that as a Venezuelan I was very interested in talking with a compatriot with whom I share some nostalgia and experiences as an emigrant, but also a pride and admiration for someone who can navigate academic, experimental and applied oceans. As such, her adaptations to various languages, cultures, and knowledge have given her great sensitivity in her communication and approach to different audiences. If you can build bridges between magical realism and scientific language, who better to examine our cultures and subcultures within our profession and to observe our interactions with those we collaborate with. I hope you enjoy and learn from this conversation as much as I did.
Note: The use of metaphorical language in the show notes is intentional :)
*Interview and shownotes by Miguel Avila
**previous appearances by Dr. Jimenez-Gomez on the BOP
Thu, 06 Apr 2023 - 1h 00min - 232 - How Many Hours of ABA are Actually Necessary? Session 221 with Melissa Willa and Colin Davitian
In Session 221, I had the opportunity to talk with Melissa Willa and Colin Davitian. These guys are a husband and wife team who founded the ABA provider, Kyo, formerly known as the Gateway Learning Group.
Our conversation focused on two hot-button topics when it comes to providing services to individuals with Autism: Treatment Dosage and Value Based Care.
With regard to the former, Melissa and Colin, along with their colleagues, conducted a retrospective analysis of treatment outcomes for learners in under their care. In doing so, they looked at the role that treatment dosage had on their overall progress, as measured by standardized assessments.
You may already be wondering what they found, so don’t worry, we get into that and lots more in this episode. We also try to place their findings in the context of existing studies that examined the relationship between treatment dosage and treatment outcomes.
As I mention during the interview, there’s lots of discussion of this topic that’s happening, particularly in the various ABA social media groups, and as is true with so many other things, it’s refreshing to elevate the discourse by looking at empirical analyses as opposed to anecdotal observations and hunches.
If you’re a clinical director or practice owner who’s also interested in this topic, Melissa and Colin suggest strategies for mining the data you probably already have access to via client electronic health records.
Towards the end of the podcast, we turned our attention to Value Based Care. Colin and Melissa define what that is, and contrast it with the more traditional fee-for-service approach for health care reimbursement. Not to spoil the punchline here, but these guys seemed pretty bullish on the potential for shifting Autism services to a Value Based Care model.
As a sidetone, for a longer discussion on the topic of VBC, check out Session 194 with Amanda Ralston. I have other guests that I’ve been meaning to bring on to talk about this as well.
Lastly, I want to thank Melissa and Colin for patiently responding to all of my “yeah, but…” questions. Even though I don’t personally provide services in an insurance funded model, I am old enough to remember the days when accessing ABA services was next to impossible due to the lack of both funding and providers, so I’m fairly reluctant to cede ground as it relates to how many hours individuals can receive authorization for, and my line of questioning most likely revealed this.
I’ve also seen cases where learners have received very intensive early intervention, and made so much progress that they entered kindergarten with little to no supports. As such, I think it’s fair to say that I had some level of bias heading into this conversation.
Long story short, these are complicated topics, and whether you agree or disagree with the findings we discuss in this episode, I think you’ll find the conversation thought provoking. Lastly, if you want to read up on this topic in more detail, I have several of the articles we referenced in this episode’s show notes. I also have Melissa and Colin’s LinkedIn profiles, so I’d encourage you to connect with them if you have questions or thoughts about these topics.
To learn more about Kyo or to connect with Colin and Melissa:
www.kyocare.com Melissa Willa - LinkedIn Colin Davitian - LinkedInHere are some links to studies we directly or indirectly referred to in this episode:
Ostrovsky, A., Willa, M., Cho, T. et al. Data-driven, client-centric applied behavior analysis treatment-dose optimization improves functional outcomes. World J Pediatr (2022). Rogers SJ, Yoder P, Estes A, Warren Z, McEachin J, Munson J, et al. A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing the Effects of Intervention Intensity and Intervention Style on Outcomes for Young Children With Autism. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021;60(6):710-22. Virués-Ortega, J. (2010). Applied behavior analytic intervention for autism in early childhood: Meta-analysis, meta-regression and dose–response meta-analysis of multiple outcomes. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 387-399. Cohen, H., Amerine-Dickens, M., & Smith, T. (2006). Early intensive behavioral treatment: Replication of the UCLA model in a community setting. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 27, S145-S155. Eikeseth, S., Smith, T., Jahr, E., & Eldevik, S. (2002). Intensive behavioral treatment at school for 4- to 7-year-old children with autism: A 1-year comparison controlled study. Behavior Modification, 26, 46-68. Howard, J. S., Sparkman, C. R., Cohen, H. G., Green, G., & Stanislaw, H. (2005). A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26, 359-383This podcast is brought to you by the following sponsors:
How to ABA - their goal is to make you feel supported and confident while helping your clients make real progress! In their membership community, you will find all the assessments, programs, data sheets, and materials you need so that your job is just a little easier. To learn more about their thriving and supportive online community, CEU events, support materials, and more, go to howtoaba.com/join, and use code BOP at checkout to get 10% off a yearly subscription. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.Mon, 03 Apr 2023 - 1h 29min - 231 - Safe Sleeping Practices for Infants: Session 220
Drs. Jason Vladescu, Lauren Schnell, and Jessica Day-Watkins join me in Session 220 to talk about their research in training parents and caregivers on safe sleeping habits for infants.
As you'll learn, there are sleeping practices that are recommended by Pediatric groups that reduce the likelihood of Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUIDs) in general, and Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed (ASSB) incidents. If those are new terms to you, don't worry, we get into what they mean, how frequently they occur, and lots more.
And while this may seem like a depressing or morbid topic, and I've known people who've had children succumb to this, I also see this as a story of hope in that studies like these will lead to a wider adoption of sleeping practices that, over time, should reduce unnecessary infant deaths.
Jason is a Professor in the Applied Behavior Analysis Department at Caldwell University, Lauren is an Assistant Professor at Hunter College, and Jessica is an Assistant Professor at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute.
Together they worked on several projects in the area of infant safe sleeping, which culminated in some publications in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, which we discuss in this podcast.
What I found fascinating about this topic is that it allowed us to discuss a wider range of issues that transcend safe sleeping practices. These include staff training, cultural humility, public health and policy, contingency management, video modeling, dissemination... the list goes on. There's an angle here for everyone.
Here are some links to what we discussed:
Vladescu et al. (2020). Mery et al. (2022). Mery et al. (2023). Inside JABA 14. Inside JABA 6. American Association of SIDS Prevention Physicians. AAP Safe Sleep Recommendations.This podcast is brought to you by the following sponsors:
How to ABA - their goal is to make you feel supported and confident while helping your clients make real progress! In their membership community, you will find all the assessments, programs, data sheets, and materials you need so that your job is just a little easier. As a member, you’ll also be invited each month to join a live CEU and a live mentorship session in their private community group. You’ll also have access to their extensive CEU library of recorded on-demand CEU’s on relevant, practical topics to BCBA’s in the field. Go to https://members.howtoaba.com/join. When you join today and use code BOP, you’ll receive 10% off a yearly subscription (includes CEU’s!). ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.Fri, 24 Mar 2023 - 1h 35min - 230 - Catching up with Greg Hanley
Dr. Greg Hanley returns to Behavioral Observations for another round of fun conversation on the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior.
This show gets into the weeds of the Practical Functional Assessment/Skills-Based Treatment Process right away, so if you have nuanc-ey questions or concerns about PFA/SBT, this is the show for you.
In this segment of the show, we discuss the changes his company, FTF, had to roll with over the last few years, what he and his colleagues are up to now. We spend a considerably amount of time discussing what they've learned about functional assessment and treatment, and how their process has evolved over the years, especially in terms of the types of individuals who benefit from these interventions, as well as those who do not.
Perhaps my favorite part of the conversation was when we discussed the complex nature of Skills-Based Treatment. To this end, Greg talked about the kind of training one ideally needs to be able to implement an SBT session successfully. Long story short, it's more than teaching someone to say, "My Way."
Speaking of training, FTF offers a variety of on-demand virtual trainings, in-person live workshops, and short and long-term consultation engagements.
Greg also mentioned numerous papers, most of which you can find here. If there are others not represented on this page, let me know and I'll add those to the show notes.
What we didn't get into is the outreach FTF is making with using this process in public school settings. We also didn't get a chance to get into the SBT data collection app that his colleagues at Hi-Rasmus has created, but you can check out here.
OK, back to the interview... after a lengthy nuts and bolts discussion of the what makes for successful SBT interventions, we broadened the lens to discuss many of the so-called 'hot topics,' in Behavior Analysis these days. This included:
The influence of social media groups. Overly rigid rule adherence, in which we spend a fair bit of time talking about token systems. Greg's perspective on Trauma-informed and Trauma-assumed ABA. Other aspects of "Hyphenated-ABA" that are being discussed. Practical perspectives on assent... and if you're like me, and often think about the limitations of assent-based models of treatment, this will be helpful (and by the way, check out this article by Dr. Paulie Gavoni and Steve Ward), and, The use of extinction.Greg also opened up a bit about how he almost left the field of ABA. You read that correctly. You'll have to listen to the show to hear about this in his own words.
Greg was extremely generous with his time, and even stuck around to answer questions that I solicited from Patreon members. As you might imagine, there were a lot of great questions, and the answers were punctuated with a few really funny stories that you won't want to miss.
All of this to say that I enjoyed this conversation immensely, and I hope you do too :-)
This podcast is brought to you by
How to ABA - their goal is to make you feel supported and confident while helping your clients make real progress! In their membership community, you will find all the assessments, programs, data sheets, and materials you need so that your job is just a little easier. As a member, you’ll also be invited each month to join a live CEU and a live mentorship session in their private community group. You’ll also have access to their extensive CEU library of recorded on-demand CEU’s on relevant, practical topics to BCBA’s in the field. Go to howtoaba.com/join. When you join today and use code BOP, you’ll receive 10% off a yearly subscription (includes CEU’s!). ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The aforementioned Verbal Behavior Conference. This is conference is as equally fun as it is informative, and BehaviorLive makes it available virtually as well, so I hope to see you there! Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Sat, 11 Mar 2023 - 2h 15min - 229 - Teaching Skills that Improve Quality of Life with Troy Fry
In Session 218 of Behavioral Observations, Troy Fry joins me to talk about his long career in Behavior Analysis helping individuals with disabilities improve their quality of life by learning meaningful skills.
In particular, we discussed:
How he found his way to Behavior Analysis at a time when it wasn't nearly as seemingly ubiquitous as it is today. What it was like to be mentored by Ray Miltenberger, Don Baer, Barbara Etzel, Montrose Wolf, and more. How Troy became colleagues with Pat McGreevy. A brief history of the treatment of adults with severe developmental challenges in the United States. Troy's extensive international work in France and Italy, and what it's like to provide services in large, congregate-care facilities.We also spend a bit of time talking about his talk at the upcoming Verbal Behavior Conference. As he describes in our conversation, EFL is rolling out the Performance Analysis Tool, and his talk at the Verbal Behavior Conference will elaborate on that in more detail.
If you're interested in what Troy has to say, consider attending the Verbal Behavior Conference on March 30th and 31st. The on-site event will be held in Austin, TX, but if you can't make it there, the virtual event is a fantastic option.
The cool thing about the VBC, especially in-person, is that attendees really have lots of opportunities to interact with the speakers. In fact, at the end of the first day, I have the honor of moderating a panel with all the speakers.
A panel, in this case, is really just an opportunity for you to ask the speakers questions directly. And audience Q and A is open to both virtual and in-person attendees. In fact, in last year's conference, we had more questions from our virtual audience!
This podcast is brought to you by
• How to ABA - their goal is to make you feel supported and confident while helping your clients make real progress! In their membership community, you will find all the assessments, programs, data sheets, and materials you need so that your job is just a little easier. As a member, you’ll also be invited each month to join a live CEU and a live mentorship session in their private community group. You’ll also have access to their extensive CEU library of recorded on-demand CEU’s on relevant, practical topics to BCBA’s in the field. Go to howtoaba.com/join. When you join today and use code BOP, you’ll receive 10% off a yearly subscription (includes CEU’s!). • The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. • ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! • The aforementioned Verbal Behavior Conference. This is conference is as equally fun as it is informative, and BehaviorLive makes it available virtually as well, so I hope to see you there!
Tue, 28 Feb 2023 - 1h 12min - 228 - Psicoterapia Analítico-Funcional, ACT y Telemedicina con el Dr. Luis Morales Knight
En esta segunda sesión de la serie de Behavioral Observations para Hispanohablantes, el Dr. Luis Morales Knight vuelve a compartir su experiencia como Psicólogo Clínico. Esta vez centra su historia de origen en resaltar sus experiencias en el análisis de comportamiento tradicional que lo llevaron a su práctica utilizando ACT y Psicoterapia Analítico-Funcional.
El Dr. Knight enfatiza la importancia de una base teórica sólida para mejorar la práctica. Comparte su transición a la telemedicina impulsada por la pandemia y los desafíos comunes de sus clientes después de la pandemia, incluida la "adultez", los efectos del consumo de las redes sociales y la medicalización de la experiencia humana. También comenta acerca de las diversas dinámicas de las sesiones terapéuticas con niños, adolescentes y adultos.
Por último, nos deja con una gran nota sobre alejarnos de la perspectiva de la culpa y pasar a una visión a las circunstancias que nos lleva a tener más compasión (¿te suena familiar?).
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Si te sientes estancado con algunos de tus aprendices que tienen grandes desafios en el desarrollo, y aunque inviertas horas y horas en enseñarle, no estás mejorando su vida significativamente.
Si estás confundida y no sabes por dónde empezar o sabes que las herramientas que has utilizado no son adecuadas para ellos
Queremos decirte algo, ¡puedes mejorar su calidad de vida significativamente si re piensas qué estás enseñando y cómo lo estás enseñando!
El jueves 2 de marzo realizaremos un evento en línea y gratuito llamado Re-Pensando el Rumbo, donde enseñaremos a profesionales como tú a utilizar el currículum Essential for Living (Esenciales para la Vida) para identificar qué habilidades son imprescindibles enseñar a niños y adultos con grandes desafíos en el desarrollo para mejorar su calidad de vida. Para Participar, haz click en este enlace www.diversitad.com/re-pensando-el-rumbo e inscríbete.
¡Aun No es tarde para repensar el rumbo!
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Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, ACT and Telemedicine with Dr. Luis Morales Knight
In this second session of the series Behavioral Observations for Spanish Speakers, Dr. Luis Morales Knight comes back to share his experience as a Clinical Psychologist.
This time he focuses his origin story on highlighting his experiences in traditional behavior analysis leading to his practice using ACT and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy. Dr. Knight emphasizes the importance of strong theoretical foundations to enhance better practice. He shares his transition to telemedicine prompted by the pandemic and the common struggles of his clients post pandemic including “adulting”, effects of social media consumption, and the medicalization of the human experience. He also discusses the various dynamics of the therapeutic sessions with children, adolescents and adults. Lastly, he leaves us with a great note about moving away from the blame perspective and into a circumstantial view that leads us to have more compassion (sound familiar?)
Fri, 24 Feb 2023 - 49min - 227 - Detecting Your Personal Biases: Session 217 with Lina Slim
Dr. Lina Slim joins me in Session 217 for a wide-ranging conversation that is almost impossible to describe in a list of bullet points.
But I will try... In this show we discussed:
Her pivot from studying animal behavior and language to teaching children with Autism. Her unease with seeing lackluster applications of ABA. Starting her own school while earning her Ph.D., while raising two children. Providing services all over the world. Detecting your own biases when providing services (please check this part out if you listen to nothing else in this podcast!!!). Developing trust through asking questions. What it's like to practice ABA in three different languages. What she plans on talking about at this year's Verbal Behavior Conference (and please consider attending, it's a great time!). Great advice for the newly-minted BCBA.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
This podcast is brought to you by:
· Rose Griffin's FREE masterclass, The Power of Joint Attention. This 30-minute course will show you how to use books in therapy so your students are running over to listen to you read. The course also covers how to use songs in therapy so that your students are eager to participate and play and are ready to engage with you every session. Rose shares actionable tips that you can use in your next therapy session and provides BONUS pintables that you can practice right away. To learn more, go to abaspeech.org, and click the Free Masterclass tab at the top!
· Being a behavior professional is hard. At How to ABA their goal is to make you feel supported and confident while helping your clients make real progress! In their membership community, you will find all the assessments, programs, data sheets, and materials you need so that your job is just a little easier. As a member, you’ll also be invited each month to join a live CEU and a live mentorship in our private community group. You’ll also have access to their extensive CEU library of recorded on-demand CEU’s on relevant, practical topics to BCBA’s in the field. It’s more than enough for recertification! With a Bx Resource membership, you’ll save time, feel confident, and master what you love! Go to howtoaba.com/join. When you join today and use code BOP, you’ll receive 10% off a yearly subscription (includes CEU’s!).
· The aforementioned Verbal Behavior Conference. This is conference is as equally fun as it is informative, and BehaviorLive makes it available virtually as well, so I hope to see you there!
Tue, 21 Feb 2023 - 52min - 226 - How to Optimize Learning with Guided Notes, SAFMEDs, and Instructional Design: Session 216 with Sal Ruiz
Dr. Sal Ruiz and I recorded a long overdue podcast where we went over all things SAFMEDS, Instructional Design, best practices for online learning, and much more.
In this podcast we covered a lot of ground, but I think one of the most interesting things I took from the conversation are the procedural variations that have been explored. It turns out that there are some ways to do SAFMEDS that lead to better results depending on what outcomes you're looking for.
We also explore instructional design, and in that, we talk about starting with the end in mind, tailoring lessons for in-person, synchronous, and asynchronous modalities, how guided notes fit into all of this, and much more.
Long story short, whether you're a student, a university instructor, or even if you're responsible for training people outside of the university context, there are many lessons to be learned from this podcast.
Lastly, Sal's parting advice to BCBAs is really good. The advice involves choosing continuing education topics. I'm not going to spoil the details of this advice here, so definitely listen all the way through and check out what he has to say on the topic!
Here are the links to the resources we discussed:
Ruiz ABA on Facebook Quigley 2014 dissertation, Evaluations of Various SAFMEDS Procedures Ward-Horner and Sturmey 2013, Component Analysis of Single Subject Experimental Designs: A Review Ruiz et al. 2021, Impact of Guided Notes on Graduate Student Retention of Facts Riden et al., 2020, The Nature and Extent of Component Analyses for Improving or Mitigating Behavior: A Systematic Review Since you're going to ask, you can find Jen Farris here and here, and ask her about the SSC for Practical Functional Assessment (and find training opportunities here) Wu 2015, Online learning in postsecondary education: a review of the empirical literature (2013-2014) Hunter College ABA Program Sal's Mock exams (very reasonably priced IMHO!!!) Sal's social media: Twitter, Facebook, InstagramThis session of the BOP was brought to you by:
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Mon, 13 Feb 2023 - 1h 10min - 225 - Certificación, acreditación y regulación internacional de analistas de conducta. Iniciativas para hispanohablantes con el Dr. Javier Virues Ortega
Editor’s note:
A few months ago, my friend Miguel Avila and I thought it would be fun to offer some Behavioral Observations content to Spanish speaking ABA professionals, parents, and other folks who would enjoy it. Thanks to Miguel’s hard work, we have a few shows recorded, and more in the works. Our plan is to release about one episode a month for a few months. If you know folks who would be interested in these episodes, please consider sharing it with them. Lastly, we’d like to thank Essential for Living, which is now available in Spanish, for giving Miguel the time to record these thought-provoking conversations!
Hace unos meses, mi amigo Miguel Avila y yo pensamos que sería divertido ofrecer contenido de Behavioral Observations (Observaciones Conductuales) a profesionales de ABA de habla hispana, padres y otras personas que podrían disfrutarlo. Gracias al arduo trabajo de Miguel, tenemos algunos programas grabados y más en proceso. Nuestro plan es lanzar alrededor de un episodio al mes durante algunos meses. Si conocen a personas que estarían interesadas en estos episodios, consideren compartirlo con ellos. Por último, nos gustaría agradecer a Essential for Living (Esenciales para la Vida), que ahora está disponible en español, por darle a Miguel el tiempo para grabar estas conversaciones que invitan a la reflexión.
En esta sesión, el Dr. Javier Virues Ortega se une a Miguel para examinar el estado de la práctica del análisis de la conducta en los países de habla hispana. El Dr. Virues Ortega ofrece sus observaciones sobre la historia del análisis de la conducta en España y América Latina. A raíz de la salida de la BACB como una certificación internacional, revela algunas de las complejidades del desarrollo y las operaciones de los organismos de certificación y acreditación. El Dr. Virues Ortega y Miguel destacan las iniciativas modestas pero importantes que han observado de profesionales dedicados en Iberoamérica que quieren que la profesión del análisis de comportamiento prospere. También menciona algunos de los recursos y programas que se han puesto a disposición en español hasta el momento. Nos deja un valiosísimo consejo y una gran anécdota sobre la perseverancia.
International certification, accreditation, and regulation of behavior analysts. Initiatives for Spanish speakers with Dr. Javier Virues Ortega
In this session, Dr. Javier Virues Ortega joins Miguel to examine the state of the practice of behavior analysis in Spanish-speaking countries. Dr. Virues Ortega offers his observations on the history of behavior analysis in Spain and Latin America. In light of the departure of the BACB as an international certification, he unpacks some of the complexities of the development and operations of certification and accreditation bodies. Dr. Virues Ortega and Miguel note the modest, but important initiatives they have observed from dedicated professionals in Iberoamerica that want the behavior analysis profession to prosper. He also mentions some of the resources and programs that have been made available in Spanish thus far. He leaves us with invaluable advice and a great anecdote about perseverance.
Tue, 31 Jan 2023 - 1h 02min - 224 - How to Develop a Skilled RBT Workforce: Apollo Case Study Series 7
I've been asked many times to highlight the work of Registered Behavioral Technicians, and in this installment of the Apollo Case Study Series, we do just that. Dr. Jim Moore, Rachel Packiam (Director of Clinical Excellence), Christina Halverson (RBT Training Coordinator), and Emily Jackson (Lead RBT) joined me to discuss Apollo's unique organizational strategies for onboarding and training their RBTs. As you'll learn in this episode, by the time an RBT works 1:1 with a child, they have had the training and confidence necessary to implement programming successfully. It is important to emphasize that this just doesn't happen by accident. There are many additional hours of supervising and mentoring that happen - hours that go far beyond the basic requirements. And as an outsider looking in, it's impressive to me just how much non-billable time they invest in ensuring their staff are as prepared as possible. If you're a practice owner, or if you have some administrative role, you're going to want to grab a pen and paper to take some notes, because there are a lot of ideas for staff development and support in this podcast. We go over topics including rapport-building with trainees, soft-skills, staff morale, professionalism, teaching and upholding core organizational values, common struggles of trainees, and lots more! If you're an RBT or BCBA, and this model of training and service delivery appeals to you, connect with Jim, or contact the folks at Apollo directly to learn more about potential job opportunities in their Atlanta-area clinics.
Mon, 23 Jan 2023 - 1h 00min - 223 - Using Behavior Analysis for Policy Development and Analysis: Inside JABA 14
Thanks so much for checking out installment number 14 in the Inside JABA Series on Behavioral Observations. Dr. John Borrero, JABA's Editor in Chief, and I are joined by Drs. Brett Gelino and Derek Reed to discuss a novel study that they and their colleagues conducted on the University of Kansas campus. The study, which culminated in the paper, "Tobacco-free policy reduces combustible tobacco byproduct," shows how a group Behavior Analysts teamed up with university policy-makers to craft and evaluate a campus-wide tobacco-free initiative. On the one hand, policy evaluation may sound like a dry topic. But if you step back and think about this for a minute, this is an example of how we can use Behavior Analytic concepts and principles to solve relevant problems at scale. How many times have you seen well-intended policies produce the dreaded "unintended consequences," because the people who made the policy did not have sufficient expertise in behavioral concepts and principles? So to my mind, this piece of research is a very exciting and promising development. Long story short, this one is for all my fellow policy-wonks out there, and there are many cool elements to this study when it comes to data collection and analysis. And here are some links that we discussed:
Gelino et al., (2023). Tobacco-free policy reduces combustible tobacco byproduct. Critchfield and Reed (2017). The fuzzy concept of Applied Behavior Analysis research. Fawcett et al., (1988). Behavior Analysis and public policy. Chapman and Risley (1974). Anti-litter procedures in an urban high-density area. You've subscribed to JABA, right? Huitema (2011). Simple interrupted time-series designs. This podcast will eventually be available for BACB CEUs, and to learn more about how to get continuing education credits for listening to this show, click here.Tue, 17 Jan 2023 - 1h 21min - 222 - Token Economy 101: Considerations for research and practice, w/Tim Hackenberg
This was a really fun episode. Dr. Tim Hackenberg joined me to discuss both what we know, and what we don't know about token economies. This conversation was inspired by my interview with Dr. Matt Brodhead in Session 205, where in listening to that show, Tim picked up on a misstatement of mine.
We get into the specifics of this in our interview, but in brief, I made an off-the-cuff comment about token economy research. Thankfully, Tim reached out to me and offered to discuss this issue in more detail, and more importantly, correct my point of view on this matter.
And I'm so glad he did just that. I really learned a lot in this episode. In it, we discuss the basics of what constitutes a token economy, the importance of generalized reinforcers, early research in this area, troubleshooting ineffective token economies, and perhaps most interestingly, directions for future research.
Our discussion centered around Tim's 2018 JABA paper, Token Reinforcement: Translational Research and Application. As I mention in the interview, it's simply an impressive work of scholarship, and I highly recommend taking the time to read through it.
So whether you're a newly-minted BCBA, or a seasoned pro, I think there's something here for everyone.
Tim also shared that he, along with Dr. Francesca Delgi Espinosa, created two token economy courses. One is a brief overview course that's free, and there's an advanced course titled, "Token economies: Bridging the gap from research to practice." You can find out more about them here.
Session 212 is brought to you by:
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Rose Griffin's FREE masterclass, The Power of Joint Attention. This 30 minute will show you how to use books in therapy so your students are running over to listen to you read. The course also covers how to use songs in therapy so that your students are eager to participate and play, and are ready to engage with you every session. Rose shares actionable tips that you can use in your next therapy session, and provides BONUS printiables that you can practice right away. To learn more, go to abaspeech.org, and click the Free Masterclass tab at the top! Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Wed, 11 Jan 2023 - 1h 36min - 221 - 2022 Year in Review with ABA Inside Track
It's that time of year again folks. If you're new to the show, every year, I get together with my friends from ABA Inside Track for a Year in Review show, and this year was no different. In this podcast, we went over a handful of happenings in the world of Applied Behavior Analysis.
In this episode, we covered:
The changes in leadership of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and the Association for Professional Behavior Analysis. What shows from each of our pods resonated with our respective audiences. Whether West Coast or New England IPAs are best (c'mon, is this even worth talking about?), including an impromptu short history of American Craft Beer. Other questions from the audience. The passings of Tameka Meadows, Beth Sulzer-Azaroff, David Jarmolowicz, and Dale Bretthower.With regard to the latter, I would like to say that I wish we had more time to elaborate on the contributions of these behavior analysts. We were pressed for time, not only for recording, but also in terms of show preparation, and I apologize if that segment of the show fails to live up to the standards you've come to expect from Behavioral Observations.
We also fielded a great question from long time listener, Penny Holloway. Again, time did not allow us to do her question justice, but if you listen to the very end of the show, I do my best to address it, and I hope you get a chance to check that out.
Huge thanks again for the ABA Inside Track crew, along with Alan Haberman for being such great conversational partners. I look forward to sharing more fun discussions with you in 2023 and beyond!!!
Here are the links to some of the things we discussed:
Inside JABA 13 (John Borrero and Linda LeBlanc). Inside JABA 2 (Big Idea Papers). Session 205 (Matt Brodhead/Ethics and the use of Punishment). Session 201 (Holly Gover/Preference for Contingent Reinforcement). Session 180 (Merrill Winston/Why Your Behavior Plan Stinks). Inside JABA 10 (Rajaraman/Austin/Trauma Informed Behavior Analysis). Apollo Case Study Series. For Kids With Severe Behaviors, Hospital ERs Increasingly Becoming De Facto Homes. ABA Inside Track - Facilitated Communication. ABA Inside Track - A Call to Action re: Rekers and Lovaas. Session 122 (Justin Leaf/The Case Against Social Stories).Wed, 28 Dec 2022 - 51min - 220 - Eye Contact, Core vs Fringe Vocab, State Testing, and Other Non-Controversial Topics: The 2022 VBC Panel
If you're a long-time listener, you've likely heard me talk about the Verbal Behavior Conference at various points over the last few years. If you're not familiar with the event, it's a two-day workshop that my friends at the Central Texas Autism Center have been putting on for years.
What you're about to hear is the panel discussion from the 2022 event, which was the first post-pandemic live event for the conference, which took place, as always, in Austin, Texas.
This panel discussion included Kevin Luczynski, Sarah Lechago, Francesca Delgi Espinosa, Tamara Kasper, Mark Sundberg, David Palmer, David Roth, and Pat McGreevy.
This particular panel discussion started off with going over some granular details about Joint Attention and Joint Control, but as panels often do, this one got a little more freewheeling as it went on. For example, there were some great discussions regarding assessing bilingual clients, the role of eye contact, core vs. fringe vocabulary, rule-governed behavior, and much more!
I had the honor to be invited to moderate this amazing lineup. These duties included asking my own questions, taking questions from the in-person crowd (and huge thanks to Kelle Rich for sprinting around the mic!), and monitoring the on-line chat to take questions from those participating at home. As such, there are some occasional long pauses here and there throughout the discussion, so please bear with that, as I think it will be worth your time.
If an event like this sounds fun to you, you're in luck because the 2023 Verbal Behavior Conference is just around the corner. It's taking place on March 30th and 31st, as always, in Austin, Texas. However, if you can't be there in person, the Verbal Behavior Conference will be presented online via Behavior Live, and for what it's worth, they do a fantastic job doing this. Whether virtually or in person, I'd love to see you there.
This year's event includes talks from Pat McGreevy, Troy Fry, Lina Slim, Andresa De Souza, Sarah Frampton, Einar Ingvarsson, and Samantha Bergman. Once again, I will be moderating the panel at the end of the first day. All in all, it's a really fun time.
If you're listening to this and it's still 2022, early-bird pricing is still in effect, so if this all sounds fun to you, grab your ticket today and save some cash in the process.
This podcast is brought to you by:
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Session 204 guest Rose Griffin's FREE masterclass, The Power of Joint Attention. In this 30 minute training you will learn how to use books in therapy so your students are running over to listen to you read. The course then moves onto using songs in therapy so that your students are eager to participate and play, so that your students are ready to engage with you every session. Rose shares 3 actionable tips that you can use in your next therapy session, and shares BONUS printiables that you can use and share with parents. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Wed, 21 Dec 2022 - 1h 10min - 219 - An Analysis of Bad Leadership Practices: Session 208 with Paulie Gavoni
I'm really excited to chat with Dr. Paulie Gavoni again on the podcast. As long time listeners know, he's been on the show many times, and always brings a down-to-earth, practical point of view to what we do as Behavior Analysts.
In preparation for a talk at the recent Hoosier Association for Behavior Analysis event, Paulie did a deep dive on characteristics of bad leadership. It went over very well, and we thought it would make for an informative podcast episode. And Paulie presents his findings in his own unique and fun manner. I won't spoil it here, so be sure to hear him go through it all.
I should also note that Paulie and I talk all the time and our banter may have drifted into what I'll refer to here as 'middle school language.' Nothing terribly profane mind you, but I did want to give a heads up because I know many of you listen to the podcast while ferrying your kids around.
On a different note, Paulie and I, along with our colleague Anika Costa, are working on a really fun project for behavioral professionals in public school settings. We are hoping to have it out in the first quarter of 2023, so stay tuned for that.
Here are the links:
Follow Paulie on LinkedIn; he's always posting thought provoking-articles. Check out Paulie's Podcast. Paulie's first appearance on BOP. Hoosier ABA. The Magic Relationship Ratio. Quick Responses for Reducing Misbehavior and Suspensions. Quick Wins! Accelerating School Transformation through Science, Engagement, and Leadership. Deliberate Coaching: A Toolbox for Accelerating Teacher Performance. Downloadable Performance Diagnostic Checklist.This podcast is brought to you by:
The Empowering Parents with ACT course, from Praxis Continuing Education and Training. Taught by Dr. Lisa Coyne and Dr. Evelyn Gould, this course presents a powerful acceptance and commitment training-based approach to supporting parents and caregivers with evidenced-based interventions. Designed for anyone who works with caregivers and their families, including children with mental health issues, autism, physical or developmental differences, chronic health issues, and other challenges, this self-paced training will help you work with caregivers to help their families grow and thrive. To watch a free video lesson from Empowering Parents with ACT, go to: praxiscet.com/parents. Session 204 guest Rose Griffin's FREE masterclass, The Power of Joint Attention. In this 30 minute training you will learn how to use books in therapy so your students are running over to listen to you read. The course then moves onto using songs in therapy so that your students are eager to participate and play, so that your students are ready to engage with you every session. Rose shares 3 actionable tips that you can use in your next therapy session, and shares BONUS printiables that you can use and share with parents. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.Fri, 02 Dec 2022 - 1h 01min - 218 - Session 10 Rewind with Pat Friman: Your Road Trip Companion
Editor's Note:
I generally publish three episodes a month, but I wanted to share this bonus, fourth episode with you as I know there will be a lot of people embarking on road trips in the coming days. As such, I’ve chosen one of my earliest interviews to re-release, and it’s my first interview with Dr. Pat Friman (originally released in August of 2016!?!?), who as many of you know, went on to appear in several more Behavioral Observations Episodes.
What I will say though is that if you’re listening to this re-release of Session 10 shortly after it is published, that there is a huge CEU sale going on right now. These huge discounts that are available now through November 27th. And if you’re catching this show after the sale is over, I usually have a few different discounts going so it’s worth checking out no matter when you hear this.
And speaking of Pat Friman, three of his later appearances on the show are indeed eligible for CEUs, so if you enjoy his message and want to hear more of it, and earn CEUs along the way, then this sounds like a win-win.
In Session 10 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast, I speak with none other than Dr. Pat Friman. Pat is the Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Boys Town as well as a Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Nebraska School of Medicine.
In today's show, Pat tells the story of how he literally wandered into a career in Behavior Analysis as well as the remarkable story of how Boys Town was started and how it serves children and families today. We then talk about his point of view on functional assessment practices, how he interviews parents, his take on what we refer to as, "kids these days," and Behavior Analysts as parents. With regard to the latter, I accidentally broach some of my own parenting struggles, so you might have some fun at my expense (your welcome).
If you enjoyed the show, please share it with friends and colleagues!
Wed, 23 Nov 2022 - 1h 14min - 217 - From Newly-Minted to Confident Practitioner: ACSS 6
In the 6th installment of the Apollo Case Study Series, I'm joined by my regular conversation partner, Dr. Jim Moore, along with Christina Nylander. Christina is a BCBA who works at Apollo's Lawrenceville, GA clinic.
In this episode, Christina opens up quite a bit and describes how she encountered Applied Behavior Analysis, her early experiences as an RBT, the mentoring and supervision she's received as a BCBA in the early stages of her career, the value of learning about typical child development, the successes she's had as a clinician, learning the PEAK curriculum, and much more.
Christina quite vulnerably discussed juggling the immense challenges of being a working mother in our field as well. From sleep deprivation to feeling like one is never fully caught up... she candidly describes how she navigated that process.
Throughout the podcast, Jim related Christina's points to Apollo's unique clinical and supervision models. If you are interested in learning more about what they do, you can find more information here.
Here are some of the resources we discussed:
Prior Apollo Case Study podcasts. Making the Science Part of Your Practice, Session 167. Rapport Building and Instructional Fading Prior to Discrete Trial Instruction: Moving From Child-Led Play to Intensive Teaching (Shillingsburg, et al., 2019). Last year's Verbal Behavior Conference. For those who are interested, the 2023 VBC (disclosure: VBC is a podcast sponsor).In parting, I have two requests:
First, if you have any questions about this episode or any other ACSS podcasts, I encourage you to hit Jim up on LinkedIn.... even if it is just to say hello. Second, please share this show with friends and colleagues. I think Christina's story is highly representative of many people in the field right now, and this podcast may be helpful to quite a few BCBAs out there.
Fri, 18 Nov 2022 - 1h 12min - 216 - An Intro to Feeding Challenges: Session 206 with Melissa Gonzalez
In Session 206, I spoke with Dr. Melissa Gonzalez, BCBA-D, about Pediatric Feeding Disorders, and what Applied Behavior Analysis can offer in this area.
Melissa is the Clinical Therapy Director at the Siskin Children's Institute in Chattanooga, Tennessee, arriving there by way of Louisiana State University's Clinical Psychology program and the Kennedy Krieger Institute, amongst other waypoints.
In this episode, we discussed how she got into working with individuals with Pediatric Feeding Disorders, what are the diagnostic criteria for this repertoire, what we know what works for PDFs, the difference between picky eaters and individuals with PFDs, the importance of taking a multidisciplinary approach to treatment, and much more!
This is a topic I'm not terribly familiar with, so I learned a ton. If you have the same reaction to this podcast, please share it with friends and colleagues!
Here are some of the resources we discussed:
Feedingmatters.org Pediatric Feeding Disorders Fact Sheet S3E7: Ethical Considerations of Behavioral Feeding Interventions with Lisa Tereshko and Mary Jane Weiss Ethical Considerations of Behavioral Feeding Interventions (the paper... Tereshko, et al., 2021). Pediatric Feeding Disorder: A Nationwide Prevalence Study (Kovacic, et al., 2020). Pediatric Feeding Disorder: Consensus Definition and Conceptual Framework (Goday, et al., 2019).This podcast is brought to you buy:
Abaspeech.org - the brainchild of Session 203 guest, Rose Griffin, is giving listeners a 30% discount on all of her courses which include, The Advanced Language Learner, Help Me Find My Voice, and Start Communicating Today. The offer is valid through December 1st, 2022. Go to abaspeech.org, check out the ‘courses’ link, and use the promo code, aba30, at checkout.
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.
HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.
Thu, 10 Nov 2022 - 1h 22min - 215 - Ethics Regarding the Use of Punishment, Amongst Other Things: Session 205 with Matt Brodhead
After a long hiatus, Dr. Matt Brodhead returns to Behavioral Observations. In this episode, we discuss the use of punishment in the context of creating effective, ethical behavioral interventions.
Of course, pursuant to the Behavior Analysis Certification Board's Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, punishment should only be considered, "only after demonstrating that desired results have not been obtained using less intrusive means, or when it is determined by an existing intervention team that the risk of harm to the client outweighs the risk associated with the behavior-change intervention" (Code Element 2.15, page 12).
So Matt and I talked about what this means in practice, the role of coercive or aversive events in everyday life, weighing the pros and cons of treatment choices, and much more.
As we state in the first few minutes of the show, we made the editorial decision not to discuss the ABAI Task Force report on Contingent Electric Skin Shock. It's not that we don't have opinions on this topic; rest assured, we certainly do. But we felt like it would be more helpful for practitioners to hear Matt's thoughts on things like response cost, time-out, and so forth, as these are procedures that are more likely to be used by "everyday" practitioners.
We also meandered into a few other topics, like the necessity of teaching cooperation and compliance under certain stimulus conditions, the utility or role of descriptive assessments vs. analog functional analyses, as well as other digressions.
On a stylistic note, because Matt and I have gotten to know each other pretty well, this is an even more conversational episode that usual (versus one that is a series of questions and answers), with the attendant joking around that we usually engage in.
If you're interested in Matt's work, go over to his website, betteraba.com, and pick up a copy of his excellent workbook, Behavioral Systems Analysis and Ethical Behavior. It's a bargain at $25 bucks... and remember, the holidays are right around the corner Matt is also available for workshops and consultations, and you can reach him through the same website.
And while I'm plugging Matt's stuff, the popular text book he co-authored with Drs. David Cox and Shawn Quigley, is out in its second edition (disclosure: Amazon Associates Link).
Other resources we discussed:
Brodhead and Oteto (2022): Ethics and Ethical Problem Solving. Thomas and Brodhead (2022): Bringing Challenge to Coercion and the Status Quo. Matt's earlier appearances on the BOP. Musical references: "I Love this Bar" and "Check Yo Self" Hanley et al. (2005). On the Effectiveness of and Preference for Punishment and Extinction-Based Components of Function-Based Interventions. Hanley (2012): Functional assessment of problem behavior: dispelling myths, overcoming implementation obstacles, and developing new lore. Congenital Insensitivity to Pain. Perone (2003): The Negative Effects of Positive Reinforcement. The Importance of Red Teams, Peter Attia, MD. Michael (1975): Positive and Negative Reinforcement, a Distinction That Is No Longer Necessary; Or a Better Way to Talk about Bad Things. MacKenzie (2021): Caring by Lying. Fisher et al. (1996): On the reinforcing effects of the content of verbal attention. CBIT for Tic Disorders. Inside JABA #3 with Iser DeLeon on Accumulated vs. Distributed Reinforcement.This podcast is brought to you with the generous support of:
Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Abaspeech.org - the brainchild of Session 203 guest, Rose Griffin, is giving listeners a 30% discount on all of her courses which include, The Advanced Language Learner, Help Me Find My Voice, and Start Communicating Today. The offer is valid through December 1st, 2022. Go to abaspeech.org, check out the ‘courses’ link, and use the promo code, aba30, at checkout. Behavior Development Solutions For BCBA and BCaBA candidates, they report a 98.5% pass rate for first-time exam takers… plus a money-back guarantee! They also have solutions for RBT aspirants, plus CE courses, and live webinars (most of which are free for anyone to attend). To learn more, head over to bds.com/bop for a special offer for podcast listeners!Tue, 01 Nov 2022 - 1h 41min - 214 - Looking back, Looking forward: Inside JABA 13
On November 26th, 2019, the first Inside JABA Series podcast was published. This series was the brainchild of Dr. Linda LeBlanc, who at the time was the incoming Editor in Chief, and I have to say, doing these shows has been a highlight of producing this podcast.
As I remind people often, I'm not involved in the production or publication of Behavior Analytic research, so you can imagine how much I've learned about this process in making what is now 13 Inside JABA Series podcast episodes.
At the same time, it's been an incredible privilege to share these shows - including the papers we've hi-lighted therein - with you.
At the time of this recording, Linda recently transitioned out of the role of Editor in Chief. This position is now filled by Dr. John Borrero, from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
As such, for the 13th installment in this series, the three of us got together to discuss a range of nerdy JABA topics, including how editors-in-chief are selected, what repertoires make for successful editors-in-chief, how to manage the review process, and more.
We also talked about what makes a paper a "JABA paper." I think you might find some of Linda and John's thoughts on this surprising. Linda also shared a story on how she solved a specific clinical problem she encountered early on in her career by getting inspiration from the pages of JABA.
Finally, we closed the show by looking back on some of Linda's accomplishments and discussed where John sees JABA moving forward. I won't spoil it here, but let's just say he has some really cool ideas, so please be sure to tune in for that segment.
Even if you're not involved in conducting and publishing research, I think you'll find the discussion of how our flagship journal works very interesting.
Lastly, as I have expressed numerous times, I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to work with the JABA team, and I look forward to working with John on future installments of the Inside JABA Series.
References mentioned in this episode:
Previous JABA Podcasts. Treatment of Self-Injury and Hand-Mouthing Following Inconclusive Functional Analyses. (Vollmer, Marcus, and LeBlanc, 1994). Editor's note: The Power of Big Ideas (LeBlanc, 2020). Dr. Claire St. Peters' research on treatment integrity. Sign up for the Newsletter. Grab some Inside JABA (and other) CEUs!Wed, 26 Oct 2022 - 1h 07min - 213 - Speech Therapy and ABA: Session 203 with Rose Griffin
In the world of Behavior Analysis, Rose Griffin is a unicorn of sorts, which is the unofficial mascot of those select few who hold both Speech Language Pathologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst credentials.
For 20 years, Rose supported students in public school settings, but these days, she is concentrating on taking all the knowledge she's acquired and sharing it in the form of podcasts, online trainings and courses, and much more.
In this interview, Rose and I discuss how she got into speech therapy and then behavior analysis, the challenges and benefits of collaboration, the subtleties of joint attention that many behavior analysts miss in our training programs, her awesome podcast, the Autism Outreach Podcast, and advice for newly-minted BCBAs.
Rose and I also spend a few minutes nerding out over our mutual podcasting hero, Pat Flynn.
Here are the links to the things we discussed:
Rose's website. The Autism Outreach Podcast. Free Joint Attention Training for Parents and Staff. Rose's solo show on Joint Attention. Rose's interview with Jared Stewart. Language Development: An Introduction, by Robert Owens (note: Amazon Associates link). American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Univ. of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension child development newsletter. Rose's Advanced Language Learner Course. Pat Friman's Public Speaking Tutorial (also available as a CEU). Rose on Pat Flynn's podcast. ABA Speech on TikTok. The Verbal Behavior Conference/Central Texas Autism Center.Rose was kind enough to provide listeners with a 30% discount on her courses through December 1st, 2022. These courses include: The Advanced Language Learner, Help Me Find My Voice, and Start Communicating Today. Just use the promo code, aba30, at checkout, and you'll be good to go.
Two footnotes to add:
First, I mistakenly noted in this interview that Rose was the first SLP/BCBA on the show. That honor goes to Dr. Barbara Esch, who appeared on a panel discussion for the Verbal Behavior Conference.
Second, in the spirit of transparency, I want to note that ABASpeech.org will be sponsoring several upcoming podcast episodes.
Speaking of sponsors, Session 203 is brought to you by the following:
The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.Tue, 18 Oct 2022 - 55min - 212 - How to Think About Program Modification: Apollo Case Study Series #5 with Jim Moore
After a brief hiatus, the Apollo Case Study Series returns to Behavioral Observations for its fifth installment.
In this episode, Dr. Jim Moore shares his approach to modifying existing clinical programs that aren't making progress. More specifically, we talk about the temptation to go out and purchase the 'new shiny thing' (as in curriculum, assessment protocol, data collection systems, etc...), and what things to consider before deciding whether making such changes is an appropriate course of action.
If you're a clinical director or supervisor, I'd say this is a must-listen episode. At one point, our internet connection phases out. Thankfully it passes quickly and the remaining conversation is pretty stable.
If you're digging these conversations with Jim, hit him up on LinkedIn, or email him (jim.moore at apollobehavior dot com). Also, many of you have reached out to see if Apollo is a good fit as an employer, and if you're wondering the same thing, you can talk to Jim about that too, or check out their openings in the Atlanta Metro area.
Here are the links to what we discussed:
Previous ACSS shows. Session 167 with Jim, "Making Science Part of Your Practice." Fisher et al. (2014). Increasing the saliency of behavior-consequence relations for children with autism who exhibit persistent errors. Fisher, Kodak, and Moore (2007). Embedding an identity-matching task within a prompting hierarchy to facilitate acquisition of conditional discriminations in children with autism. Cariveau et al. (2019). A Review of Error Correction Procedures during Instruction for Children with Developmental Disabilities. Hayes et al. (1999). The Scientist Practitioner: Research and Accountability in the Age of Managed Care (2nd Edition) 2nd Edition (note: Amazon Associates link). EFL Methods of Alternative Speaking (Pat, you're welcome ;-).I hope you enjoy this ad and intro-free episode, brought to you courtesy of Apollo Behavior! If you enjoy it, please share it with friends and colleagues!
Wed, 05 Oct 2022 - 47min - 211 - Is Contingent Reinforcement Really Preferred? Session 201 with Holly Gover
Would you rather earn preferred items or get them for free? More technically stated, would you prefer response-contingent reinforcers over response-independent ones (and to further split hairs, if the preferred items are provided response-independently, are they really reinforcers?)?
It turns out that there has been some basic and applied research in this area, and some studies demonstrated participants' general preference for earning reinforcers as opposed to simply getting them for "free."
My guest for Session 201, Dr. Holly Gover, published a review and meta-analysis on this topic in a recent issue of The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, called, "On the generality of preference for contingent reinforcement."
In this episode, we discuss how she became interested in this topic, what motivated her to review this literature, what she learned from this process, and perhaps of most interest to you, what implications these findings have for practice.
Towards the end of the conversation, we changed gears a bit and discussed Holly's work in the area of feeding challenges. She quickly reviewed what is currently known about the assessment and treatment of these problems, as well as the unique approach to resolving feeding issues that she has outlined.
Holly will be presenting on this topic at the upcoming Stone Soup Conference on October 21st (disclosure: the Lake Ridge Community Support Services, host of the conference, is a BOP sponsor, and they are providing listeners with discounted registration when using the promo code, PODCAST).
Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask - no, I mean beg you to to listen to Holly's advice for newly-minted BCBAs. I'm not kidding you that this has to be one of the best pieces of advice offered on this podcast. Please do yourself a favor and check it out and let me know if you agree.
OK, here are some links:
Holly's Vanderbilt University page. Holly's Google Scholar page. TRIAD - Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Session 186: Enhanced Choice Model, Adithyan Rajaraman. Luczynski and Hanley (2013). Do Children Prefer Contingencies? An evaluation of the efficacy and preference for contingent versus non-contingent social reinforcement during play. Luczynski and Hanley (2010). Examining the Generality of Children's Preference for Contingent Reinforcement via Extension to Different Reinforcers, Responses, and Schedules. QCABA - Quebec Association for Behaviour Analysis. Koffer and Coulson (1971). Feline indolence: Cats prefer free to response-produced food. Osborne (1977). The free food (contrafreeloading) phenomenon: A review and analysis. Honig & Staddon: Handbook of Operant Behavior (disclosure: Amazon Associates link).In addition to the Stone Soup Conference, if you're interested in learning more about addressing feeding challenges, my colleague, Jen Farris, is putting together a 10-week mentoring cohort on this topic called Happy, Relaxed, and Eating. This is for a 10-week cohort consisting of 6, 2-hour LIVE virtual meetings and includes 12 CEs. There is also an option for no CEs at a discounted rate. And she is giving podcast listeners a 10% discount. So use the code BOP at checkout, or just tell Jen you heard about it on the podcast.
If you're looking for continuing education on a wide variety of topics, don't forget that many of your favorite Behavioral Observations shows are available for approved continuing education.
Fri, 30 Sep 2022 - 1h 09min - 210 - Behavioral Observations Session 200 Special!
I’ve always maintained that this is a show that is all about the listeners and the guests, and so it is with that in mind that I’m thrilled to share the following interview segments that were nominated by so many of you. We did have many entries, so I couldn’t fit all of them in, but I genuinely appreciate all of you who took the time to write in and share your thoughts.
While I’m expressing gratitude here, I’d be remiss to not mention the support that I’ve received from podcast sponsors, especially the OG’s like Barb Voss at HRIC Recruiting and Behavior University. I’m also very thankful to all of you who have supported the show through Continuing Education sales, and Patreon memberships.
Together, we’ve created this medium that has been downloaded almost 3.6 million times in over 100 countries. As I’ve told many friends and colleagues, back when I was conceptualizing this show, I always knew there would be an audience for this type of content, but I had no idea that it would develop into what it is these days.
All of this to say that I’m extraordinarily thankful for all of you who have tuned in over the years. Thanks so much for letting Behavioral Observations into your commutes, your workouts, your laundry folding, your dog walking… or when or wherever else you take in the show. It’s been a privilege to be able to share these conversations with you, and I look forward to the next 200 episodes!
Here's what we have in store for you:
Session 87: Merrill Winston Session 31: Pat McGreevy Session 181: Francesca Delgi Espinosa Session 51: Ashley Rose Session 193: Claire St. Peter Inside JABA 7: Pat Friman Session 41: Russ Harris Session 160: Greg Hanley Session 63/91: Chuck MerbitzLastly, huge thanks to Miguel Avila, Celia Heyman, Natalie Todd, Rob Harvey, Sarah DiGioia, Alesia Patterson, Alexa, as well as my colleague, Jen Farris (who also nominated some of the same segments from Session 63, which I forgot to mention in the broadcast).
Mon, 26 Sep 2022 - 1h 04min - 209 - What is Facilitated Communication? Session 199 with Jason Travers
If your social media consumption is anything like mine, you've likely seen some feel-good stories in the media as of late that report on non-speaking students - generally students with Autism - who are graduating from college, giving valedictorian speeches, and so forth.
Unfortunately, what's often underpinning many of these cases is a form of Facilitated Communication, or FC for short. What is FC? Glad you asked!
In today's episode, Dr. Jason Travers, Associate Professor at Temple University, joins me today to answer this very question (follow him on Twitter here).
We covered the history of Facilitated Communication, the early scientific investigations that discredited this practice, FC's variants like the Rapid Prompting Method and Spelling to Communicate, where the practice of FC stands today, the harms that Facilitated Communication causes both users and caregivers, and how Behavior Analysts should both view and talk about these practices.
Jason also provides the audience with a treasure trove of additional resources:
Jason's Research Gate and Google Scholar pages. Facilitatedcommunication.org ASHA Policy Statements on Facilitated Communication and Rapid Prompting Method. Facilitated Communication—what harm it can do: Confessions of a former facilitator (Boynton, 2012). An Examination of the Role of the Facilitator in “Facilitated Communication” (Shane and Kearns, 1994). Ideomotor Effect explained. The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (note: Amazon Associated link). Skeptic Magazine (Amazon Associate Link); The Skeptical Inquirer. The Reading Wars. Facilitated Communication: The Clinical and Social Phenomenon (Shane 1994; Amazon Associate Link).This podcast is brought to you by the following sponsors:
Supervision Sidekick. Supervision Sidekick is not only a comprehensive curriculum that helps you mentor the next generation of Behavior Analysts, it's also a community of like-minded supervisors. Check out their easy to use digital platform and comprehensive instructional materials at www.sidekicklearning.net. Also, if you sign up for a monthly or yearly program, use coupon code behavioralobservations and save 10% at checkout. Behavior Development Solutions (aka “BDS”) is back to sponsor Behavioral Observations! I know BDS, because their modules were part of my own exam prep strategy when I took the BCBA exam back in 2002. Their modules are so thorough, you’ll feel confident at the Board Exam and, you’ll be well prepared for your career. For BCBA and BCaBA candidates, they report a 98.5% pass rate for first-time exam takers… plus a money-back guarantee! They also have solutions for RBT aspirants, plus CE courses, and live webinars (most of which are free for anyone to attend). To learn more, head over to bds.com/bop for a special offer for podcast listeners! The 2022 Stone Soup Conference! Great speakers, great cause, all for a great price. October 22nd (or later if you're busy that day). Come hear from Kirk Kirby, Drs. Camille Kolu, Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi, Merrill Winston, Holly Gover, Tom Higbee, and Florence DiGennaro-Reed. Be sure to save at registration by using the promo code, PODCAST. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.Mon, 19 Sep 2022 - 1h 23min - 208 - Back to School with PBIS: Session 198 with Elissa Johnson
If you're anywhere in the upper part of the northern hemisphere, you already know that fall is in the air. And with that comes the annual return of students to their community schools.
As such, I thought it would be fun to bring on fellow New Hampshire behavior analyst, Elissa Johnson, to talk about the work she's doing in school settings.
Elissa is the Director of Behavioral Health for Constellations Behavioral Services, which was founded right here in the Granite State. As an aside, long time listeners might remember my interview with Kim and Tim Heald, the founders of Constellations way back in Session 35.
So in the episode, Elissa and I discuss how she got into the field, some common mentors we worked with, and how Constellations has transitioned into an ESOP or employee-owned company (a topic perhaps worthy of its own podcast for sure).
However, we spent the bulk of our time discussing how to do good behavior analytic work in school settings, including implementing multi-tiered systems of support, such as PBIS. If you're new to these terms, don't worry, because we do go through and define all the acronyms that are so common in this type of work.
As always, we end with some great advice for the newly-minted. And Elissa had some special words for those of you who are still in your coursework or otherwise working on becoming a newly-minted BCBA, so you'll want to stick around for that.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
Stuff we mentioned in the show:
Session 35 with the CBS founders. The Behavioral Health Improvement Institute. Session 67, Deliberate Coaching with Paulie Gavoni. Session 171: How to Play the Good Behavior Game with Jeanne Donaldson. What is an ESOP (employee owned company)? How to use Choral Responding in classroom settings. New Hampshire Ed MTSS-B Technical Assistance Center. Session 173: Quick Responses for Problem Behaviors in School Settings. SAEBRS Social-Emotional Universal Screening Tool. Session 78: PBIS, Mental Health, and Supporting Students with Trauma Histories, with Barry McCurdy.This session of Behavioral Observations is brought to you by the following:
Behavior Development Solutions (aka “BDS”) is back to sponsor Behavioral Observations! I know BDS, because their modules were part of my own exam prep strategy when I took the BCBA exam back in 2002. Their modules are so thorough, you’ll feel confident at the Board Exam and, you’ll be well prepared for your career. For BCBA and BCaBA candidates, they report a 98.5% pass rate for first-time exam takers… plus a money-back guarantee! They also have solutions for RBT aspirants, plus CE courses, and live webinars (most of which are free for anyone to attend). To learn more, head over to bds.com/bop for a special offer for podcast listeners! The 2022 Stone Soup Conference! Great speakers, great cause, all for a great price. October 22nd (or later if you're busy that day). Come hear from Kirk Kirby, Drs. Camille Kolu, Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi, Merrill Winston, Holly Gover, Tom Higbee, and Florence DiGennaro-Reed. Be sure to save at registration by using the promo code, PODCAST. Want to get a data-based picture of your physical activity, sleep habits, and more? I've been wearing the Whoop Strap for over two years now, and I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed getting quantitative information on all aspects of my health, including sleep analytics, heart rate, heart rate variability, calorie burn, exercise intensity, and Whoop's proprietary "strain" score. I could extol this neat device's virtues indefinitely to you, but instead, you can go check it out for yourself. To get your first month free, head over to behavioralobservations.com/whoop!Wed, 31 Aug 2022 - 1h 07min - 207 - The Roles of Bias Formation and Disproportionality in the Context of Racism: Session 197 with Bruce Tinor and Merrill Winston
The full title of Merrill's talk is, "Whitesplaining Racism: Part Deux! Logic, Disproportionality, Avatars, Hate Crimes, and Uncomfortable Feelings."
As you'll learn in this episode, Bruce was in the audience for most of Merrill's talk, and was so enthused with it, he wanted him to review its main points here on Behavioral Observations. So we did just that, and Bruce was kind enough to join us as a discussant.
But in the first segment of the show, we get to know a little about Bruce and his background. It turns out that he's had quite a bit of success reducing the overall rates of restraint in the school he worked in, so we spend a some time discussing how he was able to create that change. Bruce also closed out the show with some great advice for BCBAs, so you'll definitely want to stick around for that.
This episode is quite long, even by Behavioral Observations' standards, so I'm going to keep these opening comments short. For your convenience, I tracked down most of the links and references we discussed below:
Black Applied Behavior Analysts. 2023 Conference Info. Donate to BABA. Winston Behavioral Solutions. Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network. The movie, Highlander (not to be confused with Outlander). All-things Merrill on BOP. Adam Ruins Everything. Daryl Davis' Ted Talk.Session 197 is brought to you by the following:
Supervision Sidekick. Supervision Sidekick is not only a comprehensive curriculum that helps you mentor the next generation of Behavior Analysts, it's also a community of like-minded supervisors. Check out their easy to use digital platform and comprehensive instructional materials at www.sidekicklearning.net. Also, if you sign up for a monthly or yearly program, use coupon code behavioralobservations and save 10% at checkout. Behavior Development Solutions (aka “BDS”) is back to sponsor Behavioral Observations! I know BDS, because their modules were part of my own exam prep strategy when I took the BCBA exam back in 2002. Their modules are so thorough, you’ll feel confident at the Board Exam and, you’ll be well prepared for your career. For BCBA and BCaBA candidates, they report a 98.5% pass rate for first-time exam takers… plus a money-back guarantee! They also have solutions for RBT aspirants, plus CE courses, and live webinars (most of which are free for anyone to attend). To learn more, head over to bds.com/bop for a special offer for podcast listeners! The 2022 Stone Soup Conference! Great speakers, great cause, all for a great price. October 22nd (or later if you're busy that day). Come hear from Kirk Kirby, Drs. Camille Kolu, Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi, Merrill Winston, Holly Gover, Tom Higbee, and Florence DiGennaro-Reed. Be sure to save at registration by using the promo code, PODCAST.Fri, 19 Aug 2022 - 1h 40min - 206 - Value-Based Care in ABA: Session 196 with Amanda Ralston
If you care about the future of ABA, it's important to understand not only its strengths, but also the myriad challenges the field faces. And to that end, I can't think of a more difficult challenge the field of Applied Behavior Analysis has right now than figuring out how to adequately measure outcome quality, and how this relates to funding ABA services.
My guest for Session 196 is Amanda Ralston, and she's been thinking a lot about these issues for quite some time, and she was kind enough to spend some an hour with me to share her thoughts.
As you'll learn in this episode, Mandy has been in the ABA field for over 20 years, and has experience founding and operating a large, statewide ABA provider, consulting with large multi-state ABA organizations, and much more. Mandy most recently founded NonBinary Solutions, which she talks about briefly.
We discuss the current model of insurance reimbursement, and contrast that with what's referred to as Value-Based Pay or Value-Based Care. These payment models differ considerably from the current Fee-For-Service arrangements that most listeners are likely familiar with.
While Behavioral Observations is not a health-care policy podcast, I was encouraged to explore this topic by some friends and confidants, largely because this treatment model may be coming our way at some point. Given that Behavior Analysis is not a mature field as of 2022 - especially when it comes to funding our services - I thought it would be a good idea to explore the topic.
If you experience this conversation the same way I did, I think you'll come to the realization that there are more questions than answers when it comes to Value-Based Care (many of which are articulated in this short video), so I may return to this topic from time to time as things develop.
Here are some links to resources we discussed:
NonBinary Solutions website, Instagram. Mandy's personal website, with links to related topics of interest. Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP). Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, plus Session 163 with Sara Litvak and Dr. Ellie Kazemi (discussion of standards, etc... in ABA Practice). The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM). A series of Forbes articles on VBC.Session 196 is brought to you by the following:
The 2022 Stone Soup Conference! Great speakers, great cause, all for a great price. October 22nd (or later if you're busy that day). Come hear from Kirk Kirby, Drs. Camille Kolu, Nasiah Cirincione-Ulezi, Merrill Winston, Holly Gover, Tom Higbee, and Florence DiGennaro-Reed. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.Mon, 15 Aug 2022 - 50min - 205 - A Unique Approach for Staff Development: Apollo Case Study Series 4
In the fourth installment of the Apollo Case Study Series, Dr. Jim Moore and I are joined by his fellow Apollo clinician, Jennifer Freedman. Jen is a newer BCBA, and we spent most of this episode talking about the advanced training and professional development she's received while working in Apollo's unique clinical model.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | YouTube
In particular, here are just a few of the topics we covered in this wide-ranging conversation:
How Jennifer learned advanced skills in the staff development practices at Apollo A review of the case of Jennifer's biggest success at Apollo The importance and utility of using universal behavior management protocols How Jennifer learned to use Relational Frame Theory concepts in her practice How to help learners who hit seemingly have hit developmental plateaus The role that various assessment and curricula have at Apollo (PEAK, EFL, VB-MAPP, etc...) How to communicate successful outcomes to funding sources How Jennifer learned to incorporate ACTraining in clinical practice Ways in which the clinical approach at Apollo is responsive to many current critiques of ABA Jim's critique of current social skills training approaches, and how he looks at it differentlyA Unique Approach for Staff DevelopmentAs always, huge thanks to Kim Dean, Jim Moore, and everyone else at Apollo Behavior for bringing this case study series to you commercial free. Please take a minute to check Apollo out, either at their website, or on social media.
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Apollo Behavior (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) PEAK Materials (FYI: no sponsored relationship... Mark, you're welcome Emergent Learning Academy (PEAK and AIM Training Resources) A handful of ACT CEUs here (see Sessions 6, 14, 50, and 92) Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life (note: Amazon affiliate link)Thu, 28 Jul 2022 - 1h 12min - 204 - Cultural Responsiveness in Applied Behavior Analysis: Inside JABA Series 12
According to the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, Code Element 1.07 states:
"Behavior analysts actively engage in professional development activities to acquire knowledge and skills related to cultural responsiveness and diversity," and that "they evaluate their own biases and ability to address the needs of individuals with diverse needs/ backgrounds..."
In order to provide some direction in this effort, the guests for the 12th installment of the Inside JABA Series, Drs. Corina Jiminez-Gomez and Lauren Beaulieu have written a pair of well-researched and thoughtful papers that have been published in the spring and summer issues of JABA. These papers are:
Cultural responsiveness in applied behavior analysis: Self-assessment (Beaulieu and Jimenez-Gomez, 2022), and, Cultural responsiveness in applied behavior analysis: Research and practice (Jimenez-Gomez and Beaulieu, 2022).And they were kind enough to join Dr. Jeff Tiger and me to discuss their scholarship in this area. In particular, we talked about how Lauren and Corina became interested in this topic, some basic terms - as well as misconceptions - in this area, the importance of self-assessment, what it's like to venture into unfamiliar literatures, the role of culturally responsive functional assessment practices, "western science" as a culture, mistakes we sometimes make as practitioners, social validity, and much more.
This episode will be available for 1.5 Credits (Ethics) of BACB Continuing Education, and you can find out how to access this it here. Also, if you want to support the mission of JABA, please consider subscribing. As we mention in the episode, each JABA issue is about the size of a small textbook, and to my way of thinking, it represents an incredible value. If you have limited space on your bookshelf, you can purchase an online-access subscription too.
As noted above, these papers are extremely well-researched, and Lauren and Corina mentioned tons of work in the literature during the podcast. I've done my best to capture as many of those references as possible below. But for more information, I recommend simply going to the reference sections of the papers themselves, as they represent a treasure-trove of additional reading for those who are interested.
Editor's Note: The Power of Big Ideas (LeBlanc, 2020) Multicultural alliance of behavior analysis standards for cultural competence in behavior analysis (Fong and Tanaka, 2013) Cultural Humility in the Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis (Wright, 2019) A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life 3rd ed. Edition (Helms, 2019) Cultural Humility vs Cultural Competence (Tervalon and Murray-Garcia, 1998) Racial-cultural competence: Awareness, knowledge, and skills (Sue & Torino, 2005) Using Behavior Analysis to Examine the Outcomes of Unproven Therapies: An Evaluation of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Children with Autism (Lerman et al., 2008) An experimental analysis of gender-biased verbal behavior and self-editing using an online chat analog (Oda et al., 2022) Reporting Demographic Variables in JOBM and JAP: A Comparison and Call to Action (Natasi, Crowe, and Gravina, 2022) On the Standardization of the Functional Analysis (Jessel et al., 2020) Humble Behaviorism Redux (Kirby et al., 2022) Dr. Melanie Domenech Rodriguez Google Scholar Page Assessment of social validity trends in the journal of applied behavior analysis (Ferguson et al., 2019)Thu, 21 Jul 2022 - 1h 27min - 203 - A Constructional Approach for Solving Behavioral Challenges: Session 193 with Claire St. Peter
If you've been tuning into one of the many Inside JABA Series I've done over the last few years, you're undoubtedly familiar with today's guest, Dr. Claire St. Peter. Claire is a Professor as well as the Director of Graduate Training at West Virginia University.
According to her university bio, Claire's "primary research interest is the assessment and intervention of challenging behavior. She is particularly interested in the development of effective interventions for challenging behavior displayed in school contexts (including the effects of degraded integrity on intervention efficacy) and with the dissemination of behavioral approaches to caregivers (teachers, parents, etc.)."
And we do get to this very important topic of supporting typically developing individuals with behavior problems in school settings... but we get there in a roundabout way.
Before getting there, we talk about how she got into behavior analysis, and we spent a little more time on this than usual, because as it happens, Claire was doing her graduate training at The University of Florida at a time when many other prominent researchers and practitioners in Behavior Analysis were going through that program. I won't spoil the story here, but it's worth checking out because in my opinion it provides an interesting window into the development of an incredibly productive cohort of people.
We then transition into a primer of sorts in what's known as the "Constructional Approach" to behavioral treatment, intervention, and so forth. This approach was first described by Dr. Israel Goldiamond, and I highly recommend reading his seminal paper on this topic that was published in 1974. This topic has been getting a lot of attention in our field as of late, and I was thrilled to have Claire walk us through the basics of this perspective.
Towards the end of the podcast, Claire shares a fascinating case study in which she and her colleagues used this constructional approach to develop a novel behavioral intervention for a child who was exhibiting behavior problems in a school setting.
Again, if you're familiar with Claire's contributions to the Inside JABA Series, you know she loves a good soapbox, and in keeping with that, she offers some great advice for the newly minted at the close of the show.
Lastly, I don't want to forget to mention that Claire is the Editor in Chief of the journal, Education and Treatment of Children, which I think we mention briefly. There's a lot of good work being published there, so check it out if you get a chance. Also, Claire has made significant contributions in the area of treatment integrity (aka procedural fidelity), and I look forward to having her back on the show for a deep dive into that important topic.
Here are links to some of the resources we mentioned:
Claire's lab website Claire's Google Scholar Page Goldiamond (1974): Toward a constructional approach to social problems: ethical and constitutional issues raised by applied behavior analysis More Goldiamond: A Programming Contingency Analysis of Mental Health Layng (2009). The Search for an Effective Clinical Behavior Analysis: The Nonlinear Thinking of Israel Goldiamond Romano, St. Peter, Milyko, Mesches, and Foreman (2021). Incorporating Curricular Revision to Treat Escape-Maintained Behavior for Children with ADHD Mammacare Word of the Podcast Inside JABA 7: There's No Such Thing as a Bad Boy, with Pat Friman Friman (2021). There is no such thing as a bad boy: The Circumstances View of problem behavior Johnston, Pennypacker, and Green: Strategies and Tactics for Behavioral Research and Practice (note: Amazon Associates link).Session 193 is brought to you by the following:
Supervision Sidekick. Supervision Sidekick is not only a comprehensive curriculum that helps you mentor the next generation of Behavior Analysts, it's also a community of like-minded supervisors. Check out their easy to use digital platform and comprehensive instructional materials at www.sidekicklearning.net. Also, if you sign up for a monthly or yearly program, use coupon code behavioralobservations and save 10% at checkout. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.Wed, 13 Jul 2022 - 1h 48min - 202 - Practical Approaches for Language Development: Apollo Case Study Series 3
Dr. Jim Moore returns in the third installment of the increasingly popular Apollo Case Study Series (which by the way, is also Session 192).
In this episode, we cover quite a lot of ground, such as:
Jim and his team's practical approach for language intervention How Jim encountered Relational Frame Theory by accident How rigid language repertoires can contribute to problem behavior How one does not need to be dogmatic as it relates to specific camps (i.e., Verbal Behavior vs. RFT; Isolated FA's vs. Synthesized ones, etc...) The "heaviness" of Megadeath and Metallica Deriving or Bi-Directional Naming? Multiple Exemplar Training Is PEAK synonymous with RFT? When Jim uses the VB-MAPP and/or the Essential for Living The Verbal Behavior Conference Apollo CSS 2, CSS 1I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
And by the way, this episode is presented to you ad-free by Apollo Behavior. To learn more about them, check out their website, Facebook page, and LinkedIn profile.
Thu, 30 Jun 2022 - 56min - 201 - A Behavioral Analysis of Lying: Session 191 with Corey Stocco
Why do people lie? It's an age-old question that's been asked for perhaps as long as our species has had verbal capabilities.
In this episode, Dr. Corey Stocco from The University of The Pacific joins me to discuss the existing scholarship in this area, as more specifically, the work that he and his colleagues have done in this area. Specifically, we walk through a recent paper that was published in Behavioral Interventions, Further Evaluation of Contingencies on Lying About Homework Completion.
Regarding this paper, we got way into the weeds in terms of how he recruited participants, the data that they had to leave out for space considerations, what they learned from this work, and where they want to go next in looking into the lying/truth-telling dynamic.
We even talked about how Kevin Luczynski's kid earned reinforcement for peeing on his floor.
As always, Corey closes out the show with some great advice for the newly minted!
Lastly, on a housekeeping note, if I sounded more nasally than usual, your ears are working correctly. I was battling a cold during the interview, and I hope it wasn't too distracting for the purposes of this interview.
Bon Iver Matt Norman's appearance in Session 65 of the BOP Prisoners of Silence film Rollins College speech (see the likely incomplete Editor's note at the bottom of the article) UW Eau Claire Behavior Analysis Undergraduate Program Pat Friman's Under the Dome article A Behavior Analytic View of Human Development by Hank Schlinger (note: Amazon associates link) Stocco et al. (2021). Further evaluation of contingencies on lying about homework completion. Resources for Corey's lab (website, IG) Say-Do Correspondence review paper Parsons (1989). Lying Victoria Talwar's Google Scholar page Nurtureshock: New thinking about children (Amazon associates link) Bergstrom et al. (2016). Teaching children with Autism to tell socially appropriate liesThis episode of Behavioral Observations is brought to you by:
Behavior Development Solutions (aka “BDS”) is back to sponsor Behavioral Observations! I know BDS, because their modules were part of my own exam prep strategy when I took the BCBA exam back in 2002. Their modules are so thorough, you’ll feel confident at the Board Exam and, you’ll be well prepared for your career. For BCBA and BCaBA candidates, they report a 98.5% pass rate for first-time exam takers… plus a money-back guarantee! They also have solutions for RBT aspirants, plus CE courses, and live webinars (most of which are free for anyone to attend). To learn more, head over to bds.com/bop for a special offer for podcast listeners! The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Do you need CEUs? Do you want to learn while you're on the go? Check out the podcasts that are available for BACB Continuing Education. Learn about Functional Assessment, Ethics, Supervision, and lots more from your favorite Behavioral Observations guests!Thu, 16 Jun 2022 - 1h 13min - 200 - How to Teach Social Skills with Role Playing Games: Session 190 with Rob Harvey
Have you ever felt the thrill of rolling a 20-sided die? If you're in the general demographic of a Behavioral Observations listener, I'd guess probably not. However, it may not surprise you to learn that being the cosmically uncoordinated and socially challenged kid of the 80s, I certainly have.
Which is why I jumped at the chance to speak with Session 190 guest, Rob Harvey, about how he uses role-playing games, like Dungeons and Dragons (D&D for short), to teach social skills to his clients.
If you're not familiar with D&D, don't worry. We go over what that is in this podcast. Rob also goes on to explain that by playing these games, clients get to practice skills like speech prosody, turn taking, teamwork, conflict resolution, perspective taking, and so much more. So even if you are not interested in role-playing games in principle, you might want to check this show out nonetheless because of the benefits it may have for the people you work with.
I would also offer that this type of activity seems like an unexplored area for research. Rob shared some of the anecdotal outcomes he's seen in this podcast, and it just made me think of how great it would be to see if these findings could be scientifically investigated. As far as numbers go, Rob has some data that suggest over 90% of his clients go on to play these games with peers outside of therapeutic hours, so it definitely seems like something is there.
Here links to things we discussed:
Rob's grad program and BOP Sponsor (and no, we didn't plan this), University of Cincinnati Online. Rob's band, Vose. D & D stuff on Amazon (disclosure: affiliate link). Famous people who play D & D. Dungeons & Dragons Reddit. Dungeons & Dragons Wikipedia page. D & D Discord. What is an Alignment? Here's a quiz to find out your alignment. Game To Grow organization. Geek Therapeutics organization. Link to the Stranger Things D&D scene from the picture above.Session 190 is brought to you with support from:
HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Lastly, need CEUs on the go? Check out the podcasts that are available for BACB Continuing Education.Fri, 03 Jun 2022 - 1h 14min - 199 - Real World Functional Assessment and Treatment: Apollo CSS 2 with Jim Moore
Oh boy, as the kids these days say, this show is a straight up banger. Dr. Jim Moore joins me again in our second installment in the Apollo Case Study Series, where we go deep into all things functional assessment.
Right out of the gate, I want to note that we do spend time reviewing both functional analysis and treatment data of clients that Jim has worked with in the past. We do the best we can to narrate the these data, but you're going to want to go to the show notes of the episode to see what we're talking about in order to get the most out of the discussion.
OK, in this episode, we discuss the following:
How much evidence does one need in order to move forward with a behavioral intervention. How to assess the confidence in your functional assessment interview, and get the most out of these interactions with caregivers. How to train staff to be great interviewers. Treatment decisions based on functional assessment outcomes. When to use Isolated vs. Synthesized contingencies. How the staff at Apollo are mentored and supported in these functional assessment and treatment strategies.This list could actually go on and on (including a sidebar about values-based care - a topic I'd like to return to at some point), so I encourage you to listen to the episode all the way through. For example, in the last moments of the show, we discussed how to navigate some of the quasi-tribal verbal behavior that comes with the functional analysis territory. You definitely don't want to miss that.
Here are some links to resources we discussed in this episode:
The inaugural Apollo Case Study Series show where Jim discusses scientific problem-solving. Mueller, Sterling, and Moore (2005). Towards Developing a Classroom-Based Functional Analysis Condition to Assess Escape-to-Attention as a Variable Maintaining Problem Behavior. A podcast I did with longtime friend, Dr. Jim Murphy, on Motivational Interviewing. Forehand and Long book, as well as a podcast I did on those parenting principles with Brandon Franklin. Apollo Behavior's website, as well as their Facebook and LinkedIn pages. House, MD.Thu, 19 May 2022 - 1h 25min - 198 - How to Write a Behavior Contract: Session 188 with Jill Dardig and Bill Heward
This was a fun one for sure. In Session 188, I chatted with Drs. Jill Dardig and Bill Heward about a whole host of topics, including their new book, Let's Make a Contract: A positive way to change your child's behavior.
In this conversation, we covered:
How Jill and Bill discovered Behavior Analysis, especially at a time when it wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now. How they of course met each other (yes, there is a love story here). Why they wrote an earlier iteration of this book titled, Sign Here: A contracting book for children and their parents. The success Jill and Bill had in getting their works translated in various languages, and distributed to countries across the globe. The power of storytelling. The basics of behavioral contracting. Special circumstances that make contracting challenging, and what to do about them. What to make of the "open economy" of today's screen-based reinforcers. Directions for future research in this area. Advice for the newly minted. Their hopes for the future of ABA.This bullet list of course could go on and on. There are so many storylines in this conversation, from the history of ABA, to dissemination across cultures and languages, to the power of storytelling, to parenting, and so much more. I think there is something in this episode for everyone (note: we get to the actual mechanics of behavioral contracting about 1/2 to 2/3 the way into the conversation). Bill and Jill more generally offer some great parenting strategies in their description of the contracting process.
We discussed some of the following resources in this episode:
Their book of course, Let's Make a Contract. Michael (1993). Concepts and Principles of Behavior Analysis. Highlights for Children magazine. Risley (2005). Montrose Wolf memoriam in JABA. Today's ABA with Greg Hanley (Session 160; shameless plug: CEU for this podcast here). Gover et al (2021). On the generality of preference for contingent reinforcement. Their soon-to-be developed companion website for the book. Strain and Joseph (2004). A not so good job with "good job," A response to Cohn (2001).Session 188 is brought to you with support from:
HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.Also:
Check out the BOP Patreon Tiers if you want an ad-free feed that includes occasional bonus content! Need CEUs on the go? Check out the podcasts that are available for BACB Continuing Education.Thu, 12 May 2022 - 1h 36min - 197 - How to Help Individuals with Anxiety: Session 187 with Steve Ward
In Session 187, Steve Ward joins me to discuss how to help individuals - in particular, individuals with severely limited communicated repertoires - who demonstrate challenging repertoires that are colloquially referred to as Anxiety.
Given that tortured sentence, you can probably already imagine that in this episode, we discuss how Steve conceptualizes what exactly Anxiety is, especially in populations who cannot verbally report on their private verbal behavior. More importantly, we discuss how he developed what he calls the "calm counts" procedure, and review a case study of this intervention that he recently published.
Here are the resources we discussed in this podcast:
Using Differential Reinforcement in the Presence of Stressors to Teach Self-Calming (Ward, 2022). Calm Counts data sheet. Video of the technique being implemented. Whole Child Consulting (Steve's website that has tons of resources). Whole Child Consulting FB Page. Good Learner Repertoires FB Group. Task As Reinforcer paper. Pink Floyd reference. Top Shelf Sports Bar and Grille. Steve's first appearance on BOP, Session 111. Friman, Hayes, and Wilson (1998). Why Behavior Analysts Should Study Emotion: The example of anxiety.This session is brought to you with support from:
Behavior Development Solutions (aka “BDS”) is back to sponsor Behavioral Observations! I know BDS, because their modules were part of my own exam prep strategy when I took the BCBA exam back in 2002. Their modules are so thorough, you’ll feel confident at the Board Exam and, you’ll be well prepared for your career. It's the premier exam-prep and curriculum supplement for BCBA and BCaBA candidates with a 98.5% pass rate for first-time BCBA exam takers… plus a money-back guarantee! They also have solutions for RBT aspirants, plus CE courses and live webinars (most of which are free for anyone to attend). To learn more, head over to "bds.com forward-slash "B O P" for a special offer! The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Pick up some CEUs while you listen to Behavioral Observations! Click here to see the various ACE events on topics like Functional Assessment, Trauma-Informed Behavior Analysis, ACT, and much more!Thu, 05 May 2022 - 1h 08min - 196 - Adopting Precision Teaching Across a Multi-State Provider: Session 186 with Chrissy Barosky
In Session 186, I am joined by Chrissy Barosky, Clinical Director for Bierman Autism Centers. In this episode, we discussed how their organization adopted a Precision Teaching approach for their learners.
You heard that correctly, a large multi-state organization transitioned all of their data collection practices to the Standard Celeration Chart. So in this show, we dive into how Chrissy and her colleagues managed to pull this off, what they learned during the process, and the benefits they've seen from taking on such a large endeavor.
We also discussed a paper that Chrissy and her colleagues published in Behavior Analysis in Practice titled, Increasing Trials Presented to Children With Autism: Using Frequency Building With Modeling and Feedback. This is a case study of how the authors taught behavioral technicians to improve the efficiency of their teaching using a frequency-building approach.
Whether or not you care about the chart, I think this is an interesting episode because it speaks to a larger issue of organizational change. Chances are, if you're listing to this podcast, you're not using the chart. Imagine for a moment that your agency decided to adopt it? So in many respects, this episode presents an opportunity for a fun thought experiment about about changing clinical practices, and I hope you find the exercise helpful.
As a matter of housekeeping, I to apologize for some of the audio quality challenges issues we had during this episode, including my dogs barking for several minutes when my town decided to do some tree-trimming along my road. I don't think it detracts from the overall conversation, but wanted to make a note of this.
Here are links to some of the resources we mentioned:
Bierman Autism Centers Can precision teaching save the world? Barosky, Keane, and Gallagher (2021). Increasing Trials Presented to Children With Autism: Using Frequency Building With Modeling and Feedback A slideshow where a 5 year old teaches a charting tutorial (translation: you can do it too!) Where you can purchase charts and learn more. The Standard Celeration Society FB group Links to several BOP shows on Precision Teaching Bulla et al (2021). Introduction to the Special Section: Precision Teaching: Discoveries and Applications Octave's Project Blue training for aspiring charters Rick Kubina's Precision Teaching books PrecisionX charting softwareSession 186 is brought to you with support from:
HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away. Behavior University. (who incidentally is sponsoring the Stone Soup Conference!) Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. The University of Cincinnati Online. UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.Fri, 22 Apr 2022 - 58min - 195 - Inside JABA Series 11: Functional Analysis Patterns of Automatic Reinforcement
In Session 185, AKA Inside JABA Series #11, I'm joined by Drs. Linda LeBlanc, Jeff Tiger, and Javier Virues-Ortega for a deep dive into automatically maintained behavior. This session was inspired by the study Javier and his colleagues published in the Spring 2022 issue of JABA (Virues-Ortega, Clayton, Perez-Bustamante, Gaerlan, and Fahmie, 2022).
In this episode, we discuss the nature of, and challenges with automatically-maintained problem behavior. And this is tackled from both conceptual and treatment angles. As I mention in the episode, I don't encounter these types of problem behaviors that frequently these days, so it was a treat to update my knowledge in this area.
It's easy to think of automatic reinforcement as a monolith, but as it turns out, even dividing it up between positive and negative reinforcement may not be sufficient enough to render effective treatment.
We spent probably the first 25-30 minutes discussing some of the known challenges associated with assessing and treating these repertoires, and then spend the remaining time discussing Javier and his colleagues' paper, which presented two very unique investigations.
If you work with individuals with these profiles, you'll want to listen all the way through, and better still, check out the paper itself.
Here are some of the studies we discussed:
Functional analysis patterns of automatic reinforcement: A review and component analysis of treatment effects (Virues-Ortega et al., 2022) An analysis of the reinforcing properties of handmouthing (Goh et al., 1995) Delineating subtypes of Self Injurious Behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement (Hagopian, Rooker, and Zarcone, 2015). A retrospective analysis of stereotypy: Applicability of the behavioral subtyping model (Wunderlich, Hemstreet and Best, 2022; not discussed during this episode, but in the same issue of JABA, and on my list to read next).Lastly, I'd be remiss if I did not take a minute to thank Linda LeBlanc for reaching out to me to start the Inside JABA series. As I tell her every chance I get, I consider it an honor to be involved with the flagship journal in our field. If someone told me as an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire that I'd be regularly involved with JABA in some capacity, I wouldn't have believed them.
As some of you might know, Linda's term as Editor in Chief is expiring, but we are planning to continue the podcast series with incoming EIC, Dr. John Borrero. More info on this to come, but in the meantime, please enjoy this installment of the Inside JABA Series.
Fri, 15 Apr 2022 - 1h 23min - 194 - The Apollo Case Study Series: Session 184 with Jim Moore
I'm really excited to introduce a new special podcast series that I'm publishing with Dr. Jim Moore of Apollo Behavior. In this series, we're going to talk about a lot of practical topics that we hope will resonate with BCBA's of all experience levels.
We have great plans to discuss topics like supervision, functional assessment, skill acquisition, and much more. Real world challenges that just about every practitioner faces.
In this episode, we focused on a clinical problem solving model that Jim's been developing over the years. So if you're working with learners who are struggling to make progress, this is the show for you.
We don't have a ton of links for this one, but here are some things that we referenced:
Apollo Behavior's website The 7 Steps to Instructional Control The Founder (movie Jim references) Skinner's Attitudes of Science What does Mise en Place mean?Lastly, I should note that this series is brought to you ad-free by Apollo Behavior. If you're interested in what they do, and/or if you want to learn more about what Jim discussed, reach out to them either at info@apollobehavior.com or jim@apollobehavior.com.
Fri, 08 Apr 2022 - 59min
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